Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Our Full, Eternal Baptismal Inheritance”

Text: Luke 12:13-21; Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12–14; 2:18–26; Colossians 3:1-11

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

How much is enough?

How much stuff in your house is enough? 

Or these days, how much house is enough?

How much money in the bank is enough?

How much retirement savings is enough?

How many closets and clothes, TVs and computers, is enough?

How much food is enough?

If some is good, is more always better?

The answer is definitely NO. NO when money and possessions and the things of this world are such easy false gods to have - the things that we live for rather than live from. Like with the man in the parable Jesus told today. The parable He told in response to another man who was obsessed with money. Apparently, this man and his brother were fighting over the inheritance. That’s always an ugly scene. And a sad one. When someone in your family dies and instead of remembering your loved one, you focus on the stuff he left behind. Instead of memories, there’s coveting. Instead of mourning, there’s fighting. Instead of love, there’s greed.

Jesus wasn’t too keen on that. Man, He says . . . and you can almost imagine Him shaking His head . . . don’t get me involved in your fight! Who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And your family. Fight if you want, but don’t expect me to help with that. Don’t you have anything better to do right now? Like mourn? There’s so much more important than money and possessions. But that’s a lesson many don’t learn until it is too late. Which is what the parable Jesus told was about.

This man in the parable didn’t learn until it was too late. He was so happy, got such a great harvest, built bigger and more barns, he had it all! And not just for this year, but for many, many years to come. He had to protect it, make sure it didn’t slip away, make sure something didn’t happen to it. And he was successful at that - nothing happened to his stuff. But something did happen to him. He died, and as Solomon lamented in Ecclesiastes, he had to leave it all to someone else. He spent too much time taking care of his stuff and not enough time taking care of his soul.

Now, it’s not that physical blessings are bad. They’re not. All that we have - however much or however little - is all gift from God. So it is good. The danger is that these physical blessings not only capture our eyes but capture our hearts. That’s what happened to Solomon. And when they do, that’s when they all become meaningless, vanity, for they have become false gods who take from you and, in the end, give you nothing.

If only this man who asked Jesus for help knew who he was talking to! He was right in addressing Jesus as teacher. He is certainly that. But so much more than that! For Jesus did not come to be a teacher, a judge, or an arbitrator of the things we have in this world and life - He came to give up everything for you. To give His life for you. To TEACH us about that. He came to TAKE your judgment and GIVE His full inheritance to each and everyone of us. So He came not to arbitrate between us, to decide that you are a better Christian than them and so give more to you and less to them, or to split his inheritance between us all and then have us fight over it - because you know we would! No, He came to give it all to you and you and you. For Jesus’ inheritance is all or nothing. You never just get some. You get it all.

And to do that, to provide that for you, Jesus came to die for you. He would take your inheritance, what you have coming because of your sins, and give you His inheritance, what He has coming as the perfect and holy Son of God.

For the Father said to the Son: Go, give them Your inheritance. They have nothing. They gave it all up. They are poor miserable sinners. Give them yours. Save them. And the Son did not say: NO! It’s mine! Mine, mine, mine! You gave it to ME! Like, honestly, the two-year old we so often act like. He said YES. And then He came and was born for you, lived for you, and died for you. And just before He died, He gave us His Last Will and Testament - signed, sealed, and delivered not in pen or with wax, but with His own blood. And that Testament, that gift, that inheritance, is here for you: His Body and Blood, that gives you all of Jesus and all His gifts - the forgiveness, life, and salvation you need. 

All that Jesus is and has He gives to you, and He takes all that you are and have. And there was nothing He wanted to do more. And His love would allow Him to do no less.

That’s why the church always wants to grow and share our inheritance with others. Because this inheritance, Jesus’ inheritance, our forgiveness, life, and salvation, isn’t divided into smaller and smaller parts when more people come - it never runs out, never grows smaller. There’s always more. 

Which brings us back to the question I started this sermon with: How much is enough? Let’s ask that question again, but now, with the things of God. How much is enough?

How much of God’s Word is enough?

How much church is enough?

How much prayer is enough?

How much absolution is enough?

How much Bible Study and catechesis is enough?

If some is good, is more always better?

