Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“He Wants to Forgive!”

Text: Matthew 21:33-46; Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 3:4b-14

 

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

You may remember a few weeks ago, we heard Peter ask Jesus, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times? (Matthew 18:21) And Jesus’ answer was basically this: You forgive as often as he needs forgiveness. You forgive, and then you forgive some more. For that is what life in the kingdom of heaven is like. Forgiveness. Lavish, abundant, forgiveness and love that is far greater than you can imagine. Love and forgiveness given to you that changes you; that gives you a new and better life.

Well that’s what we hear a little more about today in the next parable of Jesus: the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. Don’t jump to the ending too quickly. I think we tend to do that. Jump right to the master throwing out those wicked tenants and putting those wretches to a miserable death! That’s true and what will happen at the end. But if we jump right to that, we miss something . . . Namely this: that is not what the master wants to do. And he does everything in his power not to. He gives the tenants chance after chance after chance. Or another way to say that is that he does what Jesus told Peter to do: he forgives, forgives, and then forgives some more. They beat his servants, they stone his servants, they kill his servants, and what does he do? He doesn’t just go in and wipe them out. He doesn’t punish them. He sends more. 

Absurd! Crazy, right? Psycho. 

Why would you do such a thing? Well, if forgiveness is just something you have to do, you wouldn’t do this! Your forgiveness would run out. But if forgiveness is something you want to do, something you really want for the other person . . . if forgiveness is not just something you do, but who you are, then this is what you do.

And then you do even more. You send your own son.

That’s what Jesus is presenting to us today, teaching us. It’s another parable answering Peter’s question about forgiveness, but going a little farther than He did before. Jesus is actually reusing an old parable, first told by Isaiah, as we heard in the Old Testament reading. It’s really His parable, for the Old Testament are the words of Jesus also, words spoken by the prophets as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. But Jesus is refreshing it here; contextualizing it - that’s a good modern way of putting it! Because there’s a new context that wasn’t there in Isaiah’s day. This: the final part of the story had come. The Son had come.

And so we are being taught today that forgiveness isn’t just what God does, it’s who He is. And in Him, it is who we are as well.

Last week, we focused on the fact that life in the kingdom of heaven is life in a kingdom at war. War against the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature. And the weapons in this war are not earthly weapons, but heavenly ones: the Word and Sacraments. And they are our weapons because of what they do: because they give the forgiveness of sins. Which, admittedly, doesn’t seem like much of a weapon. Forgiveness actually seems like the very opposite! It is not using the weapon of punishment and revenge! But that is the world’s way of thinking and looking at things. From God’s perspective, with God’s eyes, forgiveness is the most powerful weapon we have. And the only one - the only one - that works against the powerful spiritual enemies we have.

The tenants in the vineyard are thinking with the world’s thinking. They want to take the vineyard and make it their own. They’ve earned it! They’ve deserve it. So they devise a plan. A plan to steal it, really, from the owner. They will not only beat, stone, and kill the servants, but finally, get rid of the heir, the son, so that when the master dies, the vineyard will be given to the squatters. They want their own vineyard, their own kingdom, with their own king, with them in charge. 

And you can do that. Build your own kingdom. Be your own king. Do whatever you want, whatever your sinful nature tells you to do. Don’t forgive. Cut that person loose. Take for yourself. You can do that. Many do. And maybe you’ll get away with it for a while. Think you’ve won. Gotten what you wanted. But the end of the story is coming. The day of reckoning. 

But then comes the curveball in the parable . . . (And always look for the curveball to get to the parable’s meaning!) instead of instilling fear and exacting retribution - which is what the master could have done! (And, maybe you would argue, what he should have done!) Instead, what did the master do? He sent his son. For he didn’t want punishment and death for the wicked tenants. (Which is what they deserved, right?) He wanted something better for them. Even after all they did! He wanted a new life for them. A better life than the one they were living and going after.

And that’s been our theme these past few weeks, and what you’ve heard me saying over and over, as we’ve been considering the kingdom of heaven and life in it: there’s a better way. The way not of taking but of receiving. The way not of death but of life. Not the old way of a sinful world, but the new life of love and forgiveness. The way of the master, that couldn’t be more different than the way of the tenants. The master who sent his son.

Now, don’t you think that after beating and stoning and killing all the servants he had already sent, that the master knew what was going to happen to his son? From an earthly, worldly perspective, maybe the master of the vineyard hoped for a different outcome; that things would be different with his son, crazily thinking that they will respect my son. But God, our heavenly Father, who of course this parable is really about, isn’t naive. He knew. And that’s exactly why He sent His Son. To die. To die for wicked tenants. To die for you, so you wouldn’t have to take and build your own little kingdom, but be gifted His. And live not only in a new and better kingdom, but live as new and better tenants in a new and better kingdom. 

