Trinity 10

 

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

    How do you, O Christian, how do you deal with the world around you? How do you handle, how do you respond to the world out there, where we are bombarding with ever growing and worsening accounts of wickedness and evil? What should be your reaction? In our Gospel lesson, we get a wonderful glimpse of Jesus, seeing how Jesus reacts to the sin in the world around Him, and we learn from Him how we react, how we live. Listen.

    When [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you had known on this day the things that make for peace!” So here we are – it's Palm Sunday, Jesus is riding into town, the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David” are echoing all around Him, Palms waving. It's a giant party, everyone there is having the time of their life, but not Jesus. Jesus weeps. Jesus laments. While so many people think things are just hunky dory, while so many people celebrate, Jesus sees and knows that there is something catastrophically wrong. The people do not know the things that make for peace. They are celebrating rightly that Jesus is the Son of David, they're close... but they're just that bit off. They don't want a Jesus who is the Prince of Peace... they want a beat up the Romans Jesus, a kick some butt and take some names Jesus, a Jesus who will squash my enemies. And if we're being honest, we can understand. If we were living in Jerusalem, we'd probably want the Romans out too. Let's face it, we're no strangers to lamenting our political enemies and annoyances even today – and sometimes necessarily so. But beyond all that political fighting back then, even dare I say beyond our political posturing today, Jesus saw something deeper. People did not know, did not want, didn't care about the things that make for peace.

    There's a pun here, that we miss. The name “Jerusalem” literally means “Abode of Peace” - salam, salem, shalom – they all mean peace. The heart of Judea was Jerusalem, the abode of peace, the place where God's temple was present, where God would be present, where the Sacrifices that would atone for sin would happen, where peace, true peace, peace between God and man, peace amongst forgiven sinners, where that peace would be. It was to be the place of reconcilation and forgiveness and restoration. And no one cared. Not really. Jerusalem had become just a center of human power, where the focus was on which faction was in charge, who got to run things, who got run over. And it fell into a giant squabble, where when Jesus hears these cries of “Hosanna” He isn't hearing calls for peace but rather calls for “make us win, make us rich, crush our enemies.”

    When you look out on the world, what do you see? You see a world where no one could give two cents about peace. Where no one talks about getting along, where there is to be no forgiveness, no mercy, no charitable takes. Everywhere it's people fighting for power over whatever petty fiefdom they rule, and more over, they all want you involved, they want you to either take their side or be destroyed. There is that simmering rage, stoked constantly by those around us, by the news, by everyone to be angry, to pick sides, and to get ready to defeat the “bad guys.” You see things that made Jesus weep. And you know what – it's okay to weep yourself. It's okay to feel sorrow and wonder and befuddlement over what is going on in the world today. Because you're seeing what happens when people don't care about peace, when people don't want to live in peace with their neighbor but rather want to rule over them and defeat them and dominate them. And it's okay to weep over that.

    And Jesus does something interesting. When faced with all these factions, Jesus doesn't join any of them. The rest of holy week all the movers and shakers of Jersualem try to get Jesus on their side... and He doesn't join any of them. Because they don't want peace, they aren't focused on what He wants. No, I'm not going to join in your fight, I'm focused on peace. Now, this doesn't mean that Jesus becomes some weak willed pacifist who just curls in a ball – far from it! And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers.” Oh, Jesus will fight. And He will fight decisively. We can even say that we see Jesus angry here – it's not necessarily wrong to be angry – scripture tells us, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” There are times when sin must be confronted and dealt with – just like Jesus with the money changers. But what does Jesus do here? He drives out the moneychangers... but Jesus doesn't follow them home and burn down their houses. Jesus doesn't turn into Conan the Barbarian and start cleaving people in twain. And we don't hear about Jesus hounding them any other day during Holy Week. Jesus' action was simple – it was a one time thing to stop the problem at hand, and then it was done. It didn't become a crusade, it didn't become a standard operating procedure or a witchhunt – He stopped the problem at hand and was done. By the time the sun went down, there was no more anger to be found.

