The Eighth Sunday after Epiphany - Sexigesima - February 27, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany,
Sexagesima,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 27, 2011)

Readings:   
        Psalm 85   
        Is. 55:10-13
        2 Cor. 11:19 – 12:9       
        Luke 8:4-15

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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 8th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verses.

Luke 8:4-15 (ESV)

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, [Jesus] said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

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

    Nearly ten years ago, the technology existed in the construction industry to do unimaginable things. For example, site project plans for very large projects could be digitized, that is the information on the drawing placed into a computer, providing exact coordinates of length, width, height, elevation, longitude and latitude.  Then all of that information could be sent along to all the big machinery on the jobsite that levels out a construction site and makes it perfectly smooth like for a parking lot.  It would make it so perfect that only the very least amount of dirt on the project would have to be brought in or removed.  The information was so amazing that even the locations of curbs, sidewalks, and the islands in the parking lot could be cut in without the operator taking hold of the stick.  And all of the necessary information needed to achieve this was sent from a computer via GPS right to the blade and throttle of the equipment, and the operators just basically sat there in case of an emergency.  It was and is perfection in the making.  It was and is simply amazing to see.  No hiccups.  No wasted time.  Amazing cost savings.  No endless checks and balances just steady as she goes. Perfection, in planning, perfection in results.

And so what of this parable Jesus Christ told of the sower of seeds?  Well Jesus tells of a sower who it would seem was not so incredible, not so perfect.  Nether was this sower very careful in his planting.  There is no mention of precision.  This sower is not amazing because there’s no talk of cultivation, planning, or preparation of any kind.  No, this parable tells us of a sower who casts seeds out willy nilly apparently either not watching or not caring where His seeds were about to fall.  He’s not putting that seed carefully in the ground, just throwing here and there wherever it may go.  And so this sower just scatters seed, some on a path, some on rocks, some in the thorns, and some on good soil.  And with that kind of planning we just know that we’re going to be able to predict the outcome.  You throw seed in every direction and not much good is going to happen.  Everybody knows that only the good seed will grow in the good soil.  Well, apparently everybody knows how to plant except, of course, the sower.

Oh but wait a minute, what if we were in charge?  Man, things would be so much different. If we were in charge, there’d be demographic studies, soil samples, computer modeling, soil temperature analysis, seed advertising, genetic hybrids, and an incredible amount of work done to insure that every seed isn’t wasted.  That every single seed that goes out is only going out into the very best ground. Because we all know that seed is just not good enough on it’s own, unless we help it. 

We and everybody else in the world hears this parable and thinks the point is that a harvest comes where the soil is good.  And what that means is, is that Christians believe because they have good and noble hearts. They think the point is to use the types of soil as a categories for different types of people and to figure how and out where they fit in. But they are wrong.

The point is this Sower does not sow as men sow. For no man sows seed where it cannot possibly grow, on the trodden path, or the rocky ground, or weed-infested patch. Men choose only good soil and then they study and prepare it further so that they wouldn’t waste any of their seeds. This Sower of whom Jesus speaks is flat out foolish, he is reckless, and he could use our advice.

Repent, for it is not what the seed lands on that makes it good because we are told the seed is the very Word of God.  And the Word of God has the power within itself to transform the bad soil into good soil and to produce a harvest. Think of it this way, if Jesus is the sower, what does it mean when Jesus sits and eats with sinners? The Word of God comes to the bad soil and makes it good.  As Isaiah said, “The Word comes from God’s mouth; it shall not return to Him empty.”(Is. 55:11)

So then which soil are we.  In our lives we are attacked by the devil, we suffer temptation, and we endure the threats of cares, riches, and the pleasures of life. And we have succumbed to all these attacks, in one way or another, at one time or another, to every single one of them.

But by the seed of God, by His very Word we are transformed by His grace.  We are watered with Baptism, and we are declared good.   And this goodness does not come by our efforts toward perfection.  It comes by the foolishness of God in His Kingdom who would sow His Word to even to the likes of us.  If there be any good in us, it only comes by grace, and it come undeserved and unexpected.

How in the world could we ever expect by the things we’ve done, and the things we’ve left undone to be ever loved by Jesus Christ.  How could we expect to be forgiven our sins.  How could we expect to be made new in Him?  It is by grace alone, and by nothing else. And by that grace the Lord reaps His harvest and that is faith and of course good works which follow.

