Have you ever said to or thought about a person “Are you deaf?” to someone who can hear? What was the point of saying that? Is it because they could not hear you? Is it because they would not hear you? I have also heard the phrase “You hear what you want to hear.” or “You never listen.” I have even heard the phrase “You have selective hearing.” In these cases these people are hearing what’s being said, but are choosing not to listen either because they don’t want to hear what is being said or they don’t like what is being said. Many people hear the Word of God and it seems like it goes in one ear and out the other. Or they hear the Word of God and it makes them angry. These people still have their ears blocked from knowing the truth. They do not have a choice. Just like you once were, they are dead in sin so they cannot hear anything, say anything, see anything when it comes to confessing and believing in Christ.

The Word of God convicts the sinner, but at the same time gives relief and forgiveness through the message of Christ’s death and resurrection. The conviction of sin and the message of forgiveness is only understood by the Holy Spirit. Scripture says
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

Those that do not understand, those that are angry, their ears are closed to the truth. They don’t get to decide what they hear, they don’t have a choice, but are spiritually deaf to what the truth is. It is only until Christ through the Holy Spirit opens the ears of the hearer do they now hear what scripture says.

In the Gospel the man they brought to Jesus was deaf both physically and spiritually. This is an in your face reminder of sin. Your wrinkles, your aches, your pains, your flaws even death all are physical reminders of your sin. Even the weather is a reminder of sin. The seasons show death. This hot weather that burns your skin and gives you cancer a reminder of sin. With this man the effects of sin show what happens to mankind. You are deaf to the Word of God, you cannot speak clearly because sin has blocked your tongue. What you hear in sin is only your own desires, the temptations of the world and the temptations of satan and the demons. Just the same with your tongue, you only speak in half truths. “Love is love” and “My body my choice” and “Coexist” all sound good, to the fallen world but when the truth is known you know that these are far from it, but are rooted in human selfishness.

To those who have their eyes opened, their ears opened, their mouth opened. Seeing and hearing the effects of sin becomes in your face. You see what sin has wrought. You see the effects it has had on people, it has had on society, it has on the world, it has had on the environment. When you see all of the effects of sin, you cry out for God to save you from it because it is overwhelming. However, do not look to others and their impairments or faults and and ask who sinned, this man or his parents? What all the fallen state of this world and mankind does is point to Christ. That a savior is needed! That the works of God might be displayed in it.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

The men brought this deaf and speech impaired man to Christ because they knew that this man could do nothing for himself. He could not relieve himself of his deafness and could not work out his speech. He needed someone outside of himself to relieve him of his condition. The men had heard what Christ had done. They heard the miracles Christ could do. The men believed and the man that Christ was the man that could do this. Christ did indeed do that very thing. Christ could have just said a word and healed this man, but Christ took this man aside and made it very personal. He took this deaf, speech impaired man and put his fingers in his ears, and touched his tongue. Looked up to heaven and said “Ephphatha” “Be opened”. This man who knew no sound, who heard no words now could hear. He could speak plainly.

The imagery of this this man’s healing reminds me of the opened tomb. Christ came down and touched humanity. He became man, born of a virgin. He made his salvation for the world personal. He took on the world’s sin and went to the cross. He saw that you were deaf and that you were blind and He came to open your ears, open your eyes so that you could speak plainly. His words “It is finished” are what opened heaven up to us. The opened tomb lets you know that sin, death, and the devil no longer rule over you, but you have been freed from them.

What did the man do after he was healed? He spoke plainly. What is your response when you are forgiven? What is your response to hearing the Word of God? You do it in the liturgy all the time. It is to confess Christ as Lord and give thanks! This is speaking plainly. This is the language of the Christian. Your speech is a response to your healing. It is a response to you being made alive in Christ. He has healed you. You are made pure and perfect in His blood! Knowing this joy this grace your response is plain. It is gratefulness for having a God that you can call Father, a God that loves you unconditionally.

Yes, this deaf man was healed. Hopefully this reminds you of the OT reading and also of Isaiah 35
the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
This miracle also fulfills scripture that Christ is the true Messiah. That He is the Savior of the World. But, Christ did not just heal the physically blind, deaf, lame and mute. He healed the spiritually blind, deaf, lame and mute in the crucifixion. His death and resurrection opened up salvation and redemption for all mankind. His death and resurrection has given you the ability to see clearly, hear clearly, speak plainly that Christ is Lord. What now can you the former deaf hear? You can hear the words of a book. You can hear the Good Work from the Book of Life. You can hear the very Gospel Christ has given you. He has given you His Spirit so that you can see, you can hear, you can speak.

Through this you do have confidence like the epistle says, the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

He has given you life. Your sufficiency is in His sacrifice. You hear the Word, the Good News, not by what you have done, but because He has come to you and pronounced Ephphatha that heaven is opened to you by His death and resurrection. Heaven is opened to you, God is opened to you, the Word is opened to you and through Christ you have the confidence and can declare plainly that You are healed, you are forgiven, you are His.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Mark 7
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

2 Cor 3
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Isaiah 29
17 Is it not yet a very little while
until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Here are two men. A tax collector and a Pharisee. Here are two wildly different people. The Pharisee is a man of the people. He is respected. Regarded as a leader and some that many people look up to. He knows His scripture and helps others understand God’s Word. Most likely lives off the donations or payments the people make. He is upstanding the husband of one wife. Treats others with respect. That’s what the Pharisee looks like. On the other hand, there is a tax collector, a traitor to his people. A man who works for the Gentiles. He lives off of taking money from others. He probably is viewed as a thief or a cheat. He steals from others and lives what appears to be a lavish lifestyle while the people he takes money from are just scraping by. Someone that preys on other people and is not upstanding at all. He is most likely hated and despised, but tolerated.

In our society today who are the Pharisees and who are the tax collectors? Who do you see as upstanding citizens and who are the dregs of society? All of you have some ideas. Pastors tend to more likely have the reputation of the Pharisee. Probably teachers, counselors and social workers. Whoever in your mind’s eye has an “honorable” profession. Now what about the tax collectors, who are they? Drug dealers, sex workers, maybe politicians. Again, anyone who you think makes society worse off or takes advantage of people.

It is amazing that Christ uses these two examples because He accomplishes three things here. He corrects those who see righteousness in actions. He gives hope to those who are seen as unrighteous, and most importantly He lets them know that through Christ forgiveness and righteousness are given.

