Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“My Treasures, My Pearls, My Children”

Text: Matthew 13:44-52; Romans 8:28-39

 

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

We’ve been considering parables of Jesus these past few weeks. Parables that reveal the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and that God does things differently than we do. Very differently. 

And honestly, that creates problems for us. In Jesus’ day and in our day. For the Pharisees and Sadducees, even for Jesus’ own disciples. They didn’t understand. We don’t understand. This is not how things work in the world! This is not how we’d do things if we were in charge. So not how we think God should do things. The ways of God seem . . . wrong? silly? backwards? Why are you hanging out with tax collectors and sinners? Why don’t you show your glory more? Why do you keep talking about suffering and the cross? Why don’t you just put an end to suffering and persecution and the evil in the world? Why is my life as a Christian so hard? Why? 

It’s our fault, of course. The world God created was perfect, until we decided we could do it better. That the knowledge of good and evil was better than life. That being our own god is better than living under the one true God. Spoiler alert: it’s not! But we keep thinking that. That’s where all the why questions come from. Thinking that we know better. That Jesus isn’t doing it right! Isn’t doing my life right! Why are you doing that Jesus? Why are you doing it that way? Why aren’t you doing it my way?

But it’s not God who needs to change; we do. A change of thinking. A change of mind. A change of heart. From questioning to repenting.

The parables of Jesus teach us of God’s way. Which brings us to the three parables of Jesus we heard today, that we repent of ourselves and rejoice in Him. 

The first of which is the treasure hidden in a field. When we hear this parable, I think we assume the person who hid the treasure did so because it was valuable, and buried it for safe keeping - like the buried treasure of a pirate! But what if it wasn’t that at all? What if what got buried because it was thought junk? It was no longer wanted. It was rusty, broken, dead, so it got thrown away, buried, landfilled. We’ve all done that.

Now think of all the people in the Bible the world had no use for. The poor, weak, low, despised. Orphans and widows, the blind, deaf, and lame, lepers and sinners. Those who were trampled, enslaved, used, or just ignored. Thrown out, thrown away, disregarded, rejected. . . . What this parable teaches us then is that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. And in God’s eyes, here was a treasure. A treasure worth giving everything for. So He did. He bought the field, the world, not with gold or silver, but with something of far more worth: the precious blood of His own dear Son (1 Peter 1:18-19). So that those nobody else wants, be His. 

The next parable is very similar to that: the pearl of great price. Now I don’t know about you, but all pearls look the same to me! I can’t tell a priceless one from a fake. But the man in the parable could. Which kind of reminded me of a used book store, or a thrift shop, or a yard sale, with all kinds of stuff, all kinds of books there . . . most of which are meh. But occasionally, a treasure. Something someone didn’t think much of, didn’t know its value - but you do! 

But it’s not just stuff that can get lost in a crowd, people do, too. For among the millions, billions in the world, who are you? Who are you to be noticed? But God does. For God sees what others cannot; pearls of great value. A woman in a crowd, bleeding for twelve years, a poor widow who put just two pennies into the offering, a fisherman, a tax collector, a persecutor of the church . . . To the world, nothing, even despised. But to God, priceless. In the first parable, He buys the whole world, the whole landfill, to get the treasure. This one’s a little different, more individual, more personal. But the same price: all He had. God gives everything not just for the world, but for each and every one the world thinks nothing, useless, despised. He wants. 

This is how God sees you. You might see yourself as junk. Others might think you junk and throw you away. You might be just one in the crowd, just another face. But not to God. Not to your heavenly Father. One of the mysteries of the kingdom of God is that God would give everything for you. That He would trade the life of His Son for you. For you, a self-absorbed sinner. A rebel. Someone who lets God and others down on a daily basis. A failure. A burden. 

