Good morning and welcome to the broadcast of the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
To help you follow along, the Order of Worship for today's service is available under the radio tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org.
The Lord bless you today through the hearing of His word.
the harpsichord, do you know?
No, no.
Blessed Father's Day.
I'm also with you.
Blessed Father's Day.
Thank you.
We'll have some wisdom about Father's Day at the end of the service when we go out.
A couple of things.
In our worship today, that Psalm 103, there's a rhythm to it like the Magnificat and also like Zachariah's song.
I want to cash in on that rhythm because it leads us into the Gospel reading about, we call it the prodigal son, is it the prodigal father or the rotten older brother?
There's a lot of different titles it gets.
But the rhythm of Psalm 103, we will speak that back and forth by half verses when we get there.
Otherwise, for the benefit of those who are joining us, a pencil and paper in hand, we will be worshiping with the Order of Worship Divine Service on page 184.
Our opening hymn is hymn 915, which by the way lends itself to some beautiful harmonics.
So if you want to break into parts, that's okay.
608 for the pre-sermon hymn.
During the distribution, 609, another one with good harmonics to it.
618.
in 856, and we will conclude with Children of the Heavenly Father, and that's good for poor harmony too.
So I'm encouraging that today on Father's Day.
Now, heads up on the sermon and on the gospel reading.
Father had two sons, one who got what he wanted and collided with what he needed.
The other was absolutely surrounded by what he needed, by all he needed, and collided with what he wanted.
our first year.
Our hearts have turned away.
Just clean today.
Today your gate is open.
Oh well.
In the name of the Father, end of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Love it in the Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and you will forgive the
iniquity
of my
sins.
Almighty God, merciful Father, I for a miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and make the peace.
And I pray you of your boundless mercy, and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved Son Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
On this, your confession, I by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the word announce the grace of God unto all of you.
And in the stead and at the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
You are the God of life's helping
you.
and forgive all my sins.
to God.
Oh
Oh, that's it, it's at the right hand of God the Father.
Let us pray.
Oh
God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, multiply your mercy on us that with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal.
that we lose not the things eternal.
The Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and drains with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
Amen.
Please be seated.
Old Testament reading comes from the Bethlehem Prophet Micah.
Seventh chapter where we read.
Who's a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?
Does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
you will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old."
This is the word of the Lord.
Again, Psalm 103 is a sort of commentary on the Old Testament reading back and forth by half verses, the way they would have chanted it on the way to church as families this way.
The Lord is merciful and gracious.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.
Bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Forget not all his benefits.
Who forgives all your iniquity.
Who heals all your diseases.
Who redeems your life from the pit.
Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.
Who satisfies you with good.
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses as acts to the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious.
He will not always chide.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, as far as the east is from the west, as a father chose compassion to his children.
The Lord is merciful and gracious.
This reading from Paul's letter to the young pastor Timothy first book first verse first chapter.
I thank him who has given me strength Christ Jesus our Lord because he judged me faithful appointing me to his service though
Formerly, I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.
But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly and unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost.
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.
To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen.
This is the epistle reading.
Please rise.
You
know, parables can be very dangerous.
Listen attentively.
Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the 15th chapter beginning with the 11th verse Jesus said There was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father Father give me the share of property that is coming to me And he divided his property between them
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country.
And there he squandered his property and reckless living.
And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need, so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his field to feed pigs.
And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate.
No one gave him anything.
But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger.
I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Treat me.
as one of your hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son but.
Father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe and put it on him put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this My son was dead.
It is alive again.
He was lost in his found and they began to celebrate Now his older son was in the field
And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing and he called one of the servants and asked, what these things meant?
And he said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the fat and calf because he has received him back safe and sound.
But he was angry and refused to go in.
His father came out and then treated him, but he answered his father.
These many years I have served you and never disobeyed your command and you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends but when this Son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes you killed the fattened cat for him He said to him you are with always with me and all that is mine is yours it was
Fitting to celebrate and be glad.
Your brother was dead and is alive.
Who's lost?
And it's fallen.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to
the old Christ.
Please be seated.
I see the point for today is the Athanasian Creed.
That's on page 319, the Athanasian Creed.
