Trinity 9

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    The parable which we heard today is one that causes no end of consternation to folks. If you want the bible just to be a book with nice information on how to be a good, moral person, how you can impress God and make Him give you blessings – well, this one will put you into a tizzy. Because frankly, everyone in the parable is scum – is a liar or a cheat or a jerk. Or if you want the bible to be a how to book on earthly riches – well, this parable doesn't work either. Which makes sense; Jesus tells it right after the parable of the prodigal Son, and frankly, giving half your estate to a son so that he can blow it isn't exactly great financial wisdom. So then, why does Jesus tell us this story, what is His point? For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. There's the point – it's about being shrewd.

    So what is shrewdness? From a worldly perspective shrewdness abounds in this story. Consider: There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' Remember, with the parable of the prodigal son, the Elder son was indignant that the younger son wasted his share of the estate. So alright, let's get a story where that sort of thing just isn't tolerated. No fatted-calf for this manager – when someone spills the beans, when someone complains about how this manager had been “wasting” stuff – maybe skimming a bit, maybe using the expense account a bit too freely – that's it. You're fired. The rich man calls this manager into the office and says, “turn in the books, cause you ain't got a job here no more.” The big dog is going to eat the little dog. Think about it – you had the manager who was shrewdly taking advantage of his position, even if it was a bit wasteful. You've got the complainers who shrewdly see opportunity to get their competition fired. You know, if the guy above me gets canned, and I'm the one who called him out, guess who is in line for that nice corner office! And the rich man, he just tries to stop the wasting ASAP. All very shrewd according to the world – everyone looking after his own interests, making sure his own bread is buttered.

    Except now, this manager – he's up the creek without a paddle. And the manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.” Again, this is shrwedness on this manager's part. You could listen to any business guru or a TED talk speaker talk about this – you have to be realistic, you have to set reachable goals. Denial isn't healthy. This fellow's life has taken a turn for the worse – but he doesn't lie to himself. He doesn't walk out, strutting saying, “meh, who cares, I'll just get a better job from some other rich man.” Nope. He recognizes his situation. His reputation as a manager is toast. And he isn't strong enough to dig, and he isn't going to go begging. He shrewdly takes stock of his situation and does not lie to himself. Instead, he improvises. “I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.” So summoning his masters debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He said, '100 measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'” You get the picture. 100 measures of wheat – now it's 80. And by the by, a “measure” was basically 1000 bushels. This is big time stuff. What he does is utterly shrewd – and under the law of the time, perfectly legal. Books aren't in yet. He's still the authorized agent – he can give discounts. And you know what – if you are going to get fired for wasting the master's stuff, you might as well WASTE it... and build up quite a bit of good-will. Because it's not begging if you walk up to someone and say, “remember how I saved you 20,000 bushels of wheat – say, I need a place to stay and a bit of spending cash – think you can hook me up?” That's “I washed your back, how about you wash mine” - one of the shrewdest plays in the world. And that's why even the master has to commend the dishonest manager – got to hand it to him, it was some slick dealing there, got himself out of a tight spot.

    Everyone in the parable is playing the angles. They are all after the money, and they all work and scrap and fight for it. Money dominates their thoughts. And they are shrewd. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. So then, what about you, O Christian, you who have been called out of darkness into Christ's marvelous light? Jesus is making a blunt statement here – you Christians, you disciples, you don't act very shrewdly when it comes to your faith, to the things of God. I mean, the folks in the story do whatever they can for the Almighty Dollar. So, what about you Christian? How about it – are you shrewd, not in terms of your dealing with money, but shrewd in how you deal with Christ and His mercy? Do you fight and scratch and claw – to forgive your neighbor? Do you do whatever it takes to show them love, do you care for them by hook or by crook? How zealous are you in showing love and mercy, how eager are you to make peace with your neighbor? Or to put it in Catechism terms, when you put the best construction on things, are you really thinking about how to put on the best construction – are you working at it – or just kind of shrugging along? And then, seeing your sin, knowing your lack, are you shrewd about receiving forgiveness? Do you crave it, do you prioritize hearing God's Word and receiving mercy? Or do you just putter on?

    You see, when Jesus tells this parable – He had just finished the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, the Prodigal Son – because the Pharisees had been grumbling about forgiveness. Jesus had been eating with sinners – and they grumbled. “That's not how it should work. Why waste your time with scum – you should deal with us, we're the big wigs, we're the important people!” Big time important people, like the dishonest manager, or the rich man, or folks who rack up giant bills. And they should have known better – the Pharisees prided themselves on how they were good Believers... and yet, they disdained their neighbor. In reality they were really striving after wealth, after earthly success and fame. They didn't see their sin – they cared nothing for mercy, they gave no mercy to their neighbor and didn't think they needed any themselves. And so Jesus calls them on it – calls us on it. “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” If you don't care about God's Word of forgiveness, if you want to be about money, if you want to be focused on earthly power – well, you better do it really well, because there's always a bigger dog coming in this dog eat dog world. Death comes. How will you deal with eternity? Maybe you can make so much money that when you die you'll, oh, I don't know, somehow bribe your way into heaven... do you hear the sarcasm here? You want to live chasing after money, well, good luck... you're gonna need it. Because when it boils down to it, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” You can't do both. You can either spend your life living to earn and make and take and gather everything into yourself, or you can show love to your neighbor, and give of all that you have. When you get worried about the money, you'll just step on your neighbor. And we know this. It's a story that plays out too often in our own lives.

    Of course it plays out. That's what the fall was. Of course in our sinfulness we act cutthroat and shrewd – Satan is shrewd and tricksy, and in the fall he was quite shrewd and trapped us in sin and death. Satan thought he was pulling the biggest fast one of all time in the fall. Trapped mankind in sin and death, using God's own law to separate us from God. What better way was there for Satan to show his hatred of God than orchestrating the fall? But here's the thing. Satan forgot something, misjudged something. He forgot just how shrewd Jesus is. You don't hustle a hustler, Satan. While the sons of the world are shrewd – they've got nothing on how shrewd Jesus is. Jesus knows what He wants, and He will get it. Jesus wants you, and He wants you forgiven. And so Jesus will be utterly shrewd when it comes to showing you mercy, to winning you salvation. Here's how it goes. Jesus says - alright, Satan – you want to play it all cutthroat – tell you what. You can cut my throat. Tell you what, Satan, I'll even throw in humiliation and degradation for free – you can have Me whipped, and mocked – you can even crucify Me. And Satan, in his hatred of God, in His wicked desire to hurt God, took the bait. Crucified Jesus. Went to town on Him. The thing is – that death on that cross undid everything Satan has done to you. The wages of sin is death – well, the spotless Lamb of God just took care of that upon the cross, didn't He? Oh, and look at that – that spotless Lamb rises from the dead – we get to as well now. And Satan's left holding an empty bag of hot nothing, because Jesus is shrewder than Satan. Now Satan will still cause trouble – he doesn't give in. He's not wise enough to figure out that he'll never top Jesus, so Satan will still hound you, mess with you, tempt you. And Jesus just shrugs – knock your self out Satan – I'll protect them, and even when they fail I'll just keep on forgiving them. They are mine, purchased and won with my blood. I'll keep on forgiving them, showing them mercy – doesn't matter how foolish or incomprehensible you think it is.

