Third Sunday in Advent - Gaudete

1 Corinthians 4:1–5

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

As you know, I don’t give my personal opinions from this pulpit. What I speak here, I speak in my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word. And so I do not speak in my person as Anthony Dodgers, I don’t give my opinions on the news or political events. Yet today, I am driven to speak as the servant of Christ against at least one of this nation’s political officials. The Governor of Virginia recently told the citizens of his state: “You don’t need to be in church to worship God this Christmas. God is wherever you are. You don’t have to sit in a pew for God to hear your prayers.” He doesn’t want churches to hold services for one of the most important holidays in the Christian religion.

Okay, it’s true that you don’t have to be in a church in order to pray. In fact, you should be praying regularly at home and in other places of your life. And it’s true that God is everywhere—although that really has nothing to do with the real purpose of worship. There’s a lot that’s wrong in what the Virginia Governor was trying to say. First of all, he overstepped his bounds as a servant in the civil estate. He deserves honor and obedience according to his office as governor. But he is not called to be speaking for the Church or teaching in the Church. He has no business as Governor or private citizen telling Christians how they should worship. He does not have that authority or responsibility.

But there’s something even worse. If we understand what he’s really trying to say, then he is a false teacher. He wants to say that you can worship God wherever you are and you’ll receive the same blessings and gifts even if you are not gathered in the Church. He’s promoting a false teaching called “enthusiasm,” which literally means, “God is in you.” This teaching says that you don’t need sacraments like Baptism or the Lord’s Supper; you don’t need pastors to preach the Word or pronounce forgiveness; you don’t even need the Bible itself because you can just have a direct connection with God in your own thinking or feeling. This is false, and it is rejected by sacramental Christians.

Christ commanded Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the preaching of the Word. There is no promise that His Spirit will come to us apart from God’s Word and the Means of Grace. So, it is actually essential for Christians to gather. The words “synagogue,” “congregation,” and even “church” all mean the same thing: “assembly, gathering.” Christian worship is not a private affair. It is corporate—meaning it is done as a body. It is necessary for the Church to gather and assemble so that as the Body of Christ we might receive the Means of Grace: confess our sins and hear the Absolution; listen to preaching that teaches us the Scriptures; eat and drink the Lord’s body and blood as members of His Holy Communion. 

St. Paul has this in mind when he speaks about pastors in our Epistle reading: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. The “us” here are the apostles and ministers of Christ. So, pastors are to be servants of Christ, which means they follow His orders and no one else’s. And they are to be stewards of the mysteries. Pastors are the caretakers and overseers of the gifts that Christ gives His Church. So as a pastor I’ve been ordained, that means I’ve been ordered by Christ to fulfill this ministry. And specifically I’ve been ordered to be a steward. It’s my job to distribute God’s gifts. It’s my job to preach the Word, forgive sins, baptize, and offer the Supper. And the only One I’m finally answerable to is the One who gave me my orders: Christ the Lord.

Paul says, But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. So, even if I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong in my ministry, that’s not my call. The Lord is my judge. I have to be faithful to the orders I’ve received from Him, no matter what.

I’m teaching you what’s expected of pastors, but thinking this through can also help us understand what is essential or foundational for the work of our church. What must we be about? Well, the most important thing we absolutely have to be doing is proclaiming God’s Word and administering His Sacraments. What does that look like? Well, at the bare minimum, it means I, as pastor, have to show up, and at least one other person. If no one shows up, meaning there’s no one there to hear the Word or receive the Supper, then I can say a few prayers by myself and go home. Notice, the service wasn’t canceled, it just didn’t happen because no one was there to receive it.

But cancelling a service is different. Cancelling means that automatically I’m not doing my job as a steward. In fact, it means I’m actually working against my job because I’m telling people the church is closed, they may not come receive God’s gifts. See how that changes things? People are always allowed to decide if they want to receive God’s Word and Sacrament. But it is wrong for me as a servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries to make that decision for people and tell them that they cannot come, that God’s Word and Sacrament are not available, that they’ve been cancelled. Instead, I do my job, the church does her job—we offer God’s Word and Sacrament for all who desire it, and we leave it up to you whether you come and make use of it.

If we get this foundational thing right, then we can build from there. So, it should work the same with teaching the faith to young and old: Sunday School, for example. All that’s required is someone to teach and someone to learn. If we have no teacher or no students, then we don’t have Sunday School that day. But if we cancel, then we are telling people they cannot come learn God’s Word. And we definitely don’t want to send that message.

Here’s how we should think about what we offer as a congregation: Are we proclaiming the Word and offering the Sacrament? Are we teaching the faith? As long as we’re doing those things, then we’re good. And we can keep building and adding on from there as we have opportunity.

That’s what’s required of pastors and required of Christ’s church. But besides the fact that we have these things as commands, we also have great benefits and blessings in regular worship. A recent Gallup poll shows that the only people who reported an improvement in their mental health over the past year are those who attended a religious service every week. Even in this difficult year, those who regularly came to God’s House were able to improve their mental or emotional well–being. That’s wonderful. It’s always good to see how the Church can have a positive impact on life, even just on a secular, human level.

