We’ve been talking a lot about sheep these past 2 months. The focus is always Jesus. He is The Lamb of God that bore the sins of the world. But on Preschool – or Little Lambs – Sunday, we got a preview of what we hear today. The Lamb of God is The Good Shepherd of His sheep. . . .

I like bread. White bread’s the best, and dinner rolls. My wife makes wheat bread from scratch. There’s nothing like fresh bread right out of the oven. . . .

“A little while.” Nobody likes to wait. The children are getting anxious for the end of school; the teachers too. They get anxious for birthdays and presents and cake, for vacation and fun and games. We get anxious for baseball season, a promotion, or to get out of the hospital. “A little while?” That’s no fun! . . .

Where are you from? I’m from southeastern Michigan. You might be from Pittsburgh, Penn Hills, Plum, Oakmont, or Verona. You might say your parents or your ancestors came from places like Germany, Sweden, Mexico, South Africa, Africa or any other number of places. You might be able to list all sorts of places your ancestors came from. . . .

Our organ console is about to get rebuilt on the inside. The technology in there is not in the best of health. What’s going in will be much more efficient and modern. Our organ repair man tells us we’ll need to replace the flute ranks soon too. That’s why you see in your pews envelopes for the organ fund. We need to prepare for that work to be done so we can pay for it when the time is here, and that time is coming quickly. . . .

“Ask ye.” That’s what that word Rogate means. Normally these Sundays in Lent and Easter are named for the first word of the Introit in Latin, but not today. Today the name comes from the theme of these days before Ascension. The Church for a long time used these days to pray God not to punish us as we justly deserve but to richly bless the fruits of the earth. A chief prayer on these days is The Litany. This ancient prayer of intercession, which Dr. Luther himself revised in 1529, teaches us what all we are praying for when we say The Lord’s Prayer. . . .

“God is gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.” When the Israelites sang Psalm 47, did they know they were singing about today’s event? Perhaps they had in mind when the Ark of the Covenant came to Jerusalem or when The Glory of The LORD entered His Temple when Solomon dedicated it. . . .

Yesterday was a big day in The Church’s Year of Grace. It was Ascension Day, the day we celebrate that Our Lord Jesus went up into heaven and sits at God’s right hand. . . .

We hate to wait. We want instant gratification. We forget the wait makes things that much better. We are impatient; we are also self-centered. We hate to wait for things we want; we definitely don’t want anything to do with things we don’t want. We only want what is comfortable. Nuisances? They can just go away. If they don’t, or if we see something we don’t like, we get away or go on the offensive until those things are long gone. . . .