“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this Reformation Day comes from the First Lesson just read from the book of Revelation. [Knock, knock, knock] His hammer drove the nails into the thick church door. He was excited, a bit nervous, but most of all he was angry. [Knock, knock, knock] That anger drove the nails in deep. This young monk was upset at what the church had taught him, but what made him even more irate was what the church had taught to the people he preached to and cared for, the good Christian people of Wittenberg. [Knock, knock, knock] Those nails tacked to the door what young Martin Luther called his ’95 Theses,’ ninety-five points of disputation. He was calling on people to debate him, to start a conversation, but what started was the Reformation. Luther could never have predicted that what he began on October 31st, 1517 would consume his entire life; in fact, his hammer would echo throughout history, resulting in a church split into literally hundreds of denominations. His message would divide, for it was the message of the pure Gospel: You are justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.
Martin Luther’s message focused on that vitally important word ‘justification.’ Today, many people, including even more than a few Lutherans, have said that this complicated word has no meaning to modern people. I disagree; in fact, I think we know all about justification, because we attempt to do it all the time. You are by nature a justifier. To justify means to make things right, and you try to justify your actions each and every day. When a confirmation student forgets his memory work, what does he say first? Does he apologize, or does he justify? Does he say, “I’m sorry, I sinned and didn’t do what I was supposed to,” or does he say, “I was too busy this week, and I had too much other homework, and I forgot the sheet, and your expectations are too high,” and on and on. When you sin against someone, what is your first response? Do you ask for forgiveness, or do you justify? “If you would’ve done what I asked, I wouldn’t have lost my temper.” “If I wasn’t late, I wouldn’t have been speeding.” “If my classmate had covered up his paper, I wouldn’t have cheated.” You would much rather justify yourself than ask for forgiveness; you want to make things right yourself, without any help from anyone else. We even justify our inactions: “I would’ve stopped for that accident, but there were other people there already.” “I would’ve shared my faith, but it just wasn’t the right time.” “I would’ve helped my neighbor, but he’s never helped me.” Pastors are not immune: “I should’ve told that person about their sin, but I don’t want to make them mad.” You were conceived and born a self-justifier; that is what you’re good at, that is where you turn first.
Luther knew all about this; perhaps more than any other theologian in the Church’s history, Luther understood the depth of human sinfulness, because he knew the depth of his own sinfulness. He knew that we try to justify our actions before others, but even more importantly we even try to justify ourselves before God. He had traveled that road himself, he had spent his life trying to reach God with his own actions. That was what made him so upset as he hammered on the Wittenberg church door; the church of his day didn’t discourage self-justification, instead, it made self-justification the chosen path of salvation. People were directed toward their own efforts to justify themselves; they were supposed to reconcile themselves to God through an elaborate system of good works, they were supposed to climb their way up to God. Our world, and unfortunately even the church, has these same ladders today. The ladder of the mind declares that our own understanding and reason can reach God. The ladder of the emotions proclaims that if I feel God more and more in my life, then I am coming close to reaching Him. The ladder of good works declares that I can climb up to God through my own obedience to His Law, that I can justify myself before my Creator by doing what He wants. Luther had walked that road, he knew its end. He knew that no ladder could reach God, because he had tried them all, and had found only despair. He was an exemplary monk; he worked harder than his brothers, he followed every rule to the letter, but still he was painfully conscious of his own sin. All he saw was an angry, all-powerful God, who demanded that humans justify themselves, then delighted at condemning them when they failed.
“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” This eternal gospel had gone forth throughout the world as the apostles boldly preached it, but the church had forgotten it, instead burying that sweet message under a pile of attempts at self-justification. Luther was to be God’s instrument to proclaim that message once again. The eternal gospel rang forth into his own ears as he studied the Scriptures, especially the third chapter of Romans: “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you hear the sweet message of the Gospel in that verse? You do not have to justify yourself; you are justified by faith ‘apart from works of the Law!’ You are freed from any attempts to make yourself right with God, for Jesus has done it all for you! Believe that message, cling to His redemption in faith, and you are justified! No works are required, no ladders, no self-justification; God has justified you through faith on account of Christ. “There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.” Jesus Christ is the atonement sacrifice, the Lamb who was slain for you, for me, for all people. He hung upon that cross bearing your sin, He was raised to justify you, to make you righteous in the sight of God. You are set free from your sin, you are set free from any attempts to justify yourself, but instead you confess your sin and receive the blessed forgiveness Christ won. You do not have to make things right with God, for Christ Himself has reconciled you to your Creator with His suffering, death, and resurrection!
That is the message, the eternal gospel that the angel proclaims in our text: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” This is a call to the entire world to repent and believe the Gospel. God is glorified when people cling to His Son, He is glorified in His Son’s death, in His Son’s resurrection for the sins of all people. God is not given glory in your self-justification, but in your faith. God is not given glory in your own righteousness, but in Christ’s righteousness given to you. And having being forgiven, having been justified by the very blood of Jesus Christ, we can now truly worship God as our Creator. That is the chief end of Christ’s death and resurrection, His redemption and justification of lost sinners: to reconcile us with His Father, the one who created us and has loved us from all eternity. Only through Christ’s salvation do you worship the Father as the one who gave you life, who knit you together in your mother’s womb and has given you every good gift since. You have all things because of Christ: freedom from self-justification, redemption from you sin, and the sure and certain promise of eternal life, founded upon His resurrection from the dead. That is the message Luther was called upon to proclaim, the ‘eternal gospel’ that rang forth in our text.
Some Lutheran theologians through the centuries have therefore made the claim that the angel in our text for today is Luther himself. It is unlikely that this text is a direct prophecy of Martin Luther, but what we can say is that he was another in a long line of saints who were appointed by God to proclaim the ‘eternal gospel’ to every nation and tribe and language and people. In fact, we can say even more: God used a German monk as His instrument to uncover once again the free message of God’s grace from all that had obscured it. Today, we do not celebrate a man, or even a church; Luther himself would be disgusted to see us place our focus on him alone. No, instead today we rejoice in the Gospel, we rejoice that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Today we rejoice that the Lord in His grace used Martin Luther to proclaim it freely again. But Reformation Day is not simply about God’s gifts through one man, for God placed around Martin Luther a talented cast of theologians, faithful lay people, and a loving and devoted wife, all of whom were blessed with the gifts needed to carry this message before the entire world. Indeed, they had the opportunity to fulfill the words of our Introit for today: “I will speak of your testimonies before kings, O Lord, and shall not be put to shame.” The Lord Himself gave them boldness, the same boldness that drove Luther to the church door on October 31st, 1517.
[Knock, knock, knock] That young monk had no idea where the journey he began with a sheet of paper, a hammer, and some nails, would end. He didn’t know that five hundred years later congregations would bear his name, not because they worship Martin Luther, but because they revel in the Gospel that he proclaimed. What he did know was that God loved him for the sake of Jesus Christ, that He had justified him through faith, simply on account of His grace. Because Luther understood the depth of our inability to come to God, he understood all the better the enormity of God’s grace, that when we were unable to come up to Him, God came down to us for our salvation. In the Name of the One whose righteousness we bear, whose blood justifies us before God, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord, Amen.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Proper 25 of Series A (Matthew 22:34-46)
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the twenty-second chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ, not very long ago, the media was buzzing about a woman named Casey Anthony. This mother was implicated by the authorities in the disappearance and death of her young child, but was acquitted and released. People hotly debated her guilt or innocence throughout the trial and since, but people on both sides agreed that, according to what the media reported, she was a poor mother. It seemed apparent to many that her daughter was an inconvenience, that Casey Anthony was going to continue to live for herself whether she was a mother or not. There was great anger and rage directed toward her, for many believed she had murdered her child in great selfishness, simply to remove something that kept her from living how she wanted.
This anger is quite ironic, for Casey Anthony, if she truly was the poor mother we have been told she was, simply lived the way that our culture today tells us how to live. Millions of children have been killed in the womb through abortion in the past thirty years, the vast majority because a child will be an inconvenience, will prevent a mother or father from reaching their goals, or will change too much in their lives. The parents who spare their children are still told by our world that children shouldn’t change things, they shouldn’t affect your career or social life. But the relationship between parents and children is simply the symptom of a much more fundamental issue. Our world declares that you should live for yourself, placing your own needs above that of everyone else. That message affects every one of us in a variety of areas, at any stage of life. Look out for number one; don’t worry about or trust anyone else. Love yourself! That’s the key, isn’t it? Love, in our world today, is first directed inside.
Jesus gives us a radically different picture of love in our text for today. True love is not directed inside ourselves, but instead outside, toward our God and then toward our neighbors. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In a certain sense, it’s easy to love God. It’s easy to love Him when you are sitting here on Sunday morning. It’s easy to love Him when things are going well, when everything in your life seems to be lining up just the way you want it. Sure, you may not think of it much, but if someone asked you, you would say, ‘Oh, yes, I love God.” What Jesus commands here is much more than simply a kind of half-hearted love when life is rosy. Instead, He calls on us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We are to love God with our intellect, our emotions, our desires, and intentions. We are to love God in thought and in deed, privately within ourselves and publically in this world. In short, we are to love God completely, with everything that we are and have. We are to love nothing more than God; no other ‘gods’ may claim His throne, even if those idols are the good gifts that He has given us. He is to be over all in our lives. Moreover, we are to love Him at all times, even and especially when we face suffering in this life. We are to love and trust God even when we can’t understand what it happening to us, when we can’t see how He will bring good into a bad situation. Love places our lives into the hands of God, in good times or in bad, in suffering or in health.
This love for God finds concrete, practical expression in our love for those around us. Jesus declared, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And who is our neighbor? Your neighbor is not simply the person who occupies the house next to yours, but instead all those whom God has placed around you. Those nearest to you are your family: your spouse, your children, your parents are all your neighbors. But God has also placed neighbors before you in every other area of your life. At work, at school, and in your interactions in the community, God places neighbors in front of you, those who need your assistance. If you see a car accident and stop to help, you become a neighbor to someone you will never meet again. Your neighbors are even those whom you don’t like, even your enemies, to whom you may show love simply by praying for and forgiving them. Your love is directed outside of yourself to those around you, those who have a variety of needs. And God has gifted you in unique ways to fulfill those needs. He has given you those gifts not to serve yourself, but to serve others.
