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.

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

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.

Who can say that they have it all figured out? Who knows what’s really true for everyone? Shouldn’t we be humble enough to admit that when it comes to God and faith we might be wrong on some things? None of us are perfect. We might have our opinions, but who are we to say what’s right for everyone? After all, Jesus said: Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And St. Paul said that we should live with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. So, who really knows what’s right? Who really can say what’s true?
      God knows. God says. What God speaks is the Truth. His Word is truth (John 17:17)—another quote from Jesus. God has it all figured out. So that means we can also know what is right and speak what is true when we know and speak God’s Word. If we get our teaching, our doctrine, our ideas from God’s Word, then we can say with confidence, “I know the Truth that is true for everyone.” And that is actually real humility.
      The world doesn’t see it that way. When we claim to know and speak the Truth, the world sees us as prideful. But it is really the opposite. The world is guilty of the worst pride when they ignore God’s Word, when they pretend that He’s not clear, or when they twist and redefine what He says to suit their own ideas. This is real arrogance. This is from the devil.
      Hannah sang against this in her prayer with all humility: 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 (1 Sam. 2:3). Hannah knew, and she warns us, what God thinks of those who proudly go their own way, ignoring what He says. But in pride, the world usually tries to force things its way.
      This is especially obvious when it comes to unity in the Church and the Holy Communion. The worldly minded (whether they hold membership in a church or not) would like to make everyone take Communion together so that it looks like we’re united even though we are not. They want to force a show of unity based on their own ideas of unity, fellowship, and love. But think of how prideful it is to act like we can be more welcoming than Jesus, or to think that we can be more understanding than the Holy Spirit. Some people would like to see forced communion with everyone so they can prove by our “unity” that we are the Church, as if the Church or unity within the Church is something we made up and can control. And you can have the same error among some of us, if you think that Closed Communion is just the LCMS policy. Thinking that we only commune with members of fellow Missouri Synod congregations is just our policy, just our backward way of doing things—that is also taking the view that the Church and unity are things we create and control, not God.
      But the Church is not something we made up. So also the unity of the Church is not something we make happen. We confess: I believe in the one holy Christian and apostolic Church. I can’t make something that I believe in. I can only believe in things that God makes. The Lord Jesus Christ died for His Church and shed His blood for her. From His pierced side came water and blood, and with that water and blood He cleansed and created His holy Bride. The Church is her Lord’s body and He is her Head. The whole Church lives by His death and the whole Church lives in His now risen body. So indeed, only God makes the Church and her unity.
      St. Paul said: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. One body, one Faith—so with the one Lord there is one Church made by God the Holy Spirit. And St. Paul said that we should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That means true Christian unity is made by the Holy Spirit as He joins Christ’s members in the one living body. The one united holy Christian Church is created where the Holy Spirit is working through His Word, through the Holy Scriptures. This means that even though we cannot create the unity of the Spirit, we can maintain it, as St. Paul said. And we do this by paying attention to the Scriptures. We maintain the unity of the Spirit by paying attention to the Holy Spirit’s teaching. We listen for the unity of His doctrine. We must first receive and keep that unity, what we believe, teach, and confess from the Bible. Then, and only then, can we rightly commune with those are united in God’s doctrine.
      I’ve said this before, and I really mean it when I say that I want all people to be able to come to the Holy Communion. I want everyone to have real communion, real unity with God and His Church. And that means having unity in doctrine, unity in God’s Word, agreeing with and repeating what the Holy Spirit teaches. And this goes for all of us, regardless of where we hold official church membership. Only if we have that unity in our teaching, in our faith, only then can any of us come to this altar and take together our Lord’s Supper. If we don’t want to hear what our Lord says, then we can’t have what our Lord gives. Maybe I should repeat that: If we don’t want to hear what our Lord says, then we can’t have what our Lord gives. But in humility, we listen to our Lord’s life-giving Word. We accept it and trust it, and so we are made one with Him and with one another, and so made worthy to eat and drink His holy body given for us and His precious blood shed for us.
      So, listen again to Hannah: Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge. Real humility means saying what God says, believing the knowledge that He teaches. Listen again to Paul: Walk… 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. Receive and keep the gift of unity where and when the Spirit gives it. And of course, that doesn’t mean we go around yelling at people who hold false ideas. Listen again to Jesus: We are not putting ourselves forward, trying to sit down in a place of honor by claiming that we are in the right. As those who know the Truth that comes from God, we are not claiming to have it all figured out on our own. I don’t claim that any of it comes from me. Truth comes from the Lord.
      Last week, the Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel, a beloved professor at our seminary in St. Louis, was taken to rest in the arms of Jesus. He has been one of the most influential teachers for me, even though I was never in his class or able to meet him on this side of the resurrection. But as I prepared for this sermon, I was reminded of a story he told once: Someone comes complaining to the pastor, arguing with him about something in God’s Word. And the pastor politely responds, “Don’t take it up with me. I only work here.” When we speak the Truth from God, we are not representing ourselves or our own ideas. We only work here. We only speak what the Lord has given us to speak.
      And that does mean we must not be shy to speak what God tells us to speak. We do it with humility and gentleness and patience, but in the end we must still do it. That  is really how you humble yourself. You stop your own ideas and you just repeat what God says. And it’s not hard to know what God says. You don’t need a special insight or secret knowledge. The Holy Spirit tells you. It’s all laid out clearly in His Word. He’s got it all figured out. This is what we sang for, calling on the Holy Spirit in our Opening Hymn: Lord, by the brightness of Your light In holy faith Your Church unite (LSB 497:1). The Church belongs to the Lord. The Holy Spirit makes the Church and He unites the Church. It’s all His doing, not ours. And He does it all by His Light—His Word, which is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path (Ps. 119:105).
      This prayer for the Spirit and His Word only shines out even brighter in stanza two:
      Come, holy Light, guide divine,
Now cause the Word of life to shine.
Teach us to know our God aright
And call Him Father with delight.
From ev’ry error keep us free;
Let none but Christ our master be
That we in living faith abide, 
In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide (LSB 497:2).
The Holy Spirit is the only one who can teach us the right way to know God. Only the Holy Spirit can give us the ability to call God our Father. And only the Holy Spirit can keep us free from error, from false doctrine, from the pride of our own ideas. The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ, so that Christ is our only Master, so that we are not masters of ourselves. Only then can we be humble and confident: humble when it comes to ourselves and our ideas, but confident in what God says is true.
      This can be difficult when so many in the world want to challenge us and prove us wrong. So, we pray to the Holy Spirit for comfort, for strength, and for courage, to rely not on ourselves, but to trust that the Holy Spirit has it all figured out for us in His Word. Let us pray:
Come, holy Fire, comfort true,
Grant us the will Your work to do
And in Your service to abide;
Let trials turn us not aside.
Lord, by Your pow’r prepare each heart,
And to our weakness strength impart
That bravely here may contend,
Through life and death to You, our Lord, ascend. 
Alleluia, alleluia! (LSB 497:3).

