Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 8:11–22

Philippians 3:17–21

St. Matthew 22:15–22

Christ the King on His throne - Ravenna, Italy

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

Jesus is not like a politician. The Pharisees noticed that too: “Teacher, we know that You are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and You do not care about anyone's opinion, for You are not swayed by appearances.” He says it like it is. He speaks the truth even when it’s not popular. He doesn’t run with the rich and famous. He’s honest, impartial, and sticks to His convictions. But the Pharisees’ compliment has hidden barbs to catch Jesus on their hook. They’re hoping He will put His foot in His mouth. They’re hoping He’ll do some of that straight-shootin’ talk against the Romans and their taxes. And then, Jesus will get arrested and executed all on His own, and the Jewish leaders won’t have to do a thing.

But Jesus does not get caught in their trap. Not because He’s such a slick operator, but because He really does only speak the Truth. The Pharisees had no idea just how right they were: You are true and teach the way of God truthfully. Jesus is the Truth. All Truth finds its goal in Him. He is the Creator of all Truth. And so also, He, along with the Father and Spirit, is the source of all Goodness, and all Beauty. The Holy Trinity gives meaning to our lives and to this entire cosmos. All questions are finally answered by the God who made all things, the God who has no beginning and no end, the I Am. And no political factions, no man-made ideology can box Him in.

To answer their question about taxes, and to crush their schemes against Him, Jesus speaks the Truth: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. So, there are earthly authorities established by God. First, He establishes the authority of parents in the 4th Commandment. And then through parents, He establishes the government. The family is the building block of society. And so just as there are fathers in the home, there are also “fathers” for a nation. And we are to obey these authorities established by God in this world. Romans 13, which we confessed from the Table of Duties in the Catechism, spells this all out. And so, if something belongs to the earthly government, it should be given to the earthly government: Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed (Rom. 13:7). Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Give to the civil government what is expected. But what exactly is expected and what exactly governments should be doing, well, that can get a little complicated.

C.S. Lewis, the British and Christian scholar and author, especially of the classic children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia, had this to say about the real purpose of government:

“The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden—that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time” (Mere Christianity).

In other words, if the politicians are not serving real people, real families, real human interaction, then they are a useless waste. What’s the good of a party platform or a political agenda if it doesn’t protect what is actually good and decent about human life?

Good government is an earthly gift from God. But then that means it should not promote and protect its own ideas and goals. Good government should promote and protect other earthly gifts from God: stable families, peace between neighbors, punishment for criminals, good roads, defense against foreign enemies, protection for beautiful places, natural resources, and good jobs for its citizens. Really, government is to be concerned with the simple things of earthly life. It does not have the answers to life’s greatest questions. It cannot provide meaning and direction for people’s souls. That is God’s job, and He does that by working through His Church and in the Christian Home.

Earthly rulers can learn wisdom from God if they would receive it, like it’s described in Proverbs 8, where Wisdom herself speaks: “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. By me [wisdom] kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly" (v.15–16). This is not describing fickle politicians who say whatever they have to in order to get elected. Wise rulers must understand how this creation actually works, the nature of things. They practice prudence, planning for the future. They are open to learning and correction, and they are able to discern between truth and falsehood. They hate what is evil, and they love what is good.

In this way, a wise ruler, a good government is after a very simple goal: to understand the reality of this world as God created it, and to protect everything that is true, good, and beautiful in this world. As C.S. Lewis summed it up: family, friends, a book, a garden—these are human things, things connected to the earth, and the home, and the life of the mind. These are “permanent things”—meaning they don’t come and go with passing fads or political movements. We, and our government, should be concerned with these foundational things—things rooted and living in God’s order, the institutions of His creation: marriage, family, community, church. And these things should ultimately point us to Christ, the Author of Life, the Architect of this Creation, the One who gives meaning to the world and to our lives, the One who is Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Himself.

And so, please pay attention to this next part: you’re not going to save the “soul” of America by voting. We will never truly change our country for the better from the top down. The heart and soul are not found in the State, but in the Home and in the Church. If the Home and the Church are weak or have lost their way, then the State will also be weak and, worse, evil. The baptismal font and the altar are far more important than the ballot box. What’s far more important than who you vote for, is how you vote with your time and commitments in your home and church. If we are so concerned about elections or government mandates but we don’t want to pay attention to the Word of Life or eat and drink that Life’s Body and Blood, then we are wasting our time.