The greatest need of your neighbors is for the Gospel, and God places many into your life who need to hear it. Saint Paul tells us about this in our epistle lesson: “We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, for you had become very dear to us.” Our world declares, ‘Love yourself above all else.’ Jesus instead commands, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We place our neighbors above ourselves, seeking to direct our love outward into their lives, providing for their needs as we are able. We do not have to go searching for neighbors, but God places them directly in front of us, and we show them love by providing for their needs.
With two brief commands, Jesus has encapsulated the entire Ten Commandments, indeed Jesus Himself says, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” These two commands are impossible for fallen, sinful people to even begin to obey. You cannot love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; you cannot love your neighbor as yourself. Instead, your love is always turned inward. This is the condition of all people since the Fall into sin; this is why there is such suffering, war, and brokenness in our world. There is only one exception, only one man who was not curved in on Himself. Jesus Christ loved God with all of His heart, His soul, and His mind. Jesus did everything in obedience to God; His entire life was placed into the loving hands of His Father. Jesus trusted in God when times were good, when He was popular and acclaimed by man, but He especially trusted His Father when suffering came. As He hung dying upon the cross, He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” He trusted in the words of Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’” He trusted that He would be vindicated, that His Father’s love wouldn’t fail. Like a sheep led to the slaughter, He did not defend Himself against the accusations and the cruel blows of His enemies. His love was not turned in on Himself, but toward His Father, who willed that He go to suffering and to death.
His love was also turned toward you. On the cross, Jesus loved God with all of His heart and soul and mind, and on the cross, He loved His neighbor as Himself. He stretched His arms wide to embrace the entire world, every person that has ever lived, even you and me, as His neighbors, and He showed love to His neighbors by dying in our place. He loved even His enemies from that cross, crying out as they drove in the nails, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” He placed you above Himself as His neighbor, giving up everything to provide for your greatest needs. You needed salvation from sin, you needed deliverance from death, and His suffering and death won both for you. He suffered all to show you love; His love is directed outside of Himself, and that love has power, for it led to His suffering and death in your place, for your salvation.
You cannot love God with all your heart, soul, and mind unless you know God, and you cannot know God unless you know Jesus. Knowing Jesus means knowing what He has done for you, how He suffered and died in His great love for you. Knowing Jesus means knowing who He is, the Son of David and the Son of God. The Pharisees failed on both counts. Their focus was on the Law, on the dos and don’ts, because they thought they could attain their own salvation. Their love of God and their love of neighbor was not true love, for they still loved only themselves. Their obedience to God and their care for their neighbor was only a means to an end, a means for them to work their way to heaven. Jesus instead teaches in our text that the focus is on Him and the salvation He brings. If you don’t know Jesus, no amount of ‘love’ is going to deliver you from death and hell. We only know Jesus through faith, the faith worked in us through the Holy Spirit, using the tools of the Word and the Sacraments. These means of grace not only proclaim the love that the Son showed toward you, but they apply that salvation to you, giving you the gifts that He won in love on the cross. You are delivered from sin and death through the love of the Son! That is where your confidence lies, in the One who loved you so much He would suffer the very punishment of hell for you.
Our love for God and love for neighbor is then not an obligation but a privilege, overflowing from the love that God first showed us. We love God because He has given us everything, especially eternal life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth. We love our neighbors because God loved them in Christ, giving up His Son for their salvation. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can turn us from an inward focus to a focus on loving God and loving our neighbor. This doesn’t happen overnight, and indeed it will only perfectly happen when we stand before the throne of the Lord forever. Our love toward God and neighbor will still falter and sometimes even fail. At those times, the Holy Spirit brings to us the forgiveness of Christ, the forgiveness that covers even a failure to love, the same forgiveness that Christ won on the cross. That forgiveness sustains our love and forgives even our lack of love, for it is the love of Christ shown to us. In the Name of Christ, who suffered all to show love toward you, His beloved neighbor, Amen.
This anger is quite ironic, for Casey Anthony, if she truly was the poor mother we have been told she was, simply lived the way that our culture today tells us how to live. Millions of children have been killed in the womb through abortion in the past thirty years, the vast majority because a child will be an inconvenience, will prevent a mother or father from reaching their goals, or will change too much in their lives. The parents who spare their children are still told by our world that children shouldn’t change things, they shouldn’t affect your career or social life. But the relationship between parents and children is simply the symptom of a much more fundamental issue. Our world declares that you should live for yourself, placing your own needs above that of everyone else. That message affects every one of us in a variety of areas, at any stage of life. Look out for number one; don’t worry about or trust anyone else. Love yourself! That’s the key, isn’t it? Love, in our world today, is first directed inside.
Jesus gives us a radically different picture of love in our text for today. True love is not directed inside ourselves, but instead outside, toward our God and then toward our neighbors. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In a certain sense, it’s easy to love God. It’s easy to love Him when you are sitting here on Sunday morning. It’s easy to love Him when things are going well, when everything in your life seems to be lining up just the way you want it. Sure, you may not think of it much, but if someone asked you, you would say, ‘Oh, yes, I love God.” What Jesus commands here is much more than simply a kind of half-hearted love when life is rosy. Instead, He calls on us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We are to love God with our intellect, our emotions, our desires, and intentions. We are to love God in thought and in deed, privately within ourselves and publically in this world. In short, we are to love God completely, with everything that we are and have. We are to love nothing more than God; no other ‘gods’ may claim His throne, even if those idols are the good gifts that He has given us. He is to be over all in our lives. Moreover, we are to love Him at all times, even and especially when we face suffering in this life. We are to love and trust God even when we can’t understand what it happening to us, when we can’t see how He will bring good into a bad situation. Love places our lives into the hands of God, in good times or in bad, in suffering or in health.
This love for God finds concrete, practical expression in our love for those around us. Jesus declared, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And who is our neighbor? Your neighbor is not simply the person who occupies the house next to yours, but instead all those whom God has placed around you. Those nearest to you are your family: your spouse, your children, your parents are all your neighbors. But God has also placed neighbors before you in every other area of your life. At work, at school, and in your interactions in the community, God places neighbors in front of you, those who need your assistance. If you see a car accident and stop to help, you become a neighbor to someone you will never meet again. Your neighbors are even those whom you don’t like, even your enemies, to whom you may show love simply by praying for and forgiving them. Your love is directed outside of yourself to those around you, those who have a variety of needs. And God has gifted you in unique ways to fulfill those needs. He has given you those gifts not to serve yourself, but to serve others.
The greatest need of your neighbors is for the Gospel, and God places many into your life who need to hear it. Saint Paul tells us about this in our epistle lesson: “We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, for you had become very dear to us.” Our world declares, ‘Love yourself above all else.’ Jesus instead commands, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We place our neighbors above ourselves, seeking to direct our love outward into their lives, providing for their needs as we are able. We do not have to go searching for neighbors, but God places them directly in front of us, and we show them love by providing for their needs.
With two brief commands, Jesus has encapsulated the entire Ten Commandments, indeed Jesus Himself says, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” These two commands are impossible for fallen, sinful people to even begin to obey. You cannot love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; you cannot love your neighbor as yourself. Instead, your love is always turned inward. This is the condition of all people since the Fall into sin; this is why there is such suffering, war, and brokenness in our world. There is only one exception, only one man who was not curved in on Himself. Jesus Christ loved God with all of His heart, His soul, and His mind. Jesus did everything in obedience to God; His entire life was placed into the loving hands of His Father. Jesus trusted in God when times were good, when He was popular and acclaimed by man, but He especially trusted His Father when suffering came. As He hung dying upon the cross, He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” He trusted in the words of Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’” He trusted that He would be vindicated, that His Father’s love wouldn’t fail. Like a sheep led to the slaughter, He did not defend Himself against the accusations and the cruel blows of His enemies. His love was not turned in on Himself, but toward His Father, who willed that He go to suffering and to death.
His love was also turned toward you. On the cross, Jesus loved God with all of His heart and soul and mind, and on the cross, He loved His neighbor as Himself. He stretched His arms wide to embrace the entire world, every person that has ever lived, even you and me, as His neighbors, and He showed love to His neighbors by dying in our place. He loved even His enemies from that cross, crying out as they drove in the nails, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” He placed you above Himself as His neighbor, giving up everything to provide for your greatest needs. You needed salvation from sin, you needed deliverance from death, and His suffering and death won both for you. He suffered all to show you love; His love is directed outside of Himself, and that love has power, for it led to His suffering and death in your place, for your salvation.
You cannot love God with all your heart, soul, and mind unless you know God, and you cannot know God unless you know Jesus. Knowing Jesus means knowing what He has done for you, how He suffered and died in His great love for you. Knowing Jesus means knowing who He is, the Son of David and the Son of God. The Pharisees failed on both counts. Their focus was on the Law, on the dos and don’ts, because they thought they could attain their own salvation. Their love of God and their love of neighbor was not true love, for they still loved only themselves. Their obedience to God and their care for their neighbor was only a means to an end, a means for them to work their way to heaven. Jesus instead teaches in our text that the focus is on Him and the salvation He brings. If you don’t know Jesus, no amount of ‘love’ is going to deliver you from death and hell. We only know Jesus through faith, the faith worked in us through the Holy Spirit, using the tools of the Word and the Sacraments. These means of grace not only proclaim the love that the Son showed toward you, but they apply that salvation to you, giving you the gifts that He won in love on the cross. You are delivered from sin and death through the love of the Son! That is where your confidence lies, in the One who loved you so much He would suffer the very punishment of hell for you.
Our love for God and love for neighbor is then not an obligation but a privilege, overflowing from the love that God first showed us. We love God because He has given us everything, especially eternal life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth. We love our neighbors because God loved them in Christ, giving up His Son for their salvation. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can turn us from an inward focus to a focus on loving God and loving our neighbor. This doesn’t happen overnight, and indeed it will only perfectly happen when we stand before the throne of the Lord forever. Our love toward God and neighbor will still falter and sometimes even fail. At those times, the Holy Spirit brings to us the forgiveness of Christ, the forgiveness that covers even a failure to love, the same forgiveness that Christ won on the cross. That forgiveness sustains our love and forgives even our lack of love, for it is the love of Christ shown to us. In the Name of Christ, who suffered all to show love toward you, His beloved neighbor, Amen.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Proper 22 of Series A (Isaiah 5:1-7)
“For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting; and He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Old Testament lesson read a few moments ago from the fifth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. Dear friends in Christ, a gardener had a sweet corn patch. He cleared the land, he removed the tree roots, the sticks, stone, and debris. He sweetened the ground with manure, he tested constantly to make sure the PH balance was just right. He placed into that black earth the best sweet corn seeds that money could buy, seeds that consistently produced results of both quality and quantity. Then he went to work defending that sweet-corn patch. He put up a fence to keep out the raccoons, rabbits, and deer, exerting every effort to keep His crop safe.