And yet . . . And yet buried under the rubble of this world, mixed in with all the others . . . God sees what we do not. A dear treasure. A fine pearl. Someone He is willing to give everything for. Which is ludicrous, isn’t it? We should be the ones giving up everything for God, not He for us! But we don’t. And He does. And even if we can’t see ourselves - or others! - that way, He does. That’s how precious you are to Him. And He wants you to know that.

To know that by faith. Because it sure doesn’t seem that way now! It doesn’t seem that way now, while we’re buried in the rubble of this world. It doesn’t seem that way now, while we’re mixed in the great mass of humanity. But it will be seen in the end, when - as the third parable for today says, the parable of the net - when the great net is hauled in, with fish of every kind, good and bad . . . then will be the great sorting out for all to see. But not before then. For now, we live by faith. Faith that God knows more than us, better than us. Faith that His way is better than my way. Faith that, as St. Paul said today, all things are working together for good. 

Which is one of those things that’s easy to say . . . Easy to have on a picture on your wall or a coffee mug with those words on it! But when the sins of others keep burying you, when the evil in the world keeps growing and threatening, when your own sins weigh heavy on you . . . really? What good can God bring out of this? Out of this mess, this landfill, this cesspool of a world?Out of the mess I’ve made of my life?

At just such times, of discouragement and despair and hopelessness, it is the cross and empty tomb that show us that God can. That from the greatest evil can come the greatest good. That from death can come life. And that it will for you. For that’s the price God paid for you. He paid with His life. That’s how precious and valuable and a treasure you are to God. That the Father would give His Son for you. That the Son would lay down His life for you. To rescue you with forgiveness for your sins, and to raise you from death to life with Him. 

That’s why one of my favorite pictures is of the first parable we heard today, the treasure hidden in a field. It shows Jesus pulling His treasure out of the ground - a treasure which is in the shape of a coffin. Jesus purchased and won you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. So now, because of the price Jesus paid, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, to quote St. Paul again, neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is, will be able to keep His treasure dead and buried, or just mixed in with the others. You belong to Him. 

That day of resurrection is coming. As sure as the sun rises each morning, the Son of God will return and the dead will be raised. But not yet. Now is still the time of the cross, the time of hiddenness, the time of mixing. But you are not hidden from God’s eyes, and just as Jesus’ cross worked good for you, so will the crosses you bear now in this world and life work good for you. We may think we know a better way, but our ways . . . well, just look around and see what our ways have gotten us, with cemeteries that continue to fill up. Only one didn’t. Only one is empty. Only one is the way that gives us life.

“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked His disciples. They said to him, “Yes.” And I think they did . . . some. But like us, they still had a lot to learn. And faith will always be hard, especially when what we see and feel and think is so different. 

But that’s why the final thing Jesus says today: that the master of the house brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. Jesus does not leave us alone to battle and struggle with our faith and doubts and fears - He gives us of His treasure. Just as He once gave Himself for us, He continues to give Himself to us. He puts His cross, His death and resurrection, here for you. Bringing out the old, to make you new. To forgive the old you now. To raise the new you to life now. To feed you now. To strengthen you now. To be with you now. To unbury you now. Treasures for the treasures. 

Which the world scoffs at. That? That’s what you call treasures? Water? Words? Tasteless bread? Bad wine? We have better than that! 

Do you now? Maybe it looks so now. But in the end, we will see rightly. That though for now, we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

More than conquerers. What does that mean? It means that not only are you forgiven, your sins conquered. Not only will you rise to life, the dust of death conquered. Not only will you live forever, our separation from God conquered. But you will do so as God’s treasure, God’s pearl, God’s own child. You may not think you’re a treasure, or a pearl of great price. No one else may either. But the cross teaches us otherwise. That if Jesus would do that for you - not just for the world, but for you - and He has! Then you must be. 