Christ in this parable paints a picture of the Pharisee as someone who sees himself as righteous. He is happy he is not other men. He is not extortioner, unjust, an adulterer. Then this Pharisee lists off what he does that makes himself so great. This Pharisee is full of Himself. Instead of looking to what God has done for him. He looks at his deeds as what he has done for God. However, in Matt 23 you hear what Christ thinks about that. He gives the scribes and pharisees seven woes. For their mentality blocks others from receiving grace. Jesus says
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Do you compare yourself to others. Do you whisper in the back of your mind “Thank God I am not them!”
You are them! Your actions do nothing for your salvation. You cannot add to what God has done. Repent if you have done this, do not be like this Pharisee. Do not look to your works to justify you. It is only God that can save you! Do not be legalistic! Do not think that you can perfectly follow the law nor impress that upon others. This is what the Pharisees did! So in pointing out the Pharisee praying this way and saying “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” Jesus is calling the Pharisees and scribes to repent. He is calling for all those who think they are better than others to repent. For no one, not one man is perfect. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Christ alongside the Pharisee includes a tax collector. He purposely uses a tax collector because it most likely will offend the Pharisees and scribes who hear this. Again, Jesus is using the tax collector to prove a point and show who God really is. He uses a tax collector because a tax collector is so despised. He uses a tax collector because all who hear think of utmost corruption. When he describes that the tax collector not even lifting up his eyes to heaven, but beating his breast saying ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ He shows everyone what a contrite heart looks like. He shows them that the grace of God knows no bounds. He shows everyone who is listening that, yes, even a tax collector can be forgiven and be justified by God. This is huge! For all who hear this are given hope. They are given hope because if the lowest of the low can be forgiven that includes them. It includes you. Jesus did not come for the righteous, but He came to die for the unrighteous. In this parable it shows that God has come for all people and not just a few. Jesus shows this by eating with the tax collectors and sinners. Here in this parable He basically is saying that anyone who is truly repentant will be forgiven. It is very interesting that in the next chapter of Luke Jesus runs into Zaccheus, a tax collector, and he repents. How about you? Know and have confidence that no sin is too big for God. No sinner is too far gone, but Jesus’ sacrifice covers all sin. He has covered your sin.

Lastly, as Christ is the teller of the parable His statement that the tax collector went to his house justified, and those that humble themselves will be exalted. He is pronouncing forgiveness and righteousness on the tax collector. Here Christ is speaking with the authority to forgive sins. This is crucial because it shows the boundlessness of God’s grace, but it also shows that this grace comes only through Him. It is only through Christ that grace can be pronounced. He is telling all who hear that He, Jesus Christ, both God and man, is able to pronounce forgiveness. How does that happen? A payment must be made. These hearers of this parable will see this come to fruition on Good Friday. They will see Christ shunned by all mounted on a cross to pay for the sins of the world. Both for Pharisees and tax collectors. He died for pastors, teachers, counselors, drug dealers, sex workers, gangsters. He died for everyone. There is no man or woman left untouched by the sacrifice Christ made. All have this beautiful gift of grace through what He has done. This is why when He pronounces that you are forgiven, that you are justified, you know you are.

Today, leave here knowing that Jesus humbled Himself before all so that He would be at the right hand of God. That He knew you could not be like Him and so took your place and was perfect. He was the spotless lamb that was sacrificed so you could be washed clean in His blood and robed with His righteousness. Leave knowing that you can add nothing to this and that is your greatest confidence that He did it. He accomplished it for you and that is your benefit. You oh sinner are forgiven! You today will go down to your house justified. For Christ has pronounced it.

This parable of the pharisee and tax collector is meant to turn the hearts of those who think they are better than others, to see that salvation in following the law is futile and hopeless and help them see that they are in the same boat as all mankind. It is to point out to everyone that they are sinners no matter how righteous they look or seem. This parable is to give hope to those who think there is no hope. It is for the prodigal son, the lost sheep and lost coin. It is to let those who despise themselves know that they are loved and cherished by their God. That His death on the cross was meant for them as much as it was for everyone else. Most importantly of all, forgiveness and righteousness are found only in Christ Jesus. It is only through His death and resurrection that you are saved. This is the cornerstone and foundation of your faith.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 18
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Genesis 4
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

Ephesians 2
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Psalm 50
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.

You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!

Why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem? He wept over it because of everything it says in the Jeremiah passage. Take a look at that passage again. In the Jeremiah passage it describes the human condition under sin. The Jeremiah passage pulls no punches but calls you out for all the sin you do. This is why Jesus wept. He wept because this chosen people turned their back on God and they had no idea how to make it right. He wept because this people that said they loved him would shout the words “Crucify Him!” the next. He saw the condition of mankind, He saw the sin that corrupted His people and wept. Jerusalem the city of peace was corrupt to its very core and contained no peace at all.

Remember that this reading takes place right after the triumphal entry. As Jesus is entering Jerusalem as their Savior He weeps as He sees the city. For you the hearer as Jesus goes toward Jerusalem riding on a donkey Jesus says, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!”.

This reading helps you understand the parallel between what Christ did for the world and what Christ does for you. Before a person is a Christian their life very much mirrors what you hear in Jeremiah. Mankind rejoices in their sin and shuns God. What happens to change that? The Word enters in. Now, remember that mankind used to be one with God. Man could be in God’s presence, but it was man who broke that because of sin. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. But you used to have peace with God. However, sin has corrupted that. In Jeremiah you also get that there is nothing that you do or can do that can repair that peace. You only seem to make the situation worse. Your Jerusalem, your peace has been blocked by sin, death and the devil. God seeing this condition wept. Yet, He came to you. What did Jesus do after He wept? He went and cleansed the temple. He drove out all those who block the path to salvation, who block the way to peace. The Word came to you and what did the Word do? Jesus, the Word drove out sin, death and the devil as He enters your temple, your heart. The Word comes to you and cleanses your heart.

Jesus says, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” You know that this peace Jesus speaks of comes at a high price. This peace Jesus speaks of as He enters Jerusalem is to sacrifice His life for the world. This peace comes at the cost of feeling God’s cup of wrath poured out on Him for all the sins of the world. This peace comes from Christ being nailed to the cross and dying in our place.

Jesus wept because He saw your condition and had compassion on you. He knew and saw that the relationship between God and man was broken and He went willingly for you so that you could have peace. That you who could not save yourself could be saved through Him.

Just as Jesus went to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. He takes you into His death and resurrection so the peace you were originally meant to have could be restored. He not only clears your temple, but tears it down and builds a new one. He takes you into death and brings you into life with baptism, the washing of water and the Word. He creates a new temple within you upon which He is the chief cornerstone. Now you have the forgiveness of your sins, your relationship with God is restored so much that you can call Him Father and you are given the Holy Spirit to reside with you. You have eternal life and Christ’s robe of righteousness placed upon you.

Jesus continually has compassion on you. You are forgiven your sins in your absolution. You are fed with His body and blood to strengthen you in both body and soul. You are given the Word so that you could be reminded of what Christ has done for you. Just as He taught in the temple at Jerusalem He continues to teach you with His Word and Sacraments.

What does Christ want you to know? He wants you to know that you do have peace with Him. That He has restored you. That your sin is as far away from you as the east is from the west. He wants you to know that your perpetual backsliding, your deceit, your relentlessness in evil, your greed, your false dealings all that is said in Jeremiah has been forgiven in Christ. You who had no peace now have Peace in Him. He wants you to have faith in this fact. In the fact that He did clear the temple, but He destroyed it and built a new one in three days. He, Christ died and rose again so death, sin and the devil could be defeated once and for all. That you are more than conquerors because He has given you the spoils of war without you having to fight. He won! He is Christ the Victor. You have peace that He has bridged the divide between God and man with the cross.