    And so while Satan does his worst to you, Jesus still calls you to His house, calls you way from that. Jesus is wise and zealous and shrewd – and He keeps on giving you forgiveness – keeps on calling you His own baptized child, keeps on giving you His own Body and Blood. And you know why? “No servant can serve two masters.” Can't serve two masters – and Jesus is your Lord, and He calls you here to His House and He reminds you over and over that you are His and that you are forgiven. Doesn't matter what you've done – it doesn't trump what He did for you upon the Cross. It doesn't matter what guilt you feel – the reality is He took up that guilt long before you were born. Doesn't matter the temptations that you face – He faced temptation down for you already. You belong to Him. Jesus loves you – it's as simple as that. And while the world will never get that, never understand or accept it – you are loved by Christ, now and forever. If thou, O Lord, kept a record of sin – who could stand? No one, so Christ says to you, “take your bill, and write zero – you owe nothing, for I have paid it all.” Because Jesus is shrewd, He is zealous and strives for what He wants – and He wants you to be saved, redeemed, forgiven, and with Him for all eternity. Jesus is all about giving you mercy – and His mercy endures forever. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

2001 - The Post We Make Contact

 I just noticed that my previous post was my 2000th post on this blog... which isn't as bloggy as it used to be.  More of a sermon repository now - which is fine.  I've ruminated on a few bloggish rants/essays, but there have been other things.

For those of you who still use and enjoy this - thanks, and may this site be beneficial in your understanding of Christ's love for you!

Trinity 8 Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.” Here, towards the end of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount we hear this great warning, this dire and dread statement of condemnation. I never knew you – you false prophets, you wolves in sheep's clothing, you hypocrites and liars and bad trees – depart from Me, get away from Me, back, back with you, down into hellfire and damnation with you. It is a most serious warning, and one that we ought to pay attention to. So today, to begin, we need to spend some time pondering what it means to be a worker of lawlessness.

    Now, if I just say “lawless” to start, our first thought is probably that of an outlaw, a criminal, a bad dude. Someone who is engaging in outright immoral wickedness and illegal behavior. And yes, that is part of this idea of Lawlessness. Don't go and try to be evil. We get warnings against open and blunt wickedness elsewhere in Scriptures as well – Paul says in 1^st Corinthians, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Running around wantonly ignoring the 10 commandments, any of them, is not good. But this isn't really the point that Jesus is making here – not precisely. Jesus is talking about “lawlessness” - not being unrighteous, not being wicked. And Jesus, in the Gospel, isn't merely issuing a warning to people who acting outwardly and openly in defiance of God. No, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” No, this warning of Jesus, this warning against Lawlessness isn't a warning against all those bad people out there and don't you people go and join in their wicked reindeer games – flee that junk, get away from it. That's a fine warning – it was Paul's warning in 1^st Corinthians after all – but that's not quite the nail Jesus is hitting on the head today.

    No, this lawlessness is something that is much more subtle, much more cunning and harder to spot. This lawlessness is something that even people who brag about their works can fall into. These workers of lawlessness are people who can claim before God Almighty that they prophesied in Jesus' name, and cast out demons in Jesus' name, and did many works in Jesus' name. Yet, Jesus still calls them workers of lawlessness – there's something deeper going on here.

    What is lawlessness? Let me quote from Salvation Unto Us Has Come – it's my favorite hymn, we had it last week during communion – if I had my druthers we'd sing it over and over until you all had it memorized, but I'm not going to do that with any hymn, especially a 10 verser. However, it is one of the best summaries of the Christian faith we have, and I'll direct your attention to verse 3, which says, “It was a false, misleading dream, that God, His law had given/ that sinners could themselves redeem, and by their works gain heaven. The Law is but a mirror bright, to bring the inbred sin to light, that lurks within our nature.” The scriptures show us that we sinful people can take God's Law, God's good and wise Law, and we can use it wrongly. We can use the law lawlessly, apart from it's purpose, to our detriment and doom. And one of the most simple ways that we do this is we abuse the law by thinking it shows us how we can earn, how we can work our way to God, how we can work our way to salvation. We're not saved by what we do – we are saved by Christ Jesus and His death upon the Cross. Our relationship with Jesus isn't based upon what we do, but rather what He has done and how He comes to us. And the workers of lawlessness get that all wrong – didn't I do this, Jesus, and didn't I do that, Jesus, an oh, I did it in Your name. Me, me, me, I, I I – see what I did. Sorry, I don't know you, you worker of lawlessness.

    Paul notes in 1 Timothy 1 the following: Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient... God's law has a definite purpose, and one that is often misunderstood. It's not to be used to get us closer to God, but it's to show us our sin, to make us know the folly of our actions, to curb us from terribly destructive and harmful acts and to drive us to repentance. But it cannot and will not ever save. The law is good – being kept from great shame and folly is a good thing. Order in society is a good thing. But it doesn't save, it doesn't redeem.

    This is why Paul says in Romans, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” We can mishear this in English – Paul isn't saying that the law is destroyed or done away with – rather, the end, the ends, the goal, the point of the law is this – to drive you to Christ. The Law, used lawfully, will show you your sin so that you repent and cling to Christ for righteousness. Christ and His righteousness is the end, the goal, the point, and always has to be. Is it not? I mean, when I preach a sermon, I do proclaim God's law – we routinely look at the Scriptures and God's Word and it does proclaim the Law, it talks about our actions – and we see them, we repent, we learn what we are to fight and struggle against in both the world out there and in our own lives and hearts... but we don't stop there. We don't “end” there, because that's not the end, not the stopping place of the Law. The Law's goal, the law's endpoint is to drive you to Christ and His righteousness. To where on the final day and you see Jesus you don't say, “Look at what I did, Jesus” - you proclaim, “Thank you Jesus, for You have saved me from my sin!” The song is “Jesus loves me, this I know” - not “I love Jesus, see my works.” But the temptation, the siren song of the false prophets that Jesus warns us against today to do to just that – to turn the focus away from Christ and His death upon the Cross for you, and rather on to your works, what you do for Jesus.

    And it's a subtle shift – because you do do things for Jesus. As a Christian, you do live for Jesus, you do strive after showing love to your neighbor. I would certainly hope that you all try to be good and diligent in living out your lives and your God given vocations this week. But that's a result, that's what spins forth from the fact that Jesus has died for you, and the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel and given you the gift of faith, and then everything that Jesus has done for you spills out in your life. Again, listen to Paul from 1 Corinthians 15 -  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Even Paul has to check himself – everything is by Grace, it's about what Jesus has done – and He did it well, I worked harder than.. oh, wait, wait, wait – woah Paul, woah – not I, the grace of God that is with me. What we might want to call “my works” aren't really “mine” as though they come from me or belong to me. Anything that is good in me or good that comes through me comes from the Grace of God, the free gift of God. Come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith – the one who begins our faith and who brings about it's completion.

    And this, my friends, is how God enables you to spot false prophets – people who talk falsely about God, who talk falsely about Jesus. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Hear what Jesus is saying here – there will be false prophets, but you judge them, you look to the fruit. And again, don't just fall back into simple morality here when thinking about fruit – that's not the fullness of what Jesus is speaking to here. Hypocrites and hucksters can produce all sorts of nice seeming works. Rank unbelievers can do social good, can engage in civic virtue. No, look at the fruit. If it's a grape, it has to come from the grape vine... and if it's not giving you grapes, it's the wrong plant. If they are to be true prophets of Christ Jesus, then the fruit that they will be giving you is Christ Jesus. He is the vine, you are the branches, abide in Him and you will bear much fruit – much Jesus. Much of Jesus' love. This is why Paul was determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified – because that's the point, that's the truth, that's the goal.

    When you hear a sermon, when you hear someone start talking about Jesus or God or what have you – and I include hearing me here – a good, simple thought to have is this: Did Jesus have to die on the Cross for what I just heard? This talk, this sermon, this speech, whatever you hear – did Jesus have to go to the Cross for it to work, for it to make sense. Is Christ Jesus dying and rising for you the heart, the center, the point of everything, or was Christ the Crucified pushed off into a corner and ignored? If Christ isn't the point, it was a bad sermon. A false sermon. A lawless sermon. One that doesn't get to you know Jesus – because Jesus is and always is the One who comes down from heaven and for our salvation goes to the Cross. And people will give all sorts of Lord-Lord talks, Jesus and God and Country and Apple Pie rhetoric – but if it's not Jesus came into this world to die for sinners, of whom I am chief – it's a load of bunk. Maybe somewhat useful or practical bunk, but still bunk nonetheless.

