The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity- 9-28-08

The Church Season of Trinity
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 28, 2008)

“THE LORD SEES YOUR FAITH”

Readings:

Psalm 84
Genesis 28:10-17
Ephesians 4:22-28
Matthew 9:1-8

Sermon Form Deductive
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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 9th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse:

Matthew 9:1-8 (NIV)

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

This is a familiar text to us all and it should be, it is recorded here in Matthew’s Gospel as well as in the books of Mark and Luke. We know this sick man, a paralytic, did not come to Jesus under his own power, rather four of his friends brought him to Jesus. And we know from the other recordings of this event that the room where Jesus was, was so crowed that the man’s friends had to dig a hole in the roof just to lower the sick man down to Jesus. This man’s friends loved him very much. They loved him so much that nothing interfered with their hope for their friend, and there was nothing that stopped them from trying to help their friend.

So we see that not only did their actions prove their faith, but it also reveals that the Son of man Jesus Christ, could look into their hearts, because the text says that Jesus saw their faith, the faith of all five men. None of them had said a word, but Jesus knew their thoughts. Jesus' divinity gave His humanity the power to know all things. And the scripture here tells us that all the things Jesus saw, and all the things Jesus knew, He responded to for He had come to take care of the helpless.

There are times when those whom we know, and those whom we love are afflicted with all the terrible things which the devil and this world will throw at us. In these stressful times looking to ourselves helps only for a moment. Rather more often than not, it reveals our weakness and our inability to conquer the challenges that we face. And if I were to stop right here it would be a very gloomy message for today, one reflecting all our pain and suffering as a result of the sin of Adam and our sins and that would offer no help or hope for a brighter future.

So I will read to you words from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, who speaks about hope in our times of weakness...”The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“(Romans 8:22-39)

And so the, “love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” is what is reflected in this Gospel lesson today. Jesus said to the paralyzed man: "Take heart, my son, your sins have been forgiven!"(v. 3) The faith of this helpless man received the most important gift, a spiritual gift, the forgiveness of his sins. And it is very important to note that the words of scripture here DO NOT say that this man was paralyzed as a punishment for some particular sin. Rather God brought this sick man to Jesus, so that He could prove to people who Jesus was. We may also ask, “Did all five men receive forgiveness of sins?” Well, it is very likely they did as all of them believed and so all of them received Christ’s help.

But, maybe even more important are the details of exactly what happened here. Some would say that, “The devil is in the details” but as I often do, I correct anyone who says this and note that really, it is always God who is in the details.

And what I mean is this...Had we been in that crowded room waiting to hear the Word of God, Jesus Christ, speak...we would have looked up and we would have seen four men digging a hole in the roof and lowering a sick man down so that he could be closer to Jesus. But that is not what Jesus saw, Jesus, “saw their faith”(v. 2) And no matter what the people in the room knew, or what they thought they knew about the man who was sick, or for that matter even those other people in the room who hated Jesus, all those people, every single one of them, Jesus, “knew their thoughts”(v. 4)

Jesus sees that which we cannot see, and He knows our thoughts even if we never give voice to a single one of them. We see His miracles every single day and refuse to admit it. So we need to be reminded that every single baptized child of God has been involved in a miracle. For in our baptism, our eyes see only baby, a child, or an adult, being baptized with water, while the pastor speaks Gods Word. But that is not what God sees, He sees that child of God become a saint who will live with Him forever. And our weak eyes see only bread and wine in Holy Communion, and our thoughts and mouths tell us there is no difference here. But Christ is revealed in this Holy meal and there He shows us that He is, “the Son of Man (who) has authority on earth to forgive sins.”(v. 6)

So when your weak eyes see that you are faced with an illness, or your family or friends are faced with illnesses, or any other challenge that this world may place before you, think not of what you see or what you feel. In all those times when grief, fear, and despair may make you feel nobody is listening, like you have to dig a hole through a roof just so that you can get through to Jesus...In all these times regardless of what you see, always remember that Jesus sees your faith, because He is the one who first gave it to you. And Jesus hears your prayers, and He knows your every thought. As it says in Psalm 102, “A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.”(Ps. 102:1-2)