Was the Aryan heresy that they were fighting so that's why the long definition when a church had the standard ground and say this is what we believe because this is the truth that is air and that will only get you in the hell very quickly so the Athanasian creed We'll do this verse by verse 319
So we read whoever desires to be saved must above all hold the Catholic faith And the Catholic faith is this For the father is one person the son is another
The Holy Spirit is another.
Such as the Father is, such as the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, Infinite.
And yet, there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal.
In the same way, the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, the Holy Spirit, Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.
So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person is God and Lord, so also
We are prohibited by the Catholic religion to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Son is neither made nor created, but be gotten of the Father alone.
Thus, there is one Father.
not three fathers, one son, not three sons, one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
But the whole three persons are co-eternal, with each other, and co-equal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.
but is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believed the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's God.
He's gotten from the substance of the Father before all ages.
He's man.
born of the substance of his mother in this age.
Equal to the father with respect to his divinity, less than the father with respect to his humanity.
One,
however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh.
But by the assumption of the humanity into God Whereas the rational soul and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ Send it into heaven and deceit it at the right hand of
The Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
Those who have done good will enter into eternal life and those who have done evil into eternal fire.
Thurman here.
Children, or myself away, where are you?
and gracefully
The incredible stuff, grace.
The years from God, our Father, and from His Lord, and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
And so it is.
We come to Father's Day, and we have a parable about fathers and sons for Father's Day, 2026.
Good friend Pastor Ploutz has his birthday today.
So I sent him a card and I thanked him for having his birthday on Father's Day at saved postage.
If you want to change a life, first you have to change a heart.
The rest will follow and that works this way.
To change a heart, you have to inspire a desire, make an offer that puts value and worth into real possibilities for the present and the future.
Now that offer has to be tangible and legitimate.
coming from a reliable and trusted source and no, I'm not trying to sell you insider information on the stock market because here's where it starts to get biblical and personal.
You need to know that that tangible and legitimate source cares about you.
What happens to you loves you even when you don't love yourself.
Money and things can't do that, can they?
Love you back.
The only one who can put that all together in a human life is God, our heavenly Father, and that's what made Jesus the magnet to the most unlikely cast of characters at the top of the list of Luke 15.
All the people you don't want your kids ever around, anytime, anywhere, are huddled up close to Jesus as close as they could be.
The thieves, the prostitutes, the scammers, the cheats, the tax collectors,
The worst possible collection of hellbound lowlifes, you could possibly imagine at least to another part of that group over there in the corner who were holding their noses, trying not to touch or be touched by anybody in that crowd.
After all, contact with public centers would have contaminated you and it would have spoiled your religious activity for days.
The scribes and Pharisees couldn't imagine someone with the title Rabbi
collecting Israel's riffraff and perfectly content to teach them, even eat with them.
When you ate with somebody in that day, you were treating them like part of the family, father with sons and daughters.
Nevertheless, God the father had sent his son as savior for one and all, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
To make that plain, Jesus spoke in parables, in Lego-like models.
So people could hear and imagine and understand and at least open up the possibility that through his words, the spirit of God could change the heart with the offer of no one less than God himself.
Now, the offer and the spirit are wrapped up together, but please, oh, please understand, it is quite possible and make no mistake about it that people could look, Jesus Christ could look God straight in the face and walk away.
I don't want that, not for me.
Now, here's where this parable gets dangerous, because unlike simple comparisons in Jesus made those,
You sometimes get those that are a little bit longer, you know, like the fellas working out in the vineyard all day long, or the story of the stewards.
Some of them take on a little bit different character.
They have a more dramatic effect to it, more like a play that's unfolding in your ears so you can hear and understand, and this is A3 Act Play.
It all centers on home, at home, away from home, back at home, right?
Okay, we got that home.
way from home, back at home, and home is where the father is.
So if you're away from home, you're away from the father.
Family is broken.
Now we can be so familiar with a parable like the prodigal son that we stop listening to what Jesus is saying.
Hear the words, yes, but to really listen to it speak to the center of life, I ask you to do this.
Be very, very careful.
You do not close the door.
to God.
We all together react drama all about home.
Home is where the father is.