    And it's not what Jesus wants for you. Jesus does not want you to depart from Him – and this is why He in fact comes to you Himself – He comes to you where He has promised to – in His Word, His true, full, and complete word proclaimed lawfully and full of the sweetness of the Gospel. He comes to you in Holy Baptism, He comes to you in His own Body and Blood in the Supper (beware when people downplay what Jesus does for you in Baptism or the Supper!) - He comes to you because He does in fact know you and you know Him, and as His sheep you listen to His voice declaring His love for you, that He has died for you, and that you are forgiven by Him. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 7 Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Again. This is a word we ought to associate with these miraculous feedings. Again. “In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat…” Didn’t we just have this situation? Wasn’t it back in Lent where the Gospel reading was the feeding of the 5000? Yep. And here today, we have a feeding… again. And you know what – it’s appropriate, because if you look at Mark 6 you will see the feeding of the 5000 – and now this is Jesus feeding people in chapter 8. Sure, it's a different crowd, a different place, but in many ways it's the same thing... again.

    When you look at the Scriptures, things are often repetitive. They happen over and over and over again. Once again this week in our Gospel we see a great crowd gathered with nothing to eat. People running off in their excitement about that miracle worker Jesus who had just healed a deaf man (again), but this time right on their door step. And I suppose we can understand the people doing this, I mean, they would have been excited, this would have been new and thrilling, we can get that. But think about Jesus’ disciples for a moment. Jesus sees the crowd, and He announces that He wants to feed them (again), yet what do we hear from the disciples? “And His disciples answered Him, ‘How can one feed these people with bread in this desolate place?’” Really? Really disciples – just two chapters ago you saw Him turn the five loaves and 2 fish into enough food for well over 5000 people, and you ask that question? I mean, I could see if folks in the crowd would think it, but you’ve been with Jesus all this time? How come you haven’t gotten it yet?

    Now to be fair, to the Jewish mindset, seeing wasn’t believing – it was seeing two or three times that was believing. Everything had to be proved by two or three witnesses, so maybe that has something to do with it – but still, wouldn’t we expect the disciples of all people to know what is going to happen? That Jesus will break bread and feed the people there? And yet, for some reason, it just hasn’t set in yet – and the same questioning, the same dumb doubting of Christ's power kicks in. Again though, to be fair, the entire Scriptures are really a history of people falling into the same traps multiple times, over and over again. Abraham passes off Sarah as his sister and not his wife, not once but twice. The Israelites grumble about water, not once but twice – in fact the second time upsets Moses so much that he smacks the rock instead of just speaking to it like God had said. Guys end up having multiple wives again and again, and it always goes poorly. The book of Judges – over and over the people forget God and get themselves into trouble. The prophets – they all lament Israel and Judah falling into idol worship and worse again and again. Over and over, people falling into the same sins, messing up things the same way, over and over again.

    But, of course, let’s be honest. The Scriptures are a brutally honest book, and they don’t hide warts. What if there was a book of the Scriptures based upon your life, or what if you were reading “1^st Eric” – how long would it take before you put your face in your hands and said, “I can’t believe he’s doing that… again!” Because that is the vile nature of sin. It is repetitive, it is pervasive. It is habitual, and bad habits are hard to break, and they don’t like to stay broken. It's what we see in the world, and sadly, it's what we see when we look back upon our lives. Whether it’s the end of the day, or thinking back upon the last week during a sermon, or on an anniversary, or even on a death bed with regrets flying in front of us, over and over, so often we see the same old stupid things, the same weaknesses, the same faults, the same sins. Over and over again.

    “In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, He called His disciples to Him and said to them, ‘I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.’” So what is Jesus’ response when He sees the crowd starving again? Disdain? Mockery? I can’t believe people came to listen to Me unprepared again? Nope. None of that. He has compassion. There is no belittling, no complaining about the crowd. No, these people are with Me, I have compassion upon them. The Greek there means that His guts were wrenched – I feel what they feel, I have compassion because I am with them and they are with Me. And if I do not act, they won't make it home, and I will not have that. I have compassion upon them. Again.

    This is the reality of what it means when we confess that Jesus Christ is both true God and true Man. This is what Christmas means, this is what the incarnation, the fact that God became man, means. Jesus has compassion – Jesus came down from heaven, took on a body like yours, like mine, and He experienced life in this world. All the sorts of things that impact us – whether it is hunger and being faint, as it is in this text – or being mocked, or hurting, or mourning, being forsaken by friends, all of those things, He experienced them, He has compassion. And the beautiful difference – whereas as we will use the things that happen to us to justify our bad behavior – eh, I yelled, but I had had a bad day – not so Christ. With Him, always perfect love. Even to us. Even to the disciples who just utterly drop the ball and can’t even guess that He is going to feed the crowd. Instead, Jesus just does what He needs to do to show care and compassion – And He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. There is no berating, no handwringing. Just another miraculous feeding – here you go, take this bread that I have blessed and be filled.

    And here we are in this congregation. Gathered once again. A liturgy we've prayed before. Hymns we’ve sung before. Readings we’ve heard before. All of this, appropriate. Because we here are what we’ve been; poor miserable sinners who struggle with the same sort of junk we’ve been struggling with for the past month, for the past year, for decades, for our entire life. And yet, here is the wonder – week in, week out, again and again, Christ Jesus has compassion upon you. He doesn’t get sick of you, He doesn’t get tired of you. Once again, over and over, He speaks His Word of forgiveness to you. Once again, He takes a flawed disciple and bread is broken, and it is given to you – take and eat, this is My Body, given for you, take and drink, this is My Blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Without fail, the forgiveness and mercy and life that Christ Jesus won for you upon the Cross is given to you here in this place.

    Why? Because you are the Baptized. Because in your Baptism, you were joined to Christ Jesus – that was the Epistle last week – you have been baptized into Christ Jesus. And what precisely does that mean? In terms of our Gospel lesson – “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days.” That’s you – you’ve been with Jesus “three days”, baptized into His death, and of course joined with Him in a resurrection like His. He cannot but have compassion upon you, for He loves you as He loves Himself. And He knows your limitations, knows the war that sin wages upon you, He knows how sin plays upon you and messes with you – but over and over again He comes to you here in this place and says to you that you are no longer, in fact, a slave to sin, but you are bound to Him, that you are a slave to righteousness, that you are forgiven. Your baptism, the forgiveness of your sins, that you are bound to Christ, a slave to righteousness and now sanctified and given eternal life – these are the realities that Christ sees and remembers at all times – and so, when we are worn and weak and weary, He will present them to us again, He will make them present realities again – He will preach them again, He will place forgiveness upon our lips by giving us His own Body and Blood again and again and again. Because He has compassion upon you; because you are His and He will not let you go on your way faint from sin, but always, always forgiven.

    “And He sent them away.” Off they went – back to their lives, but having been cared for by Christ, and indeed, still under His continual care. Likewise, you will be sent from here – depart in peace, the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace. Sent back to your life out there, your homes, your jobs, your family. Sent back to face the same difficulties and struggles – but sent in peace, as God’s own baptized children, washed and forgiven. Sent, but ready to be welcomed here again next week, to be fed and forgiven again. Because Christ Jesus never becomes bored of forgiving you, of strengthening you – it is His delight and joy and purpose of His Church. God be with you all this week, and God see you safely here again next week as well, even until He sees you safely to the life everlasting. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 5

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Think how low Simon Peter must be when we meet him today. We see him and his partners cleaning up the nets after a long night of fishing, a long night that yielded nothing. Peter had spent the night throwing net after net over into the water, hauling wet rope up by hand, and gotten nothing. No fish. Nothing to sell. And after that back breaking but fruitless night, they are on the shore cleaning out the nets – because the seaweed and the junk has to get off of them and maybe when we are done we can just go home. You all have had rough days, you know how it is at the end of the day, you just want to be done and be done and be done. That's where Peter is.