For even at our worst, God wants the best for us. When we are most sinful, God wants to be most forgiving. This is the love we just sang about. O Love, how deep, how broad, how high, beyond all thought and fantasy (LSB #544). That God would do this, BE this, for the likes of us. It’s absurd! But it’s true. And all this He did, as we sang thirteen times in that hymn, for us. For us the cross. For us the resurrection. For us a new life of forgiveness and love. 

The new life given to the apostle Paul. If there was ever a wicked tenant in the vineyard, it was him! Oh, he thought he was doing the right thing, and doing it better and more zealously than anyone else, as we heard in the Epistle today. Arresting and killing Christian after Christian after Christian. Until Jesus knocked him off his high horse and showed him something completely different! For Jesus didn’t just reveal himself to Paul, but revealed to him who He is - His unlimited, absurd, abundant, and lavish forgiveness. Jesus showed Paul a new and better way, what the kingdom of heaven is really like. And then, forgiving him, forgiving such a wicked tenant, gave him a new life to live in this kingdom. A kingdom far better than the one Paul was building for himself. And with that Paul turned from being a wicked tenant to one sent to wicked tenants to show them this new and better life. A life he was now living.

And maybe that’s what you need, too, frankly. To be knocked off your high horse to stop living your old life. Maybe you’re afraid not to. The world’s not going to understand. The world’s not going to have mercy. The world’s going to take advantage of you! Maybe you don’t know any other way. This is just the way life is! Life in this world. And maybe you get mad at God for knocking you down, for making you fall and breaking you, for ruining your carefully laid plans. Why God? Why did you do that? What this trouble or that?

Because He wants to forgive you. Always because He wants to forgive you and give you a new life. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. A new and better life in a new and better kingdom. The life of Christ in His kingdom. Eternal life and dwelling in His presence forever. 

So as Jesus went on to explain the parable, you can fall down now, fall down in repentance, broken to pieces, and receive the healing and restoring forgiveness of Jesus that He wants to give you, that He died to give you! Or, on the last day, be crushed under Him and His justice. Be thrown out with the wicked tenants. Jesus doesn’t want that. He wants you. He wants you with Him forever. Whoever you are, whatever you have done. He wants to wash you clean in Baptism, to continue to wash you in the absolution, feed you with His Body and Blood, and teach you about life in His kingdom through His Word. That’s what He wants! So He put it here for you, to come and receive it. To come and receive His forgiveness, His life, His Son. Because the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, - His plan all along! - and it is marvelous in our eyes.

A marvelous absurdity! Not the way the world works. And thank God for that! That He is different. Better. Merciful. Forgiving. 

And note the change in the apostle Paul that this forgiveness wrought! Before he boasted in all he was and all he did. But now he now says (as we heard in the Epistle), Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, (why?) because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Because of the work of Jesus. And what is the work of Jesus? Forgiveness. The forgiveness of your sins. And with forgiveness, a new life. A life to live forever. 

And so, Paul says, I press on to make it my own. How? Not with our own strength. Not with our own determination. Remember the weapons of the kingdom of heaven! We press on as we live in the Word, in our Baptism, in the Absolution, in the Body and Blood of Jesus. Because here is Jesus for you. Here are His gifts for you. Here is His life for you. A new and better life in a new and better kingdom. Which, admittedly, is a life that will look pretty foolish and absurd for a while, while we live in this world which is exactly the opposite, and thinks the opposite, and thinks you a rube for living the way you do as a Christian! But only for a while . . . Until all is revealed. Until Jesus comes again in glory, and takes you to glory. His glory, given to you. In His kingdom, given to you. With His life, given to you. Because that’s who Jesus is and what He does. It’s all for you. He is the Son who came and died for you, that you may live. That you live with Him, in Him, and like Him, a new life, in a new kingdom, starting now, and lasting forever.

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

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 19 (October 5-10, 2026)

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

Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 

Verse: Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #572 “In the Shattered Bliss of Eden”

Hymns for Sunday: 876, 572, 631, 648, 732, 813

Readings for the Week: [The readings for Thursday-Saturday are the Scriptures for this coming Sunday.]

Monday: Psalm 23

Where is the table of the Lord? Why? Who/What are these? How is the Lord with us in the midst of these?

Tuesday: Genesis 28:10-17

What promise did Jacob receive? Who received it before him? Why did Jacob need it? Why do we? How did his vision go along with this promise?

Wednesday: Matthew 9:1-8

How do physical and spiritual healing go together? Why? How are they often separated in our day and age? How could we benefit by seeing them holistically again?