This also means that we can be loyal, respectful citizens to our governing officials, even if we do not obey their every whim. You must only give to Caesar what is his. And Caesar, the government, does not own your mind. Government officials and boards do not have the right to teach you or your children their own definition of right and wrong. They have no business micromanaging every bit of your life. You are allowed to decide what’s good for you and your family, within reason, using wisdom, and prudence, and discretion—using God’s Word to guide your thoughts and actions.

There are plenty of busybodies running around, and running for office, who want to use the power of the government to control people, all the while claiming they’re doing it for our own good. To quote C.S. Lewis again: “Those [tyrants] who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” They only have eyes for this life and they are proud of their sin. But they stand condemned and this life doesn’t last. As St. Paul said, their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 

These include people who think politics and elections are the most important thing. It’s their god. That’s why they scream and cry like their whole world is ending when their candidate is defeated. People were wrong to react that way to the presidential election four years ago, and people would be just as wrong to do so this time, depending on how the election gets settled. Regardless of who gets sworn into office in January, that sort of panic and despair can’t be our reaction. We simply cannot care about it that much. 

We cannot render unto Caesar our whole heart and mind, body and soul. Government, politics, the news—it cannot be the center of our world, or the end of our world, or drive our every opinion and action. Not if we are Christians. We have the real God, the living God. We belong to Him, and we do render unto Him our body and soul, and all we have. Render to God the things that are God’s… Well, that’s everything. Jesus is no politician. He is our King. And soon, He will bring us to Himself, and make His kingdom known to all.

In times of crises, our leaders are fond of saying things like: “We will get through this,” and “We’re all in this together.” It sounds nice, but it’s not really true. Sadly, we don’t all get through it. Some people don’t make it through the crisis. And even if we all did make it through this one, there will be another crisis after it. Of course, it’s good for earthly rulers to encourage their people in perseverance. But we’ve got to keep in mind that this earthly encouragement falls short and it fails in the end. We cannot trust their word, the way we trust God’s Word. We do not render our trust unto Caesar.

Jesus is no politician. He makes promises and He always keeps them. Fear not, little flock, He says, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32). The kingdom is ours: we who are baptized in the King’s name, and eat the King’s food; we who call upon Him in trouble and praise Him for His blessings and His great deeds of salvation. We will get through this, whatever it is, even death. We are all in this together with Christ, because we are all in Christ. We don’t rely on human resilience or government strategy or health departments. Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross. He forgives our sins, and He promises to raise us up on the Last Day. Our citizenship is in heaven, and the King is on His throne. And there, with Christ and God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we have a home and a country that will never be taken from us.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

Philippians 1:3–11 

St. Matthew 18:21–35

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant - Rembrandt

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

Peter asks for some practical advice, but he sure doesn’t get it. He wants to know how many times do I actually need to forgive the same person? What if he keeps doing the same thing again and again? How patient do I need to be? The answer he gets is not very practical. It’s not even very straightforward. I do not say to you seven times, but seven times seventy. I think we all know Jesus well enough that He didn’t mean that you only have to forgive someone 490 times, and then call it quits. The following parable shows that.

No, Jesus is being a bit difficult here. He will not let Peter off the hook. He will not let us have forgiveness figured out in such a way that we can control it, limit it, ration it. The answer to the question, “How often must I forgive someone?” is this: You keep on forgiving others as you are forgiven by God. Jesus establishes a principle here, and He’s not interested in exceptions.

You are forgiven, so you must forgive. This can’t be surprising to us if we take the Lord’s Prayer seriously: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And immediately after giving His disciples the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, He gives the same principle He gives at the end of this parable: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt. 6:14–15). To put it another way, if you live in the forgiveness of sins that God gives, then you will also share that forgiveness with others.

This is how the kingdom of heaven works. It’s like a man, a king—that’s Jesus. And this King likes to get accounts settled. He’s a bit weird. Moneylenders don’t usually want to settle accounts, they want to keep their debtors in debt. But this kingdom of heaven works by the King’s extravagant superabundant grace. So extravagant, that He forgives the debt of 10,000 talents. Let’s convert that: one talent was an amount roughly equal to 20 years wages for a laborer. So, 10,000 talents is worth 200,000 years of wages. We are talking billions of dollars. No human can spend or waste this kind of money. This is a sum only corporations and governments can imagine. There is absolutely no way this guy can pay this back to his king. But the King has the authority to forgive the debt. And this King has compassion on the man. Frankly, it’s all astounding. The King forgives the debt, which means He covers the cost Himself, and He releases the man from slavery. That’s the Gospel. 