How do you know all of this? Through the Word, the life saving Word, that is not a stumbling block for you. For you know this peace that Christ gives you is not by your works. It is nothing you can do, but it is what He, Jesus Christ, has done for you. It is faith in the fact that when He rose that easter morning everything that Christ said and did came to fruition. It is faith in knowing that Jerusalem finally received peace when Jesus died on Golgotha. It is faith in knowing that sinners have been forgiven with the blood of the Lamb. That this righteousness you are given is attained by faith. This is what the Word teaches you. It is through this Word that you are given life and peace.

Yes, Jesus did weep. He wept for your condition. He wept for the condition of all mankind. He saw it in it’s depravity and went to Calvary because He knew He was the only one that could change it. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. However, even though He wept for the state of man He did not wallow in that state. His love for you was so much that He wanted to remove the curse you and mankind were under and He did. He gave you righteousness and eternal life for you will never weep.

His entrance was truly triumphal. He came lowly riding on a donkey not to rule over and lord over mankind, but to serve it, to be the sacrifice for it. This triumphal entry in which He had compassion upon the whole world, in which He saw the need of all peoples gave Himself up and laid Himself bare so that a new creation could be ushered in. That mankind could be washed clean and be part of this new creation. You have the guarantee that through Him you are granted this. That through Him you are saved.

These are the Words you hang on to. These are the Words Christ spoke that the people were hanging on to. That through Him peace will be given to you and where you will never be put to shame.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 19
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Jeremiah
You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[a]
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules of the Lord.

How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.

Romans 9
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Have you ever heard the phrase “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission”? Have you ever done this to another person? This is not always true. There are some people you know that you would never try to pull this on. Being a math teacher there are independent variables and dependent variables and dependent variables always rely on the independent variable. What does this phrase really depend on? The saying “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” is completely dependent on who you are trying to pass this off on. The “who” in this saying is your independent variable and whether you get forgiveness or wrath depends on that “who”.

In the Gospel reading you hear about the unrighteous manager who loses his position because he was wasteful of the master’s possessions. Who else was wasteful with the possessions they were given? Hopefully, this reminds you of the prodigal son. Here both the manager and the son squander what their master and father have given them. Both of these men realize their position now that they no longer have what they used to. Both of these men realize the same thing.

This unrighteous manager sees his position and knows that he cannot work hard nor can he beg. The son eating the pods of the pigs just to survive realizes that his situation is hopeless. Both of these men realize that the only way out of their situation is from something outside of themselves.

You baptized have been given the keys to the kingdom. You have the inheritance of heaven. You have God’s riches and God’s grace. Are you like this manager and do you waste it? Do you take your inheritance and squander it on selfish things? When you walk out of these doors do you leave your inheritance here? Do your neighbors, the people you interact with know how rich you are?

Christ right before this gospel reading gave the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal son. In these parables He was talking both to the Pharisees and scribes and also to the disciples and “sinners”. Those parables were both to comfort and call for repentance. Here in this gospel reading He is just speaking with His disciples and the Pharisees are eavesdropping on the conversation. He doesn’t want His disciples to squander what they have been given. For the Pharisees and scribes who were given the possessions of God instead of using them wisely and spreading the Good News about the Messiah they made it harder to get into heaven by setting up more rules and making sure they profited from it. They forgot who the Master/Father was and where all good things come from.

What both men, manager and son, realize and know for a fact is the mercy and graciousness of the master and the father. This is what they count on and bank their lives on. They know that the master/father will not change. His character is constant and He is known for His grace and mercy.

Christ wants His disciples to know the character of the Father. That they can trust in Him more than the master and father in the story. That they can have the confidence to go forth and share this good news about how good and loving the Father is.

The focus of the Gospel is not on the unrighteous manager, but on the good master. The manager had complete confidence in the master that even though he was changing what the people owed, he would get away with it and save his life on the fact that the master was gracious.

The manager changed the amounts quickly so it looked like it came from the master because it was something the master would do. The people were not surprised when their accounts were changed, but totally could see this as something the master would do. The manager being the hands in which the master worked so also being credited for doing good work even though it is all from the master. The master even approved what the unrighteous man did because it solidified the character of the master to the debtors.

Here I am as a pastor a sinful man, and even though I have squandered His riches He has allowed me to show you the vast amounts of mercy to you His debtors. Here in His Word He allows me to pronounce you forgiven of your debts, forgiven of your sins. In the story these are no small amounts that are forgiven, but huge amounts that most others would not do. However, for the Father this is not a problem. He sent His Son to pay for our debts. Debts that no other man can forgive, are forgiven in Him. He can poor out this grace over and over and these debts don’t make a dent because He is God and His riches are vast beyond any human measures.

You too can hear these words of forgiveness that are pronounced here in this church with confidence. For your Master/Father is better far beyond the story that Christ tells His disciples. You can have peace that surpasses all understanding because if God says your sins are forgiven. Then they are. You by hearing this Word can know with complete certainty that you are His. That Christ’s death and resurrection is more than sufficient for you. That the Father through His Son has shown His goodness, He has shown His mercy, He has shown His grace.

This is what Christ is talking about commending the shrewdness of the manager. The manager banked his life on who the master is and did it without a doubt. You who are righteous, who are baptized, can trust your life completely and without reserve in the Father because Jesus pronounced “It is finished!”

Through Christ even though you are not perfect you know that He will work through you. For you too are connected to the Good Master. Through you others will see the graciousness and mercy of the Lord. This is most certainly true because He resides with you. You have His Spirit. Your neighbors will see God’s mercy and riches because He has rescued you from your predicament. He has released you of your debts. He has made you free through the blood of Christ and given you the kingdom of God.

When you say “It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” you are trusting in the person who this will affect. Christ in what He has done for you by going to the cross and dying upon calvary allows you to go confidently and with joy knowing that you already have His forgiveness. That you do have His riches and He will never change. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

God is not a variable, but He is a constant, in math, that means it never changes. If a dependent variable is based on a constant it no longer is a variable but becomes a constant too. God is good, God is love, God is merciful, God is gracious. Therefore, you know because you have been united in a death like His you most certainly will be united in a resurrection like His. You have good, you have love, you have mercy, and you have grace.

SDG

Pastor Daniel Holm

Luke 16
1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

2 Samuel 22
“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
27 with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
28 You save a humble people,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
29 For you are my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

32 “For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33 This God is my strong refuge
and has made my way blameless.
34 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.

1 Cor 10
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

As a parent I want my sons’ lives to be good. I want them to feel minimal pain, minimal strife, minimal sadness. I want them to be well off, happy, find love and have a family that loves them. Do you all feel the same way towards your loved ones? But, can you guarantee this? Can you state for a fact that their life will be good? We all know the answer is not in this lifetime.

Ever since the fall of man, the expulsion from the garden of Eden, sin entered the world. Everything is now corrupt and corruption breeds corruption. This world, life here is not getting better, but it continues to get worse. This is the making of man, this is the making of sin, you inherit it and pass it on from generation to generation. To ask for good in this life is an oxymoron.

To be honest, this life holds only pain, sadness, suffering, and death. It is full of greed, envy, sloth, adultery, murder, gluttony and humanity thinks it can make it better. It’s like spilling a drip of paint on a priceless painting and saying ‘I can fix it’ in which you just smear it over more parts of the painting in trying to wipe it off spreading the destruction and messing the painting up even more.