Thursday: Isaiah 25:6–9

What mountain is Isaiah talking about? What feast? How will the Lord provide it? For who? What comes with this feast for us?

Friday: Philippians 4:4–13

Where do our joy and peace come from? Why? How? How does this set us free to think on the things of God?

Saturday: Matthew 22:1-14

Why is this wedding feast so important to the king? Why does he want people to come? What wedding garment do we need for this feast? How do we receive it?

The Catechism - Baptism: What is Baptism: Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. Which is that Word of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

Collect for the Week: Almighty God, You invite us to trust in You for our salvation. Deal with us not in the severity of Your judgment but by the greatness of Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Prayers:  Please pray for . . .

+ yourself and for all in need (remembering especially those on our prayer list).

+ God’s blessing, wisdom, and guidance for our congregation treasurer, Logan Hansen.

+ Christian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bolivia, for God’s wisdom, blessing, guidance, and provision.

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and provision for Lutheran World Relief and Human Care.

Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer from the Catechism.

Now joyfully go about your day (or to bed) in good cheer, child of God!

Collect for the Week © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Service Book Hymn License: 110019268

Sermon for the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“A Kingdom at War”

Text: Luke 10:17-20; Revelation 12:7-12; Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

 

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

So the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing about and thinking about what the kingdom of heaven is like, through some parables of Jesus. And kingdom of heaven meaning not just what life is going to be like after we die, but the kingdom of heaven we’re already living in now, that heavenly life we’re already living now, as baptized children of God. Christians living in the world but no longer of the world. This whole new life that we have to learn, this life of unlimited forgiveness and great grace, kind of like a newborn baby coming into a whole new world. And it’s not only a very different kingdom, a very different way of living, but a far superior life that we now get to live. No longer trapped in old and sinful ways, but set free to live as little Christs in the world.

And this theme continues today in the readings that we heard. Today as we hear that this new kingdom that we are living in is a kingdom at war. That whether we are aware of it or not, there is spiritual warfare going on all around us. 

Now, you all know something about war. We have the war going on in Iran right now. The Ukraine-Russia war has been going on for a number of years. Before that were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And those are just the wars in the news and that our country has been involved with. There have been others as well. But the thing about these wars is that they’re here and there, from time to time. There is fighting, then peace; fighting, then peace. 

But the spiritual war we heard about today is not like that. It is continual. And in every place. As much as you may want to escape it, you can’t. The devil and his angels have been thrown down to the earth, so woe to us, for they have come down in great wrath, because they know that their time is short. Which means they’re going all in. Saving nothing in reserve. A full out assault until their time runs out. Until Jesus comes again in glory and puts an end to it all. 

Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty daunting to me! An enemy we know but cannot see, with attacks which are mainly spiritual not physical, and so we also cannot see, (although some I think we can see), and which is our constant reality. So that we always have to be vigilant and always fighting. Seems like a big ask! And it is. Which is why this day we celebrate Saint Michael and All Angels. To remember and rejoice in the fact that we do not fight alone, but that God’s angels are fighting for us. God’s angels who do not tire or grow weary as we do, but are always on guard for us. So guardian angels, as they have been called.

But how does this all work? Because maybe you’re wondering, if God is for us, and His angels are fighting for us, why are we still under attack? Why do we still have to fight? 

Well, part of that we must leave to the mystery of God. That God did not just annihilate the devil and his angels when they rebelled but had them cast down from heaven to earth, that was His decision, part of His plan, which He did not reveal to us. But since Scripture says that God uses all things for our good - ALL things! - that means He is able to do that with the devil and his angels as well. Use them for His good. When Luther thought about that, he would say that God uses the attacks of the devil and his angels to keep driving us back to God, back to prayer, back to His means of grace. To keep us looking to God and relying on God. And I think that’s true. You know it from your own life. When things are going well and smoothly and you don’t have a lot of problems, it’s easy to get lazy as a Christian . . . forget to pray, skip Church, neglect reading the Bible and our devotions . . . It’s when things get crazy and tough and are falling apart that we go back to these things and cry out for help! Which we should! But maybe we need a push from time to time!

But that’s just one reason . . . I think there’s another, and that’s (frankly) our stupidity. Sin makes us stupid. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That is, faith in God, relying on God is smart, is wise. Sin makes us stupid. Sin makes us do stupid things. Let me give an example . . .

The hymn we just sang said that Christ, the Lord of hosts, has slammed the devil and his angels into their steely cage (LSB #521 v.1). That’s not a quote from Scripture, but the idea is there - of satan and his angels being conquered and in prison. But if that’s so, why do we have to worry about them? Well, as I said, because we’re stupid. So let’s go with that idea . . .