As his corn grew, big and beautiful, the gardener began to prepare for the harvest. So confident was he of a wonderful harvest, that the gardener purchased a shed to store the corn, he built a stand to sell it on Highway 39. The weather was perfect that summer; the right amount of rain and plenty of sun. The bugs didn’t attack his plants, and they grew and grew, developing large ears of ripe corn. The gardener waited patiently for his sweet corn patch to mature, and at exactly the right time, he began to pick. As was tradition, the first ear of corn was for the gardener, and that evening he sunk his teeth into its rich kernels…and promptly spit them out. This corn was the worst he had ever tasted, worse than going down the road and biting into an ear of field corn! This patch of sweet corn, which had held such promise, for which he had done everything that could’ve been expected, had betrayed him. He looked for a bountiful harvest, and instead received corn that was quite literally worthless. So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what would you do with such a sweet corn patch? Would you continue to care for it? Or would you tear down the fence, and let the raccoons have those worthless ears? Do you owe that rebellious sweet corn patch anything, any grace, any protection?
In answering that question, you point the finger at yourself. “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting; and He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” You are the rebellious sweet corn patch, you are the disobedient vineyard that the Lord planted. What more could God have done for you that He left undone? He prepared the soil, giving to you a creation that provides for all of your needs. Then He placed you into that creation, He formed your first parents from the dust of the earth, and He formed you in the womb of your mother. But God didn’t create you only to abandon you. Food, shelter, clothing, and even the very air you breathe are daily gifts from Him. Luther teaches us: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all that I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.”
God created this earth and all that is in it; He created us, humanity, the pinnacle of all that He made, and then He waited. In eager expectation, with great patience He waited for us to produce a bountiful harvest. But such a harvest didn’t come. “He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.” The vines looked good, but they were counterfeit, worthless imposters, filled with wild, sour, literally ‘stinky’ grapes. His people had rebelled against Him. “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” He looked for you to produce a bountiful harvest of good works, love and service toward Him and toward your neighbors, but all He received was sin and rebellion. He looked for selflessness but found selfishness. He looked for honor but found disrespect. He looked for worship but found apathy. He looked for sexual purity but found lust. He looked for honesty but found lies. He looked for stewardship but found greed. He looked for love of your neighbor but found hatred. He looked for obedience but found rebellion. He looked for holiness but found sin. God planted mankind in this beautiful creation; He gave you life and provided for all of your needs, but the only thanks He has received is worthless fruit. “What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?”
What will God do with His rebellious vineyard? God poses the question to us: What would you do with a vineyard that produces only wild, sour grapes? What would you do with a sweet corn patch that produces a crop that no one wants to eat? “And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” Sin ravaged the vineyard, the vines were trampled, beaten down by the evil of this world. Briers and thorns grew up, a constant and harsh reminder that this pleasant planting of the Lord was corrupted and fallen. Now death entered the vineyard of the Lord and ruled over it as a tyrant. It terrorized the vines, for it was one power that could not be defeated. No one could escape it, it held all in a prison of fear. Death was all that God’s rebellious vineyard deserved, and not just death in this world, but eternal death.
God didn’t find the fruit He expected from His vineyard, and so it was left open to the ravages of sin and death, just penalties from its rebellion. But God didn’t completely abandon His vineyard. Instead, He sent one messenger after another to call the vineyard to repentance, to summon it back to the one who had planted it. Jesus says in our Gospel lesson: “When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. The tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.” God persistently sent one servant after another to call on His vineyard to produce the fruit He expected in the first place, but the vineyard refused again and again. God’s messengers were abused, even killed. But God wouldn’t give up; He was willing to go to the very limits to restore His vineyard to Himself. “Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’” He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, true God in human flesh, to call the vineyard to repentance, but His end was exactly like the servants who came before: “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” Jesus Christ, the vineyard Master’s Son, was cast from that vineyard and killed; He was crucified outside of the city, dying the death of the servants who preceded Him, dying the death of a criminal.
The vineyard rejected the Master’s Son as they had rejected the Master. But it was at this moment, when the rebellion of the vineyard was at its very worst, that the vineyard itself was redeemed. In being cast outside and killed, the Son, Jesus Christ, renewed and restored the vineyard to its Master. The blood of Jesus bought back the vineyard by paying the price of sin it owed. The death of Jesus delivered the vineyard from the tyranny of death, for He died in the place of the vineyard. In the very act of being rejected, Jesus erased the consequences of the vineyard’s rebellion, He returned that vineyard to its rightful owner, cleansed from its sin and iniquity. In our Gospel lesson Jesus declares: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Jesus is the rejected stone, rejected by the ones He came to save. But this rejected stone is now the cornerstone of a new vineyard, the Church. Through His resurrection, Jesus is now the foundation of God’s renewed and restored vineyard, a vineyard that produces fruit in abundance only through Him. You were a member of God’s rebellious vineyard; now, through the waters of Holy Baptism, you are a member of the new vineyard, the vineyard founded on the rejected cornerstone.
God provided in abundance for His vineyard at its creation; how much more will He provide for His renewed and restored vineyard? In our text, Isaiah sings the song of a vineyard in rebellion against God; but in chapter twenty-seven of his prophecy, Isaiah sings of the vineyard redeemed and restored by Christ: “In that day, ‘A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day; I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together… In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.” This vineyard is fed by Christ’s Body, it is watered by His Blood. This vineyard is nourished by a constant and overflowing supply of forgiveness so that it does produce good fruit, not to earn God’s favor, but because it has been made God’s own through the waters of Holy Baptism. And this vineyard will endure, with Jesus as its foundation and cornerstone, singing His praises and rejoicing in His salvation for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. In the Name of the vineyard Master’s Son, the one who was cast from the vineyard and killed to restore the vineyard to its Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
As his corn grew, big and beautiful, the gardener began to prepare for the harvest. So confident was he of a wonderful harvest, that the gardener purchased a shed to store the corn, he built a stand to sell it on Highway 39. The weather was perfect that summer; the right amount of rain and plenty of sun. The bugs didn’t attack his plants, and they grew and grew, developing large ears of ripe corn. The gardener waited patiently for his sweet corn patch to mature, and at exactly the right time, he began to pick. As was tradition, the first ear of corn was for the gardener, and that evening he sunk his teeth into its rich kernels…and promptly spit them out. This corn was the worst he had ever tasted, worse than going down the road and biting into an ear of field corn! This patch of sweet corn, which had held such promise, for which he had done everything that could’ve been expected, had betrayed him. He looked for a bountiful harvest, and instead received corn that was quite literally worthless. So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what would you do with such a sweet corn patch? Would you continue to care for it? Or would you tear down the fence, and let the raccoons have those worthless ears? Do you owe that rebellious sweet corn patch anything, any grace, any protection?
In answering that question, you point the finger at yourself. “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting; and He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” You are the rebellious sweet corn patch, you are the disobedient vineyard that the Lord planted. What more could God have done for you that He left undone? He prepared the soil, giving to you a creation that provides for all of your needs. Then He placed you into that creation, He formed your first parents from the dust of the earth, and He formed you in the womb of your mother. But God didn’t create you only to abandon you. Food, shelter, clothing, and even the very air you breathe are daily gifts from Him. Luther teaches us: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all that I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.”
God created this earth and all that is in it; He created us, humanity, the pinnacle of all that He made, and then He waited. In eager expectation, with great patience He waited for us to produce a bountiful harvest. But such a harvest didn’t come. “He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.” The vines looked good, but they were counterfeit, worthless imposters, filled with wild, sour, literally ‘stinky’ grapes. His people had rebelled against Him. “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” He looked for you to produce a bountiful harvest of good works, love and service toward Him and toward your neighbors, but all He received was sin and rebellion. He looked for selflessness but found selfishness. He looked for honor but found disrespect. He looked for worship but found apathy. He looked for sexual purity but found lust. He looked for honesty but found lies. He looked for stewardship but found greed. He looked for love of your neighbor but found hatred. He looked for obedience but found rebellion. He looked for holiness but found sin. God planted mankind in this beautiful creation; He gave you life and provided for all of your needs, but the only thanks He has received is worthless fruit. “What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?”
What will God do with His rebellious vineyard? God poses the question to us: What would you do with a vineyard that produces only wild, sour grapes? What would you do with a sweet corn patch that produces a crop that no one wants to eat? “And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” Sin ravaged the vineyard, the vines were trampled, beaten down by the evil of this world. Briers and thorns grew up, a constant and harsh reminder that this pleasant planting of the Lord was corrupted and fallen. Now death entered the vineyard of the Lord and ruled over it as a tyrant. It terrorized the vines, for it was one power that could not be defeated. No one could escape it, it held all in a prison of fear. Death was all that God’s rebellious vineyard deserved, and not just death in this world, but eternal death.
God didn’t find the fruit He expected from His vineyard, and so it was left open to the ravages of sin and death, just penalties from its rebellion. But God didn’t completely abandon His vineyard. Instead, He sent one messenger after another to call the vineyard to repentance, to summon it back to the one who had planted it. Jesus says in our Gospel lesson: “When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. The tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.” God persistently sent one servant after another to call on His vineyard to produce the fruit He expected in the first place, but the vineyard refused again and again. God’s messengers were abused, even killed. But God wouldn’t give up; He was willing to go to the very limits to restore His vineyard to Himself. “Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’” He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, true God in human flesh, to call the vineyard to repentance, but His end was exactly like the servants who came before: “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” Jesus Christ, the vineyard Master’s Son, was cast from that vineyard and killed; He was crucified outside of the city, dying the death of the servants who preceded Him, dying the death of a criminal.
