I'm not going to start off apologizing for a long Old Testament reading because it was good to hear the creation account. It's always good to hear it. But I will admit I was glad you didn't have to stand for it. I know how it can be. In fact, I'm sure some of you looked at it and thought, "Surely he isn't going to read the whole thing!" But surely I did. If you could actually see the words, you probably tried to gauge how much longer it will take. What's kind of nice is that the markers are built in. The first day, the second day, the third day and so on. "There was evening and there was morning..." another day gone by. 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and counting.

Maybe I'm making a lot bigger deal out of it than you did-actually I hope I am-but pairing this reading with the Gospel lesson is pure genius! I'll tell you why in a little bit. To get to it, let me give you a little inside picture of what goes on when I prepare for Sunday morning, particularly discovering the theme God wants you to hear. In case you wondered why I picked one hymn over another, this is a major part. And yes, believe it or not, a lot of times I do bypass a hymn because even though the words are great, the hymn is unfamiliar.

Before I select the hymns, though, before I do anything, I look at the Gospel lesson. What's the main point of it? But before I answer that question, I will look at the Old Testament lesson to see what it says. What is the relation of these two readings? What do they say combined? You have better things to do than ask these questions, but you should expect me to do that.

You also have probably never thought about where these readings come from, that is, other than from the Bible, but it's not a bad idea to know. The decisions for the readings aren't anything inspired. The readings themselves, these were spoken by God, but that we should reading all of Gen 1 on the 21st Sunday after Trinity and a few verses from the 4th chapter of John for the Gospel is not inspired. We don't sin if we have another reading. But we have the assigned readings we do so we can cover the whole counsel of God, a way of saying that we cover everything that needs to be covered.

A group of theologians said, this would be a good reading for this week, and these would be for next week. It's not quite that free for all, though. Actually those theologians base their decisions on reading lists, or lectionaries, that could be over 500 years old. You'll notice, during the year from Advent to Easter, we talk about the life of Jesus that corresponds with the season. Advent would be talk about preparation for Jesus' ministry; Christmas His birth, Epiphany the proof He is God; Lent, the increasing resistance to Him and finally His suffering and death, Easter, His resurrection and appearances after resurrection. Then we come to the rest of the year, which appears to be a little more free for all, but still has the pattern of making sure the whole counsel of God is covered.

But what started this is seeing how these two readings click together. The answer: The creation account in Genesis helps us to see what to highlight in the Gospel lesson.

Hey, while we're at it, look at the Introit. If I missed how the Old Testament lesson was telling me how to read the Gospel, then the Introit would have done it. The first two verses of it speaks about God as Creator.

Now, the question would be what's the point about that? We already know God is the Creator. What does this mean for my life? That's answered by the Gospel lesson Everything! Think about it. God, the Triune God, your God, the One who has made peace between you and Himself in Christ's obedient life and victorious death, is the Creator and therefore the one who runs the whole creation. If there is peace between you and Him, if you are assured of His love for you, His love that nothing in all of creation could take away because Christ has already done what needs to be done, if this is the One who is in charge, then you don't have to feel like anything in your life ever gets out of His hands. If He is your friend-better than that-your Father, pulling strings, making things happen as He would have them happen for the good of you His children, then when things feel like they are going bad, you can still say, "But my Father is still in charge." Can you see how that can mean so much for your life?

Lots of people talk about God loving them, being in charge, and blessing them. The problem is, it stays pretty abstract. Sometimes they don't even know the god they are talking about. That was the problem the Israelites had. God was pretty abstract for them. They didn't know what He looked like. They didn't even know His name until Moses.

But God has moved out of this abstractness and has become very concrete. He not only takes a name, but He even takes a form so people would know what He looks like. It's not a bird; it's not a reptile; it's not a calf. Instead, God becomes a man.

Before He had been born, He warned the people not to make statues of what they thought He looked like. They didn't listen. You remember that they thought He looked like a calf, and so they made a statue of a calf out of gold. Here's a news flash. God isn't a baby cow, nor does He look like one. No, actually He was a baby born in Bethlehem, raised in Egypt and then Nazareth. He was a man who began His public ministry in a city by the sea of Galilee, named Capernaum. He even took a name. It is Jesus.

And just in case you're not sure He is God, He does a few signs to prove it. Just before this reading He had turned water into wine. John said, "This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory." Ahh, yes. This man is God.

We know there were a lot of people who witnessed this miracle-everybody who heard about it at the wedding. This had to get them thinking. Other people would have heard it second hand. He had been doing some preaching as well, so this would have drawn a bunch of people, and people were coming to faith. One man definitely did-an official who lived somewhere near Capernaum. Maybe he was even at the wedding. Whatever it was the Holy Spirit used, this man has come to believe that Jesus is God come down.