But God’s Word will be rejected.  That is a guarantee from Christ Himself in the parable.  There will always be some who hear the Word, but something gets in the way.  Some obstacle distracts or derails the growth of the Word in their heart.  There will be those persons who will hear with rocky ears or thorny hearts, and they will refuse the Gospel of Christ, even though God has earned their forgiveness. 

But the sower cast His Word even to them anyhow.  There is no one, who deserves God’s grace.  The unbelieving heart of every sinful man only wants to reject the Word and go its own way, apart from God.  We do that all the time, we despise the Word of God.  We do not quote it or let it be our guide.  Rather we believe what we believe, in spite of what the Bible clearly teaches.  In so doing we deserve all the things that the parable describes; being trampled upon, withering, and being choked by life. 

But this misdirected misguided sower, Jesus Christ still sows His Word of salvation in spite of our actions.  In our sin Jesus is trampled and He is rejected by men.  He suffered and died so that our bad soil stained sin may be His, and thus by Him we are transformed from bad to good.  Though people may trample us in persecution, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  

And so from this unexpected grace any fruit which we may bear, is the fruit of Christ working in us.  The works we produce then are no longer the self-righteous attempts to justify ourselves.  Our works are the glorious and wonderful works of God to His glory, which produce a hundredfold harvest as only the life of Christ is in us.

So then expect the unexpected.  Jesus is the sower who casts His Good Word to all who are in this world.  In our eyes that would make Jesus a foolish sower.  Yet, you are transformed by the water and the Word of baptism, by His Word that He has for you, by His true body and true blood, given and shed for you.  A foolish sower?  No, a perfect savior who by unexpected and undeserved grace transforms us so that we may reside in the good soil in the kingdom of heaven.

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The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany - Septuagesima - February 20, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany,
Septuagesmia,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 20, 2011)
One Year Series

“What is Just?”

Readings:

Psalm 95:1-9
Exodus 17:1-7
1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5
Matthew 20:1-16

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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 20th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 20:1-16 (ESV)

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

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

The parable of the workers in the field, well it just always strikes us wrong.  Men hired during various times of the day, some in the early morning, some a little bit later, some in the afternoon, and some in the late of day.  The first workers promised a denarius that is to us a days wage.  Oh what we wouldn’t do for our own denarius?  But, doesn’t that story twist us?  It twists our hearts and minds because as it ends up everybody who worked on that day received the same wage.  Whether they started early or started late it didn’t matter, they all got that same days wage, and that to us is just not right.

It would seem to us then that the definition of a parable is this, that it tells a story that can’t be understood and so a story must be told to explain the story.  While that is not always true it is exactly what Jesus does, He tells a hard lesson then explains it to His hearers.  Jesus had told many stories, and by that I do not mean fairytale stories, but rather the truth of God revealed in many passages.  But, which one of these passages unlocks and reveals the truth for His listeners, for you and for me?  Well, they all do, but Jesus was the great teacher who did not stop teaching, no matter how hard it was for any human to understand.  So here we are in Matthew chapter 20 and Jesus had already taught about “The Temptation to Sin”, ”the Lost Sheep”, “Brother’s sinning against one another”, “Unforgiving servants”, “Divorce”, “His love for children”, and a finally “a rich Man who thought he had done everything that needed to be done for Christ.”  So now what?  Who was left?  Who hadn’t yet been taught?  Who was so dense that they still needed another view, another description to see and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The answer is in the text.  Jesus fielded a question from Peter, who said, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”(Matthew 19:27)  Then Jesus saw and knew who didn’t yet understand, and the answer was that it was those who were the closest to Himself who still just didn’t get it.  It was those workers who had begun their labor early in the morning, and it was the those workers who were standing idle even though the day had already begun.  And who is this they?  It was the Jews, it was Jesus’ disciples, but not only is it they, it was each one of you and it was me too.

Why is that?  Why is it me first?  Verse 10, the first followers thought that they would receive more, that is the ones who thought of themselves first.  They “would receive” more, more than what?  More than they agreed to?  Not even we agree with that...think about someone knocking on your door.  Hello Mr. ...Yes....Well I have your tree cut down.  Okay, here’s your $100.  But wait a minute, I did a real nice job, gotter done, shouldn’t you pay me more?  Well no, I mean no way.  But I thought I would receive more.? The man takes what he was told he would be given and he walks away mad.