The vineyard rejected the Master’s Son as they had rejected the Master. But it was at this moment, when the rebellion of the vineyard was at its very worst, that the vineyard itself was redeemed. In being cast outside and killed, the Son, Jesus Christ, renewed and restored the vineyard to its Master. The blood of Jesus bought back the vineyard by paying the price of sin it owed. The death of Jesus delivered the vineyard from the tyranny of death, for He died in the place of the vineyard. In the very act of being rejected, Jesus erased the consequences of the vineyard’s rebellion, He returned that vineyard to its rightful owner, cleansed from its sin and iniquity. In our Gospel lesson Jesus declares: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Jesus is the rejected stone, rejected by the ones He came to save. But this rejected stone is now the cornerstone of a new vineyard, the Church. Through His resurrection, Jesus is now the foundation of God’s renewed and restored vineyard, a vineyard that produces fruit in abundance only through Him. You were a member of God’s rebellious vineyard; now, through the waters of Holy Baptism, you are a member of the new vineyard, the vineyard founded on the rejected cornerstone.
God provided in abundance for His vineyard at its creation; how much more will He provide for His renewed and restored vineyard? In our text, Isaiah sings the song of a vineyard in rebellion against God; but in chapter twenty-seven of his prophecy, Isaiah sings of the vineyard redeemed and restored by Christ: “In that day, ‘A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day; I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together… In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.” This vineyard is fed by Christ’s Body, it is watered by His Blood. This vineyard is nourished by a constant and overflowing supply of forgiveness so that it does produce good fruit, not to earn God’s favor, but because it has been made God’s own through the waters of Holy Baptism. And this vineyard will endure, with Jesus as its foundation and cornerstone, singing His praises and rejoicing in His salvation for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. In the Name of the vineyard Master’s Son, the one who was cast from the vineyard and killed to restore the vineyard to its Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Proper 19 of Series A (Matthew 18:1-20)
“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ, Jesus loves His little ones. Now, when we think of ‘little ones,’ our mind turns to children, the little ones that inhabit playgrounds and elementary schools. And that’s what Jesus has in mind as well. In response to the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He brings out a little child and says, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We are not to exalt ourselves, but instead we are to have the humility of a child. When we do so, we are also called the little ones of Jesus; all His humble believers are His ‘little ones,’ the Father’s beloved children through the waters of Holy Baptism. Jesus loves us all as His little children, and He is ready to do anything to protect and deliver us.
He has to be ready, because His little ones are in danger. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!” The little ones of Jesus are assailed by temptations to sin, they are threatened by those who would lead them astray. This happens in our world each and every day. The pressure for the little ones to fall from the faith and into open sin is often unbearable. Our world preaches lust, it proclaims selfishness and self-centeredness as its gospel. But as dangerous as the causes to sin are out there in the world, Jesus isn’t talking about the world in our text for today. He is talking about the fellowship of believers: Matthew chapter eighteen is all about the Church. He is talking to you and me when He says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.” Jesus is talking about those who are part of His Church and yet are leading His little ones into sin.
For when we live in open sin, we cause Christ’s little ones to wander. In fact, when we live in open sin, we are wandering ourselves. Lost sheep influence other lost sheep, and soon the whole flock is lost and wandering. They follow the voices of other shepherds, listening to what the world tells them. Lost sheep are in church directories; lost sheep are in church pews. They are wandering from the faith because someone influenced them into sin, and sin separates sheep from their shepherd. And the tragedy is that such wandering can only lead to eternal death. Jesus tells us that it is necessary that such things happen, necessary not because God wants it to be so, but necessary because we live in a corrupted and sinful world, and the Church is composed of sinful and corrupted people.
It may be necessary that these things happen, but it doesn’t mean that Jesus has to like it. The Good Shepherd doesn’t sit on His hands and watch as His sheep wander. Jesus asked, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” No shepherd has ever had a flock that wanders as much as Christ’s, but He does not grow weary. Instead, He continues day after day to seek out His lost sheep. He loves His little ones, even though they wander, even though they lead others into sin. He loves His little ones because He paid the ultimate price for them, He sacrificed everything to restore these wandering sheep. Jesus declares in John chapter ten: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The Good Shepherd gave up His own life on the altar of the cross, shedding His blood for His little ones, His sheep who love to wander. His flock couldn’t return to Him, and so He came to us, taking on our flesh and blood and going to the cross. He sought out His lost sheep at the cost of His own life. The Good Shepherd will not abandon His little ones, even though they are harassed by temptations, even if they wander each and every day.
He does not abandon them, for those things that entice His little ones to wander are conquered enemies, triumphed over by the power of the cross and empty tomb. Jesus declared, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around His neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Jesus took on that punishment, He bore all sin upon His shoulders, He had that millstone fastened around His neck, and He was drowned in the depth of the sea. He faced the very punishment of hell itself to rob it of its power. Now sin is defeated, emptied of its ability to condemn. Satan is crushed, no longer able to accuse God’s saints. Death has no ultimate victory; Christ has conquered it through the cross and empty tomb. He holds in His hands victory over our enemies, and His delight is in finding the lost and bringing them back to Himself. “And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.” Only the One who has conquered sin, Satan, and death can deliver us from them, and Christ has great joy in finding us and bringing us to the Father, as He declares: “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
That statement defines Christ’s work in this world; Jesus doesn’t want any of His little ones to perish. He wants them protected from temptation, and He wants them restored when they wander. He is persistent, constantly seeking them out and returning them to His fold, because Jesus loves His little ones. And today He uses the Church, you and me, as His instruments to seek out the wandering and bring them back to Him. The Church is to have the same zeal and joy in bringing the wandering back as Christ Himself does. God’s will is to be our own: “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” How do we restore wandering sheep? How do we protect Christ’s little ones from being led into sin?
Thankfully, Jesus tells us. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” That’s it; we simply call our brother or sister to repentance privately, and if they listen, we forgive them and we have gained back a wandering sheep. It sounds so simple, and yet it is so hard to put into practice, and I would guess that most of us fail to do this day after day (I know that I do). Instead of going to our brother or sister privately to tell them their sin and call them to repentance, we either trap our anger and resentment deep inside or else we talk to everyone but the person who sinned against us. If we do that, we have made no effort to gain back our brother, but have instead made the situation worse. Jesus doesn’t want any of His sheep to be lost, and so He teaches us here to focus on restoration. Even if we must bring two or three along with us or must tell it to the Church, the goal is always to gain back the brother or sister who has wandered. The tool that Christ has given us to use in this effort is repentance and forgiveness. Only forgiveness can restore the wandering sheep, only forgiveness can heal a broken relationship.
But if the person is stubbornly unrepentant, then the Church is to have the same zeal as our Lord Jesus in protecting the little ones. If someone is openly leading others into sin, they must be removed from the community. “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.” This verse isn’t talking about our body parts, its talking about the body of Christ, the Church. If the hand is causing Christ’s little ones to wander into sin, it must be cut off. But that isn’t the goal. Matthew chapter eighteen isn’t intended give us a procedure to kick someone out of the church; instead, it is a process of restoration. We are to have the same zeal for the wandering sheep as Christ; we are to expend every effort to call our wandering brother or sister back to the flock. But if they refuse to be restored, then we must protect Christ’s little ones, and the cause of offense must be removed. “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” We are to treat them as an unbeliever. But Christ doesn’t give up on unbelievers, and neither do we. What do we do with unbelievers? We call them to repentance and faith; we preach the Gospel to them.
Matthew chapter eighteen teaches us how to show love to our neighbor, the same love Paul calls on us to show in our Epistle lesson. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” It is not love to leave a person in their sin. Even excommunication is not as harsh as eternal punishment in hell. We want to call a person to repentance so that we can forgive them, so that they can be restored to the community. We want to gain our brother or sister, to call them back to their Good Shepherd. The most unloving thing we can do is leave them in their sin. Christ didn’t leave you in your sin, but instead, while you were still a sinner, He died for you. He took sin seriously enough to suffer for you, to remove the threat and punishment of hell, to give to you the promise of an eternity with Him. He calls you to repentance and then restores you through the power of His forgiveness. He forgives you even for your lack of forgiveness, His grace covers you even when you do not have the same zeal for the wandering sheep as He does. For you too were a wandering sheep, but He found you, He restored you, He brought you back to His house with joy. In the name of our Good Shepherd, who constantly seeks out and restores His lost sheep, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
He has to be ready, because His little ones are in danger. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!” The little ones of Jesus are assailed by temptations to sin, they are threatened by those who would lead them astray. This happens in our world each and every day. The pressure for the little ones to fall from the faith and into open sin is often unbearable. Our world preaches lust, it proclaims selfishness and self-centeredness as its gospel. But as dangerous as the causes to sin are out there in the world, Jesus isn’t talking about the world in our text for today. He is talking about the fellowship of believers: Matthew chapter eighteen is all about the Church. He is talking to you and me when He says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.” Jesus is talking about those who are part of His Church and yet are leading His little ones into sin.
For when we live in open sin, we cause Christ’s little ones to wander. In fact, when we live in open sin, we are wandering ourselves. Lost sheep influence other lost sheep, and soon the whole flock is lost and wandering. They follow the voices of other shepherds, listening to what the world tells them. Lost sheep are in church directories; lost sheep are in church pews. They are wandering from the faith because someone influenced them into sin, and sin separates sheep from their shepherd. And the tragedy is that such wandering can only lead to eternal death. Jesus tells us that it is necessary that such things happen, necessary not because God wants it to be so, but necessary because we live in a corrupted and sinful world, and the Church is composed of sinful and corrupted people.
It may be necessary that these things happen, but it doesn’t mean that Jesus has to like it. The Good Shepherd doesn’t sit on His hands and watch as His sheep wander. Jesus asked, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” No shepherd has ever had a flock that wanders as much as Christ’s, but He does not grow weary. Instead, He continues day after day to seek out His lost sheep. He loves His little ones, even though they wander, even though they lead others into sin. He loves His little ones because He paid the ultimate price for them, He sacrificed everything to restore these wandering sheep. Jesus declares in John chapter ten: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The Good Shepherd gave up His own life on the altar of the cross, shedding His blood for His little ones, His sheep who love to wander. His flock couldn’t return to Him, and so He came to us, taking on our flesh and blood and going to the cross. He sought out His lost sheep at the cost of His own life. The Good Shepherd will not abandon His little ones, even though they are harassed by temptations, even if they wander each and every day.