But then this ungrateful servant, who has everything—he’s practically made a peer of the king. And he wants more. He thinks he deserves more. He goes out looking for it, and finds a man who owes him. This second servant owes the first one a debt of 100 denarii. One denarius was about one day’s wage. So, 100 is about 100 days wages—about 4 months salary. It’s a significant debt, but not one impossible to pay off. And it’s definitely not significant compared to what he had been forgiven. This selfish servant is not a true son of the King. He does not belong in this kingdom that works by forgiveness. So, he is thrown into prison and he will never get out.

Now, if all this bothers you, I would say that’s actually a sign that you are a Christian. You know you have been forgiven. You know that your forgiveness cost the Son of God His life, His blood. And you know that your King has commanded you to forgive others. But you also know that you struggle with doing this. If you are not bothered by this because you think you’re so good at it already, then you are deceiving yourself. It should bother us because we don’t live up to it. We don’t forgive others the way we have been forgiven. And we must confess that sin too. We still need forgiveness ourselves. We are forgiven, but we are not without sin.

Yet, Christians strive to forgive. And we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and we decide to forgive, and we try to stop the feelings of bitterness and vengeance in our hearts. So, put your grievances in God’s hands because he’s the only one who really can forgive, and he wants to forgive all sinners, including you. And we want what He wants. Our forgiveness for others doesn’t cause God to forgive us. But it is a sign, a fruit, a good work that we Christians must strive for. And at least, we make a beginning at it.

But what about some practical advice? What do we do about people who sin against us in extreme ways or do it again and again? Well, that really has to be given on a case by case basis. We deal with persons in the Church, not policies. God and His Church deal with actual flesh and blood, sinful yet redeemed, weak yet desiring-to-do-better people. 

Still, I will say a little about how the principle gets applied. The teaching of Jesus is that you keep on forgiving others just as God keeps on forgiving you. But there are three estates, three spheres of life, and forgiveness gets handled a little differently in each. In the State, or Civil realm, there are still consequences to sin and wrongdoing, even when the person repents and is forgiven. The debt may be forgiven by God but there is still a debt to society. In the Church, forgiveness is given freely to those who repent and want to do better. But the Church and her ministers must not knowingly forgive unrepentant sinners. If they do, they make a mockery of God’s forgiveness. Now, the estate of the Home can work in both these ways, freely forgiving while also recognizing consequences. Ideally, the home is where we work on helping sinners with their habitual sins or addictions. The absolution never means their sins just go away, as if it never happened. People with destructive desires need to be kept away from situations that would lead them into temptation. Children should not be rewarded for sin or allowed to deliberately continue it. And habitual liars cannot always be trusted. Some restrictions have to be in place to keep sin under control.

But the individual Christian must forgive. It’s not your job to retain sins and withhold forgiveness when someone is unrepentant—that authority belongs to the Church and her ministers as they speak for God. It’s not your job to punish or look for vengeance—that’s the job of parents or the government. For the individual Christian (apart from holding one of those offices), your job is to forgive, as hard as that might be. Your job is to pray that God would help you to forgive the one that wronged you, and then let the proper authorities do their jobs.

Forgiveness and patience for others is the way we are meant to behave as Christians. You are not perfect, not in this life, but you are making a beginning. And your fellow Christians are also making a beginning. They’re not perfect yet either. This doesn’t excuse anyone’s sin or shortcomings, but it does teach us the need for patience with others, the need for charity, and the need to be generous with our forgiveness, as our King has been so insanely generous with us.

This year in particular should teach us the need for forgiveness, patience, and charity. There have been many disagreements, lots of stuff can turn nasty on your Facebook feed, or at work or church, or even with your family. There have been many controversies that can quickly turn people against each other. Who should you vote for? Should you wear a mask? Can the news be trusted? You can disagree, but be charitable towards the person. Be patient. And let forgiveness rule the day.

In the Epistle, St. Paul rejoices at the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel. That word “partnership” is really the word “communion.” And where is our communion or unity in the Gospel meant to be seen most obviously? At the Holy Communion of our Lord’s body and blood. That body and blood that forgives your sins and unites you with your King, is the same holy food that forgives your brothers and sisters in Christ and so unites you with them. Let there be no division or bitterness between us. Let us make our beginning in this holy life of love that Lord has called us to. And, as St. Paul said, I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of All Saints

Revelation 7:2–17

1 John 3:1–3

The Adoration of the Lamb - Van Eyck - St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium

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

In the Song of Solomon, the Bride sings of her Bridegroom: My beloved is white and ruddy (5:10)—white in the brightness of his eyes, red in the healthy glow of his skin. The Song of Solomon is not only the love poem of a husband and wife. It is also an allegory for the most glorious of marriages: Christ the Bridegroom and the Church, His Bride. And our Beloved, Christ, is also white and red—white for His perfect purity, and red for His holy suffering.