But we who trust in God our Father and His Son our Savior Jesus Christ, we know there are far more important and precious blessings to be gained from attending service every week. Not just for your mental health; there are eternal blessings: forgiveness of sins, new life, union with Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. These are things that cannot be measured by a poll or study, but we know they are things we really cannot do without.

All of these gifts, all of these blessings are absolutely essential to who we are as the Church because they are all part of Christ’s Advent among us now. His first Advent was when He was conceived in the womb of the virgin, born in Bethlehem, died on Calvary, and rose from the tomb. His final Advent is when He will come again in glory. But just as important as those Advents, is the Advent taking place in His Church as often as we gather—His coming to us in words, water, bread and wine. That first time He came, He accomplished our salvation with His birth, death, and resurrection. The final time He comes, He will bring our salvation to completion with our resurrection from the dead. But now is when He comes delivering salvation to us. Now is the time of His grace given to sinners. And as sinners, we do not want to be stingy with His grace or limit or cancel or postpone His gifts.

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Do not make your own judgments about yourself and your church now. The Lord will reveal His judgment on that final Day. But what we need to be about right now is being faithful, welcoming and meeting our Lord as He comes to us. He does not come now in judgment, but in blessing. So we rejoice at the work of His servants and stewards, we rejoice at His coming in the Word and the Sacrament, all the while eagerly waiting for His glorious return.

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.

Second Sunday in Advent - Populus Zion

Romans 15:4–13

St. Luke 21:25–36

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

Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “Pandora’s box.” It comes from an old story by the ancient Greeks. The story goes that Pandora was the first woman. She was created by the Greek gods, and each one blessed her with a talent or quality. Aphrodite gave her beauty. Apollo gave her music. But Zeus gave her curiosity, and along with it, He gave her a box and told her never to open it. Pandora was then sent by the gods to live on earth and be married to her husband. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not stop thinking about that box—wondering what was inside. At last, her curiosity got the better of her and she had to take a quick peek.

But the moment she opened the lid, a whole swarm of miseries flew out and escaped: Greed, Vanity, Slander, Envy, Hatred, Distrust, Gossip—they all flew out and escaped into the world to plague and torment mankind ever since. But, thankfully, Pandora snapped the box shut just in time. Because at the very bottom of the box, Zeus had put Hope. And if Hope had flown out it would’ve been quickly destroyed by all those evils. So, the story says, even though there are many miseries in the world, Hope has not left us completely.

This old myth from the pagan Greeks has some similarities with the Bible, but God’s Story is so much better. The first woman, beautifully created by God, certainly had a hand in bringing sin and misery into the world. It wasn’t exactly curiosity that drove Eve to take the forbidden fruit, but it was a desire for something that wasn’t supposed to be hers: a desire to be like God. However, Adam, the man, was ultimately the one responsible. And Eve hadn’t been set up by God, like Pandora was by Zeus. The Lord wasn’t playing games with them. He commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and warned them if they disobeyed Him they would die. But most importantly, it wasn’t up to Adam and Eve to keep Hope alive. It’s not up to us either. Our Hope is not trapped in a box and it won’t fly away.

Our Hope is the Lord Himself, the true Son of God. The Bible’s story about Hope is not that luckily Hope got trapped with us, but that Hope willingly, lovingly came down to earth and became a man. The story of Christmas is that Hope was born of a woman, a little baby in a lowly manger. And here on earth He suffered all the sins and miseries we have unleashed on the world. He bore it all and put it all to death on His cross. And then from the grave He rose again. Not trapped in a dark box or a dark tomb, our Hope is alive. He lives and reigns over us and with us, so that all our lives are filled and covered with Hope. Our Hope for life and peace and blessing cannot be disappointed or taken away no matter how many evils attack us, because Jesus lives. Our Hope lives.

Now, it might seem like 2020 is a real Pandora’s box. It seems like this year has just been letting loose one miserable thing after another. And we might be tempted to wonder if Hope has escaped our reach after all. Has hope been lost? I’m afraid it has for many people, especially for those who do not know Jesus Christ. We might say “I hope things get better soon,” but in our hearts and minds we doubt they will. Coming to the end of the year, with still so much unknown, we might be feeling the dread that things will never get back to normal. 

And the truth is we don’t know what 2021 will bring. We can “hope” that it will be better, but we really have no guarantee. Hope is not our prisoner or slave that we can bring it out and magically make things better whenever we want. But real Hope, the Hope of Jesus, is still with us, and it is far better than anything we might dream up for ourselves. Christian Hope is not for possibilities. Christian Hope is for a certainty.

St. Paul had much to say about hope in our Epistle reading: Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Christian Hope comes from the Holy Scriptures. This passage from Romans is paraphrased for us in one of the prayers we often use and will pray later in our service: Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.

So, Christian Hope does not come from human myths or human strength or human determination. It comes from the story of God’s promises: the history of His people and how He keeps all His promises in Christ. As St. Paul wrote: Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy… And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse, that is Christ, will come, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope.”