There are two ways to answer those questions, isn’t there? There’s the right way, and then the way it is in our lives. Based on the evidence, how much church is enough? An hour a week seems the status quo. God’s Word? A few minutes a day (if that!). Prayer? A quickie before meals seems to be enough for many. Bible Study? Uh, it’s been a while. Catechesis? Isn’t that just for kids?

But think: what if we went after spiritual things like we go after earthly things? Would that make a difference in your life? Not that you have to spend all your time in church and neglect your other vocations - that’s not right either. Your job, providing others with things they need, and your family, caring for those God gave you, that’s important. Do those things! But you get the point. How often are we like the man in the parable, addressing our soul on the basis of what we have in this world, rather than on what we have in Jesus? As if everything going well with us in the world means that everything is going well in the soul. That’s often not the case. In fact, to use the word Jesus used in the parable, that is to be a fool.

But if that sounds familiar for you, hits a little too close to home, repent. Repent and change, not because you have to to earn something, but to live more in the gifts and riches of God that He has for you! To live in your inheritance more and more each day. All of it. The fullness of it. The forgiveness Jesus won for you and the life He has for you. 

You know, kids often think they know better than Mom and Dad, but rarely do. Your Mom and Dad have lived through what you’re going through, they’ve already made all the mistakes you’re going to make, already done all the stupid things you’re going to do, and can pass on some of that wisdom. In the same way, we often think we know better than God - how to run this world and live and save our lives - but we never do. God knows a thing or two about life in this world - He not only created it, after all, but came and lived among us and went through everything we go through! So maybe it would be wise to listen. And follow. And receive from Him. That if, or maybe when, all you have in this world is taken away, be it by disease, disaster, or death, you will have lost nothing. For your riches, your true riches, are safe and secure with your Saviour in heaven.

That’s what the closing hymn we sing today is about (LW #594); what your baptism is about. The baptism little Luke will receive today in just, probably, a couple of hours now. The baptism our friend Elizabeth is clinging to as she lies in pain on her hospital bed. Money, riches, inheritance, stuff - none of that matters to them. Jesus matters. But how easily satan lures our eyes off Jesus and onto our stuff. How easily satan causes us to forget the one who matters and obsess on what doesn’t. Laughing all the way. Which is why Paul tells the Colossian Christians today: Set your minds, set your hearts, focus your eyes, on things that are above, not on earthly things. On things that matter, not the things that don’t. On the life that will last forever, not the life that will end. In your baptism you were raised with Christ. In your baptism you died to sin - died to it’s control, died to it’s influence - don’t rise to new sin! Rise to new life! 

So we’ll sing of that today, and I hope those words stay with you past the final word of the hymn, but out the door and all week long. 

God’s own child I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!

Sin - covetousness, false gods - disturb my soul no longer! I have forgiveness for all the times I’ve played the fool. Jesus doesn’t condemn me for that, but still His inheritance is for me. 

And satan? I don’t belong to you and your lies - I am baptized into Christ! I belong to Him. He has an inheritance for me that is greater than anything you can serve up, no matter how great you make it look here and now.

Death - not even you can take away from me what Jesus gives. You can take away everything in this world and leave me in dust and ashes, but you cannot take away from me the one who conquered you and who left you in dust and ashes.

For I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise.

That little bit of water is all it takes. That little bit of water  - with God’s Word - gives a whole lot - all of Christ and all His inheritance. All His forgiveness, all His life. The world calls that foolish and goes after the things of the world. But if baby Luke could talk, and as Elizabeth lies in pain, they’d tell you some wisdom - that none of that matters. That there is nothing worth comparing to the comfort we have in baptism, in the words and promises of God, in Jesus. 

Remember that, next time you want to run toward the things of this world. Remember that, next time you’re tempted to trash the sixth commandment or your chastity or your marriage. The next time you’re tempted to dump the fifth commandment by dumping your wrath and anger on someone. The next time you’re tempted to toss the eighth commandment by tossing someone under the bus. The next time you’re tempted to trample the fourth commandment by stomping on your parents or other authorities. The next time you covet and argue about and grab for the things of this world, like the man in the Gospel today. Remember how sad it is when instead of mourning the death of a loved one families fight over the inheritance they want? Well how much more sad when instead of mourning our sins and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, we go after our sins and . . . what? Disregard, ignore, forget the resurrection of Jesus and that resurrected life He gave us in our baptism? Really? Is that who we are?