As you look around our sanctuary today you will see both of those colors: white and red. The color for All Saints’ Day is white, but we’ve left up our red banners from our Reformation celebration last week. Because just as our Beloved Bridegroom is white and red, the Church, His holy Bride, is also white and red. The Church is like Christ because she is redeemed by Him. He gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25–27). So, the Church is white with the purity and righteousness of Christ. And the Church is red with His holy blood, and with her own blood as well. The Elder in Revelation 7 describes the Church with these two colors: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

I know it sounds strange to wash with blood, and then even stranger for the garment to come out of the red blood, not stained, but brilliantly white. But that is the precious power of Jesus’ blood. The blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). The holy blood of the Lamb of God was shed to pay the price for all sin. And now that holy blood is sprinkled and poured out on us to purify us and make us acceptable to God. We are both red and white, like our Bridegroom.

The Church on earth is decked in red, like Christ in His suffering. We call her the Church Militant, the fighting Church, because by the power of the Spirit she is engaged in spiritual warfare against sin and the devil. She does not fight with physical weapons but with Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. And so she also does not gain victory by conquering territory or punishing her enemies or winning elections. But she gains the victor’s palm branch of triumph by suffering like Jesus, and even dying like Jesus. The Church on earth is the Church of the martyrs, those who give witness to Christ with their very own blood. And even if we are not forced to shed our blood for the sake of Christ, we still share in the martyrs’ witness and in their suffering, which is so despised by the world.

The Church on earth is certainly despised by the world. Her heroes don’t look like winners. Her power looks terribly weak. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Jesus didn’t look like a winner when He was nailed to a cross, but it was there that He accomplished His greatest victory. And this is why it doesn’t matter much to the Church who holds worldly power for a few years or even for a lifetime on this failing earth. The great tribulation, the great conflict between the forces of darkness and the kingdom of God, began when Christ ascended into heaven, and it won’t come to an end until He returns. 

So there will be tribulation and the church will suffer no matter who the president is. And this will be to her glory. The Church doesn’t track with the glory of this world. Her beloved Bridegroom dresses her in the red of His own holy blood, so she is only too happy to shed a few drops of her own out of love for Him in return. Besides, she is not diminished by shedding her blood. The Church is not weakened when her members are martyred or die of old age. By dying, the Church enters her rest. By spending their lives for Christ, they come out of the great tribulation and they come into God’s nearer presence so that they may rest in His blissful peace forever.

And that is where we see those white robes. The church in heaven is clothed in white, like Christ in His glory. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when Christ appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure. The Christian life means looking more and more like Christ, until we reach that final perfect purity like Him. On earth, we get more and more red like Him, following the example of His suffering—dying to self, and finally, dying for good. But in heaven, we will finally see ourselves pure white like Him. We will see ourselves the way He sees us—the way He has made us by the forgiveness of our sin. In that blessed place, He will present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. And then the Church will no longer be fighting. Then we finally experience the peace of God. Then we feel only His joy.

These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Until we get to join that happy multitude, we are decked in both the red and the white: red with holy blood and suffering, white with faith in the mercy and forgiveness He offers to us in His Word. Make no mistake, those robes don’t just get washed at death. In Holy Baptism, you washed your robe and made it white in the blood of the Lamb. And the cleansing continues as you eat the body and drink the blood of the Lamb in the Holy Communion. In this way, you remain united with our beloved Bridegroom and with all the saints at rest with Him even now.

      Behold a host, arrayed in white, 

      Like thousand snowclad mountains bright!

      With palms they stand;

      Who is this band

      Before the throne of light?

      These are the saints of glorious fame,

      Who from the great affliction came

      And in the flood 

      Of Jesus’ blood 

      Are cleansed from guilt and shame.

      They now serve God both day and night;

      They sing their songs in endless light.

      Their anthems ring

      As they all sing

      With angels shining bright.

O blessed saints in bright array

      Now safely home in endless day,

      Extol the Lord,

      Who with His Word

      Sustained you on the way.

      The steep and narrow path you trod;

      You toiled and sowed the Word abroad;

      Rejoice and bring

      Your fruits and sing

      Before the throne of God.

      The myriad angels raise their song;

      O saints, sing with that happy throng!

      Lift up one voice;

      Let heav’n rejoice

      In our Redeemer’s song!

      (LSB 676:1&3)

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.