He does not abandon them, for those things that entice His little ones to wander are conquered enemies, triumphed over by the power of the cross and empty tomb. Jesus declared, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around His neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Jesus took on that punishment, He bore all sin upon His shoulders, He had that millstone fastened around His neck, and He was drowned in the depth of the sea. He faced the very punishment of hell itself to rob it of its power. Now sin is defeated, emptied of its ability to condemn. Satan is crushed, no longer able to accuse God’s saints. Death has no ultimate victory; Christ has conquered it through the cross and empty tomb. He holds in His hands victory over our enemies, and His delight is in finding the lost and bringing them back to Himself. “And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.” Only the One who has conquered sin, Satan, and death can deliver us from them, and Christ has great joy in finding us and bringing us to the Father, as He declares: “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
That statement defines Christ’s work in this world; Jesus doesn’t want any of His little ones to perish. He wants them protected from temptation, and He wants them restored when they wander. He is persistent, constantly seeking them out and returning them to His fold, because Jesus loves His little ones. And today He uses the Church, you and me, as His instruments to seek out the wandering and bring them back to Him. The Church is to have the same zeal and joy in bringing the wandering back as Christ Himself does. God’s will is to be our own: “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” How do we restore wandering sheep? How do we protect Christ’s little ones from being led into sin?
Thankfully, Jesus tells us. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” That’s it; we simply call our brother or sister to repentance privately, and if they listen, we forgive them and we have gained back a wandering sheep. It sounds so simple, and yet it is so hard to put into practice, and I would guess that most of us fail to do this day after day (I know that I do). Instead of going to our brother or sister privately to tell them their sin and call them to repentance, we either trap our anger and resentment deep inside or else we talk to everyone but the person who sinned against us. If we do that, we have made no effort to gain back our brother, but have instead made the situation worse. Jesus doesn’t want any of His sheep to be lost, and so He teaches us here to focus on restoration. Even if we must bring two or three along with us or must tell it to the Church, the goal is always to gain back the brother or sister who has wandered. The tool that Christ has given us to use in this effort is repentance and forgiveness. Only forgiveness can restore the wandering sheep, only forgiveness can heal a broken relationship.
But if the person is stubbornly unrepentant, then the Church is to have the same zeal as our Lord Jesus in protecting the little ones. If someone is openly leading others into sin, they must be removed from the community. “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.” This verse isn’t talking about our body parts, its talking about the body of Christ, the Church. If the hand is causing Christ’s little ones to wander into sin, it must be cut off. But that isn’t the goal. Matthew chapter eighteen isn’t intended give us a procedure to kick someone out of the church; instead, it is a process of restoration. We are to have the same zeal for the wandering sheep as Christ; we are to expend every effort to call our wandering brother or sister back to the flock. But if they refuse to be restored, then we must protect Christ’s little ones, and the cause of offense must be removed. “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” We are to treat them as an unbeliever. But Christ doesn’t give up on unbelievers, and neither do we. What do we do with unbelievers? We call them to repentance and faith; we preach the Gospel to them.
Matthew chapter eighteen teaches us how to show love to our neighbor, the same love Paul calls on us to show in our Epistle lesson. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” It is not love to leave a person in their sin. Even excommunication is not as harsh as eternal punishment in hell. We want to call a person to repentance so that we can forgive them, so that they can be restored to the community. We want to gain our brother or sister, to call them back to their Good Shepherd. The most unloving thing we can do is leave them in their sin. Christ didn’t leave you in your sin, but instead, while you were still a sinner, He died for you. He took sin seriously enough to suffer for you, to remove the threat and punishment of hell, to give to you the promise of an eternity with Him. He calls you to repentance and then restores you through the power of His forgiveness. He forgives you even for your lack of forgiveness, His grace covers you even when you do not have the same zeal for the wandering sheep as He does. For you too were a wandering sheep, but He found you, He restored you, He brought you back to His house with joy. In the name of our Good Shepherd, who constantly seeks out and restores His lost sheep, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Proper 17 of Series A (Jeremiah 15:15-21)
“I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Old Testament lesson read a few moments ago from the fifteenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. Dear friends in Christ, Jeremiah’s life stunk. He was called upon to be a prophet of the Lord in one of the most difficult times in Israel’s history; he would live to see Judah carted off into exile and Jerusalem burned and utterly destroyed. He stood as an island in the midst of a sea of idolatry, ungodliness, and rebellion. He had words to preach that no one wanted to hear, and they blamed the messenger for his terrible message. Before our text, Jeremiah had pleaded with God for mercy upon His people, but God refused. He instead responded with an even stronger declaration of judgment. God will not relent. And so Jeremiah does what he often did when confronted with a message too terrible to bear: he offers up a complaint to his Lord, a plea for aid. “O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach.” He needs deliverance, he needs God’s vengeance on his enemies, for the Word of God has become a terrible burden, a source of indignation, isolation, and reproach.
It was not always this way. In the beginning, Jeremiah found God’s Word to be the most wonderful thing in the world. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” The Word of God is truly an amazing gift! It declares to you the One who created you, who lovingly formed man from the dust of the earth, who similarly formed you in the womb of your mother. The Word declares to you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, who came into this world for your salvation. The Word speaks to you of the cross and the empty tomb, it tells you of the deliverance that Christ won, the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth. But the Word of God does much more than simply tell you about salvation. Jeremiah declared with joy, “I am called by your name.” The Word of God calls you by God’s name when it is joined with the waters of Holy Baptism. There at the font you were called by God’s name, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Word has given to you nothing less than eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Every Christian can therefore say with Jeremiah, “Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”
Jeremiah says that he ate the Word of God; in the book of Revelation, Saint John has a similar experience, he is invited to eat a scroll. “And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.” Jeremiah quickly learned what John discovered that day: the Word of God may taste sweet to the mouth, but when we take it in, the Word becomes a burden, it very often makes our lives bitter. “I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.” The Word calls on you to live differently from the world, it calls on you to summon this world to repentance. The people around you don’t like it when others refuse to join in their life of sin, they don’t appreciate being told God’s Law. Bearing the Word means reproach, it means indignation, it means isolation. The world despises Christians; it pokes fun at you, it persecutes you by word and by deed. Jeremiah felt alone, isolated from his family and friends. They had abandoned him, for He bore the Word of God, a Word that condemns sin, and people like living in their sin. Jesus declared, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We cannot fully understand those words unless we realize what Jeremiah teaches us, that the Word of God is a cross, it is a burden. Bearing the Word of God means that you will lose your life in this world for the sake of Christ, you will give up everything for His sake.
Jeremiah is weary of bearing this burden, and so he cries out to God: “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” God’s Word initially brought such joy, but in Jeremiah’s mind, it was like a stream that promised refreshment and delivered only mud. This burden and cross has cost so much that he is ready to give up. When faced with that same burden, Peter declared, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” He didn’t want Jesus to bear that burden, because I think Peter realized that if Jesus bore the cross, he would have to as well. It seems so much easier to give in to the world and cast off the burden of the Word. Why should I continue to suffer the reproach and indignation of my friends, family, and neighbors? Why should I go to church while they sleep in? Why should I try so hard to follow God’s law? All it’s earned me is scorn, dirty looks, and the cold shoulder. How often are you, like Jeremiah, at the very edge of giving up, of casting off that cross and abandoning that burden? Maybe you crossed that line a long time ago, maybe you have already decided that the cost of following Christ is too high. Maybe you are only a Christian when it’s safe, and the rest of the time follow the ways of the world. Maybe your complaint has already led you over the edge.
God wants us to pour out our complaint to Him; He invites us to cry out even with words as harsh as Jeremiah’s. But now that we have spoken, it’s time for us to sit down and listen, for God has an answer. “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.’” In other words, ‘Repent!’ Repent of your desire to cast off the burden of the Word, repent of your desire to join in the ways of the world! Return to me, God declares; come back from the edge! Do not utter the worthless words of this world, but instead the precious Word of God, whatever the cost. As Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Christ has called on us to take up our cross, but although we may feel like Jeremiah that we bear this burden in isolation, we are not alone. “And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” This world will fight against you, for it hates you and everything that you stand for exactly as it hated Jesus and all that He stood for. But the world will not prevail against you. For with you stands our God, who gives you the most wonderful promise that we find in the Scriptures, “I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” You are not alone, for God boldly declares, ‘I am with you!’ No matter how isolated you feel in this world of sin, the Lord is with you. He is with you to save and defend you; the world will not overcome you, no matter how hard it tries. That is your confidence, your support as you bear the burden of the Word in this world of sin: ‘I am with you!’
How do we know this, how can we truly have confidence that God is with us? He proved it, God made this promise a concrete reality by taking our human flesh and becoming man. Jesus truly is God with us, Emmanuel come to save. It is only because of Him that this world cannot overcome you, for He has overcome the world. “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” He does this by walking the path that you are called upon the walk, the path of the cross. Jesus suffered reproach, indignation, and isolation; He suffered everything that you face in this sinful, hostile world, and He faced it for you. He bore the reproach and indignation of His very own people as they spit in His face, as they cried out ‘Crucify, crucify!’ He was isolated, separated from all people, indeed He was abandoned by God Himself as He hung upon the cross. Jesus took on Jeremiah’s cry as His own: “I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.” Jesus faced the reproach and indignation of God and the world for our sin. He suffered all for your redemption, He endured all for your salvation, He delivered Himself into the hand of the wicked so that you may be rescued from their grasp. The world can rage against you all it wants, it can even take your life, but the empty tomb means that nothing in this world can prevail over you. Even death itself has been defeated; this world has no weapon that can destroy God’s saints, those claimed by the blood of Jesus. You are redeemed, delivered, saved, by God with us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
That was God’s promise to Jeremiah as he bore the burden of God’s Word in a world of sin, the same promise that He gives to you again this very day. “I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” This promise stands as firm today as you bear your cross as it did for Jeremiah as he bore his. Jesus is with us, to comfort us, to strengthen us, to provide for us as we carry the burden of His Word. He came to you once again in His Word today to forgive your sins; He will come to you again next week as He did last week in His Body and Blood, providing food for the journey, nourishment as you bear the cross. And He promises you that one day you will lay down that cross and receive the promised rest, the eternal salvation that He won for you when He bore His cross for your salvation. In the Name of Emmanuel, God with us for our salvation, Amen.