That’s not you. So our request today - and everyday - is this: Not just teacher, but Saviour, forgive me and help me forgive my brother. Saviour, feed me and help me feed my brothers and sisters. Saviour, raise my heart and mind to things above, and help me do the same for others. To remember the riches I have in baptism; riches that will not be taken away. 

For I am baptized into Christ! I’m a child of paradise!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“The Father God Is”

Text: Luke 11:1-13; Genesis 18:20-33; Colossians 2:6-19

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Father. You know, it’s easy to skip over those words in the Lord’s Prayer. Cuz’ they’re just the introduction, right? It’s like writing a letter (which no one does anymore!), so it’s like writing an email - you start with the name of the person you’re writing to. It’s a formality, a pleasantry, but it’s what comes next that really matters. Now, texting has even done away with that - just get right to the point.

But today, let’s not just cruise past those words. For fatherhood is a big issue in our world today. First, it’s something some men don’t want to be. They take steps to avoid that happening and if it does, it was due to recklessness or by accident. When that happens, if they don’t want to be fathers, they may want and try to end the life of their child before he or she is born, or if they can’t do that, simply refuse to be a father and abandon that responsibility altogether. One statistic I read said that more than 1 in 4 children now grow up without a father in their home. Their absence has led to all kinds of other problems in our society. And now, with all the confusion and false teaching about gender and what that means, it is said that two mothers is just as good as having a mother and a father. But it’s not. Fathers matter. Fathers are important. Not just men who father children, but men who actually are fathers to their children.

So when the disciples ask Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray, and Jesus does not start out by saying: When you pray, bow your head, close your eyes, and fold your hands . . . but rather, say this: Father . . . that’s a big deal. You have a God who not only is your Father, but wants to be your Father. Who not only gives life, but cares for, protects, and provides for that life. A Father who does not abandon His children, but as we see with Adam and Eve, and then later with the Patriarchs, and then later with Israel, stands by them even at their worst moments. He is a Father who is faithful. A Father who takes fatherhood very seriously. 

And yes, He IS our Father. That’s not just how God wants to be known, as if He could be known also as something else, like mother. This is who God has told us He is - our Father. If we change that, if we do away with God’s Fatherhood, we’ll see the same things happening spiritually and in the church as we see happening physically in our world today. God is your Father. That’s a big deal.

Now, maybe some try to avoid saying that today because of all the problems with fathers today - the fathers who abandon their children, the fathers who abuse their children. And even fathers who don’t do those things are sinners and will sin and fail in their vocation in other ways. They don’t want God associated with that kind of behaviour, so, we could perhaps charitably say, they have good intentions in not calling God Father. But it seems to me that if fathers are important - and they are! - and you do not have an earthly father caring for you, then a heavenly Father is more important than ever! A heavenly Father who is not like our earthly fathers in their foibles and failures, but a perfect Father. One who really does care for, protect, and provide for His children.

So when you pray, say Father. That’s a big deal. And it’s something only Jesus could teach us. The Son who knows the Father. The Son who is one with the Father. And the Son who came to be our Saviour and make us wayward sinners children of God again. To bring us back into the house, into the Church. To reconcile us to our Father, who didn’t leave us - it is we who left Him. But in Jesus, in the Son, we are sons again. Sons and daughters of God, our Father. And so we come to our Father with every need. Our Father who wants to be our Father. Who wants us to come to Him, to hear us, and to answer our prayers.

So Jesus gives us the actual words to pray. Not the only words we can pray, but His words, the perfect words, words that include everything we need. We pray that our Father would give us what we need to remain as His children both now and forever. We pray that our Father would provide for our every need of body and soul. And we pray that our Father would protect us to the end. All these things the very things our Father wants, in love, to do. And that He is doing, whether we realize it or not. For God was being your Father before you could realize it, before you could pray. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray. We need to pray. To be the children we are. Just as God is our Father, so are we His children. He is Giver, we the receivers. We the askers, He the provider. When we pray, we are being who we are.