And to believe that, is the change of thinking, the change of mind, the change of heart we need. The change of heart to live differently, confidently, as more than a conquerer. Not questioning, but repenting. Not doubting, but rejoicing. And confident and rejoicing, knowing who we are and all that Jesus has done for us, see others the same way, as treasures, and lay down our lives for them, as Jesus did for us. Not because we have to, but because we are more than conquerers. Because the victory is already ours. Because of who you are: a treasure, a pearl, a child of God. 

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

Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Worth the Wait”

Text: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43; Romans 8:18–27; Psalm 86:11–15 (Introit)

 

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

Do you want us to go and gather the them? the servants asked their master. We’ll get rid of those weeds! Yank ‘em up! We’ll have that field cleared in a jiffy!

And I think they expected the answer to be yes. So how surprised, how disappointed they were when they heard NO. But . . . but there are weeds in the field! NO. But . . . but an enemy did this! NO. But . . . NO!

Let both grow together, He says. For now. For a while. Until the harvest. The time will come. But it is not yet. Wait. Be patient.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not good at that! Patient. When I have a doctor’s appointment and I get there on time, only to have to spend 30 minutes in the waiting room, I’m not a happy guy! Or when I’m driving on the beltway and the traffic is crawling or stopped . . . yeaaaaah. This is the world we live in. And have-it-now world. A world where time is no longer measured by days or hours or even minutes, but by milliseconds and nanoseconds. Where texting has replaced conversation. Where emojis have replaced words. A world of Doordash and same-day delivery.

That’s not all bad. But it’s also not the way of God. 

For to Eve He said: one of your offspring will be the Saviour of the world. Eve thought it was Cain, her firstborn! Right away! But no, the fulfillment of that promise would take a while.

He said to Abraham: you’re going to have a son! And he did . . . 25 years later. When he got tired of waiting and had a son another way, without his wife . . . that didn’t work out so well.

Israel spent 400 years in Egypt, followed by 40 years in the wilderness. Later, 70 years in exile. There were 400 years or so between Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, to when God spoke again through John the Baptist.

Getting the drift?

It’s tempting for us, like the servants in the parable, to want to be weed-whacking crusaders! Get rid of evil, and the evil-doers - now! The disciples of Jesus wanted to do this, too. When a village of Samaritans wouldn’t receive Jesus, James and John wanted to be weed-whackers! They said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them (Mark 9:54)? And you know the answer: NO.

It’s not that God wants evil in the world. He doesn’t. He created the world without it. And it’s not that we must accept evil in the world. We don’t. And it’s not that God and the Church do nothing about it. It’s just that what we do isn’t weed-whacking, pulling, or burning. What we are called to do is confess, pray, and wait.

Which is an answer I don’t particularly like! As I said before, I’m not good at patient! But what we are called to do as Christians is speak the truth, confess Christ and the Gospel, pray, and wait. Wait for the Word to work. Wait for the Lord to return. And so we sang in the Introit this morning, Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Teach me! Teach me how to live - not a weed-whacking life, but a Christian life. The life of Christ.

For how did Jesus deal with sin? He didn’t ignore it; He addressed it. He spoke the truth and confessed the Gospel. He didn’t wipe out those who were arrayed against Him - they didn’t die; He died for them. He took all their weed-whacking, over-zealous, lack of love sins upon himself - along with all the other sins of the world - and died for them. That’s how God deals with your sin. He doesn’t yank sinners up; He dies for them and rises for them, that we be saved. That death not have the final word. 

And it doesn’t! Those who thought Jesus a harmful weed in their religious garden weed-whacked Him to death. They flogged Him and yanked Him up from the ground, hung Him on the cross, and then rejoiced when He breathed His last. Nothing could be better, they thought. 

But this time it didn’t take God long to act! Just three days. Just three days in the tomb before Jesus came out alive. When Jesus came out without the sin that put Him there. Your sin. That your life be saved. Life for you now and life for you forever. 

But life now among the weeds. 

Because as we sang in the Introit, our Lord is a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. And so the weeds are not pulled or whacked. Not yet.