It was not always this way. In the beginning, Jeremiah found God’s Word to be the most wonderful thing in the world. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” The Word of God is truly an amazing gift! It declares to you the One who created you, who lovingly formed man from the dust of the earth, who similarly formed you in the womb of your mother. The Word declares to you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, who came into this world for your salvation. The Word speaks to you of the cross and the empty tomb, it tells you of the deliverance that Christ won, the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth. But the Word of God does much more than simply tell you about salvation. Jeremiah declared with joy, “I am called by your name.” The Word of God calls you by God’s name when it is joined with the waters of Holy Baptism. There at the font you were called by God’s name, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Word has given to you nothing less than eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Every Christian can therefore say with Jeremiah, “Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”
Jeremiah says that he ate the Word of God; in the book of Revelation, Saint John has a similar experience, he is invited to eat a scroll. “And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.” Jeremiah quickly learned what John discovered that day: the Word of God may taste sweet to the mouth, but when we take it in, the Word becomes a burden, it very often makes our lives bitter. “I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.” The Word calls on you to live differently from the world, it calls on you to summon this world to repentance. The people around you don’t like it when others refuse to join in their life of sin, they don’t appreciate being told God’s Law. Bearing the Word means reproach, it means indignation, it means isolation. The world despises Christians; it pokes fun at you, it persecutes you by word and by deed. Jeremiah felt alone, isolated from his family and friends. They had abandoned him, for He bore the Word of God, a Word that condemns sin, and people like living in their sin. Jesus declared, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We cannot fully understand those words unless we realize what Jeremiah teaches us, that the Word of God is a cross, it is a burden. Bearing the Word of God means that you will lose your life in this world for the sake of Christ, you will give up everything for His sake.
Jeremiah is weary of bearing this burden, and so he cries out to God: “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” God’s Word initially brought such joy, but in Jeremiah’s mind, it was like a stream that promised refreshment and delivered only mud. This burden and cross has cost so much that he is ready to give up. When faced with that same burden, Peter declared, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” He didn’t want Jesus to bear that burden, because I think Peter realized that if Jesus bore the cross, he would have to as well. It seems so much easier to give in to the world and cast off the burden of the Word. Why should I continue to suffer the reproach and indignation of my friends, family, and neighbors? Why should I go to church while they sleep in? Why should I try so hard to follow God’s law? All it’s earned me is scorn, dirty looks, and the cold shoulder. How often are you, like Jeremiah, at the very edge of giving up, of casting off that cross and abandoning that burden? Maybe you crossed that line a long time ago, maybe you have already decided that the cost of following Christ is too high. Maybe you are only a Christian when it’s safe, and the rest of the time follow the ways of the world. Maybe your complaint has already led you over the edge.
God wants us to pour out our complaint to Him; He invites us to cry out even with words as harsh as Jeremiah’s. But now that we have spoken, it’s time for us to sit down and listen, for God has an answer. “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.’” In other words, ‘Repent!’ Repent of your desire to cast off the burden of the Word, repent of your desire to join in the ways of the world! Return to me, God declares; come back from the edge! Do not utter the worthless words of this world, but instead the precious Word of God, whatever the cost. As Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Christ has called on us to take up our cross, but although we may feel like Jeremiah that we bear this burden in isolation, we are not alone. “And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” This world will fight against you, for it hates you and everything that you stand for exactly as it hated Jesus and all that He stood for. But the world will not prevail against you. For with you stands our God, who gives you the most wonderful promise that we find in the Scriptures, “I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” You are not alone, for God boldly declares, ‘I am with you!’ No matter how isolated you feel in this world of sin, the Lord is with you. He is with you to save and defend you; the world will not overcome you, no matter how hard it tries. That is your confidence, your support as you bear the burden of the Word in this world of sin: ‘I am with you!’
How do we know this, how can we truly have confidence that God is with us? He proved it, God made this promise a concrete reality by taking our human flesh and becoming man. Jesus truly is God with us, Emmanuel come to save. It is only because of Him that this world cannot overcome you, for He has overcome the world. “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” He does this by walking the path that you are called upon the walk, the path of the cross. Jesus suffered reproach, indignation, and isolation; He suffered everything that you face in this sinful, hostile world, and He faced it for you. He bore the reproach and indignation of His very own people as they spit in His face, as they cried out ‘Crucify, crucify!’ He was isolated, separated from all people, indeed He was abandoned by God Himself as He hung upon the cross. Jesus took on Jeremiah’s cry as His own: “I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.” Jesus faced the reproach and indignation of God and the world for our sin. He suffered all for your redemption, He endured all for your salvation, He delivered Himself into the hand of the wicked so that you may be rescued from their grasp. The world can rage against you all it wants, it can even take your life, but the empty tomb means that nothing in this world can prevail over you. Even death itself has been defeated; this world has no weapon that can destroy God’s saints, those claimed by the blood of Jesus. You are redeemed, delivered, saved, by God with us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
That was God’s promise to Jeremiah as he bore the burden of God’s Word in a world of sin, the same promise that He gives to you again this very day. “I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” This promise stands as firm today as you bear your cross as it did for Jeremiah as he bore his. Jesus is with us, to comfort us, to strengthen us, to provide for us as we carry the burden of His Word. He came to you once again in His Word today to forgive your sins; He will come to you again next week as He did last week in His Body and Blood, providing food for the journey, nourishment as you bear the cross. And He promises you that one day you will lay down that cross and receive the promised rest, the eternal salvation that He won for you when He bore His cross for your salvation. In the Name of Emmanuel, God with us for our salvation, Amen.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Proper 16 of Series A (Matthew 16:13-20)
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ, even though November of 2012 is still more than a year away, we are in election season. As you know, I grew up in Nebraska, and the thing about living in Nebraska is that the presidential elections often seem like a far off phenomenon. For a variety of reasons- small population, electoral votes that haven’t changed hands in decades- no one campaigns in Nebraska, it really seems like no one cares whether we vote for them or not. But in Iowa, they do care. And they show that they care by calling your house at least seven times a night. If you accidently answer the phone one evening, you may hear a campaign advertisement, but it is just as likely that you will have the opportunity to participate in a survey. This survey will ask you about yourself, about what you want in a candidate, and most importantly, who you would vote for. After asking hundreds or thousands of people the same questions, the campaign organization or news outlet can analyze the numbers, statistics that can make or break a campaign. Surveys are vitally important, because they tell the candidate and the world what people are thinking.
In our text for today, Jesus gives His disciples a survey: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” In a sense, Jesus wants the same thing that a presidential candidate calling your house wants; He wants to know what the general idea about Him is, what kinds of opinions are floating around. What are the people thinking? “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Everyone seems in agreement that this Jesus guy is special, a prophet of some sort, but they can’t quite put their finger on exactly who He is. The results of this survey aren’t encouraging, but it’s much better than what we would encounter today. Who do people in Deloit and Kiron say that the Son of Man is? Some would say a good teacher, some would say a fraud, some would say a basically nice guy, and others would say that we can’t really know. This is tragic, because this survey question is the most important question that a person will ever answer in their life, and it is a question we cannot escape.
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” Jesus turns the tables; the disciples are not just commenting on what everyone else thinks, they are now to answer the question for themselves. They are now part of the survey, a survey much more vital than any campaign phone call. The answer to this question determines eternal one’s eternal destiny: answer correctly, and you have salvation; answer incorrectly, and you have eternal condemnation. This question is about heaven or hell. It is posed to all people- no one can escape it. We all have to take a stand one way or another. Jesus demands confession, He demands that we tell Him who we think He is. This seems strange to our world, and indeed it seems strange to many in the Church. Creeds and confessions are not much in favor these days. People find them divisive and strict, not allowing any wiggle room. And that’s the point; Jesus wants us to clearly declare before and against the world what we believe about Him. The answer to this question will be divisive, because it divides those who answer correctly from those who answer incorrectly. A good confession divides truth from error, and that is what Jesus calls us to do: confess the truth about His person and work.
This question comes to us each and every day, in every situation we find ourselves in. Who do you say that Jesus is when you are here at worship? Is it the same answer as the rest of the week? Who do you say that Jesus is when you are at work? Who do you say that Jesus is when you are at school? Who do you say that Jesus is when you speak with your friends, your families, your neighbors? Most of the time, our problem is that we don’t say anything at all; we too often fail to confess Jesus before the world, we fail to boldly declare before others the person and work of Christ. Our words and actions instead give the answer that Jesus is someone who doesn’t matter that much to my life, that He’s a guy who doesn’t care what I do the other six days of the week. It’s easy to boldly confess within the walls of this Church; where we fall short is in bringing that confession out into the world. This survey question comes up much more often than we realize; each and every day we have opportunities to confess Jesus before others, and even if we do not give a wrong answer, it’s often only because we have failed to give an answer at all. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that: He demands confession, He demands an answer.
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In contrast to all of the other false opinions of Jesus floating around, the wrong answers people were giving to the survey; in contrast to the silence of the other eleven disciples, silence that we too often share, Peter confesses. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter heard the question that Jesus poses to each and every person on this planet, and he answers, he confesses with power, he confesses with boldness. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah promised from of old. He is the Savior, the One sent by God to deliver us from sin, death and hell. He is the Son of the living God; the One who created all things has sent His Son to redeem all things. Peter doesn’t quite yet understand the consequences of His confession; in next Sunday’s Gospel lesson we will learn how Jesus will do this, what He has been anointed to do. Jesus is anointed to suffer and die, to rise again in victory over the grave. He is the sin-bearer, He is the Christ because He has been anointed to take our sin to the cross and pay the price for it there. Even though Peter may not fully understand it yet, Christ’s person and work is contained in just ten words: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Peter has stepped forward, boldly answering the most important question ever posed, and he doesn’t have to wait long to see whether he has answered correctly. “Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” In other words, yes, Peter, you’re right, but don’t stick out your chest; you didn’t come up with this confession on your own, instead it came straight from God. The Greek word for confession means ‘to say the same thing.’ That is what confession is: God reveals Jesus to us and we speak back to Him and to the world the same thing He has told us. Confession has its source in God Himself and what He has said to us. We cannot confess on our own power, but only through the very power of God Himself; as Saint Paul declares, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus demands confession, and it is a demand that we cannot fulfill on our own. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit, working faith within us, can we confess who Jesus is and what He came to do.