Verse 12, But wait, you paid those smucks that came in at 5:00 the same amount as you paid us!  We worked all day.  Yes you're right, and how were you given to wrongly?  You were promised a wage and you received exactly what you were promised.

And so it plays out in the parable, the workers were indeed paid what they were promised and they grumbled.  At the same time I’m sure the workers paid a days wages for only an hour of work were very pleased.  That still happens today.  People get paid more than we think they should, inequity has always been rampant in the world.  And for every instance we can point to as an example, there is always another one, but it would seem the only common bottom line is grumbling.

Repent for there has always been grumbling.  Oh Moses, we’ve nothing to eat we’re starving, why did you take us out of Egypt?  Here is manna and quail for every day and twice as much on Saturday for Sunday, eat it and be filled.  Oh Moses, do we still have to keep eating this manna and quail? Moses we don't have water.  Then here is your water.  Oh Moses we're tired of this water.  There is never an end, never enough, and if someone else has it, then I should have, and if I work hard enough I should get it.  “Here on earth there will always be inequality, even as people and stations in life are different…. But Christ operates under a different principle in His kingdom: I will give as much to one as to the other. The reason? No one has ever succeeded in earning the kingdom of heaven - salvation from death and sin - and because of that I am not under obligation to anyone; always the kingdom comes by grace to whomsoever I will.” (Luther House Postil).

It should set you on edge that someone is getting paid the same as you though they did not do as much. It is indeed unfair.  But the goal is not to out do one another.  Christ has outdone us all, He as done it all.  He treats us all equally giving all who would believe His undeserved grace.  The Holy Spirit alone works faith and Christ pays out Himself to you with His body and blood, even as with the sweat of the blood from His brow.  That is the pure sweetness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    That free gift is the waters combined with God’s Word,  in your baptism you are given a wage beyond measure, for it is the promise that Christ has paid for all your sin and gives you the promise of eternal life.  In fact, “We should not be among those who seek a reward for their labors. Instead, when we are called into the vineyard of God, we should labor without seeking any reward and trust God. He will abundantly reward everything good which we simply do, and any persecution we suffer for His sake.” (Johann Gerhard 1:190).

But let not the reception of God’s free grace let you slide back in your easy seat and take for granted what He has done for you.  For as we have heard in the parable the owner’s generosity, kindness, grace and goodness caused the first to be envious, and to be hateful toward "the last." Nothing could be more perverted. The fault did not lie with the owner, but rather with the worker.  The fault lies not with the grace of God, but wholly with the envious person.  Envy and grumbling is sin and sin has its wage for, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Rom 6:23)

Now, “Look into the Gospel. You will find that we are all called into the vineyard to work. If you do not want to lose what is given you as a gift and what you have earned, work most diligently; be diligent in the use of the means of grace, diligent in prayer, diligent in the battle against sin and the world, diligent in all good works, diligent in the exercise of faith, diligent in the exercise of love, diligent in the use of hope, diligent in patience under the cross.”(CFW Walther)  Work hard in your vocation to share the Good news of Jesus Christ, work hard to support your neighbor and neither hurt nor harm him.  But also know that this work does not gain your salvation, yet it is what you are called to do.

So Jesus Christ beckons you to come, you who would be first, receive your pay.  Jesus Christ beckons you to come, you who would be last, receive your pay. Unfair?  Unjust?  Just not right?  Yes, indeed, you have been given everything, in fact eternal life, for your wages are not based on you, but rather based solely upon Jesus Christ for you.  Amen.

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More on the Gesmia Sunday's from Rev. Weedon

Preparing for the Journey: The Gesima Sundays

by The Rev. William Weedon

            If Lent is the journey to Easter and if Easter is the return to the new life given to us in our Baptism; then Gesimatide is the preparation for that journey of return to our Baptism. 

            For three weeks prior to Lent, the Church seeks to ready her children to begin the slow and sometimes painful pilgrimage back to the very fountain of their life in Christ:  back to Baptism and to the life in and from Christ Himself.

