Serve the Lord for riches everlasting.

 

Sermon for Trinity 15, September 25, 2022

Grace to you and abiding peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord.  Amen.

Matthew 6:24–34  ²⁴“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and mammon.  ²⁵“For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  ²⁶Look at the birds of the air.  They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?  ²⁷“Which of you can add a single moment to his lifespan by worrying?  ²⁸Why do you worry about clothing?  Consider how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin, ²⁹but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these.  ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith?  ³¹“So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  ³²For the unbelievers chase after all these things.  Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  ³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (EHV)

Serve the Lord for riches everlasting.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Near the end of his life, Moses told the Israelites, "You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him,” (Deuteronomy 6:13 NKJ) but did you ever consider how many other things you serve?  We like to think we are masters of our domain, but everything we own makes demands on our time.  The more we own, the more enslaved we become.  If you have a house, you are usually forced to work in order to pay the mortgage, insurance, and taxes.  In addition, you soon find it demanding cleaning, repairs, and maintenance.  You buy a car, and you must buy insurance, gas, and tires.  Every car comes a service schedule, so every so many miles, you change the oil, filters, spark plugs, timing belt, and you name it.

Everything you might own is like that.  A piece of land, livestock operations, farm equipment, a business, a job, all of it makes demands on your time.  Even our toys require us to find storage in the off season, maintenance and repairs when we play.  If you get a pet, it is up to you to walk the dog, change the litter box, or clean the bottom of the bird cage.  We like to think we are in charge, but in reality, we are serving the things almost as much as they serve us.

At the same time, we might say the same thing about people.  If you marry, you will serve your spouse in ways wide and varied, and if you don’t do the service to each other, chances are good the marriage won’t last.  If you add children, the service required of you grows exponentially—diapers by the dozen, food, clothing, furniture, perhaps a bigger vehicle or house.  If you aspire to run for the honor of public office, be aware that the demands on your time explode.  Even something as good and honorable as belonging to a church brings a call to serve.

In our day, many aren’t willing to be enslaved by the demands of this world.  Marriage is avoided by many because of the faithful service that love requires.  Numerous children are slaughtered in order for the parents to avoid serving them.  Some demand that the government take care of all these things, but those same folks don’t understand that the government requires ever more service from its citizens, in the form of taxes, as more is demanded of government.

King Solomon looked at the demands of this world and said, "Vanity of vanities,…All is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 12:8 NKJ)  Or, as another translation puts it, "Meaningless!  Meaningless!…Everything is meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 12:8 NIV)  When one considers life here on earth, he might be tempted to decide that our service isn’t worth the effort, especially if you recognize that one, our time here is short and we can take nothing out of this world, and two, everything about this world is soon going to pass into dust.  On the other hand, if we should decide to serve nothing and no one, we are truly serving only the devil who wants nothing more than to steal and kill and destroy.  Yet Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  He also said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

In our text, Jesus observed how we all look at the things of this world, and He recognized how much anxiety and worry life in a sinful world causes us.  He then tells us not to worry about food, drink, or clothing.  Now, if like me, you have ever told someone not to worry, you likely recognize that telling us not to worry doesn’t change much.  However, Jesus doesn’t just give us the command.  He points us to the source of everything good, and He reminds us that while we sin whenever we worry or stress about the challenges of this world, and the service it requires, God takes care of it all for our good.

Like the people of Jesus’ day, we often find ourselves concerned about many things, but all of our worry is really just fear—fear that we won’t have enough stuff, money, health, or loved ones to keep us alive and happy—fear that God isn’t handling our needs.  However, the Lord promised through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not be overwhelmed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

In answer to our sinful fears, Jesus points us to God’s care for the world around us.  Everything that lives on earth is sustained by the hand of our loving God who created it.  The birds, fish, animals, insects, plants, and trees don’t honor and serve God in any other way than living as He determines to provide for other living things, and ultimately to sustain life in all of us.

Now, Jesus points out that it is common to worry about the things in life.  Yet, His point shows that every worry, or fear, is sin, and sin separates us from God.  Thus, Jesus said, “For the unbelievers chase after all these things.”  The ancients who didn’t have God’s Word were in a constant struggle to deal with their fears about sustaining life in this troubled world.  It led them into all kinds of idolatry, but Jesus assures us, “Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” 

Now, since we know that God knows we need all these things, isn’t it the height of arrogance to assume that our worries can do more than the God who loves us and provides all things?  God created and sustains the world, but He didn’t give His Son into death for the plants and animals.  Rather, God, the Father, gave His Son for you and me.  St. Paul wrote, “What then will we say about these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:31-32)

We are coming into the fall harvest season, and having been a farmer, I know the stress we put on ourselves to get every last acre covered as soon as possible and every kernel, bean, and beet in the bin.  All of that can be good husbandry, and we properly serve the Lord when we remember that He gives all the things He blesses us with in expectation that we will be good stewards of those blessings.  At the same time, Jesus encourages us to remember our true Lord whom we are to serve.

Jesus told the people, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Therefore, the point of this text is that we Serve the Lord for riches everlasting.  In other words, put first things first in your life.

No matter how much land someone runs, no matter how much money we pile up in bank accounts, stock markets, under your mattress, or buried in your back yard, it won’t be enough to buy a place for you in heaven.  Even doing everything right to live a long and healthy life will only keep you going minutes longer in this world.  The end soon comes for everything and everyone, so we need to be prepared.

Dear friends, that is where Jesus came in.  Jesus lived in this world just like you and me, yet He never once worried about anything.  All the while Jesus experienced the hardships of life, attacks of His enemies, hunger, thirst, illness, and the death of friends, His trust was perfectly in His heavenly Father’s care.  A day didn’t pass in which Jesus didn’t look to His Father for everything.  Even when His body was starving in hunger, Jesus was able to rebuke the devil by quoting God’s Word, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Luke 4:4)  Living on this earth for you and me, Jesus perfectly pleased His Father in righteousness, and that is the righteousness we are to seek.

As you go about your daily living, and maybe especially, as you go about the harvest season, remember what Jesus and the Father have done for you.  In addition to providing all you need for body and life, Jesus laid down His life on a cross, so that the Father in heaven could count you as holy and perfectly trusting in His amazing care.  Take moments every day to thank God for what He gives you.  Confess to Him your worries and cares.  Then trust that the Father has forgiven all your sins for Jesus’ sake.  Remember that the couple hours you devote to worship with your Lord every week, will be repaid many times over with greater faith in the Savior who sacrificed everything so that you can enjoy the mansions of heaven. 

Come to the Lord, today, to receive the body and blood Jesus sacrificed so that you “may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Then, trusting in Jesus as your Savior, let Him guide you in how to serve those things He gives into your stewardship and the loved ones He gives into your care, so that you, and all the loved ones given to you, may Serve the Lord for riches everlasting.  Amen.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Blessed be his glorious name forever.  May the whole earth be filled with his glory.  Amen.

Give glory to God, faith in Jesus saves.

 

Sermon for Trinity 14, September 18, 2022

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Luke 17:11-19  ¹¹ On another occasion, as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  ¹² When he entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him.  Standing at a distance, ¹³ they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  As they went away they were cleansed.  ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice.  ¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him.  And he was a Samaritan.  ¹⁷ Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?”  ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Get up and go your way.  Your faith has saved you.” (EHV)

Give glory to God, faith in Jesus saves.

Dear children of the living God,

            St. John wrote in the beginning of his Gospel account, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11 NKJ)  Here, Luke gives us a clear picture of what that means.  Ten men in desperate straights came to Jesus pleading for His help, but after receiving this great miracle, only one of the ten recognized Jesus for who He truly is.  The Holy Spirit’s message for us, however, is this: Give glory to God, faith in Jesus saves.

We often find ourselves quick to criticize the nine for their lack of giving thanks to God, even though they assuredly followed Jesus’ instruction to go to the priests to be examined.  Thus, there is a very good chance that once their healing was confirmed by the priests, those men offered up sacrifices of thanksgiving for the healing they had received, so what really was their mistake that left Jesus so dismayed?  The answer is His profound sadness that those whom God had chosen for over fourteen hundred years and blessed with the Scriptures and countless prophets couldn’t recognize Jesus when He walked among them.  As Jesus lamented as He neared the city, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!  How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37)

Large crowds were following Jesus that day.  Some followed to hear His teaching, but by this point, many had decided His teaching was too hard to bear, so perhaps the majority of those still coming to Jesus were coming because of the countless people He was healing.  They thought He was a miracle worker of the highest degree—a blessing from God to Israel.  Yes, Jesus spoke brilliantly.  Yes, He spoke of forgiveness and peace, but what mostly resonated with the people was the physical healing.

Those ten men had heard what Jesus was doing to heal suffering people.  Desperate as they were with the horrible affliction of leprosy, it’s no wonder they came to Him.  Their disease separated them from families, friends, and neighbors.  The pain and disfigurement that often accompanied leprosy, along with the removal from society, left anyone who suffered from the disease nearly hopeless, but then they heard about Jesus, so they came to beg for His help.  They lifted up their voices while still maintaining the required distance from any others.  A leper’s voice was often subdued by leprosy’s grip on the throat, but together, they raised their voice and Jesus heard their pleas, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 

Now, Jesus’ response might raise our eyebrows a bit.  He didn’t question anyone, didn’t reach out to touch them, didn’t give them any instructions on things to do to be cured.  To some, it might seem like Jesus was just brushing off their request.  Maybe even those sick men felt that way for a moment.  Still, because Jesus said so, they turned away to go to the priests.

Then, the most amazing thing happened—even as they turned away.  While they were still leaving the area, their bodies were transformed.  The diseased tissue regained its color.  Feeling returned and the pain disappeared.  Any disfigurement they had already suffered was gone.  We can imagine how exciting that had to be.  If it were any of us, I am sure we would sprint our way to the home of the nearest priest we knew.  Who wouldn’t?  After possibly years of suffering, the end of their shame was in sight.

Ten men turned to go away to the priests, yet one man recognized a very important fact.  This healing could only mean one thing: this Jesus had to be the promised Son of God and Son of David that the Scriptures had long foretold.  “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice.  He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him.  And he was a Samaritan.”   That Samaritan, former lepper understood that Jesus wasn’t just a prophet or healer sent by God.  Jesus is God in the flesh.  Therefore, that outsider returned to worship Him.  He gave glory to God for Jesus.  Therefore, we too Give glory to God, for faith in Jesus saves.

This morning, we are again confronted with the truth of eternal salvation.  It cannot be earned.  It cannot be received based on nationality, race, or bloodline.  It comes only by faith in Jesus.  As the Holy Spirit caused St. John to write, “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father.  But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.” (1 John 2:23)

To His disciples and the crowd that surrounded them at the return of that lone Samaritan, Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Get up and go your way.  Your faith has saved you.”  Many translations assume that Jesus is saying the man was healed by faith, but the word Jesus used also means saved.  Faith in what they had heard about Him brought ten lepers to Jesus, and seeing what Jesus could do brought faith that receives forgiveness and eternal life to a Samaritan.

So, what about you and me?  What does this example show us?  God’s Son came into the world to meet us face to face, to live and die to free us from sin and the devil’s control, to satisfy the law’s demand for holiness and to throw open the gates of heaven for all who believe.  Yet, how do we so often react?  Do we go about the business of life knowing what Jesus has done for us, but fail to return to Him giving praise to God and thanking Jesus for what He has done?  Do we find it too easy to let the distractions and busyness of daily living keep us away from the Savior who loved us enough to live and die in our place, who washed away our uncleanness in Baptism and presented us fully restored and holy to His Father in heaven?

Do we remember daily that we need Jesus’ healing gift of forgiveness?  When Sunday morning rolls around, do we remember that Jesus is here in Word and Sacrament ready to heal and feed us again?  Do we remember that when the Lord’s Supper is offered, it is Jesus who is meeting us at the altar with His body and blood to refresh and heal our souls?

Far too often, even believing Christians go church shopping to see which music they like better, or whether there are more entertaining programs for kids, or maybe where do more people attend so it feels more exciting.  The better reason to decide which church to attend is to ask the question, “Do I meet Jesus here?”  Is His Word really proclaimed in its truth and purity?  Is it taught unequivocally that Jesus is really and truly present in the bread and wine of His Supper?  Is Baptism recognized as “the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.”? (Titus 3:5-7)

By the power and mercy Jesus showed those ten lepers, that one, restored, Samaritan, former leper understood the truth that Jesus is God in human flesh come down to earth to save people like you and me, people with ordinary problems, frail bodies, and the same temptations, fears, sin, and guilt as everyone else.  Thus, rather than coming to earth just to heal physical infirmities, the primary separation Jesus came to cure is the separation between us and our loving God.  To His disciples, Jesus explained, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  Therefore, Give glory to God, faith in Jesus saves.

Dear friends, many of you have been coming here for years, decades, maybe even your whole life.  Why do you come?  I pray that it is because you too recognize Jesus as He is, the Son of God who took on human flesh as the Son of Man and gave His life on a cross of shame so that you could be reunited with His Father in heaven.  After He lived the life of perfect obedience to His Father’s will, and to the full extent of the law, so that you could be counted holy as His Father in heaven is holy, Jesus carried your sins to the cross to suffer death and separation from His Father so that you never again have to suffer the agony of separation from God and His loved ones.

When that leper experienced the miracle of healing, he gave thanks to God in person for everything he had learned about Jesus.  Now, dear friends, remember the restoration of Jesus on Easter morning.  Crucified, died, and buried for your sins, Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over sin, death, and the devil, so that you could see who He is, true God as well as true Man, with power over life and death, even His own. (John 10:17-18)  That Samaritan was saved by faith in Jesus, just as the Holy Spirit has declared about you and me: “God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.  It is by grace you have been saved!” (Ephesians 2:4-5)  All your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  Give glory to God, faith in Jesus saves.  Amen.

Amen.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever.  Amen.

We are blessed to see Jesus rescue us.

 

Sermon for Trinity 13, September 11, 2022

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

            Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples to proclaim the Good News.  Those seventy-two rookie missionaries returned to Him rejoicing for the response they had received.  They reported that at the mention of Jesus’ name even the demons submitted to them.  Giving thanks to God with them, Jesus replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)  By the preaching of the Gospel, the devil is defeated and is bound in the unbreakable chains of the Good News of what Jesus has done for us, so when Jesus’ followers hear and believe the Gospel, their names are written in heaven.  In this way, We are blessed to see Jesus rescue us.

Luke 10:23–37  ²³Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  ²⁴Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear them.”  ²⁵Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  ²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him.  “What do you read there?”  ²⁷He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”  ²⁸He said to him, “You have answered correctly.  Do this, and you will live.”  ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.  He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  ³¹It just so happened that a priest was going down that way.  But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³²In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³³A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was.  When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man.  ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.  He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him.  ³⁵The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’  ³⁶Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”  ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied.  Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (EHV)

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Immediately after His disciples’ excited return, Jesus gave thanks to His Father for the faith they had been given, which allowed them to have power over Jesus’ most ancient enemy.  Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear them.”  Jesus wanted his disciples to recognize how blessed they were to be living at that point in history in which they could experience His love face to face, could see His work of salvation accomplished, and hear Him teach with authority, as only He could, His wonderful, saving Gospel.

Many of the Old Testament prophets and kings had eagerly awaited that moment.  Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Daniel, and countless others, all of God’s ancient faithful believers were called out of this life before the experience of seeing their Savior face to face.  Yet, they all had their names written in heaven because they heard the Gospel and believed God’s promise of a Messiah who would come into the world to save them. 

Naturally, not everybody was so trusting of the Gospel.  Our human nature expects we must rely on our works.  Therefore, most religions preach law and obedience.  Even though Israel had the Gospel, the Law gradually took center stage in their worship to the point that they rejected God’s help.  Consequently, this legal expert tried to trap Jesus with the law, but in reality, it was the lawyer who was caught in the law’s trap.  He asked, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  His question is flawed.  No one can do anything to inherit something.  An inheritance, by definition, is a gift bestowed after the death of someone who chose to love and bless the person who will receive the gift.

Attempting to help the lawyer get out of his trap, Jesus replied with a question, " What is written in the law?”  “What do you read there?”  The lawyer’s reply accurately recounted the summary of God’s Law, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”   There is no doubt that the lawyer knew the law, and Jesus confirms it saying, “You have answered correctly.  Do this, and you will live.” 

Jesus is certainly honest in His answer; if you could perfectly obey God’s Law from beginning to end for every moment from conception until the end of your physical life, you would deserve to have eternal life, and God would have no complaint about you.  In fact, God would rejoice for every moment of your life and welcome you home to His heaven.

There is just one “tiny” (as in monstrous) flaw in this concept.  The Holy Spirit warns us, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.  There is no one who understands.  There is no one who searches for God.  They all turned away; together they became useless.  There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Unfortunately, the lawyer missed Jesus’ point completely.  He arrogantly assumed he had been obeying God’s law, but just to make sure and prove himself worthy, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  This lawyer was so sure of his self-righteousness, that he didn’t even question whether he had, in fact, loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and understanding.

My friends, think about this first command: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.”  That means that to deserve eternal life, you and I can never, not for one fraction of a moment, have taken our thoughts off of what is right, what is good, what is pure and holy.  We can never, not even once, think of anything except what God desires for us, and in us.  It means we will never question His care for us, or His motives in what He allows to come our way in this world.  It means we never have, and never will, doubt anything about what God has said in His Word or done in this world.  We will continually serve our Lord God with perfect devotion from conception on into eternity.  No honest person could ever claim this, but even if we did, our inherited sin would condemn us.

My friends, this lawyer, and to be honest, every person on earth including all of us, needed this lesson on what it means to love the way God wants us to love.  Our natural man has a highly inflated sense of his own holiness.  However, to love as God expects us to love, it’s not enough to treat well those who love you.  It’s not the same love just to take care of those whom we hold near and dear.  God wants us to love, as He does, without regard to whether the person deserves our love. 

The true love of which God speaks in His commandments means surrendering ourselves completely and totally into God’s loving care and then caring for our neighbors with the same loving concern God has shown to us.

Now, be honest, how do you think you have done when it comes to loving as God expects?  As we read Jesus’ account of the Good Samaritan, I hope you came to see your place in it.  Many would assume that Jesus told this parable to make us be like that Samaritan.  Of course, some people might imagine they already are, but truth be told, you and I and all people are represented by that poor man lying beaten and half dead on the ground.  This account of the Good Samaritan is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.  Therefore, in the parable, We are blessed to see Jesus rescue us.

Jesus didn’t tell this story as a morality play.  Certainly, Jesus does want us to care for those less fortunate and to help those who find trouble along their way, but Jesus tells this account as a graphic description of what He has done for all of us.  You see, all the people who have ever lived on this earth were robbed of all they possessed by the devil when he stole our innocence and left us for dead in the Garden of Eden.  It is because of that ancient thief that you and I suffer the blows and pains, the bleeding and death, that so afflict this world.  We were left for dead. 

The devil didn’t care about what he took from us, and we were too broken to be able to recover our holiness.  Our beautiful clothing of perfect righteousness, and the riches with which God had endowed us in His image at our creation, were gone forever, unless someone from a foreign place would come to rescue us.  That someone from outside our world is Jesus, and He didn’t just happen to be wandering along our path.  Jesus came down our road of suffering and death, because He was looking to save us.  Jesus made it His business to be here at the right time to make us whole.

Jesus told this parable because He wanted the lawyer to understand that those who were focused on the law couldn’t do anything to save themselves or anyone else.  In reality, they suffered the same affliction as the poor man lying in the road, they just didn’t know that they were already half dead in their uncaring attitudes.  Many of their day would have assumed that touching a bloody, perhaps even dead, body would have made them ceremonially unclean; so why risk it?

Truly though, this account parallels the Good News of Christ.  Jesus travelled down our road to become our Rescuer.  While all the world was passing us by, Jesus came down from heaven for the express purpose of healing our wounds.  He had compassion on our fallen race.  He wouldn’t turn away from us in the face of danger.  Jesus didn’t worry about blood or death making Him unclean.  Instead, He willingly allowed His own blood to be shed as payment for our sins.  It is through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that our spiritual wounds were bandaged.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God pours on us the healing medicine of His Gospel to rescue us from certain death.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus picks us up and carries us to a place of rest where we can be taken care of until completely healed.

Any guesses as to what the inn of our sermon text represents?  It is, of course, the Christian Church.  In the Church, the Gospel is proclaimed, and our sins are absolved—here we find rest from the wounds and worries, the burdens and cares of this sin damaged world.  Here, Jesus gives His riches as payment to the innkeeper and says “Take care of [them].  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay.” 

Do you still want to be the Good Samaritan?  That role, my friends, has been taken by the One Man who could fulfill the role perfectly.  There is no need for another.  Still, our Good Savior shares with us the task of carrying on His work here on earth.  Here, as the assembly of Christ’s believers, we are to live as His body, picking up the injured we see along the way, carrying them to the place of rest that gives eternal life.  Here, through the pouring on of the oil and wine of God’s Word, we help bandage up the wounds and bruises this world inflicts.  We become Jesus’ hands as we reach for the spiritually broken sinners we find along our road.

Though some people will always want to earn a place in heaven, you and I have already inherited our homes there because Jesus paid the price.  The rich blessing of eternal life in God’s mansions was purchased on our behalf by the richness of our Savior’s sacrifice and can only be given as an inheritance of faith, which comes through the healing message of His Gospel.  The Holy Spirit signed over the titles to those homes at our baptisms where He worked in our hearts the faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior.  Still, we don’t want to take our inheritance lightly.  Rather, we live our new life here on earth, serving our Lord and Savior in thought, word, and deed as we continue to be His hands of healing through the sharing of his Gospel, because We are blessed to see Jesus rescue us.  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

 

The humble and poor rejoice in Jesus.

 

Sermon for Trinity 12, September 4, 2022

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

Isaiah 29:18-19  ¹⁸On that day, the deaf will hear the words from a book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.  ¹⁹The humble will rejoice in the Lord once again, and the poor will delight in the Holy One of Israel. (EHV)

The humble and poor rejoice in Jesus.

Dear fellow believers redeemed by the blood of the Lamb,

            There is both physical and spiritual healing foretold in the words of our text.  By the multitude of healings Jesus performed, especially giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf as we observed in our Gospel lesson, Jesus used physical healings as proof that He is the promised Savior God foretold in this passage.  Still, the ultimate message of this prophecy is that God would restore truth and salvation in an Israel that was lost in its deafness to God’s Word and its blindness to His providence and mercy.  Therefore, we should understand that the Lord is foretelling that The humble and poor rejoice in Jesus.

Now, today, many may say that you have to be poor and downtrodden to be a real Christian worthy of God’s mercy, so they elevate their opinion of people who have troubles, even mental illness and self-induced difficulties like addictions and bad behavior to an imagined special status in which we should all view them as victims who deserve special favor from God.  However, if you read the book of Job, you quickly understand that there is much suffering in this world that cannot be reasoned.  God allows what He allows for His purposes, and only He knows the ends He has planned.  Furthermore, our choices in life often lead to consequences that cause us great pain, and living in a world suffering under the curse of sin also leads to much trouble that merits no place in heaven.

At the same time, others may claim that you must make yourself poor and humble in order to be saved.  This idea drove many ancient monks to isolate themselves from the world, to inflict harm to their own bodies, and to deprive themselves of any form of comfort even to the point of starvation.  Some thought that by avoiding temptation they could avoid the sins that bring condemnation, while others began to expect a heavenly reward merely for their pain.  Looking back on his years as a monk, Martin Luther recognized that he had inflicted much pain to his body hoping to appease God, yet it brought no relief to his troubled conscience. 

In our day, the trend to arrogance continues with much social media bashing of those holding opposing viewpoints.  Large portions of our society like to see their political or social opponents suffer for their beliefs.  There is an imagined self-righteousness that assumes the hurting souls deserve what they get or that those fortunate enough to be favored by the masses are more holy, somehow.  It looks somewhat like the mistreatment that Job’s so-called friends inflicted on him.

All of this leads to the question, what does God mean with these words to Isaiah?  In answer, understand that God wants people of faith.  Israel had wandered away from the God who had rescued their forefathers.  The people forgot who the true God is in their chasing after idols and pursuit of worldly pleasures.  For their discard of the God who loved them, we might say that God was separating from His beloved until such time as His beloved came to her senses.  The Bible often uses the picture of husband and wife in describing the relationship between our loving God and His Bride, the Church.  Whether in Old Testament Israel, or in the New Testament Church, including our times, God unites Himself with people who love and trust Him simply because He is good, and good to us.

As the Lord God threatened unfaithful Israel with harsh discipline, He also promised grace and every blessing to those who returned to trusting in Him.  Out of the deafness of His people to His Word, some would eventually be restored to faith through the hearing of that Word.  Likewise, some of those caught in the darkness of exile in a foreign land would eventually see release and freedom in their return to the Promised Land of their forefathers.

As Jesus walked and taught on earth, this prophecy is fulfilled as He opened eyes of the blind both physically and spiritually.  In our Gospel lesson, a deaf man was healed, but even more so, the Good News of what Jesus was doing had opened the ears of those who had earlier begged Him to leave their country but now leading them to come to Him for healing and life.

The humble and poor rejoice in Jesus.  As we read through the Scriptures, we might be mystified by what this means.  Many of the great patriarchs were wealthy far beyond what we experience.  How could they be blessed in the kingdom of God?  Many of the great heroes of faith showed great blindness and even arrogance at times, so how did they become humble before the Lord?  The best answer I can give is that God humbled them with life, and or with His law. 

As far as being spiritually deaf or blind, all of us enter this world blind and deaf to God’s love.  It is the Gospel that opens our eyes and ears to comprehend the love and mercy God has shown to the world by sending His Son to live and die in our place.

None of the heroes of faith in the Bible were without sin.  Some were men of great wealth, yet others, like Lazarus, died paupers in horrible conditions.  King David because a man of great power, wealth, and privilege, yet he trusted in God without hesitation, and when David sinned, and indeed sinned grievously, God called David to repentance and restored him to grace.

Moses was a man of incomparable faith, yet he too was a sinner, but God in His mercy used Moses to rescue the chosen nation from slavery and bitter toil to lead them to the Promised Land.  By His Word of grace to Moses, God gave us much of what we need to know to be saved.

Being humble and poor in the kingdom of heaven isn’t always evident in the outward appearance, for “the Lord does not look at things the way man does.  For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)  Whether a person is well blessed in this world, or indeed suffering greatly, God uses life to draw us to Himself.  Yet, the primary way God makes us humble and poor in His kingdom is by exposing us to the mirror of His law.  When our eyes are opened to see our sin, the law is working to show us how poverty stricken in righteousness we truly are by nature.  Then, when worldly circumstances, or the striking accusations of the law reveal our utter shame, only then are we prepared to receive the Good News of God’s grace.

Therefore, we cannot view the law as our ticket to heaven, because we never measure up to its strict code of holiness.  Neither can we earn our way to heaven with earthly riches, nor merit it with the accumulation of suffering and pain.  St. Paul wrote, “Creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)  This is why there is suffering and pain—not to merit God’s love, but because sin infests the world and because God wants to turn us away from rebellion to walking with Him in glory.

Along with that explanation, Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit strengthens our souls, saying, “If God is for us, who can be against us?  Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:31-32)  Understand, therefore, that all things, both wealth and poverty, health or pain, are gifts of God intended to draw us to Him.  In the person in which the Holy Spirit is working, all things remind us of our need for a Savior, and the Gospel in Word and Sacrament brings us into forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Now, it is abundantly clear that neither the law nor our earthly troubles bring us comfort, but neither are they intended to bring comfort but rather to draw us humbly to the One who gives life and salvation freely as a gift.  When we are brought low by the law or circumstances of life, then our God has us ready to receive His greatest blessing, forgiveness and life everlasting. 

Thus, when you know Jesus as your Savior, when you are convinced that there is nothing you have done, or yet can do, to earn God’s favor, then you can be comforted in knowing that you truly are among the poor and needy that God foretold to Isaiah.  Then, you can rejoice with all the saints in heaven and on earth, for God has made you His own dear child be faith.  God has brought you low to lift you up to glory; He has allowed poverty and weakness to prepare you to receive the riches of His grace which brings you forgiveness and life eternal.

Isaiah was told, “The poor will delight in the Holy One of Israel.”  We delight in Jesus.  Only Jesus, the Son of God from all eternity, truly humbled Himself before God and the world.  Only Jesus brings perfect delight to His Father in heaven.  Yet, it is Jesus’ perfect holiness that is credited to us through faith, and through the faith He has worked in our hearts, God sees us as His own dear children, holy and perfect in His sight, prepared and adopted into His family by grace.

Dear friends, Jesus is the answer to any questions you may have about this prophecy.  In Jesus, we delight.  In Jesus, we sing praise to God, because in Jesus, we are cleansed of all sin and reconciled with the Father in heaven, fully and perfectly prepared to enter into glory in His heavenly mansions.  Then, recognizing that you have no merit or worthiness of your own that would allow you to stand before God in the judgment, rejoice that in Jesus, with your sins forgiven and peace with God restored, you have been given the riches of heaven.  God’s promise and our confidence is this: The humble and poor rejoice in Jesus.  Amen.

God will fully supply your every need, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever!  Amen.