You are known by your fruits. Look at what mankind has done. Our sin has led to massive waste, our sin has caused the extinction of species, our sin has led to massive pollution, our sin has led to disease after disease. Humanity apart from God is a diseased tree bearing only deadly fruit. You see this in the selfishness and vanity of people, you see this in the distrust of neighbors, you see this in the apathetic way people ignore others in need. What good can come from man. The answer is none. Dead in sin, rotten literally to your core there is nothing you can do to make your situation any better. Have you not heard the phrase the road to hell is paved with ‘good intentions.’

The Gospel tells you to beware of false prophets. Those people out in the world that will tell you that you are good the way you are. You do you. Do what you feel. Love yourself. Find your happiness. Love is love.
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'”
These are the fierce wolves who say twisted things to turn you away from God.

Yes, you are a sinner, but your comfort is not in yourself. Do not listen to those who tell you otherwise, but trust only in the Word of God. For this is your comfort. Yes, you are wicked, yes you are a sinner, but this is why Christ came down from heaven. He took corrupted mankind and was born of a virgin. He was born without sin. He who knew no sin took on sin in our place and went to the cross to die for you. Yes, you are a sinner, but you are saved. Your hope is in Christ Jesus. You know that this world is fallen, but you have real good, pure good with you because you have Christ. You have been washed clean by water and His Word.

Yet, even though you are made brand new in Christ. He does not say that it’s going to be roses and unicorns. He tells you that life as a Christian is going to be rough because you are foreigner in a land that is no longer meant for you. You are a citizen of heaven and that makes you an enemy of this world and satan. This world and satan will do whatever it can to corrupt you, to choke you out so that you turn away from that saving Word, that you turn away from the fact that Christ has forgiven you, and covered you in His righteousness. Not by what you have done, but by what He has done for you. Therefore, because you have this you will be attacked all the more. Look at Job, look at the prophets, look at the apostles, it did not end well for them in this world. Do not think it will end well for you either.

People may think that this is a bleak outlook that I am telling you that you only have troubles and tribulations ahead, but I would be lying if I said otherwise. But, but this world is not where your home is. This world is not where your treasures lie. You can leave this place in joy, you can wake up tomorrow in joy because this is not your home because this is not where your treasures lie. You have joy because of what Christ has done, you have joy in the bleakest of situations because you have been paid for by the blood of the only begotten son of God born of the virgin Mary Jesus Christ. His blood has set you free from the slavery of sin, His blood has set you free from the dominion of death, His blood has set you free from the chains of satan. You are His child! He is with you! He cares for you and in Him you have grace and mercy that knows no bounds.

Through Christ you do bear fruit, you will be recognized by your fruit in this fallen world. You will be recognized by the way you show love to your neighbor, the way you sacrifice for others, the way you have joy in terrible circumstances. These fruits are because God has given you a heart of flesh. He has sent His Spirit to dwell with you. It is He that works in you to do these good works. You are a light shining on a hill that others will see because He has made you clean and it is He that shines through you. You have been attached to the one true vine and He will prune you and make sure you bear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It is because of Christ’s sacrifice that God does know you and will never leave you nor forsake you. It is through Him that good has entered back into this fallen world. It is by Him that you are blessed.

In this life, life in Christ, you see God’s work, you see it by what He does in you and what He does in others. You see it in His word, you see it in His Church. Here in this life you see relief with the absolution of your sins, you see joy for God guarantees His forgiveness and grace, you are given strength by His very body and blood. You see life in His Word and Sacraments. Look at baptism, look at the font back there. That font is where life begins. You are reminded of this every time you enter this church. In Christ you see the stain of sin not smeared but removed completely. The masterpiece now fully restored. That masterpiece being you.

As a parent who is saved by grace my son’s lives are good for it is Christ’s life that lives in them. My sons will not have pain, strife or sadness because in heaven Jesus will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. They will be well off for their Father, their Father in heaven has put a ring on their finger and put a robe on them and has celebrated their homecoming. They do have love, they have a love that is pure and good and unending for it flows from the sacrifice of Christ. In this sacrifice they are given a new name and a family that will care for them forever. I can guarantee this. I can guarantee this because God has told me this in His Word. A Word that has always been kept, never unbroken. My sons have this and so do you. You have this guarantee in Christ and what joy that is.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Matt 7
15 ‘”Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
‘”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Jeremiah 23
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’

For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Acts 20
27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Paul presents the Christian life perfectly in our Epistle reading:
“Just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (Rom 6:19)
Instead of presenting yourselves to impurity, you present yourselves to righteousness. This is nothing other than repentance. In repentance you turn away from sin and present yourself to Christ. Repentance is the life of the Christian.

You know this doesn’t make for an easy life.

The Old Testament and Gospel readings are a perfect example of why this life is hard.

The Old Testament reading reminds us that God made fruit for us to eat and it was indeed “very good.” But He restricted Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God made us as physical creatures. We need the sustenance of food to survive. The gift of food is a wonderful gift of God that He still provides for believer and unbeliever alike. In the Gospel reading, we see that even though the crowd following Jesus around was full of believers and unbelievers, Jesus had compassion on them and fed them to the full from seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. The testimony of this incredible miracle tells us that “they ate and were satisfied.” (v. 8) We know that some of the listeners were unbelievers because we’re told in John that they were looking for a bread king.

God has established a regular order for providing daily bread. Farmers farm. Ranchers ranch. Butchers butcher. Grocers grocer. Doctors doctor. Dentists dentist. Mechanics build and fix stuff. Cobblers make and fix shoes. In this normal way, God provides for the daily bread of all people; believers and unbelievers alike. Jesus didn’t come to establish the family or government which provide the framework for all vocations. He established those in Genesis 1 and 2. Some families are more pious than others and hence work better. Some governments are more just than others and hence protect people’s daily bread better. Sin has impacted both family and the government so that they don’t work as they ought to. But Jesus reminds us that He is in control and injustice and family failings won’t last forever. He will make everything right when He comes again in glory.

But Jesus came in the flesh for the same reason He fed the 4,000. He had compassion on us. If there’s one Greek word to remember it’s to have compassion. Σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnidzomai) means to have compassion. It literally means that your guts twist on themselves. It’s very graphic which is probably why I remember it so easily and like it so much. Jesus’ guts were twisted with compassion over our pain and suffering. The daily bread required to fix our pain and suffering is not bread and fish, but the heavenly bread that comes down from heaven.

He had to come and put the yoke of humanity upon Himself. Unlike the first Adam who succumbed to temptation, the second Adam lived a perfect life. He kept the Law of God perfectly in the midst of temptation and suffering. Unlike the first Israel who was unfaithful, the second Israel was faithful to death, even death on the cursèd tree. He was the spotless Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He doesn’t distribute the forgiveness of sins through the farmer or rancher or doctor, but has established His bride, the church, where He distributes this much needed daily bread of the forgiveness of sins. Bread gets moldy and fish rot, but the forgiveness of sins lasts forever and never perishes. Just as much as bread and fish are part of daily bread, so is the forgiveness of sins.

God did not make us mere physical creatures. We are spiritual creatures as well. Bread and fish feed your bodies and the forgiveness of sins feeds your souls. And there is a beautiful symmetry to this.