And we need to pray. To go to our Father. And not just for ourselves, but for those who cannot pray. Those who don’t believe. Those who don’t know God as their Father. Those who are afraid to pray. We can bring their needs to our Father for them. And this is how God also teaches us to pray, Jesus teaches here - by sending us people to pray for. The best way to learn something is by doing. So we learn to pray by praying.

So Jesus tells this little parable of the man who needs bread at midnight and so goes to his friend, confident that his friend has and will provide what he needs. We also heard the story of Abraham praying for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah - using his sonship to ask God for their good. We can do the same as children of God. And do fathers listen to their children? Think of this scenario: a father with his child is in DC and they walk past a person on the street, begging, asking for help. The father has seen this a thousand times and so keeps walking. But his child see this and tugs on her father’s sleeve and says, Daddy, can we help this person? And the father, who wasn’t going to help because the person was asking, puts some money in the cup because his child was asking. 

Now, God isn’t like the man in the parable who doesn’t want to be bothered, and He isn’t like the father who doesn’t want to help the man on the street. But if this is how fathers on earth act, and listen to their children, how much more, Jesus says, will your good and perfect Father listen to His children! And do even more than we ask or think.

And here is maybe where we can see the influence of our earthly fathers - in that we can so easily underestimate our heavenly Father, projecting onto Him the failings of our earthly fathers. For why did Abraham stop when he did? He was so bold to ask God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and then 10 - but why stop there? Would God’s mercy and love run out at ten? Well, we don’t know the answer to why Abraham stopped at ten, but we do know the answer to how few it would take for God to save - ONE. And not just to save Sodom and Gomorrah, but to save the world. For it was for the sake of one righteous person, His own Son, that the world is spared, that we are spared, the punishment we deserve. All that punishment, the fire and brimstone, and the condemnation that we deserve because of our foul and stubborn sins, was poured out on that one, on the righteous one, on Jesus on the cross, instead of us. 

That’s how great a Father you have, Jesus wants you to know. Whose mercy and love doesn’t run out at ten - after ten sins or ten chances. You have a God whose mercy and love is far greater than you know or could imagine. A Father who gave His Son for you. The Son who willingly laid down His life for you. And a Father who now gives His Spirit to you, too. To make you His sons (and daughters). And not just for a while, but forever.

So the Spirit is given and works through the words and water of Baptism, where you are born from above, born again, as children of God, children of the Father, sons of God in the Son of God. In baptism (as Paul told the Colossians) you die and rise with Jesus to a new life. A spiritual life. A Spirit-filled life. 

And the Spirit is given and works through the words of the Gospel and the word of Absolution, to restore us wayward sinners from our sins when we rebel and do what we want, not what our Father wants. When we don’t look to our Father for what we need, but look to other people and places, which cannot provide and only let us down and leave us as orphans.

And the Spirit who is given and works through the word and bread and wine of the Supper, to feed us at our Father’s table, to give us the nourishment we need - the Body and Blood of Jesus. That from all these things, the forgiveness we need, we have. The life we need, we have. And the salvation we need, we have. 

And none of this grudgingly or reluctantly, but lavishly and abundantly, mercifully and lovingly. To make sinners into saints. That the Father’s house be filled with His children, here in time and there in eternity (Small Catechism). For God is the Father, and wants to be your Father

So when you pray, say Father. That really is a big deal. Don’t overlook that. Don’t take it for granted. That’s really the most important thing you’ll ever have - not your stuff, not your status; and it’s really the most important thing you’ll ever be - not your accomplishments or achievements. But that you bear the name of the Father, that you are His child - that’s something. 

So pray to your Father. Pray as His child. For yourself, and for others. For big things and little things. In good times and bad times. And know you’re not bothering your Father. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For that’s what Fathers do. You may not be a good and perfect child. You aren’t, in fact. But you have a good and perfect Father. And that’s better. For a good and perfect child with a not good and unfaithful father . . . who knows how that will go? But when you have a good and faithful Father, who keeps all His words and promises, who is merciful, loving, and gracious, who even sent His Son to die for you and save you . . . we know how that turns out! And you have such a Father. So pray, repent, ask. Be the child you are. And God will be the Father He is.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

No sermon to post here today as Pastor Douthwaite away. Click here to go to our YouTube channel and view the service and sermon proclaimed by Chaplain Mark Nuckols. Thank you Chaps! 

