All Saints' Sermon

 

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

    It's all good, Christians. Today, as we gather celebrating All Saints' Day, remembering the faithful who have gone before us, who are with the Lord now, whom we shall see again with our Lord Jesus, the words of Jesus in our Gospel remind us that it's all good. In the face of sin and trouble in the world and temptation, because of Jesus it is all good. Because that's what that word “blessed” here means. It's not the typical word for blessing in the bible – it's makarios. Those of you who remember the 90s know the Spanish version of the word – Macarena. It means one who is blessed, who is fortunate, who is lucky – it's good. It's all good. Because in Christ Jesus, because you are baptized into Christ Jesus who has died and risen for you, it actually is all good.

    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It's all good. It's all good even if you are “poor in spirit” - if you are downcast, if you are looked down upon in this world and spit upon, if this world keeps on dragging you down. In Christ, it's all good – because yours is the Kingdom of heaven. It doesn't matter how crazy this week gets – and let's be honest, it might – Jesus has died and risen for you so the Kingdom of heaven is yours. Right now. You are a forgiven child of God, and you have Christ's Word of forgiveness and life with you. That's good, quite good.

    Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. It's all good. It's all good even if you mourn and if you see death in the world. Why? Because Christ Jesus, that's why? And you know what He's going to do – He's going to not just comfort – not just “there there” you. He's going to “paraclete” you – it's that Holy Spirit Word again. Christ Jesus will send the Holy Spirit – you know, the Lord, the Giver of life. Life first came because the Word sent the Spirit into clay and then there was Adam, a living being. Jesus has come, and He's died and He's risen – and Jesus is going to put the Spirit to work again, and there will be life again, resurrection again. Resurrection for you, resurrection for everyone. Not just a there there, no – it's get on up, stand up, arise. That's good, quite good.

    Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. It's all good. It's all good even when you have to be meek, when you have to sit on your hands, bite your lip, not put someone in their place. Oh, the world loves it's fighting, and we never win. And that's okay, in fact, that's quite fine. Because it's not your fight. But for us fights the valiant One, whom God Himself elected. Jesus has got the fight. He's the One who tangles with sin and death for you. And if He wants to do a fight through you, well, He'll give you the strength and use you as His instrument. But Jesus is the One doing the battle – and He does this fight so that He can give you life, so that He can give you a new heaven and a new earth freed from sin. Jesus does it for you and He's going to give you the new creation. That's good, quite good.

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. It's all good. It's all good even when you see how unjust the world is, and you see the impact of sin – sin out there, sin in here. Because while we lack righteousness of ourselves, righteousness is Jesus' specialty. Jesus is the righteous One, and He came to fulfill all righteousness, and you know what Jesus does with all this fulfilled righteousness of His? He gives it to you. It's yours. You're forgiven. In fact, that word for satisfied is the idea of being well-fed – you want righteousness – well, Jesus says, “Take and Eat, Take and Drink” - did you hunger and thirst, well here you go, have My Righteousness, which forgives you and makes you righteous and prepares you for eternal life. That's good, quite good.

    Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Hmm, Lord have mercy, we call out for that over and over in this service... and Jesus gives it. That's good.

    Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Oooo. We are forgiven in service, and then we are told to take our purified hearts and lift them up – we lift them up unto the Lord. Oh, that's good.

    Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Ah, the peacemakers, the doers of peace, the people who do that peace thing – you know, the peace that surpasses all human understanding, the peace of the Lord be with you always and here's Christ Jesus come to be with you, to give you His Body and Blood to eat and drink, for you are the Baptized children of God. In the midst of all the craziness of the world, the mercy-filled, heart-purifying, peacemaking Divine Service still goes on, and God serves you forgiveness, life, and salvation. That's good, quite good.

    Are you getting the picture? Do you see what Jesus is driving at? See, this is how Jesus sets up the Sermon on the Mount, the great teaching sermon that takes up 3 chapters in Matthew. But first things first, whatever comes – remember, in Christ Jesus it is all good. Quite good. Jesus has come to redeem you, to rescue you, to restore you – and He has. Jesus has won, period. And even though the world around you ignores that, even though there are lousy things out there, indeed, even though you get tempted and driven to forget that, Jesus still has won. And the Saints who have gone before us, they see this victory full and unabated with the Lord right now – but it's our victory now, it's your victory now – you share in it, you participate in it. Our Father – right now, With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven – with, right now. This is the reality, the wondrous reality – that we are a part of Christ's Victory right now, even when we don't see it.

    Really? Is it really all good? What about when we get dumped on for being Christians, for actually trying to love our neighbor, to do them good instead of just placating their evil and validating their wickedness? Well, Jesus says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Oh, yeah, it stinks to get dumped on. It is lousy seeing friends and neighbors do the most foolish things, and you can't stop them. It's trashy getting abandoned or mocked because you won't jump into wickedness. And trust me, there are places where it's a whole lot worse and a whole lot more dangerous to be a Christian than here – but you know what? Right now, yours is the kingdom of heaven. All that junk does nothing to change the fact that right now you are a Citizen of Christ's Kingdom and one who has eternal life. Indeed, how serious is Jesus about this – Blessed are you – just to be clear, Jesus isn't just speaking in generalities, no, no – you, blessed are you – Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Even when the rubber hits the road in your life, it's still good, quite good in Christ. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You've got no reason to stop rejoicing, to stop being glad, and you know why? Because your reward, what you are going to get – it's in heaven and it is filled up to the brim. It's filled up because Jesus has done it all for you. And while these troubles you face might be new to you, plenty of Saints have been there before you, and Jesus has seen them through – this is Hebrews 12 stuff - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Really, truly, it's all good, quite good.

    The Christian faith my dear friends is a defiant one, a joyously defiant one. In the face of all the sin and death in the world, sin and death that is indeed truly bad, truly troubling, truly sorrowful and heart rending – we are made to fix our eyes upon Jesus, who gives us faith and completes our faith – who claims us as His own in the waters of holy baptism, and who comes us to by His Word and Supper, who daily and richly forgives us in His Church. Over and against all the junk of the world – Jesus has died and He has risen, and He has done so for you. So the faith is defiant – not based on your strength, not based on how well you stand up – no, based upon Christ's defiance of Satan and Christ's overcoming of the world. This is why Jesus tells us - In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. And that's true. Jesus has won, come what may in our earthly days. And that's good, quite good, very good – beyond the very good of creation onto goodness that we cannot comprehend yet. But when the Lord returns, and the saints who have gone before come back with Him, we will all see it and we will all know it, because Christ has done it all for you. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Reformation Observed Sermon

 

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

    Amongst my pastoral colleagues there's actually a lot of discussion and debate as to how one should approach a Reformation Day sermon. Should it be a day for a lot of Church History, or should it be focused on the here and now? Is it a day of triumph, celebrating the accomplishments of the Reformers, or is it a day of sorrow, lamenting how fragmented and messed up the Church of today is? And I routinely annoy people in these discussions by simply saying, “Yes.” It is a complicated day with no simple answer – on it we can speak to both past and present, to successes and failure. It's complex and messy, just like life. And the angle we're going to take today is to ponder the messiness, the difficulty of life, honestly and openly – because that's the heart of not only the Reformation, but indeed the Christian faith and life. It's the heart of the simple truths that Jesus speaks today in the Gospel that so aggravate people. Listen.

    So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” A fairly familiar quote – the idea of truth setting people free is still brought up in the post-Christian world around us. But I will submit that this is a verse whose meaning is ignored, and indeed, it is a verse that when Jesus first spoke it caused no end of controversy. The people hearing it become indignant – how can you say this? Well, let's consider what Jesus says.

    First, Jesus sets up a conditional. If you abide in My word. If you want the good results to follow, the three benefits, you've got to abide in My Word. If you instead avoid My Word, you don't get them. There's two ways set forth, and the only way to get the good stuff is to abide is, to live and remain in Jesus' Word. Apart from Jesus' Word, you get squadouche. Jesus is blunt here. This right here, this set up, is the first reason why people are upset with Jesus. Jesus tells us that we need to abide in His Word. That if we aren't in His Word, if we aren't listening to Him, we miss out on so many good things. And yet this simple reality sets people off. Don't you tell me what I have to do! Don't you say that I need to do something! Our sinful nature never admits that there are things we actually need to do. No, it's someone else's fault. No, it's someone else's problem – why aren't they just giving it too me? Well, Jesus is giving you things – but the way He delivers these good things is by His Word, and if you refuse His Word, His means of delivery (indeed, His means of Grace), you just won't get it.

    So people are already going to be a bit on edge here, but then when Jesus says what good things He gives, it gets even worse for people. If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples. Truly. Really. Honestly. There's an implication there. There's an uncomfortable truth there. Some of y'all say you're My disciples, but you don't care about My Word at all. That's an uncomfortable reality. A disciple has to listen to the master. A student has to listen to the teacher. Are you actually learning anything if you never bother to listen? Now this is obvious, but we don't like obvious truths; we like to cling to happy and nice ideas about ourselves. I will give a silly example. If anyone were to ask who my favorite NBA team is, I'd say the Bulls. I'm a Bulls fan. But, I've never been to a Bulls game, and I don't think I've sat down and watched a Bulls game in over decade. I don't think I watched 5 minutes last season. I used to – I'd watch games in the 90s all the time... but that was 30 years ago. Sure, I still like the walk out hype music, but am I truly a Bulls fan? But that's just sports. Now apply that to God and His Word. See how this might suddenly get uncomfortable? See how priorities get revealed? Again, Jesus is making people uncomfortable here.

    And it gets worse. If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth... You will know, you will experience, you will live in the Truth. Why, that's a good thing, isn't it Pastor? Yes... but there's a problem. That “will”. That future tense. In the future you will have this good thing... implies that you don't have it right now. Right now, apart from My Word, you don't know the Truth. You don't live in the Truth. You simply live in delusions of your own devising. And frankly, we can all tell that Jesus is right. There's less and less faithfulness around us, less and less care for God's Word... indeed, less and less care for any words having any actual meaning whatsoever... and thus we're surrounded by delusions. It's clear to see. Well, other people's delusions are clear to us... sometimes we overlook and happily live in our own delusions, and the Word of God will reveal truth, will reveal Jesus, will show us that some of the things we cherish, we love, we prioritize... are utterly Christless and silly and not all that important.

    And now the kicker – now that famous line – and the Truth will set you free. Abide in the Word of God, and the Truth, Christ Jesus who is Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life will come rolling on into your life and knock down your delusions, your comfortable cage of denial that you've constructed for yourself, and He will set you free. He'll free you from the false comforts of sin. He'll free you from lacksidasial living where you just get to ignore your neighbor with your silly excuses. He'll free to you actually be a disciple, to be like Him, to grow and to actually love your neighbor. He will (dare I say today) reform you, reform you away from sin and death and unto life and forgiveness.

    And this sets people off. The protest comes! They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you can say, 'You will become free?'” Oh, this is catastrophically foolish. Alright folks, what's Passover? Well, it's when we celebrate God delivering us from slavery in Egypt. Oh, and what's Purim? That's when we celebrate God delivering us from the Babylonian Captivity. And what's Hanukkah? That's when we celebrate God delivering us from wicked Greek kings. And whose ruling Israel as you speak this? The Romans. Never been enslaved to anyone, eh?

    The thing is – your denials, your dancing around the issue, your self-justification, they are just as silly. They are just as lousy. I know mine are. Eh, I was just having a bad day – what a weak and pathetic excuse that is. What lies we will tell ourselves and then say they are just little white ones. And the thing is – Jesus doesn't want that for you. Jesus didn't create you to be stuck in delusion. Jesus didn't create you to be bitter or coarse or sad. Jesus didn't create you to be a slave – and as He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” How's that for uncomfortable? Your sin is trying to enslave you, to chain you and bind you and trap you. And all the denials and excuses in the world won't change that fact or fix that fact. In Confirmation Class there's going to be a quiz on the 10 Commandments, and I'm asking the kids which commandment 2-10 is the worst one for them. Or in other words, how does sin try to enslave them. It's something for you to ponder too. Crack open your catechisms, disciples, read the 10 Commandments and their meaning again... how is sin trying to enslave you?

    Boy pastor, I guess you went with Reformation Day being a day of sorrow and lamenting this year. Sermon's not done yet. God's Word is two fold. There is the truth of God's Law which shows us our sin, shows us what sin does to us. But that's not it to God's Word. The Truth will set you free. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Instead of just leaving us trapped in delusion, trapped in sin and death, Christ Jesus comes down from heaven, and He engages in a rescue mission. Jesus comes to free you from sin. He does this by dying and rising for you, and by coming to you and giving you Himself over and over, coming to you in His Word, making you His disciple again and again, redefining you and re-establishing who you are in Him and on His terms. Are your sins great – don't deny it, they are. Well Christ Jesus has paid the penalty for you – see, that Cross is bigger than anything else. You're free of all that sin, and Jesus keeps on freeing you from it. Is death looming – don't deny it, it is. Well Christ Jesus has died and risen, and He says you will too. You're free of that, and Jesus will free you from death eternally. Are you afraid of rejection and fears that if you don't go along with the crowd you'll be excluded and lost – be honest, that drives a lot of our folly. Well, Jesus says that you are His, Baptized, part of His family, His brother, His sister, no matter how people grouse about you. You're free of that. Are you caught up in the love of things, your wants and desires – be honest, we all want stupid things, or we want good things in stupid ways, and we're afraid of losing and missing out. Well, Jesus says, I'm making a new heaven and a new earth filled with good things that you will love rightly in a way that won't hurt you or bring you sorrow, so take and eat, take and drink, have a foretaste of this feast to come right now to forgive you and strengthen you now, to free you now.

    You see, this is the wonder of the Reformation – the restoration of the clear, glorious, wonderous Gospel message that Christ Jesus has done it all for you, that you are saved, truly saved, by His Holy Birth, His perfect obedience, His innocent suffering and death, and His resurrection. That all of this is for you, and that it actually rescues you from sin and death, from real sin and real death – things you are tempted to sweep under the rug or to try to sort out on your own. And we so often get tempted to live in denial, to ignore the elephant in the room, to cower meekly in a corner. But that's not what Jesus wants for you, O forgiven child of God! Jesus comes to set you free. And Jesus knows you will struggle now, He knows sin and Satan keep messing with you. So be it – the Son comes to you with His Word, and He sets you free – free to be a disciple of Jesus who learns to fight against sin and temptation, free to face the truth even when that truth means you admit your failures, free to be freed and redeemed solely by Christ, knowing that nothing is too big for Him to forgive. Free to have confidence in Jesus, free to have boldness in Christ, free to just go and actually love your neighbors come hell or high water, because frankly whether it's hell or the flood, Jesus tops them both.

    You're free in Christ, O disciples. And Jesus keeps on freeing you as the world keeps trying to trap you again and again. Live in His Word, be in His Word – because Jesus comes to you in His Word to set you free, and in Him you will be free indeed. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 21 Sermon

 

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

    Alright Pastor, we're ready. You've warned us that we are entering the end of the Church year, that things are going to get rough – fire and brimstone and away we go... with Jesus healing an official's son. Really? Shouldn't there be something more dire in the text, something more drastic? Can't we get a little wailing and gnashing of teeth in here if we're going to be all doomy and gloomy? Now, I said things were going to be rough – I didn't say I was going to have to go to Spirit Halloween and get stuff for special effects. I will submit to you that our Gospel lesson actually shows what is drastically hard about being a Christian, what makes the Christian life incredibly difficult for us today. The reality is that God knows what He is doing, and He is in control... and as sinful people we hate that.

    Consider how our Gospel lesson begins. He came again to Cana in Galilee, where He had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Well, what's so odd about this? A guy has a sick son, and he goes to Jesus for help – isn't that the way things ought to go? One might think so, on the surface, but Jesus gives a rather curt response. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Jesus sees that there is something wrong here. Jesus sees that there is something about this set up that isn't quite right – that's why we have that “So”. So. Therefore. Because of this set up Jesus chides the fellow for his unbelief. You don't really believe yet. You're still looking for signs and wonders, you don't get what is going on here.

    Isn't that harsh Jesus? Isn't that overly critical? Surely this is a decent guy! Well, let's examine the situation again. Jesus returns to Galilee, and he heads back up to Cana. You know, where He did His first sign at the wedding – look and see, Jesus brings goodness, water to wine, there is celebration, and it was good. Jesus makes all things good – just like we heard in Genesis 1. And it was good – and look, Jesus is here, so again, all things are good. And this official, this big-wig, hears that Jesus is up in Cana, and what does he do? He goes to Jesus in person, and then he “asked Him” to come down to Capernaum. There's a tone here. If a police officer shows up at your door and says, “I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the station” that's not a polite and humble request. There's weight, there's oomph in it. The word there for “ask” isn't just the normal word for asking a question – it's the word you might use if you were interrogating someone. This official is basically saying, “What in the world are you doing up here in podunk Cana; I've got a sick son back down in the big city, so You're going to stop what You're doing, You are going to change Your plans, Jesus, and You are going to do things my way.”

    And so you know that I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill here, I want to compare this set up to what we hear in Matthew 8, where Jesus heals a leper and a Centurion's servant. We hear in Matthew 8 -  And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Note how this leper does things. He kneels – which is the word for worshipping – in the ancient world you always knelt in worship. The leper simply states a fact – You are able to heal me if You want to Jesus – it's about what You think is best. Or the Centurion - When He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Again, there's no demand, no insistence – in fact, it will be the Centurion who says that Jesus doesn't need to come; rather simply speak the word. And what's great is that word “appealing” - it “paraclete-ing” - it's that Holy Spirit word. Do you see the distinction here? This official in today's text is coming at this from a position of personal power and authority; the leper and the centurion knew that Jesus was in control.

    Hence Jesus saying if you don't see you won't believe. But this official still thinks he's the one in charge. The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Do you hear the tone of command, the assumption of authority? Jesus, I don't have time for your spiritual hippie-dippie jibber-jabber, my son is going to die unless You do what I say right now. This man is so sure of himself, so sure he knows what is going on, what is going to happen, how things will play out – and Jesus just needs to hop to it.

    Now, now the hard part. Now the question. How often do you expect, do you demand that things be done your way or else? How often do you act as though you think you are the one in control? We love control, we are control sick, control mad. If something doesn't go our way, how often will we seethe and rage? Last week in Ephesians we were instructed that we should be “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” We should be happy and willing to follow someone else's lead, do things their way – because we respect Jesus, we respect the fact that Jesus has put people in our lives, and we can orient ourselves around them, around their need. It's all good, Jesus is in charge, it will be fine. Is that the way we live... or do we think things hinge on whether or not we get our way? There's a bunch of elections coming up – come November 6^th and all the dust is mostly settled, are we all going to say, whatever happens, “Ah, well, for Thine is still the kingdom,” or will we look at everything in terms of what we wanted, how we think things should have been done.

    But the kicker, the place where the screw really turns on our dastardly desire for dominance – it's not just that we think to boss our neighbor around. It's not just that we want our way right away over them – no. We are tempted to treat God this way. We are tempted to saunter up to God just like this official and start saying, “Here's what you need to do God.” We're tempted to second guess God – why did you do X instead of Y? I wanted this, why did You do that, God? We forget the third petition – Thy will be done. What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is God's will done? God's will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God's name nor let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will. This is the temptation we face constantly. To not let God be God. To want our will over our things, rather than seeking Christ's will. To do things our way, forgetting that God is good. He made all things Good – and He makes all things Good.

    So what is Jesus' response? What is His response to this official's insolence, to our insolence? Listen. Jesus said to him, “Go, your son will live.” I'd actually translate this as, “Go, your son lives.” Oh official, you thought you knew everything, you thought you saw how things were going, you thought you knew how to fix it. You think I need to jump through hoops? Nope. I don't need to dance to your tune; what I'm going to do is something better. I'm going to do what I always do, and that is be the good and gracious God that I am, and I will speak My creative Word and make all things good. You think your son is dying – well, I say he lives. Right now, he lives – he lives because I say so, and I am God almighty. And the Word of God is a wonderful thing. It creates. It creates life, but it also creates faith. Did you catch this? Jesus speaks His creative Word, and then: The man believed the Word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” The roles are reversed; no longer is the man telling Jesus where Jesus needs to go and what Jesus needs to do. Nope – Jesus speaks, and the official listens. He listens and believes and simply does what Jesus says. And it goes well, because Jesus is good. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. They told him, literally, your child lives... they tell him the exact same thing that Jesus had said. Jesus said, “Go, your son lives.” The servants say that his child lives. The Word of Jesus proves true. The Word of Jesus does what it says, right here and now.

    And this is true for you today. There are so many fears and desires and wants and worries that batter you and bruise you. There are so many things that try to make you think that unless you get your way everything will be dire and doom. And in the face of that, in the face of all your foolish, fearful plans, Jesus says to you, “Go, you live.” Right now, you live, you live in Christ, a forgiven and redeemed child of God. You were once dead in the tresspasses and sins in which you once walked, and those sins and tresspasses still call out, trying to dominate your life, trying to make you dominate others, but you live, for by grace you have been saved through faith in Christ Jesus, and He says to you today that you are forgiven, that you have life in His name, that you live, that you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (and it was good!) for good works that you will simply walk in, so, “Go, you live.” You live in Christ, you live in His forgiveness, His strength, His might. You live covered by His truth and His righteousness and His Gospel and His peace and His faith and His salvation.

    And this is true. You live. And no danger, no trouble, no strife in the world can change this. The official demanded, come down before my child dies. Later on in the book, Jesus tarries – He doesn't head to Bethany before Lazarus dies. And Martha confronts Jesus – Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. He'll rise. Oh, I know he will come the last day. And Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Don't even worry about death, Martha. I say you live, I say Lazarus lives, and so he does. See – Lazarus, come forth. Even dying, you live. Living in Me, you never taste death – death just becomes the doorway to the resurrection. Jesus knows what He is doing, and He says to you, Go, you live.

    And you do. You live now, and you will live eternally in the life of the world to come when Jesus has finally made all things good again, and every drop and dreg of sin has been dredged away from creation. But you do live now, and Christ lives in you, and He works in you and through you to do His good. And His doing good through you, well, it might disabuse your sinful flesh of some of its silly ideas. So be it. Jesus has spoken and He speaks again. Because He has died and risen for you, Go, you live. Amen.

Trinity 20

 

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

    Well, it's that time of the Church Year where we start shifting our focus towards the end of this world, to Christ's Second Coming, to the resurrection of the Body and the Life of the World to come. And our lessons start to prepare us for the harder parts of the Christian life, the things that are perhaps darker or dangerous – putting up with hardship and trial and tribulation yet remaining faithful to Christ amidst these things. And at the base, today, all of our lessons revolve one idea, one theme. In this life, you will be confronted by temptations and schemes that seem to be wise but are in fact deadly. So the instruction for today is this: Dear Christian, don't be stupid.

    Don't be stupid, Pastor? Really? Well, yes. Don't be stupid. Until Christ returns you are going to be tempted in this world to jump into all sorts of harebrained idiocy, so don't be stupid and dive on in. Okay, if you want it to sound more formal, consider the Epistle Lesson. Paul says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish.” Don't be unwise, lacking wisdom. Don't be foolish, literally without a mind. Don't wander off into all sorts of nonsensical schemes and plots and fights, because swirling all around you in this world full of evil will be the worst ideas imaginable, things that will do you harm, harm to your body and harm to your soul. So use your head, use your God given wisdom, and don't blunder on into them.

    Our Old Testament even gets on this theme, although it comes at it with some lovely poetic rhetoric. Isaiah writes, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in rich food.” It's a poetic image lamenting folly and stupidity. You waste your money, your hard work – you get so busy and caught up in all this drama and for what – for “not-bread” - for non-fulfillment. Why do you strive and strive after these silly games in the world? You're never filled up by them, you're never satisified by them, and yet you keep slaving away and breaking your back, and it's all for nothing. Okay, Isaiah's not saying, “Don't be stupid” - he's flat out saying, “Stop being stupid.” There's a chance, there's a way out of this stupidity – Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord that He may have compassion upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

    Seek the Lord while He may be found. This is one of the harder phrases of the Old Testament for us to understand in modern English, because it uses a Hebrew verbal trick we don't have. Hebrew has what is called a causitive mood – where the verb isn't just what you do, but what you make happen, what you cause to happen. When we hear “seek the Lord while He may be found” - this isn't saying that Jesus is playing Hide and Seek with us we've counted to 20 and now we have to go find Him. No, seek the Lord while He makes Himself present for you so that you can find Him – while He may, while He is able to be found. Seek the Lord while He's jumping up and down saying, “I'm over here. See, I'm here, I want to forgive.” When Jesus is calling, when Jesus is present for you, for your good – don't be stupid and run off after other things and miss out on Jesus and His forgiveness.

    This idea, the utter stupidity of rejecting and ignoring Jesus and instead chosing and serving folly is the background theme of our Gospel lesson, of the story Jesus tells in Holy Week to all the people in Jerusalem who were grousing about Him. Jesus says, “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.” So let's ponder the set up here – here we have a vineyard, and the vineyard needs to be tended to – but note, the hard work has already been done. The infrastructure is all set up – the vines are set up to go, it's protected, the wine press is there – it's all ready to go, all that's left is to gather the grapes, make wine, make money, and enjoy. And tenants are brought in – given grand opportunity – this is set up on a tee, this is a great gig, now knock it out of the park.

    Alas, they decide to be stupid. When the season for fruit drew near, [the master] sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Now, we live in an agricultural area – some of you work leased land, some of you lease land – the Church itself leases out land to be worked. What's to be gained here by these wicked tenants? Not much – you want to keep the rent price, and so you engage in murder. You don't really gain anything, why? Well, they keep at it. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe they thought they were defending the vineyard from bandits, it was dark... no, no, this is just foolish wickedness. But the master is patient. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.” And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Oh, and the plot is revealed. We will kill the heir, and then instead of just being tenants, we'll get to be the owners, we'll get to inherit the land. Instead of simply being tenants and enjoying the sweet job we have and all the benefits there of, we will plot and murder... to inherit the vineyard. That's not how anything works. What, is the master going to say, “Well, they killed my son – better scratch his name out of my will and write theirs in.”

    No – Jesus asks the very people who reject and complain about Jesus to finish the story. “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to Him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Everyone knows that this story will end badly for those wicked tenants. You're done, you're out, you're dead – and someone else can enjoy that lovely vineyard and that nice set up instead.

    Of course, Jesus isn't telling a story about how to run a vineyard – Jesus is addressing the very people who are plotting to kill Him and will have Him killed by the end of the week. Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The Stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Y'all are being stupid, and the consequences are come. You fight against Me and my preaching, and for what? Power in the temple – in God's house, that place given to you to be a blessing to you, and you turn it into a den of robbers, a petty political prize – all the while ignoring God's Word, ignoring forgiveness, ignoring love? Because that's the fruit of God's Word – forgiveness and love – and you don't care about that – so you won't get it. You won't get the temple, you won't get God's House anymore – other people will be there, and they'll have forgiveness and love to the full, and you, in your folly, in your stupidity, you'll get nothing but death and destruction.

    Whew. Ouch. Tell us what you really think, Jesus. This is the last call that Jesus gives to these Scribes and Pharisees and Chief Priests to abandon their silly plans, to not partake in this planned assassination of Jesus. Some hear Jesus; most don't. And Jesus knows He's speaking rough words, words that are hard to hear. And the one who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. Jesus is here – and He calls the shots. Jesus is in control of reality – and the reality is this. You are caught up in sin and temptation, and while the big wigs and the movers and shakers and the smarty-pants reject Christ, He is the Cornerstone. You are trapped in sin and death, and the only way out of sin and death is this. Jesus dies, and Jesus rises. Jesus takes up sin, Jesus takes up the penalty for sin, and Jesus gives life. That's the way it goes. It has to go through Jesus. And whenever one believes this, whenever one falls upon Jesus – well, it will be painful sometimes. The Word of God will call you to the carpet for your sin. It will call you to repent, it will pull you away from the stupid things that are bad for you, the things that your sinful flesh calls out to you to get trapped in. God's Word will often break you, it will break you of your stupidity – because we're all sinners, and all sin is stupid, and we're all called away from the stupid, dumb, idiotic things that don't do us or anyone any good that we keep stumbling into. You know, all those “sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended God, and justly deserved God's temporal and eternal punishment” that we confess. We confess, we fall upon Christ – because Christ Jesus makes Himself to be found, to be found here in His Word of forgiveness, His Font, His Supper – found to forgive us, to renew us, to give us blessings now – real blessings, not the sham ones our temptations dangle in front of us – and to give us eternal life. The other option is to ignore Christ, to run after folly, and in the end to be crushed.

    And Jesus here is admitting something that is hard for us in the Church to hear. We here will need to confess real sins. There will be things in God's Word, in His Law, that hit really close to home, that aren't comfortable, that call us and our sin and our temptations out. The ones we like, the ones we hide. The light of God's Word will be shined upon them. There will be sermons here that make you a bit squeemish – and you think it's no fun sitting in a pew when the preacher does that, you try preaching a sermon when you yourself are squirming. But that's the way it has to be – sin has to be confessed with, sin has to be confessed – that's how forgiveness happens, that's how our rescue from sin happens. The chains that bind us must be broken, even when we find those claims appealing. Because Jesus doesn't want you crushed. Jesus doesn't want you terrified when He returns – He wants you forgiven and ready to be restored.

    So, don't be stupid. Don't wantonly wander into wickedness; instead be in Church, be in the Word. And when the Word of God calls out your sin, don't plug your ears, don't take your ball and go home, don't huff and puff and say, “Why I'd never.” Let the Holy Spirit do His job of conviciting with the Law, and confess your sins... and then there's the fruit. Then there's the fruit of forgiveness. There's the fruit of love – love and joy and peace and all those good things, truly good things that Jesus gives to you and works in you and through you to your neighbor. Jesus' plans for you are better than the pipe dreams that Satan and the world pedal to you. Live in Christ – He is here for you to find Him, to receive Him, to delight in Him, here in His church and in His Word of life. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 19 Sermon

    It was love, pure and simple. It was love that motivated these people to bring this paralyzed man to Jesus. These nameless people in the text – we don’t even know if they were family or friends – whoever they were – out of love and concern they bring this man who can no longer walk to Jesus. In our Gospel lesson today, we see an incredible story of love – love shown to a poor paralyzed man. But we also see a tale of how often God’s love isn’t desired by man, how God's love is despised and rejected. So that is what we will do – we will compare our thoughts about love and about how to love with God’s Word and see what we learn about God’s love for us.

    And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” When we hear this, we can think that there is something wrong. We can think that the solution doesn’t fit the problem. Your sins are forgiven? Jesus, the guy can’t walk! Who cares about his sin right now – heal him, make him walk! We can almost, if we dare admit it, get slightly annoyed with Jesus – oh, Jesus, just get to the point and heal the poor guy! You know what this means? It means that often our expectations of God’s love are wrong. We can think, “the chief problem here must be that the guy's body is broken – so fix it.” But note something from the text. And when Jesus saw their faith – when Jesus sees the faith of these people, the faith of this paralyzed man – sees their heart – that’s when Jesus tells this poor man that his sins are forgiven.

    Before this account, Matthew records many miracles – it seems almost routine. Jesus heals lots of folks of lots of things. Chapter 8 itself has a leper, the Centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, and two demon possessed men. Jesus is not shy about addressing the physical issue at hand, so maybe it’s not a case of Jesus missing the point here, but Jesus hitting things spot on. Think about, for a moment, the times when things go badly in your life – when things go wrong. How often does that thought creep in – “maybe I did something to anger God – maybe this is my sin coming back to bite me”? Remember not the sins of my youth, O Lord! How easily we can become burdened with guilt and shame! This was the case with this paralyzed fellow. The popular Jewish understanding what that if something bad happened to you, some tragedy, it was directly your fault. In John, when they see a blind man, the disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” So here you have this paralyzed man – and Christ sees his faith – sees the faith of the man’s friends – and our Lord speaks. Take heart – be enheartened – your sins are forgiven.

    This is the sadness of our day and age. We so often only see things in terms of this life – how much stuff we have, how good or poor our bodies are – we think with our stomachs and plan with our pocket books – and we so often miss the more important reality. This paralyzed man of faith didn’t have our weaknesses; he knew what was important. He was concerned that his sin condemned him, not just to a life stuck on a mat, but to an eternity of damnation and hell. And so Christ speaks a word of forgiveness to him, and he is enheartened! Would that our approach be the same as this paralyzed man! Would that our faith, our desire for forgiveness dominate our lives, whatever comes down the pike, be it sickness or health, wealth or poverty, droughts or floods! But too often we don’t think this way, we let the cares and concerns of this life push the things of faith and eternal life to the back burner. We let ourselves be filled with worry about this world instead of simply trusting God to remain God for us. So Christ says to you the same thing as he says to this paralyzed man. Take heart, your sins are forgiven. Take heart. Be encouraged – let nothing take your joy from you, for your sins are forgiven – and all these trials, all these troubles – they are temporary, they will pass away, but God’s love for you never passes away, the peace of forgiveness and the joy of Christ never pass away – for they are eternal, they are the things of eternal life. No tragedy, no trial of this life can overshadow this truth.

    But Satan will still try to overshadow this. This is what happens in the text. Some people clutch their pearls because Jesus asserts that He can forgive people. And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” There was a good reason they said this. One of the things we can forget about sin is that sin is always against God. If someone sins and it hurts us, we complain about what they have done to us. You’ve sinned against me. Yes. . . but that’s not the main thing. The main thing is that sin, all sin, is against God. When David gets caught in his adultery and murder, he doesn’t say, “Boy, I sure sinned against Uriah by killing him – boy, I sure sinned against Bathsheba by dragging her into adultery.” He had, I suppose, but that’s not the angle David takes. Instead, he says, “I have sinned against the LORD.” David then writes in Psalm 51 “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight” and then begs for a clean heart and a right spirit. Sin is always, first and foremost, against God. When your neighbor sins against you, that isn’t primarily a sin against you – it's against God. When you sin against your neighbor, when you think poorly of them or speak ill of them or harm them in any way – that isn’t a sin primarily against your neighbor, but you are first and foremost sinning against God – the God who told you to love that person. This is what those Scribes knew – sin is always against God – and this is why they are shocked by what Jesus says. Sin is against God – so therefore, only God can forgive sins. If Jesus were just a man, this would be most blasphemous!

    So Jesus will respond to this. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He then said to the paralytic – “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. Jesus knows what these scribes are thinking – He sees their doubts, and He seeks to alleve them. Yes, Jesus can forgive sins, yes He has this authority. But how to show it, how to demonstrate it? Well, watch this. Hey guy, get up and go home. I am Christ Jesus, I have authority over the Body, and I have authority over the soul as well. The healing here – the man being cured of his paralysis, is only done to show that the Spiritual healing which Christ proclaimed was real. Christ wants to prove that when He says sins are forgiven that He has the authority to do so.

    Authority is a big, important word in Scripture, and in the New Testament authority is almost always tied to being able to forgive sins. And here is the thing – the idea that just confuses and shocks so many folks out there – Christ Jesus gives this authority to His Church in order that even to this day people would receive forgiveness here on earth and know that it is true and valid in heaven. For example, think about the Great Commission. Before Jesus sends out the Disciples to do their work, what does He say? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Do you see how it works? Christ says, “I have authority to forgive sins, and now I am sending you out to go forgive sins. You have My authority now, you speak My Word and act in My Name – go baptize people for the forgiveness of sins in My Name. Authority to forgive sins. Or in John 20 – what does Jesus say to the disciples? Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven.” Again – Jesus sends out the disciples, His Apostles – for that is what Apostle means – it means “sent one” – with a very specific mission – to exercise this authority to forgive sins.

    And this is what God’s Church is to be about to this day. This is why in the Nicene Creed we call it the Holy Christian and Apostolic Church – it’s the Church that does the same thing the Apostles did – shower out forgiveness upon people. And this is a marvel – that forgiveness is available. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. That’s what we do even to this day – we glorify the God who gives forgiveness. You see, this is the heart of God’s love for you. Not in the temporary things that fade away, but in the fact that He constantly provides you the forgiveness won for you upon the Cross by Christ Jesus so that you may be cared for, not merely for a day or two, not just until the next crisis, but that you may be cared for for all eternity! God’s love for you is eternal. His love isn't fleeting but is for the long run; and thus He will focus your eyes upon His forgiveness and strengthen your faith so that you may stand and remain strong in the face of all trials in this life, large or small. His forgiveness is real, His love for you is real, and His Cross overshadows all things in your life. You are His, and nothing shall separate you from His love in Christ Jesus.

    And I mean that seriously. What is there in this world that can undo the promise that He made you to at the Font when by His authority you were baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit? That's a promise to you sworn by God Himself by His own name – what tops that? What has more power than that? Nothing. Jesus has His Word of forgiveness proclaimed to you today – the Word that called forth creation itself. What in this created world is going to top the Word of God that created it? Nothing. Jesus comes to you today, gives You His Holy Body and Blood for your forgiveness, as a pledge and token that yes, He has died and risen for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. What could tower over that? Nothing. So, whatever came at you this week, whatever sins clawed at you again, whatever fears loom large in this week to come – however serious and heart rending they maybe (let's face it, being paralyzed isn't a petty problem) – Jesus still reigns, and Jesus still loves you, and He says to you, take heart, my friend, your sins are forgiven. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit + Amen.