Satan deceived Adam and Eve through daily bread. Daily bread is a wonderful creation of God for our use, yet how often does it prove as an idol or stumbling block for us? Consider alcohol. It has ensnared so many to a destructive sin filled life that has left so many ashamed of what they have done. Consider food. It has ensnared so many to a destructive, gluttonous life that has left so many ashamed of their body. Consider sex. It has ensnared so many with promiscuity and pornography to a life of debauchery that has left so many ashamed of what they have caught or what they have done. Satan still uses daily bread to tempt Christians into a life of debauchery and shame. If he doesn’t get you with alcohol, he’ll try to get you with food. If he doesn’t get you with food or alcohol, he’ll try to get you with sex. Satan takes the good gifts of God and perverts them to entice you to become a slave to sin.

And if you’ve been caught up in any kind of pet sin, then you know you do become a slave to it. When all you can think about is food or alcohol or sex, you become enslaved to a life of misery and shame. What’s the answer to this problem?

The world would have you change the Word of God so that you can excuse your slavery to sin. Why do you think the LGBTQ community works so hard to normalize perversity and debauchery? And make no mistake, that’s what it is: perversity and debauchery. And it wants to suck you down into its cesspit of sin.

Yet so many so-called Christians have sex outside of marriage, that it’s easy for them to point a finger at the LGBTQ community and ignore their own sin. It’s shameful that the divorce rate among Christians is as high as it is. It’s right over 25% and varies slightly depending on your denomination.

How can so many Christians, a full quarter, knowingly sin against God through divorce. Christians rightly preach against the evil of abortion, but many blindly take birth control. The church, including the LCMS, used to be strongly against birth control. It is shameful that we have bowed to cultural pressures and relented in calling birth control what it is… sin. If Onan were alive, he would whole heartedly agree that birth control is sin. Read Genesis 38 today if you don’t remember who Onan is. When you separate the sexual act from marriage and the possibility of having kids, you are sinning. It is shameful that so many Christians use birth control and refuse to have kids. So many of our young Christians aren’t even seeking marriage. Paul warns that celibacy is a gift only for very few people (1 Cor 7:1-16), but so many of our young people act as if anyone can have this gift. And then they are surprised and ashamed when they fall into sexual sin. This is shameful too.

Sexual sins are especially pernicious, but how many fall into the slavery of alcohol or food addiction? And the world would like to normalize these sinful activities too.

But the answer to the problem of sexual sins and any other sin is not to remain silent or only rail against one sin. The answer is to examine and hear the Word of God and know it better and better. So that you can warn the unrepentant including yourself. So that you can comfort troubled consciences including yours. And so that you can live a chaste life.

And this is the first step of repentance: examining and hearing the Word of God. God teaches us through the author of Hebrews that:
“The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Heb 4:12-13)

You also know this as the second function of the law, or the mirror. It convicts you of sin. The Word of God doesn’t sugar coat sin. It doesn’t turn a blind eye to your sin. It points it out for what it is: a terrible act in thought, word, or deed against God who created you, redeemed you, and sanctifies you.

There’s only one answer for sin and that is the forgiveness of sins. But you are beloved children of God. You know that God is extravagant with the forgiveness of sins. He provides it through so many ways and it is always available to you.

Paul says to present yourselves as slaves to righteousness. But what if you look at your life and do not see that you are a slave to righteousness? What’s the answer to this problem?

Is it try harder?

Is it try smarter?

Paul’s answer to this is quite surprising. At first blush, it sounds like Paul is saying you need to do something or act in a certain way. Doesn’t “present yourselves” sound like you need to do something. And when Paul talks about the wages of sin, he’s saying you’ve earned eternal death. But when he talks about the other side of the coin, that is the righteous life, he says “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

He’s saying the motivation for good works or fruit of salvation or sanctification, whatever you want to call it, is to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfector of our faith.” (Heb 12:2)

Do you remember the WWJD bracelets? They got it so wrong but not completely wrong. The idea behind the WWJD bracelets is that you would ask yourself the question “What would Jesus do?” when faced with a moral dilemma.

The first problem with this approach is that we aren’t Jesus. Jesus acted from pure motives from a pure heart and acted perfectly. He did this to save sinners from sin, death, and the devil. We cannot do what Jesus did. We cannot even save ourselves from sin, death, and the devil.

The second problem with this approach is that it asks the wrong question. When I am presented with my neighbor in need, my question is not what would Jesus do, or what do I want to do, but what does my neighbor need. And this gets at the little part that the WWJD bracelet had right.

We are to follow the example of Jesus in regard to humility and service. When I ask the question, what does my neighbor need, I am acting from a place of humility. The neighbor in front of me and their need is more important than my own. And God has placed them in my life so that I may serve them. I saw this well meaning, but ultimately stupid, meme on Facebook that you have to take care of yourself before taking care of others. That’s not what God says. He says, “so you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what is our duty.'” (Luke 17:10) Your life in Christ is a life very much like His in the fact that it is a life of humility and service. And just as Christ was exalted during His resurrection and ascension, you will be exalted and raised again in the new heavens and earth. You have the promise of the Almighty Creator and Redeemer that He will vindicate you on that great day.

And when you fail to act from humility and service, the answer to that is to look to Christ on the cross and receive the fruit of His sacrifice. The only answer to sin is the forgiveness of sins. The only answer to failure, a sneaky word for sin, is the forgiveness of sins. The only answer to shortcomings, a euphemism for sin, is the forgiveness of sins.

This is the life of the Christian, also know as living daily in your baptism, daily repentance and the reception of forgiveness of sins. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” (14: 20)

This only happens with the examination and hearing of Scripture and the lavish application of forgiveness of sins. But some of you have sinned grievously in the past. What about you?

Remember two things. First God remembers your sin no more once it is forgiven. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgression from us.” (Ps 103:12) Do you remember the purity rings? They are a bad idea because they look at things legalistically, but there is a gem of a great idea in there. People who had fallen into the sin of sexual impurity would repent and wear a purity ring. They were made fun of by the world, but they understood this wonderful verse from the Psalter. God remembers your sin no more and you are pure in His eyes in Christ.

Second, remember what makes you worthy to kneel before your God and receive His true body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. It’s not that you have cleaned yourself up or that you have done some rituals or physical practices. No, “that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you’ for the forgiveness of sins.”

You are a child of God. As our Hymn of the Day puts it, “You are His chosen generation.” You are truly worthy to kneel before Him and receive the bread that surpasses the bread 2,000 years ago that He fed to 4,000 people in a desolate place. Come and receive the daily bread that is above all daily bread. It is the healing balm for your souls.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pr. Wm. Maggard

Jesus says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them.” This statement is very important by Christ. This statement shows that God has not changed but has remained constant. He wanted perfection and perfect obedience in the OT and He still wants it in the NT. Many people get the misconception that the OT are vastly different. One is chock full of fire and brimstone and the other is full of love and grace. Here Jesus is saying that this is not true, but God has remained and always will remain the same. He also expects perfection and nothing less.