We are all afflicted by the effects of sin, yet Jesus always sees your faith and always knows your thoughts. It is a miracle that God would come to us in Christ and He would die for all our sins. But, miracles do happen. Miracles helped people believe in Jesus. But even greater yet is the miracle of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection which gives you forgiveness of sins. Because of all He has done even your weak eyes will one day be able to see Him face to face. And just like that crowd who was only able to see their beloved friend or family member, that suffering paralytic who was healed...know that one day Jesus will bring you to Himself. And when you see Jesus, you too will be “filled with awe” and you too will “praise God”, for one day you will see Jesus Christ. And on that day, He will tell you to get up, take leave of all your cares, worries, and matters and then He will see you to His heavenly home. Amen.

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

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The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity - 9/21/08

The Church Season of Trinity
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 21, 2008)

“MY LORD AND MY GOD”

Readings:

Psalm 34:8-22
Deuteronomy 10:12-21
1 Corinthian 1:1-9
Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon Form Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 22nd chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse:

Matthew 22:34-46

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Our text took place during Jesus' last week before He died, He would soon weep because of human unbelief. Mt. 23:37. For some Jesus was a man to be hated, but we also read that some of the common people heard Him gladly. At this last attempt to convert His enemies Jesus offers them the clear teaching of the Old Testament of what the Word of God says and of who He is. Jesus is true God and true man. This teaching by Christ also reveals the nature of how we are to read the ten commandments, by first telling us how we are to love God, and then how we are to love our fellow men. If you will remember last week as we spoke the First Commandment and the response that we learned in the catechism, then today’s lesson will sound familiar too. But as sort of a reminder, when we look at those ten commandments as a whole, scribed by the finger of God and handed to Moses, we recall that God gave Moses two tablets, actually four if you also remember that Moses broke the first two as he threw them down in anger at the Israelites who had built a false God. But, remember that we as Lutherans do not look at those tables as having 5 commandments on the first table and five on the second, rather we see three on the first table and seven on the second table. And so you may ask why? Well in today’s lesson Jesus Christ answers that question, because the first three commandments deal with God and our relationship with Him, let’s call that our vertical relationship, and the next seven commandments deal with our relationship with our fellow man or our worldly or horizontal relationship.

So the first of the greatest commandments of which Jesus speaks is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”(v. 37) Meaning, you will love the Lord, your God, with your entire person. Jesus is not talking about affection or mere feelings. He is talking about an attitude. To love God with one's entire being means to trust Him and his promises, especially those about Jesus. The first commandment says: "Thou shalt have no other gods beside Me." How do we do that? All we can really give to God is our sin. We have no righteousness to offer God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. But Christ is our righteousness. That is ours by faith and trust in the Gospel. At the beginning of this service we confessed our sins and remember that is the time when the pastor forgives you your sins, in Jesus' Name. That is the first step in loving God with our whole being. God says that we should cast all our care on Him for He cares for us. When we do that, we love God with our whole being that is a vertical relationship and it’s very important also to remember that that relationship comes down from heaven to us, it is not dependent on how much we love God, rather it is fulfilled in Jesus and that is how much God loved us to send His only son to die for us.

Then Jesus talked about the second greatest commandment and He said it was like the first, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”(v. 39) But remember these experts in the Law had originally only asked for one answer but Jesus gave him two, again the second answer was, “You will love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Jesus was not talking here about affection or mere feeling. He is talking about an attitude. He does not say that our neighbor must be our friend. But He does say that we should love him as we love ourselves. The best example of that is the account of the Good Samaritan who cared for and rescued the wounded man lying at the side of the road. We should be like God who is merciful to all people. He sends His sunshine and rain to all alike. When people asked Jesus for help he gave it to them, He gave it even when they did not ask. To love the Lord with our whole being and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves summarizes the teaching not only of the OT but also of the NT too. We pray in response to God’s gifts, Lord, give us faith in You and love for our neighbor.