            Do we need a journey back?  What do you think?  The sad fact is that we constantly fall away from and betray the new life that God gave us when we were baptized.  How often we live our lives as though Christ had not been raised from the dead!  How often we live as though death had not been squashed beneath His feet and as though sin still had the right to put us in its shackles!  Lent shows what a lie we try to live from when we would still live that old way – we who have been baptized into Christ. Lent calls:  Time to come home, child!

            But the journey home calls for serious effort on our part (yes, Lutherans can speak of serious spiritual effort – for them all the credit goes to God) to return to living in the dignity of our status as beloved children of the heavenly Father.  Lent forces us to face the pain of our exile – it places us in the parable of the waiting Father and calls us for us to stop hungering for the pig slop and hit the dusty trail back to the Father (see Luke 15:11ff.)  

            In German there was no mistaking what Lent was about.  In German it is called “Fasten-zeit” – the time for the fast.  And the point of the fast is to discipline our bodies so that they learn, and we learn with them, that man does not live by bread alone; that we live from every word that proceeds from the mouth of our God.  "Return to me," we hear the Lord say on Ash Wednesday "with prayer and fasting." (Joel 2:12-19)

            Gesima-tide, then, or Pre-Lent, seeks to get us ready for Lent and for the return to the new life.  The first week's readings stress that it will be a struggle not only with our flesh (our bellies that want to be filled, our bodies that need to be disciplined, lest we be “disqualified”), but a struggle with the inner attitude of distrust in God that breaks forth into complaining.  There's a Lenten fast for you:  lose the griping and groaning, the moping and moaning about your life and unfair things are for you.  The second week’s readings remind us the power to change is not something found in us, but in the Word of God alone - and so the extra time for the Word built into Lent, time to gather midweek and hear God's Word.  The following week issues the invitation for us to join the formerly blind man in following Jesus up to the road to Jerusalem, to see Him offer Himself to the Father and so return humanity to God.  That's gesima-tide for you:  Septuagesima (70-some days to Easter!), Sexagesima (60-some days to Easter!), Quinquagesima (50-some days to Easter!).  It's the way the Church calls out "ready, set, and go!"  We're on the way home!

The Rev. William Weedon is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hamel, Illinois

The "Gesmia" Sundays

The Sundays with the name ending in "Gesima" are coming. 

A Summary 

by Rev. William Weedon

The "Gesima" days start on Septuagesima ~70 Days before Easter, Sunday, February 20: no more joyful Alleluias.  Instead, the plaintive Tracts appear.  Sexagesima ~60 Days, Sunday, February 27, Quinaqugesima, ~50 Days, Sunday March 6th.

It deepens on Ash Wednesday (March 9); no more Gloria in Excelsis.

It deepens further on Judica (The Fifth Sunday of Lent): no more Gloria Patris.

The silence of the praise grows deeper and more profound in stages throughout the days of Pre-Lent, Lent, and Passiontide, until we are reduced to silence before the marvel of the Cross on Palmarum (Palm Sunday) and throughout Holy Week.  And having stood before the Supreme Sacrifice in silence on Good Friday, our praises burst forth with greater joy than can be imagined in uncounted alleluias and Glorias come in the great Paschal Feast.  

The Transfiguration of our Lord - February 16, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany,
The Transfiguration of Our Lord,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 16, 2011)
One Year Series

“The Voice of Christ”

Readings:

Psalm 2
Exodus 34:29-35
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

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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 17th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 17:1-9 (NIV)

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 While [Peter] was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

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

    Have you ever looked at something over and over, and suddenly you see something you’ve never seen before?    Here is the challenge with the Transfiguration: We don’t really know what to think about it.  And when confronted with something different we’re a lot like Peter, we try to react appropriately, but often we end up sounding foolish.  When we think about the Transfiguration of Christ it is a dazzling change in events.  Why did this happen?  What should we think about this?  Should we use this as an occasion to praise Jesus because He is glorious?  For on this day we may end up singing praises to Him, yet without any real substance behind our praise, except to say that He is beautiful and wonderful and glorious and so forth and so on...

The point of the Transfiguration is not simply that Jesus is glorious.  But, right before men, Jesus was transfigured, He made His first prediction of His suffering, death, and resurrection.  The Twelve Disciples now knew what lay ahead, even if they did not fully understand.  They especially Peter, did not want to accept Christ's prediction.  Thoughts of Christ suffering and dying were surely confusing and frightening to them.