So listen up and listen hard to the story unfold and you gather insight into the character first of daddy.
That's the one we're introduced to.
We see this daddy and he begins to sound a lot like God from the get go.
We find out that he's unbelievably recklessly generous.
You know like the Lord loves a reckless, hilarious, reckless is what that is, giver.
It's like this father is like our creator and the giver of all good gifts.
Sounds just like who?
God.
Now as the story goes on, this daddy begins to look like God straight out of the psalm that we shared.
Remember words like these, he's compassionate and gracious.
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy, he has not dealt with us as our sins deserve, or repaid us according to our iniquities as a father, as a father, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
But for the story's sake, the generosity comes first, the rest of that character comes in later in the story.
Now you need to know that this parable gets dead serious from the get-go.
The line that opens up the parable is simple.
The youngest of two boys comes to his father and asks for his share of the estate.
That is simple in English, but if you read it that way you really missed out on what would have shocked the socks or the sandals off of the most hardball thief in the crowd because
Let's translate that the way it would have sounded.
This is everybody 2,000 years ago, ready?
The boy came screaming, why can't you just die, old man?
You're wasting my time.
You're wasting my life.
I want to live.
Really live.
And I can't do that stuck in this mud hole you call home.
I need my money.
I need to get on with my life.
And I need it now.
You hear me, old man?
Give me my share of your estate assets, and I'm out of here."
That is what nobody could believe that a kid would actually say to his father.
But that's what's there in those few words when the son asked his daddy, which didn't happen, shouldn't happen.
But it did, according to the parable.
It was the most outrageous insult a son could throw at his father.
And to the astonishment of the crowd, the Father did just what the Son asked.
And by now, the heads are beginning to spin.
What on earth?
There's the generosity of dead.
That almost sounds like God again in another way.
If you want to live life without me, go ahead.
I won't stop you.
After all, we read that God sends His reign on the just and the unjust equally right.
He won't stop the world to let somebody get off.
It'll keep turning.
It's just turn without relating to that one individual.
So the boy, oh yes, I might add this.
You know, when it comes down to life, you can try to run and hide from God, but you won't succeed.
And perhaps just as bad, you can run your lungs out, but you can't run away with yourself, from yourself, because you have to live.
You have to live.
with you, yourself, and your decisions, and that's for better or for worse, no matter what.
So here's bad decisions.
Our boy took his liquid assets in cold hard cash and planned to get so far away from home he wouldn't have to think about it again.
That's like Jonah running to Nineveh trying to get away from the call of the Lord.
It ain't gonna happen, but you can try.
He wanted to make home and dad a very distant memory, and how he did that, he partied down, he partied on, and he partied away every nickel.
When I first wrote this, I put down every cent he had, but we don't use pennies anymore, so I went to the next value.
Every nickel, and he had till he was flat broke.
Imagine that.
Right, living in the present, he hadn't planned past the party spirit.
Now let's make it worse something else.
He didn't plan on was a famine broke busted broke busted disgusted agents.
That's mama's and papa's isn't it?
Agents can't be trusted.
Well here we have this boy broke busted and starving Usually aren't life goal plans, but he managed to accomplish it all on his own In fact, it got so bad.
He had to badger a citizen nearly to the death
You know, like doing it, just banging on the door until finally the guy offered him a job and I ran into a little side note here as I was doing my spade work.
To this day, this is still a Middle East practice.
If you badger somebody and they don't like what you're doing, they'll give you a job, but a job they know you will refuse.
At this point, as Jesus is telling the story, when the guy sent him out to feed pigs, everybody went yuck, or threw up, or worse.
You just didn't do that as a self-respecting God, well, attempting to God, please, Jew.
And doing that job, he spit down hard, he had to fight the pigs for nutritionally worthless carapods.
What was that like?
I tried to think of an analogy.
If you sit down and eat two gallons of popcorn, and I mean pop, not the raw stuff, okay?
You eat two gallons of pop popcorn, will you fill your stomach?
Have you gained anything in nutrition?
That's why if you're dieting, eat lots of popcorn.
Both stomach and soul are running on empty at this point.
Now, we mentioned Jesus as the magnet.
How many?
aren't beginning to get this picture.