    Then Jesus walks on up and drafts Peter for a bit more work. Push off from the shore, I'll preach from your boat. It makes wonderful acoustic sense – sound bouncing off the water, the shore forming a bit of a natural amphitheater... but it also means that instead of going home and getting rest, Peter is stuck there. Maybe he enjoyed listening to Jesus preach, maybe he didn't. I'm not going to pretend that all of you here are always just thrilled to be here and super-attentive to the sermon, especially if your week has been hard, or you're coming off of a night shift or something like that. Yet the preaching goes on – probably hours of it, and tired and sore Peter still waits, and waits... and then Jesus turns to Peter. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. This is stupidity. This is folly. You don't catch fish in the middle of the day, that was why they'd been fishing all night. And if they let down the nets, they'll just have to clean seaweed off of them again – but with resignation Peter says, “At your word I will let down the nets.” And then an unexpected victory – a catch so massive that the nets break, so big that they have to summon the other boat, and they both begin to sink because they are just so full of fish. Peter's day has gone from lousy to unimaginably prosperous! You might think Peter would be overjoyed. But he's not.

    But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.' Pause there and think about that. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Peter isn't a fool. Peter knows something divine, something miraculous when He sees it. This is a sign of God's presence and activity and this is Messianic – and Peter's afraid. He knows that he's a sinful man, and God is here – so he begs Jesus to go. Does that seem strange to you? Why would anyone be scared of God showing up – oh, I don't know, do people even today get all happy dappy about Judgment Day or the End of the World? Because that is what Peter is seeing – the end point of all things. Don't think of this as “oh, my friend Jesus is here” - Peter would have viewed this as apocalyptic and fearful. The Messiah has come, the great and awesome day of the Lord has come... and there Peter is. A sinful man. And he had been looking God square in the face; he had been sassy and saucy (we toiled all night and caught nothing) with God Himself.

    That got people killed in the Old Testament. Even Elijah, the greatest prophet, had to wrap his face and cover himself before talking to God – even Elijah wouldn't dare to enter the cave where God appeared; no, Elijah remained at a distance. Of course he did – sinful man doesn't do well in the presence of God! And there's Simon-Peter – and he'd been sassing the Messiah. And so he asks Jesus to go. And this isn't a sign of disbelief or no faith – no, Peter is a faithful man. But he is sinful, and he knows that sin and God don't mix, so the best he can hope for, the mercy he seeks from Jesus is this: Go away, and just don't smite me. That's what Peter thought mercy would be – God, just leave me alone.

    Do you know what the real difference, the real impact of Jesus is in practical terms? We new testament folks have a hard time even conceiving of how anyone could possibly want God to depart from him. Oh, we still get mad at God when lousy stuff happens – Elijah grumbled in the Old Testament, and we grouse at God about how things aren't fair today too... but when we grouse at God we just go ahead and grouse. We don't wait patiently on a mountain top and then humbly cover our faces – we look up to heaven and grouse. Kind of presumptuous, isn't it? That's how comfortable we are with God – because we are New Testament people – we are people who have been born and raised in the last days of the world. We see everything through the lens of Christ Jesus, God come to be with us in a way that we can handle, God come to redeem and forgive.

    This is what it meant when Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Do not be afraid – whenever you hear that phrase in the bible that means that God is about ready to do something good for the sake of His people – He is going to show mercy and forgive and make things right. The punishments for sin will be taken away and sinful man is going to be forgiven instead of blown to smithereens. And we are the baptized, we live, we have our identity established in the fact that we have been forgiven by God. We are the forgiven. We are the people who live viewing God as their dear Father whom they can approach in prayer with confidence as dear children ask their dear father. We are those who have been given faith and are those who have been invited to Christ's table this day for strengthening of that faith. As St. Paul says, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” We are caught men and women, we are those who have been caught and rescued from the world and brought into God's house by the power of the Word and Spirit.

    And sometimes we can forget just how strange and wondrous it is to have faith. Many of us are just simply used to it – we can't remember a time when we didn't have faith. We can forget just how foolish our faith seems to the rest of the world. From our Epistle lesson, Paul is not wrong when He says that the Gospel, this forgiveness in Christ without any works on our part, it foolishness and folly. We live in the world, we know how that works. If someone wrongs us, does something to hurt us, don't we EXPECT them to make it up to us? You messed up, how about a little “restitution”? In this world we live in “I'll make it up to you” is the wisdom of the world. And yet that's not how you relate to God – well, okay, sometimes in your sin that is how you try to relate to God – we will want to cut a deal, maybe at least I'll wash your back God and you can wash my back in this way sort of thing. But that's not how it works with God. God's approach to you is utterly foolish. He gives and gives without demanding anything back. Here you go Peter, have some fish, and no, I don't need a cut of the profits, no I don't need “free” advertising on the side of your boat. Here you go. Utterly free. And that is what God does for you – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Oh, the foolishness of the Cross, to die for sinners! Jesus cries out for mercy for those who are crucifying Him, He cries out for mercy for you and me – a mercy that takes dead, dying, sinful people – people full of sin where everything is tainted and wrecked by selfishness and greed and hatred and lust and envy – mercy that takes people like you and me and leads Jesus to die for us. Jesus dies to forgive and give life and save. Jesus going to the cross, according to the wisdom and logic and dog eat dog sense of the world, is the dumbest move in history.

    But that's who Jesus is. That's what your God is like. Just when Peter has a chance to corner the Galilean market on fish, Jesus calls him away from that. No, Peter, we're not going to be rolling in dough, that's not My goal. We're going to wander around and proclaim mercy and forgiveness, and even to people who will reject it and kill Me – but as We go, some of them will be caught up into faith. And even after Easter, as you go on your way you'll end up making disciples of all nations (even the races you don't like) by baptizing them and teaching them. And over the many generations, that's where you come in. You have been caught up in all this Jesus stuff. You have received His love and mercy – and you are even entitled to speak it forth. Foolishly. Stupidly. You have a boldness to forgive others who don't deserve it in the slightest. You have a boldness to love our enemies, to let them know that God Himself died to forgive them. You have the boldness to confront your own sin – because let's not pretend that any of us are perfect. No, we are bold to face down our sin and fight it down – that sin gets in the way of loving our neighbor or forgiving them – so for their sake we need to fight it, and we do so boldly because we know that God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are those who are called out of darkness into God's marvelous light, and so we live in His light and we fight against the darkness we see, the darkness that creeps up in us in here, the darkness out there there that would overwhelm and devour our neighbor. But we fight it most foolishly – we fight it by seeing Jesus and His Cross, hearing Jesus and His Cross, proclaiming Jesus and His Cross. We're forgiven people, how fantastic is that?

    So, there's the call of Peter – a strange day, not what he would have expected, not now he would have had it go – but yet far more wondrous for him than he could have imagined. This too is the shape of your life, because you are a Baptized, forgiven child of God, and your Lord will work good for you and through you and in you by the power of His Word. Might not be the good you expect, or even the good that you sinful flesh might want – but Christ's Word is at work in you, bringing forth forgiveness. Therefore, this week – do not be afraid. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Trinity 4

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    I want you to think back on this past week, and I want you to think of all the stupid little times you got angry, annoyed, peeved. And not even over big things, or serious things – but just all the passing junk that drifts on by and you get irked, your temper flares, you roll your eyes, a little huff and puff. Think of all the petty disdain, the irritations that try to grow into rage. And I mean the little ones, the stupid things that just bother you and get your goat. Your pet peeves. The face palm, head in hands, shake your head I can't believe they just did that moments. Got them? Have some in your head? It is precisely those sorts of things that Christ Jesus your Lord is speaking against and warning against in our Gospel today when He says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

    And I mean this quite seriously. Let's review what comes right before this verse. Jesus instructs us - “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, for you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” This is the generosity of God, where He gives and doesn't expect anything in return. This is the love of God, where even to those who fight against Him He still does good, actual real good. Is someone ungrateful? Are they a scoundrel? Your Father still does good to them, and if you want to be like your Father, that's what you'll do. In fact, Jesus tells us to be merciful... well, there's a problem with how we hear this. There are two words in Greek that get translated as mercy – there's the typical one – Eleos – like we get in the Kyrie Eleison – Lord, have mercy. Lord, see the lousy consequence of my actions and deliver me. Have mercy on me; don't judge me guilty, spare me!