But Jesus was not yet done teaching this crowd and so continued by asking them a question about scripture. Jesus quoted Psalm 110, inspired by God and penned by King David which states, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” Now I have an admission to make, I had to read that one a time or two, and read the commentary a time or two before I understood it. And I thought that when I learned a little Greek, when I read that passage, it would be crystal clear. But the Greek did not unlock what the commentaries told me I had to wait until I took Hebrew to confirm what I had already been told. And in Hebrew this verse reads “Yahweh said to Adonai.” And that made it all clear for me, but probably makes it clear as mud for you. But know that Psalm 110 is a grand prophecy of Jesus' person, Word, work, and victory over all His enemies. This Psalm is often quoted in the NT. Jesus' enemies believed that it was the inspired Word of God and that it prophesied about the Messiah. But they refused to admit that Jesus was the Messiah. and that is very sad! The Jews still pray for the coming of the Messiah but they still reject Jesus and that is very sad too! In our text Jesus summarizes His entire Word in two sentences and identifies Himself as the God-man, who is the son of David, Who is also the Son of God.

So this verse is a confession by David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, first about who Christ is. Remember I said the first line in Hebrew states, ““Yahweh said to Adonai.” well that means: "The Father said to my Lord Jesus 'Sit at My right hand'." (We know the true interpretation of this line from Acts 2:34 and 35 and Heb. 1:13.) Even Jesus' enemies admitted that Jesus was the son of David, the son of man. But they would not confess that He was the Son of God, the Lord of David. Jesus is David's son but also David's Lord, true man and true God in one person. When Jesus was asked at His trial (Mt. 26:63-66): "Are you the Christ, the Son of God?" Jesus said: "I truly am." They called that blasphemy. The OT also tells us what He did for us. God has exalted Jesus to his right hand because Jesus has paid for our sins, conquered death and conquered the devil. (I Cor. 15:25.27, Heb. 2:8.) When Jesus completed His work of redemption on earth, He ascended into heaven and He is not locked in heaven. He is everywhere with us, even to the end of the age. To sit at God's right hand means that He now has all power as He said in Mt. 28:19 "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth." The God-man, Jesus Christ, is King of kings and Lord of Lords and He shall reign forever and ever. Some day in heaven we shall see Him not only as our brother and our shepherd but also as the King of kings.

Jesus' enemies were always giving him trouble. Even today they make fun of Jesus and His Holy Word. But the common people gladly heard Jesus and these common people just like you were baptized into His Name. And though we may seem to be common in this world, God in Christ Jesus has made us quite uncommon. Because, Jesus conquered the world and in Him we conquer death too. Through Jesus Christ who loved us even to death, He protects and keeps us until that day when we will see Him, our Lord AND our GOD reigning on His throne and we will see Him there forever and ever. Amen.

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

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The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity - 9/14/08

The Church Season of Trinity
The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 14, 2008)

“EXALTING THE HUMBLE”

Readings:

Psalm 2
Proverbs 25:6-14
Ephesians 4:1-6
Luke 14:1-11

Sermon Form Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 14th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verse:

Luke 14:1-11 (NIV)
1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they had nothing to say. 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Jesus joins a gathering as a guest and it is He who is being carefully watched by the host who is a Pharisee, and other guests the experts in the Law all waiting to see if they could catch Jesus being ill-mannered regarding the Law of the Sabbath. In front of Jesus was man who was physically ill, “suffering from dropsy.”(v. 2) a condition we would probably call today congestive heart failure. The sick man had a sick heart. The Pharisees and Lawyers had sick hearts too, today we would probably call their condition, misdirected piety. Meaning the Pharisees appeared outwardly very religious, but in truth they were just as sick in their hearts as the man with dropsy.