But wouldn’t it be better if they were? If all the unbelievers in the world were just gone. Seems like that would be better. 

But no, Jesus says. Because when you whack the weeds, the good plants get hurt as well. Our lives are intertwined in this world - believers and unbelievers, wheat and weeds - and God uses all people to provide for us, what we need. And maybe you have family, friends, neighbors, co-workers who are not believers - I don’t think you want them whacked! So maybe just the really bad ones?

NO, Jesus says. Leave them. And it’s good that He does. For that was you once. And if we’re honest, those weeds are growing in us as well. Still. Just because you’re a baptized child of God doesn’t mean satan has stopped sowing his bad seed in you and growing weeds in you. Sins. That’s why we examine ourselves every Sunday, and then confess those weeds in us. And risen Jesus deals with them. I forgive you all your sins, He says. And they are. For Jesus was whacked for them. And by His blood you are healed. 

And not only on Sunday. Everyday. For weeds don’t just grow on Sundays! And so in the Lord’s Prayer we pray: And forgive us our trespasses. And He does. Every time. 

For that’s how our Lord deals with weedy people: with His Word of grace. The time will come for judgment, for the angels to come and weed the earth and the weeds will be burned. But not yet. Now is still the time of grace and forgiveness, of mercy and patience. For us and for others.

But I still have my problem . . . I’m still not good at patient! So how do I get patience? How can I stop wanting to whack weedy people and instead, maybe even forgive them, as Jesus forgives me and my weeds? How can I be better at that? 

Well, first let me tell you how that’s not going to happen! How you can’t and won’t: by just telling yourself you’re going to be more patient and forgiving, and trying harder. That might work a little, for a short time, but it doesn’t last long. Before you know it, you’re right back to the same ol’, same ol’. So there must be another way.

And there is. And here’s some good news: it is the same way Jesus deals with us and our sin: through the Word. For my lack of patience (in spiritual things anyway) is sin. It is a First Commandment sin. A lack of trust in God sin. And patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Spirit who works through the Word of God. Now, you’re not going to get suddenly zapped with patience, and go from 0 to 60 all at once! No. But by the Word of God, consistently and persistently applied, you will grow in patience. 

So the fruits of the Spirit . . . there are nine of them, but here’s the first few . . . The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience . . . 

So first in that list is love. The God of love, who is love, loves you. In love, Jesus was whacked for your sins, in love, He rose from the dead, and in love, He now lives for you and forgives you. By that Word of Jesus’ love and faithfulness the Holy Spirit plants love and faith in you. Love. 

Then from that love springs joy. Joy that Jesus would do that for you. Joy when you hear the words of Absolution. Joy in having the promise of eternal life. 

Joy that leads to a heart at peace. For the sin that troubles you, that weighs you down, that makes you less than God created you to be, is forgiven. You don’t have to worry if God forgives you. Peace. You don’t have to pay for, make up for, or atone for your own sins. Peace. You don’t have to wonder what’s going to happen to you when you die. Peace. Jesus is risen and so are you. Peace. 

And then when you have such peace, in all that Jesus has done for you, His patience with you then grows patience in you for others. For Jesus is in control, not me. I’m not most important, Jesus is. Jesus will provide, I can be sure. Jesus forgives me. And even if everyone else lets me down, He won’t. And knowing that, focusing on that, believing that, that Jesus is taking care of me and working in me, yields the fruit of patience. Which means my being patient with others is really just trust in God and waiting for God.

And no better place is there to do that than here, coming to the Lord’s Table, to receive the Word of God made flesh, His Body and Blood. His whacked Body and Blood, raised Body and Blood, and returning Body and Blood. So if you’re impatient for Jesus to come again, or for Jesus to do something now, then come here to receive Him now! That won’t get rid of the weeds in the world, but it will the weeds in you. It will focus you on Him and help you wait. And as you wait, instead of weed-whacking, to pray. 