    Except, that's not the word that Jesus uses here – He uses a great word, but it's a word that we just don't have in English. It's oiktrimon - It's “Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.” Except, that sounds weird to us, because if we say that someone is “pityful” we mean they are low, down, messed up. So full of pity doesn't sound right in modern English. Jesus is saying, “When you see someone and they are doing someone foolish, silly, annoying – your first and overarching reaction should be to pity them – to see them as people who are trapped in sin, trapped in the folly of this world, trapped in death... because you know what? That's how your Father sees things. That's how God looks out upon the world – He sees all those things that got you riled up – the things that others have done to you or even that you yourself have done... and His reaction isn't primarily anger or disgust or anything like that. It's pity. It's compassion. It's,,, heartache, where God sees His creation that He loves groaning in bondage to sin and death, and that's not what He created any of it for, not what He created you for. He created you to receive nothing but His goodness, and yet, you're stuck in and surrounded by badness... and so God is moved to pity. Pity, not rage. Pity, not disdain. Pity, not annoyance. And so, instead of destroying, God is moved to rescue. Instead of crushing, God is moved to redeem. Hence “be merciful” - it works, but it's mercy that is driven by pity, never some haughty, begrudging I'll let you off this time. No, no, oh you poor thing, God is never begrudging towards you.

    And this is why the next thing Jesus says is, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned.” This is how God operates; this is how His merciful pity works. He's not interested in being critical and judgey – He wants you rescued and redeemed from sin and death, from those things that would lead to judgment. He doesn't want you condemned, He doesn't want you punished. God takes up your punishment and condemnation for you – that's why Jesus came, that's why He went to the cross and suffered, that's why Paul notes in Romans, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Get away from that miserable judging and condemning game that the world plays – get away from the grousing and complaining hobby, the rage and reaction... because it's a lousy game and it makes you miserable and angry and it's not what God wants for you. God didn't make you you with all your wondrous gifts and talents just so you could nitpick everything to death and not enjoy anything. And you live in a fallen world, which is nothing but a factory of discontent and death, and you get dragged to that assembly line of disgruntlement day in and day out... and Jesus says - No. Don't go there, don't clock in for duty at the daily rage factory.

    Instead – Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Do you see? Do you understand how God likes you to operate? He likes forgiveness – He likes completely getting rid of any strings hanging over people, any sense of doom – no, get rid of that. Stop worrying about it – forgive, let it go, be free of all that. And instead, give. Serve. Love. Because the simple truth is this – your Father is going to keep on forgiving and loving and serving and giving to you, so much, over and over, pressing His forgiveness and love and generosity into you that you'd never be able to run out of it, you'll never out forgive or out give God. That's the reality.

    And that's what we forget, and that's what Satan is trying to delude you into abandoning. God is merciful, God has compassion, God has pity upon you and upon your neighbor. He desires all, all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And when we forget that God is merciful, we ourselves slide away from mercy, from pity, from compassion... and we become more and more bitter and resentful and prideful and arrogant and angry and unsatisfied... and what do you think hell is going to be but all that junk ratcheted up more and more and more? Not what God wants for you. If you demand it, God will let you have it in the end. But no, in His pity He wants you forgiven and receiving His good with joy and thanksgiving because that's who God is.

    Do you see? He also told them a parable. “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” See who God is! Know and remember your Father's love to you – know His forgiveness, understand how He gives freely – and then and only then can you likewise have pity on your neighbor and lead them to God, can show them God's love and forgiveness. And this is what Jesus is preparing you to do, this is who Jesus is shaping you to be – A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Jesus has pity upon you, and thus you will have pity upon others who were trapped in sin, just like you were. Jesus forgives you, and thus you will learn more and more to forgive others. Jesus blesses you, and thus you will be God's blessing to other people more and more. Because Jesus is going to make you more and more like Him. And I mean that quite literally – you and I will only see it in full come the last day when we are raised from the dead even as He is raised from the dead, and we will be fully free from sin as Jesus is free from sin. You want to know what you'll look like, be like in heaven, in the life of the world to come? You'll be like Jesus – you'll be a Christian – a little Christ is full – but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. That was John. Paul puts it this way – For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

    Now, we don't always see. Now we live in the time of clouded vision and things obscuring the reality of God's love, where we and where our neighbors get distracted. Thus we hear Jesus say, Why do you see the speck that is in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,” when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your neighbor's eye. God wants those specks, those logs removed – God wants us to see clearly, rejoice clearly. And that only happens through forgiveness, through receiving Christ's forgiveness, through living in it – and then you will be prepared to forgive others.

    Oh there's so much junk. There's so many specks and logs gumming up our eyes, and we're about ready to leave service and head back out to our week where pretty near everyone and everything will be shouting at us to sharpen those logs into weapons and jab them at each other, where those specks will be built into molehills taller than Babel, where even our own sinful flesh will want to get in on that game. Week in and week out, that same sinful game will keep calling. But over and against that, remember who God is. Your Father is the God who has pity, who sees sin as something that needs to be forgiven and removed, not merely complained about or used as leverage. And this is how your Father sees you – with love, with mercy, with compassion – this is why He forgives you daily and richly in His Church, by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word – the Word that forgives and rescues you from the misery of judging and condemning and grousing and the dog-eat-dog-ing of the world. No, the Father gives you Jesus, and in Him you are forgiven and have new life, even now. And though Satan tries to obscure it, Jesus takes away your log so that you can see, so that you can see Him, for your good and for your neighbors', in all things. He was nailed to that log and died and rose, so that you would be rescued from your sin and have life in Him. Come, let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 3 Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Today’s parable is now known as the parable of the Prodigal Son. Son? As in only one? There’s not just one son in our story today, there’s two, two sons who both wander away from their father, two sons who despise their father… two sons who are richly forgiven and welcomed by their father. You see, the focus of this parable isn’t really upon either son – but upon the Father, the Father and his great, overwhelming, indeed prodigious love, love for his two wicked sons.

    And yes, I did say two wicked sons. Both sons in this story are troublesome and in the wrong. To begin, the younger son. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” Think just how insulting this would be. Dad, I'm tired of waiting for you to die so I can inherit stuff, so how about you just give it to me now? And we know what this young son does – he runs off, he blows it on wine, women, and song. And the way the story goes, it doesn’t seem to take him too long. Think about that – burning through half of a rich man’s life’s work in just a short time. Must have been wild. Must have been wretched and wicked. So we see that this younger son is off base, we get that. But what about the older son – in reality he’s just as bad.

    Oh surely he’s not that bad! He stays at home, he works hard, isn’t he a good kid? Well, when the older son hears that his brother has come home and there is a celebration, what does the older son do? But he was angry and refused to go in. The older son runs away too – runs off the fields. Then when his dad comes out to “entreat him” – to beg him kindly to come back in, this older son tells his dad off. “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet 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 calf for him!” Do you see just how wicked this son is? Think about this – he snubs family, snubs his brother. If I had snubbed my family like this, my mother would have tanned my hide. And then consider how he talks to his father. “Look”. You don't start a sentence with “look” unless you are throwing your weight around. And then he brags – I’m wonderful – but you dad, you are mean and unfair and you never gave me anything, not even something to share with my friends – not only do you treat me unfairly but you make me look bad in front of my friends too. Do you see how lousy this older son is behaving – I mean, this is nasty rebellion – this is a guy dressing down his father simply because his knickers are in a bunch because his brother got some attention.