Jesus fulfills God’s promises of salvation for all people, Jew and Gentile. And hearing the account of Jesus’ life and work we can also be confident that God will keep His final promises: the promises that our Lord forgives our sins, that He will come again to save us, and raise us up to everlasting life. God’s truthfulness is the basis for our Hope. In Jesus we see and hear that God is faithful to His promises. We can count on Him.

So, when it comes to Christian Hope don’t think of it in the human way, like: “I hope next year is better… I hope the vaccine works… I hope things get back to normal…” And never say things like: “I hope I go to heaven… I hope God forgives me…” As if you don’t know, as if you’re not sure! Christian Hope is not for possibilities. Christian Hope is for a certainty. When we say “Hope” as Christians we are saying: “I know this is what my God will do.”

St. Paul wrote: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. If God gives you this Hope, then you know it’s good. He is the God of Hope, so when He gives you Hope He gives you Himself, the very Son of God your Savior. This is for certain. Jesus cannot be weakened or destroyed, and so your Hope will not be disappointed or lost.

This Hope is also what we are praying for in our Collect of the Day: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds. Three of the Collects in Advent are known as the “Stir up” Collects. On the First Sunday, we prayed, Stir up Your power, O Lord. And on the Last Sunday in Advent we ask that again: Stir up Your power, O Lord—Come on! Act! Show Your power! Save us!

But today we pray, Stir up our hearts, O Lord. Get our hearts going! Wake them up and direct them to the right things! We are asking that God would agitate our hearts and shake them up, not so that we would panic or despair, but so that we would not be satisfied by this world of sin, misery, and death. Wake up our hearts, O Lord, so that we would not get too comfortable here or look for salvation in earthly health or possessions or a life of ease. But shake our hearts awake so that we would look to You for our answers, for security and comfort, peace and rest. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, so that we do not have our hope set on keeping what’s here for now, but that we would put our hope in what is yet to come: Your only-begotten Son.

With our hearts rightly stirred up, hoping in Jesus our Redeemer, then we are enabled to serve God with pure minds. Each morning we can rise with the sign of the holy cross and know that our God and Savior will be with us, will protect us and guide us. And each evening we can go to our rest with the sign of the holy cross, knowing that our God will forgive us and bring us to eternal life with Him.

With hearts stirred up by Hope, we can live our days without fear, no matter how many miseries come flying at us. We are immortal in Christ, our risen Lord—far more glorious than any Greek god or goddess, or anything else man can dream up. We are sons and daughters of the living God. We are going to rise from the dead. And with hearts stirred up by Hope, we can see that not-so-distant future: the ending of this miserable world and the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. So, straighten up and raise your heads with hope, because your redemption is drawing near.

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.

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.

The Feast of St. Simon & St. Jude the Apostles

1 Peter 1:3–9

St. John 15:12–21

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

It’s said: “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.” But friendship with Jesus is different. He says to His friends, His 12 apostles, You did not choose Me, but I chose you. He calls His apostles not slaves or servants but friends. They are His confidants. The ones who can confide in Him, who listen to Him. Also the ones He confides in, and the ones He listens to. It is a great honor to be a friend of the King. This is not the same as being His drinking buddy or coffee companion. This is not ordinary, casual friendship. To be the King’s friend means to have special access to Him, to have His ear, and to have His protection and service. To be the King’s friend means to be favored by Him, to be loved by Him.

And so it is also not ordinary love that Jesus talks about when He says, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. It’s true that the sacrifice of a soldier for his brothers in arms is a great love. How much more so for the love of Jesus? There is no greater love than this, that Jesus laid down His life for the ones He chose to make His friends by His grace. He laid down His life for sinners who hated Him, for you and me who fail to love Him purely in return. And that sacrificial love makes us His friends.

You did not choose Me, Jesus said, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. Remember, Jesus is speaking to His 12 apostles on the night when He was betrayed, sometime during that final meal and the institution of our Lord’s Holy Supper. He says He appointed them to go and bear fruit, fruit that will abide and last. The fruit of the apostles is the holy Christian Church—all those who hear their preaching and believe. And in these verses, Jesus also describes the Church herself, who bears fruit (that is the faith and love of believers); the Church who asks the Father in Jesus’ name and receives from His gracious hand; the Church who keeps the command of our Lord and loves one another.

But this is also the Church who suffers in this world, just as her Lord suffered. Jesus also said to His apostles: If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ Christ suffered the hatred of the sinful world that rejected Him. So His apostles suffered the hatred of the sinful world that rejected their message of Christ. And the Church, who is built on the foundation of the apostles with Christ as the cornerstone, she also suffers the hatred of the sinful world. As it goes with Jesus, so it goes with those who follow Jesus.

If they persecuted Me, Jesus said, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. Those who reject the Word of God, also reject the ones sent to preach it. But those who love and keep the Word of God, also love and receive the ones sent to preach it. But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, said Jesus, because they do not know Him who sent Me. The world didn’t hate the apostles because they were mean. The world doesn’t hate the Church because she seems politically incorrect or unwelcoming. The world hates the followers of Jesus because it hates Jesus. It does not know Jesus or the Father who sent Jesus. It does not believe in Him, because the world does not want to know Him. To know Him would mean to rely on Him and obey Him. The world wants to rely on itself, obey no one, and go its own way.