How many listening to Jesus knew exactly what the boy was going through as Jesus unfolded this drama?
How many I don't know, but I do know that the Holy Spirit was working overtime to drive the picture home.
And by that I mean literally to drive the picture of home into the hearts of the hearers.
What's home?
Home is where the Father is.
But somebody was paying attention.
That's always a good thing.
The crash came in the pig pen when the boy remembered home and his father's character and how many of his father's hired hands had more than enough food.
We read he came to his senses at that point.
You know, V8 moment.
What am I doing?
Came to his senses and started the long walk home.
Now it's called repentance.
But you do not repent in the biblical sense, which is where you're going this way in that direction towards whatever that is out there.
And you turn around 180 degrees and go the other direction until there's something there to go to.
Otherwise, all you're doing is living with regrets and remorse and spinning in the place wherever you are going nowhere.
But that's the point.
There was a memory.
That memory was of the father and where father is, there is home.
I'm going back home where daddy is.
Where daddy slammed the door shut.
That's what the kid deserved and he knew it.
But he also knew the other part of his father's character and here we were introduced to father again, aren't we?
He knew daddy.
He knew him to be generous to a fault but he also knew him to be
compassionate, and merciful, and gracious, and slow to anger, and he treated people like a father treats his children.
He knew that, and he counted on it, maybe, maybe, just maybe knowing that character, I can get a job as a hired hand.
Planned his speech, he did.
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your
Make me as one of your hired hands now.
I caution you about that That is not exactly a confession The first three parts are I have sinned against heaven.
I've sinned against you.
There's somebody offended I'm no longer worthy to be called your son That is the truth because he's nothing like the father right like father like son But to start indicating the way this thing should go now.
Hey hold it.
You're not the
Offended one.
You are the offender.
You don't dictate the terms after the confession.
That belongs to the one offended.
That belongs to the father.
That belongs to God.
Fortunately, he's gracious, merciful, and slow to anger.
And he stops us right in the middle of putting conditions on it.
So you get that.
To the shock delight of the boy, his father, daddy,
ran all the way out to meet him when the house home was nothing more than a spot on the horizon and the kid to his father was nothing more than a blip, a small little blip on his daddy radar.
He ran through his arms around him and kissed him.
Time for his planned speech.
Father I have sinned against heaven and against you I am no longer worthy to be called your son and daddy cut him off right there.
Don't miss that.
Listen up.
and listen hard.
You come clean with God.
Hey, I'm the one who blew it.
No ifs, ands, or buts.
After Saul did it with a comma, but David said, no, I blew it and threw himself in the mercy of God.
That's the way it should go.
That was a clearing of the soul of the guilt of his crime against heaven and against earth.
And by the way, you never sin against anybody alone.
You always sin against their Creator in yours.
just to make everybody a little more uncomfortable.
When you decide to take on somebody else, remember you're taking on heaven.
Be careful what you think about and what you say.
Nothing else, like the hired hand line, was necessary.
In fact, that would only get in the way.
The robe established his position as a son.
The ring gave him all the authority of the father, like he was a son, and you wore shoes if you were a member of the household, not a slave or a hired hand.
So the kid was back where?
Back home, where he should be.
The welcome home included a VIP reception, and that's where you kill the fatted calf.
It's the one you've been saving for such an occasion.
That's what you do when the lost is found, right?
When the shepherd found the lost sheep, or when the woman found her lost coin, the two parables that precede ours, it's like this.
Heaven itself breaks forth in a party, outrageous laughter and celebration over one sinner who repents.
Remember how that went?
Then the 99 who need know what?
Need know repentance.
And here's the kicker.
Jesus could have ended the parable right there, right?
Everybody loves happy endings like a Hallmark movie.
He could have.
but he didn't because you see by now it was pretty plain to anybody who happened to be looking around that that small little knot of people over in the corner were really put out.
You could read it on their faces.
The boy didn't get the hell he deserved.
Jesus' story was all wrong for those who think we are in a position to keep score on somebody else's sins before God.
in this case before daddy.
Yeah, there's sin.
There's things that are wrong.
That's what you aim at, but you don't sit there and lacerate the individual and turn them into mush as though you were God himself.