Now, that may not seem to be any tremendous accomplishment, but guessing that he was a Jew, he had learned about Yahweh. Yahweh, you will remember, is God's personal name in the Old Testament. He knew Yahweh was the one who called Abraham to be the father of the Israelites. He knew Yahweh was the one who rescued the Israelites, opening a dry road right through the middle of a sea. He knew Yahweh was the one who directed the stone that went straight into Goliath's forehead. He knew Yahweh was the one who burned up the saturated sacrifice in Elijah's contest while Baal's buffoons kept begging their god to even open one eye. They knew it was Yahweh, who had moved the Assyrian army to destroy the Northern Kingdom, the Babylonian army to deport the Southern Kingdom, and Cyrus the Persian to bring them back. More importantly, he knew Yahweh was the One who created the heavens and the earth, who destroyed them with water and then recreated them again after saving two of every animal and eight people. In short, Yahweh, was no one to trifle with. The nations had their little local gods, but they were a joke. Yahweh was the big man, and now He really was. I don't know if he was a big man, but you know what I mean.

Now, this official has come to believe this all powerful being has actually become a human being. For us, we have heard it so much it doesn't seem like any big deal, but for a Jew, that is a huge step to take. But since he believes it, he takes it to the next step. His son is dying. If the prophet from Capernaum is truly God, then He could heal his son.

The man wants Jesus to come to his house and heal his son. He believes there might be something special if Jesus were to actually wave His hand over the young man. Just touch him and he will be better, but you have to be there for it to work. He was like Naaman, the Syrian general. Naaman didn't doubt the prophet could heal his leprosy, but he figured there would have to be something extraordinary about the way it was done. He would have to stand over him and wave his hand over the leprosy, saying some mumbo jumbo. Jumping in a river seven times because you were told to do it, didn't seem like that was going to do the trick. So, this guy figured Jesus would have to come to his house, stand over his son and heal him.

But Jesus is God, remember? All He has to do is speak. In fact, that is exactly what He does. He speaks. "Go, your son lives." Did you have a stop watch? Click it right now. It was 1:00 in the afternoon. What time do you think the boy got better? 1:00 in the afternoon. He speaks and it is so. Let there be light. And there was light. Let there be an expanse to separate the water from the waters. And it was so. Let the dry land appear. And it was so. God says it. It is. Jesus speaks and it is.

Now, here's where it becomes your comfort. This man who demonstrates He is God gave up His life and soul for you. He came down from heaven and paid the price He did so we could live, so that He could cover our sin and be able to love us. He could have given in to the temptations of Satan, but He didn't. He could have called angels down to wipe out the temple guard that arrested Him, but He didn't. He could have restored His relationship with His Father before it got so bad that His Father abandoned Him, but He didn't. He could have come down from the cross, but He didn't. It was love that kept Him on His path of destruction, that He ultimately used to restore us, His people.

If He is God and has this power, and He loves you because He has provided the way so He can, then we have the comfort of knowing He will act in love toward us, directing all things for our good.

Do we question it? Undoubtedly. When everything is going well-no problem. But when you are lying in a hospital bed, when you just heard the doctor say the word, "Cancer," when you feel the pains of getting older, when you saw what your stocks just did and continue to watch the Dow fall, when your kid gets picked up for possession of drug paraphernalia, when a tornado rips through your house, or hail destroys a crop that was still out in the field, then it's not quite so easy. When we are in a spot where we can compromise our confession as a Christian so we can get ahead socially or financially, or choose what we know is wrong to make our position in life more comfortable, that's when it's hard to say, "My God will bring me only good."

When these times come, does it mean your life slipped out of His hands for a little bit, and now He has to pick up the pieces? Like, "Whoah, I should have been watching a little closer?" No, even those bad things are being used by Him. Not: despite these things that appear bad. No, these bad things are accomplishing good in your life. He's in full control. The fever left the son at the moment He spoke. Our loving God and Creator allows sin to have its effect but ultimately controls wind and waves, fevers and viruses, even in places where sinful humans think they are in charge like Wall Street and gang-controlled streets.

That's why we have spent so much time this morning connecting in your minds Jesus with the Creator. Jesus is on our side. That we have no trouble with, but that the Creator is on our side, that is harder to believe. Sometimes we are sure the Creator doesn't know what He is doing, or doesn't care. But we keep these together--His great power and-in seeing Jesus-His great love. One without the other is no comfort.

We see the power in the creation. That's visible all the time. Everyone can see that. We see the love in Christ on the cross. Only a Christian can see that.

That's why your attention as a Christian is drawn to the cross again and again. This is why our Lord wants us to receive His body and blood as much as possible. He is saying to you in His meal, "Here is where you can know for sure. This is the very body and blood I broke and shed to reconcile you. This is the sign that I have not forgotten, but have done it all."

But we forget. We question. We doubt. We foolishly think we know better. What can be done? Recall His claim on you in your baptism. Hear Him again. Look at what He shows you. Take what He gives you. Great love and great power give great comfort.

AMEN