Trinity 17
– October 12th and 13th, 2019 – Luke
14:1-11
In the
Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit +
Why do
you do the things that you do? What causes you to make the decisions
you make, to choose the choices in your life? When it boils down to
it, why do you do the things that you do? For the Christian, the why
of something, the reasoning why something is done is just as if not
more important than the act itself. As Christians, we are to be
focused on acting for the right reason, the right motivation –
acting with the right intentions. So why do you do the things that
you do? Our Lord is invited to a Pharisee’s house in our Gospel
text – and there is a man there, sick with dropsy. And it was a
Sabbath – and all these Pharisees are there watching Him, watching
to see what Jesus would do. But they were already lost – what is
much more important is why Jesus does what He does. And that is what
Jesus tries to teach these Pharisees – this is why He asks them
questions and then gives them advice – for the reasons why one acts
are just as or more important than what is done.
You
see, when it boils down to it – there are basically only two
reasons why a person does something – greed or love. A person may
act out of greed – act because he expects something to benefit
himself. This is the way of the world – where decisions are made
on the basis of what is best for me. This is the way of the world,
where one holds a finger up to the air before acting, where one
spends one’s time wondering what other people will say – and
acting only if you will garner their praise. On the other hand, a
person may act out of love – may act not thinking about himself or
his own benefit – but act simply for the good and benefit of the
neighbor. Now, this may require deliberation, it may require thought
on how best to aid the neighbor – but there is no worry about what
people will think, or even if they will notice. This love brings
about acts that are done even when no one knows, no one sees, no one
praises. This is the way in which a Christian is to approach his
life – seeking to act out of love.
Jesus
shows us today how foolish it is to act selfishly, to act worrying
what the world will think of you. One Sabbath, when He went to
dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching Him
carefully. And behold, there was a man before Him who had dropsy.
And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, “Is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? But they remained silent.”
Here is the set up. The Pharisees have set a test for Jesus. Their
traditions say that in order to make sure one Remembers the Sabbath
Day, one simply cannot do any work on the Sabbath – and they watch
Jesus to see if He would have the audacity to do work right in front
of them. Now, Jesus could have been cowered, He could have thought,
“Oh, I better just not do anything, these Pharisees might think
poorly of me – they might even not like me, not invite me to dinner
anymore.” Jesus could have thought how best to use the situation
to His advantage – what can I do that will make these people like
me more? But He doesn’t. Then He took him and healed him
and sent him away. Simple. Jesus heals the guy. Why?
Because he needed to be healed. . . and besides, living your life
constantly worrying about what others think of you – bearing that
burden of constantly trying to bribe people into liking you is folly.
You
can’t keep it up – no matter how hard you try, no matter how much
you dance the little dances you think they want you to – because
human opinion is such a fleeting thing. Listen to the parable Jesus
tells these Pharisees. When you are invited to a feast, do not
sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than
you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say
to you, “Give your place to this person,” and then you will begin
with shame to take the lowest place. If you live your life
always trying and striving to have other people think better of you –
to puff up yourself, to claim honor – you’ll not have it. It
won’t last. That’s the thing about the world – it loves
knocking heroes off of their pedestals, it loves scandal, it loves
tearing people down. And that’s what you get whenever you live
your life playing by the world’s rules – because it doesn’t
matter how popular you are now, how many people like you now –
someone “better” will always come along – and all of your
striving and working will be for naught. Heartache and worry – all
for nothing, only to be reduced to the seat of shame.
This
is not how or why Christ acts, dear friends. Then He took him
and healed him and sent him away. Simple. Decisive. This
man is suffering – Christ will stop his suffering, and if the
Pharisees don’t like it, they can go rot. Jesus acts with no
regard for what the Pharisees will think of Him – He simply acts
out of love for this man. But then, Jesus also acts out of love for
these Pharisees, these Pharisees who are so prepared to look down on
Him. After the man whom He has healed has left, Jesus says to the
Pharisees Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen
into a well on a Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out? Do
you see what Jesus is doing here? He isn’t trying to justify His
actions – He’s teaching. He’s showing love to the Pharisees,
He’s trying to show them the right way. Of course you pull your
son out of the well – for you love your son and that love will
compel you to act. The purpose of the Sabbath day wasn’t to
demonstrate how good and holy you are to everyone – it was to
provide rest and a time to hear God’s Word, a time to receive God's
good gifts. Being a gift to a neighbor in need – acting in love is
no violation of that – it would only violate false, self-promoting
standards that you establish for yourself. Even as the Pharisees try
to trap Him so they can look down on Him, Jesus calls out to them,
reaches out to them, tries to pull them out of their funk and mire.