    There are things we are right to be angry with. There are things in the world that we are right to fight against. But again, that fight is always to be an in the moment thing, a fix it and be done thing. The goal is not to be fighting, the goal is peace. The goal isn't to crush the moneylenders, it's for the temple to be a house of prayer. And Jesus will confront many others over the course of Holy Week – the Priests, the Pharisees, the Saducees – but it's never where the goal is to be continually angry at them and destroying them – it's to get rid of the things that get in the way of peace. The things – not the people. And the contrast to Jesus' simple fix the problem approach is shown at the end of the text – The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy Him.... A note about that phrase “were seeking” - it implies that they were continually seeking, that they kept seeking over and over. The sun was setting on their anger and they rose in anger, and because of that they utterly ignore peace and engage in great wickedness... they plot to murder God Himself. And they feel good about doing it. That's the danger that we sinful men have when it comes to anger – instead of anger being the momentary response to wickedness where we deal with the problem and are done, we can cling to anger and nurse it, stoke it, whip it into a frenzy, and then unleash it's foulness and death and destruction.

    So then, what are we to do? When we are surrounded by so much wickedness in the world, when there are things that try to stoke our anger, when there are problems that we cannot fix, what do we do? Well, Jesus' repeated approach, His daily approach, shows us. “And He was teaching daily in the temple.” This is really the same thing as, “Would that you, even you, had known the things that make for peace!” Because where do you think you know, where do you think you learn, where do you think you receive the Peace that surpasses all human understanding except in Jesus and His Word? It is precisely in God's Word, as the Holy Spirit uses both the Law and the Gospel upon us, that we are lead into and given peace. When the world around us is odd and off and wrong and we're lead to sorrow, God's Word speaks to this – His law reminds us that we are not alone in seeing these messed up things, we aren't crazy for not wanting to go along with the world in its twisted games. We often speak about the Law being a mirror that shows us our sin, but one of my professors at Seminary, Dr. Fickensher, liked to also speak about the Law being the “mirror of existence” - where the Law shows and helps us to understand the reality of sin in the world. The Scriptures over and over show that while the wickedness we see might be new to us, the Lord has noticed it well before us and knows how to handle it. And He handles it – the Lord is the One who fixes things in the world.

    And so in the Word we are made to look at Jesus. We don't follow the world, we follow Jesus. We don't play the world's games, we don't dance to the tunes they call out; we follow Jesus. And – I was going to say, “We let Jesus” take care of things, but that almost sounds like we're in charge of Jesus – how about we say, “We sit back and watch as Jesus takes care of things.” Because that is what Jesus is doing – always. Jesus is in charge and in control, and He is taking care of things, all things, working for your good at all times, even if you don't understand what He is doing. No one in our Gospel text understood what Jesus was doing that holy week – the crowds with their palms, the moneychangers, the priests, even the disciples – they didn't understand. But Jesus knew; He was beelining to the Cross and preparing everyone for the salvation He would win with His death and resurrection.

    And that's the same thing He is doing now. He sees sin, He curbs wickedness (so much wickedness that we don't even know about is casually and quietly cut down by our Lord), and over all and through it all, He teaches, He proclaims His forgiveness, His victory over sin and death, the truth that however crazy, however strange the world might get – it doesn't stop Jesus from going to the cross and being the Savior. It doesn't stop Jesus from coming and being your Savior. You're baptized – that's a done and dusted fact, and Satan can't do a thing about that. And in His Word Jesus reminds you of this over and over, so you can have peace. What did we hear right after Easter - “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” This is true. The sorrow that you face, the messed up things that legitimately and rightly make you angry – they are no surprise to Jesus. And He knows how the world will try to drench you in sorrow and rile up your anger. But He has overcome the world, and He has won you life and salvation and forgiveness and peace. Listen to Him, and live in His peace. Jesus handles the world for you. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

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 +