In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Last week in our Gospel lesson we heard Abraham declare, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” Hear the Word. Or as President Berry of the LCMS would have said it back in the 90s – Get in the Word, Missouri! Of course we are to be in the Word – it's Jesus' Word – it's the Word that not only tells us about Jesus, but gives us Jesus Himself. The Word of God is living and active – sharper than any two edged sword. With His Word of Law God cuts us to the quick, showing and crushing our sin and killing it; and with His Word of life Jesus binds, forgives, gives life, and joins us unto Himself. All the dross that would get in the way of Jesus is bulldozed, cleared away by the Law, and then Christ is given, and with Him life, everlasting life! Who wouldn't want that?
Well, frankly, no one actually wants that. Even you. Even me. When Christ Jesus tears down idols, He's going to tear down idols that you really like. When the Holy Spirit calls out sin – He's going to call out sins that you really like. There's a reason we're more comfortable pointing out those terrible sins that those people over there do – things that we'd never be tempted unto. However, the Law of God is not meant to be a telescope used to pry into the lives of people over there – it is a mirror, it shows the sin of your heart, of your mind, of your lips and your hands. And so, in reality your life as a Christian is a war. The New Man within you wars with the old man within you, with your sinful flesh. Constantly. Until the day you die and are raised to new life free from sin, you are going to fight against hearing God's Word, hearing Moses and the prophets. That is the point, the warning of the parable our Lord speaks today.
So, the set up – Jesus is at a Sabbath meal at the house of one of the Pharisees, and Jesus has already made dinner really uncomfortable. This is the same meal where where Jesus heals on the Sabbath, where He points out the last will be first. We'll get that in 4 months or so. But the point for today is Jesus has made this meal... awkward. He's pointed out the Pharisees' smug disdain, their greed, their haughtiness, and called them to repent of it. In other words, the Law has been preached. And it's awkward. So, what to do when the Law has been proclaimed? Do we confess, or do we ignore it? Oh, Jesus your Savior, who will save you even from yourself, doesn't like to let you ignore it.
When one of those who had reclined at table with [Jesus] heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Ah, yes, well, very good points you made there... and um, yes, let's talk about the future. Oh, someday it will be nice to be in heaven – oh yes, yes, we can all agree on that. Now let's change the topic and move on, I've said something nice and pious sounding, moving on. Jesus is right there with them. The Kingdom of God is literally at hand. The long awaited Messiah is in the room with them, but they all want to ignore this fact, desperately. They are literally feasting with Jesus, but they just sort of wish Jesus would be quiet and go away.
Oh, Jesus is neither quiet, nor does He go away – thanks be to God! Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me, let Jesus never be silent! Instead, Jesus speaks – He speaks a parable about these Pharisees, and yes, also a parable about you, for sinful flesh is as it ever was, and the temptations of Satan might get dressed up differently but they remain the same from age to age. Listen. A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 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.” John the Baptist came preaching – the Kingdom of God is at hand – the time to celebrate with the Messiah, with Emmanuel, with God with us is at hand. You have heard the Word, you are invited – the time is now.
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.” And another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them, please have me excused.” And another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Ah, these excuses. I have too much wealth, I cannot come. I'm too busy, I cannot come. It's my wife's fault, so I can't come – as if blaming the wife isn't literally the oldest excuse in the book. These are the excuses of the Pharisees; their wealth and prestige were the “reasons” they had for ignoring Jesus, for thinking they didn't really need Him. Look at how grand and comfortable our lives are, see our busy routines – we can't be bothered to come to your feast, Jesus. We might deign to invite you to one of ours, where we will test you, and ignore you, and pretend you weren't here, but it will all be on our terms. Oh, the Pharisees – what a chance they had to enjoy a feast with Jesus that day – but they all alike made their excuses and did not even know what they had in front of them.
But the excuses are the same today. We know – the the Kingdom of God is here. The times for worship are set. We know, like clockwork – 5 pm on Saturday and 8:30 Sunday – come to the great banquet. Now, last week if you didn't know about the picnic, I'll give you that one – but we all know when service starts – that 15 minutes into the service we'll be hearing the Word of God and preaching, that 35 minutes in or so the feast where Jesus Himself comes to give Himself to you will be starting. And we have two of these, on two different days, you have options for what is more convenient. We should be grateful for that! A day is coming when that might not be the case, when congregations simply have to share too few pastors to go around, so if the circuit rider can get out on Tuesday night that's when stuff happens.
And yet, what happens. Week in and week out, the struggle, the fight to come to the great banquet. There are things to do, wealth to be enjoyed, the weak and groaning flesh saying not today. And sometimes those things are real – if your son falls down a well on the Sabbath – you take care of your kid. Sometimes the boss is a pain – we get that. But sometimes, often times, there's just that drag, that pull, those silly and stupid excuses for something else. Something good, even – a blessing from God... that we end up setting against God and using as an excuse to ignore His feast, to ignore His Word. Thus the reality of life in the sinful world. From our perspective, it takes personal discipline and accountability to get to Church, and you're always going to have things fighting against you coming here.
So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” And the servant said, “Sir, what you have commanded has been done, and still there is room.” And the master said to the servant, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” Ooph. A stern rebuke to these Pharisees who thought that they were so wondrous, that they were surely owed God's favor. A stern rebuke to you, when your pride makes you forget why and how you are here, how and why you are at the feast. It's not because of how great you are, how wondrous you are, how smart you are – it's because God shows grace, that is unmerited and unearned love and favor to people who do not deserve it and cannot earn it.
Go bring the poor in Spirit, who struggle against sin. Go bring the crippled, those who cannot show forth the love of God that they were created to show as they ought. Go bring the blind, who do not see the full reality of sin and temptation. Go bring the lame, who have no strength of themselves. Go bring you. And that is what Christ Jesus has done. By hook or by crook, Jesus has brought you to His feast today. He's done it – He has worked life in you over and against your sinful flesh and the world. In fact, He has found you when you were lost, wandering down the highways of sin, the broad path that leads to destruction. He found you when you were hiding from Him, even as He found Adam and Eve hiding in their own hedge so long ago and proclaimed the Gospel to them. The Holy Spirit is at work in you, making you to remember the Word, to hear it again, to receive Jesus again. Just as the Spirit works for so many.
And the thing is, this feast, this church, this congregation – it isn't about you. If you give heed to your flesh and leave, it will go on without you. The Pharisees didn't stop Jesus from bringing the Kingdom – all they did was wrest themselves away from it stupidly and foolishly. But, this feast is always, always for you – it is always Christ Jesus here, now, present for you, to wrest you away from sin and to give you Himself. Jesus forgives you. Jesus gives you life now. That isn't just a pretty saying, that is reality – a reality that is both daunting and wondrous – daunting to your sinful flesh because it will be crushed, and sinful plans will be undercut, and wicked dreams will be dashed – but it is wondrous for it is freedom from sin, it is joy that the world and its wickedness cannot take away, it is peace that you cannot wrap your mind around, it is hope in the face of all the wickedness and evil in the world. It is Christ Jesus for you; it is you eating bread that is also Christ's Body now in Christ's Kingdom, even as you are called to feast of the Supper of the Lamb for all eternity with all the saints of God. Christ Jesus comes to us today; let us feast upon Him. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
No comments:
Post a Comment