My oldest son had a teacher that had a test that if the student did not get an A on the test they failed. They got a zero in the grade book. As a parent when I heard this I was upset. Imagine if the teacher said get one wrong and you get a zero. Don’t mess up on every assignment and everything has to be perfect or you get a zero and fail the class. Again, as a parent I would be outraged. Why? Is this not what God tells you to do in your life? 24/7 every week, every month, every year you are to be perfect. You are to never mess up, never step out of line or you get a zero aka condemnation. How does that sound? Impossible? Hopeless? What’s the point? Angry? Why? If you feel any sort of way it’s because you know you can’t do it. You know the futility and impossibility of it because you can’t even do it for a day.

Now Jesus didn’t just say this, but he threw extra stuff on there to make sure it was clear what the expectations were. Jesus says “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” In the verses right after the Gospel Jesus says this too “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Jesus wants to make it clear that the law doesn’t just encompass that narrow view point of murder or adultery, but it encompasses any and all parts that break from that obedience. This weight and pressure of your thoughts, desires and actions must be perfect and flawless at all times and in all places is too much to bear. It is a load that you cannot carry. What is even worse is that “you were born in sin” You can’t avoid it. Original sin, actual sin you are helpless in your condition and Christ here is pointing this out to you to make sure it is crystal clear that in all things perfection is required.

Today you are to follow His law, tomorrow you are to follow His law. The day after that you are to follow His law. You are to do this. This is why it is so important to know the commandments and what they mean so that you do these very things. Do not forget also “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Many of you might be thinking well that doesn’t seem fair. Why? How can you be in the presence of God without perfection? He wants perfection from you so that you can be with Him. God who is all good cannot be tainted by something that is bad. This was why Lucifer was cast out this was why Adam and Eve were cast out because remaining would be destruction and annihilation. Perfection is necessary to be with God otherwise you are without.

What is beautiful and amazing is that God knows that you cannot do this. He wants you to know that you cannot do this and this is the importance of Jesus’ line in the Gospel. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Your hope, mankind’s hope is not in themselves, but in Christ. Here Jesus born of a virgin without original sin who fulfills the law perfectly dies in your place. His perfection, His flawlessness in His earthly life gets passed onto you in His death and resurrection. You have been made new. This new you is robed in Christ’s righteousness. So even though you have the Old Adam, you still have your sinful body and tendencies for disobedience you are also a saint. You are both sinner and saint. Yet, in Christ’s perfection you can now be with God. It is His relationship with the Father that you now receive. You now have perfects on everything because Christ’s death on the cross perfectly did that. His flawlessness in His thoughts, actions and deeds get carried over to you.

This perfection, the laws that are still in place are so that you will live in perfect harmony and safety with God. This is heaven! You have His grace now. You have His covering now, but you know as well as I do that you mess up on this side of heaven. You do not keep the law of God, but in Christ you have His grace. We are not antinomians who think we can sin all we want now that we have Christ. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. You are free from sin. He has united you to Himself in His death and resurrection in your baptism. You are brought into a new life where God is with you. Where God is there is perfection. You have been made perfect through Christ. As you know this perfection is what you take on the Word of God for if you look at your thoughts and deeds on this side of heaven they are impure, but God is with you. He works in you and the good, the perfection you do, is in communion with God.

You can say that you are perfect. No one on the street would believe you, but you are perfect in the sight of God. For God sees the perfection of His Son. His blood, His body was sacrificed so that it could wash you clean, a clean that can no longer be soiled. A clean that lasts for eternity. This washing is the washing of regeneration. Sin has no dominion over you death has no dominion over you because of the cross of Christ. He has given you perfection and eternity, an eternity in the presence of God. You are no longer a man of unclean lips for His blood is the coal that purged you of all impurities so that you can stand in the company of heaven.

Even though the law is overbearing and the weight is intolerable Jesus took that burden upon Himself and let you rest in Him. This rest, this respite, this peace is in the fact that you are baptized. You know that “It is finished” for Christ finished it. Your confidence is in His sacrifice. So when you are feeling overwhelmed, when you feel that you are not good enough, too rotten, too sinful, unwanted Christ said “I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” He has fulfilled the law in your place to the iota and to the dot. He has brought you into His perfection. He brings hope to the hopeless, life to the lifeless. He brings grace to the sinner. Just as He brought His people out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of slavery He has brought you out of Death and out of the slavery of sin. He has given you perfection so that you can be with Him in the promised land where He will show you steadfast love for thousands of generations because His son has loved Him and kept His commandments.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Matt 5
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Exodus 20
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Romans 6
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I think we can all agree that people are pretty bad at establishing and maintaining peace. Just think for a moment about the things going on in the world, in our country, in our communities. It’s not that peace isn’t something we want. After all, the Law of God that’s written on our hearts gives us a certain inclination to peace and order which we can see in our human attempts to organize societies, for example.
Sometimes these attempts at establishing peace are closer to home. I’m thinking of those ‘House Rules’ signs that are readily available to match your home’s unique décor. Some of them have good and helpful rules:
‘if you break it, fix it’, ‘if you make a mess, clean it up’, and such. Some try to be a bit more biblical: ‘love one another’, ‘work hard’, ‘forgive’ … But in spite of our natural longing for order and our inherent understanding of right and wrong, we never seem to achieve the peace that we desire. The reason, of course, is that since the Fall we are also, by nature, sinful and unclean and have an overwhelming propensity for mucking things up, creating confusion and disorder, and outright rebelling against God who is “not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33), as Scripture says.

As children of God, Christ’s Holy Church is our home of peace. God brought us into this home of peace by the one Baptism for the remission of sins. And the peace that we have by virtue of Holy Baptism is continually renewed in us by confession and Absolution: the ministry of reconciliation, as St. Paul calls it (2 Cor 5:18) – being reconciled to God by confessing our sins and receiving His gift of forgiveness. And that renewed peace is strengthened in us all the more by the real presence of Christ who gives His true body and blood for us Christians to eat and to drink: nourishing our faith.

The Holy Sacraments that Christ instituted – to minister peace with God for us sinful people with troubled consciences – are also Sacraments of fellowship for us. Christ’s Holy Church, in addition to being a place of sanctuary for sinners in need of forgiveness and a refuge from doubt and confusion, is also a home for us as God’s family. And in today’s Epistle, St. Peter lays out the divinely inspired ‘House Rules’ for us as the family of God.

First, the Church is to be a home of brethren. “All of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” We are to have one mind in this holy house: a common confession of faith that unites us in spite of our varied opinions and unique personalities. We’re to be mutually sympathetic and compassionate on account of our many individual faults, weaknesses, and difficulties: placing ourselves in our brother’s circumstances – just as God became man in the person of Christ to sympathize with our human weaknesses and reconcile us to the Father. Likewise, we’re to have pity for those who are suffering with all tenderness and humility: avoiding that which causes pain or aggravation out of Christian love.

The Church is also to be a home of guarded tongues. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” By Baptism and faith, Christians are heirs of the divine blessings of forgiveness and salvation. And as heirs of the divine blessings, we are to bless and be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Christ – even the ones we’re not so eager to bless and be a blessing to – because, as Scripture says: “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor 12:24-26)

And the Church is to be a home of holy work and prayer – ora et labora, pray and work, as the old saying goes. St. Peter quotes Ps. 34, saying: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Your life as a Christian is lived under the eyes and ears of God who directs your work and listens to your prayers and supplications. This is our comfort when we stumble in our labors … and when our worship and prayers falter. No matter what suffering comes upon you in this world of sin, as a Christian you have no need to fear. “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” Why? Because by grace, through faith, you “regard Christ the Lord as holy.” Peter was drawing on the Prophet Isaiah here who, when Judah was faced with the coming Assyrian invasion, said: “do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary …” Christ the Holy One is our true sanctuary from all the fear that we’re faced with because He entered the heavenly sanctuary as our great High Priest, having atoned for our sins by means of His own blood, where He intercedes for His household of faith and peace day and night. That’s the peace of God which passes all understanding.