And right after His prediction, Christ said to the disciples, "Get up, do not be afraid."(v. 7)  As Christ was going to suffer, so also the disciples (and we) too must suffer.  This is not a popular topic for Christians.  We would rather be joyfully celebrating, not living a life of pain and grief.  Thoughts of future grief and suffering and rejection are surely confusing and frightening for us.

But, in this setting of grief and suffering to come, Jesus went up the mountain with Peter, James, and John.  And with His prediction of rejection and death still echoing in their ears, Christ was changed so that His clothing became shining, exceedingly white like snow, as no earthly clothing can be.  The glory of Christ was revealed, His glory as the only-begotten Son of God.  This is the true majesty that is His by nature, the majesty that was usually hidden on earth, the same majesty that Christ now fully displays at the right hand of the Father.

So what is the meaning of this revelation this transfiguration of Jesus Christ’s glory?  Jesus gives us a hint by telling the disciples to wait until after the resurrection before they told others.  If they told others now, the meaning would become confused and misunderstood.  So the Resurrection of Christ is a key to unlock the meaning of the Transfiguration.

This means, first of all, that the glory of Christ revealed on the mountain was the assurance of the end result of His suffering.  The end was never in doubt.  Christ would indeed suffer and die, but He would most certainly rise again and ascend into glory.  The majesty of the Son of God cannot be taken away.  It was hidden for a time in the grave, but in the end it burst forth with life and light.

And too, the glory of Christ is His suffering.  His whole life was leading to Jerusalem and Calvary.  After all, Jesus’ flesh was conceived in His mother’s womb so that it could be nailed to the Cross as the atonement for our sins.  In other words, God became flesh so that God could die for you.  We see in the Transfiguration who it was that hung upon the Cross.  Christ the Son of God carried in His human body the fullness of God, all the glory and holiness of the Godhead.  It was this deity and glory that He allowed to be nailed to the Tree.  In this way, Christ Jesus offered the one perfect, final sacrifice, so valuable that His precious blood could pay for the sins of the whole world.

So there could be no doubt that He has died for our sins.  Our sins, so awful and un-glorious, doomed us to eternal shame and suffering.  But Christ, the Glorious One, took the shame and suffering away by taking them upon Himself.  The Glorious One became un-glorious on the Cross, and yet, by Jesus’ dying, achieved the greatest glory.  He achieved the purpose for which His glory took on human flesh.

And so the glory of Christ on the mountain shows us the result of His suffering and its benefit for us.  We are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory.  As the death of Christ cleanses us from the depths of sin and death, so also His resurrection is the assurance that we shall be raised, and we shall be as He is.  We shall be glorious, shining as the stars in the sky, because His glory is given to us.  All this is given to us freely in our Baptism.  Just as we have been united in the water with Christ in His death, so also we shall be united with Him in His resurrection.

So the Transfiguration does not reveal a Christ whom we must praise because He is so glorious and wonderful, as if He were a work of art so beautiful that we cannot help but praise Him.  Instead, He is our Beautiful Savior because His glory is found in His suffering and death and resurrection.  We praise Him because He gives us the glory of His holiness and the promise of a glorious resurrection.

Elijah and Moses appear, but not to distract us from Christ.  They are not like visiting celebrities on some red carpet runway, brought out in show so we should say, "Oooh, look!  It's Moses and Elijah!  How exciting!" Instead, these two testify to the glory of Christ.  He is the culmination of the Law and the Prophets.  He is so much greater than Moses and Elijah because He alone is the Son of God who redeems all mankind.  Moses and Elijah could not even redeem themselves, just as we neither can do.  Their greatness is only that they pointed to Christ.

For Christ is the fulfillment of all Scripture.  The voice of the prophets is speaking of Him.  The voice of the Law is speaking of that which only Christ fulfills, the Law which we by our sins have broken.  Even more than that, it was Christ who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, and Christ who spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice.  All the Word is the voice of Christ.

This is the Beloved Son of God.  Listen to Him!  Jesus Christ is the mighty, majestic God who could crush us under His foot, as we deserve.  But instead, He speaks to us words of gentleness and grace.  He tenderly comforts us in the afflictions that He has warned us will come.  He comforts us in the face of death by giving us eternal life in His Word.  Listen to Him!

In worship, everything is filled with the voice of Christ.  Jesus is the reason to come to Church - to listen to Him declare what He has done.  He has suffered.  He has died.  He has risen.  He has done it all for you, and has opened for you the store-house of His glorious treasures - eternal life, everlasting bliss, glory and Paradise beyond comprehension and imagination.  Not as you deserve, but out of His grace He has dealt with you.  He shines upon you even now with the splendor of His glorious grace. Jesus Christ transfigured before men to show His glory and the glory of Christ will one day transfigure  you so that you will shine before God.  Amen.

 

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The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany - February 6, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany
The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 6, 2011)

“THE SOWER”

Readings:

Psalm 80:1-7
Genesis 18:20-33
Colossians 3:12-17
Matthew 13:24-33

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Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel lesson from the 13th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses,

Matthew 13:24-30 (ESV)

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ” 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

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

Today is the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, and so today is also a church calendar phenomen.  This Fifth Sunday after Epiphany only occurs when Easter is very late in the year and so the next time this lesson will be preached will be 39 years from now.  Some may find that troubling, and others may find comfort in that thought.  Some of us will be in heaven, some will still be waiting for the day of our Lord.  Some in this world will be bound in judgment, others will be gathered into God’s Kingdom.   But who is who? How can I tell which one I am?  How can I tell which one you are?  It is like the old saying of commanders to their troops preparing for the battle, look to your right, look to your left, at the end of the battle, one or both of those people will no longer be living.  Some will live, some will be cut down, nevertheless all will go forward together.

So what do we do?  The good wheat is mixed in with the bad tare, and there is no telling the difference, what are we Christians to do?  Should we look at each other closely, and separate ourselves from those who have strayed.  Should we cut down whoever we may, kill whom we can, and then shoot the wounded?  Isn’t only then when we have that done when we can finally gather with like minded people?  No, that is not what Christ said in His parable, He said,  “30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers”(v. 30) 

The Christian Church has always been full of wheat and weeds. Yet, that is the church we see with our eyes and it is what we call the visible church. And what does that church look like?  When we hear the Gospel preached and the Sacraments rightly administered according to Christ’s institution, only then do we see the Church. But even where the Church is seen, there are true and false Christians. True Christians are the wheat. False Christians are the weeds or tares. They both grow together. The sticky part is that we take it upon ourselves to figure out who is wheat and who are the weeds.

If you think it’s hard to figure out who is who in the Church, consider how hard it is to spot the wheat and tares in the world.  It would be so much easier on all of us if those who are wheat would wear little halos above their heads. And those who would be tares could wear some sort of pitchfork above their heads, or maybe something that looks like a weed. Now, if the world were that way, then we’d know exactly who is saved and who is not saved.

However, it is easy to spot Satan’s work in the Church on earth. When someone sins, and when that sin is known to everyone, and when the sinner refuses to repent of that public sin, then it is the congregation’s solemn duty to exclude that person from the congregation. That unrepentant sinner is welcome to hear the Word of God. But, that unrepentant sinner is not welcome to receive the Lord’s Supper and the unrepentant sinner is not going to receive Christian Burial. These Tares are considered outside the Christian Church and in need of repentance. And so when one is put out of communion with the Christian Church, it is done out of sincere love. Knowing that unrepentant sin leads to this conclusion should give all of us pause to consider whether or not we still hold a grudge against someone, or if we refuse to forgive someone who apologizes to us.

Now consider this statistic, 100 percent of the members of the Christian Church are sinners. And we just confessed that we are sinners too.  It is that way throughout the entirety of the Bible.  Take the Israelites for example. They turned their back on God and made their own idol out of gold.  Jonah ran away from a public call to proclaim repentance in Nineveh and he ended up in the belly of a great fish for three days. The New Testament Church is full of examples too. Saint Paul was once the chief persecutor of Christians. Saint Augustine was once an arch-heretic. If God can use people like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine to preach the Gospel, whom else might He use in His church’s time of need?