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“The Samaritan We Need and Have”

Text: Luke 10:25-37; Psalm 136:1

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The man was a lawyer. An expert in the law. Lawyers are trained in details and specifics. Everything defined, everything precise. Dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s. Nothing left uncertain, nothing left to interpretation. That is the goal, at least. This is what it says, this is what you do.

So it is natural and quite in keeping with how this man was trained for him to ask for more definition, more precision. If there is a contract between God and man for salvation, for eternal life, then he needs to know: How is it fulfilled? What shall I do? Who is my neighbor? 

But Luke adds an extra little detail . . . this wasn’t an entirely innocent or impartial question this lawyer was asking. He thought he already knew the answer. He asked, Luke tells us, to test Jesus and to justify himself and his understanding of the law. And at first, it goes well. He and Jesus are on the same page. Love God, love your neighbor. But then the lawyer springs his trap! Ah, yes, but . . . who is my neighbor? That would make a big difference, wouldn’t it? If who qualified as my neighbor was a group this big [arms out wide], or a group this big [hands in narrow]! So what say you, Jesus? The lawyer turns Jesus’ question back around to Jesus. Jesus had asked him; now he asks Jesus. What is written in the Law about that? How do you read it?

The lawyer thought he was putting Jesus on the stand, in the dock. But in the end, it’s the lawyer who gets schooled. But maybe not in the way you think . . .

Because, usually, when we hear this parable of Jesus, the Good Samaritan, we think Jesus is just answering the lawyer’s question and teaching him the meaning of the word neighbor. And He is. He is. That’s certainly a part of it. But there’s another part, another word the lawyer really needs a better definition for - though he doesn’t realize it - even more than the word neighbor. Did you catch it? Did you hear it? What he really needs to learn is about the word love. If you are to love your neighbor as yourself, you not only need to know who your neighbor is, you also need to know what it means to love.

Now you’ve heard this parable before. So you know the priest and the levite did not treat this man as their neighbor. Maybe they didn’t think he was - their definition of neighbor was this kind of group [hands in narrow]. And perhaps they were on their way to serve their neighbors who were in this [hands in narrow] group. To fulfill their vocations as priest and levite. To do what they were supposed to do. But, of course, one of the things Jesus is teaching here is that our group of neighbors is not this [hands in narrow], but this [arms out wide].

So a Samaritan stops to help, treats this man as a neighbor. But not because he knew he should or must to keep the law, that this was expected of him, to gain salvation or eternal life, but because when he saw him, he had compassion. Which means his gut wrenched. He couldn’t not stop and help. He wasn’t thinking about what he should or shouldn’t do - he just did it. Here was someone who needed his help, so he helped.

But actually that’s not quite right, because he didn’t just help. He went above and beyond help. Help was binding up his wounds and pouring on oil and wine. Help is maybe also putting him on your own animal to take him someplace safe to rest and heal. But this Samaritan goes above and beyond that - he pays for his care, with the promise of paying even more if need be. Whatever it takes. Two days, five days, ten days. I will repay you when I come back. That’s not just help - that’s love. Then add to the fact that this was a Samaritan doing this for a man who was probably Jewish - since this story took place between Jerusalem and Jericho, in Judea - that this Samaritan was doing this for a man who didn’t just not like him, but thought of him like a dog, as someone less than human . . . love takes on a whole new meaning here. This kind of love transcends culture, language, race, or what I shall or must do. It simply gives. Because it cannot do otherwise.

So it turns out that not only is the definition of the word neighbor really big [arms out wide], so is Jesus’ definition of the word love! And now hear what Jesus said to this lawyer again, with those definitions in mind: do this - this kind of love [arms out wide], to all these neighbors [arms out wide] - and you will live. You will fulfill the contact and have eternal life.

That’s like telling a man in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from any land whatsoever, with no boat, no life jacket, no food, water, or anything else to help him survive . . . just swim until you reach land and save yourself and live. Which, while technically correct, is not very likely.