But while we rejoice in the peace of sins forgiven and richly poured out on us repentant sinners in Christ’s house of peace, we aren’t called to simply sit idly by: selfishly enjoying that peace without sharing it with others.
St. Paul, after Christ called Him by the Gospel on the road to Damascus, made his way to Jerusalem to share the peace of sins forgiven with others. And we learn from this passage in Acts that “the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31). The Church had peace. It walked in the fear of the Lord. And by Christ’s Spirit, it multiplied. This is how our Epistle Reading and our Gospel Reading fit together.

From the Gospel, we learn that Christ is always laboring in His house of peace, and we should be too. The fishermen had called it quits for the day. They were out of their boats and were cleaning their nets. They may have been worn out and overwhelmed with feelings of despair over their lack of success, but Jesus wasn’t. He got into the boat and continued to teach the people with His life-giving Word. Then He called upon Peter to “put out into the deep and let down [their] nets for a catch.” Peter was to be brave and trusting but leave the results to Christ. Even though we labor, it is Christ who fills the net. Indeed, the best workers in Christ’s Church are those who are humble … who know their transgressions … who know that apart from Christ they can do nothing (Jn 15:5). To such as these, Christ gives peace to their anxious consciences and success to their work.

It’s true that no matter how much we try to show people that there’s no bondage in Christ’s net, there will still be those who prefer to remain in the vast ocean of sin and self-will. But our power is Christ’s power and our work as the Church is Christ’s work. When we understand this, we are able to labor in peace … without fear.

We are the people “pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God.” We have been drawn out of the ocean of sin by Baptism and faith. We are kept secure in Christ’s house of peace by His Word, His absolution, and His Supper. And as we labor to see that the net of the Gospel is cast out far and wide, we rest peacefully in the knowledge that, in spite of our failures, it is Christ who will fill the net of His Church.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

The Gospel sets the tone with “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” This reading follows on the tails of loving your enemy and doing good to those who hate you. The Gospel reading is at the end of the sermon of the plain where the beatitudes have already been said the woes have already been said and now this is speaking to the Christian, the disciples of Christ. So when you hear “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned” we are not talking about actual judicial decisions but it is speaking to judgements of believers against unbelievers. Dr. Just, a Lukan scholar, puts it this way:
“It refers to judgements of believers against unbelievers, and particularly those judgements in the Christian assembly among believers. These would not simply be the normal kinds of petty criticisms that take place in every community, but judgements and condemnations about doctrine and life that are made without substantial evidence or are based on a faulty understanding of God’s standards. Above all, since Jesus does not want his disciples to misrepresent God. If they themselves are judgemental or legalistic, they sully God’s character as a God of grace.”

Therefore, this does not mean you cannot make judgements where there is evidence and it goes against God’s Word. This does not mean we cannot condemn actions that oppose the Word of God. This means you do not get to judge a person on their repentance, you cannot judge a person on their faith. To clarify, if someone asks for forgiveness and you put conditions on it to earn the forgiveness, like what they must do to earn it if they really mean it. Then forgiveness becomes about works and no longer grace. Also, you cannot say to a person if they were truly faithful then they would do this, this and this. Again, faith becomes a work based on the individual rather than a gift from God. In these cases you are judging or condemning wrongly and you are sullying God’s grace. You are tainting what Jesus has done.

Did Christ put any conditions on His forgiveness? Does He not give you faith through the Holy Spirit? You can make judgements if people do not believe Christ is both God and man, you can make judgements if people say that there is no triune God. These prohibitions, things not to do, are the characteristics Christians take on. Loving your enemy, showing mercy, giving grace. Christians reflect the love, mercy and grace Christ has shown them.
“Give, and it will be given to you.” Christ’s words reflect that very message. You have been given grace and mercy because He has loved the lepers, the outcasts, the enemies, the sinners. You were loved first by God, given grace in His sacrifice and is this you will naturally give as it has been given to you. This next verse did not make sense to me as I am a California boy, but I looked it up and it helps express the love and mercy He shows you. “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” Have you ever opened a bag of chips and it looks like one-third of the bag is all they give you.

Well this is the very opposite of this. It is if they took that chip bag filled it up as full as they could, then shook it so you could get more chips to fit, then heaped more on top after it could no longer fit any. The picture is an overabundance of love, grace and mercy are given to you. Christ gives you a superabundant amount of grace, mercy and love. These are the very characteristics of God. A God who delights in showing mercy.

So do not be stingy, do not be cheap. Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying,
“When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale,that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
Do not be like those in the temple. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
Have you not heard the parable of the ungrateful servant? A servant whose debt was forgiven by the king only to throw a man that owed him a little into prison. You have eternal life, you have forgiveness, you have mercy and grace through your Savior, Jesus Christ. You are given an inheritance far better than any riches in this world. You have been treated far better than you deserve. Do not withhold these riches from your neighbor.

This is what Christ is talking about with a blind man leading a blind man? This is most particularly talking to pastors, but it applies to the church as well. I know that the only way to heaven is through Christ alone; there are no amount of works that I can do to get there. That I am deserving of hell and damnation, but it is only through Christ’s death and resurrection that my sins have been paid for and I am declared righteous. If I teach you anything else other than this it is if I am the blind man and it would better if I was not born. I should have a millstone tied around my neck and thrown in the sea. Why? I would be portraying Christ incorrectly. I would be barring heaven as those in the temple did by selling the animal sacrifices. I would be giving you a chip bag one-third full and ultimately lead you to disappointment and resentment. I as a teacher of the Word must continue to scoop helping after helping of grace and mercy onto you just as Christ has done for all mankind. You too dear Christians, how can you see the speck in another’s eye if you have a log in yours? Take a minute and really think about that. Can you see at all? It’s rather absurd.

Yet, it is Christ that pulls the logs out of your eye and it is only through the Word and Spirit that you can see the truth. It is the knowledge of Christ crucified. It is the knowledge that Jesus came for to redeem the sinner and grant salvation that lets you see clearly, and also grant mercy to your neighbor that you can love your enemy. It is this sacrificial love that He gives to you that allows you to heap grace and mercy upon your enemy.

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Who is your teacher? Who is teaching you how to act? Is it the world. Are you being trained by this world and adopting it’s traits or is Christ your teacher? Are you learning from what He is giving you? Can you even comprehend the amount of grace He has given you? I am not here to remove your speck in your eye, but to comfort you and speak kindly to you. You are God’s chosen people, You are loved by a God who delights in showing mercy. Here in His divine service He remembers His promise, He gives you grace and mercy to let you know that you are justified and He sanctifies you through His Word and His sacraments. His love allowed Joseph to forgive and bless his brothers when they meant to kill him. He through His son Jesus Christ has been merciful to you so that you too can be merciful. Not as a requirement but because His mercy to you is so much that it spills over to your neighbor and your enemy.