    They are both lousy – and at least the younger son has the good grace to recognize this fact. Granted, he doesn’t realize it until he’s broke, stuck feeding pigs – and for Jewish folks, who thought pigs were unclean – this is about as low and bad and nasty as a job as you can get. So you have the younger son who is wild, hits bottom and realizes he needs help. You have the older son who is prideful in himself, who is hateful, angry, and mouthy, just completely willing to dress down his dad. I feel bad for the father in this text – both his sons treat him like dirt. The one says, “I wish you were dead” and the other says, “You’ve never done anything for me, all you make me do is work.” (Happy Father's Day!)

    But what does this father do? When the younger son comes home, does he make him slave away in the fields? Does the father become the cruel taskmaster the older son accuses him of being? No. Before the younger son can even apologize, can even start to beg, the father sees him coming and runs to meet him. In Jesus day they wore tunics – they basically wore robes, dresses that went down to mid-calf. He had to hike up his hem over his hips and run. It would have been a spectacle, an embarrassment. Dignified men didn’t run, and they certainly didn’t run to meet lousy no good brats like that younger son. But with joy, without concern for his own pride, the father runs to meet the younger son. What love!

    And then, there is how the father deals with the older son. Here this father hasn’t seen his younger son in who knows how long. And we know the father is so excited, so overjoyed to have this younger son back. But then he hears that the older son, his other son, is upset. So what does he do? He leaves his younger son’s party, leaves the son whom he hadn’t seen in who knows how long, and goes to see this older, pouting son. And when the older son is vile to him, lambastes him unfairly and unjustly, what does this father do? Does he give him the back of his hand? No. Out of his great love for the older son, he speaks kindly, he speaks gently, he seeks to restore the love between brothers and remove this brother’s hate. Do you see how this father is prodigious in love, how he is overflowing with love for both his wayward children, how he is patient and kind with them?

    The point of the parable is that this is precisely how God is with you. Consider again for a moment the two sons, for they are pictures, images, of how we ourselves might fall into sin. You have the younger son, and he is greedy, he falls into gross sin, he couldn't care less. That happens. He seeks to serve his wants, his desires, “I’ll do whatever feels good.” That’s one way Satan will tempt us – and that is a way of pain and suffering. It breaks us and we fall until we hit rock bottom. A lousy thing, but how many of us here have had to hit bottom with something? This happens. And then there is the older son. He’s arrogant, he’s prideful, he thinks so well of himself – and what does this do? It cuts him off, it isolates him. Think about it – everyone else is celebrating together, having a wonderful time – and he’s off sulking in a field. That’s what pride and arrogance do – if you walk around thinking you are better than other people, you end up alone. Again, how many of us have been there? Just so sure that we were right and we were going to tell people about it, and we look around, and we are off by ourselves because we in our pride were wrong. These sons show us simple, typical ways of sinning, and the end result for both of them are lousy. One is down at rock bottom, the other is stuck off on his own. Those aren’t good places to be.

    But there's something even deeper. Both these two sons have flawed ideas of how they relate to their Father. The younger son messes up twice – first he runs away from his father and doesn’t care whatsoever. Can we all agree that running away from God and ignoring Him is a bad idea? But then, even when he has hit rock bottom, he still is messed up in how he wants to relate to his father. “I will arise and go to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your servants.’” It was good for a bit – you are right young son, you have sinned, and you aren’t worthy. But did you see where he goes too far? Treat me as one of your servants. He wants to tell his dad what to do, and he wants to work things out on his own. That’s not the way it works. He doesn’t get to work his way back into his dad’s good graces. The father will have none of it – he welcomes back his son, brings him good clothes, a ring and good shoes, prepares a feast – all without the son doing anything.

    Dear friends, this is the picture of how God forgives you freely. God’s forgiveness, God’s welcoming you back into His family, into His House, to His table and Supper, never has anything to do with what you are going to do for God. Works flow from forgiveness, but our works never cause forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is all about His complete and pure love for you. God loves you, plain and simple, and He desires to have you be with Him, forgiven and restored. He’s not going to make you jump through hoops first, He’s not going to hold you at arm’s length – rather, when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In fact, God is the one who does everything. It is Christ Jesus who comes running down from heaven to you, who suffers the embarrassment and shame of the Cross and the grave so that risen again He might recieve you with open arms. This is God’s love for you.

    And again, the older son doesn’t understand how he relates to his father. He too thinks it is all about what he himself does – look at how I have obeyed you, and you never give me anything. Listen to what the Father says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” Son, how do I give you something when it’s yours already? I am with you, and everything that is mine, the house, the fields, the goats and calves, they are yours already – don’t you see? And the older son had been so worried about working, about earning his father’s respect that he failed to see that the father had given him every blessing already. Now, do you see how this too can be a way that we misunderstand God? God is not some cruel taskmaster – it’s not as though we must slave away and hope that God gives us something. Has not Christ Jesus our Lord told us that He is with us always, even to the end of the age? Have we not received so much goodness from God even before we think to ask for it? This is God’s love for you – for He is with you, and all that He is, His goodness, His righteousness, His holiness, His love – this is yours. And the problem is that so often we get focused on what we in our pride are going to do that we forget, we overlook what God has given to us already. But the most beautiful thing is that when we sulk, when we pout – God comes to us and says, “You’re baptized, you are joined to Me, I am with you always, and everything, heaven itself is yours now. Remember this, rejoice in this – rejoice in the good that you have and rejoice in the good that your brothers have. The party's waiting.”

    This, dear friends, is the picture of God’s love for you. Love that is overwhelming, love that is full, love that is complete. There is nothing left for you to do to earn it – simply rejoice in the blessings of forgiveness and life and salvation that are yours, for Christ Jesus our Lord has won us all these things, and He gives them to us gladly and freely. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

The Holy Ghost... THE EXHORTER???

 One of the greatest problems (in my opinion) with being an English speaking denomination - really a non-koine Greek speaking denomination is the devilishly hard time we have dealing with the word "parakalo".  You might know this word in English - it's the source of the word "Paraclete" - a title of the Holy Spirit.  In John 15 and 16, Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit, calling Him the... well... how do we translate this Paraclete word?  Helper?  Comforter?

Sure!  Good translations... but not quite full.

See, a paraclete would be someone who would be along side (para) you in your trial and speak (kalo) to you whatever you needed to hear to get you through the trial.  Your defense lawyer.  Your Perry Mason.  It's a word that describes a whole bunch of different activities.  Help, aid, advise, console, comfort, encourage, exhort, chew in to you if you need to be chewed into... just like a good coach will do a whole bunch of different things.

So it's a very full word.  That we tend to use very narrowly elsewhere... like when we translate the Epistles and take that same word and render it as "urge" or "exhort". 

In fact, we hear all this talk about "exhortation" - and generally the word that gets translated as exhortation is just that "parakalo" word.  Paul parakalos all the time... he speaks in the Spirit the Words that the people need to hear.

...

So why is that so often reduced to "exhort"?  Perhaps that says more about what people think rather than what the Scriptures actually say.  I mean, we have people saying that we need to end sermons with exhortation!  Perhaps there are times that might be the case... but I'd say our sermons need to be Paraclesis... need to be the Spirit filled words of comfort-help-encouraging-exhorting-coaching-consoling-advising that are apt to the time and situation of the people we are given to be paracleting at the moment.

See, just as "parakalo" can't be reduced to one specific aspect, neither can preaching.  When one preaches, one is dealing with a real congregation full of real people in a real time and place.  And where those people are at will always be different.  Sometimes they might need a swift kick, sometimes they might need more of a warning, sometimes they might need a stronger emphasis on comfort or encouragement.