But thanks be to God, you, dear friends of the King, you know Him. As St. Peter exclaims: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You know Him, and despite suffering in this world, you have a living hope. Jesus is risen. And no matter what suffering or hatred comes your way, you will be raised too. For the Lord has given you an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Not only are you friends of the King, you are His children, heirs with Christ. And you are being guarded now for that great Day to come.

But St. Peter also reminds us of the suffering Christians must face in this world, even while we rejoice in the inheritance waiting for us. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Here, Peter tells us the purpose of our suffering as Christians. If perishable gold must be tested by fire, then your faith, which is much more valuable and eternal than gold, must also go through the testing fire. 

But pay attention to the metaphor. Gold is tested by fire, that is, it is refined, purified, separated from the other lesser metals mixed in with the pure gold. The testing of gold is not something the gold does. It’s what happens to the gold to make it pure. So also you, by the fire of persecution and suffering, you are purified. Your faith is refined and separated from the sins and weaknesses that still cling to you. Getting through the testing of your faith is not something you do. The testing is what God does to you to make your faith pure.

So, in times of trial, in the face of temptation, when you feel the fire of suffering or hatred, your faith is purified by loving Him who is pure. Your faith is proven by crying out to Him who is strong. Your faith is shown to be your salvation by relying on the Savior. St. Peter wrote: Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. This takes us back to that night when our Lord was betrayed. And during His final sermon to His apostles, St. Jude, whom we remember with St. Simon tonight, spoke up and asked a question we all would probably have: Judas (not Iscariot) said to Jesus, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” In other words, how will you show yourself to us, Lord, but not to everyone else at the same time? Jesus answered Jude, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:22–23). He doesn’t show Himself to our physical eyes, not yet. He shows Himself to the eyes of faith.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. And so you do, as you hear it and learn it and let it guide your life. And My Father will love him. And so He does, even while you suffer here. And We will come to him and make Our home with him. And so they do—the Holy Trinity comes to you and makes their home with you in Holy Baptism and in the Holy Communion.

That’s how Jesus makes Himself manifest to the Church, to His friends, and not to the world that hates Him and His Church. St. Simon and St. Jude the Apostles learned this as they went and bore fruit, keeping Christ’s commands. They went, preaching the Gospel, forgiving sins, baptizing in the Triune Name, giving out the Lord’s body and blood, and also suffering for the sake of His name. The fruit of their preaching and suffering abides to this day—it’s you, the holy Church, who love the Lord they preached and died for.

Apart from that, we know very little for sure about these two friends of Jesus. They were always listed side by side in the Gospels. So, according to church tradition, they travelled together and preached in Persia (modern-day Iraq and Iran), where they suffered martyrdom. The church’s symbol for St. Simon is usually a fish with a book, reminding us that he was a fisher of men by proclaiming the Word of God. And the church’s symbol for St. Jude is usually a ship with a cross on its billowing sail—just like the one on our banner there in the middle. This reminds us of the apostles travelling throughout the world, pushed and filled by the wind of the Holy Spirit, bringing the Gospel to all and pulling up believers into the boat, the holy ark of the Christian Church.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Festival of the Reformation

 St. John 8:31–36

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

      A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.

      A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

These paradoxical lines were written by Martin Luther in 1520, in an essay called The Freedom of a Christian, 500 years ago. Ever since we celebrated the 500th anniversary in 2017, of Luther posting the 95 Theses, we are coming up on many more 500th anniversaries of events and writings from the Reformation. So, 1520, Luther publishes this small but very important work.

Luther begins by discussing what he calls Christian freedom, and the first thing he points out is that there is one thing necessary for sinners to be righteous, for believers to live holy lives, and for Christians to be free—one thing is needed: the Word of God. Of course, Jesus tells us this: “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” This Word and Truth is the Gospel, the Good News about God’s Son, who was made flesh, and suffered death for sin, and rose from the dead in glory and victory over death and hell. 

This Word and Truth is the message Jesus was speaking to the Jews. But they did not all receive it as good news. They catch on the word “free” and rightly imply that if you are set free, you must first have been a slave. And they reject such a ridiculous idea. They were children of Abraham, God’s holy people, not slaves. They didn’t need to be set free. But the lesson to learn from Abraham is that he trusted God’s Word, His promise. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3). He was justified by God through faith alone in the Word alone. Or to put it another way, Abraham counted God as trustworthy. He knew that God was worthy of his trust, that God does not lie, that His promises are sure. This is what it means to know the Truth. You know God is truthful, and so He is trustworthy. 

The Jews did not consider God to be trustworthy in His promises. Instead, they relied on their works. They listened to the lie of their own hearts, their pride. And any of us can do this too, if you put anything in that place where God’s promise is supposed to go, anything you think is more worthy of your trust than God’s Word. “I’m basically a good person; I’m not a slave.” “I’m a dedicated member of this or that church; I’m not a slave.” Jesus says we are slaves to sin. And slaves remain slaves, unless they are set free by the Son.

Luther uses one of Aesop’s Fables to illustrate his point. A dog is running along beside a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth. He looks down into the water and, look, there’s another dog with another piece of meat in his mouth. The dog snaps at his reflection, lunges for the deceitful meat, while his own real piece falls into the water. He’s lost everything. If we try to get salvation with anything other than faith in the Word, we will end up losing everything.

If you could be justified by anything else, by your works, by your decency, by your smarts, then you would not need the Word at all. But the one thing we need is the Word from the Son. We are justified by faith in that Word alone. So if you do not believe in the Son’s Word, you lack all things—you’re like the sad dog who was fooled and lost everything. But if you believe, you have all things—you have Christ and everything He does. Luther writes: The promises of God give what the commandments of God demand… so that all things may be God’s alone… He alone commands, He alone fulfills. So, salvation is by God’s grace alone, His doing, not ours. And He gives this salvation as a gift—a free gift that gives freedom.

So, a Christian is free from the burden and accusation of the Law. He is free like the Son is free. Not a slave to keeping the Law, but free because it’s already done, already kept in Christ, and in the Christian by faith in Christ. Do we even imagine what a great change faith makes in us? We are fellow-kings and fellow-priests with Christ. By faith we are free, meaning we are allowed, to boldly come into the presence of God the Father, just like the very Son of God does. We are free from fear of all evil, free from the fear of sin, the fear of enemies, the fear of death. Whatever evil comes our way, we are ready to hope in the Lord and rely on His rescue. Sin is swallowed up by Christ’s righteousness. And so even death is swallowed up by Christ’s victory, and by our victory! By faith His victory becomes ours and so we are also conquerors with Him.

I’m sure you can see then that the freedom of a Christian is spiritual. And it does not always mean a care-free and easy life in this world. In fact, the more Christian a man is, the more evil and suffering he must endure. Just look at Christ Himself, or any of His saints. Jesus, the Son of God, is totally free. And as a perfect Man, He is still perfectly free. But out of His freedom, He became a servant to all. He did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. Christians are given the freedom of the Son. And in that freedom, Christians imitate the Son in His service. Like Jesus, we die to self and serve others. He was crucified for us, we crucify our sinful desires. He lives for us, we live for others.

But whenever Christian freedom is taught, the question always comes up: If we’re free, why do we still bother with trying to keep the Law? Two reasons: We still have the sinful flesh, the Old Adam hanging on us. And we still have suffering and death in this world so our neighbors need our help. So there are two kinds of good works for us to do. There are works to keep ourselves under control, to kill our sinful desires. The free man is able to govern himself. Giving into every craving you have is slavery—being unable to resist your flesh is slavery. The free man can say No. He has self-discipline, and he subjects his flesh to the Spirit, so that it obeys Christ and does not hinder him on the way of faith. Then there are also works we must do for others. The free man is able to work for the good of others, because he’s not worried about himself. His relationship with God is right, so he doesn’t need his good works to be for God. He’s free to give his good works to his neighbor.

You were saved freely, so you live freely. You are able to give yourself as a little Christ to your neighbor, just as Christ offered Himself to you. This is why we are named after Him: Christians. He dwells in us and we in Him. So, Luther writes: A Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.

In order for those beautiful words to become real, we’ve got to get the order right. First faith, then works. First, we are set free by Christ, and then we are able to work freely for others. This order was one of the main points for the Reformation. Only a free man does free works. Only a good man does good works. It’s not the other way around. A good tree produces good fruit. A good builder makes a good house. Only when the Christian is free from relying on his works for salvation, can he start doing truly good works. Slaves cannot free themselves. The free Son has to set you free by His Word, give you faith and new life, and so set you free to doing good.

Jesus said, Abide in My Word. Use the Means of Grace—the Word, Baptism, the Absolution, the Holy Supper. Making use of those gifts is how you abide and live in His Word. And you will know the Truth. You will know Christ who is the Truth. And you will know Him to be truthful, worthy of your trust. That is faith in Christ. And the Truth will set you free. With faith in Christ, you are free like Christ. And the free man lives like Christ, for God and for others.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Based on Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (Luther's Works 31)

The Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

Feast Observed 

Actual Date: October 18

2 Timothy 4:5–18

St. Luke 10:1–9

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

In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul says that Luke the beloved physician greets you (Col. 4:14). So, St. Luke was a doctor of medicine, a very learned man. But he is not remembered by the Church for healing diseases, for being a doctor of the body. We remember him today for being a doctor of the soul, especially for writing the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts.

As far as we know, Luke was not one of the followers of Jesus during His earthly ministry. His name is Greek, and so most suppose that he was a Gentile who came to believe in the Savior through Paul’s preaching. We first get a glimpse of Luke in Acts, journeying with Paul on his first trip into Greece, and so, as far as we know, the first time the Gospel came into Europe. I say we only get a glimpse of him, because he never mentions himself by name in the Book of Acts. But while the book has been referring to Paul and his companions as “they,” right when they are about to cross over into Greece it switches to “we,” so the author is included. This happens two other times, indicating that Luke was then accompanying Paul. The second time is on his trip to Jerusalem where Paul was arrested and imprisoned. The third time is on Paul’s trip to Rome as a prisoner. We know Luke was a close companion of Paul, as he was the only one with Paul during his final imprisonment at the end of his life as Paul said in 2 Timothy. In this way, even though Luke was not chosen by our Lord to be an apostle, he was close to the apostle Paul and so Luke’s Gospel is still closely connected to the ministry of an apostle.

But Luke didn’t just rely on Paul to write his accounts in the Gospel or Acts. At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke says that he interviewed those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word (Luke 1:2). Probably, while Paul was in prison, Luke visited with the 12 apostles who had known Jesus personally. And he must have talked with Mary, the blessed mother of Jesus herself.

Luke’s Gospel gives information that no one else could know, other than Mary. More than once, he tells us that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Luke 2:19). So we hear about Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah and the birth of John the Baptist; Gabriel’s visit to Mary; her visitation with Elizabeth; the birth of Jesus; the family’s trip to the temple where they meet old Simeon and Anna; and the time when 12 year old Jesus stayed behind at the temple. These are clearly the remembrances of a mother.

We also get several of our great canticles from the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel (again, probably from Mary’s memory): the Benedictus, which we often sing at Matins – the song of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John; the Magnificat, which we sing at Vespers – Mary’s own song of praise; the Gloria in Excelsis – the song of the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds; and the Nunc Dimittis – Simeon’s song while holding the Lord’s salvation in his arms, the infant Jesus.

And there are other unique parts from Luke’s Gospel that he must have heard from others: the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Prodigal Son, and the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. All of this gives us an important theme in Luke’s Gospel, what we might call the Great Reversal. The poor become rich, the hungry are fed, the mighty are brought down but the humble are lifted up, the first become last, the last become first, those who think they are righteous are turned away, but sinners are made righteous and welcomed into the kingdom.

This is the message that Jesus gave his ministers to proclaim: Peace be to this house! And, The kingdom of God has come near to you. True peace, heavenly peace comes when sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus. It’s the blood of Jesus that makes peace between God and men. It’s the blood of Jesus that allows men to enter the kingdom of God. Luke may have been a physician, but Jesus is our true physician of body and soul. He is the One who heals and gives life, not only for life in this world, but even more so for the life of the world to come.

By the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Luke proclaimed this Jesus in the writing of his Gospel and the Book of Acts. And still today, that proclamation is heard as we read and listen to those holy writings. The peace and the kingdom of Jesus still come today to our house here and to your homes whenever His Word is read. In fact, Luke pointed this out at the beginning of his second book, the book of Acts. He wrote: In the first book (his Gospel) I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. The Gospel of Luke was only the beginning of Jesus’ doings and teachings. Jesus continued to do and teach throughout the Book of Acts through the work and words of the apostles and His other servants like St. Luke. And so even today, Jesus continues to do and teach through His Church, through His ministers and through all His servants as they confess their faith in words and deeds.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

St. Matthew 22:34–46

The Pharisees question Jesus - James Tissot

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

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. It might help you to better understand what’s going on, if you knew a little about who these Pharisees and Sadducees are, and what’s the difference between them. Just like in our day, there were factions among the people—groups, movements, political parties. The Pharisees and Sadducees were two of these groups.

The Sadducees were what we might think of as the liberals, but not the radical left. They were not the kind that led protests or riots. The Sadducees were the establishment. They held the levers of power in Jerusalem around the Temple and in the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews. They were liberal in two ways. They were culturally and politically liberal because they had adopted the decadent culture of the Greeks, and they collaborated with the political power of Rome. Remember, the Jews at this time did not have their own kingdom. They were under Roman occupation, with a Roman governor and Roman military officers in charge. But the Sadducees managed to keep some power for themselves by colluding with their Gentile overlords. The Sadducees were liberal theologically as well. They only accepted the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and disregarded the writings of the prophets. And they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, which was the debate they started with Jesus just before our reading. But they lost—He silenced them.

So, with their political and religious enemies licking their wounds, the Pharisees took their turn with Jesus. The Pharisees were the conservatives. They were known to be righteous, rigorous keepers of the Law. They were the Bible-believing, hard-working, decent people. And they were not impressed by the wealthy or powerful who were caught up in a corrupt and immoral society. We tend to just think of the Pharisees as the “bad guys,” but there’s a reason Jesus spends so much of His time arguing with the Pharisees: they were the closest to Him! They took God’s Word seriously, but they were still blind. They saw God’s Law, but they couldn’t see that they were incapable of keeping it perfectly. They saw this Teacher from Nazareth, but they refused to see Who He really is.

This is why Jesus asks them His question. Who is the Christ? Jesus is trying to get them to see that the Messiah, the Christ, cannot only be King David’s son, a man. He must also be David’s Lord, the Son of God. Only this Christ, true God and true Man, could make satisfaction for their sins, die for all, rise for all, and give forgiveness and life to all. See, you have to get to the Christ, or the Law will do you no good. The Law, without Christ, only leads to the death of sinners. Sinners need the Law to realize their sin, but then they also need the Christ who saves them from the Law, from sin and death. 

Jesus wants them to see this. He wants the Pharisees to be saved! This conversation actually happened during the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, after Palm Sunday and before His arrest. He’s trying, even in those last days, to save these stubborn, blind fools. Sadly, they will team up with their rivals, the Sadducees, in order to get Jesus condemned. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And people who disagree on a lot of things, can still find ways to unite in their hatred of Christ.

The Pharisees knew what Jesus is claiming here—that He is David’s Lord. In fact, they will use this conversation against Him at His trial. They will say to Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). But no matter what they say on Good Friday, Jesus wants them to have heard the truth from Holy Scripture. They might still reject Him, but He wants them to know Him, because He still loves them.

If we were to look for comparisons in our day, it’s actually very likely that many of us would fit in with the Pharisees. Like them, we care about the Bible, and God’s Law, right and wrong, justice. We might not like the rich political insiders, the liberal fat-cats pulling the strings in New York and DC. We might think the country’s falling to pieces and somebody’s got to lay down the law.

But without Christ, the Law does you no good; certainly not man’s law, but not even God’s Law. It can’t save you. There are decent, moral people who are not Christians, and they do what’s right and benefit society. But they don’t know Christ, so they are not saved from sin, death, or hell. Outside the Christian Church, you will not hear about the Christ, the Savior, David’s Son and David’s Lord. We’re the only ones preaching this message. We’re the only ones with a message that can actually save the world. I don’t mean save it in a political sense, or make it a bit better for right now. I mean save it for eternity. The only way we get to the resurrection and the life of the world to come is to know the Christ who died and rose again.

I’m all in favor of working for a better society. In fact, God is in favor of this as well. It is His will that all things good, true, and beautiful should flourish and be protected among us. We should care about the kind of education are children are getting in history, science, and literature. We should pay attention to our political system (there’s nothing technically wrong with politics). We should elect wise leaders who will make prudent decisions for our nation. And we must teach and learn God’s Law. And we must condemn the sin we see in society and in our own lives. 

But as the Christian Church, the Gospel is our main thing. Like Jesus, we want to get people to see the Christ. We want to get sinners to the justification of God on account of Christ’s innocent suffering and holy blood. We’ve got something for the world that nobody else has. We’ve got a message that brings real peace, a washing that cleanses every sin and stain, guilt and shame, and a food that makes you immortal and will carry you into a world you can’t even imagine. That’s what we’re all about.

If people know anything about us Christians, that’s what we want them to know. People are going to hate the Christian Church, no doubt about it. There’s always going to be unlikely allies who team-up to take her down. But if people want to hate the Christian Church, let’s make sure they know our real message first. If enemies want to team up like the Pharisees and Sadducees, then let’s meet them head on with the Gospel: the story of the King who was hated by this world, was hung on a cross, and did it all out of His own great love. We don’t need them to just know the commandments of the Law, but to also know the Christ, whose Son He is, and what He does for you.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Introit: Psalm 119:1–2, 5–6, 124, 137

1 Samuel 2:1–10

Ephesians 4:1–6

St. Luke 14:1–11

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

Humility is not a popular virtue, is it? Maybe even less than usual these days. Everyone seems to be pretty confident in their opinions, proud of their life choices, and unwilling to listen and discuss anything as a community. Many are also unwilling to be patient and allow people to make their own decisions. But instead of pointing out the lack of humility out there, we probably have to take a good look in the mirror ourselves. And this Sunday helps us do that and teaches us what real humility is. God’s Word today teaches us how to live humbly before Him, and it may help us in our lives with our neighbors too.

The Psalm verses in the Introit this morning came from Psalm 119, the great psalm about meditating on God’s Word. But the verses we sang today, not only tell us about the Word, but give us the proper mindset we should have when coming to the Word. Righteous are You, O LORD, and right are Your just decrees. This is a humble attitude, where I must empty myself, and confess to God, “You are always right, I’m not. Your ways are best, not mine.” Don’t go to God’s Word expecting you already know all the answers, or expecting His answers to always agree with yours. Go to God’s Word prepared to repent in humility and accept correction.

But then we pray, Deal with Your servant according to Your steadfast love, and teach me Your statutes. So, God’s Word does not only empty us out of our opinions, but it also fills us with truth, goodness, and beauty. In His Word, God gives us His mercy and love. He teaches us, and His teaching is life. Then, the psalm declares, I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments. From God’s Word we learn humility, but not humiliation, because we are not ashamed of God’s Word. We have what is right, and we can be confident in that. We don’t need confidence in ourselves, but in God.

This last point is the basis of Hannah’s song in the Old Testament reading. Hannah’s prayer to God for a child was answered, and in grateful response she sang: My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. At first glance, that might not sound very humble. But Hannah is not exalting in herself or thinking she was better than others. She exults in the Lord. She can look down on her enemies because God answered her prayer. She is humble in herself, but in confident in God.

So, in her song she also instructs others to realize this for themselves: Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. How do you know what is true or good or beautiful? God tells you. He reveals knowledge. And if your opinions are not informed by God’s Word, or by clear God-given reason and God-created nature, then your opinions are arrogance. You will be weighed and found wanting.

Hannah goes on to describe God’s work in this world: The LORD kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and He exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. The Lord is at work in this world, not only in His Church, but in history. Trust that He is working, even when it doesn’t look like it, even when it looks like He has turned a blind eye. He will bring this world to His own good and proper end. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; He will give strength to His King and exalt the horn of His Anointed. The Lord’s anointed King mentioned by Hannah at the end of her song is none other than Jesus the Christ. So ultimately, everything the Lord does is for the glory of His name, the good of His kingdom, and the salvation of His children. Don’t set yourself up in arrogance, but trust with humility that the Lord is doing what’s best.

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul also had something to say about humility—humility in the church. I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Psalm 119 told us to have a humble attitude toward God’s Word. Hannah told us to have a humble attitude toward God’s work in this world. St. Paul is telling us here to have a humble attitude toward God’s saints, our brothers and sisters in the church. It doesn’t matter if you especially like each other, you are together in the one body of Christ. So, you have to approach one another with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

What’s more, while we should have this humble attitude toward individuals, we should also have this attitude toward God’s Church as a whole. The Church belongs to God, not to us. We cannot make the Church in our own image, the way we like it. God brings us into the Church, which is something bigger than ourselves, something bigger than our congregation. The Church is the body of Christ, with a history of 2000 years across the globe. So, in humility we receive the wisdom of that history and learn from our fathers and mothers in the faith. But even more importantly, we cannot create unity and peace in the Church. St. Paul says that we should be eager to maintain it. This means that in humility we receive unity and peace from the Holy Spirit, from His Word. By holding to His Word, His teaching, we keep His unity and peace among us.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus gives us what might be the theme verse for this Sunday of humility: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And this verse is illustrated by how Jesus exposes the pride of the Pharisees in two ways. First, we see that they are proud of how they keep the Sabbath laws. But they are hypocrites because they criticize Jesus for doing good on the Sabbath. God’s Law to not work on the Sabbath did not mean that you don’t help people! So, Jesus healed the man, and so passed judgment on the Pharisees’ pride. Second, Jesus exposed how they sought honor for themselves in the eyes of men. They all tried to get the best spots at the table. And Jesus mocked them with His “advice”—if you want to be honored you should go sit in the low spot and then maybe you’ll get a parade up to the high spot. Jesus is not actually interested in teaching people how to get honor.

And yet, Jesus wanted them to learn true, spiritual humility: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so the first thing we should recognize as followers of Jesus is that He is the type and model of true humility. Jesus humbled Himself for our sakes by taking on our sin and obediently suffering in our place. He was humble and gentle toward all people. He trusted His Father to work all things for good and to exalt Him at the proper time. He is the humble student of God’s Word. And being faithful to God’s Word, recognizing His judgments to be right, Jesus went with humility to the cross.

So also, the followers of Jesus must humbly go the way of the cross. We are crucified with Christ. We bear our crosses and follow Him. This means sacrificial service for others, likely without any acknowledgement. But your reward will be in heaven. The way of the cross means suffering now and glory hereafter. It also means that your cross will not be self-chosen. We really get this backwards. We think that we should just get to do what we like rather than what needs to be done. This goes for work in the church, as well as in a marriage and a family. God humbles and He exalts. God drowns the prideful Old Adam in us who wants to have his own way, and God raises up the New Man in us to live before God and others with humility. God has prepared for us what good works we should be doing. In humility, we live out our Baptism and do what God has given us to do.

The Collect of the Day also teaches humility: Lord, we implore You, grant Your people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Following the only God means going His way, not ours. The church has believed for a long time that the devil’s sin was pride. He was, of course, originally created good by God, perhaps the most powerful of all the holy angels, but then he rebelled against God because he pridefully thought he could be equal to God. There are hints of this in Isaiah, but we also get the idea from how the devil tempted Adam and Eve. He told them that they could be like God. In a way, pride is the origin of all sin—thinking you know better than God.

So, in humility, we pray for God to grant His people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow Him, the only God. And we can begin to see what that looks like with a review of all we’ve heard today about humility. First, empty yourself of your own opinions. Don’t expect to be right every time. Be open to correction. And then be filled with what God says is true, good, and beautiful. Eagerly learn from Him in His Word. And this kind of mindset can apply to many areas of life, not just in the church. Think about how much better our society or our congregation or our families could be, if we were willing to admit when we’re wrong and learn something new.

Then also humility means trusting that God is working and His ways are best. He will exalt Christ and preserve and enlarge His kingdom in the way that He determines to be right. Let God be God. So also then, receive and maintain what He gives to you. Treasure His Word, His Church, His sacraments, His unity and peace. These are not your things to do with as you please, but you are to keep them and share them. And finally, do not fear to humbly follow the only God on the way of the cross. It most certainly means spiritually dying to self, and probably suffering and dying in physical ways too. But the way of the cross ends in resurrection, where those who are humble like Christ, will also be exalted like Christ.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.