It’ll be hard. Weeds always are. But as the apostle Paul reminded us today, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That glorious day is coming, because Jesus has risen, is risen, and will always be risen. To raise you and all people. So wait a little longer, He says. He’s still working. Working in you and for you, and for others. Just a little longer. It’ll be worth the wait!

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

“Miraculous Growth”

Text: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23; Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:12-17

 

I preached on this Gospel for the youth at Higher Things a little over a week ago. So this sermon for you today is an slightly edited and expanded version of that sermon.

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

Jesus is not giving you spiritual gardening tips today. He is describing the reality of living in our sinful and sin-filled world. This is the reality His disciples are going to face as they go out and proclaim and sow the Seed of His Word. 

Furthermore, with this parable today, Jesus is not telling you to take a look at your heart and try to figure out how much is good soil or not, or to weed and unrock your heart, as if you could. Nor is this for us to compare ourselves to others, how weedy and rocky they are compared to us. No, this parable is your reality. Jesus is describing your life. What happens to the Word that is sown into your heart.

For consider . . . Perhaps this has happened to you . . . You stay up late one night, really late. Maybe for a really good reason! Because you were taking care of a sick child or a troubled friend. Or maybe you just had a lot on your mind - a project at work or school, a doctor appointment coming up, and your mind just kept racing and you couldn’t get to sleep. Or maybe it was for a not so good reason. That happens too, right? And the next day is Sunday. So you get up and go to church, but you just. can’t. focus. You’re not following. You’re too tired. And what happens? The Word that is read and preached and sung is snatched away. That ever happen to you?

Or maybe this . . . You did something you knew was wrong. You didn’t want to do it, you knew you shouldn’t do it, but you did it anyway. The temptation was too great, and you were too weak. It didn’t really even seem that bad. Talking about that person behind their back, neglecting your responsibilities at home, looking at that stuff online . . . And maybe you even tried to justify it, wondering, questioning, Did God really say . . . ? And the Word of God, planted in you, got choked. 

How ‘bout one more . . . A friend of yours, or maybe someone in your family gets sick or hurt - really bad. They’re suffering, hurting, dying. And so are you, for them! Or your grandma gets Alzheimers and doesn’t remember you anymore. Or internet trolls or real life bullies are making your life as a Christian bitter. And the questions come . . . Why God? Why her? Why me? Do you even see, and care? Do you love me? And the Word of God, planted in you, got scorched by the heat of sadness and tragedy and death.

If any of that has happened to you - and I’m pretty sure ALL of that has happened to ALL of you! - then you’ve lived this parable of Jesus today. There are a LOT of enemies of God’s Word, all bearing down on you, attacking you. The devil and a sinful world from outside you, and your own hard-hearted sinful nature from inside you. And you think about all that - the attacks and assaults, the troubles and trials, the pounding and the persecution, and how life just seems to be getting harder and more complicated every day . . . and you realize: It’s a miracle the Word of God grows in us at all!

Exactly! It’s a miracle. It’s not your doing. If it were, nothing would grow! But Jesus is working in you. And that’s what Jesus wants you to know, what He is teaching us with this parable. That despite the best efforts of the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature to snatch and scorch and choke the Word of God, they’re not going to win. Despite their best efforts, Jesus is going to produce a harvest in you. 

And make no mistake about it: it is all the work of Jesus. You cannot unrock your heart, change the sinful nature you were born with, but Jesus can. The one who can command stones to become bread in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3), the one who can raise up children for Abraham from stones (Matthew 3:9), the one who can bring water from a rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17), and the one who could not be held in the tomb by a great rock . . . yeah, that one can give you a heart of flesh and make your heart into good soil, which will produce a harvest for His Word. 

And He not only can, He has! He did when you were baptized. By water and the Word, He raised up a child of Abraham and made your heart a place where His Word can grow and produce good fruit. Maybe even a hundredfold! Though thirtyfold is a lot, too. I think I’d take that! 

So they’re not going to win. These enemies of God and His Word aren’t going to win because they’ve already been defeated by Jesus. He took on the temptations of the devil and the world, the worst they could dish out. And He won. On the cross, the Seed promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, the Seed that was sown into the womb of Mary, on the cross, He was scorched and choked and attacked. And dead. Really dead. Planted six feet under dead. Under a great rock.

And then that Seed grew! They could not keep Him down or dead in the tomb. He rose and grew and is still growing. He won on the cross and He is winning in you. And His harvest is more than we know, more than we can count, more than we can imagine. More than the sand on the seashore or the stars in the heavens. The Word of the Lord now planted in you.

So yes, you’re going to be attacked, and attacked hard - by the weeds of sin, the scorching heat of persecution, and the hatred of the devil, but the Word of the Lord grows. And not a little. Abundantly. Lavishly. And directly in the face of all these enemies! Because Jesus didn’t just sow His Seed in you once. He continues sowing His Seed in you.

For now consider this . . . That the Scriptures and Liturgy aren’t just words about Jesus - they are Jesus speaking to you and sowing the Seed of His Word into your heart. And every time you read His Word, or hear His Word, or sing His Word, He is sowing His Seed in you, that you know all that He has done for you and promised you. And that Seed grows.

When you succumb to temptation, when you fail and fall, He throws the Seed of His Word into your ears and plants it into your heart and says: I died for those sins! I forgive you all your sins! And that Seed grows.

When you have doubts and fears and troubles, He throws the Seed of His Word into your ears and plants it in your heart and says: I baptized you! You are mine, and I’m not letting you go! And that Seed grows.

When you’re faced with death, so fearsome and so final, so filled with sorrow and dread, He throws the Seed of His Word into your ears and plants it into your heart and says: Been there! Done that! Came out alive! And you will, too. In Me. And that Seed grows.

And when you are scorched and choked and weak, He throws the Seed of His Word into your ears - and your mouths! His Body and Blood feeding, nourishing, strengthening you. And that Seed grows. 

For as Isaiah reminded us this morning, the Word of God does not return empty. It accomplishes that for which He sends it, and it succeeds in that for which He sent it. And God’s will is that His Word grow in you. That even in the midst of the persistent attacks of the devil and the world and your own sinful nature, you be led by the Spirit of God, as St. Paul told the Romans, and so a harvest of good works and good fruit be produced in you. 

So what to do? What can you do if you cannot unrock your heart or weed your heart and make it grow? Well, first of all, repent. That’s always good to do! Repent of your part in all this. Your sinful nature and how you have rebelled against God and His Word. For you have. Me, too. And then hear and receive the forgiveness you need. The forgiveness that can change your hard and rocky sinful nature into good soil.

But then, this too: drone swarm your heart! Drone swarm it with God’s Word! One or two seeds are an easy target. But a hundred? Or more? 

Moses told the people of old to do this, when they were getting ready to enter the Promised Land. He told them: have God’s Word everywhere! On their clothing, on the walls and doors of their houses, on their hands - even hanging between their eyes! When they get up in the morning and when they go to bed at night. His point being to have the Word of God always around you and always being sown in you. That though some be snatched and some be scorched and some be choked, some also grow and produce a harvest in you. That you always have hope - not in yourself! - but in the words and promises of God. For His Word never fails. Not even when it is crucified. 

So Jesus sends His disciples out into such a world. This is what they will see. This is what they will experience. In those they preach to and in themselves. Scorching, choking, snatching, and a harvest - all of the above. And you, too. This is your life, because Christ is your life. If they attacked Him they will also attack you. But He won, and so you will win. He is your hope. He is your victory. So no matter what is going on in your life, look to Him. Listen to Him. Follow Him. He is growing in you. And producing a harvest. Count on Him. He won’t let you down. 

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