Curious thing, isn't it?
The younger boy got what he wanted and crashed into what he needed, collided with what he needed.
As we hear, it was similar but different for the older brother.
He wasn't at home when little brother arrived.
Big brother got wind of something going on while he was still out on the prairie and coming home.
What was this I hear?
Sounds like a party.
He found out what was going on.
A party for this useless, worthless, and I have other adjectives that I will delete at this point, brother, because you can read what's going through the kid's mind at this point.
His blood pressure is rising.
The more he heard, the more he ground his teeth in seething anger at Dad.
Dad's reason for the party and the resentment boiled over to the point that he refused to go in.
Father does for this son what he did for the other son.
He went out to him just as God comes to people, comes with himself, makes himself, offers himself to people through his word.
But the boy had a speech, his own speech.
Did you catch that?
It's one that he hadn't been rehearsing, but he had been living with it, stacking up one piece on top of another on top of another, and it went like this.
Here's his notes on life.
and he decided what's fair and not fair.
I did everything, everything around here, slaving for you, obeying every order you ever gave me, whether I thought it was stupid or not, and you never threw so much as a small goat party for me and my friends.
But look at you, when this, I'll bite my tongue.
Son of yours who devirals your assets with prostitutes comes home, you treat him.
like the most important person in the world.
What's wrong with you?
Notice he rinds up at the same point where the other son started initially.
Dad's got a problem.
You see, it sounds like he's blaming the brother, but accusing the father of airheaded partiality.
Yes, he is doing just that.
The oldest boy had everything he needed all around him, but there was nothing there he wanted.
There was nothing of his father's image or character, nothing like father, like son.
I was reminded as I was writing this, how many of you remember Al Capone?
How many remember that at age 12, Al Capone was an older boy?
Had it surrounded by everything he needed, right, the Word of God?
But it wasn't what he wanted.
I won't go into details of how he died.
What that means, though, is that the oldest son wound up being on the outside of the home, trying to look inside, and it puzzled him to no end.
God's grace and mercy are crazy, insane.
Who forgives such damnable conduct?
Nah, who indeed but God our Father as he forgives us our damnable conduct and welcomes us back.
to Jesus Christ, to a home.
It didn't make sense that he would wrap up his son in our skin, live in our world, suffer the curse of our sins and our failures against God and our neighbor, die in our place so we could live, go to prepare this place that is called home.
Where's home?
With our Heavenly Father.
Send us his spirit to turn us around and keep us going step by step in daddy's direction and to boot in the here and now Until then we actually have the privilege to live like our father Right like father like What a beautiful thing God has given us in Jesus Christ
Our imagery stored in our baptism, we get to be copies of our Father in a world of lost, hurting, and dying people just like those who flock to Jesus at the beginning of Luke 15.
Amen.
Now may the peace of God with surpasses all understanding, teach your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, through life everlasting.
Amen.
Sing the
offertory.
me.
Let us pray.
The whole church of God and Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs, heavenly Father, pardon our iniquity, pass over our transgressions for the sake of your only begotten Son, who, out of his great compassion, trot all our iniquities under his foot on the cross, that we might delight in your steadfast love, Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, heavenly Father.
You have provided pastors to preach your word, administer your sacraments, and shepherd your people.
Guard them from leading your sheep astray.
Grant that through their preaching, your people may be pierced by the law and saved by the gospel.
And finally, shield them from the assaults of the devil who would silence your word.
Lord, in your mercy, heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood is named.
We give you thanks for earthly fathers.
Give them confidence in their stations.
Zeal for their tasks to care for their families faithfully.
Make them examples to their children of godly life and love of your word.
Bless their work of bringing up children in the fear and instruction of the Lord.
Give them the comfort of your absolution over all their shortcomings.
Lord in your mercy.
Heavenly Father guide our rulers aright by the ministry of your church and instill in them.
Thank you for tuning in to
the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
May the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
If you have any prayer requests, please let us know.
You may call us at 715-723-6380 or stop by and visit 110 East Grand Avenue in Chippewa Falls.
If you're looking for a church home, we'll gladly tell you more about Zion, or help you find a congregation near you.
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Zion is a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri,