It is precisely the divine origin of our confession that gives it great power. Jesus declares, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Peter and the other disciples will take this bold confession out into the world, and Christ will establish His Church upon that foundation. Saint Paul tells us, “You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” The confession of the apostles is our solid foundation because it is the confession of Jesus Christ; it declares who He is and what He has come to do. The Son of the living God has taken on human flesh and is anointed to die for our sins and to rise again to conquer death. Jesus died for you, bearing your sin, winning forgiveness for every time that you fail to make the bold confession, and indeed for every one of your sins. This confession stands firm against the very gates of Hell because it is declares victory over Hell’s power. The Church is built on that foundation, the confession that will never fall. What an amazing promise! Congregations will close, denominations will decline, steeples will fall, but the holy Christian Church will endure, for it has an eternal confession to proclaim. The Church will never die, for it confesses the One who has defeated sin, death, and Satan for us.
Because of that victory, this confession has the power to unlock heaven. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter and the apostles, along with all who have followed them in the Office of the Holy Ministry, exercise the keys, binding and loosing by means of the confession of Jesus Christ, declaring the verdict that has already been made in heaven. To those who reject this confession, they declare the verdict that heaven is closed to them, they are still bound to their sins. But to those who make the bold confession through the power of the Holy Spirit, they declare the verdict that heaven is open to them, their sins have been loosed. As Saint Paul declares, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Thanks be to God that He has opened heaven to you by working faith within you that boldly confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” In the Name of Jesus, whose bold confession is the foundation of the Church, who alone protects that Church from the very gates of hell, the One who unlocks heaven for you through His death and resurrection, the Christ, the Son of the living God, Amen.
In our text for today, Jesus gives His disciples a survey: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” In a sense, Jesus wants the same thing that a presidential candidate calling your house wants; He wants to know what the general idea about Him is, what kinds of opinions are floating around. What are the people thinking? “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Everyone seems in agreement that this Jesus guy is special, a prophet of some sort, but they can’t quite put their finger on exactly who He is. The results of this survey aren’t encouraging, but it’s much better than what we would encounter today. Who do people in Deloit and Kiron say that the Son of Man is? Some would say a good teacher, some would say a fraud, some would say a basically nice guy, and others would say that we can’t really know. This is tragic, because this survey question is the most important question that a person will ever answer in their life, and it is a question we cannot escape.
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” Jesus turns the tables; the disciples are not just commenting on what everyone else thinks, they are now to answer the question for themselves. They are now part of the survey, a survey much more vital than any campaign phone call. The answer to this question determines eternal one’s eternal destiny: answer correctly, and you have salvation; answer incorrectly, and you have eternal condemnation. This question is about heaven or hell. It is posed to all people- no one can escape it. We all have to take a stand one way or another. Jesus demands confession, He demands that we tell Him who we think He is. This seems strange to our world, and indeed it seems strange to many in the Church. Creeds and confessions are not much in favor these days. People find them divisive and strict, not allowing any wiggle room. And that’s the point; Jesus wants us to clearly declare before and against the world what we believe about Him. The answer to this question will be divisive, because it divides those who answer correctly from those who answer incorrectly. A good confession divides truth from error, and that is what Jesus calls us to do: confess the truth about His person and work.
This question comes to us each and every day, in every situation we find ourselves in. Who do you say that Jesus is when you are here at worship? Is it the same answer as the rest of the week? Who do you say that Jesus is when you are at work? Who do you say that Jesus is when you are at school? Who do you say that Jesus is when you speak with your friends, your families, your neighbors? Most of the time, our problem is that we don’t say anything at all; we too often fail to confess Jesus before the world, we fail to boldly declare before others the person and work of Christ. Our words and actions instead give the answer that Jesus is someone who doesn’t matter that much to my life, that He’s a guy who doesn’t care what I do the other six days of the week. It’s easy to boldly confess within the walls of this Church; where we fall short is in bringing that confession out into the world. This survey question comes up much more often than we realize; each and every day we have opportunities to confess Jesus before others, and even if we do not give a wrong answer, it’s often only because we have failed to give an answer at all. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that: He demands confession, He demands an answer.
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In contrast to all of the other false opinions of Jesus floating around, the wrong answers people were giving to the survey; in contrast to the silence of the other eleven disciples, silence that we too often share, Peter confesses. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter heard the question that Jesus poses to each and every person on this planet, and he answers, he confesses with power, he confesses with boldness. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah promised from of old. He is the Savior, the One sent by God to deliver us from sin, death and hell. He is the Son of the living God; the One who created all things has sent His Son to redeem all things. Peter doesn’t quite yet understand the consequences of His confession; in next Sunday’s Gospel lesson we will learn how Jesus will do this, what He has been anointed to do. Jesus is anointed to suffer and die, to rise again in victory over the grave. He is the sin-bearer, He is the Christ because He has been anointed to take our sin to the cross and pay the price for it there. Even though Peter may not fully understand it yet, Christ’s person and work is contained in just ten words: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Peter has stepped forward, boldly answering the most important question ever posed, and he doesn’t have to wait long to see whether he has answered correctly. “Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” In other words, yes, Peter, you’re right, but don’t stick out your chest; you didn’t come up with this confession on your own, instead it came straight from God. The Greek word for confession means ‘to say the same thing.’ That is what confession is: God reveals Jesus to us and we speak back to Him and to the world the same thing He has told us. Confession has its source in God Himself and what He has said to us. We cannot confess on our own power, but only through the very power of God Himself; as Saint Paul declares, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus demands confession, and it is a demand that we cannot fulfill on our own. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit, working faith within us, can we confess who Jesus is and what He came to do.
It is precisely the divine origin of our confession that gives it great power. Jesus declares, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Peter and the other disciples will take this bold confession out into the world, and Christ will establish His Church upon that foundation. Saint Paul tells us, “You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” The confession of the apostles is our solid foundation because it is the confession of Jesus Christ; it declares who He is and what He has come to do. The Son of the living God has taken on human flesh and is anointed to die for our sins and to rise again to conquer death. Jesus died for you, bearing your sin, winning forgiveness for every time that you fail to make the bold confession, and indeed for every one of your sins. This confession stands firm against the very gates of Hell because it is declares victory over Hell’s power. The Church is built on that foundation, the confession that will never fall. What an amazing promise! Congregations will close, denominations will decline, steeples will fall, but the holy Christian Church will endure, for it has an eternal confession to proclaim. The Church will never die, for it confesses the One who has defeated sin, death, and Satan for us.
Because of that victory, this confession has the power to unlock heaven. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter and the apostles, along with all who have followed them in the Office of the Holy Ministry, exercise the keys, binding and loosing by means of the confession of Jesus Christ, declaring the verdict that has already been made in heaven. To those who reject this confession, they declare the verdict that heaven is closed to them, they are still bound to their sins. But to those who make the bold confession through the power of the Holy Spirit, they declare the verdict that heaven is open to them, their sins have been loosed. As Saint Paul declares, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Thanks be to God that He has opened heaven to you by working faith within you that boldly confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” In the Name of Jesus, whose bold confession is the foundation of the Church, who alone protects that Church from the very gates of hell, the One who unlocks heaven for you through His death and resurrection, the Christ, the Son of the living God, Amen.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Proper 15 of Series A (Matthew 15:21-28)
“Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ: the year was 1546. Martin Luther had spent the last three decades serving Jesus and the Church as a reformer, as one whom God raised up to proclaim the Gospel freely again to all people. His former life as a monk had ruined his body, and a career spent in high pressure situations, confessing the faith before priests and kings, hadn’t helped; now it seemed like the Lord was ready to call him home. He would die on February 18th, but shortly before that time he would scribble a short phrase on a scrap of paper, a phrase that epitomized his own life, and in his opinion, the life of every Christian: “We are beggars, it is true.” In those simple words, Luther wasn’t trying to make a social or economic statement, but instead, he wanted at death’s door to define the Christian’s relationship with God. “We are beggars, it is true.” Our human sense of pride revolts at those words. A beggar has nothing to give, he can place no demand on anyone else, but instead stands openhanded, simply receiving whatever is given to him. A beggar asks for aid, but has no right to expect any response, much less a positive one.
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’ But he did not answer her a word.” If we are beggars, then that means that we have nothing that we can give God, it means that God doesn’t owe us anything. We don’t deserve an answer to our prayers, we don’t deserve help, healing, or even salvation. The Canaanite woman called upon Jesus to help her, and all she found was silence. And why should she expect any different? Why should we expect any different from God? Does God owe us anything? What have we done to merit an answer to prayer, to earn help or healing? Nothing; and indeed we have all done much to discourage such mercy. We are unclean, corrupted completely by the filth of sin. We live as if we mattered most, and as if God or our neighbors mattered little at all. God doesn’t owe us anything. We are not entitled to grace, nothing we do can answer for the sin that fills our lives. We are beggars, it is true, beggars with no reason to expect bread.
“And [Jesus’] disciples came and begged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” Strike two. Not only are we sinful, corrupted from birth, but we are not even part of the covenant people of Israel. Now the Jews were hardly perfect (just read the Old Testament), but Jesus was sent through them and to them, to find the lost sheep and bring them back to their God. As Gentiles, we are even less entitled to God’s grace and mercy than the lost sheep of Israel were. The woman in our text was a Canaanite, part of that ancient, idolatrous people that inhabited the Promised Land when Joshua crossed the Jordan. She lived in the region of Tyre and Sidon, two cities that were the epitome of pagan debauchery in the Old Testament. She was in the same boat as you and me; unless I am mistaken, we don’t have any Jews here, and so we are all Gentiles, separated by birth from the covenant people of God. The Messiah came through Israel; the Messiah came to Israel. Gentiles deserve nothing from God but destruction. If anyone deserved salvation less than the lost sheep of Israel, it is the Gentiles, you and me. We are beggars, Gentile beggars with no claim on a Messiah that wasn’t sent to us.
The Canaanite woman is persistent; she has two strikes but she is ready to chance a third. “But she came and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ And He answered, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’” Calling someone a ‘dog’ isn’t a complement today, and if anything, it was even worse in biblical times. The bread belongs to the children, to the people of Israel, not to the unclean, sinful, corrupted dogs that lie beneath the table. The children are given the bread, even if many refuse to eat, not the Gentile dogs, you and I, who have no claim on God, no right to even ask for this bread. We are beggars, it is true, beggars who seem doomed to die of hunger.