You know, what we used to call the Art of applying Law and Gospel... both of them... and both in their fullness; the Law in its sternness, the Gospel in its sweetness.  And what might you have to emphasize on a given day to show forth the full sternness or sweetness - well, that really depends on your congregation and what they need to hear.

To simply say, "People need more exhortation" is as vapid as saying, "Coaches need to yell more at their team."  Sometimes that may be true... often it's not.  And often just having a coach scream more won't fix the problems with a team.

Sometimes a pastor coming down hard on a congregation will fix things... but not as often as we think.  And certainly not as a response to the Culture War - if the problem is that the world around them is messed up, how does wagging a finger fix that or prepare them to endure in the face of a messed up word.

I mean, I love Bobby Knight not merely as much as the next guy, but if you think all he was as a coach was the guy who yelled and threw chairs, you don't know Bobby Knight.  Don't reduce coach Knight to that... and don't reduce the Spirit and His work to finger wagging because of your fears over the crumbling of society.

Jesus wins.  He rose.  The Spirit still gives life.  He works faith through the Gospel.  People live in Christ.

They do.  And if you yourself aren't seeing that, O Preacher, then perhaps you should shift your focus - let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and the It-is-finished-er of our faith.

Trinity 2 Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    I love the word “banquet.” It just sounds fun. As you can probably tell, I like food, I like to eat – and the idea of a banquet is that it is a party, but a party with great food. And it's food that is prepared for you by someone else. There's nothing you need to do, you don't need to bring anything – every is provided. And while He is attending a Sabbath dinner at the house of some Pharisees who had been testing Him and awkwardly ignoring Him, Jesus decides to tell a story about a banquet – a banquet where everything will be provided, where it's all done for the guests as gift, pure and simple. Come, receive, rejoice delight. Because this isn't just any banquet – A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. It's the great banquet, the Mega Banquet. It is literally a feast of biblical proportions, something that anyone who is invited to should be overjoyed with, on cloud nine. It is what everyone should be looking forward to.

    And finally, it's ready! And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” This is the way things are done – when things are ready, you get invited in and you come to the feast. I mean, Jesus had been invited to a Pharisee's house for a Sabbath meal, and when it was ready – Jesus showed up. Now that meal went oddly – it was the one where they invited the guy with dropsy to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath... and then when He does, they basically all start ignoring Jesus. It was sort of a lousy meal... and yet, when they told Jesus things were ready, He came to that meal. That's what you do – if you're invited and say that you'll come, you show up.

    But not in the story Jesus is telling. No, in this story – But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it, please have me excused.” Understand how bad an excuse this is! I must? I have to look over the field that I bought... buddy, didn't you look it over before you bought it? I mean, it's yours now, it will be there tomorrow. Nope – there's my excuse – blown off. Do you get the insult?

    Or the next guy. I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused. Yeah, I'd come to your party, but you know, I bought this sweet combine last week, and I'd rather just sit in my barn and look at my combine. Again, you don't lose your combine if you come to the party – and it's fantastic, there's prime rib and one of those chocolate fountain things... open bar, too, sure you don't want to come? Nah, gonna look at my combine. Do you get the insult?

    And then with the last, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. Sorry, I'm a newly wed, now I get to blame the wife. You sure the wife doesn't want to come to the social event of the year? Nah, we ain't coming. Do you get the insult?

    Of course, Jesus isn't talking about a party here, not as we think of it. He's thinking about the plan of salvation, the heavenly, eternal feast of the Lamb. And all throughout the Old Testament God had said that the Messiah would come and usher in this eternal celebration. Your sabbath rest – that was just weekly reminder of the great eternal rest to come. Even the early passover meal – a foretaste of the feast to come. It's coming, the salvation of the world is coming – in fact, Jesus is here, Jesus is actually with them, teaching them, preparing them to see the mystery of the ages unfold... and yeah, no, we're just not really interested. Jesus is repeatedly blown off by these people. Do you get the insult?

    And yes, Pharisees, your excuses are silly. And I know that you don't like that I've been healing the sick and preaching to the poor, dealing with all the “little people” - well, what do you expect? There's a feast to be had. So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then master of the house became angry and said to his servants, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” What, did you think God would curl up in a ball and cry Himself to sleep if you skipped His party? Did you think the Almighty was put everything on hold just cause you weren't coming – nope, the great banquet will go on, pack 'em in – go bring people who will be happy and rejoice to be there, who cares about the louts. God ain't going to put up with being blown off, He isn't going to be heartbroken if someone gets all passive aggressive – I'll just skip and that will show God. Nope – the party's going to go on. In fact, as there's still room, the Master will say to the servant, “Go out to the highways and the hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you none of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.” You want to insult Me, you want to play high and mighty against the Almighty – nope, highwaymen and thieves and robbers, they'll be at the feast. Hey, Pharisee – you see this thief on the cross next to Me – guess what, today he's going to be with Me at the Paradise Banquet, and you'll get nothing. And why? It's your own fault – your own fault for thinking you know better than God, for thinking that you should blow off God and His invitation. You don't want anything from God, you don't want to be at His feast – fine, then that's what you'll get – so long, see you, goodbye.

    And that's the story that Jesus tells to Pharisees who are ignoring Him, messing with Him, taunting Him. Jesus lays the cards out on the table – here's how salvation happens – I will be the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, and I will win salvation for everyone – and you're invited – are you coming or not? Because if not, that's on you. But you ought to rethink your priorities, you ought to rethink what is important.

    And here's where we squirm a bit, or at least ought to – because when it comes to priorities, we tend to be pretty lousy. I mean, we confess that when we gather together for Worship that God Himself is present, that He comes to us in His Word and dwells with us – that we gather with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven... and yet, sometimes it seems like worship is skippable, push off-able. I've got better things to do... and sometimes we do, this is one of the reasons why we have multiple services a week – life happens and things get scheduled – even Jesus acknowledges that if your ox falls into a well on a Sabbath you go pull them out of the well. But a lot of times, those excuses we've all come up with sound more like, “I need to go check my oxen” or “I need to go wash my hair” or whatever blow off excuses you prefer.

    But the service goes on. Church continues. The call, the invite keeps going out anew. And you know what – we get brought in. We get over ourselves, over our stupid excuses, our stupid things we think are more important than Jesus and His forgiveness – and we get brought in to the Church. It might be when we see that we are poor and lame and blind – because that's when you know that you need Jesus, that this is important. It might be when we get compelled to come, when our stupid excuses and wickedness comes crashing down around us and we're pulled in all dragging our feet and mopey. And you know what happens then – the Great Feast, forgiveness, life and salvation, taste and see that the Lord is good – and good for you.

    Is that not astounding – that week in and week out there is forgiveness, without fail, proclaimed to all who come when called? Jesus is faithful – God is trustworthy – He said He was going to give a feast of life and salvation, and so He does. Constantly, continually. Even for us today, even if there have been plenty of times when we've wandered and been foolish – well, now, today, it's the day of salvation. Now, Christ's death and resurrection is for you. And it's real, and it's true.