Picture satan in prison. Behind bars. That’s good, right? He can’t do anything to you. He’s in there and you’re out here. But he starts talking to you . . . and telling you how good he has it and how bad it is for you! Which sounds stupid, right? But he says: Look at me! I have it made in here. I get three hots and a cot - three meals a day and a place to sleep. For free! I don’t have to pay a mortgage or rent. I have security 24/7. No commute to work. I don’t have to work! My time is my own! Someone does my laundry for me, cooks for me, feeds me. This is great! But you! Working, paying, struggling . . . You should come in here! Join me. It’s better in here . . .

Stupid, right? But we do. We go into the cage of bitterness and anger. We go into the cage of lust and sexual sins. We go into the cage of rebellion, or the cage of despair. We go into the cage of envy and jealousy and coveting. We go into the cage of selfishness. We go in because we hear these things will be better, will make our life better, will make us happy, will get us what we want. And we go in . . . and then find out the truth: that we are imprisoned to these things. It was all a lie. And now we’re in the cage with the one we don’t want to be in the cage with!

But there’s something in the catechism called the Office of the Keys, remember that? It’s the authority to forgive. To unlock the prison we’ve stupidly put ourselves in and set us free again. That’s what you hear at the beginning of the Divine Service here every Sunday. We come and confess our stupidity, our sins, and you hear the key turn and the prison door opening . . . in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins  . . . 

This is part of what we heard today in the reading from Revelation. That in addition to the fighting and protection of God’s angels, they have conquered him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. In this war, this spiritual war, we fight not with sword and spear, bullet and bomb, and not with our own strength, power, and smarts - but with spiritual weapons: the Word and Sacraments. For in these is the blood of the Lamb, the blood of Jesus, that won the battle for us. They may not seem like much, just words and water and bread and wine compared to all the sin and evil we see when we walk out those doors, but do not be deceived. The reading from Revelation today talked about satan as a great dragon and Jesus as a Lamb. And in a battle of a lamb against a dragon, all reason would say the lamb stands no chance! And yet the Lamb won! Through His death and resurrection, Jesus, the Lamb of God, won for you the forgiveness of all your sins, the opening of your prison door, and a new life in His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. And that new life, forgiveness, and salvation He put here for you, in these things that seems as strong and powerful as a lamb! And they are! For they are the power of the Lamb of God.

So when the devil invited Jesus into his steely cage, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, how did Jesus fight back? Not with His divine strength, but with the Word of God. And that Word won, countering the lies of the devil. Were the angels there? We find out at the end, yes, they were. That when the temptations were finished (for now!), the angels came and ministered to Jesus (Matthew 4:11). We also hear they were there when Jesus was arrested and on His way to the cross. He tells His disciples not to fight with sword and spear, for, He says, Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53)? And the Old Testament is filled with stories of angels fighting for God’s people, thousands of angels on the ready all around (i.e. 2 Kings 6:17). And today especially we give thanks for that, and for them.

But we also heard from Jesus today that there is something far greater than that for which to give thanks. When the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And Jesus said to them . . . Yup! But do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. The battles and fights continue, and we have the Word and Sacraments as our weapons that are more powerful than the dragon (if we aren’t stupid and use them!), but even greater than that is that your name has been written by the Lamb’s blood in the Lamb’s book of life. That you have been brought into His kingdom to live a new life. And that when the battles and fights are finally over, Jesus’ victory will remain, and you will awake to everlasting life. 

So that’s another aspect of our reality living in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. It’s not easy, but it’s good. We have a powerful enemy, but an even more powerful Saviour. And His powerful angels, fighting for us. Remember that! When you’re weak, when you’re struggling, when you stupidly listen to the evil one, when you feel caught in the middle, when you’re being attacked on all sides, turn to the Word and blood of the Lamb, cry out, repent, and receive His victory in His absolution and in His Body and Blood. And rejoice! Because you know what? Satan can’t! He has no joy. Only gloom, only anger, for he knows his time is short. But yours is everlasting! So he wants to rob you of your joy and plunge you into his gloom and anger. Don’t bite! Don’t fall for it! Rejoice! Laugh at his lies. Laugh at him. Rub it in his face! And walk away. Because in the end, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

That’s your future, dear child of God. 

So today we thank the Lord for His angels and their protection. But even more, we thank and praise their leader, which the angels do, too! Around His throne, continually.We thank and praise the Lord of hosts, the Lord God Sabaoth, the Lord of power and might, our Lord Jesus Christ, for His greater gifts, for His death, for His resurrection, for His forgiveness, for His life and salvation. 

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