But then something remarkable happens. The Canaanite woman has struck out; she has asked for help and has been called a dog, told in no uncertain terms that the bread is not for her. In the face of all that she doesn’t storm off, she doesn’t start arguing, she agrees! “She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’” This Canaanite woman, far from believing herself to be entitled to anything from God, instead agrees with Jesus that she is a dog. In great humility she confesses herself as a sinner, as one to whom God owes nothing. She declares and understands what we say at the beginning of every service, “I, a poor miserable sinner…” She doesn’t just say the words; Jesus has made sure that she comprehends them, that she has completely understood that her standing before God has nothing to do with her own merits. She is a beggar, it is true, and she admits it here. But she doesn’t wallow in despair; instead she confesses another, even greater truth. She confesses that remarkably, the mercy of Israel’s Messiah overflows even to the Gentiles.
Jesus Christ came first to the lost sheep of Israel; it is only right, for they brought forth the Messiah, they were God’s people chosen from of old. Saint Paul declares in our Epistle lesson, “I ask then, has God rejected His people? By no means… God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” The Gospel first came to Israel, for Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. He preached to them, He healed their sick, He called His followers from among them. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Jesus doesn’t owe Gentiles anything, but yet He still delivered us, He won salvation not only for Israel, but for all people. Isaiah prophesied this in our Old Testament lesson: “The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.’” God loves His rebellious people, though they abandoned Him again and again, and that same love is extended even to the Gentiles, even to you and me. We have even less of a claim on God’s grace and mercy than the lost sheep of Israel, but the redemption of Christ flows even into our lives. We eat from beneath the table, a table overflowing with grace and favor.
For the abundance of the Gospel is far beyond our comprehension. Christ died for the lost sheep of Israel, and He also died for Gentile dogs. He died for you and me, those who had no right, no entitlement, no reason to deserve such grace. While we were still sinners, while we were still dogs, Christ died for us. He faced the wrath of God in your place, He suffered the very punishment of hell so that you will never have to. He took on your sin, your impurity, your corruption, all that kept you away from God, and He paid for it on Calvary’s cross. His death was your death, and His resurrection is yours as well. Jesus didn’t owe you anything, but He gave you everything. He gave you His own outpoured blood, the life He offered up into death and then took up again on Easter morning. You are a beggar, and He pours into your empty hands forgiveness, life and salvation. He died for sheep that love to wander, for dogs that deserved nothing but punishment. That shed blood, that redemption, fills the Lord’s Table in abundance, and the crumbs that fall from that table are enough to satisfy our deepest needs. Think about it: the crumbs of God more deeply satisfy than any other feast on earth. We satisfy our greatest need, the need for salvation, the need for deliverance, the need for forgiveness, from the overflowing bounty of the Lord’s Table. Yes, we are beggars, beggars who have been given all things in abundance.
“Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for your as your desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” Christ’s grace and mercy poured into her life, for God had worked faith in her heart. This corrupted, sinful woman, unclean in every respect to people like the Pharisees, demonstrated with her words that she clung to Israel’s Messiah. She had inner purity through faith that meant so much more than her outward uncleanliness. It is the same way with you and me. We appear unclean, corrupted with sin, but through faith in Christ, we are clean. We are covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness; the Gospel has overflowed from the Lord’s Table into our lives and has cleansed us, purifying us to stand before our Father for eternity. God doesn’t owe us anything, but He gives us everything through the redemption of Jesus Christ. He pours His grace out in abundance to those who by no means deserve it, but instead have been claimed in mercy by the blood of His Son. We are beggars, it is true; beggars redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We never stop being beggars. All people are beggars from the moment they are conceived to the moment the leave this earth, but the difference is that Christians acknowledge that fact and confess it. We confess, like the Canaanite woman, that we have no claims upon God, that we stand empty-handed before Him, with nothing to give Him but our sin. And He takes our sin and forgives it, giving in its place forgiveness, life, and salvation. Though to the world we wear the rags of sin, to our Father in heaven, we are clothed with Christ’s own righteousness. We are beggars, it is true; beggars who eat the crumbs from the table, who feast on the abundance of Christ’s redemption. In the name of the one who fills the beggar’s empty hands with the overflowing abundance of His table, Israel’s Messiah who redeemed the Gentiles, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’ But he did not answer her a word.” If we are beggars, then that means that we have nothing that we can give God, it means that God doesn’t owe us anything. We don’t deserve an answer to our prayers, we don’t deserve help, healing, or even salvation. The Canaanite woman called upon Jesus to help her, and all she found was silence. And why should she expect any different? Why should we expect any different from God? Does God owe us anything? What have we done to merit an answer to prayer, to earn help or healing? Nothing; and indeed we have all done much to discourage such mercy. We are unclean, corrupted completely by the filth of sin. We live as if we mattered most, and as if God or our neighbors mattered little at all. God doesn’t owe us anything. We are not entitled to grace, nothing we do can answer for the sin that fills our lives. We are beggars, it is true, beggars with no reason to expect bread.
“And [Jesus’] disciples came and begged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” Strike two. Not only are we sinful, corrupted from birth, but we are not even part of the covenant people of Israel. Now the Jews were hardly perfect (just read the Old Testament), but Jesus was sent through them and to them, to find the lost sheep and bring them back to their God. As Gentiles, we are even less entitled to God’s grace and mercy than the lost sheep of Israel were. The woman in our text was a Canaanite, part of that ancient, idolatrous people that inhabited the Promised Land when Joshua crossed the Jordan. She lived in the region of Tyre and Sidon, two cities that were the epitome of pagan debauchery in the Old Testament. She was in the same boat as you and me; unless I am mistaken, we don’t have any Jews here, and so we are all Gentiles, separated by birth from the covenant people of God. The Messiah came through Israel; the Messiah came to Israel. Gentiles deserve nothing from God but destruction. If anyone deserved salvation less than the lost sheep of Israel, it is the Gentiles, you and me. We are beggars, Gentile beggars with no claim on a Messiah that wasn’t sent to us.
The Canaanite woman is persistent; she has two strikes but she is ready to chance a third. “But she came and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ And He answered, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’” Calling someone a ‘dog’ isn’t a complement today, and if anything, it was even worse in biblical times. The bread belongs to the children, to the people of Israel, not to the unclean, sinful, corrupted dogs that lie beneath the table. The children are given the bread, even if many refuse to eat, not the Gentile dogs, you and I, who have no claim on God, no right to even ask for this bread. We are beggars, it is true, beggars who seem doomed to die of hunger.
But then something remarkable happens. The Canaanite woman has struck out; she has asked for help and has been called a dog, told in no uncertain terms that the bread is not for her. In the face of all that she doesn’t storm off, she doesn’t start arguing, she agrees! “She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’” This Canaanite woman, far from believing herself to be entitled to anything from God, instead agrees with Jesus that she is a dog. In great humility she confesses herself as a sinner, as one to whom God owes nothing. She declares and understands what we say at the beginning of every service, “I, a poor miserable sinner…” She doesn’t just say the words; Jesus has made sure that she comprehends them, that she has completely understood that her standing before God has nothing to do with her own merits. She is a beggar, it is true, and she admits it here. But she doesn’t wallow in despair; instead she confesses another, even greater truth. She confesses that remarkably, the mercy of Israel’s Messiah overflows even to the Gentiles.
Jesus Christ came first to the lost sheep of Israel; it is only right, for they brought forth the Messiah, they were God’s people chosen from of old. Saint Paul declares in our Epistle lesson, “I ask then, has God rejected His people? By no means… God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” The Gospel first came to Israel, for Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. He preached to them, He healed their sick, He called His followers from among them. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Jesus doesn’t owe Gentiles anything, but yet He still delivered us, He won salvation not only for Israel, but for all people. Isaiah prophesied this in our Old Testament lesson: “The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.’” God loves His rebellious people, though they abandoned Him again and again, and that same love is extended even to the Gentiles, even to you and me. We have even less of a claim on God’s grace and mercy than the lost sheep of Israel, but the redemption of Christ flows even into our lives. We eat from beneath the table, a table overflowing with grace and favor.
For the abundance of the Gospel is far beyond our comprehension. Christ died for the lost sheep of Israel, and He also died for Gentile dogs. He died for you and me, those who had no right, no entitlement, no reason to deserve such grace. While we were still sinners, while we were still dogs, Christ died for us. He faced the wrath of God in your place, He suffered the very punishment of hell so that you will never have to. He took on your sin, your impurity, your corruption, all that kept you away from God, and He paid for it on Calvary’s cross. His death was your death, and His resurrection is yours as well. Jesus didn’t owe you anything, but He gave you everything. He gave you His own outpoured blood, the life He offered up into death and then took up again on Easter morning. You are a beggar, and He pours into your empty hands forgiveness, life and salvation. He died for sheep that love to wander, for dogs that deserved nothing but punishment. That shed blood, that redemption, fills the Lord’s Table in abundance, and the crumbs that fall from that table are enough to satisfy our deepest needs. Think about it: the crumbs of God more deeply satisfy than any other feast on earth. We satisfy our greatest need, the need for salvation, the need for deliverance, the need for forgiveness, from the overflowing bounty of the Lord’s Table. Yes, we are beggars, beggars who have been given all things in abundance.
“Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for your as your desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” Christ’s grace and mercy poured into her life, for God had worked faith in her heart. This corrupted, sinful woman, unclean in every respect to people like the Pharisees, demonstrated with her words that she clung to Israel’s Messiah. She had inner purity through faith that meant so much more than her outward uncleanliness. It is the same way with you and me. We appear unclean, corrupted with sin, but through faith in Christ, we are clean. We are covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness; the Gospel has overflowed from the Lord’s Table into our lives and has cleansed us, purifying us to stand before our Father for eternity. God doesn’t owe us anything, but He gives us everything through the redemption of Jesus Christ. He pours His grace out in abundance to those who by no means deserve it, but instead have been claimed in mercy by the blood of His Son. We are beggars, it is true; beggars redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We never stop being beggars. All people are beggars from the moment they are conceived to the moment the leave this earth, but the difference is that Christians acknowledge that fact and confess it. We confess, like the Canaanite woman, that we have no claims upon God, that we stand empty-handed before Him, with nothing to give Him but our sin. And He takes our sin and forgives it, giving in its place forgiveness, life, and salvation. Though to the world we wear the rags of sin, to our Father in heaven, we are clothed with Christ’s own righteousness. We are beggars, it is true; beggars who eat the crumbs from the table, who feast on the abundance of Christ’s redemption. In the name of the one who fills the beggar’s empty hands with the overflowing abundance of His table, Israel’s Messiah who redeemed the Gentiles, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.
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