So what the lawyer needed to realize is that the answer to his question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? was really this: You need a Samaritan. A Samaritan to stop and help you. A Samaritan to love you. A Samaritan to save you. Which is an answer extremely offensive to a Jewish lawyer! But that’s okay. It’s true nonetheless.

So isn’t it interesting that a couple of weeks ago, we heard - right here in church - the Jews say this to Jesus: Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? And Jesus’ answer began this way: I do not have a demon (John 8:48-49) . . . but He doesn’t refute the Samaritan claim! Now, of course, technically, Jesus was not a Samaritan. He is a Jewish man, from a Jewish family, raised in Galilee. But He is this Samaritan. The Samaritan we need to come and help us. The Samaritan we need to love us. The Samaritan we need to save us.

And one of the clues to that understanding is that word compassion. That’s a Jesus word. That’s how Jesus looks at us. We who have been beat up and beaten down by the world. We who have been robbed and stripped by satan, who robbed us of life and stripped us of our innocence. And he doesn’t care for us. He leaves us for dead. But not Jesus. He saw our state and His gut wrenched. He had compassion. So He came down from heaven and did far more than simply be a neighbor - He loved us. Which is also what we hear of Jesus: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (John 13:1). He loved us to the very end of His strength, to the very end of His life, giving everything He had for us, withholding nothing. That we have life now and life eternal. 

And He still is. The Samaritan we need is the Samaritan we have. For still Jesus is coming and washing us from our wounds and sin in the water of baptism. Still Jesus is binding up our wounds by pouring on the oil of His absolution. Still Jesus is feeding us and strengthening us here, in His Church, bread and wine, Body and Blood, food for body and soul. And He paid for our care with what is worth far more than anything in this world - with His blood - so that we have all that we need. An endless supply. This is His love for us.

So, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Well, Mr. Lawyer, here’s the answer: just lie there. And let your Samaritan do the rest. Let your Samaritan love you and care for you and save you. Which is the very thing He came to do.

Now, in our day and age, that’s just as offensive an answer to many as it was to that lawyer. There must be something I have to do! Swim part way to shore, cry out for help, reach out my hand, allow the Samaritan to help me and not push him away . . . But the truth is, you can’t. Because satan didn’t just leave you half dead, as this man in the parable, you are all the way dead! Dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). Until your Samaritan comes and gives you life from the dead. Raising you up to live again.

So to do that, Jesus came and became the man in the ditch. He took the blows and punches of the world. He was rejected and slain on the cross. He was dead and buried in the tomb, with no one to help Him or save Him. He came to do that for you, so that doing what you could never do, rising from the dead, He become the source of your life. He be your Samaritan. The one who knows what it’s like to be in the ditch of death, and knows what it takes to pull you out and give you life.

And now, He says, you go and do likewise. Not because you have to to be saved or have life - but because now you can. Because the life you need is the life you’ve been given. The love you need is the love you’ve been given. The compassion and mercy you need is the compassion and mercy you’ve been given. You have a Samaritan, a very good one, and now you get to be one, too. To your neighbors [arms out wide], with compassion and love [arms out wide]. Because of your Samaritan, whose love, as we sang over and over in the Introit, endures forever.

And do this, too: think of all the people who have been your Samaritans over the years, who have shown the compassion and love of Christ to you. And again, as we sang in the Introit: give thanks to the Lord. For them.

So this lawyer got quite the education that day. Not in the Law, as he expected, but in the Gospel. That when it came to him and his salvation, it was Jesus dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s. it was Jesus who left nothing uncertain, nothing undone. So when someone today asks, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? here’s the answer, spoken by Jesus a little bit later. Spoken by Jesus when He was the man in the ditch with us, when He was on the cross. τετέλεσται. It is finished (John 19:30). What must you do? Jesus in His compassion and love has already done, finished, it all.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Marching to an Empty Tomb”

Text: Luke 10:1-20

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The march of Jesus to His death is on. We heard that last week. Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). He set His face - nothing was going to stop Him. He had not just a destiny, but a destination, and it was the cross. For this He was born. He is like an inmate walking from his cell to the execution chamber. There is only one way this is going to end. With Jesus dead. Jesus is the Lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). He is going to Jerusalem. He is going to the cross. He is going to lay down His life. FOR YOU.

