Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23B)

October 13, 2024

Text: Mark 10:17-22

            “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18; ESV).  So if Jesus is good, He must be more than simply a “Good Teacher” (v. 17).  From the rich young man’s own mouth comes the unwitting confession.  Jesus is good.  Therefore Jesus is God.  Not simply a teacher of ethics and moral philosophy.  Not simply an example of how to live your life, in every situation asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”  No mere prophet or religious guru.  He is God.  Therefore, He alone is good.

            But the rich young man thinks he may be a candidate for the title, as well.  When he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17), he is really looking for an endorsement from Jesus that he is good enough to have merited his way to heaven and resurrection.  Never mind the absurdity of earning an inheritance.  The rich man asks a Law question, so Jesus gives him a Law answer.  You want to be a good person by your own efforts and merit?  You know the Commandments.  Let’s start with the so-called “easy” ones, the Second Table of the Law, the Commandments in relation to the neighbor (v. 19).  “Do not murder.”  Okay, got it.  Haven’t killed anyone lately.  “Do not commit adultery.”  No problem.  Cheating on my wife would be unthinkable.  “Do not steal.”  Check.  I always pay for everything.  “Do not bear false witness.”  Truth is my number one virtue.  “Do not defraud.”  Alright, I expected Him to say “Do not Covet,” but I suppose defrauding is the outward manifestation of coveting, and it is important to be honest in all our business dealings.  Which I am.  Check.  “Honor your father and mother.”  Listed last for emphasis.  No problem.  Sure, I had my rebellious thoughts as a teenager, but I never acted on them.  And yes, when I had a chance to give some corban, money dedicated to God, I took what I might have given my parents for their support and care, and gave it instead to a holier cause, but surely they understand, and, after all, God will take care of them if they, like me, are holy enough, and surely God is more impressed with my pious offering than He would be with more mundane parental care.  But I always treat Mom and Dad with deference and respect.  Very important.  Check.  “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth” (10:20), from the time of my bar mitzvah at the beginning of my teenage years, when I became, literally, a Son of the Commandments, and God began to hold me responsible for my own holiness. 

            Now, you Lutherans need to give this young man a break with your Lutheranism.  You’ve heard Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5), and you’ve attended a Lutheran Catechism class, so you know the problem with the young man’s self-righteous assertions.  Keeping the Commandments is not just a matter of outward behavior, but of the heart.  He who even hates his brother, or wishes or does any harm, is guilty of murder, whether he kills him or not.  He who merely looks at a woman with lustful intent has committed adultery with her in his heart, whether he acts on it or not.  Thus the Commandments are broken, and we all do it.  All true enough.  You’re absolutely right.  Good job.  You pass your Catechism exam. 

            But the young man does have a point.  He has outwardly, and scrupulously, kept these Commandments of the Second Table.  And that is a good thing.  And as a result, everyone says of him, that he is a good man.  We speak the same way about people who live up to high moral principles.  And we should, humanly speaking, because it encourages people to do what is right, and not do what is wrong, and that benefits us all. 

            The young man has every reason to believe, or so he thinks, that he has also kept the First Table of the Law, the Commandments in relation to God.  He only worships the God of Israel.  Idols are abhorrent to him.  He doesn’t misuse God’s Name, because he doesn’t even say it.  When he is reading the Scriptures, where the text says “YHWH,” I AM, he substitutes “Adonai,” LORD.  And the Sabbath.  Never, ever, for any reason, does he do any work.  He attends synagogue service, and then goes home and eats what has been prepared the night before.

            But Jesus is good, and therefore God, and therefore knows what the young man does not know about himself.  For all his abhorrence for idols fashioned of wood and stone, the young man has an idol made of silver and gold and the trappings of comfort and luxury.  His wealth.  His possessions.  His stuff.  Mammon.

            So looking at him with intense, divine, saving love, Jesus essentially says to him: “If you want to be good by keeping the Commandments, I’ll grant you that you’ve kept all those we’ve talked about from the Second Table (though you may want to read my comments in the forthcoming Gospel of Matthew when that book is released, wherein I will show you that you really haven’t kept those Commandments to God’s standard, from your heart).  What I really want to get at now is a matter of the First Commandment.  ‘You shall have no other gods.’  You should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  But you, my dear child, love and trust something else.  And it must be dealt with.  The idol must be toppled and excised from your life.  So ‘go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’ (Mark 10:21).” 