It is unbelievable but the Church and the world look like a great tragic mess to the naked eye. Take comfort that both the Church and the world are indeed a mess. Why take comfort? The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Indeed, take heart.  For the Lord is still the Lord of His Church and it is nothing short of a miracle in these last days of sore distress that the Church grows and blossoms when and where He wills. It is not given to us to go on mad crusades trying to figure out who are the true or false Christians. Instead, it is given to us to be faithful. We call sin a sin when that openly unrepentant sin manifests itself in the life of the congregation. That is the only loving and scriptural thing to do. When a sinner repents, we forgive them and welcome them back into our fellowship with open arms. This is also the loving thing to do. It’s the way of our heavenly Father.

And as it is in the Church, so it is in the world. Jesus warned us that the wheat and tares grow side-by-side. The hard part is telling them apart. And to make matters worse, those awful people who are really tares do wonderful things for people. They too give to the poor, they too serve their neighbors, and they too love one another. But it is also sad to say that not all these wonderful things tares do for others means a thing.  For when it comes to salvation, those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and call upon Him as Savior will be cast into the furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So merely doing good things and being nice is not enough to turn a tare into wheat.

Equally frustrating for us is the fact that wheat sowed by the Savior seems not to do or say anything that gives evidence they are wheat sowed by the Savior. It’s as if they are resting on their laurels, figuring God loves them anyway so they have a free pass through this temporal life into eternal life.

But, how can we tell the wheat apart from a tare? Again, that is not given for us to do. The landowner is Jesus Christ and He states, “Let both grow together.” And so we leave the division of wheat and tares to Christ. He knows those who are His. That is a tough saying. Human reason demands us to know everything right now. We want to be able to see who is who and who will not be saved, but eternal judgment belongs to God alone.

In the meantime, we bask in the joy of Jesus Christ’s love. It’s so much easier to receive forgiveness and eternal life without having to snoop around looking for tares amid the wheat. Jesus sows us into the rich soil of His Church through the preaching of the Gospel and the giving out of His Sacraments. He will send His angels to gather up the wheat into the safety of His barn where they will be stored safely will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of the Father.

Both wheat and tares grow together in the field. It is foolishness to modern farming, but to those who are being saved it is pure comfort. Comfort comes in believing that the wheat won’t be harvested prematurely in order to destroy weeds. We grow together, and we go to our respective places. But do not fear, rather, rejoice knowing that you who have been freely given faith and grace from God are the wheat.  Rejoice indeed, for one day the Lord Jesus Christ will gather you to your heavenly home.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
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The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - January 30, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 30, 2011)

“THE GREAT STORM”

Readings:

Psalm 96
Jonah 1:1-17
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 8:23-27

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Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel lesson from the 8th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses,

Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV)

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

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

“There arose a great storm on the sea.”(v. 23)  While a few here may recall being out on a lake, or out on the bay when a quickly moving storm came in, there are indeed but very few here who have been out to sea and seen a really great storm.  Oh yes of course we’ve seen those cruise ships on T.V. being tossed about like a child’s toy in a bathtub, but listen closely as we leave here today and you’ll hear some speak honestly and vividly of rough seas beyond our wildest imaginations.  How can you know what “great storms...swamping waves”(v.24)...and the thought of no one to turn to, what can I do...“Save us Lord; we are perishing.”(v.25) How can you know what this means unless you’ve been there and done that? 

Yet while you may not have experienced those rough waves of storm tossed seas, in another way you may understand.  For, when the storms of life comes thrashing down upon you, to whom do you turn? For Jesus’ disciples there wasn’t much of a choice. They were in a boat in the middle of a sea. The only one they could turn to was Jesus. “But [Jesus] was asleep.”(v.23) And if you think about it, if Jesus is asleep and there’s a storm raging, then you can certainly be at your wits end, because now there is no one to turn to in this time of need.

Isn’t that’s the way it is for us, sometimes? God’s Word teaches us to call upon Him in every hour of need. Or as the Psalmist writes, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”(Ps 50)   And ironically when we hear the Old Testament writing of Jonah, we know that reading so well that we tend not to listen closely to the words. But hear again about Jonah in verse 17 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”  The timing of great fish near Jonah was not coincidental nor happenstance, “The Lord appointed a great fish....”

The Psalm and Jonah give away the ending to today’s Gospel. But, even though there is a happy ending for the disciples, perhaps you may not feel like you have had a happy ending for every time you’ve called on our heavenly Father in the day of your trouble. Your prayers for deliverance appear to have gone unanswered, at least unanswered as you see it this side of heaven. When shame and vice come screaming into your life, perhaps God gets the blame. After all, isn’t He in the boat with you?

Perhaps in those times of need when you have been tossed about by the things you have faced in your life, in the depth’s of your despair you’ve cried out, “My God, what have I done to deserve all this? Why did God allow this to happen to me? I wish He’d help me out of this one, but the last time I asked, He didn’t come through.” The people on the boat with Jonah asked the same questions. They asked, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? It’s not God’s fault, for here we recall the explanation to the Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. The first four words are, “God tempts no one.”(Small Catechism)

But who does and has tempted man since he first walked this earth? It is of course, the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. In our catechism one of Martin Luther’s Christian Questions with their Answers asks “But what should you do if you are not aware of this need [for the Sacrament] and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament [that is Holy Communion]?” Another way of asking the question may be, “What should I do if I think God is tempting me and I need help to know whether or not to receive the Lord’s Supper?” Luther pointedly directs you to the answer, he says, “first, touch your body to see if you still have flesh and blood. If you have flesh and blood, then you have human nature. Next, look around and see whether you are still in the world. There is no lack of sin and trouble in the world. Scripture says so. Same for your human nature. "

Scripture says human nature is corrupted with sin. Last of all, if you have a human nature and are in the world, then the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you.”  Very simply put, if you are alive then how could you ever say you don’t need the comfort of the Lord’s body and blood, given and shed for you?

Yet wondering whether Jesus is in our boat of human life is natural for sinners, or even recovering sinners like us. It’s not as if we should have expected calm seas and sunny skies when we became Christians. Or did we?  We should have heard and we should know that once believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized, a target goes on our back. Satan desires to sift you like wheat. He wants you to believe that while Jesus is in your boat, He’s off napping and not paying attention to you until way in the future on Judgment Day. Satan wants you to think you have a clockmaker God.  A God who started the action of the heavens and the earth, but sits back and watches His creation mess it all up. That is a god won’t get His hands dirty or help us out of our mess.

Repent, These thoughts of an uncaring and distant God are an illusion set forth by the devil himself. Though Jesus may seem to us like He’s sleeping, He’s in total control of our situation. After all, Jesus is both God and man. Jesus is the same Word that brought creation into being and He also controls creation. When all the squalling the disciples made woke Jesus, the first words out of His mouth were, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”(v.26) That was a fair question for the disciples and it is a fair question for you and I. Why are you afraid? Even with a little faith, that little speck of faith could move mountains.

And when the seas laid flat and the raging winds grew calm, the disciples wondered aloud, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”(v. 27) The answer was the same for them as it is for you and me, it is Jesus Christ, who is our port in the storm.

We cannot calm the turbulent waters of our lives by merely willing them to stop nor by ignoring them either. The storms are real, our sins are great, our bodies ache physically and mentally, paying no attention gets us nowhere but in deeper trouble. But do not despair Jesus is not asleep, He can indeed calm all our turbulent waters, and He does so, even when we don’t deserve it. Though the storms would rage, the waters would roar and foam against us, and the winds would knock us down and drag us through the tumult. They don’t succeed, they cannot.  For as  Jesus was in that boat for the disciples, He is incarnate in your life. 

One of Luther’s favorite Psalms, number 46 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”  Jesus Christ stills all your turbulent times by applying His blood and His innocent suffering and death to those who fear from perishing in the storms of their lives.  Jesus has already rescued you from drowning amid the seas of sin and death. Jesus put you safely in the ark of the Church, and that boat that sails through this world and nurtures you with forgiveness and life. You are dry. You are saved. The sea is calm.  You are strengthened by the hearing of the Word, and by receiving the Holy Supper of our Lord that brings salvation to you now and it will also at the hour of your death.

Now look up.  I mean really look up at the ceiling of this church.  Do you see a ceiling or the bottom of the ship, the ark of the church carrying you to the arms of Christ?  Now look forward, do you see prepared a sleepy, time worn tradition called communion, or do you see and will you taste and consume the true body ad blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you, just as He said in His own words?

There is a great peace amid these raging waters. And that great peace is found only in Jesus Christ.  Be still. Do not be afraid. The great storm is calmed, Jesus is in the boat for you.

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