And seeing the man sick of heart Jesus asked, ““Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they[the Pharisees] remained silent. So taking hold of the [sick] man, [Jesus]he healed him and sent him away.”(v. 3-4) And Jesus anticipated the response, knowing it was unlawful to do much of anything on the Sabbath, unless of course they had checked in with the proper authorities to make sure that they were using the most precise technicality to skirt the law. So in anticipation of the hrumpfs and disgust of this healing on the Sabbath, Jesus asked, “If one of you has a son or a donkey or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?”(v.5) But the Pharisees and Lawyers could care less whether their son, their ass, or oxen made it out of the well, rather they were too busy trying to take care of their own oxen by being the upstanding experts of the law. You don’t get to be called a prominent Pharisee without a little bit of hard work you know. Whether at that point they realized it or not, in two swift sentences Jesus had humbled them. Because He had directly challenged these high and mighty technocrats of the world and then by the healing on the Sabbath He had brought them low, cut them down to size. Jesus lifted their robes of prominence and exposed their arrogance .

Lack of humbleness combined with overt pride will do that to a man, we all know that , “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”(Prvb 16:18) And good example of that is a young man who you have read about. A man who, in his younger days, was thought to be very impressive, he stood a head taller than all his peers. When he was younger he was obedient to his father, taking care of his fathers farm and all their livestock. And that quality which he had in his younger days which brought him to the top, made him a great leader, and ultimately helped to single him out to become the top of his nation, the quality that he had that brought him to pinnacle of worldly ultimate success, well it was humbleness. But just as soon as he was recognized for his humbleness, it didn’t take too long for all that to go straight to his head and for that lack of humbleness he paid a very high price, he paid by losing his life. For that man who went from donkey herder to sovereign ruler was named King Saul who was anointed by the prophet Samuel at God’s command, and so he became Saul, King over all of Israel. But no sooner than Saul had became King, his ego also became inflated, and in his pride he no longer cared about the Lord God and his Word. God exalted him before all the people of Israel when he was humble. But when he became proud, God cast him down again and in despair King Saul took his own life and he and his family were literally wiped out. (Luther’s House postils, Vol. 7:42)

But recalling those who were humbled in the past like the King Saul’s of the world, only seems to give us some kind of misdirected hope for our present world. We watch time after time as we see our fellow men who seem to be like that lowly donkey raised from the well, who appear to conquer all the challenges in life, hit the highest heights, achieved all their aspirations only to see them make fools of themselves. Donkey is too kind of word for a fool, yet a donkey by any of it’s other given names it does not sound so sweet.

We love to watch that fall from worldly grace, to see that highly positioned person get his comeuppance, to see the people we hate stumble, to see those whom we despise get their just deserts. Whether we admit we know what haughtiness means, we still have it as we put on our best smirk when seeing someone else get caught doing something that we just did. But of course, that doesn’t seem to happen quite often enough, somehow it seems that that other guy should get caught breaking the rules a little more often than he does.

Repent, because that that kind of disgust for our fellow men, only puffs up the skirt of our own pride and reveals that we are just like the Pharisees and Lawyers who were out to trick Jesus. It proves that we too have the pride of King Saul. It compels us to stand alongside Cain as we attack our fellow man and deny that we have ever done anything wrong. It reveals that we are the true sons and daughters of our parents Adam and Eve as we pridefully place our hands over our faces in disgust at what someone else has done, never realizing that our hands have become fig leaves and quite frankly placing them over our face only brings to prominence the fact that our true nature is still exposed.

There is only one who exhibits true humility, and it is He who came from heaven and “being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!”(Php 2:8) And through the cross of Christ, ‘God who knows our sin and pride’(Prvbs 3:34) yet He, still freely gives us His grace. You who “humble yourself before the Lord, He lifts you up.” In fact He has already lifted you up, for in the waters of your baptism all your pain, your worry, and your sins were set aside, you have been “raised from the dead so that you may live a new life.”(Rom. 6:4) And today you will receive the true body and blood of Jesus Christ which gives you the forgiveness of sins, and strengthens your faith.

In pride the Pharisees would pull their oxen or donkey from a well even if it meant breaking their rules of the Sabbath. But God sends to you the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ and through His humbleness we who are weak of heart stand in His presence. Christ frees us from the depths of our sin, and He lifts us from this world this well of despair and he brings us to our knees, and kneeling there we are humbly blessed to exalt Him for all eternity.

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