            The issue is not that the young man hadn’t been generous to God and to the poor previous to this.  I’m sure he had.  He’s just the kind of person who would put large sums of money into the Temple treasury (Luke 21:1), and toss a few more spare coins to the beggars on the street (Matt. 6:1 ff).  The issue isn’t what he’s given.  The issue is what he’s kept.  And why he’s kept it.  Because he loves it for what it does for him.  He trusts it to provide for all his needs and desires.  And above all, he fears losing it.  Because then he would be destitute.  And that is why he goes away sad.  He cannot do it.  He cannot give up his god.  As it turns out, he is not good.  So when it comes to his own doing, he has no hope of gaining eternal life.

            So also with your doing.  You know you cannot gain eternal life by it.  You know the Commandments.  And you know that, even if you have kept them outwardly, keeping them really is a matter of the heart, and you know the disposition of your heart in light of all those Commandments.  And really, the Word of Christ in our text hits you, also, right where it hit the young man.  It is not that it is wrong to have money or possessions (more on wealth next week).  But for now, suffice it to say, Abraham and David were both rich men for their time and place, and yet Abraham was a friend of God, and David was a man after God’s own heart.  Money, itself, is a good gift of God, as are many of the things money can buy, and more importantly, the good things money can do for your neighbor.  It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evils (1 Tim. 6:10).  In any case, Jesus has not commanded you to sell all you have and give it all away to the poor.  But then, what if he did?  Could you do it?  And if you did, isn’t it true that you would still walk away sad, like the rich young man?  You love and trust your money, too, the pernicious idol, Mammon.  And you fear losing it as much as the rich young man did.  So you, also, are not good.  And even if you keep a pristine outward moral life, you will never inherit eternal life by your doing of the Law.

            But the Gospel has been implicit from Jesus’ first words in this text.  Let’s make it explicit.  “No one is good except God alone.”  Jesus is God.  Jesus is good.  And it is by His goodness that you inherit eternal life.  He knows the Commandments.  He never murdered, never hurt or harmed his neighbor in his body, but helped and supported him in every physical need, healing the sick and injured, feeding the hungry, raising the dead.  He never committed adultery, but lived a sexually pure and decent life in all that He said and did.  And ever faithful to His Bride, the Church, He restored adulterers and prostitutes, sinners and the unclean to Communion with God, eating and drinking with them, as He does to this very day at the holy Altar.  He did not steal.  As a carpenter, He would have always been at the improving and protecting His neighbor’s possessions and income.  And He is the gracious Giver of all that you have.  He did not bear false witness, but always spoke truthfully.  He did not defraud anyone.  And as to His parents, we know that the Boy Jesus was submissive to them as He increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:51-52). 

            With regard to the First Table, Jesus feared, loved, and trusted His Father above all things, ever seeking to fulfill the Father’s will to save us.  He did not misuse the Name of God.  He bore it and revealed it for our salvation.  And He not only fulfilled the Sabbath, He is the Sabbath’s fulfillment.  He is our Sabbath rest from the endless striving to win salvation and eternal life by our goodness, by our fulfilling the Law.  He is our forgiveness and redemption.

            And all of His keeping of God’s Law, He did not for His own benefit.  He who gave us the Law, was made subject to the Law, for our sakes, and for our salvation.  He fulfilled it.  He did it for us.  We are baptized into Christ.  And all His perfect keeping of the Law, outwardly and inwardly, is credited to our account.  And all of our breaking of the Law, outwardly and inwardly, has been atoned for in His flesh, in His blood and death on the cross.  And all of His perfect righteousness is given to us as a gift in the Gospel and Sacraments.  Our sins are forgiven. 

            And that is how we inherit eternal life.  Not by our doing, but by His.  Ask a Law question, and you get a Law answer.  This is what you must do, and do perfectly, to merit eternal life.  And you haven’t, so you can’t.  You’re doomed.  But Jesus has a better way, the Gospel way, His way.  As Martin Luther wrote, “The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done.  Grace,” that is, the Gospel, “says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done” (Heidelberg Disputation, Thesis 26, LW 31:41). 