And
there was no praise for Him in this. No praise for healing the man,
no praise for His patience in how He deals with the Pharisees. But
Christ Jesus acts out of love – not out of the desire to be
praised. Likewise, dear Christians – when you act, your actions
ought come out of love, and not from the desire for your own vain
glory. And showing love as a Christian ought – many times it isn’t
very popular. It’s not popular to show kindness to those who are
looked down upon – it’s not popular to say no to the wrong doing
that everyone else is doing – it’s not popular to hold fast to
what God says rather than the crazy and popular ideas of the day.
But it shows love. It shows love by caring for those who need to be
cared for no matter what anyone thinks. It shows love by not
standing by idly while your friends harm themselves. It shows love
because by defending the true faith of Christ Crucified you defend
life and salvation for all people. This is to be your task oh
Christian – to show love in all things – every act, every
decision – how do I best show love here? That is how you are to
live – that is how you are to treat your neighbor.
But
you are not defined, my friends, by how well you show love. You
don't show love as well as you ought, otherwise we'd never have to
bring it up. Rather, dear friends – you are who you are because
this is the love Christ has shown you. Everything Jesus does, He
does for you and for your sake. Every action Jesus takes He does to
win you life and salvation – no matter what the cost to Himself.
Jesus must die, must be whipped and left to die on a cross – so be
it, if that is what is required for you to be saved, for you to have
forgiveness – to the cross He goes. Christ Jesus always acts so
that you might know and receive His love. Shall we ponder the wonder
of Church itself – that God has preserved this congregation for so
long – simply so that today there is a place where you may hear His
Word and receive His Sacraments? Jesus always acts for you. Shall
we ponder the mystery of God’s Word – that God Almighty, Creator
of the Universe, chooses to have His Word written and preserved so
that you might learn it, might have it placed upon your heart and
mind, so that you might never be away from His Word that declares His
love for you. Jesus always acts for you. Shall we ponder Baptism –
that God joins Himself to you – washes away all your sins and
declares you His own child, His own heir, the beneficiary of all that
is His – and that He does this freely, indeed, for most of us when
we were too young to even say thank you? Jesus always acts for you.
Shall we ponder the Supper – that Christ Jesus, as a sign and token
of what He did upon the Cross, gives you His own crucified and
resurrected flesh in a way that you can receive and handle so that
your sin is forgiven and your faith strengthened. I have been asked
by those who deny that the Lord’s Supper actually does anything why
Jesus would have to let Himself come to us in this way. Simple.
Given and shed for you. Jesus always acts for you. In everything He
does – Christ always seeks your benefit. He is the One who comes
to you when you are weak and lowly, a sinner brought low by sin and
sorrow, and He says to you, “Friend, move up higher”
– that is, come and be with Me, be My companion for all
eternity, join Me through the trials of this life on earth and then
on join mMe for all eternity in Heaven.
That’s
what every sermon here boils down to, isn’t it? It’s what
everything we say as Christians drives at. Jesus Christ died. . .
for you. He rose from the dead . . . for you. Behold His Body and
Blood, given. . . for you. The sheer and utter wonder is that Christ
acts in the complete opposition fashion of the world – that He
craves not His own glory, but rather that God’s priority is showing
love to you. This is the wonder of the Christian faith. This is the
truth we try to emulate in our daily lives – living our own lives
for the benefit of our neighbors. This is the saving truth that is
proclaimed to the world – that Jesus always acts for you. And He
has done it, everything that you need – all thanks be to God for
His great love for us. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit + Amen.
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