But as He goes He sends out 72 others to go ahead of Him. We’re not told the names of the 72 because their names aren’t important. Their mission is. A mission of peace. Of proclaiming peace and giving peace. The peace that Jesus is going to Jerusalem to establish - not with Rome or the political powers of His day, but with God. 

And they will go Christologically. They will speak and do as Jesus does. When they speak, those who hear will hear not them, but Jesus (v. 16). They are representing Him. So they will take nothing, even as the Son of Man had nothing, not even a place to lay His head, as we heard last week (Luke 9:58). And they, too, will be rejected, Jesus says. As He is. They will be as lambs in the midst of wolves.  

But they do not go powerless. They do not go unarmed. They are armed with the same weapon as Jesus: the Word. The Word which in the beginning created all things. The Word which heals. The Word that forgives. The Word that both proclaims and gives the peace of Jesus. 

So they go. Was it with excitement? Reluctance? Fear? They certainly are excited when they return! And filled with joy. Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! they report. But there is something more important than this. So, Jesus tells them, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. For in not very long, Jesus will arrive at His destination, at His death on the cross, and it will seem as if God’s Word isn’t so powerful after all. And not long after that, disciples and apostles will begin to die in all manner of unpleasant ways, and it will seem as if they are just tasty morsels for the wolves. And not long after that, Christians will begin dying for Roman entertainment, sent out into the arena with nothing; with nothing to face the wild beasts and the flames, and they were devoured and consumed. Life in this world is passing away. For us it may be by old age, disease, or war. But when your name written in heaven, that does not pass away. That’s for eternity. So rejoice in that, Jesus says.

For Jesus knows what the disciples do not yet understand: that His death will mean the life of the world. For He will rise from the dead, defeating death, so that we, too, will rise to life with Him. That’s why nothing will stop Him from going to Jerusalem. Nothing will stop Him from saving you.

And so Jesus dying on the cross is victory. The disciples and apostles being martyred is victory. Those early Christians devoured by flame and beast in the Colosseum is victory. And interestingly, a victory both sides claim! An unbelieving world claims victory over Jesus and those who belong to Him; Jesus claims victory over an unbelieving world. But it is the empty tomb which shows us who is right, and who really won. 

So not much of a victory for the world, which is on its own march of death. In this world we go from the womb to the tomb, with varying numbers of years in between. Ever since Adam and Eve welcomed sin into the world, that’s been the sole destination of those who live in this world. Just look around a bit and you’ll see this march still. Accidental death, intentional deaths, deaths inflicted by war between countries or hatred between persons. Death as entertainment in movies and in video games! We’ve been on this march so long some don’t know anything else, or any other way.

But why would people march to death like this? Why don’t they - or won’t they - turn around? Because from the beginning satan has deceived us and misleads us. That this path is good, that this march and parade will not, in fact, end in death. You will not surely die, he told Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:4). And they believed him. 

You know, about that . . . I wonder . . . what if someone else had been there? To try to talk them out of it. To grab Eve’s hand before she grabbed that fruit, or to knock it out of her hand. To block their way and yell don’t! and stop them. What would they have done? Would they have shoved that person aside? Called him a liar? Trampled him? Killed him? Because they had already made up their mind to do this, that this was good, that this was they way they wanted to live and how dare you call it not good?

I ask that because that’s what we see today, isn’t it? People convinced that this march they’re on is a good one, one that will get them what they want. They’ve already made up their minds that this is how they want to live and so don’t get in their way. And if you do, you’ll be shoved aside, trampled, called a liar, a hater, a bigot, a phobe, or worse. They, too, have been promised that you will not surely die, that this march is a wonderful parade that will end up good, and in a good place. And they believe it. 

That’s why Jesus is brutally honest with those 72 He sends out. He doesn’t sugar coat it. I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Wolves EAT lambs, of course. Don’t think it’s going to be easy to convince these sons of Adam and daughters of Eve to not eat fruit they’ve already made up their minds to eat. Don’t think it’s going to be easy to stand against the flow of this world. Don’t think it’s going to be easy to convince people that what they think is good is really not good. Don’t think this is going to be easy . . . 

Which you all know from your own lives. From that fruit that looks really good to you, that you know you shouldn’t eat, that you know you shouldn’t do, and yet you reach out and take it and eat it. Maybe there were even folks God sent to warn you, to block the way and yell don’t! and stop you. But you wouldn’t listen. You shoved them aside - if not literally, then at least in your mind. Because you already made up your mind that this would be good for you. . . . Well was it? Is it? Will it be? 

That’s why it is exactly into this march that Jesus came and that Jesus sends His messengers - then and still today, in answer to our prayers - with a message of hope. That this march to death, it does not have to be so. There is another way. A way of life. A way of peace. The way Jesus came to pave for us. That just as nothing would stop Him from going to Jerusalem to die for you, so too nothing will stop Him from coming again to raise you from the dead to life again. He came and made your death His own, to make His resurrection your own. So this march we’re on can end differently. That just like Jesus, our march to death become a march through death to life again.

So the march doesn’t stop, but it is transformed. Because the grave we will one day all step into now has a door on the other side, to life. Because of Jesus. He’s the only one with the key to that door. To unlock it. The key of forgiveness. To forgive us not only for our wrong and misguided desires, thoughts, decisions, actions, and words, of which there are plenty! But also and most amazingly of this: for when we’ve shoved Him and His Word aside! When He and His messengers and His Word have told us the truth and tried to stop us and we’ve trampled them under foot. When we not only acted the wolf, but were the wolf! Even for wolves there is forgiveness. That’s how powerful Jesus’ death and resurrection.

So I asked you to try to imagine what it might have been like had someone tried to stop Adam and Eve from marching along the path they had chosen . . . Now I want to ask you to imagine what the disciples saw that made them report, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! What do you think? Was there some big, spectacular exorcism? Or did it look more ordinary than that? Adam and Eve reaching out and eating that fruit was a pretty ordinary act, but one with extraordinary consequences. Is there something like that those 72 could have seen, or that we see today? That looks pretty ordinary, but has, in fact, extraordinary consequences? 

There is, of course. Which we know not because of what we see, but because of what we hear. Because of the message of hope and life that has been proclaimed to us. So it is that when a sinner repents, satan is cast down. When a word of forgiveness is spoken, the demons shriek in agony. When a child or an adult is baptized, the unclean spirits are subject to the Word of God spoken in Jesus’ name and are forced to depart this person. And when you and I today reach out and take fruit not of the tree that was forbidden, but from the tree of the cross - the very Body and Blood of Jesus - life again triumphs over death. 

All that the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature are trying to stop. Yelling their lies to drown out the truth. Holding up good looking forbidden fruit to capture your eyes. Flattering you so that you not repent, but think that you’re the person who has been wronged, you’re the person who deserves better, you’re the person in the right! C’mon, follow me! satan calls out. This is the way. This is good. This will get you what you want. . . . Well did it? Or is satan just trying to lock you in the grave? Into a death that will not end with life?

Repent. For the kingdom of God has come near to you. The kingdom of God is here for you. Which means the key is here for you. Life is here for you. No, it won’t be easy. Yes, you will probably get trampled at times. You might even find yourself in some pretty wolfly jaws! So as for the 72, so it will be for you and all Christians: a Christological life. For you bear the name of Christ your Lord. So what happened to Him will happen to you. But that’s good news! Because that doesn’t just mean rejection and death, it means resurrection and life! For as with the 72, you also are not powerless or unarmed - you are armed with the Word of God, all His words and promises, and His forgiveness and truth. And especially this truth: that your names are written in heaven. So that when this march through life ends, it will not be the end for you. But just the beginning. Of a new life. 

And as with the 72, as you live this new life already here and now, as you repent and forgive, as you encourage others with words of life and hope, as you warn others, too - there will be some who listen and some who won’t. Those who repent and those who try to sink their teeth into you. So what do you do? Rejoice with those who repent. Pray for those who bear their teeth. And rely on Jesus. For He who was exalted to heaven will exalt you, too. After all, He’s the one who wrote your name in heaven. With His own blood. The blood that forgives your sins. The blood that gives you life. The blood that is poured on you. The blood that is poured into you. The blood that bought you and made you His Bride. Don’t reach for anything else. Don’t march anywhere else. Don’t believe anything else. March to the empty tomb, and live.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.