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.


Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA and Immanuel, Charlotte, IA

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 25:6–14

St. Luke 14:1–11

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

It’s amazing how much humor, even sarcasm, is in the Bible, if you read it closely. I think Jesus is kind of mocking the Pharisees in our Gospel reading today. He’s not doing it simply to be mean, but He is convicting them of sin. Jesus had been invited to Sabbath dinner at a Pharisee’s house, and when He noticed how the other guests chose the places of honor, He told them this parable. I picture them jostling a bit, trying to seem polite, but also angling and quickly moving for the best stop around the dinner table. You know how that can be—we all think we’re rather stealthy, but people notice. Jesus certainly did. And then it seems like He smiles a little bit, and it’s as if He said, “You know, here’s a neat trick for how to get honor… Don’t push for the best seat because you might get kicked out by someone more deserving. But if you go to the lowest spot, then there’s a better chance your host will say, ‘Oh no! Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.”

I can’t help but think this “advice” comes off kinda sneaky, and not so humble (or someone can certainly take it that way). Which is why I think Jesus is having a little fun with them. Obviously, Jesus is not advocating that you should manipulate people and force them to parade you up before everyone so you get more honor. This is not actually practical advice. He is accusing them of sinful pride and false humility.

What He does is a bit like our hymn we just sang, which invites us, challenges us to save ourselves: Seek where you may To find a way That leads to your salvation… Or, Seek whom you may To be your stay, None can redeem his brother (LSB 557:1–2). The hymn does not want us to seriously look for another way of salvation or another Savior besides Jesus Christ. But it’s a rhetorical device: “Hey, if you want to, you can look for some other way to save yourself, but it won’t work.” Which is why the rest of the hymn lays out what Christ has done and how He is our only Redeemer. His parable is doing a similar thing.

Jesus takes His parable from the Proverbs, which we heard earlier in our Old Testament reading: Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. Just as Jesus wasn’t giving practical advice for guests at a dinner party, the Proverbs should not be read as only practical advice for good living. At least, that’s not their only or primary purpose. It is of course true that God’s Law and ethical instruction based on that Law are good and good for you. Those who work to keep God’s Law will have a happier, more satisfying life than those who deliberately break it. However, that cannot be the only intention behind the Law or the Proverbs or any “advice” in Scripture, because we know from experience that no one, no matter how hard they try, can keep the Law perfectly; and Scripture shows us that it is impossible for us to make ourselves righteous enough in God’s sight. So, while the Law, the Proverbs, or Jesus’ parable do instruct us in proper conduct and true humility, at the same time, they are also exposing our sins—particularly in this case, showing and accusing our pride. 

But the Law also never gets the last word in Scripture. In that parable Jesus told, there is a deeper spiritual lesson hidden there for us who believe the Gospel—those who have the secret of the kingdom of God revealed to them. Jesus is the One who rightfully held the highest seat at the heavenly Father’s banquet table. And yet, He was the One who was removed, and put into the lowest place. He was humiliated beyond our imagining by taking on our sin, being mocked by His enemies and abandoned by His close friends, and by suffering the eternal wrath and hell of God while hanging naked and forsaken on the cross. 

And He did that for you. His humiliation means your forgiveness, your worthiness, your exaltation. He was removed to make a space for you as the Father’s honored guests. And you can hear the gracious invitation: “Friend, move up higher.” But having been moved to the lowest spot, Jesus was also vindicated as the true innocent Son, the Holy One. He was raised up back to life, back to the front seat of honor, not for the sake of His ego, but for the glory of God—that God may get glory for Himself by serving and saving sinners. That is how our God wants to be known, how He wants His name glorified: that He is the God who forgives sinners and raises the dead.

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. The One who truly humbled Himself and so was exalted is Jesus Himself. But as His Christians, we are to apply this to ourselves as well. And so knowing the Gospel, we are able to return to that instruction that the Law offers.

There are at least three parts to real humility. First, we should be humbled by the knowledge that we are nothing. We are empty. Before men we are just one in a billion, doomed to go the way of all flesh, to return to the dust. And before God, apart from His grace, our lives are ruined by sin. We have nothing to offer Him. While this aspect of humility is objectionable to the world, I think most of us Christians recognize it’s true. After all, we sincerely confess, I, a poor, miserable sinner.

The second part of humility: we should be humbled by patiently enduring wrongs. Now this is much harder to do, and we may even struggle with wanting to do it. We know that we should act humble—we shouldn’t brag about ourselves and we don’t like arrogant people. But it’s much, much harder to not stand up for ourselves when we are wronged. Yet, our Lord Jesus tells us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38–39).

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t care about justice and truth, especially when it comes to defending our neighbors. But we spend so much energy, thought, and time worrying about the wrongs done against us or how we’ve not been properly recognized for our deeds, because we think we deserve better. We are proud—we think we deserve honor and good things in life when all we truly deserve is death and hell. We all fall into the trap of feeling sorry for ourselves and saying, “I’ve got such bad luck.” That’s the proud thinking that I’m so significant that the whole universe must be conspiring against me. This is vanity. Instead, we should learn how to suffer with patience, trusting that God will act to save and vindicate us.

The third part of humility is that we should humbly submit to all people. This is also really difficult for proud sinners, but as Christians we are called to be servants to everyone. Love your neighbor as yourself. Or Jesus also said, Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them (Matthew 7:12). That’s the opposite of how most people think. We are not to treat others in the same way they treat us. We are to treat others the way we would like them to treat us, even when they don’t.

Now, this instruction in humility is very convicting and difficult for us. But think of how Jesus practiced such true humility. He submitted to all people even though He was more powerful and intelligent than any of them. He submitted to His earthly parents, to Pilate and the authorities. And of course, He submits to His heavenly Father and does His will. Jesus also patiently endured wrong: false accusations, mocking, undeserved torture, and wrongful death. No one has ever suffered injustice the way He did. And yet, He did not complain—He bore it gladly while He trusted His Father to care for Him. And Jesus, who was truly equal with God, worthy of the highest honor, He emptied Himself, and counted Himself as nothing.

Not only is Jesus our greatest example in humility, but as we already noticed with the parable, Jesus humbled Himself for our sake. He did that so that we who are empty might be filled with His goodness; so that we who should be brought low might be brought up to where He rightfully sits, exalted to sit with Him in His glory. It’s true that we are prideful, arrogant sinners, each in our own way, but we will not be severed from the love of God because of what our Savior has done for us:

My heart’s delight, My crown most bright,

O Christ, my joy forever.

Not wealth nor pride Nor fortune’s tide

Our bonds of love shall sever.

You are my Lord; Your precious Word

Shall guide my way And help me stay

Forever in Your presence. (LSB 557:4)

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Most of these ideas came from Rev. David Petersen’s Issues, Etc. interview on Trinity 17. He credits the three points on humility to Thomas Aquinas.