    So, whenever something pops up, shows up in your life that tries to tell you that Church and God's Word isn't all that important, isn't the most important thing you'll run across in this life, indeed, for all eternity – pause, and beat down that temptation. Because that's what it is – a temptation. Something that is trying to be an idol in your life and supplant God. Resist it – fight against it. Pray for help from to turn from it. Fight against all those temptations that would lead you to blow off God and to insult His grace and mercy. They aren't worth it – and besides, Jesus wants something better for you. He wants you to live in His mercy, in His love, in His joy both now and eternally, and in His Word He pours His mercy and love and joy into you and over you and He works it through you so others receive and delight and taste and see that the Lord is good. Because it's for you – the feast is for you, and all that Jesus does He does so that you would be delighting in His gifts both now and forever. This is the truth – remember it always. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 1 Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Well, now we are full into the season of Trinity. Things are green, and they are going to stay Green for quite some time. Trinity is the teaching season, the season of growth. Today's lesson is this: Sin is ignoring the Word of God. All sin. It all blows off the Word of God. This is precisely what our Lord is teaching the Pharisees with our Gospel lesson today. “Wait, what do you mean teaching the Pharisees, I didn't hear anything about Pharisees in the Gospel text!” Luke 15 and 16 are all one big narrative all tied together – and Luke 15 has the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, the Prodigal Son. Ones you know well. Luke 16 starts with the dishonest manager – take your bill and cross out 100 and write 80 – you cannot serve God and money. We'll look at those in detail later in the summer, but upon hearing these lessons, we hear in Luke 16:14, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed Him.” Think on that. The Pharisees hear Jesus tell these beautiful and cherished parables, and they laugh. They mock Him. They ridicule Him. And so, Jesus explains how it really is.

    Alright, you lovers of money who mock the idea of relying simply upon the goodness of God, here you go. “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.” This is a beautiful set up. You Pharisees love money – alright, I'll tell you a tale about a fellow with tons of money. The best clothes, the best food, gated community. Everything your selfish and greedy black hearts could want. And over and against this rich fellow is this poor, sickly, beggar whom I'll call Lazarus. Here is where Jesus is neat – the name “Lazarus” means “one whom God helps.” You Pharisees have been laughing and mocking all these parables about God helping, God showing mercy to folks, about God rejoicing in and delighting in forgiveness. Alright – here's two people – the rich smug jerk like you guys, and then the poor fellow whom God helps, help that you've mocked. And the rich man does nothing for Lazarus.

    Seriously – the rich man is cold. He lets Lazarus starve to death on his doorstep. But at least when Lazarus dies Lazarus is “carried by the angels to Abraham's side.” In the Old Testament, the way of saying that a man died in the faith was that he went to sleep with his fathers – well, there you go, there's Lazarus and he's with not just any old father, but Father Abraham. And now, to the Pharisees, for their fellow. “The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off.” Do you get just how big a smack in the face, what a shot across the bow this is to those Pharisees who were mocking Jesus? Laugh it up now, because if you don't repent, you'll be burning in hell with all the pagans, far, far away from Abraham. And you know what all that power that you love and crave will get you there? You know what your money and fame will be good for when you're burning? And [the rich man] called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” But Father Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” Oh, so NOW you want things to be about mercy – mercy you never showed to Lazarus, mercy you Pharisees don't show as you stand by and laugh and mock as the poor have good news preached to them. Well, tough. You see Pharisees, this life is the day of mercy, today is the day of salvation, and if you don't care about living in mercy now, about receiving mercy from God and showing mercy to others, well, when you are burning in hell it will be too late. Jesus is reading these Pharisees the riot act.

    Now, it would seem that the Rich Man comes around a bit – send Lazarus back to my house, I've got five brothers and I don't want them to end up here. And Abraham says, “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” They've got the Scriptures, they've got the Word of God. Moses and the Prophets (and indeed, the whole New Testament today) teaches that we are sinful and need to repent and cling to God for mercy - mercy that He gives in the Messiah, in the Christ. What Abraham says is spot on. Abraham says, “your brothers have it better than I did, because Scripture wasn't written yet in my day – they should be thrilled that they can hear the Word of God come to them over and over and over again. God has given them such a great gift in His Written Word!” And then we get to the crux of the problem. And [the rich man] said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Pause there for a second. There the rich man is, burning in hell, and he has the chutzpah, the audacity to tell Abraham, father Abraham, “No”. No, Abraham, you don't know what you are talking about; I know what I'm talking about. Remember what the Pharisees were doing, mocking Jesus' preaching? Jesus, you don't know what you're talking about. There it is. Sin is ignoring the Word of God. Sin is thinking you know better than what God has promised in His Word.

    So Abraham knocks the rich man down – sets up the Pharisees too. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Your plan won't work – if they mock the Old Testament Scriptures, they'll mock the New Testament too, they'll mock the parables of Christ Jesus, who will in fact rise from the dead. All because in pride and ego, people ignore the Word of God. You think you're so pious, you Pharisees. You think you are so much better than others because of how you're such good Jews, (good Christians,) you see your wealth and power and prestige as proving how good you are. Do you use this to serve your neighbor as Moses instructed? Do you confess with the psalms that all flesh is grass, that the flower of the field withers? Do you put your trust in the Lord for mercy? Do you seek out and wait for the Messiah whom the prophets foretold? No, you don't. You ignore the Scriptures, you ignore the Word of God because you in your pride think you know better. You're in for a world of hurt.

    Now, here's the moment of truth for me as a preacher. Because if I wanted to, this text sets up to just let me unload on you folks. I could preach up a whole heap of fire and brimstone here, guns ablazing. However, as the point of the text is that we ought not ignore the Word of God, I really ought not treat this text, this story as though there was only one character in it. It's not just the tale of the rich man – it's the rich man and Lazarus. And I know that Satan and your flesh are trying to turn you into full-fledged rich men, but when I see you, I see a bunch of Lazarus-es. And I have a good reason to see you as such. Lazarus has a name. Interesting point. In all the parables and stories Jesus tells, Lazarus is the only person ever named.

    You too have a name. You have a Christian name. Your baptismal name. That's why part of the rite of Baptism includes “how are you named”? And there, at the font, you are brought into the family of God, washed clean and forgiven, and there you have God's own Name - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – placed upon you. Lazarus means “one whom God has helped” - and there's not more help than God can give than Holy Baptism. Washes away sin, gives eternal life. Brings you into the Church, makes you a member of Christ's own body. So yes, looking at this story, what I see when I see you, what we ought to see and think of each other is that we are Larazus-es. That we are poor, miserable sinners who are “Lazarused” - who are helped by God.

    Let's be honest about that poor and miserable sinners part for a moment. That is what the Scriptures say of us, and that is the reality of our lives. In the story, when we see Lazarus, he's laying there sick and battered and as good as dead. That's the reality of life in this fallen world. We are covered with sin and temptation, we are battered and ignored, we starve from a lack of love and crave it. Some of you feel this reality strong now. For some of you, the physical description hits too close to home. And if some of you are having good times; don't get too haughty, eventually it gets rough for everyone here, as the Scriptures teach, as you well know. So there we are. Kicked in the teeth. The people next to you, in front of or behind you, there they are too. Don't be afraid to admit just how rough it is for you, for you neighbor. That's reality, or at least part of it.

    The other part, the greater part, is that you are helped by God. These trials and temptations and sufferings that you face, they don't thwart, they don't dash God's love for you. You are forgiven. Christ Jesus, your brother, has won you salvation, He has come down into this world and suffered along side you, seen everything at it's worst, died and risen for you, and so you too will rise. Nothing you face here can stop that. And as for each other – well, “Even the dogs came and licked his sores.” We comfort each other. We care for each other, even if the best we can do is lick each others wounds. While the world around us might show all the disdain of the Pharisees, the callousness of the rich man, so be it. We are poor beggars, but we are helped by God. We are miserable dogs who give what comfort we can – but we are dogs who are fed on the crumbs from our Master's table, receiving His life giving Body and Blood for the remission of our sins and for strength to show love and mercy to one another.

    This is what the Word of God teaches. This is why Satan wants you to ignore the Word of God – just as he has since he first quipped, “Did God REALLY say” so long ago. But you are Baptized, you are people of the Word, brought to this house of God where the Word of God is read, proclaimed, sung, recited. And that Word of God tells of your salvation, won by Jesus, and that Word of God delivers that salvation to you. This is what God's Word says – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Though our sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though you are battered and beaten and broken in this life, you are helped by God, and you shall know eternal rest in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God! In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +