Christ elevates you to glory.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 12, August 31, 2025

Grace to you and heavenly peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our eternal King.  Amen.

Christ elevates you to glory.

Dear friends of the humble Savior,

            Our readings this morning were chosen around the theme of humility before God.  Humility is a most rare thing in our world, unless, of course, someone is trying to live a life of self-deprivation, as the monks of the Middle Ages often did.  Truthfully though, even that is usually a false humility, because it seeks glory in hardships.  Likewise, in false humility, certain people may try to one up each other in comparing their humbleness: perhaps, by mocking their own looks, belittling their own abilities, under-reporting their accomplishments, or trusting in their service to their fellow man or their gifts of charity to the poor to appease a righteous God.

Humility is a tough subject for us.  We don’t come by it naturally, because our sinful human nature wants to be honored and in authority—even over God.  Furthermore, this is an especially tough subject for Americans, because our whole culture and nation is driven by ideas of self-promotion and personal equality—even if that equality is a rarely achieved ideal.  Child psychologists and schools emphasize building self-esteem in each child, in an attempt to leave not even one child behind his peers.

As a nation, we take pride in the idealistic presumption that no one is better or more worthy than any other.  Of course, this opinion can also often be taken too far, for almost everyone from a criminal to the highest government official, or an unemployed teenager to the chief executive officer of a Fortune Five Hundred company expects to be respected, whether they have earned the respect of others, or not. 

To clarify what I mean about humility, when was the last time you bowed down before one of our city officials, or a senator, or a representative of the state or federal government?  We just don’t do that, do we?  We would be embarrassed to humble ourselves in that way.  In fact, I bet that many of those people would also be embarrassed if any of us even tried to bow down before them.  A handshake among supposed equals is about as close as we get. 

However, as much as we hate to be considered lowly, in God’s kingdom humility is a good thing.  So, our readings this morning teach that rather than practice self-promotion, or to expect a reward for works, salvation comes only when Christ elevates you to glory.

Our sermon text comes to us from the wisdom of King Solomon: [We read in Jesus’ name,] Proverbs 25:6-7a  “Do not honor yourself in a king’s presence.  Do not stand in a place reserved for great people, because it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than for you to be humiliated before a ruler.” (EHV).

Solomon’s advice, here, is good advice for our earthly lives, of course.  For an example of a man who didn’t follow it, read the book of Esther and see how Haman, who was a proud second in command to the Persian king, confidently expected that the king wanted to honor him but soon learned to his horror that the king was honoring Haman’s mortal enemy, Mordecai.  Haman’s extreme pride was ended when he was hanged on the very high gallows he had built to hang Mordecai, while the king elevated Mordecai to Haman’s previous high position as the king’s right-hand man.

However, while living humbly is certainly good advice for our earthly lives, it is especially critical for our spiritual lives.  To exalt ourselves in the presence of the King of heaven would lead to our eternal punishment in the depths of hell.  The Pharisees were very proud of their works and their heritage as descendants of Abraham.  They liked all the showy positions at the feasts and festivals.  Their fancy clothes and pompous stride showed that they wanted everyone to be looking at them, but they had very little time for the humble Son of God walking in their midst.  Thus, Jesus warned the Pharisees, “Yes, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11)

Dear friends, Solomon said, “Do not stand in a place reserved for great people, because it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than for you to be humiliated before a ruler.”  If we want to brag before God about things we do, or even about our humility, we make ourselves pretenders to the Christ whom God sent to live holiness for us and has elevated to His right hand.  Nothing less than perfect holiness will allow anyone to enter God’s presence—no ordinary mortal man could ever measure up.  So, bragging about anything good in us, or in our works, leaves us in the dangerous position of exalting ourselves in the presence of the perfect Savior who now has authority to judge us for eternity.  On the other hand, when we despair of any works we might have accomplished, or even any humility or strength of faith, but trust wholeheartedly in Jesus, Christ elevates you to glory.

Who among us can honestly say we are more humble than Jesus?  Jesus, the very Son of God, begotten of the Father from all eternity, left His throne of glory in heaven behind to humble Himself on earth to serve His heavenly Father and save you and me.  St. Paul wrote, “Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant.  When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death―even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)  Jesus possessed all the power, prestige, glory, and honor of the eternal Creator God and Father of all, yet the divine Son, united with human flesh, set aside glory and honor to live for us in perfect lowliness and humility.

Now, can any of us honestly say we have submitted to God’s will like Jesus?  Jesus, the only begotten Son of both God and Mary, lived in perfect submission to His Father’s will and to every law that applied to man.  Of Jesus, the Bible says, “He had done no violence, and no deceit was in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)  Not one of us could make that claim.  Yet, Jesus lived like that for you and me.

Likewise, can any of us honestly say that we have loved the undeserving as well as Jesus?  Jesus, owner of all creation by right of Sonship, gives to all people on earth their daily bread.  By right, He should be demanding payment from us for even the least little thing He gives, yet He freely pours out blessing upon blessing upon us, because that is His Father’s will.  Jesus even gave His own precious blood in full payment for the sins of the very world that has rebelled against Him.  “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Think back on Jesus’ earthly ministry.  What right did anyone have to expect Jesus to feed them when they came out to the wilderness to hear Him teach?  He never promised that to anyone.  Yet, Jesus fed the multitudes when He saw that they were in need.  Who could ever have expected Jesus to heal the sick and lame and blind?  Yet, Jesus did that too, even among some who would have called Him an enemy.  Then, rather than seek praise for His work, Jesus declared, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

We will never outdo Jesus in either humility or works, so we dare not try to stand before Him on our own merit at the Judgment.  For eternal salvation, we dare not rely on our own efforts in any way, shape, or form, for we will always fall short of the glory of God.  However, we have a Savior who willingly gave Himself to make us holy and pure before God.  Therefore, we fall on our knees daily in humble confession of our shortcomings and pride, while our Savior freely gives us the forgiveness that none of us could have earned.

Though Jesus is, and always has been, true God, He was not too proud to live as a servant in order to save us.  Likewise, He would have us be servants to all so that the many lost souls might hear of Jesus’ love and faithfulness, believe in Him, and be saved.  That’s why in our Gospel lesson Jesus told the Pharisees to invite to their banquets those who couldn’t repay them instead of their friends and relatives.  It is God’s good will that all people should repent of their arrogance and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.  It is God’s will that we serve the wonderful bread of Jesus’ pure grace to the wretched refuse of the world, but as we reach out to the sinners here and everywhere, we do it not as self-righteous, arrogant heathens, but as unworthy sinners whom Jesus has redeemed.

Concerning all this, what do we have to boast about?  Works contaminated by sin, humility that seeks its own honor, love that falters when others offend, faith that stumbles at the first sign of trouble or temptation?  Let go of all those things!   Repent of any self-boasting and cling to the Savior, Jesus Christ, for His forgiveness, righteousness and salvation, for the purity and holiness He put on you at your Baptism. 

The LORD declared through the prophet Jeremiah, “The wise man should not boast in his wisdom.  The strong man should not boast in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches.  Instead, let those who boast boast about this: that they have understanding, and that they know me.  They know that I am the Lord, who shows mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)  St. Paul later wrote, “Far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)

Dear friends, as we do the things our Lord Jesus commanded us to do, as we struggle to resist temptation and throw off sin, as we strive to live more holy lives each day, and as we look for the return of our Savior, Redeemer, and King, keep in mind that none of what we do saves us—even as our faithful efforts work to save others through the power of the Holy Spirit—which indeed they do.  We are commanded to live for Jesus, but in doing so let us always confess in true, humble faith, “We are unworthy servants.  We have only done what we were supposed to do.” (Luke 17:10)

The Holy Spirit made us servants of the Savior by God’s grace.  Because of His love for us, God sent His Son to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil.  We had no part in that decision; it was God’s alone.  The same is true of our salvation; we were rescued from the clutches of Satan and the hell we deserved by the one true God who loved us in spite of our sinful condition, not because of any good in us, but for the sake of all the good in His Son.  Jesus took your sins and gave you His perfect holiness in exchange.  When Jesus made you His own through faith and the water and Word of Baptism, the Father likewise welcomed you into His kingdom, granting you sonship and an inheritance in heaven.  Today, when believing in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God sees you as holy, righteous, and truly humble for Jesus’ sake, because Christ elevates you to glory. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen. 

Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 11, August 24, 2025

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.

Luke 13:22-30  ²²He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem.  ²³Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”  He said to them, ²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.  ²⁵Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’  He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’  ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’  ²⁷And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from.  Depart from me, all you evildoers.’  ²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.  ²⁹People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.  ³⁰And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (EHV)

Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”  The underlying assumption that man made was that only a few people, presumably the most pious and dedicated descendants of Abraham, will be worthy of entering heaven.  Even today, that might seem like a reasonable conclusion, and much of the world has a similar guess.  Of course, few people in our times would assume that only the Jews will enter heaven.  The prejudices against the Jewish people for the last two thousand years likely judges them to be lost for sure.  Yet, many, many people really hope that they and their loved ones are good enough to enter into heaven just the way they are.  How sad and false an assumption that is!

Jesus answered the man’s false assumption by telling him, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.”  To understand this, we must concede that many, many people are truly trying to do good works, and many people put copious amounts of effort toward pleasing whatever god they worship.  Indeed, Jesus says, “Strive to enter.”  Doesn’t that sound like we have to work our way into heaven?

Oh, the sinister way our fallen nature misleads us.  Natural man recognizes that there is a God and that we have sinned against Him.  Yet, by nature we have no knowledge of who the true God really is, but we know there must be someone in charge, someone who made the world.  We know that internally, at least until culture, school, and the foolish imaginations of men pull us away from even that indwelling truth.  Yet, even the person who has chosen to believe that God doesn’t exist or isn’t involved in the world’s operation feels compelled to do certain things to be good, whether good in his own eyes, or in his standing in society.  Thus, at the end of the day, even those who do not hold to the true Christian faith cling to a slim hope that they have done enough good things to merit eternal peace.

Again, how sad and false an assumption that is.  No one is good enough to enter heaven on his own merit.  Summarizing various passages of scripture, St. Paul wrote, “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)  The corruption that is in us by natural inheritance makes us unworthy to enter into God’s heavenly home, and there is nothing we can do in ourselves to change that.  On our own, we stand condemned to an eternal punishment in the depths of hell for the multitude sins we have committed.

Yet, we then again hear Jesus say, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.”  This is where the narrative gets deep yet freeing.  Jesus does not mean we must merit our entrance into His heaven.  Rather, He means that we must give up striving through the ways of the world and receive His gracious invitation.  Again, we need to remember so many other things Jesus said to bring us into His kingdom: “I am the door.  Whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John 10:9)  “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  “Do not let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)  “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  Finally, through His evangelist, the Lord tells us, “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!  He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6)  In other words, God graciously invites us to Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

Jesus’ answer to that man comes down to this: there is a Judgment Day coming after which no one will be able to enter heaven.  There is only one way that anyone might enter heaven and that is through faith in Jesus who became our entrance to heaven by His life and death on our behalf.  There will be many who strive to achieve a place in God’s kingdom who will fail miserably because God doesn’t recognize them as His children, because they reject Jesus as Savior and God.

Jesus told the man, “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’  He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”  Time after time, Jesus drew pictures explaining that our time of grace is limited to our time here in this life on earth.  It is here and now that we must learn of Jesus and His great love and sacrifice on our behalf.  To make that happen, our Lord has given us prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, bringing us God’s message of mercy and salvation through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit provided through those certain men, and through the Gospel of His work for us and the Sacraments Jesus instituted to work saving faith in us.

When our time to stand before the Judge of the world comes, people can plead all they want about their own efforts, but what we do apart from faith in Christ counts for nothing in God’s eyes.  Even simply knowing that Jesus lived, preached, taught, suffered, and died isn’t enough.  We must know and believe that He gave His life for you and me personally, and that faith can only be ours through the gift of the Holy Spirit as He works in the Gospel and Sacraments.  Then, those who believe in Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer will be welcomed as they Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

At the same time, Jesus paints a terrifying picture for those who do not believe in Him.  He told His opposition, “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.”  Jesus pointedly taught that man that the patriarchs they honored will be in heaven, but by rejecting the Christ those men had so eagerly looked forward to knowing, the self-righteous ones questioning Jesus would dwell in eternal suffering, all the while able to see, but never experience, the glory of life in God’s eternal kingdom. 

This is a warning also for us today.  We dare never rely on our own merit or worthiness to enter God’s heaven.  We dare never rely on our heritage or the faith of our fathers.  Each person will be judged on the merit of Christ Jesus.  If we have been brought to believe in Him and brought into connection with Jesus by faith through the hearing of the Word and Baptism, Jesus Himself will welcome us into the eternal bliss and glory of heaven for His righteousness will be our shield and our holy dress.  On the other hand, if we choose to boast in ourselves, we will be among that crowd, who tried so hard to work their way into God’s favor while rejecting His kindness and mercy that they receive only banishment into the outer darkness of hell.

Jesus had a final thought for us in His answer to the man’s question.  “People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.  And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”  Those men who so vigorously opposed Jesus as He walked the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea thought themselves to be doers of righteousness and worthy members of God’s chosen people, but in reality, they were caught in the devil’s lies. 

On the other hand, our Lord Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay the penalty our sins deserved, bearing the full weight of the guilt of the world, so that He might pay for it all.  Then, on the third day after His sacrifice, Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over sin and death so that connected to Him by Baptism and faith, we too will be raised to live forever with Him in glory, not because of any worthiness in us, but because Jesus has accomplished all good for us.

Now, in our daily lives, we know there is much was can and should do to serve our Lord.  Just as Jesus labored and sacrificed to save sinners, so we too as His disciples and friends, must work to bring His forgiveness and salvation to the world.  Just as Jesus worked to help and befriend His neighbor, so we can and should do the same.  Just as Jesus diligently labored in His Father’s creation and His eternal kingdom, it is good and right for us to take up our cross and follow Him. 

However, we do all of this out of love for Jesus, out of thankfulness to His Father in heaven, and for the good of those who surround us in this troubled world.  We know that none of our service merits eternal reward for even when we do our duty faithfully, we are only doing what is our due service to our Master.  Yet, we do so confident in the grace that is ours through faith in Jesus, that because He lives we will live also.  That because He has won our forgiveness, life, and salvation, and has granted to us to share in it, we come to that heavenly door in humble confidence that because Jesus has loved us, the Father in heaven also welcomes us with open arms.  May God in His mercy and grace keep us ever trusting in Jesus for forgiveness, life, and salvation that we will with certainty Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.  Amen.

God credits faith as righteousness.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 9, August 10, 2025

To all those loved by God…called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Genesis 15:1-6  After these events the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.  He said, “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.”  ²Abram said, “Lord God what can you give me, since I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  ³Abram also said, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a servant born in my house will be my heir.”  ⁴Just then, the word of the Lord came to him.  God said, “This man will not be your heir, but instead one who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”  ⁵The Lord then brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”  He said to Abram, “This is what your descendants will be like.”  ⁶Abram believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness. (EHV)

God credits faith as righteousness.

Dear beloved of the Lord,

            Apparently, Abram was beginning to question the Lord’s faithfulness.  It had been a long time since the Lord commanded Abram to leave his homeland and travel to a land in which the Lord promised to give Abram great blessings: that good land for his offspring to possess, many descendants, everlasting fame, and especially, a descendant through whom the whole world would be blessed.  Site unseen, Abram had followed the Lord’s instructions faithfully.  Yet, though he and Sarai had been married many years, God had not yet blessed Abram and Sarai with even one child, and it would be many more years before God gave them that promised son.

If you are like me, you most likely consider Abram to be a great man of faith.  The Jews of Jesus’ day thought they should be rewarded by God simply because their blood relationship to Abraham made them His chosen people.  Furthermore, the Jews usually assumed that God rewarded Abraham because of his great works; that Abraham actually deserved God’s favor as a reward for his obedience to God’s command.  Thus, they thought God should also reward them for their efforts.  However, Abraham was a sinner like you and me with doubts, weaknesses, and fears.

Now, Abram had believed God’s promise that great blessings would come his way, and he did obey the command to travel to a distant land, but Abram was also often quite weak in his faith.  He often doubted whether God would protect him from potential enemies.  He was even willing to lie and misuse his wife to preserve his own skin when entering certain foreign territories, and shortly after being assured here of the heir God had promised him, Abram and Sarai concocted a scheme to produce an illegitimate heir through Sarai’s handmaiden.  Again and again, Abram showed a weak trust in the Lord God of heaven and earth.

Now, hearing that Abram (just like you, and me, and all the rest of humanity) was a frail, weak, sinner, some people might take offense at the suggestion.  However, rather than be offended by Abram’s weak faith, we should be encouraged by God’s great faithfulness and then hear the message of this text: God credits faith as righteousness.

Dear friends, our human nature is continually tempted to believe that we must earn every blessing we get.  On the positive side, that makes us do many of the things we should be doing.  On the negative side, though, it leads us to hope that our works are worthy of God’s approval by their own merit, and sometimes, we might begin to question God’s faithfulness if our efforts don’t seem to be rewarded.  However, as Isaiah pointed out, all of our works, even the best and most faithful things we do, are tainted by the sin we inherited from our fathers and those sins we commit every day in thought, word, and deed.  Simply put, nothing we do on our own will ever cause God to stand up and applaud us.  Our own efforts can only lead to condemnation as we fall short of the glory of God.  Left in that sorry condition, none of us would know God, and none of us would be saved.  On his own, neither could Abram have been saved, for his works and faithfulness also fell far short of perfect holiness.

At the same time, the good news for all of us is that God did not leave us adrift in godlessness.  God did not want us lost to the torture chamber prepared for the devil.  Therefore, God Himself intervened in our lives.  That’s what the promise to Abram was all about; through Abram, God would one day bring a Savior into the world.  Now, as we already established, Abram didn’t deserve that blessing for he too was a sinful man undeserving of God’s reward.  Yet, God loved Abram as He has also loved the world.  The message of promise God delivered to Abram contained the power to change Abram from a heathen into a believer.  Thus, “Abram believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.” 

The story is the same for you and me.  On our own, we were lost and condemned creatures heading to eternal destruction in the fires of hell.  On our own, we far too often fail to trust God.  Yet, because He loves us, God intervened to save us.  Through the power of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, God washed away your sins and made you His own beloved child.  God didn’t do that because we somehow merited His intervention.  God intervened with us because He wanted us to be saved and to live with Him forever.

Now, like Abram, most of us were given faith in the Almighty long before we ever understood His plan for our rescue.  Some of us may have lived in our sin for some time before learning through the law that we desperately needed a Savior.  On the other hand, many likely received faith through the water and Word of Baptism.  Either way, God gave us the gift of saving faith by means of His gift of the Gospel. 

As St. Paul declared in his letter to the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)  He further clarified in a letter to the Corinthians, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)  So, it is by God’s gift to us, through the Gospel and the descendant He promised to give to Abram, that we have saving faith in Christ Jesus.

Just like Abram, we couldn’t stand before God’s holiness apart from faith in the promised Messiah.  To our human reason and experience in commerce, God’s remedy for our unholiness doesn’t make much sense.  We always wonder, why would anyone take something very bad in exchange for something very good?  Yet, that is exactly what God did for you and me through the one descendant He promised Abram, for “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) 

Abram’s promised descendant, Jesus, took all sin upon Himself as He took the filth that would have condemned us before God.  In exchange, His Father credited Jesus’ perfect holiness to each of us.  Therefore, along with the great gifts of the Gospel and saving faith, we also receive God’s gift of the righteousness lived for us by His Son, Jesus. 

God promised Abram that the Savior of the world would be born from his descendants.  To make sure that the whole world knew that this happened only by God’s plan and intervention, God waited to bless Abram with that son of his own blood until he and Sarai could no longer have a child without God’s intervention.  This demanded that Abram have the patience of true faith.  That proved to be hard for Abram, yet God strengthened his faith through repeated promises of a son, and Abram believed.

Like Abram, you and I might often struggle in our faith as we wait for God to fulfill all His promises, but we too must live a life of faith.  God has promised that all our sins are forgiven.  He promised us life everlasting in heaven.  He promised to send His angels to protect us from all harm and danger.  He promised to be with us always.  Those promises aren’t always visible in our everyday world.  Yet, we believe them by faith, faith that God gives us and faith He strengthens by His repeated promises in Word and Sacrament. 

Like Abram, we can be tempted to want to hurry God along in delivering on His promises.  It is also quite common for people to look for assurance of God’s grace in things of this world.  Some want to look at works of sanctified living as proof of saving faith.  Some look for assurance in the physical blessings they receive.  Others want to rest their hope of salvation on their own putrid works.  There is, however, only one way to heaven and that is through humble faith in that promised descendant of Abram, God’s own dear Son, the God-Man, Christ Jesus.  Faith that rests in Jesus is God’s gift to you, brought to you at your Baptism and the hearing of God’s sure promises.

Therefore, dear friends, be assured, for like Abram, God gave us the promise of a Son, a Son who gave His perfectly holy life for the world.  On our behalf, the Son of God and descendant of Abraham lived continually trusting His Father in heaven, yet also sacrificed His life on a cross to take away your sin.  Jesus then rose from the grave to assure you of complete forgiveness and everlasting salvation.  It is through Jesus’ righteousness, lived for us, that we stand sanctified and pure before God.

Therefore, God’s promises remain as sure today as they were to Abram.  Just as all of those promises were made true by the One and Only God who gave them, so God guarantees you the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting in His eternal mansions.  All these things are certain and true for you and me, because God credits faith as righteousness.  Amen.

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

Treasure riches that bring eternal life.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 8, August 3, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours, forever, from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Luke 12:13-21  ¹³Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  ¹⁴But Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?”  ¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a man’s life is not measured by how many possessions he has.”  ¹⁶He told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced very well.  ¹⁷He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have anywhere to store my crops?’  ¹⁸He said, ‘This is what I will do.  I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods.  ¹⁹And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years.  Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’  ²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you.  Now who will get what you have prepared?’  ²¹“That is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (EHV)

Treasure riches that bring eternal life.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            You hear the refrain almost everywhere these days: “Pay us what you owe us.”  “The wealthy should pay their fair share.”  The super rich own too much of the world’s resources.  I don’t get paid enough to put up with this stuff.  Always, we are told, somebody else should be giving me more.

Maybe you and I, also, fall into that trap at times.  The truly defiant sometimes imagine that God doesn’t know what He is doing if He doesn’t give us as much as the next guy.  The reality is that it is awfully easy for all of us to struggle with covetousness.  Maybe our neighbor always seems to have newer toys than we can afford.  Maybe his yields always sound bigger than what we can grow.  Maybe he times the market better than we ever do.  Maybe we didn’t inherit a big stake in the family business, or maybe we just made some mistakes or bad decisions, but why do we always seem to come out on the short end? 

Don’t misunderstand, pastors can be just as guilty of coveting as anyone else.  Maybe it is when pews we preach over remain empty Sunday after Sunday.  Maybe the hurting person just doesn’t think to call us when they need to hear comforting words.  Maybe we would like to change the world with our words.  It is easy to misplace our focus from trusting in our Savior to trusting in ourselves, or in our pile of possessions, or in public reputation. 

As Jesus was instructing the disciples who followed Him, a foolish man in the crowd took the opportunity to interrupt Jesus and demand a favor.  The man said, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Now, Luke doesn’t elaborate on the situation, so we have no way of knowing exactly what the circumstances were.  Obviously, it didn’t matter.  Perhaps the brother was unwilling to share any of the inheritance.  Greed may have taken a hold on him, too.  Or perhaps this man was simply unsatisfied with the common share.  If he was the younger brother, he was, at most, entitled to only a third of the property according to standard practices of the day.  He maybe thought that unfair.  If so, he would fit in well with our times as someone expecting more than he deserved.

Regardless of the situation, that man had completely misread Jesus’ purpose in life.  Jesus later made it clear that He didn’t come to judge the world nor to rule over petty disputes or even to set up a kingdom of power on earth. 

Jesus came into our world on a mission to save souls, not by making people rich and comfortable, but by proclaiming truth according to God’s will and plan, by living in perfect obedience to His Father’s will on our behalf, so that we are counted righteous, and by giving His life into suffering and death so that the sins of the world, yours and mine included, are covered.  In that plan of proclaiming salvation for sinners, Jesus teaches us here to Treasure riches that bring eternal life.

Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?”  Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a man’s life is not measured by how many possessions he has.”  This man who came asking Jesus for a favor may have been influenced by other rabbis who did position themselves as rulers.  We remember that Moses, also, way back in Irael’s history served as a judge to resolve disputes in the daily lives of God’s people.  Yet, the appropriate resources had been long established if that man’s brother was doing something illegal or unethical.  More likely, the petitioner simply wasn’t content with his rightful share.  Regardless, Jesus makes it clear that He will not intervene in the trivial.  Each of us should be content with whatever we earn, inherit, or are given. 

That’s not to say that we should never pray for God to help us in these earthly things.  Indeed, we are encouraged by Jesus to bring every need to our heavenly Father, but when we pray, we are also to trust God to give us exactly what He wants us to have, just what He knows is best for us.

At that point, Jesus told the parable of the foolish rich man.  Now, we need to mention that the man hadn’t done anything unethical to achieve his great wealth, so what is his true fault?  His entire focus was on his earthly wealth and pleasure.  While finally receiving an immense bounty far above what his fields normally produced, the rich man decided to live hedonistically on that great wealth.  Taking that great gift of God, the man wanted only to party and have a good time until it was all gone. 

Now again, it is not wrong to have a party, nor to eat or drink according to need.  What the man lacked was faith and thanksgiving toward God.  He had no concern for his neighbor or whether he could help less fortunate individuals.  With no concern for his real future, or for anyone else, the rich man intended to enjoy this life as long as he could.  Sadly, in his case, that turned out to be a very short time.  Before he was even able to build the large barns or begin that incredible harvest, God called his soul from this life.  The man’s time of grace ended, for “God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you.  Now who will get what you have prepared?’”

In our first reading this morning, King Solomon looked at life in this world and how so often we pursue wealth and riches and an easy path through life.  Yet, he found all of that is meaningless if we don’t know the God who gives life everlasting to those who believe in Him.  Here, Jesus says, “That is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”  Without a focus on our Savior and thankfulness in our hearts for all God has given us through Jesus, life on earth has no meaning and no ultimate pleasure.  It is all a glittery mirage without the grace and mercy which God grants to us through Jesus.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon all people to Treasure riches that bring eternal life.

So, what does all this mean for you and me?  Does it mean we must give away all our riches and live as a destitute pauper?  Does it mean that we are required by God to share and share alike as the communist might imagine?  Do we sin if we build bigger bins or store up wealth for retirement?  Actually, it is not necessarily those things that convict us.  It is the motivation of the heart that defines our standing before God, and our attitude toward God’s grace that determines our eternal happiness and joy.

The goal of our lives is to be rich toward God.  Now, that primarily includes repentance for our sins, and humble submission to the commands our God has put over the whole world.  It means being thankful to God for all His blessings to us and living that thankfulness in the due course of our lives.  It means keeping our focus on our Savior, who gave His life so that we might live and never die, the Savior who lived perfect obedience and generosity on our behalf.  

It has been said that you will never outgive the Giver, meaning that when God gave His dear Son into the service of saving people from condemnation in hell, He did so out of pure loving kindness.  We did nothing to earn or deserve the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with our Creator.  Yet, only because of His pure generosity and love, God gave His son, Jesus, into this world to redeem all people stuck under the curse of the law which is everlasting separation from God.  Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, God restored life to us through faith in Jesus.  This faith is granted to us as the Holy Spirit restored life in us and brought us to believe in the Son of God, connecting us with His life and death through Baptism so that all the treasures of heaven are now ours.

Hundreds of years before Jesus entered this world as an infant, God foretold what He would do to bring us back together with Him in Spirit and truth, for He promised, “I will sprinkle purifying water on you, and you will be clean.  I will cleanse you from all your impurity and from all your filthy idols.  Then I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.” (Ezekiel 36:25-26)  We see that forgiveness and salvation isn’t something we can earn or deserve, yet God in His great mercy made us alive through faith, just as David rejoiced, “As distant as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our rebellious acts from us.” (Psalm 103:12)  Therefore, because of what Jesus has done for us, God now claims us as His own through the faith He gives us and welcomes us into His presence to enjoy peace and harmony with Him forever.

Therefore, regardless of the wealth we might have here on earth, or the lack thereof, nor any fame, power, or lowly estate, we are truly wealthy when we have Jesus in our lives.  First, we are connected with Jesus through Baptism.  Thus, Paul explains, “If we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5)  For that reason, we have the sure expectation of rising from the dead on the last day purified and glorified to live forever in heaven.  Likewise, we have Jesus’ promise that our heavenly Father is looking after us and providing all we need for body and life.  He said, “Look 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?” (Matthew 6:26)  Certainly, we are to the God who gave His own beloved Son to save us.

Dear friends, everything in this world is passing away.  Yet, through faith in Christ Jesus, we have forgiveness of all sin, harmony and peace with God, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the sure and certain hope of life everlasting in the mansions of heaven.  Therefore, go about your work and daily life enjoying the goods and the work God gives you, but especially, Treasure the riches that bring you eternal life.  Amen.

Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.