SDG
Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 6
36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Gen 50
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”‘ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Romans 12
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Lk 15:7)

Last week we heard about Jesus eating with Pharisees and teaching them with the Parable of the Great Banquet. While the Pharisees were devout and law-abiding, they tended to be self-righteous: much too certain of their own ability to keep God’s Law. As a result, they tended to be lacking in repentance (something that we Christians must be very cautious of in our own lives).

And in spite of the fact that they repeatedly tried to entrap Jesus, He was always willing to accept their invitations, eat with them, and teach them. Most of them didn’t believe Jesus. Nor did they believe that He was the promised Messiah. But Jesus took on human flesh to call sinners to repentance – that we might be saved by faith in Him – so Jesus proclaimed Law and Gospel to the Pharisees just the same.

But the Pharisees weren’t the only group of people that Jesus associated with. Jesus kept company with those who were widely known in the community to be sinners: like prostitutes and thieving tax collectors.

Not only did Jesus talk with them … and eat with them (something scandalous and unthinkable to the self-righteous who thought they were perfect in every way), but His message to such openly sinful people was also the same as it was to the Pharisees: none of you are righteous before God on account of your own merits; none of you have kept God’s Law perfectly enough to earn God’s favor – indeed, you can’t – for all of you are sinners. And this message applies just as much to us as it did to the openly sinful and the stubbornly self-righteous sinners that Jesus spoke with during His public ministry.

Because we’re sinners, God’s Law condemns us. By God’s grace and the working of the Holy Spirit may we repent and believe the Gospel – that Christ came to save us from our sins – both
the ones everyone knows about like the thieving tax collectors and prostitutes and the ones known only to you and God as with the Pharisees who only appeared blameless on the outside.

Jesus teaches us today in His Holy Word: tearing open the self-righteousness that we think we have to reveal the sinfulness that infects our thoughts, words, deeds, and very nature, but then offering to us the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, newness of life, strengthening and growth in our lives of faith and sanctification in this life, and the certain hope of eternal life in His heavenly kingdom.

Jesus told sinners of all kinds – sinners like each of us – to repent and believe the Gospel (Mk 1:15) and many did. Many were drawn to Christ’s Word and our Lord never turned any of them away. In fact, seeing Jesus intentionally associating with known sinners was seriously troubling to the Pharisees. They were beside themselves with shock and indignation saying: “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:2).

They couldn’t believe that. It was inconceivable for the self-righteous Pharisees. For all their outward works, the Pharisees had no time for such obviously sinful people: no comfort to speak to them, no mercy to offer them, even if they were broken by their sin and were desperate for comfort and forgiveness. Does this characterize our own thinking? Do we think we’re too good to speak the mercy and comfort of the Gospel to those who are openly sinful?

The self-righteous Pharisees thought that their good works justified them before God and that there was essentially no hope for the likes of tax collectors and other known sinners. The Pharisees didn’t believe that God could ever bring such blatantly sinful people into the household of faith.

This is the context in which Christ tells the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.

If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them strays from the flock, any faithful shepherd would leave the flock in search of the one that has become lost.

In other words, God doesn’t want those who stray from Him to be lost eternally. As He says through the Prophet Ezekiel, He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live” (Ez 33:11). Clearly the Pharisees don’t understand God’s love and mercy.

God is persistent in seeking out those who wander from His sheepfold: those who are worshiping their false gods of career and possessions, those who’ve been led to embrace the gluttony and lust of this world we live in, those who act out of malice or contempt toward their neighbors, and even those who’ve been seduced by the call of secularism that tells them they can do what they want, think what they want, and be what they want because of the heinous lie that ‘we can decide our own truth.’ God would have His good and wise Law and His healing Gospel proclaimed to all.

God’s love and mercy is such that, in spite of all of these and our many other sins, He calls us to repentance by His Word and Spirit: to turn from our own ways and live. He sent Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to seek out sinners, proclaim forgiveness and salvation in His name, and suffer and die for the sins of the world as the once-for-all sacrifice: atoning for the sins of sinners like you and me.

And Jesus continues to seek out His lost sheep through the preaching of the Gospel. His Church proclaims the message throughout the world: turn from your lives of sin and take refuge in Christ who bore your sins on the cross. Believe in Christ and be clothed with His perfect righteousness.

You know the struggle, the hardship, the suffering of this sinful world. Hear the voice of Jesus as He promises you that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt 11:30) for in Christ you have the gift of forgiveness from all your sins. “Though your sins are like scarlet [says the prophet], they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Is 1:18).

On account of Christ, God the Father is lovingly disposed toward you. Even though He knows all the evil you’ve done, He will still receive you into His sheepfold and make you holy in His sight through faith in Christ.

“And when he has found [the lost sheep], he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost'” (Lk 15:5).

When Christ’s Word and Spirit call sinners like us to repentance – and we thereby repent and believe the Gospel – He rejoices. And not Christ only, but even the holy angels and all the saints with Him sing out in praise of God’s grace, mercy, and steadfastness toward His sheep who like to wander.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, were not rejoicing and singing out in praise when the tax collectors and other sinners were gathering around Jesus. In the mind of the Pharisees, heaven was only for self-righteous people like them who, at least in their own minds, had no need of repentance. Jesus corrects this thinking: “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).

He then continues His teaching with another parable: a woman who had ten silver coins but lost one and diligently searched the house until she found it. Jesus makes it clear that no person is worth more or less than another. Every soul is precious to God and worth saving.

Christ shed His cleansing blood for all people and sees to it that the Gospel of salvation in Him is preached throughout the world “that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

God the Son became Man, spent His life teaching sinners, forgiving the repentant, and eating with them. He sacrificed His life for lost sinners like us, and now rules at God’s right hand: sending the light of His Gospel into the world, searching for every lost soul that they might be enlightened with the gift of faith in Christ.

Both of today’s parables show just how serious God is about seeking and saving the lost. He doesn’t reject anyone who comes to Him for forgiveness and healing.

While this is most sure and most precious to us, it’s also true that as the redeemed and forgiven people of God, we’re not called to sit idly by. That’s why St. James exhorts us, saying: “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (Js 2:17).

In other words, we should value the gift of salvation that Christ has won for us so highly that we follow Him into His kingdom in the way that we vowed at our Confirmations when we vowed that we would “faithfully conform all our life to the rule of the divine Word, to be diligent in the use of the means of grace, to walk in a way that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to the Triune God, even to death.”

It’s only by God’s grace and His gift of faith that we can believe or trust in Him for forgiveness and salvation. And it’s only by God’s grace through faith that we can even begin to “conform all our life to the rule of the divine Word”. That’s why here, in the midst of His Church, Jesus calls us back to Himself. It’s here where He searches us out and finds us through Confession and Absolution, through the remembrance of our Baptism, through the proclamation of the Divine Word, and through the Holy Supper. And as we receive Him by faith, He rejoices over the lost sheep that He has returned to His sheepfold.

Let us cast all our cares upon Him who died and rose again: knowing that He’s sought us out in the dust of our afflictions, and will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us unto life everlasting.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst