Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12A)

July 30, 2023

Text: Matt. 13:44-52

            “‘Have you understood all these things?’  [The disciples] said to him, ‘Yes’” (Matt. 13:51; ESV).  Well… an overstatement, to say the least.  As scribes go, the disciples had much more training ahead of them before they could competently bring out of their treasure what is new and what is old. 

            And what is new, and what is old… that is to say, a feast!  What is new: Fresh produce.  Homegrown.  Sweet honey from the comb, and figs from the Master’s own fig tree.  And what is old: Well aged wine, well refined. Fine cheeses and marbled steaks.  Signs that the Kingdom has come.  What is old: The Patriarchs, the Prophets.  What is new: The Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment and culmination of the old, the promised Messiah, God incarnate, who died for the sins of the world, but who is risen, and lives, and reigns, and sets out a Feast for you.  New, indeed!

            “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field,” or a “pearl of great value” (vv. 44, 46).  One natural interpretation of these parables (and probably the majority interpretation in the Missouri Synod until more recent times), is that Jesus is the treasure, Jesus is the pearl (or perhaps it is salvation, or justification), and you, dear Christian, should sell everything you have to buy the field with the treasure, the pearl of great price.  That is, you should do whatever it takes to obtain the Kingdom for yourself, and remain in it.  Which is not to say you can purchase salvation.  Of course not.  But it is to say, discipleship is costly, and it isn’t easy to follow the Crucified.  But you should make any sacrifice, suffer any loss, for the surpassing worth, as St. Paul says, of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord (Phil. 3:8). 

            This interpretation is not wrong, and it is particularly valuable at a time like ours when grace is thought to be cheap, and being a Christian is relatively easy.  This preaching serves as a corrective.  Would you be willing to give it all up, everything you have, if that were the cost of faithfulness to Jesus?  What about persecution?  Fines?  Imprisonment?  Martyrdom?  Would you be faithful unto death to receive from Jesus the crown of life (Rev. 2:10)?

            But, granting the point, there is a more Christological reading, which also enjoys an ancient pedigree.  That is that you are the treasure, you are the pearl.  Not by a value intrinsic to yourself.  Not by your own merit, or your own righteousness.  But by the value placed upon you by God, who loves the unlovable that they might lovely be, with a love that fashions its own object.  Much like the children of Israel in our Old Testament reading (Deut. 7:6-9).  God calls them His “treasured possession” (v. 6), chosen by God to be such, to be His holy people, over against all the other nations on the face of the earth.  Why?  Well, we know it isn’t because of Israel’s holy track record.  God says this about Israel in the very midst of their grumbling and complaining, their faithlessness and lovelessness in the wilderness.  So how are they holy?  Why does God treasure them?  Because He says so.  Because He has chosen them.  And as it was with the Old, so it is with the New Israel, the Christian Church.  We are His treasure, we are His pearl, because He says so, and because He has chosen us.

            And now, if that is the case, Jesus must be the One who sells all that He has to acquire the treasure, to obtain the pearl.  And He does.  He has.  The cross.  Jesus sheds His blood, gives His body, His very life, into death, to obtain us for His Kingdom.  He goes through hell to make it so. 

            In the case of the treasure, He buys the whole field, which is to say, the world, to obtain that which is hidden in it, His Christians.  This teaches, first of all, that the death of Jesus makes atonement for the sins of all people, of all times and places, even those who do not believe, and will not ultimately be saved.  He redeems the whole world, which is why it is an unspeakable tragedy when anybody is lost.  That is due to their own rejection of our Lord’s gift of forgiveness and salvation. 

            Second, this teaches that the Christian Church is hidden within the world, buried in the very soil.  True, we are not of the world, and we look for Jesus to come and deliver us from the fallenness of the world as it stands.  But we are very much in the world, and that is by design.  To be salt and light in the world, to season it and preserve it, to preach the Gospel, and to be Christ’s hands in the world to serve our neighbor. 

            Then, in the case of the pearl, He buys the specific individual piece He desires, and this teaches us that what He has done for the world, He has done for each one of us, individually.  Dear Christian, Jesus loves you!  Jesus died for you!  Jesus is risen and lives for you!  And He is coming back for you!  For all people, yes.  But specifically, for you!  There is no getting lost in the crowd, here.  Jesus knows you by name.  The hairs of your head are all numbered.  By His Father.  By the Lord Jesus Himself.  Not one of them falls from your head apart from His knowledge.  He knows what you’ve done, and what you continue to do… your thoughts, words, and actions that are contrary to His will, His love, and His Kingdom.  Your grumbling and complaining.  Your faithlessness and lovelessness.  These He has done to death in His death on the cross.  He has chosen you to be His treasured possession.  You are holy because He says so.  He bespeaks you His beloved.  Yes, even you. 

            So, on the one hand, you should be willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of Jesus and the Kingdom, and on the other (and more importantly), Jesus has sacrificed everything to bring the Kingdom to you, and bring you into it.  I am not convinced the two interpretations are mutually exclusive.  St. Paul writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8), the first interpretation.  And the writer to the Hebrews says of Jesus, that “for the joy that was set before him,” the joy of purchasing for Himself a Kingdom, thus fulfilling the eternal will of the Father by saving us, He “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2), the second interpretation.  Both are true, and a good scribe is like a master of a house who can bring out of his treasure, both things, new and old.

            That is the task of preaching, and of your confession of Jesus Christ to the world.  Gospel proclamation is like a fishing net thrown into the sea.  It gathers up all kinds of fish, good and bad.  People join the Church for all kinds of reasons.  Some believe for a time, and then fall away.  Others, by grace, do eventually come to faith.  Our Lord warns us that there will, inevitably, be hypocrites in our midst, people who say they are Christians, but are, in fact, unbelievers.  There will always be bad fish among the good.  No matter.  The Church preaches the Gospel indiscriminately.  She spreads a broad net, leaving it to the Lord’s angels to draw the net ashore at the appointed time, and separate the righteous (those justified by faith in Jesus Christ) from the evil (those not justified, because they have no faith in Jesus).  When, in the end, the evil are thrown into the fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, only the good fish (those justified by faith in Jesus) will be left.  In the world, redeemed, and made new. 

            Now, what of you?  Have you understood all these things?  In one sense, yes.  Enough to know that Jesus is the be-all and end-all of all things, the culmination of the Old and the fullness of the New.  He is your righteousness, life, and salvation.  But in another sense, you are ever and always growing into the fulness of an understanding you will not reach until you see with your own eyes what you now know only by faith.  That’s okay.  That is the life of a disciple.  The Lord has set a bounteous Table before you, the very best of new and old: Fresh produce.  Homegrown.  Sweet honey from the comb, and figs from the Master’s tree.  Aged wine, chesses, and marbled steaks.  The water of life.  The Holy Gospel.  His true body.  His true blood.  Given and shed for you.  This is the Table of God’s Kingdom.  And Jesus’ joy is that you enjoy it here with Him.  If you understand that, it is enough.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                         

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11A)

July 23, 2023

Text: Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43

            Once again, the Sower is the Son of Man, our Lord Jesus Christ.  But this time the soil is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the Kingdom, believers in Jesus, who have heard and received His Word, who trust in it and keep it.  But Jesus is not the only sower in this parable.  There is another, a wicked one, an enemy of the Master, who opposes the Master’s every effort.  This enemy is, of course, the devil.  And the seeds he sows are the sons of the evil one, unbelievers, who act as weeds among the wheat, crowding out the sons of the Kingdom, thwarting their access to precious resources, hindering their fruitfulness, seeking to take over the field, the world.  The enemy comes at night to do this, under cover of darkness, while the servants, the Christians (and particularly the pastors) are sleeping.  Let your guard down just a little, as we all do, and there he’ll be, sowing his wicked seed. 

            So now, the field is full of both.  The wheat and the weeds.  Believers and unbelievers.  The righteous (which is to say, the justified) and the wicked (which is to say, those who seek their justification elsewhere than in Jesus Christ).  Jesus is probably playing off the similarity between wheat and a weed called “darnel.”  When the plants are young, they look pretty much the same.  It is only when the plants come to maturity, when it is time for the harvest, that you can easily tell the difference. 

            So it is with the weeds and wheat in the parable.  Thus, when the servants ask the Master if He’d like them to go and gather the weeds out of the field, He tells them no!  “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them” (Matt. 13:29; ESV).  This is always the danger.  We are so eager to help the Lord out, weed His field for Him, identify and eliminate the wicked of the world and the hypocrites in the Church.  But you can’t always tell the difference between the weeds and the wheat, between the sons of the Kingdom and the sons of the evil one.  Sometimes it is obvious, but more often it is not.  And you may think you are pretty good at spotting the difference, but your eyes aren’t as good as you think they are.  You can’t see into the heart of another.  One who appears to be a very fine and pious Christian may be the very definition of a hypocrite.  The outer appearance does not match the faith, or lack thereof, in the heart.  On the other hand, one whom you have judged as an obvious unbeliever on the basis of their outward life, may simply be a weaker brother or sister overtaken by the attacks of sin and Satan, clinging nevertheless to the lifeline of their Baptism into Christ and His sin-atoning death and life-giving resurrection.  That clinging is faith.  Or maybe you are the weaker Christian, blindly judging what you do not know.  Repent.  We must hear and heed the words of St. Paul: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4). 

            Only God knows who believes and who doesn’t.  Only God can see the heart.  In pulling up weeds, you may inadvertently pull up what is actually wheat.  And there is also the added mystery that what is a weed now may, by God’s grace, become wheat as the Word of God is preached.  The status of weed and wheat is not static.  Unbelievers come to faith.  Believers apostatize.  Let us never forget that each one of us started out as a weed, born spiritually blind, dead, and an enemy of God, and that the Holy Spirit made us into wheat, bringing us to faith by Baptism and His holy Word.  And, so also, let us never forget that the weeds sown by the evil one are not just those other people, outside of us, unbelievers.  The devil sows his wicked seeds inside of us, as well, in our hearts… the sins, the lusts, the doubts in each one of us, which, apart from God’s gracious tending, would overtake us and transform us wholesale into sons of the evil one.  This, also, is why it is do difficult to tell the weeds and the wheat apart.  You could just as easily be mistaken for a weed! 

            It is not given you to weed the field.  God will send His holy angels to do that when the harvest comes.  And it is not given you to be your neighbor’s judge.  That belongs to God, and He will do it.  Wait for His appointed time.  Wait for the harvest.  Then all will be set right.  Then weeds and wheat will be revealed for who they are.  Until then, trust the Master, that He knows what He is doing in His own field.  He doesn’t need your help or advice.  He will preserve you.  He will preserve His good seed, the sons of the Kingdom.  He will preserve His Church.  He will make wheat out of weeds.  And at the proper time… at just the right time… at the time appointed by the Father from all eternity… then the weeds will be gathered to be burned, and the wheat will be gathered into the Master’s barn.

            This afternoon, the Lord unburdens you from two loads that are impossible for you to bear.  The first is that of judging your neighbor.  No, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t call sin, sin; that you shouldn’t judge the rightness or wrongness of an action when such is clearly identified in Holy Scripture.  Nor does it mean you should never help a Christian brother or sister who is struggling with a sin or weakness you may know about.  Quite the contrary.  But it does mean you don’t have to identify who is a Christian, and who isn’t… who has faith, and who doesn’t… who is a better Christian, and who is not so great.  You just believe and trust in Christ, be forgiven of your sins, receive His gifts, confess Him, and love your neighbor.  That is what you are given to do between now and the harvest. 

            The second impossible load from which the Lord unburdens you is that of this endless effort to justify yourself in your own eyes, and the eyes of others; to convince yourself and others that you are righteous and good, especially in comparison with others; the virtue signaling; the stories and social media posts that make you look admirable and exciting, and your neighbor not so much; the maintaining of the illusion that you have it all together, all figured out, and that you have any righteousness of your own to bring to the table before God.  The weight of that illusion crushes you.  But you no longer have to bear that weight.  Your justification does not rest with yourself, or with your neighbor.  Your neighbor is not given to judge you any more than you are given to judge your neighbor.  Your neighbor’s judgment doesn’t count.  Only God’s does.  And He judges you in Christ.  He judges you with Christ’s righteousness as your raiment.  He has planted you as wheat... in Christ.  He tends you and cares for you, so that you grow and bear fruit… in Christ.  It is all by grace. 

            Look what kind of Master your God is.  See how patient He is with His field.  He holds back His overeager servants.  He gives the field time.  Time for His Word to go forth in preaching.  Time for repentance and for faith to blossom.  Time for more sons of the Kingdom to be born, more weeds transformed into wheat.  We are eager for the harvest.  We are impatient.  We pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” and He will.  But the Lord has extended the time of grace, why?  For the sake of those yet to come to faith.  It is a great mercy.

            But we must also know that this time is coming to an end.  Jesus’ parable is also a warning.  At the close of the age, the Son of Man will send forth His angels to “gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41-42).  Just to be clear, we’re talking about hell, a real place, where real people, who do not receive Christ, really go.  Now is the time of grace.  Now is the time for repentance.  Do not delay, presuming on the Lord’s mercy.

            But, so also, for those who are in Christ: Be comforted.  The time of our eager longing is coming to an end.  For, what will happen to the wheat, the righteous, those justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, at the close of the age?  They “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v. 43).  Even as they now bear Christ’s own righteousness as a gift of His grace, so they… so you… will shine with His glory on that Day when all that is darkness shall be made light, when all that is hidden shall be revealed.  Then we will know who is a weed, and who is wheat.  Then the sons of God will be revealed.  All will see.  All will know.  And all Creation will rejoice.  The separation will be complete.  And Christ will be all in all.  Wait, beloved.  It is coming.  Until then, trust in Jesus, and love the plant next to you.  “He who has ears, let him hear.”  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.              

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10A)

July 16, 2023

Text: Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23

            The Seed is God’s Word.  It is Jesus who sows it.  Through His own preaching, and that of His Apostles and Prophets.  Through the Old and New Testament Scriptures.  Through His called and ordained servants.  And through you, through your Christian confession, your daily speaking and living in and by His Word. 

            Look how recklessly He sows.  Here, there, and everywhere He scatters His Seed, He preaches His Word.  He does not stop to ask whether the soil is the right kind of soil, whether the people to whom He preaches are the right kind of people.  He knows that much of the Seed will be wasted, that many will reject His Word.  “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” complains Isaiah (53:1 ESV), voicing the perennial lament of prophet, preacher, and Christian practitioner, of Sunday School teacher and sermonator from time immemorial.  Still, “The sower sows; his reckless love Scatters abroad the goodly seed, Intent alone that all may have The wholesome loaves that all men need” (LSB 586:3). 

            You know the various types of soil on which the Seed is thrown.  The path, hard and impenetrable.  The birds come and pick off the Seeds.  These are they who hear the Word, but do not understand it.  They can’t comprehend it.  That is, they never even begin to believe.  The Seed just bounces off the firm and unbelieving soil of their hearts, and it is easy pickin’s for the demons.  You’ve seen this when you try to explain Christianity to someone who doesn’t want to hear it.  What a waste of breath!  Yet in His great mercy, the Sower sows even here.  “Oh, what of that, and what of that?” (LSB 586:4).

            Then there is the rocky ground.  There is a thin layer of soil, but not enough for the roots to grow deep.  Here the Seed immediately springs up.  The person receives the Word with joy… Which is good!  That is how we should all receive the Word.  But due to some hardness of heart, he doesn’t let the roots penetrate the depths.  It is a shallow faith.  The sun rises, and the seedling is scorched.  That is, the heat is on.  God’s grace is free, but it is not cheap.  There is a cost to discipleship.  There is mockery, hatred, and rejection.  Even persecution.  And God says things in His Word that we don’t like, that we’d rather reject.  The Gospel of God’s love, of forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus, and eternal life… that’s all great.  But all this preaching against my politics, or my favorite sins, or those of my family members, and all this exclusivity of salvation in Christ alone… I don’t like it.  So… never mind.  You’ve probably witnessed this.  Pastors suffer it all the time.  Someone new comes through the door, and a great connection is made.  There is apparent enthusiasm on the part of the visitor.  They even come back a few times.  The pastor gets his hopes up.  But suddenly, the person disappears.  They won’t answer phone calls.  They’re never home when the pastor comes knocking.  Perhaps something was said, and the visitor took offense.  Or maybe being a Christian just got too hard.  Another defeat.  Yet there is the Sower, recklessly, prodigally sowing His Seed, even here on this soil.  Intentionally.  Ah, what of that, and what of that?!

            Some Seed falls among thorns.  Thorns and thistles, the Curse (Gen. 3:18).  Here a person hears the Word, and receives it.  There is faith.  Even faith that bears fruit.  But the thorns grow up and choke it.  That is, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.  Notice, this is not just the bad stuff.  It is the bad stuff, the cares of the world, our worries, our sorrows, our sufferings.  But it is also the good things, when those things become idols.  It isn’t riches per se, but the deceitfulness of riches, when riches promise things they cannot deliver, like health, satisfaction, fulfillment, salvation.  As a matter of fact, not just money, but any gift from God that takes the place of God in your life can choke out faith.  Your spouse.  Family.  Your job.  All good things, but not God!  Beware, beloved.  The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches plague even the most faithful Christians.  And some do fall victim.  We must constantly combat the thorns with the Round-Up of repentance.  And more Seed… the faithful hearing of God’s Word.  But, of course… good news!  There is the Sower, in mercy, in love, scattering the Seed on the soil of our hearts.  Ah, what of that?!  And what of that!? 

            We have all, each and every one of us, been one or more of these three soils at one time or another.  And we are all, always and ever, in this fallen flesh, fighting against reversion to one or more of these three soils.  It is a constant danger.  There is a hardness and a thorniness in every one of us.  That is why the Sower constantly, and unrelentingly, sows His Seed upon all three types.  Because the fact is, He never comes upon soil that is already good.  There is no human heart that is good by nature.  We are all rocky, thorny, and matted flat.  And the scorching sun beats down, and the demons circle and dive.  What of that, Lord?  What of that?! 

            What of it?  The Lord sows.  And in the sowing, the soil is changed.  The Seed does all the work.  He prepares the soil by the preaching of His Law, and by the gift of suffering.  He plows.  He rototills (that has to hurt!).  He piles on the manure.  He casts the Gospel Seed upon the soil, and faith grows.  It takes deep root, to withstand the scorching sun and the arid heat of the day.  As it grows, the Lord prunes (the cross and suffering).  And He weeds (repentance).  And He protects from pests, from disease, and the demonic birds (the Holy Things: the Word, the Sacraments, prayer, and the Communion of Saints… all the work of His Holy Spirit).  And so, faith bears fruit: works of love, self-sacrifice, Christian witness.  What of that, eh!!  What of that!!!  By grace, that is you.  The Lord’s Word has taken root, and it is growing, as the Lord protects you from becoming once again one of the three unfruitful soils.

            As any farmer can tell you, all of this is quite miraculous.  One doesn’t typically scatter seed anyplace other than a cultivated field, prepared for planting.  Good soil.  That is what farmers and backyard gardeners crave.  But in the Father’s harvest field, the field doesn’t make the Seed, the Seed makes the field.  The Seed of the Word.  It has the power within it to do this.  It gives you ears, that you may hear. 

            For the Seed is not just words spoken or written down (though it very much is that).  The Seed is the Word that was in the beginning with God, and who is God (John 1:1)… the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (v. 14).  He is the Kernel of Wheat that falls into the earth and dies, and in dying, He bears much fruit (John 12:24).  It is our Lord Jesus Christ, who trod the path to Golgotha, cross firmly planted on the rock, grinding the thorns, lifted up, defying the birds.  Crucified, dead… and planted in the rocky tomb.  And then, what?  Casting away the stone, bursting the rocks asunder, doing the thorn-ed Curse to death, He springs up alive, risen, living and life-giving, never to die again. 

            The Seed that is the Lord Jesus Himself does that to you.  He is planted in you.  Whatever the soil, He buries Himself in you, to break through every hard and thorny surface, to enliven you, and grow in you to the glory of His heavenly Father.  Now you bear His fruit, and scatter His Seed.

            He gives you to sow it recklessly, prodigally, unrelentingly, never asking if it is the right kind of soil, the right kind of person.  After all, you weren’t.  Yet, here you are.  It is true that much of the Seed is wasted.  Not every soil receives the Word and becomes good.  Not everyone comes to faith in Christ.  But when you least expect it, the Seed takes root.  Faith grows, bearing fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

            In any case, none of that is up to you.  Every farmer wishes he could dictate to his crops how successful they will be.  It doesn’t happen.  He has to live at the will and mercy of the Lord.  So you, with the Seed of the Word.  What of that?  Keep sowing.  Keep scattering.  “Preach you the Word and plant it home And never faint,” for “the Harvest Lord Who gave the sower seed to sow Will watch and tend His planted Word” (LSB 586:6).

            Speak the Word.  Confess it.  Live in it.  Trust it.  Believe in it.  Pray for the Word’s success.  And leave it in the hands of our gracious God.  He is the Lord of the harvest.  And we have the Promise: His Word does not return to Him empty, but accomplishes that which He purposes and succeeds in the thing for which He sent it.  Anyway, so it is with you.  God’s mighty Word bespeaks you righteous, bright with His own holiness.  Thus, glorious now, you press toward Glory, and your lives your hopes confess (LSB 578:3).  The Sower sows His Seed in you.  The Sower sows His Seed through you.  Blessed be the Sower, our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                                 

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9A)

July 9, 2023

Text: Matt. 11:25-30

            I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a rest.  Actually, I do know about you, because I am one of you, made of the same stuff, soul and body, flesh and blood, fallen stuff at that.  I am wearied by the changes and chances of this world.  I am wearied by injustice and cruelty, violence and corruption.  I am wearied by the thousand little grievances others, fairly or unfairly, hold against me.  I am wearied by the thousand little grievances I, fairly or unfairly, hold against others.  I am wearied by the Law’s just grievances against me… my sins!  My guilt!  I am wearied by the unrelenting accusations of the devil, and his lies… and my unwittingly, or even wittingly, falling for those lies.  I am wearied by this move, from one church building to another, from one time to another.  I am wearied by my worries and my fears for the future, for myself, for my family, for this congregation.  And simply by the daily grind of life in this fallen world.  I am wearied…  And you are, too.

            Okay.  Admit it.  Confess it.  You are not so wise and understanding as you pretend to be.  You don’t have it all together.  You don’t have it all figured out.  You can’t handle it.  You are not enough.  Good!  Good.  About time you figured that out.  This is an insight God gives to you by His Holy Spirit.  He gives this gift by the Law preached, His holy Word.  And He gives it in the school of experience.  It is a gift, and if He didn’t give it, you’d go on thinking you were just fine apart from Him and His help, apart from Him and His salvation.  So, the next time you come to the end of your rope, do not despair.  Give thanks to God and praise His Name.  Now He has you right where He wants you.  You are nothing but a helpless little baby.  You can’t do anything for yourself.  You cannot feed yourself.  You cannot clothe yourself.  You cannot put a roof over your own head.  Not without Him!  And above all, you cannot clean up your own filth.  That is, you can do nothing about your sin.  But God can, and God does.  Jesus can, and Jesus does.

            A helpless little child, that is really what you are.  But that is good.  For the Father does not reveal Himself to the wise and understanding, but only to little children.  Actually, the Greek word is νηπίοις, infants.  By which He certainly means literal infants, babies, those in diapers, which should settle once and for all the question of whether infants can believe.  But also you.  His disciples.  Those who believe in Him.  Those who rely on Him for absolutely everything.  Those who, to be sure, throw their tantrums, and ooze rot from every orifice, and demand satisfaction of their every desire right now… but they cry out in the right direction, to the right Father, and the right Savior (the Lord Jesus).  And, make no mistake, such crying out is faith.

            The Father reveals Himself in the Person of His Son to faith.  God, your heavenly Father, sees your burdens under the bondage of sin and death.  He hears your cries.  And He knows (Cf. Ex. 2:23-25).  He knows your suffering.  He knows what you need.  And He knows just what to do about it.  He sends His Son.  The eternal Son, born of the Virgin Mary, in the same stuff we are made of, only without sin (Heb. 4:15).  Soul and body.  Flesh and blood.  Wrapped in swaddling cloths to guard against the cold, and laid in a manger, because there is no room for Him in the inn.  He, too, fills His diapers, and snot runs from His nose.  I very much doubt it is true what we sing at Christmas, that the “little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.”  He is like us in every respect.  He is one of us.  He feels the pain of the blade when He sheds His first precious drops of blood for us at His circumcision.  He gets hungry (Matt. 4:2; 11:12).  He gets tired, and sleeps (Mark 4:38).  He thirsts (John 19:28).  And He weeps (John 11:35).  He is grieved by those who reject His love: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together… but you would not! (Luke 13:34).  He is sorrowful even to death (Matt. 26:38), so disturbed in body and soul that His sweat becomes as great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).  And, of course, He suffers, and He dies. 

            So, yes, He knows your suffering, and this is what He does about it.  He gets down into it with you.  All the way down into your flesh.  And this is what He does about your burdens.  He takes up the cross and shoulders it, all the way to Golgotha, for you.  He takes your burdens upon Himself and puts them to death in His body on the tree.

            Now, this is not to say that now your life is care-free and easy.  Nothing about being a Christian is easy.  After all, you are baptized into Christ, and that means you are in Christ… risen, yes, but first crucified.  And this is the Lord who bids you take up your cross and follow Him (Matt. 16:24).  The resurrection is coming, when there will no longer be any burden, but for now, you live in the paradoxical time of Jesus having taken away your burdens, but you still feeling their weight until He comes again.

            And this is precisely where Satan pulls one of his dirtiest tricks.  He convinces you that, when you feel burdened, Jesus is not the solution.  Jesus is the problem!  Actually, the way it looks in real life is, when you are wearied and burdened, you think the first thing you need to get rid of is the Church, the place where Jesus is for you.  “Why do I have to spend all this time here?  With these people!  Giving my money!  Listening to this bag of wind!”  Now, it may surprise you that I actually have some sympathy with you, here.  The Church, as viewed through the complementary lenses Satan happily provides, is a tremendous burden.  Believe me, I get it.  I mean, this place is full of sinners.  Nothing but sinners.  Who sin!  Against each other!  Against me!  And the world hates every last one of us.  And the whole thing is going down in flames anyway, no matter what I do about it, so...  What if we just forget about it, and call it a day?

            But, beloved, this is a lie of Satan!  It’s a trick!  Don’t fall for it.  This is only the surface view of things, demonically colored, no less.  Here is the view from the other side of the curtain, through the complementary lenses God happily provides in His Gospel: This place is full of sinners, to be sure… sinners forgiven and redeemed by the blood of Christ crucified.  And nothing but sinners forgiven and redeemed by the blood of Christ crucified.  They sin against one another, yes, absolutely.  But then they confess their sins, to God and to one another, and they forgive one another, as God in Christ has forgiven them.  And they live with the life of the risen Christ flowing through their veins.  The world hates every last one of us, but what does it matter?  The world is coming to an end.  Jesus lives.  And we live in Him.  And sure, the whole thing constantly appears to be going down in flames, this Church of Jesus Christ.  But we know that this is just how He works: Through death and resurrection.  The Bride of Christ shares the fate of Christ.  And that is death.  But death leading to life!

            So, beloved, the Church is not your problem.  You have other problems, and you blame the Church, which is to say, in reality, you blame Christ.  Repent of that.  Rip off those satanic glasses.  The Church is where you find the solution… The Lord Jesus Christ, who bids you: “Come to Me!  I know you are laboring.  I know you are heavy laden.  But here, in Me, you will find rest.  You will find Sabbath!”  Beloved, here in the Church, Christ is present for you, audibly, bodily, tangibly.  In Baptism and Absolution.  In Scripture and Preaching.  In the Holy Supper of His body and blood.  And yes, in the Communion of Saints, which is to say, the Communion of Sinners Forgiven and Redeemed. 

            So… Take His yoke upon you.  His yoke is easy.  Which is really to say, it is no yoke at all.  Read His Word.  Learn of Him.  Come to Church.  Pray.  Receive.  Be loved.  Be forgiven.  Love your neighbor and forgive Him.  Suffer in hope and in joy, because the end of it all is Jesus, who is risen, and who will raise you.  It may be a burden.  But His burden is light.  Because He bears it with you.  And He has borne it for you.  And even as you bear it, He bears you.  In the very palms of His pierced hands. 

            Rest in those hands.  Hands of flesh and blood, just like yours.  Hands once limp and affixed to the wood, now animated with life and providing all things good.  You no longer need to pretend you have it all together, all figured out.  That you are self-sufficient, righteous, and good.  The Holy Spirit has taught you better than that.  No more self-justification, feigning wisdom and understanding.  You are nothing but a babe in arms… a babe, safe in the embrace of the Savior.  Beloved, your Sabbath is not a day.  It is a Man.  It is Jesus.  Come to Him.  He is here to give you rest.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

 

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8A)

July 2, 2023

Text: Matt. 10:34-42

            There are at least two big things that may surprise us in our Holy Gospel this morning.  The first is when Jesus says that He has come, not to bring peace, but a sword (Matt. 10:34).  That because of the Christian faith, children will be against parents, and vice versa, and that a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.  “I thought we were for traditional family values in this Church!”  Well, of course, we are.  But what is Jesus’ point?  Faithful confession of the Christian faith will, necessarily, result in being rejected by loved ones.  Because you are not to love your family members more than you love Jesus.  When there is a conflict between what Jesus desires and demands, and what your family member desires or demands, you are to follow Jesus, even at the cost of your relationship with that family member.  When there is a conflict between the Word of Jesus, and the Word of a loved one, you are to hear and heed Jesus.  Love Jesus first.  Love your family member, even your parents and children, second, after Jesus.  That is a rightly ordered love.  To do otherwise is to elevate your parent, or child, or spouse, or whoever it may be, into the position of God, which is idolatry.  It is neither fair to that person, who has no hope of fulfilling the responsibilities of God to you, nor to God, who alone has the right to claim your ultimate love and allegiance.

            The second thing that may surprise especially us Lutherans is all this talk of rewards.  Receive the prophet or righteous person, give the cup of cold water to the little child, and you will receive your reward.  “Wait a minute!  I thought we were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any merit of reward or worthiness within us.”  Well, of course, we are.  But here we so often make the classic mistake of replacing the word “reward” with “justification,” or “salvation.”  Jesus does not say, “Do this and that, and you will be justified.”  “Do such and such, and you will be saved.”  But Jesus does say, “Do these things and you will receive a reward.”  Justification and salvation are by grace alone, apart from works, free gift.  The rewards Jesus speaks of are not that.  They are, rather, rewards for the fruits that result from justification and salvation, rewards for the things Christ does in and through you by His Holy Spirit who lives in you, namely, good works.  Our Confessions address this in the Fifth Article of the Apology, on “Love and the Fulfilling of the Law”: “We teach that rewards have been offered and promised to the works of believers. We teach that good works are meritorious, not for the remission of sins, for grace or justification (for these we obtain only by faith), but for other rewards, bodily and spiritual, in this life and after this life, because Paul says, 1 Cor. 3:8: Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor. There will, therefore be different rewards according to different labors. But the remission of sins is alike and equal to all, just as Christ is one, and is offered freely to all who believe that for Christ’s sake their sins are remitted. Therefore the remission of sins and justification are received only by faith, and not on account of any works.”[1]  But works will be rewarded.

            This is simply to say, first of all, that there are temporal consequences for the things we do, good or bad.  Touch a hot stove and you’ll be burned, as we all have to learn early on by experience.  Cook food on a hot stove, and you’ll enjoy a delicious meal.  Treat someone with contempt, you’ll probably suffer contempt in return.  Treat people with respect and dignity, you’ll probably be treated with respect and dignity in return.  And so forth.  But even if not… Let’s say your good efforts go unrewarded in this life, unnoticed, ungratefully received… Or worse, let’s say you suffer for your good efforts in this life… You confess Christ, and your parents disown you (it happens!)… or your children wander from the faith… or your so-called friends no longer want anything to do with you… or you suffer a good-old-fashioned persecution, complete with beatings and imprisonment and death.  What then?  Your Father in heaven sees.  And in that case, the reward lies with Him.  Sometimes He rewards you, in spite of it all, bodily and spiritually in this life.  For example, prayers are answered.  Good works lead to good results in life.  People thank you or honor you, etc.  But even if not, your reward assuredly awaits you in heaven, a reward from God which cannot even be compared with what you would receive here and now, nor to the sufferings you may experience here and now. 

            So, not peace, but a sword.  Many will hate you on account of Christ, including those you love.  And, you’ll be rewarded for good works.  Lutherans aren’t too sure about either thing, but they are in the Bible, from the mouth of Jesus, no less, so what are you gonna do?  The key to both difficulties is v. 39: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (ESV).  That is, those who look for their life here and now, in temporal passions and pleasure, in the stuff of this fallen world… even in the noble and surpassing blessings of marriage and family, work, or American freedom… will lose it all.  Because these things are passing away.  Many of these things are good and important things that deserve your love and attention.  But they are not ultimate.  They can only ever be penultimate, and their time will, and must, come to an end.  But those who lose their lives for Christ’s sake, those who forsake temporal passions and pleasures on account of Christ, who lose their stuff, their family, their job, or their freedom… maybe even their bodily life this side of the veil… because they confess Christ… they find their life.  In Him.  In Christ.  Because, in Christ, what is lost is found, what is nothing becomes something, sorrow is turned to joy, and the dead are raised to life.  Saints suffer, but God sees.  Sinners are not only forgiven their sins, they do good works and are rewarded.  It is the cruciform paradigm of life, and death, and life eternal in Jesus Christ, crucified, and risen from the dead.

            This is how it is for you.  You are baptized into Christ.  You are clothed with Christ.  You open your mouth and speak forth Christ.  What do you think will happen?  The world will hate you, even as it hated Him.  We heard about that last week.  Will some of your own family members forsake you?  Jesus’ mother and brothers tried to steal Him away from the crowds and shut Him up at home, because He was embarrassing them, and they thought He might be crazy (Mark 3:21; 31ff.).  Will you have to suffer?  Yes.  Yes, absolutely.  That is life in Christ crucified.  Jesus came… the Father sent Him… to suffer crucifixion and die for the sins of the world.  And what does Jesus say to you?  “(W)hoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:38).  But trust Jesus.  Take up that cross and suffer it.  For where does Jesus lead us as we follow Him?  Through the cross and suffering and death and tomb, to be sure… through the valley of the shadow… and then out the other side again!  To life, and resurrection, and eternal consolation.  And even to rewards.  What will they be?  Who knows?  What does it matter?  You are there by grace alone, on account of Christ alone.  Eternal life.  New Creation.  A risen and glorified body.  And now, rewards on top of it.  It’s all so unimaginable.  God is so good to us.  What are we to say to all of this?  Perhaps the best words are those of Luther in the Catechism: “For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”[2]  All we can do is believe, receive, give thanks, and then live life toward Him, according to His Word, and according to His will.

            He gives us some direction about what that looks like in our text, and it all has to do with receiving our brothers and sisters in Christ, and caring for one another.  Take your neighbor up as a cross.  Don’t drop him, like a bag of dead weight.  Carry him.  Help him.  Cover over his weaknesses and sins with Christian love and patience.  Forgive him.  Bear with him.  Paul says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). 

            And help him with all that is good.  Receive a prophet because he is a prophet.  That is, receive those who speak God’s Word to you, because they speak God’s Word to you.  And hear, and heed, those words, because, in receiving the prophet and the Word he preaches, you are actually receiving Christ Himself, and the Father who sent Him.  And you will receive a prophet’s reward, for you have now had a part in the prophet’s preaching. 

            Receive a righteous person… that is, a justified person… don’t misunderstand, we’re not talking about a person who wows us with all of his morally upright actions, we’re talking about a fellow Christian, justified by Jesus Christ… Receive a justified person, a fellow believer, because he is justified, because he is a fellow believer.  And you will be rewarded with the reward of the justified.  Because you, too, are a fellow believer. 

            And what about the little ones?  The children, yes, but also the weak, the vulnerable, the despised of this world, the young in faith, the poor, the unborn, the widow, the orphan…  Whoever gives them even a cup of cold water because they are disciples of Jesus Christ will not fail to receive his reward, perhaps in this life, but assuredly in the life to come.  And in receiving your fellow believers, you are received.  By them.  By Jesus Christ.  You have a place.  A community.  A family that will not reject you. 

            In fact, as it happens, such receiving of one another is its own reward.  For this… this gathering here today… is the new and eternal family of God.  As with Jesus, so with you:  Who is your family?  Your mother and your brothers are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. 

            And may I say, in view of our congregation’s present circumstances… The family that receives God’s gifts together, stays together.  God grant it for Jesus’ sake.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                  

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[1] Apol. V:73-74, https://bookofconcord.org/defense/of-love-and-fulfilling-the-law/

[2] Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).