“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.” 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 evening comes from the Epistle lesson read a few moments ago from the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Church of God in Rome. Dear friends in Christ, the medieval church was noisy. You heard the sound of prayers and masses, offered to God and to the saints, seeking favor, seeking protection, seeking merit. You heard the voice of the indulgence preacher, marketing his wares, offering deliverance from purgatory for a few coins. In Rome, the monk Martin Luther heard the sound of hundreds of pilgrims climbing the stairs, saying ‘Our Fathers’ and ‘Hail Marys’ on every step. And you heard people constantly chattering, to each other and to their God, telling all who would hear about what they have done for their Creator. That is what you must do, if you believe that you are justified, made right before God by what you do. The heart that believes it is justified by works is always talking, always telling God what it has done, always making comparisons, contrasting itself with those around it. Any sinner can look better when he finds someone more wicked than himself.
You and I are little different; we are as noisy as a flock of blackbirds, chattering to God, chattering to each other. We make comparisons, we make distinctions, between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ between we ‘good church people’ and the ones who dwell outside of these walls. We love to compare ourselves to others, especially when the comparison shows that we are the saint, when we are given the opportunity to show that someone else is the sinner. Sure, I’m not perfect, but I’m certainly not as bad as her! In pride, we brag about our good deeds, we bring them before others, we hold them up before God, hoping that He will be pleased. Our comfort at the time of death is ‘I’ve lived a good life,’ something we need to tell ourselves constantly so that we just might believe it.
God hears our chatter, our boasting, our distinctions, and He has one thing to say: Be quiet! Be quiet. “Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” The Law of God stops all this foolish chatter; it silences mouths that love to run down others and exalt themselves. Be quiet! Quit boasting in your works; the Law declares that no good work is good enough to overcome sin. “By works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin.” You thought that the Law could justify you, that it was the path to bring you to God. But that was a false, misleading dream. The Law can never bring you near to your Creator, because you cannot keep it. Through the Law comes knowledge of sin; the Law is meant to condemn you, to proclaim the opposite message: there is no distinction, all flesh stands condemned, separated from God forever.
You and I chatter to God and man, making distinctions, making comparisons, thinking that somehow our Creator is working with a sliding scale, that we can justify ourselves in His sight. God speaks in His Law, making no distinction, condemning all. “Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” Every mouth is stopped. The whole world stands accountable to God. That is the truth that the thunder of God’s Law declares. You are not good enough for God; you are not holy enough, you are not righteous enough, you are not perfect enough. You are unworthy of your Creator, no matter how much worse your neighbor appears, his condemnation is your condemnation. Be quiet. Shut your mouth. Quit chattering, quit talking, and listen. God’s Law demands absolute perfection, each and every day, and you have fallen far, far short. You are a sinner, and you are accountable to God for that sin.
You have no defense, the Law has stripped away every excuse, every apology, every attempt at self-justification. When the Law speaks in all of its fury, we have no choice but to shut our mouths. What can we say? Martin Luther declares in the Smalcald Articles: “This, then, is the thunderbolt by means of which God with one blow destroys both open sinners and false saints. He allows no one to justify himself. He drives all together into terror and despair.” We cannot speak, for all of our chattering, all of our distinctions are no good. God doesn’t care that you are a ‘better person’ than the one sitting next to you tonight; when He looks at this world, all He sees is sinners, sinners accountable to Him, sinners who could never pay their debt.
He sees sinners that He, He alone, can deliver, that He has promised to deliver, that He has delivered. “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.” God makes no distinctions; all stand condemned under His Law, and all are justified, declared righteous, right with Him, solely by His grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, God justifies Himself by justifying you. “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” A God of justice couldn’t simply ignore sin; the Law’s deserved wrath must be poured out. But for centuries, His wrath didn’t come. Even today, many blame God for the existence of unpunished evil. But God is not unjust; His wrath against sin would be poured out, in His time, and upon one man: your substitute, God in the flesh, His own Son, Jesus Christ.
Christ suffered the very anguish of hell; every ounce of wrath earned by the sin of the world was poured out upon Him. On the cross, Jesus suffered for your sins, so that their price is no longer demanded from you; He suffered your punishment, so that you will never feel it. You stand condemned under the Law, but the Law is not God’s final Word, just as the cross was not the end for Christ, so condemnation is not your end. He is risen, and you are delivered, justified, declared righteous before Him, solely through Christ. The Law silences you so that you hear the Gospel and rejoice!
The most important paragraph in the Lutheran Confessions, Article Four of the Augsburg Confession, mercifully brings to an end all the chattering of the medieval church: “It is also taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sins and righteousness before God on our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness.” The Law demands that we be quiet, for all stand condemned under it; the Gospel invites us to be silent, because there is nothing that we need to say, nothing that we need to do. We believe that Christ has done it all for us, and it is ours. It is a gift, we do not earn it; a gift won upon the cross by your substitute, and given to you in the Word, in Holy Baptism, in His Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. You are no longer condemned, you are righteous!
As the Apology to the Augsburg Confession declares, “When frightened consciences are consoled by faith and believe that our sins are blotted out by Christ’s death and that God has been reconciled to us because of Christ’s suffering, then indeed Christ’s suffering benefits us.” Christ suffered for you, He has brought the benefits of that suffering near to you in His Word and Holy Sacraments, and you are justified by faith, the faith created by the Holy Spirit in those very means. He has done everything needed to quiet your conscience, a conscience that stood in terror under God’s Law. As Saint Paul says, “Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”
The Reformation church is noisy. You hear the sound of the Gospel, freely proclaimed to the entire world. You hear the songs of the saints, trumpeting forth the wonderful good news of God’s free grace on account of Christ. You hear the Divine Service, bringing salvation near to human ears and lips each and every Lord’s Day. The church of the Reformation, the Lutheran Church, cannot keep from chattering, speaking the beautiful message of the Gospel to sinners in desperate need of it. We have a treasure we can’t help but share. The Lutheran Church exists, and the Lutheran Confessions were written to bring comfort to stricken sinners, to those who were living under the Law and all of its demands. Paul declares, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.” The Confessions echo: “Faith alone makes a righteous man out of an unrighteous one, that is, that it receives the forgiveness of sins.”
Therefore, the Reformation is for everyone; the Lutheran Church isn’t a German phenomenon, any more than Luther is simply a German cultural icon. The Lutheran Church is for all people because the message she proclaims is for all people. “There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” It is that glorious Gospel message that we celebrate on Reformation Day, because that message is for every person on this planet, even you, even me. In the Name of Jesus, who stood in your place under the wrath of God, by whose shed blood you are declared righteous, Amen.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Third Week of Spiritual Renewal for Capital Campaign (Hebrews 10:19-25)
“We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, His flesh.” 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, this third week of spiritual renewal for our capital campaign, comes from the tenth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. Dear friends in Christ, in the temple hung a curtain. This curtain divided what was holy from what was not; it divided the people of God from the holiness of their God. It hung there to shield God’s people, to defend them, to keep them from holiness so pure that it was a terror to sinful man. The curtain proclaimed one message: God is holy—you are not! But man should’ve had no need of a curtain to tell him that; the curtain is only the necessary consequence of that truth, a truth that has stood since our first parents grasped after holiness on their own terms, and found only corruption.
God is holy—you are not! He is pure love, pure righteousness, pure justice. You are a child of Adam and Eve, corrupted and divided from God at the moment of your conception by the sin you inherited from them. You are filled with hatred and anger, you have soiled yourself with the thoughts and deeds of darkness, you have treated others as you wish no one would treat you, you have destroyed reputations by words and actions. Even if no curtain ever hung in Jerusalem, a curtain still stands between you and your God; between His holiness and your impurity. In your sin, you can only approach Him in terror; you have no access to His holy places, and when the unclean and unholy approach the holy God on the Last Day, that holiness is a consuming fire—for eternity.
There had to be a curtain in the temple, there had to be a divide, because that was reality, that was the truth. That is what the Law in all of its severity, all of its sternness was meant to teach the people: God is holy—you are not! And as long as that curtain hung, the people of God knew that unless someone intervened, a curtain would stand between them and their Creator for eternity. The blood of bulls and goats entered within the veil, but they knew it was not enough. That curtain still stood, blocking them from their God; preventing entrance into the holy places. Someone needed to tear it down, or we would be divided from God for eternity, and someone did.
“Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” At the moment of His death, as Jesus was at the pinnacle of His humility, His abandonment by His Father, as He gave up His dying breath, the temple curtain was torn in two. At that moment, with the Son of God hanging dead upon the cross, the barrier between God and man, between your impurity and His holiness, was destroyed. Christ has put Himself between God and man; through His flesh we are finally brought near to our Creator. “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh.”
The former priesthood could never fully atone; they entered behind the curtain, but the curtain continued to stand. Nothing that sinful man did could remove that barrier. What Paul called the ‘dividing wall of hostility’ still stood. That is, until Jesus came. Christ Jesus came to shed His blood, His holy, precious blood; the price of the Lamb without stain, the blood of the man who is also God, the only price that would suffice. He came to tear down every barrier between creature and Creator by paying the price for your sin, ripping down the curtain and all that it proclaimed. He came not just to show you the way to God, but to be Himself that way, and to bring you through it.
He tore that curtain in two and then put Himself in its place, not to divide you from God, but to bring you near. No doubt, within days of Good Friday, the religious officials hung another curtain in the temple, but it no longer reflected reality. The great High Priest had done what the former priesthood could never do; Jesus had destroyed the division between God and man, between you and the God who created you, by offering the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood. The new curtain is His own flesh, and you are brought through it to the holy places, you have access to your holy God by the forgiveness of your sins. What the former priesthood could never do Christ has done, and the people of God rejoice. “We have a great High Priest over the house of God,” the author to the Hebrews joyously proclaims, a great High Priest that offered Himself as the sacrifice.
Therefore, since we have such a great High Priest, since we have been given access to the holy places of God through His shed blood, let us draw near. “Let us draw near with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Let us draw near, for Christ has brought us near through His death. Let us draw near, for our hearts have been sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ in the waters of Holy Baptism, our bodies have been washed with pure water, the water joined with God’s holy and precious Word. The doorposts and lintels of your heart are marked with the blood of the Lamb. You are holy, your sins are forgiven, for you are the baptized, and you are brought near to God our Father. And that, dear friends in Christ, is what the Church is all about.
Here in this place, the curtain is torn, and you draw near to God’s holiness through the blood of Jesus. Come boldly, come with confidence, not in yourself, but in Christ, whose shed blood has been sprinkled upon you, in whose living stream you have washed your robes and made them white. Here your sins are forgiven, here the holy God comes to you through the flesh and shed blood of His Son. Let us draw near to this altar, for here the catechized are given the very Body and Blood of their Savior. The same Blood shed to give you access to your God is given to you to partake of in this feast. Heaven is open to you, God Himself touches your lips with Himself, giving to you all He won on the cross. Such contact with the divine held only terror to those separated by the curtain, but for you, who have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, whose body has been washed with pure water, this is pure joy, this is something worth telling the world about.
And so the author to the Hebrews exhorts us to speak: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Let us cling to the confession of Christ without wavering, because only through Christ do we have access to the holy things of God, and only through His Blood, given and shed on Calvary’s cross, and given and distributed in the Lord’s Supper. Let us refuse to give up that confession, no matter what the world does to us, let us be willing to die for it, for this confession conquers the world, this confession gives life. Let us confess to and against the world that salvation was won for us upon the cross and is given to us in the means of grace, that the Word, Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar give us access to God that is found nowhere else. Let us confess boldly what the Supper is; not some mere memorial of an absent Christ, but the opening of heaven, the incarnate Christ touching our lips with the same Body that hung upon the tree, the same Blood shed there to tear down the curtain that stood between God and man. Let us confess that in this Sacrament is given forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, that this is the very medicine of immortality, the feast that is access to God and that gives access to God.
And let us exhort our fellow saints to partake of it. “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Let us encourage both children and adults to be catechized and come to the table; let us exhort those who are catechized to come eat and drink. Let us stir one another up, let us be troublemakers, let us bother others, let us be the ones to ask about church attendance and the use of the means of grace, not out of a spiteful spirit, but in concern for our brothers and sisters, and always in love. Those who stay away from the means of grace are trying to walk in the desert without any water, and they are forsaking their fellow believers who are struggling on their own pilgrimage. We are not individuals, we are part of a body, the Body of Christ, that receives the Body and Blood of Christ in the Supper.
There is no renewal in the Church without a renewal of the Lord’s Supper. It is not worth pursuing a capital campaign, or any other effort in the Church, without a renewal of the use of the means of grace, without a renewal of the Sacrament of the Altar. The Supper is the center of the Church’s life, as week after week the incarnate Son of God touches the lips of the saints for the forgiveness of their sins. Here the body of Christ in this place comes together in unity around one table, and the Lord knows what strength comes from gathering together around His gifts. Let us stir up ourselves, let us stir up one another, to partake of Christ’s gifts, for the means of grace take us through the curtain of Christ’s flesh into the holy places of God on that final, triumphant Day.
On that Day, this body that was washed by the water and the Word, that was fed by Christ’s Body and Blood, will be raised, and you will draw near to God’s holiness forever. The Sacrament of the Altar is food for the journey, the journey from Baptism, where you were sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ and washed with pure water, to the Day when your Baptism is completed at the return of Christ. On that Day, you will draw near with boldness, because you enter through Christ, the new and living curtain, who shed His blood to tear down the old curtain, to destroy the dividing wall of hostility, to bring you to your God. God is holy—so are you, through Christ. In the Name of Jesus, our great high priest who offered the sacrifice of Himself, once for all sin, once for all sinners, Amen.
God is holy—you are not! He is pure love, pure righteousness, pure justice. You are a child of Adam and Eve, corrupted and divided from God at the moment of your conception by the sin you inherited from them. You are filled with hatred and anger, you have soiled yourself with the thoughts and deeds of darkness, you have treated others as you wish no one would treat you, you have destroyed reputations by words and actions. Even if no curtain ever hung in Jerusalem, a curtain still stands between you and your God; between His holiness and your impurity. In your sin, you can only approach Him in terror; you have no access to His holy places, and when the unclean and unholy approach the holy God on the Last Day, that holiness is a consuming fire—for eternity.
There had to be a curtain in the temple, there had to be a divide, because that was reality, that was the truth. That is what the Law in all of its severity, all of its sternness was meant to teach the people: God is holy—you are not! And as long as that curtain hung, the people of God knew that unless someone intervened, a curtain would stand between them and their Creator for eternity. The blood of bulls and goats entered within the veil, but they knew it was not enough. That curtain still stood, blocking them from their God; preventing entrance into the holy places. Someone needed to tear it down, or we would be divided from God for eternity, and someone did.
“Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” At the moment of His death, as Jesus was at the pinnacle of His humility, His abandonment by His Father, as He gave up His dying breath, the temple curtain was torn in two. At that moment, with the Son of God hanging dead upon the cross, the barrier between God and man, between your impurity and His holiness, was destroyed. Christ has put Himself between God and man; through His flesh we are finally brought near to our Creator. “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh.”
The former priesthood could never fully atone; they entered behind the curtain, but the curtain continued to stand. Nothing that sinful man did could remove that barrier. What Paul called the ‘dividing wall of hostility’ still stood. That is, until Jesus came. Christ Jesus came to shed His blood, His holy, precious blood; the price of the Lamb without stain, the blood of the man who is also God, the only price that would suffice. He came to tear down every barrier between creature and Creator by paying the price for your sin, ripping down the curtain and all that it proclaimed. He came not just to show you the way to God, but to be Himself that way, and to bring you through it.
He tore that curtain in two and then put Himself in its place, not to divide you from God, but to bring you near. No doubt, within days of Good Friday, the religious officials hung another curtain in the temple, but it no longer reflected reality. The great High Priest had done what the former priesthood could never do; Jesus had destroyed the division between God and man, between you and the God who created you, by offering the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood. The new curtain is His own flesh, and you are brought through it to the holy places, you have access to your holy God by the forgiveness of your sins. What the former priesthood could never do Christ has done, and the people of God rejoice. “We have a great High Priest over the house of God,” the author to the Hebrews joyously proclaims, a great High Priest that offered Himself as the sacrifice.
Therefore, since we have such a great High Priest, since we have been given access to the holy places of God through His shed blood, let us draw near. “Let us draw near with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Let us draw near, for Christ has brought us near through His death. Let us draw near, for our hearts have been sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ in the waters of Holy Baptism, our bodies have been washed with pure water, the water joined with God’s holy and precious Word. The doorposts and lintels of your heart are marked with the blood of the Lamb. You are holy, your sins are forgiven, for you are the baptized, and you are brought near to God our Father. And that, dear friends in Christ, is what the Church is all about.
Here in this place, the curtain is torn, and you draw near to God’s holiness through the blood of Jesus. Come boldly, come with confidence, not in yourself, but in Christ, whose shed blood has been sprinkled upon you, in whose living stream you have washed your robes and made them white. Here your sins are forgiven, here the holy God comes to you through the flesh and shed blood of His Son. Let us draw near to this altar, for here the catechized are given the very Body and Blood of their Savior. The same Blood shed to give you access to your God is given to you to partake of in this feast. Heaven is open to you, God Himself touches your lips with Himself, giving to you all He won on the cross. Such contact with the divine held only terror to those separated by the curtain, but for you, who have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, whose body has been washed with pure water, this is pure joy, this is something worth telling the world about.
And so the author to the Hebrews exhorts us to speak: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Let us cling to the confession of Christ without wavering, because only through Christ do we have access to the holy things of God, and only through His Blood, given and shed on Calvary’s cross, and given and distributed in the Lord’s Supper. Let us refuse to give up that confession, no matter what the world does to us, let us be willing to die for it, for this confession conquers the world, this confession gives life. Let us confess to and against the world that salvation was won for us upon the cross and is given to us in the means of grace, that the Word, Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar give us access to God that is found nowhere else. Let us confess boldly what the Supper is; not some mere memorial of an absent Christ, but the opening of heaven, the incarnate Christ touching our lips with the same Body that hung upon the tree, the same Blood shed there to tear down the curtain that stood between God and man. Let us confess that in this Sacrament is given forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, that this is the very medicine of immortality, the feast that is access to God and that gives access to God.
And let us exhort our fellow saints to partake of it. “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Let us encourage both children and adults to be catechized and come to the table; let us exhort those who are catechized to come eat and drink. Let us stir one another up, let us be troublemakers, let us bother others, let us be the ones to ask about church attendance and the use of the means of grace, not out of a spiteful spirit, but in concern for our brothers and sisters, and always in love. Those who stay away from the means of grace are trying to walk in the desert without any water, and they are forsaking their fellow believers who are struggling on their own pilgrimage. We are not individuals, we are part of a body, the Body of Christ, that receives the Body and Blood of Christ in the Supper.
There is no renewal in the Church without a renewal of the Lord’s Supper. It is not worth pursuing a capital campaign, or any other effort in the Church, without a renewal of the use of the means of grace, without a renewal of the Sacrament of the Altar. The Supper is the center of the Church’s life, as week after week the incarnate Son of God touches the lips of the saints for the forgiveness of their sins. Here the body of Christ in this place comes together in unity around one table, and the Lord knows what strength comes from gathering together around His gifts. Let us stir up ourselves, let us stir up one another, to partake of Christ’s gifts, for the means of grace take us through the curtain of Christ’s flesh into the holy places of God on that final, triumphant Day.
On that Day, this body that was washed by the water and the Word, that was fed by Christ’s Body and Blood, will be raised, and you will draw near to God’s holiness forever. The Sacrament of the Altar is food for the journey, the journey from Baptism, where you were sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ and washed with pure water, to the Day when your Baptism is completed at the return of Christ. On that Day, you will draw near with boldness, because you enter through Christ, the new and living curtain, who shed His blood to tear down the old curtain, to destroy the dividing wall of hostility, to bring you to your God. God is holy—so are you, through Christ. In the Name of Jesus, our great high priest who offered the sacrifice of Himself, once for all sin, once for all sinners, Amen.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Farewell Sermon (Philippians)
Chris, a pastor, a servant of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Kiron and Deloit: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God whenever I think of you, always praying for you with joy, because of your partnership in the Gospel from the day that I arrived until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you on the day of your baptism will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ, whether I stand in this pulpit or not. It is Christ’s Church, not mine, and He is the One who gives the growth. What else could I hope for you, because I hold you in my heart, and you are all partakers with me of grace? We have labored sided by side in this corner of Christ’s vineyard, and you have shown me overwhelming welcome, care, and encouragement. God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love for each other and for Christ may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that this decision was not made lightly. How could I serve among the saints of Christ in this place, rejoicing when you rejoice, suffering when you suffer, and mourning when you mourn, and simply leave without another thought? It has been my task, my honor and privilege, to be with you in some of the darkest hours of your life, to bring you the light of Christ when there was no other light. And it has been my great joy to feed you with Christ’s Word and His precious Sacrament week after week, sustaining you on your journey and encouraging you to stand firm. Despite all the challenges that we faced together, the last four years have been a joy, and I’ve been encouraged to see so many of you grow in your faith in Christ. My love for you is what made the last two months agonizing, as we struggled to decide whether to walk through the doors Christ had opened for us. But I do not leave you alone; pastors may take calls, but Christ never leaves—He simply changes masks; you will have another faithful man come here to continue the work. It is His Church. And we know as Christians that we are never truly absent from one another; we are united as one in the body of Christ, and we know that we will see each other again, either on this earth, in the outward fellowship of the Church, or in eternity, as we join with all the saints before the Lamb in His Kingdom.
Until that day, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This world is becoming more and more hostile to the faith that you hold, and it may be granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you see happening to your brothers and sisters around the world.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Live in unity with one another, for you are children of the same God, you are redeemed by the same Savior. What have you to be prideful of, if everything you have is a gift? Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. As I’ve preached to you time and time again, place the needs of others ahead of your own. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, “though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always clung to Christ, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, serve your neighbor and keep the faith not with vainglory and boasting, but with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without the grumbling or quarreling that destroys joy, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Stand out from those around you, as light stands out in the darkness, as the straight stands out next to the crooked. Hold fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may know that I did not run in vain or labor in vain in your midst. Do not let these four years of labor be in vain! Cling to the faith that has been given to you; support one another in unity, that none of those in your fellowship, especially the youth, may fall away. Even if you are to be poured out as a sacrificial offering because of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all, because you are baptized in the Name of Jesus, who humbled Himself to deliver you from sin, death, and the power of the devil. This world cannot destroy your joy because it cannot destroy you; you belong to Christ, who conquered death.
Next week, Pastor Mahnken will be sent to St. John’s, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I know no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For so many seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Pastor Mahnken’s proven worth, how he has served with me in the Gospel, and has mentored a young pastor as he tried to find his way. At Faith Pastor Fritz, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, is sent to you. I was excited to hear that he will fill the vacancy, and with these men serving you, I am less anxious. Receive them in the Lord with all joy, receive them as you received me, and honor such men, for they are servants of God in your midst, here to distribute the very gifts of Christ, as I did these past years.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who would lead you astray, that would steal your joy by fixing your eyes on the things of this world. We are not of this world, we are Christians, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. In fact, whatever we gain in this world, we count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, we count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing else matters; in Christ we find joy. For His sake we have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that we may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own, but that which comes as a gift through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that through Him we will attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that we have already obtained this or are already perfect, but we press on to make it our own, because Christ Jesus has made us His own. Dear friends in Christ, we do not consider that we have made it our own. But one thing we do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, we fix our eyes on the things that are above, on the things of Christ. Brothers and sisters, join in imitating the saints; keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you are given in the Scriptures. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. They want to rob you of your faith. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But your citizenship is in heaven, and from it you await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to Himself. There is resurrection in your future. Therefore, my friends, whom I love and will miss dearly, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. You have a treasure this world cannot take away. The Lord is at hand, He is coming soon; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving call upon the God who promises to hear you. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, dear friends, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things, fill your mind with them. What you have learned and received and heard in the Scriptures—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
I am humbled that I had the opportunity to serve as your pastor; I, a poor, miserable sinner, am not worthy of this office, yet you invited me into your lives, and I pray that I showed you Christ, not myself. Thank you for the care and compassion you showed to me and my family, for all that you have done to provide for our needs. And now, I know that the Lord will supply your every need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. He who has given up His own life for His bride will certainly care for her until that glorious Day when He brings her to Himself forever. Until that day, we say with Saint Paul, “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” You can do all things, even say goodbye to a pastor, through Christ. It is His Church, and she endures, to the very end. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever, Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, Amen.
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that this decision was not made lightly. How could I serve among the saints of Christ in this place, rejoicing when you rejoice, suffering when you suffer, and mourning when you mourn, and simply leave without another thought? It has been my task, my honor and privilege, to be with you in some of the darkest hours of your life, to bring you the light of Christ when there was no other light. And it has been my great joy to feed you with Christ’s Word and His precious Sacrament week after week, sustaining you on your journey and encouraging you to stand firm. Despite all the challenges that we faced together, the last four years have been a joy, and I’ve been encouraged to see so many of you grow in your faith in Christ. My love for you is what made the last two months agonizing, as we struggled to decide whether to walk through the doors Christ had opened for us. But I do not leave you alone; pastors may take calls, but Christ never leaves—He simply changes masks; you will have another faithful man come here to continue the work. It is His Church. And we know as Christians that we are never truly absent from one another; we are united as one in the body of Christ, and we know that we will see each other again, either on this earth, in the outward fellowship of the Church, or in eternity, as we join with all the saints before the Lamb in His Kingdom.
Until that day, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This world is becoming more and more hostile to the faith that you hold, and it may be granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you see happening to your brothers and sisters around the world.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Live in unity with one another, for you are children of the same God, you are redeemed by the same Savior. What have you to be prideful of, if everything you have is a gift? Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. As I’ve preached to you time and time again, place the needs of others ahead of your own. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, “though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always clung to Christ, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, serve your neighbor and keep the faith not with vainglory and boasting, but with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without the grumbling or quarreling that destroys joy, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Stand out from those around you, as light stands out in the darkness, as the straight stands out next to the crooked. Hold fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may know that I did not run in vain or labor in vain in your midst. Do not let these four years of labor be in vain! Cling to the faith that has been given to you; support one another in unity, that none of those in your fellowship, especially the youth, may fall away. Even if you are to be poured out as a sacrificial offering because of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all, because you are baptized in the Name of Jesus, who humbled Himself to deliver you from sin, death, and the power of the devil. This world cannot destroy your joy because it cannot destroy you; you belong to Christ, who conquered death.
Next week, Pastor Mahnken will be sent to St. John’s, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I know no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For so many seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Pastor Mahnken’s proven worth, how he has served with me in the Gospel, and has mentored a young pastor as he tried to find his way. At Faith Pastor Fritz, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, is sent to you. I was excited to hear that he will fill the vacancy, and with these men serving you, I am less anxious. Receive them in the Lord with all joy, receive them as you received me, and honor such men, for they are servants of God in your midst, here to distribute the very gifts of Christ, as I did these past years.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who would lead you astray, that would steal your joy by fixing your eyes on the things of this world. We are not of this world, we are Christians, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. In fact, whatever we gain in this world, we count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, we count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing else matters; in Christ we find joy. For His sake we have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that we may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own, but that which comes as a gift through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that through Him we will attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that we have already obtained this or are already perfect, but we press on to make it our own, because Christ Jesus has made us His own. Dear friends in Christ, we do not consider that we have made it our own. But one thing we do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, we fix our eyes on the things that are above, on the things of Christ. Brothers and sisters, join in imitating the saints; keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you are given in the Scriptures. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. They want to rob you of your faith. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But your citizenship is in heaven, and from it you await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to Himself. There is resurrection in your future. Therefore, my friends, whom I love and will miss dearly, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. You have a treasure this world cannot take away. The Lord is at hand, He is coming soon; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving call upon the God who promises to hear you. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, dear friends, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things, fill your mind with them. What you have learned and received and heard in the Scriptures—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
I am humbled that I had the opportunity to serve as your pastor; I, a poor, miserable sinner, am not worthy of this office, yet you invited me into your lives, and I pray that I showed you Christ, not myself. Thank you for the care and compassion you showed to me and my family, for all that you have done to provide for our needs. And now, I know that the Lord will supply your every need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. He who has given up His own life for His bride will certainly care for her until that glorious Day when He brings her to Himself forever. Until that day, we say with Saint Paul, “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” You can do all things, even say goodbye to a pastor, through Christ. It is His Church, and she endures, to the very end. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever, Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, Amen.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Proper 20 of Series A (Matthew 20:1-16)
“So the last will be first, and the first last.” 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 twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ: the Church is a vineyard, and we are the workers. We are called by the Master to work in His vineyard, to tend it and care for it through our various vocations. Some of you, like me, were called early in the morning; you have been laboring in this vineyard your entire life. Christ saw you, conceived and born in sin, and through the power of His Word and using the people around you as His instruments, you were called to work in the vineyard.
When you were baptized, the Lord promised your wage: eternal life, won by His death and resurrection for you. “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” That denarius is already yours; promised to you by the Master. You have been reconciled with the vineyard owner, you are brought back to your God through the shed blood of Christ. You labor not to earn the denarius of eternal life; you labor because it has been given to you. And boy, have you labored. You have kept the faith, you have served the Church, from that first hour; you never fell away, you are one of the dependable ones, who has lived an upright life, who has stayed true to Scripture. You have held every office, worked every soup supper, and taught every Sunday School class. In fact, you have labored so long and so hard in the vineyard that you are starting to believe that you are earning that denarius, that your dedication to this particular corner of Christ’s vineyard is getting you in good with your master, maybe even earning a little extra.
Others of you were called at the third hour. You weren’t baptized as infants, but somehow, you and your family, or maybe just you, were called by the Master in childhood. “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’” Perhaps you came from a broken home, where childhood was a struggle and there was little love. Or maybe you came from a ‘good’ family who simply didn’t believe, who wanted nothing to do with the Church. But the Lord worked through friends, He worked through family, faithful grandparents or aunts and uncles, to call you to faith, to bring you to Church, to take you to the font, where you received your wage, won by Christ your Lord. He gives you “whatever is right;” whatever is righteous, His righteousness, won upon the cross and placed upon you as a beautiful robe in your baptism. And then you go to work, laboring long and hard in that vineyard through the heat of the day.
Others of you were called at the sixth hour. You lived in darkness for years, even decades. Maybe you had been baptized as an infant, and had walked out of the vineyard, maybe you were never there in the first place. Perhaps you fell into sexual immorality, addiction, or greed. There was no place for Christ as you wallowed in your sin. There was a pastor who once said to me: “You young guys, you life-long Christians, you have no idea what darkness is.” He’s right. Those who work from the first hour may suffer and struggle, but they do not know the darkness of total unbelief. You do; you’ve lived in the dark night where there is no hope, you lived a life asking for hell, but Christ called you, He washed you, He sanctified you. He gives you “whatever is right,” His righteousness, and it covers each and every stain. He shone His great light in the midst of your darkness and chased the shadows away. Your past makes you rough around the edges, it makes you different from your fellow workers, the ‘good church people’ who have been here from the first hour, but you still labor beside them, faithfully tending the vineyard.
Others of you were called at the ninth hour. Things were getting late, but Christ is long-suffering, He is patient. Maybe it was the influence of children or grandchildren, maybe it was a parent’s dying wish, but Christ worked through others to call you to His vineyard. You were away for decades, but Christ is persistent, He is stubborn, and He never gave up on you. It took Him so long to convince you of your sin, and to show you that His blood atones for every stain. You were hardened by life, but Christ broke through your tough shell and brought you to faith. Now you labor beside those whom you may have known your entire life, but never in the Church, never in the vineyard.
Some are called at the eleventh hour. These are the death-bed conversions, those who have lived outside the vineyard their entire lives and are called at the very end. “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’” They have been idle all the day, refusing to work in the vineyard for an entire lifetime. They have been working for their own damnation their entire lives, but here, at the end, confronted with the enemy that no man can defeat, the Master’s call gets through. Death has stripped away all that caused them to refuse this call before, and now they are finally baptized, brought into the vineyard. It doesn’t seem like a dying person can do much labor, but Jesus puts them to work, that perhaps even in death they may cause a part of the vineyard to flourish.
As I’ve labored in this corner of Christ’s vineyard these past years, I have known people called at every hour; I have baptized infants, children, adults, and a dying man. I know for a fact that here in this sanctuary today we have those called to labor early in the morning, in the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour. You know who you are. Your stories are not the same; you each have taken unique journeys to get here today. Your path is not identical, but the destination is. “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.” The reward is equal, because it was given before any labor was done. The reward is equal, because it is given as a gift. The reward is the fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection, it is life eternal in the vineyard of the new heavens and the new earth. This is your reward, promised to you in your baptism and given to you when you die. Because of Christ, your death isn’t defeat, it is when you are given an eternal treasure. That same treasure is given to all, whether they were hired at the first hour, the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, or even the eleventh hour.
“Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’” In our sin, we are always in competition, we are always comparing ourselves to others. And when we have labored long in the vineyard, especially when we are those who have worked from the first hour, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are earning something by our labor. If Christ pays the death-bed convert one denarius, surely I’ll get two! And so, tragically, we look down on our fellow laborers, we think that they are less than we are, and when we hear that they will receive the same wage, we grumble against our Master.
But our Master immediately rebukes this complaint. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I chose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Repent! It is the Master’s vineyard, not ours; He is the one who planted it, and He is the one who calls workers to tend it, in His good time and according to His good purposes. And He is the one who gives out the wage; He has earned that right, because He won the reward by His agony on the cross and His victory over death. And because it is His vineyard to tend, His reward to give, He chooses to give to all who believe the same reward: eternal life.
No normal vineyard master would do this, but Christ is certainly not normal, as we hear from Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” It is Christ’s grace to give, and He gives it in abundance, to the life-long Christian, to the wandering and rebellious sinner, even to the one who was idle all the day. We are all the same because we are all sinners; none of us deserve His grace, whether we are called in the first hour or the last. But yet His grace is given in abundance to you, no matter the hour you were called, no matter what life you lived, because He died for you and He rose for you, and He has called you, every one of you, making you His own in the blessed waters of baptism.
Christ calls at His time, not ours, and no matter the hour you are called in, you are called to serve your neighbor. Your labor in the vineyard isn’t for your own good, to earn the reward, but for the good of others. Paul understood this; in our Epistle lesson, He says that to die and receive his reward would be much better for him, but to live on is for the good of his neighbor. “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” If our reward was all that mattered, God would simply take our life immediately after we were baptized. But we remain, some for only a few hours, some the entire day, for the good of our neighbor, just as others remained for your good, to extend Christ’s call to you, a call that brought you to the vineyard, where the reward is yours. No matter what hour your were called, no matter what your past is, on the Last Day, Christ will pay your wages, and you will receive your denarius, your entrance into a life that never ends with all the saints, called at every hour, but all with the same promise, all with the same reward, bought with the blood of Christ. In the Name of Jesus, the Master of the vineyard who earned your reward with His own blood, Amen.
When you were baptized, the Lord promised your wage: eternal life, won by His death and resurrection for you. “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” That denarius is already yours; promised to you by the Master. You have been reconciled with the vineyard owner, you are brought back to your God through the shed blood of Christ. You labor not to earn the denarius of eternal life; you labor because it has been given to you. And boy, have you labored. You have kept the faith, you have served the Church, from that first hour; you never fell away, you are one of the dependable ones, who has lived an upright life, who has stayed true to Scripture. You have held every office, worked every soup supper, and taught every Sunday School class. In fact, you have labored so long and so hard in the vineyard that you are starting to believe that you are earning that denarius, that your dedication to this particular corner of Christ’s vineyard is getting you in good with your master, maybe even earning a little extra.
Others of you were called at the third hour. You weren’t baptized as infants, but somehow, you and your family, or maybe just you, were called by the Master in childhood. “And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’” Perhaps you came from a broken home, where childhood was a struggle and there was little love. Or maybe you came from a ‘good’ family who simply didn’t believe, who wanted nothing to do with the Church. But the Lord worked through friends, He worked through family, faithful grandparents or aunts and uncles, to call you to faith, to bring you to Church, to take you to the font, where you received your wage, won by Christ your Lord. He gives you “whatever is right;” whatever is righteous, His righteousness, won upon the cross and placed upon you as a beautiful robe in your baptism. And then you go to work, laboring long and hard in that vineyard through the heat of the day.
Others of you were called at the sixth hour. You lived in darkness for years, even decades. Maybe you had been baptized as an infant, and had walked out of the vineyard, maybe you were never there in the first place. Perhaps you fell into sexual immorality, addiction, or greed. There was no place for Christ as you wallowed in your sin. There was a pastor who once said to me: “You young guys, you life-long Christians, you have no idea what darkness is.” He’s right. Those who work from the first hour may suffer and struggle, but they do not know the darkness of total unbelief. You do; you’ve lived in the dark night where there is no hope, you lived a life asking for hell, but Christ called you, He washed you, He sanctified you. He gives you “whatever is right,” His righteousness, and it covers each and every stain. He shone His great light in the midst of your darkness and chased the shadows away. Your past makes you rough around the edges, it makes you different from your fellow workers, the ‘good church people’ who have been here from the first hour, but you still labor beside them, faithfully tending the vineyard.
Others of you were called at the ninth hour. Things were getting late, but Christ is long-suffering, He is patient. Maybe it was the influence of children or grandchildren, maybe it was a parent’s dying wish, but Christ worked through others to call you to His vineyard. You were away for decades, but Christ is persistent, He is stubborn, and He never gave up on you. It took Him so long to convince you of your sin, and to show you that His blood atones for every stain. You were hardened by life, but Christ broke through your tough shell and brought you to faith. Now you labor beside those whom you may have known your entire life, but never in the Church, never in the vineyard.
Some are called at the eleventh hour. These are the death-bed conversions, those who have lived outside the vineyard their entire lives and are called at the very end. “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’” They have been idle all the day, refusing to work in the vineyard for an entire lifetime. They have been working for their own damnation their entire lives, but here, at the end, confronted with the enemy that no man can defeat, the Master’s call gets through. Death has stripped away all that caused them to refuse this call before, and now they are finally baptized, brought into the vineyard. It doesn’t seem like a dying person can do much labor, but Jesus puts them to work, that perhaps even in death they may cause a part of the vineyard to flourish.
As I’ve labored in this corner of Christ’s vineyard these past years, I have known people called at every hour; I have baptized infants, children, adults, and a dying man. I know for a fact that here in this sanctuary today we have those called to labor early in the morning, in the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour. You know who you are. Your stories are not the same; you each have taken unique journeys to get here today. Your path is not identical, but the destination is. “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.” The reward is equal, because it was given before any labor was done. The reward is equal, because it is given as a gift. The reward is the fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection, it is life eternal in the vineyard of the new heavens and the new earth. This is your reward, promised to you in your baptism and given to you when you die. Because of Christ, your death isn’t defeat, it is when you are given an eternal treasure. That same treasure is given to all, whether they were hired at the first hour, the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, or even the eleventh hour.
“Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’” In our sin, we are always in competition, we are always comparing ourselves to others. And when we have labored long in the vineyard, especially when we are those who have worked from the first hour, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are earning something by our labor. If Christ pays the death-bed convert one denarius, surely I’ll get two! And so, tragically, we look down on our fellow laborers, we think that they are less than we are, and when we hear that they will receive the same wage, we grumble against our Master.
But our Master immediately rebukes this complaint. “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I chose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Repent! It is the Master’s vineyard, not ours; He is the one who planted it, and He is the one who calls workers to tend it, in His good time and according to His good purposes. And He is the one who gives out the wage; He has earned that right, because He won the reward by His agony on the cross and His victory over death. And because it is His vineyard to tend, His reward to give, He chooses to give to all who believe the same reward: eternal life.
No normal vineyard master would do this, but Christ is certainly not normal, as we hear from Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” It is Christ’s grace to give, and He gives it in abundance, to the life-long Christian, to the wandering and rebellious sinner, even to the one who was idle all the day. We are all the same because we are all sinners; none of us deserve His grace, whether we are called in the first hour or the last. But yet His grace is given in abundance to you, no matter the hour you were called, no matter what life you lived, because He died for you and He rose for you, and He has called you, every one of you, making you His own in the blessed waters of baptism.
Christ calls at His time, not ours, and no matter the hour you are called in, you are called to serve your neighbor. Your labor in the vineyard isn’t for your own good, to earn the reward, but for the good of others. Paul understood this; in our Epistle lesson, He says that to die and receive his reward would be much better for him, but to live on is for the good of his neighbor. “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” If our reward was all that mattered, God would simply take our life immediately after we were baptized. But we remain, some for only a few hours, some the entire day, for the good of our neighbor, just as others remained for your good, to extend Christ’s call to you, a call that brought you to the vineyard, where the reward is yours. No matter what hour your were called, no matter what your past is, on the Last Day, Christ will pay your wages, and you will receive your denarius, your entrance into a life that never ends with all the saints, called at every hour, but all with the same promise, all with the same reward, bought with the blood of Christ. In the Name of Jesus, the Master of the vineyard who earned your reward with His own blood, Amen.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Proper 19 of Series A (Matthew 18:21-35)
“Out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” 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: ten thousand talents. That is what the servant owed his King. Ten thousand talents. No normal king would ever let such a staggering debt accumulate. Ten thousand talents. A day laborer in ancient Israel would have to work approximately sixty million days to pay off that debt. Ten thousand talents. With a high wage, he could maybe take care of it in a thousand years. Ten thousand talents. This is your debt, your debt to God; Jesus isn’t exaggerating as He tells this parable, if anything, He is making it seem smaller than it actually is. Ten thousand talents. The debt that you owe God is obscenely huge, enormously large, greater than you can even comprehend. The servant heard the penalty: “Since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.” Even with such drastic measures, the king would only see a miniscule fraction of the debt paid back. And you? Even if God tosses you in hell for eternity, the debt will never be paid. In your sin, you owe your Creator more than you can even comprehend.
And we foolishly think we can pay it off! The servant is confronted with his staggering, ridiculous debt, and he tries to negotiate with his King. “So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’” He has been confronted with a debt that would take a day laborer sixty million days to pay, and all he asks for is patience? ‘Just give me some time—just a hundred and sixty thousand years; or just a thousand, if I get a really good job!’ He honestly thinks he can pay it off! This is the height of delusion, of foolishness, but yet, we do the same with God, don’t we? We do not understand the enormity of our debt; we think that it is something we can pay. Our natural inclination to work ourselves into heaven deceives us into thinking that a person can actually do it. Isn’t that what we are doing when we put faith in our works, when we base our confidence on the statement ‘I’ve lived a good life’? We think we can take care of it ourselves, that we can bargain with God, that He’ll somehow overlook our debt if we show up at church, if we raise good kids, if we serve on the city council or the fire department. We are fools; we just don’t get it, we do not grasp how great our debt is to God. ‘Just give me some time, God—I’ll pay it off!’
But we can’t. This debt we owe can never be paid off. Even an eternity in hell isn’t enough. The debt cannot go unpaid; it must be accounted for. Someone must pay; and you are on the hook. The creditor is calling, it is time to pay up, and if you can’t, then the debtors’ prison is open for eternity. If we truly understood the depth of our sin, if we comprehended that we owe a debt to the Creator of the universe that we could never pay, we would quit our foolish bargaining and simply cry out to God for mercy, as we did in the Introit this morning: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” We would run to the altar of God, beat our breasts and with tears beg for mercy. But instead, we go through life never thinking of our debt, or, if we do realize what we owe God, we foolishly say, ‘I’ll take care of it—don’t worry, God, I’ll pay you back!’
Fortunately, the King doesn’t put up with our foolishness. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” The servant foolishly asked for some time; the King gives far more than that. Moved by pity, the entire debt is cancelled, forgiven, eliminated. The servant is now free! We try to negotiate, we try to work our way into heaven, we foolishly think we can do something ourselves to pay the debt we owe to our God, but our eternal King wants nothing to do with it. He understands the enormity of our debt, even if we are fools and fail to grasp it ourselves. He looks upon us with pity, with compassion, with love.
His pity and compassion led Him to do something about our debt. The debt needed to be paid; God would not be a God of justice if He simply let us off the hook. No, the debt needed to be paid, but no ordinary human could ever pay the price. The only price that would suffice was His Son, Jesus Christ, true God from eternity. Only as true God could Jesus offer the sufficient price; only as true man could that price be offered in our place. In compassion, in pity, God sent His Son into this world to pay our debt, once and for all. The debt was enormous; the cost would be incredible. Christ would stand in our place even unto death, even facing the very wrath and abandonment of God upon that cross. We can scarcely comprehend our debt; it boggles the mind to consider Christ’s payment of it. On that cross, He not only suffered for your ten-thousand talent debt, He suffered for the debt of every human who had ever lived or ever will live. That is how precious His blood is! That is how much every drop is worth! He suffered an eternity of hell during those hours on the cross.
Your debt is now paid; Christ proved it when He walked out of the tomb, victorious over your jailers. With His resurrection, God turns to you and says, ‘You are forgiven.’ “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” Your debt is gone; it has been paid for, eliminated, wiped off the books forever. God saw your sin, He saw your debt, and He did not act in wrath, He acted in pity, in compassion. Now, for the sake of Christ, He forgives that debt. He considers the accounts closed, the matter done. There is nothing you need to do, no additional price needs to be paid. You are forgiven! God’s grace is more enormous that your sin, more overwhelming than your debt! You are reconciled with God; your debt has been paid, now and forever.
But the King isn’t the only one to whom debts are owed. The servants also owe each other. “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe!’” A hundred denarii. The debts we owe each other are not insignificant; we are capable of sinning greatly against our fellow servants. A hundred denarii. That is about four months wages, around ten to fifteen thousand dollars today. A hundred denarii. Some of you are owed large debts; you know how much sin can hurt. A hundred denarii. This debt looks like a lot to our human eyes, but only if we have failed to grasp the enormity of our debt.
A hundred denarii isn’t pocket change, but it looks like pop machine money when set next to a debt of ten thousand talents. The servant failed to understand the enormity of his debt; now he fails to understand the enormity of the King’s forgiveness. He who has been forgiven so much, who has had an incredible, unpayable debt eliminated, refuses to forgive another. He foolishly holds against his neighbor a debt that for him been taken care of by the King’s pity and grace. He has been forgiven much; he refuses to forgive even a little. We all have others who owe us debts; some are quite large, of the one hundred denarii variety, but most are much smaller. However, every debt that is owed to us is miniscule, insignificant, when compared with the debt that has already been forgiven.
The King has little tolerance for those who have been forgiven yet refuse to forgive others. “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.” The King will not tolerate His grace being drug through the mud and treated as worthless. He understands the enormity of the debt that has been forgiven; He understands fully the price that was necessary to show His compassion. He cannot abide you or me despising the gift won by His Son’s precious blood, and so His wrath falls again on those who refuse to forgive.
We refuse to forgive because we do not grasp the enormity of God’s forgiveness for the sake of Christ; we don’t understand the greatness of our debt, so we don’t understand the greatness of His forgiveness. The most important step in forgiving others is receiving that forgiveness in all of its abundance. The King’s forgiveness comes first. If we do not come to this place and receive forgiveness, it is going to be very difficult to give forgiveness to others. We cannot give out what has not been first given to us. We view the debts of others in light of the infinitely greater debt that we have already been forgiven. Then, we remember that forgiveness is not a one-time thing. Peter asked, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Forgiveness is a process, and like many things in this life, it takes time and it takes repetition. God, fortunately, doesn’t forgive us only once, but He forgives each and every week in the Divine Service, and each and every day in your baptismal life of repentance.
That’s a good thing, because we continue to accumulate debt, sinning against God and our neighbors, especially by withholding forgiveness. So we stand before Him as a debtor, each and every day, in the posture of humble repentance, and we lay before Him our every sin, even the sin of failing to forgive. And He responds with grace. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” You are forgiven of your debt, and you are sent out into this world to extend that forgiveness to others, knowing that when you do this imperfectly, God’s grace is always greater than your sin. In this place you come before the King, and He forgives your debt, down to the last penny. In the Name of Jesus, who in compassion paid our debt, Amen.
And we foolishly think we can pay it off! The servant is confronted with his staggering, ridiculous debt, and he tries to negotiate with his King. “So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’” He has been confronted with a debt that would take a day laborer sixty million days to pay, and all he asks for is patience? ‘Just give me some time—just a hundred and sixty thousand years; or just a thousand, if I get a really good job!’ He honestly thinks he can pay it off! This is the height of delusion, of foolishness, but yet, we do the same with God, don’t we? We do not understand the enormity of our debt; we think that it is something we can pay. Our natural inclination to work ourselves into heaven deceives us into thinking that a person can actually do it. Isn’t that what we are doing when we put faith in our works, when we base our confidence on the statement ‘I’ve lived a good life’? We think we can take care of it ourselves, that we can bargain with God, that He’ll somehow overlook our debt if we show up at church, if we raise good kids, if we serve on the city council or the fire department. We are fools; we just don’t get it, we do not grasp how great our debt is to God. ‘Just give me some time, God—I’ll pay it off!’
But we can’t. This debt we owe can never be paid off. Even an eternity in hell isn’t enough. The debt cannot go unpaid; it must be accounted for. Someone must pay; and you are on the hook. The creditor is calling, it is time to pay up, and if you can’t, then the debtors’ prison is open for eternity. If we truly understood the depth of our sin, if we comprehended that we owe a debt to the Creator of the universe that we could never pay, we would quit our foolish bargaining and simply cry out to God for mercy, as we did in the Introit this morning: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” We would run to the altar of God, beat our breasts and with tears beg for mercy. But instead, we go through life never thinking of our debt, or, if we do realize what we owe God, we foolishly say, ‘I’ll take care of it—don’t worry, God, I’ll pay you back!’
Fortunately, the King doesn’t put up with our foolishness. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” The servant foolishly asked for some time; the King gives far more than that. Moved by pity, the entire debt is cancelled, forgiven, eliminated. The servant is now free! We try to negotiate, we try to work our way into heaven, we foolishly think we can do something ourselves to pay the debt we owe to our God, but our eternal King wants nothing to do with it. He understands the enormity of our debt, even if we are fools and fail to grasp it ourselves. He looks upon us with pity, with compassion, with love.
His pity and compassion led Him to do something about our debt. The debt needed to be paid; God would not be a God of justice if He simply let us off the hook. No, the debt needed to be paid, but no ordinary human could ever pay the price. The only price that would suffice was His Son, Jesus Christ, true God from eternity. Only as true God could Jesus offer the sufficient price; only as true man could that price be offered in our place. In compassion, in pity, God sent His Son into this world to pay our debt, once and for all. The debt was enormous; the cost would be incredible. Christ would stand in our place even unto death, even facing the very wrath and abandonment of God upon that cross. We can scarcely comprehend our debt; it boggles the mind to consider Christ’s payment of it. On that cross, He not only suffered for your ten-thousand talent debt, He suffered for the debt of every human who had ever lived or ever will live. That is how precious His blood is! That is how much every drop is worth! He suffered an eternity of hell during those hours on the cross.
Your debt is now paid; Christ proved it when He walked out of the tomb, victorious over your jailers. With His resurrection, God turns to you and says, ‘You are forgiven.’ “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” Your debt is gone; it has been paid for, eliminated, wiped off the books forever. God saw your sin, He saw your debt, and He did not act in wrath, He acted in pity, in compassion. Now, for the sake of Christ, He forgives that debt. He considers the accounts closed, the matter done. There is nothing you need to do, no additional price needs to be paid. You are forgiven! God’s grace is more enormous that your sin, more overwhelming than your debt! You are reconciled with God; your debt has been paid, now and forever.
But the King isn’t the only one to whom debts are owed. The servants also owe each other. “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe!’” A hundred denarii. The debts we owe each other are not insignificant; we are capable of sinning greatly against our fellow servants. A hundred denarii. That is about four months wages, around ten to fifteen thousand dollars today. A hundred denarii. Some of you are owed large debts; you know how much sin can hurt. A hundred denarii. This debt looks like a lot to our human eyes, but only if we have failed to grasp the enormity of our debt.
A hundred denarii isn’t pocket change, but it looks like pop machine money when set next to a debt of ten thousand talents. The servant failed to understand the enormity of his debt; now he fails to understand the enormity of the King’s forgiveness. He who has been forgiven so much, who has had an incredible, unpayable debt eliminated, refuses to forgive another. He foolishly holds against his neighbor a debt that for him been taken care of by the King’s pity and grace. He has been forgiven much; he refuses to forgive even a little. We all have others who owe us debts; some are quite large, of the one hundred denarii variety, but most are much smaller. However, every debt that is owed to us is miniscule, insignificant, when compared with the debt that has already been forgiven.
The King has little tolerance for those who have been forgiven yet refuse to forgive others. “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.” The King will not tolerate His grace being drug through the mud and treated as worthless. He understands the enormity of the debt that has been forgiven; He understands fully the price that was necessary to show His compassion. He cannot abide you or me despising the gift won by His Son’s precious blood, and so His wrath falls again on those who refuse to forgive.
We refuse to forgive because we do not grasp the enormity of God’s forgiveness for the sake of Christ; we don’t understand the greatness of our debt, so we don’t understand the greatness of His forgiveness. The most important step in forgiving others is receiving that forgiveness in all of its abundance. The King’s forgiveness comes first. If we do not come to this place and receive forgiveness, it is going to be very difficult to give forgiveness to others. We cannot give out what has not been first given to us. We view the debts of others in light of the infinitely greater debt that we have already been forgiven. Then, we remember that forgiveness is not a one-time thing. Peter asked, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Forgiveness is a process, and like many things in this life, it takes time and it takes repetition. God, fortunately, doesn’t forgive us only once, but He forgives each and every week in the Divine Service, and each and every day in your baptismal life of repentance.
That’s a good thing, because we continue to accumulate debt, sinning against God and our neighbors, especially by withholding forgiveness. So we stand before Him as a debtor, each and every day, in the posture of humble repentance, and we lay before Him our every sin, even the sin of failing to forgive. And He responds with grace. “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” You are forgiven of your debt, and you are sent out into this world to extend that forgiveness to others, knowing that when you do this imperfectly, God’s grace is always greater than your sin. In this place you come before the King, and He forgives your debt, down to the last penny. In the Name of Jesus, who in compassion paid our debt, Amen.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Proper 18 of Series A (Matthew 18:1-20)
“Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” 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: Who is the greatest? It seems to me that whenever a group of humans assemble in community, this question is asked. Who is the greatest? We have a natural, sinful inclination to establish the pecking order, to figure out who is on top and who is on the bottom. We jockey for position, seeking to find our place among the others around us. This happens in families, it happens in locker rooms, it happens in communities, and it certainly happens in the Church. We think that some congregations are more important than others, or that some pastors are greater than the rest. Within a congregation, there is always a pecking order, the people that you better not make mad, because they are the ones who pull the strings around here, their opinion really counts. The people on top know they are on top, and the people on the bottom, well, they know it, too. Competition is our default setting from birth, so it is little surprise that the disciples came to Jesus (as they seemed to do quite often), asking, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They knew the answer, of course: they were! If the twelve chosen disciples weren’t the greatest, who else could be?
Jesus has an answer to that question: “And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘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.’” Christ calls on us to turn, to repent, to give up on seeking influence and exaltation over others. Quit jockeying for position, stop looking down on those who are on the bottom; turn, repent, and become like children. What is it about children that we are called upon to imitate? Jesus isn’t saying that children are holier, more pure, or more righteous than adults. He is pointing to one characteristic that all children, especially little children, share: humility. Children are humble by nature because they are completely dependent upon others for all that they have.
Go down to the zoo in Omaha and take a walk around. You will not find any of God’s creatures who are born more dependent for as long as the human babies which are carried by their mothers or pushed in strollers. Many animals can stand within minutes; some are completely independent immediately after their birth. But the human child cannot care for itself for years. That is the posture that Christ calls you to have. You are to turn from seeking after power and influence and instead become as the little children, humble and dependent solely upon God for everything you have. This is simply reflecting reality; you truly are poor and humble, with nothing to offer God but your sin. You stand condemned to death—eternal death—under the Law. Any attempt to exalt yourself over others is pathetic, almost comical; you are just playacting, pretending to be something you are not. You are poor and humble, whether you know it or not: turn and believe it!
Christ came to save precisely that kind of people; those who could not save themselves, the poor, the downtrodden, the humble. He came to save everyone, for everyone is as helpless as a child, but those who jockey for position, who seek power, who ask, ‘Who is the greatest?’ want nothing to do with His salvation. It is those who are humbled by their sins, who realize they can do nothing to save themselves, that Christ delights to find and bring into His fold. “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? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
To seek and to save the lost sheep would cost Jesus; it would cost Him everything. In order to save the lowly, the poor, the downtrodden, the humble, Christ would humble Himself, giving up his glory for the mantle of a wandering rabbi. But that was not all, as Saint Paul tells us: “And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Christ’s humility led to death, death in the most humiliating way possible. The cross was His destination, and He walked that path in obedience. He made Himself the lowest of all to redeem all the lowly, to redeem you and me. He gave up all He had so that He could give it to you; in the great exchange, He took your sin and gave you His righteousness, all that was His is yours, and He took all that was yours and nailed it to the tree. He saved those who had no ability to save themselves, we humans who think we are great, who think we are better than others, but are all alike condemned to death. He came, He died, for the humble.
So the Church He has established is to do the same. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” The Church welcomes the downtrodden; it is a place for the humble, the poor, the meek. In the Church we find refuge from the competition that fills this world, as we confess together that we are all “poor, miserable, sinners” each and every week. In the Church, status is not considered; we are all alike sinners in need of a Savior. No congregation is greater than another, for all have the same promise: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” No pastor is greater than another, for each has the same calling to forgive and retain sins. The ministry of Word and Sacrament goes on no matter who stands in this pulpit. You are not greater than the one sitting next to you, but instead, no matter what office or position you hold in the Church, you are all together sinners redeemed by Christ.
The Church has a responsibility toward the downtrodden of this world; she is called upon to welcome them, to call them into her fellowship to join with the rest of the downtrodden already within her fold. Jesus says, “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” The Church calls to the downtrodden, the ‘little ones,’ with both Law and Gospel. Christians speak the Law to warn the little ones, acting as a watchman like Ezekiel, calling them away from sin that leads to death. But this is only done so that the Gospel can sound forth, trumpeting the forgiveness of sins, proclaiming the only message that can save those who cannot save themselves. The Church is always oriented toward this goal: calling sinners to humble repentance so that they can be forgiven.
Who is the greatest? Not the most powerful ruler, not the most successful doctor, not the most eloquent pastor, not the biggest congregation, not the richest member. Instead, Jesus says, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The greatest in the kingdom of heaven are those who see their sin, their weakness, their utter inability to save themselves, and cry out to Christ for aid. They realize that they are utterly dependent upon God for everything, especially for eternal salvation. Christ humbled Himself like a child—less than a child—for such people, to redeem the humble, not only to set us a pattern to follow, but to actually deliver us from our seeking after greatness. His humility stood in the place of all of our sin.
Therefore, we follow the pattern that Christ set out for us. Although He humbled Himself below all men, humility wasn’t the end of the story, as Saint Paul reminds us: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Humility is not the end of our story, either. We have glory up ahead, for Christ is eager to take you from this valley of sorrow to the green pastures and quiet waters of eternity. Because He died in your place, all that is His is now yours. Because He rose, you too will rise. Because He is exalted, you too will be exalted. Today, you dwell in humility; on the Last Day, risen from dead, you will dwell in eternal glory. Life eternal is yours even now, for your Savior humbled Himself for you, submitting to death, even death upon a cross. He is the Savior who seeks and saves the lost, even you, even me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Jesus has an answer to that question: “And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘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.’” Christ calls on us to turn, to repent, to give up on seeking influence and exaltation over others. Quit jockeying for position, stop looking down on those who are on the bottom; turn, repent, and become like children. What is it about children that we are called upon to imitate? Jesus isn’t saying that children are holier, more pure, or more righteous than adults. He is pointing to one characteristic that all children, especially little children, share: humility. Children are humble by nature because they are completely dependent upon others for all that they have.
Go down to the zoo in Omaha and take a walk around. You will not find any of God’s creatures who are born more dependent for as long as the human babies which are carried by their mothers or pushed in strollers. Many animals can stand within minutes; some are completely independent immediately after their birth. But the human child cannot care for itself for years. That is the posture that Christ calls you to have. You are to turn from seeking after power and influence and instead become as the little children, humble and dependent solely upon God for everything you have. This is simply reflecting reality; you truly are poor and humble, with nothing to offer God but your sin. You stand condemned to death—eternal death—under the Law. Any attempt to exalt yourself over others is pathetic, almost comical; you are just playacting, pretending to be something you are not. You are poor and humble, whether you know it or not: turn and believe it!
Christ came to save precisely that kind of people; those who could not save themselves, the poor, the downtrodden, the humble. He came to save everyone, for everyone is as helpless as a child, but those who jockey for position, who seek power, who ask, ‘Who is the greatest?’ want nothing to do with His salvation. It is those who are humbled by their sins, who realize they can do nothing to save themselves, that Christ delights to find and bring into His fold. “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? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
To seek and to save the lost sheep would cost Jesus; it would cost Him everything. In order to save the lowly, the poor, the downtrodden, the humble, Christ would humble Himself, giving up his glory for the mantle of a wandering rabbi. But that was not all, as Saint Paul tells us: “And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Christ’s humility led to death, death in the most humiliating way possible. The cross was His destination, and He walked that path in obedience. He made Himself the lowest of all to redeem all the lowly, to redeem you and me. He gave up all He had so that He could give it to you; in the great exchange, He took your sin and gave you His righteousness, all that was His is yours, and He took all that was yours and nailed it to the tree. He saved those who had no ability to save themselves, we humans who think we are great, who think we are better than others, but are all alike condemned to death. He came, He died, for the humble.
So the Church He has established is to do the same. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” The Church welcomes the downtrodden; it is a place for the humble, the poor, the meek. In the Church we find refuge from the competition that fills this world, as we confess together that we are all “poor, miserable, sinners” each and every week. In the Church, status is not considered; we are all alike sinners in need of a Savior. No congregation is greater than another, for all have the same promise: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” No pastor is greater than another, for each has the same calling to forgive and retain sins. The ministry of Word and Sacrament goes on no matter who stands in this pulpit. You are not greater than the one sitting next to you, but instead, no matter what office or position you hold in the Church, you are all together sinners redeemed by Christ.
The Church has a responsibility toward the downtrodden of this world; she is called upon to welcome them, to call them into her fellowship to join with the rest of the downtrodden already within her fold. Jesus says, “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” The Church calls to the downtrodden, the ‘little ones,’ with both Law and Gospel. Christians speak the Law to warn the little ones, acting as a watchman like Ezekiel, calling them away from sin that leads to death. But this is only done so that the Gospel can sound forth, trumpeting the forgiveness of sins, proclaiming the only message that can save those who cannot save themselves. The Church is always oriented toward this goal: calling sinners to humble repentance so that they can be forgiven.
Who is the greatest? Not the most powerful ruler, not the most successful doctor, not the most eloquent pastor, not the biggest congregation, not the richest member. Instead, Jesus says, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The greatest in the kingdom of heaven are those who see their sin, their weakness, their utter inability to save themselves, and cry out to Christ for aid. They realize that they are utterly dependent upon God for everything, especially for eternal salvation. Christ humbled Himself like a child—less than a child—for such people, to redeem the humble, not only to set us a pattern to follow, but to actually deliver us from our seeking after greatness. His humility stood in the place of all of our sin.
Therefore, we follow the pattern that Christ set out for us. Although He humbled Himself below all men, humility wasn’t the end of the story, as Saint Paul reminds us: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Humility is not the end of our story, either. We have glory up ahead, for Christ is eager to take you from this valley of sorrow to the green pastures and quiet waters of eternity. Because He died in your place, all that is His is now yours. Because He rose, you too will rise. Because He is exalted, you too will be exalted. Today, you dwell in humility; on the Last Day, risen from dead, you will dwell in eternal glory. Life eternal is yours even now, for your Savior humbled Himself for you, submitting to death, even death upon a cross. He is the Savior who seeks and saves the lost, even you, even me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Proper 17 of Series A (Matthew 16:21-28)
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” 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 sixteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ: Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways? We know the right answer; we heard it last week at St. John’s: Yes, I renounce him. But do you really? Those questions were answered at your baptismal day, whether by your sponsors or you yourself. On that day, through Baptism, you did renounce Satan, refusing his kingdom as you were brought into Christ’s. But the same questions are posed to you each and every day. Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways? Peter made the good confession, as you did on your baptismal day. He told Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But then he heard what this confession would mean. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” When faced with the cold, hard reality of the cross, Peter no longer renounced the devil, he became Satan’s spokesman. “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
Jesus’ response is swift and devastating. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter set his mind on the things of men, on power, on glory, on victory, and he refused the things of God. He became Satan’s mouthpiece by refusing to accept the cross; he did not renounce the devil, he did not renounce his works, he did not renounce his ways. He thought the thoughts of men, and the thoughts of sinful men are Satan’s thoughts. He teaches us to think only of ourselves, to think of our own power, our own honor, our own glory. Satan whispers in your ear: ‘save your life.’ Do everything you can to preserve your own life in this world. That is why Peter recoiled from the cross. Not only would this destroy Jesus himself, but Peter quite rightly understood that if the Master hung on a tree, so would His followers.
Self-preservation is key to the thoughts of men; live for yourself, seek only your own interests. Certainly don’t go walking into a situation where your life is going to be demanded of you, especially if you happen to be the Son of God. Your life in this world means everything; death, martyrdom is to be avoided above all else. The thoughts of men mean seeking your own good, especially over against others. Service to your neighbor is only helpful if it gets you something, whether your name in the paper or a favor owed. Instead, seek authority over those around you, even in the Church. The thoughts of men are devastating in a company of believers, as everyone treasures in their heart the dark, satanic thought: “put me in charge, and I’ll set things right.” Power plays, naked ambition, and greed; these are the thoughts of men.
At all costs avoid the cross. Peter made the good confession, he renounced the devil, all his works, and all his ways when he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But when the cross came into view, he gave it all up. He thought the thoughts of men. And the thoughts of men having nothing to do with the cross. The thoughts of men are to avoid suffering at all costs, the thoughts of men are to preserve one’s own life. Man thinks that suffering is to be rejected out of hand, that we are to do anything to escape. Whether we call it ‘death with dignity’ or apostasy, the thoughts of men will flee from the cross whenever it appears. When persecution arises, Satan whispers, ‘Save your life.’ When you face the scorn of others, Satan whispers, ‘Take revenge.’ When it is the burden of the elderly, Satan whispers, ‘End it,’ when it is an unplanned pregnancy, he says the same. The thoughts of men are to flee the cross.
Stand between Christ and His cross, Satan says, bar His way. The Jesus of the cross is to be shielded from view, hidden safely away. The glorious Jesus, shining on the Mountain of Transfiguration, the wise Jesus, uttering the Beatitudes, the compassionate Jesus, healing the sick—that is the Jesus created by the thoughts of men. That is the Jesus that Satan wants. Anything but a Jesus upon a cross. Make Jesus conform to your thoughts and ways, make Him seek salvation some other way, some glorious, triumphant way. “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Cling to this Jesus as if death will separate you from Him forever, as if you cannot stand to have Him in any way other than the way you want Him. These are the thoughts of men: life preserved, suffering avoided, the cross denied.
The only antidote to the thoughts of men, the thoughts given to men by the father of lies, is the thoughts of God. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Do not deny the cross; deny yourself and take up the cross. Follow Jesus to Golgotha. There Jesus, who could’ve saved His life, who could’ve sought His own good, who could’ve defeated those who persecuted Him in a moment, denied Himself even unto death. In the Garden He prayed, “Not my will but thy will be done.” Do you renounce the devil, Jesus? Do you renounce his works, do you renounce his ways? He looked Satan in the eye, He saw the cross before Him, and He said, “Yes, I renounce them; get behind me, Satan!” He took up His cross and followed the Father’s will into death for you and me. He thought the thoughts of God for those who think the thoughts of men; even Peter’s rebuke was nailed with Him to that cross.
Give up on yourself; there is nothing in you but sin and death, the bitter fruits of the thoughts of men. Deny yourself in repentance, for Christ has come to deny Himself for you. Your pride, your seeking authority over others, your unbelief in the face of persecution, your rejection of the cross is nailed to the cross. You are forgiven! Christ denied Himself, He renounced the devil for you and for me. The cross could not be avoided; the One who is obedient to the Father is obedient to Him in all things, He is obedient to the divine ‘must’ of salvation. It was necessity that drove Him to the cross, to give up His life into death. Man thinks that death is the ultimate evil; on the cross Jesus declares that the only death worth fearing is death without faith in Him. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
A life given up for Christ is never really lost. That life belongs to Jesus, and it is a life that will never end, for Christ is risen from the dead never to die again for all eternity. Jesus asks, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” The answers are obvious: it cannot profit a man to forfeit his soul; no matter how much ‘stuff’ he accumulates in this world, none of it will give him eternal life. No man can give the ransom for His own soul; thanks be to God that Christ offered Himself as the required price, that He was not satisfied to leave us in the throes of sin and death but acted to redeem and deliver us. He denied Himself so that when we lay down our lives in self-denial as living sacrifices, we have not lost at all, but have won the victory.
You need not live in fear of death and suffering, for death and suffering have already been conquered. Christ is risen, and we will rise, too. God responded to Jeremiah’s complaint with these words: “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.” Jeremiah suffered under the cross; He suffered for the sake of the Word that he was called upon to proclaim. When he cried out for relief, God did not promise him that persecution would cease; instead, the Lord promised that He would be with him; though the enemy would attack him, though they inflict suffering and perhaps even take his life, they would not overcome him. The enemy can rage against you all it wants; it can take everything you have in this life, even your life itself, but they do not have victory; you do, through your crucified and risen Lord.
Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways? No. You fall into the devil’s traps each and every day. You seek the path of glory and refuse the cross, for you and for Christ. Repent and believe, for there is one who stood in your place; who renounced the devil, who renounced all his works, who renounced all his ways for you. He renounced the devil when Satan spoke through Peter, and went to cross, winning for you an eternal treasure, an inheritance that will never end. “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Some of the disciples gathered around Jesus that day would see Christ coming in His Kingdom, they would see Him triumph over Satan through His death and resurrection. He renounced the devil even unto death, refusing to save His own life but denying it for you and for me. On that day, He won a reward for you, for all those who followed Him on the path of the cross. He gives an eternal inheritance not to the one who has done enough, but to the one who has believed. There are only two paths when confronted with Christ; the easy path of unbelief that saves your life in this world but leads to eternal death, and the hard, painful way of the cross that loses your life in this world but ends in the halls of heaven. You are walking the way of the cross, the way of self-denial, the way of losing your life for Christ’s sake. It is not an easy path, but the destination Christ guarantees you isn’t worth comparing to the sufferings of this present age. Christ has renounced the devil for you, and you will dwell with Him, forever. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Jesus’ response is swift and devastating. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter set his mind on the things of men, on power, on glory, on victory, and he refused the things of God. He became Satan’s mouthpiece by refusing to accept the cross; he did not renounce the devil, he did not renounce his works, he did not renounce his ways. He thought the thoughts of men, and the thoughts of sinful men are Satan’s thoughts. He teaches us to think only of ourselves, to think of our own power, our own honor, our own glory. Satan whispers in your ear: ‘save your life.’ Do everything you can to preserve your own life in this world. That is why Peter recoiled from the cross. Not only would this destroy Jesus himself, but Peter quite rightly understood that if the Master hung on a tree, so would His followers.
Self-preservation is key to the thoughts of men; live for yourself, seek only your own interests. Certainly don’t go walking into a situation where your life is going to be demanded of you, especially if you happen to be the Son of God. Your life in this world means everything; death, martyrdom is to be avoided above all else. The thoughts of men mean seeking your own good, especially over against others. Service to your neighbor is only helpful if it gets you something, whether your name in the paper or a favor owed. Instead, seek authority over those around you, even in the Church. The thoughts of men are devastating in a company of believers, as everyone treasures in their heart the dark, satanic thought: “put me in charge, and I’ll set things right.” Power plays, naked ambition, and greed; these are the thoughts of men.
At all costs avoid the cross. Peter made the good confession, he renounced the devil, all his works, and all his ways when he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But when the cross came into view, he gave it all up. He thought the thoughts of men. And the thoughts of men having nothing to do with the cross. The thoughts of men are to avoid suffering at all costs, the thoughts of men are to preserve one’s own life. Man thinks that suffering is to be rejected out of hand, that we are to do anything to escape. Whether we call it ‘death with dignity’ or apostasy, the thoughts of men will flee from the cross whenever it appears. When persecution arises, Satan whispers, ‘Save your life.’ When you face the scorn of others, Satan whispers, ‘Take revenge.’ When it is the burden of the elderly, Satan whispers, ‘End it,’ when it is an unplanned pregnancy, he says the same. The thoughts of men are to flee the cross.
Stand between Christ and His cross, Satan says, bar His way. The Jesus of the cross is to be shielded from view, hidden safely away. The glorious Jesus, shining on the Mountain of Transfiguration, the wise Jesus, uttering the Beatitudes, the compassionate Jesus, healing the sick—that is the Jesus created by the thoughts of men. That is the Jesus that Satan wants. Anything but a Jesus upon a cross. Make Jesus conform to your thoughts and ways, make Him seek salvation some other way, some glorious, triumphant way. “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Cling to this Jesus as if death will separate you from Him forever, as if you cannot stand to have Him in any way other than the way you want Him. These are the thoughts of men: life preserved, suffering avoided, the cross denied.
The only antidote to the thoughts of men, the thoughts given to men by the father of lies, is the thoughts of God. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Do not deny the cross; deny yourself and take up the cross. Follow Jesus to Golgotha. There Jesus, who could’ve saved His life, who could’ve sought His own good, who could’ve defeated those who persecuted Him in a moment, denied Himself even unto death. In the Garden He prayed, “Not my will but thy will be done.” Do you renounce the devil, Jesus? Do you renounce his works, do you renounce his ways? He looked Satan in the eye, He saw the cross before Him, and He said, “Yes, I renounce them; get behind me, Satan!” He took up His cross and followed the Father’s will into death for you and me. He thought the thoughts of God for those who think the thoughts of men; even Peter’s rebuke was nailed with Him to that cross.
Give up on yourself; there is nothing in you but sin and death, the bitter fruits of the thoughts of men. Deny yourself in repentance, for Christ has come to deny Himself for you. Your pride, your seeking authority over others, your unbelief in the face of persecution, your rejection of the cross is nailed to the cross. You are forgiven! Christ denied Himself, He renounced the devil for you and for me. The cross could not be avoided; the One who is obedient to the Father is obedient to Him in all things, He is obedient to the divine ‘must’ of salvation. It was necessity that drove Him to the cross, to give up His life into death. Man thinks that death is the ultimate evil; on the cross Jesus declares that the only death worth fearing is death without faith in Him. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
A life given up for Christ is never really lost. That life belongs to Jesus, and it is a life that will never end, for Christ is risen from the dead never to die again for all eternity. Jesus asks, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” The answers are obvious: it cannot profit a man to forfeit his soul; no matter how much ‘stuff’ he accumulates in this world, none of it will give him eternal life. No man can give the ransom for His own soul; thanks be to God that Christ offered Himself as the required price, that He was not satisfied to leave us in the throes of sin and death but acted to redeem and deliver us. He denied Himself so that when we lay down our lives in self-denial as living sacrifices, we have not lost at all, but have won the victory.
You need not live in fear of death and suffering, for death and suffering have already been conquered. Christ is risen, and we will rise, too. God responded to Jeremiah’s complaint with these words: “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.” Jeremiah suffered under the cross; He suffered for the sake of the Word that he was called upon to proclaim. When he cried out for relief, God did not promise him that persecution would cease; instead, the Lord promised that He would be with him; though the enemy would attack him, though they inflict suffering and perhaps even take his life, they would not overcome him. The enemy can rage against you all it wants; it can take everything you have in this life, even your life itself, but they do not have victory; you do, through your crucified and risen Lord.
Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways? No. You fall into the devil’s traps each and every day. You seek the path of glory and refuse the cross, for you and for Christ. Repent and believe, for there is one who stood in your place; who renounced the devil, who renounced all his works, who renounced all his ways for you. He renounced the devil when Satan spoke through Peter, and went to cross, winning for you an eternal treasure, an inheritance that will never end. “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Some of the disciples gathered around Jesus that day would see Christ coming in His Kingdom, they would see Him triumph over Satan through His death and resurrection. He renounced the devil even unto death, refusing to save His own life but denying it for you and for me. On that day, He won a reward for you, for all those who followed Him on the path of the cross. He gives an eternal inheritance not to the one who has done enough, but to the one who has believed. There are only two paths when confronted with Christ; the easy path of unbelief that saves your life in this world but leads to eternal death, and the hard, painful way of the cross that loses your life in this world but ends in the halls of heaven. You are walking the way of the cross, the way of self-denial, the way of losing your life for Christ’s sake. It is not an easy path, but the destination Christ guarantees you isn’t worth comparing to the sufferings of this present age. Christ has renounced the devil for you, and you will dwell with Him, forever. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)