            We have a good God, who became man, taking on our flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.  Jesus is the One who gave up all He had and bestowed it on us poor, miserable sinners, who have nothing of our own.  He looks upon us with intense, divine, saving love.  He has done all in our place, and given us His goodness, His righteousness, as a gift.  He died for our sins.  He is risen from the dead.  This is grace, God’s unmerited favor bestowed upon us for Christ’s sake.  Believe in this, and you will not only inherit eternal life… you have it already.  Now, resting in this, that Jesus has done all for you, for your forgiveness, life, and salvation, go love your neighbor by keeping the Commandments, because that is what your neighbor needs.  And look not to Mammon, to your works, or to any other god to provide for you.  Jesus is good.  He is the one true God, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  And He alone will do it.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

 

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22 B)

October 6, 2024

Text: Mark 10:2-16

            Marriage is God’s gift to us.  Children are God’s gift to us.  Even to those who are unmarried.  Even to those who do not have children.  Marriage is the primary building block of society.  Stable marriages make for stable societies.  Fruitful marriages make for stable and fruitful societies.  And, in particular, fruitful marriages grounded in Christ and His Word make for stable societies.  Rob society of any of those three things, and you have an unstable society (and I think we know that all too well).  And this is to say, what our Lord here teaches about marriage, about divorce, and about children, applies to every one of us, whatever our vocation and station in life: married, single, widowed… yes, divorced… parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and those who don’t have children.  We all have a stake in this.  Satan hates marriage, and Satan hates children… why?  Not only because he doesn’t want us to enjoy stability, or to enjoy anything, really, although that’s true enough.  But because marriage is a picture of Christ and His holy Bride, the Church.  And precisely because marriage is fruitful… children come from marriage, and the ideal context for childrearing is married parents.  He hates chastity, which is to say, sexuality reserved for marriage, celibacy and virginity among the unmarried, and he especially hates virginity because he hates the Virgin Mary and the One born of her.  And he hates children, which is why he deludes us into slaughtering them by the millions, because he hates THE CHILD, our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is why the devil’s attacks so often, and so intensely, involve sexuality and the sanctity of life.  So there is teaching here for every one of us, Law and Gospel.  This afternoon, our Lord teaches us about marriage, about divorce, and about the gift of children.

            God instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden, before the fall into sin.  “It is not good that the man should be alone,” He says.  Therefore, “I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18; ESV).  Marriage is God’s design.  Therefore, He determines its parameters and its purpose.  We don’t get to redesign it.  And His purpose is for our good.  We human beings are created for communion.  And in the context of marriage, communion at the most intimate level.  Man and woman, male and female… yes, the sexes are designed by God; our sex is determined by God, not by us… created by God to correspond to one another, to fit together… physically, to be sure, but also mentally, emotionally, spiritually (men and women are different, as it patently obvious to all of us), to complement one another (our differences fill in each other’s gaps).  And in this way, when man and wife live together in love and fidelity, we are given to realize most fully the three purposes for which God gives marriage: Companionship (man is no longer alone), intimacy (on many levels, but in particular, marriage as the only proper context for God’s gift of sex), and procreation (“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” steward it [Gen. 1:28], which is still God’s blessing and command, by the way, which is why we should keep having children and not worry about the myth of overpopulation… more on that in another sermon at another time). 

            Jesus takes us back to that primal moment in the Garden in our Holy Gospel.  Adam in a deep sleep.  Eve formed from Adam’s side.  God bringing Eve to Adam, marching her down the aisle, so to speak.  Giving man and wife to one another.  He still does that in the rite of Holy Matrimony.  And Adam’s exclamation: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (2:23).  And then God’s declaration, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (v. 24).  No longer two, Jesus says, but one.  One flesh.  And we know from St. Paul, in Ephesians Chapter 5 (vv. 22-33), that this is all a grand picture, a sacred icon, of the nuptials of Christ and His Church.  Christ, who gave Himself into death for His Bride, that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water and the word (Baptism).  The Church, us, submitting to Christ, being clothed by Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.  Husbands ought to love their wives as Christ loved the Church.  Wives ought to submit to their husbands as the Church submits to Christ, which is to say, receive the husband’s self-sacrificial providence, protection, and leadership.

            Divorce ruins all of this.  Which is why it is such a big deal to God.  Now, let me say right off the bat to those of you who have been divorced, and those of you affected by divorce (and I don’t believe there is a one of us who hasn’t been affected by divorce on some level).  Divorce is not the unforgiveable sin.  And I’m not picking on you.  Nor am I looking down on you from some high and mighty pulpit where I’m immune from such things.  Quite the contrary.  God loves you.  God forgives you and those you love all your sins, including the sin of divorce.  And if you are still dealing with the fall-out from a divorce, or from your own unrepented sin, or as one who has suffered the sins of an ex-spouse, or somebody else, I urge you to talk with me.  There is healing.  I know this is a sensitive topic, and it is hard to hear for many.  But I think we can agree, can we not, that divorce is always evidence of brokenness, that it is the breaking of God’s design and good will for us, and that it is, therefore, sin.  And Jesus talks about it, here, and so we have to talk about it here, that we may hear the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

            Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?  No.  Jesus directs the Pharisees to Moses.  What did Moses command you?  They don’t actually answer that question.  “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away” (Mark 10:4).  Yes, he allowed it, as a provision of Israel’s civil law, but he did not command it.  And the only reason he allowed it is because of Israel’s hardness of heart.  And that is why we have divorce laws today.  Wherever there is divorce, there is a hardness of heart on at least somebody’s part.  What Moses commanded, though, are the words of our Old Testament reading, Genesis 2, which we have from the pen of Moses: The two become one.  And stay one.  Male and female.  Man and wife.  That is God’s design.  Therefore, Jesus says, “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9). 

            We should say, here, that there are two reasons why a Christian may, biblically, seek a divorce.  The first is adultery.  The spouse who did not commit adultery may seek a divorce from the one who did (the one who did, by the way, must not… it’s up to the one sinned against).  Jesus gives us this exception in Matthew 19, which is Matthew’s version of our Holy Gospel today.  The second is what we call malicious desertion.  That is, when one spouse leaves, the deserted spouse may obtain a divorce.  St. Paul addresses this in 1 Cor. 7.  Now, I say may.  It is never the case that someone must seek a divorce, and it is always better when the marriage can be reconciled.  And it often can, I’ve seen it.  But understand, even under these exceptions, divorce is always brokenness, and so we must pray and work against it.

            That’s why, if you are experiencing troubles in your marriage, you should come talk to your pastor right away, before it’s too late.  I have worked with many couples.  I’ve been privileged to witness miraculous reconciliations.  Now, I’ve also encountered the hardness of heart Jesus talks about.  There have been times I’m sitting there with a couple, and it strikes me that I’m the only one in the room (aside from our Lord Jesus and His holy angels) who wants to save the marriage.  Christ have mercy.  (He does.)  But you know what the answer is, to the conflict in every one of those cases?  Repentance.  Starting with honest self-examination.  Not blaming the other person, but taking one’s own responsibility for one’s own wrongs (most often, there really is no innocent party in marital conflict… If you’re a husband or wife, even in a healthy marriage, you know that.  We’re really good at sinning against each other).  Confession.  To God.  To one another.  And Absolution.  The forgiveness of all your sins for the sake of Jesus Christ, who died for you, and who is risen for you, and who loves you.  Absolution from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Mutual Absolution between spouses.  I’ve seen it.  There is nothing more healing. 

            Well, we can’t end without saying something about children.  You know the story well.  People (probably the parents) are bringing children to Jesus, that He might touch them, which is to say, bless them.  The disciples rebuke them.  “Our Master is far too important to be bothered by your dirty, snotty, smelly, noisy kids.”  Oh, those disciples are so dense.  And it earns them our Lord’s indignation.  “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).  Beloved, bring your children to Jesus.  Bring the children of others to Jesus.  Do not hinder them.  Bring your children to Baptism.  If the Kingdom of God belongs to them, then you can be sure they believe and receive the benefits of Baptism.  Encourage others to bring their children to Baptism.  Bring your to Church.  Teach them to participate.  Bring them to Sunday School.  Teach them about Jesus.  Read them the Bible stories.  Pray for them.  Pray with them.  Raise them in the faith.  Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).  You know what to do.  Receive the children in His Name.  Jesus loves the children.  Your children.  The children of this Church.  Don’t you dare deny them access to Him.  Don’t you dare suggest they don’t belong here.  Jesus will have words for you like He had for His disciples.  But take great comfort in that.  First, because you know He loves your kids even more than you do.  Second, because if He loves the dirty, the snotty, the smelly, and the noisy, well… He loves you.  And you become as a child in His presence, thus receiving His help and salvation, His Kingdom.

            Jesus is the Faithful Spouse.  He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5).  He will not fail you.  He forgives your unfaithfulness.  He heals your brokenness.  He alone can heal our marriages and our society.  He loves us.  He loves the children.  All the way to the cross and back.  And so He pours out His gifts.  All thanks and praise be to Him, our loving Bridegroom.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                     

St. Michael and All Angels

St. Michael and All Angels

September 29, 2019

Text: Dan. 10:10-14, 12:1-3; Rev. 12:7-12; Matt. 18:1-11

            The Prophet Elisha and his servant are holed up in Dothan.  The King of Syria is in hot pursuit.  Elisha must be captured and put to death, for by the word of the Prophet, God has been protecting the nation of Israel from Syrian assault.  The Syrian army surrounds Dothan.  “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17; ESV).

            So it is for the people of God.  The enemies arrayed against us are colossal.  There is the devil and his evil angels (more on them in a moment).  There is the world, which is hostile to Christ and His people, the Church.  There is your own sinful nature, which believes the lies of the devil and the world, and is all too willing to capitulate to their temptations.  These surround the holy city, the Church of God, and to all appearances, guarantee our defeat, and ultimately, our destruction.  But if the Lord would open our eyes to see the spiritual reality that surrounds us, we would not only see the demonic hoards that seek to do us harm, but the holy angels gathered around us for our defense.  And we would realize that those who are with us are more than those who are against us.  Christ Himself fights for us and has already conquered our enemies by His death and resurrection.  And now He has given us the protection of the angel host, so that we need not fear.  We are safe and can rest secure.  Though the battle rages between the forces of good and evil, holiness and wickedness, the war is won in the blood of the Crucified.  And His angels have been dispatched to guard us in all our ways, to bear us up lest we strike our foot against a stone (Ps. 91:12). 

            Who are these majestic beings, the holy angels?  Well, they are not the souls of the dead.  When Grandma dies, heaven doesn’t “gain another angel.”  That’s from cartoons and popular American spirituality, but it’s not the Bible.  Angels are a special creation of God.  They are ministering spirits who do the will of God.  They are not smiling naked babies with wings as we so often represent the Cherubim.  Nor are they the serene feminine beings we place on top of our Christmas trees.  They are fearsome creatures, mighty warriors who do the bidding of God, fight against the devil and the evil angels, and aid us in our Christian life.  Angels are spirits.  They are personal beings who do not have physical bodies.  They are described in various ways in Holy Scripture, so that an exact description of them is beyond our ability.  Isaiah describes the Seraphim (one particular order of angels) as having six wings: with two they cover their faces, with two they cover their feet, and with two they fly (Is. 6:2).  The Cherubim (another order of angels) were charged with guarding the door to Paradise with a flaming sword (Gen. 3:24).  Likenesses of Cherubim were set over the Ark of the Covenant, where God dwelt with the people of Israel (Ex. 25:18-22).  Ezekiel describes these strange and wonderful creatures in his 10th Chapter: “as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went…  And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around… And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle” (vv. 10-12, 14; ESV).  So much for our Christmas angels! 

            The angels are neither male nor female, though they are most often described in masculine terms.  They were created sometime during the six days of creation, almost certainly on Day One.  Sometime before the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, there was a rebellion among them.  And since this rebellion, the holy angels (those who did not rebel, but were faithful to God) have been confirmed in their holiness; they cannot fall.  The evil angels (the rebels!) have been confirmed in their wickedness and condemnation; they cannot repent.  Originally created as holy angels, Lucifer (as tradition names him)… Light Bearer… and the angels that followed him in his rebellion were cast out of heaven to spend eternity separated from God.  Our Lord Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).  In his vision, St. John sees the evil dragon sweep a third of the stars of heaven out of the sky with his tail, the dragon being the devil and the stars being the angels that fell (Rev. 12:4).  The name “Satan” is Hebrew for “adversary.”  The name “devil” is Greek for “accuser.”  His name indicates his nature.  He is our adversary, “a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  He seeks to lead us with him into eternal damnation.  He accuses us before God and before our own conscience, seeking to lead us into despair.  He tempts us to sin and unbelief and causes untold damage spiritually and physically.  St. Paul calls him the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), and Jesus calls him the “ruler of this world” who is “cast out” by the redeeming work of Christ (John 12:31; cf. John 14:30, 16:11).  But… though the devil is a powerful angel, we need not fear him, for by His death and resurrection our Lord Jesus has “disarmed the rulers and authorities [demonic beings] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). 

            The word “angel” comes from the Greek “angelos,” meaning “messenger.”  The holy angels are God’s messengers.  They are His special agents dispatched for our physical and spiritual protection.  The writer to the Hebrews says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14).  And yet, at the same time they are guarding and protecting us, they are ever in the presence of God.  Jesus says in our Gospel, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” meaning certainly the children, but also all of God’s children, all Christians… “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).  That means that even as they are present with you, they are present with God, have direct access to Him, and do His bidding for your good.  What a comfort!  Their job is to help you, to protect you physically and spiritually for the sake of your salvation.  Some of them may even appear visibly among us in human form, again, as the writer to the Hebrews says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).  And these angels, they are a countless host.  As they serve and help you, they simultaneously sing praise to God in heaven.  St. John saw a vision of this in the Revelation: “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” (Rev. 5:11-12).  And what is amazing is that we join them in this reality when we gather around the altar to laud and magnify the glorious Name of God “with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.” 

            The angels help us in our worship, and as God’s messengers, they are always directing us to Christ and His saving Gospel.  In other words, angels are preachers.  So the angels announced the coming of the Lord Jesus to Mary and Joseph (Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:18-25).  They hailed His birth to the shepherds tending their flocks by night (Luke 2:8-15).  An angel rolled back the stone of Jesus’ tomb and was the first preacher of the Resurrection (Matt. 28:1-7; John 20:12).  It is the angels who will announce with trumpet sound our Lord’s coming again to judge the living and the dead (Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16).  And if we only had eyes to see, we would marvel at the many and various ways they direct our ears to the hearing of God’s Word in Scripture and preaching.  Angels, messengers of God, indeed. 

            And what good news they bring.  Here you are surrounded on all sides by your three main enemies: the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh.  The yawning jaws of death and hell are eager to swallow you whole.  But you are of good courage.  You do not lose heart.  Because by faith you know that what was true for Elisha is true for you.  Those who are with you are more than those who are against you.  He who gave His Son into death, washing away your sins by the holy and precious blood of Christ, will not betray you into the hands of the enemy.  He has surrounded you with His holy angels, horses and chariots of fire, to protect you, body and soul.  And when your last hour comes and you take your last breath, the holy angels will carry you to heaven to be with the Savior (Luke 16:22).  You see, you are never alone.  Not even in death.  Christ is with you.  And His holy angels are an impregnable wall of defense around you, mighty warriors who fight for you.  And they, and you, have conquered Satan and his hoard by the blood of the Lamb and by His holy Word (Rev. 12:11).  Thanks be to God for the holy angels.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

           

 

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20B)

September 22, 2024

Text: Mark 9:30-37

            What is it to be great?  What makes one great?  Is it wealth and prosperity, fame, pleasure, power?  Is it physical fitness?  Superior skill?  Knowledge?  Wisdom?  Ambition?  These things certainly make one great in the eyes of the world.  Do we measure greatness in comparison with our neighbor?  Is greatness showing yourself wealthier, more powerful, more fit?  Is it putting your neighbor in his place, because you know better than he does?  You are right, and he is wrong?  Because you are wiser?  Because your ambition outpaces his, and is more deserving?  That is what Old Adam thinks, isn’t it?  But St. James says to us, “if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:14-15; ESV).  Yes, the source of this measure of greatness is not only the world and your own sinful nature, it is ultimately satanic.  When and where has this been your idea of greatness?  Examine yourself.  Where have you been touched by bitterness and jealousy, selfish ambition, and boasting, if not to others, in your own heart?  Repent of that.  Identify it for what it is.  Confess it.  Unload it at the feet of Jesus Christ.  Let it be put to death in Christ, the Crucified.  That you may be free.  That is what St. James means when he bids us, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (4:10).

            What is it to be great?  Is there a better example of greatness than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?  He is the Great One.  What makes it so?  How is He great?  Oh, He is God, to be sure, and so He is great by nature.  But what does that mean?  How does He demonstrate His greatness?  By spectacular displays of power and glory?  By sheer force?  By putting us in our place (which, by the way, would be hell, O sinner) in exhibiting His infinite holiness and righteousness?  That is not what He does, is it? 

            Here is the true greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  God became a Man, for us men, and for our salvation.  But even more.  Now, as a Man, being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-8).  That is His true greatness.  His humiliation for the sake of those who don’t deserve it.  For us. 

            That, of course, is the great Christ hymn of Philippians Chapter 2, and St. Paul tells us to have the same mind among ourselves.  To do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, in Christ, to count others as more significant than ourselves.  To look not only to our own interests, but to the interests of others.  This mind is already yours as a gift, Paul says, because you are in Christ (vv. 3-5).  Baptized into Christ.  United to Christ by faith.  So… have it.  Christ’s mind.  Christ’s humility.  And therefore, Christ’s greatness, as your own.

            And then, at the proper time, God will exalt you.  As He did with Christ: Therefore God has highly exalted Him!  Resurrection.  Ascension.  Seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  Ruling.  All things subjected to Him.  The Name that is above every Name.  And soon, every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  Have this mind among you, and God will exalt you, too.  Not you exalt yourself.  God will exalt you.  You will be raised, and all will know your justification in Christ.  And you will know the justification of your neighbor in Christ. 

            Our Lord was teaching His disciples of His humiliation, suffering, and death for sinners, and of the resurrection that would come of it.  “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.  And when he is killed, after three days he will rise again” (Mark 9:31).  This is His greatness.  But no sooner had He spoken, than the disciples were arguing about who is the greatest?  This was one of any number of such discussions.  They were always worried about this.  This time, perhaps, the argument was precipitated by the fact that Peter, James, and John were privileged to witness Jesus’ Transfiguration on the holy mountain, while the other disciples were floundering with a failed exorcism.  And/or, perhaps, also because, if the Master is killed as He says, who will take His place as Rabbi?  So they’re jockeying for position.  They are comparing themselves over against one another.  Who is wiser?  Who is more faithful?  Who is the most loyal?  And who is not?

            Nothing has changed among the disciples of Jesus Christ.  We still do this.  I still do this.  I confess it, dear brothers and sisters.  And I repent of it, my pride and lovelessness in seeking to be great among you.  And I ask your forgiveness.  When it comes right down to it, every argument, every feud, every division in the Church has to do with who is greater, and who is not.  I’m right, you’re wrong.  I know, you don’t.  I do the good thing, and you do the bad.  And, to top it all off, I know your motives, and they are clearly sinister.  No.  No.  We have it all wrong.  None of that is greatness.  It’s a trick of the evil one!  And it is precisely the opposite of greatness in the Kingdom of God. 

            In the Kingdom of God, the world’s idea of greatness is turned upside down.  In the Kingdom of God, the first are last, and the last first.  The greatest are least, and the least greatest.  In fact, the one who would be great must become a servant of all.  And it is only the One crucified who is raised from the dead to live and reign. 

            Beloved in the Lord, you have been crucified with Christ.  And it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.  And the life you now live in the flesh, you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you, and gave Himself for you (Gal. 2:20).  Dead to yourself in Him.  Alive to God in Him.  And so your greatness is in Him, and in Him alone.  What does that look like?  St. James, calling this greatness “the wisdom from above,” says it is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).  See, all of those adjectives describe humility, the denial of self, the sacrifice of self for the good of the neighbor.  In other words, what Christ does for you, He now does in you for others.  And, he says, “a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (v. 18).  In other words, what is the result?  The justified person (justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone), now doing just works (good works, sanctified works) in love for others, results in peace.  Have this mind among yourselves, to echo St. Paul, and we can enjoy peace with one another, to quote St. James. 

            Well, that means forgiving whomever you need to forgive, and asking forgiveness of whomever you need to ask forgiveness.  It means reconciling with whomever you need to reconcile.  It means covering over your neighbor’s multitude of sins with love (1 Peter 4:8).  It means suffering for your neighbor.  It means emptying yourself, all that you are, and all that you have, for your neighbor’s welfare and salvation.  It means loving the unlovable, and repenting of your own unlovableness.  It means receiving the least as the greatest.  Doing the thing you think beneath you for the person you think least deserving.  Like the child Jesus puts in your midst.  (Oh, how Jesus loves the children!  Notice where the child is, in our Gospel… In His arms!)  Receiving the little child, in reality, you receive Jesus.  And receiving Jesus, you receive the Father.  Actually, you know what it is?  It’s 1 Cor. 13 love in action.  It is patient and kind.  It does not envy or boast.  It is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way.  It is not irritable or resentful.  It does not rejoice… get its jollies off of… wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  It never ends.  Of course, you know (or at least I hope you do after all these years of catechesis and preaching), 1 Cor. 13 is not, first of all, a description of you.  It is a description of Christ.  He’s the only One humble enough, and therefore great enough, to love with this perfect love.  But it is also you, now, in Christ.  Only in Christ, but assuredly in Christ.  Christians love their neighbor.  It is who you are.  Have this mind among yourselves.

            It is yours in Christ Jesus.  Keep that mind as we have difficult discussions here in the Church, dear, beloved disciples of Christ, and in all your relationships with one another.  Don’t lose that mind.  The mind of Christ is a precious gift.  Rejoice in it.  Use it.  Love your neighbor through it.  Give yourself up to it.  That is true greatness.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                   

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19B)

The Holy Baptism of Annika Lucia Downard

September 15, 2024

Text: Mark 9:14-29

            “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24; ESV).  That is the prayer, isn’t it?  Insofar as I am the New Man in Christ, baptized into Christ, one upon whom the Father, through the Son, has bestowed the Holy Spirit… yes, I believe!  But then there is Old Adam, my fallen flesh, and this fallen world.  There are my sins, and my weaknesses, and the sins and weaknesses of others.  And there is the brokenness of it all.  These are what my eyes see.  And so, well… help my unbelief! 

            It’s hard to believe.  It’s hard to believe when your son does not speak.  When a demon grabs hold of him and throws him onto the ground so that he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.  When the demon does this around fire and water in an attempt to destroy the boy.  Yes, that makes it awfully hard to believe. 

            It’s hard to believe when you are a disciple of Jesus, who, with your brother disciples, have been casting out demons for nearly three years, but this one, for some reason, won’t obey.  And you see the disappointment turn to anger and resentment in a desperate father’s eyes, because you can do nothing to help, and he’s about to give up on your ministry, and on the Jesus for whom you speak.

            It’s hard to believe when the respected religious leaders can only stand back and scoff.  “Ha!  We knew you were fakes and frauds!  Where is the power of this Messiah you proclaim as the very coming of the Kingdom of Heaven?!”  And they argue against the legitimacy of your faith (and that, in front of the crowds!), and accuse you of leading the people astray, away from Moses, away from the Law, away from God!

            It’s hard to believe…  Indeed, impossible by your own reason or strength.  That is the rub.  You know this from your own experience.  Perhaps you can identify with the father in our text, helpless against the suffering of your child.  (Though it wasn’t a demon, Sarah and I know the terror of watching our boy drop to the floor, and convulse, and foam… this text hits the bullseye of this father’s heart.)  Perhaps you can identify with the disciples.  “Why does it seem like I’m losing the war against the assaults of the demons and the temptations and persecutions of the world?  What used to work, is not working.  I feel like a failure, and in the eyes of the world, I must look like a fool.”  (And, well, pastors know acutely the disappointment, anger, and resentment of parishioners who, for whatever reason, don’t get what they are expecting from the preacher.)  Perhaps it is something else.  Your own besetting sins.  Guilt.  Shame.  Resentment toward others.  Illness, or injury, or just plain exhaustion.  Grief.  Anxiety.  Your worries about the future. 

            But above all, the one you should identify with in our Gospel, is the boy.  Seized by demonic claw, like a cat playing with a mouse before going in for the kill, and then… a corpse on the ground.  Physically dying and spiritually dead.  That’s what you are by your own reason or strength.  Hard to believe?  An utter impossibility.  Dead men have no faith.

            But you know Jesus specializes in resurrection from the dead.  And it is He who now comes on the scene.  With Peter, James, and John, who are as confused as anyone, but who had just witnessed His Transfiguration, and heard the voice of the majestic Glory: This is My Beloved Son… Listen to Him!

            Jesus comes on the scene, and He speaks, and His Word cuts quickly to the heart of the matter.  What are you arguing about?  Well, we’re arguing about all the brokenness, Lord, and the fact that no one can seem to do anything about it.  We’re arguing because there are demons in our midst, and they love to incite us to do that very thing.  We’re arguing because we’re helpless to do anything else.  We’re dead, You see.

            Jesus puts His finger right at the very center of the problem.  Again, no faith.  You are a faithless generation.  It pains Him.  It exasperates Him.  How long do I have to put up with this?  But… Bring him to Me. 

            Now, the help Jesus gives is anything but clean.  They bring Him the boy, but now, cue the demonic show.  The throwing down.  Convulsions.  Rolling about.  Foaming at the mouth.  (Demons are such drama queens.)  The father is undoubtedly beside himself.  See, Jesus?  Do something!  But the Lord appears unphased (no doubt, also, to the consternation of the demon).  Hmm.  How long has this been going on?  I mean, come on, Jesus!  Is this really the time to make conversation?  What are You waiting for?  If You can do anything… have some compassion!  Help us!

            If You can do anything… Unbelief.  What was Jesus doing in this dialogue?  Calling forth the unbelief, the faithlessness, to deal with it.  If You can!  See, that’s the problem right there.  But all things are possible for one who believes.  And that’s not you, oh desperate father.  And it’s not you, you helpless, hopeless, confused bunch of disciples.  And it’s certainly not you, you contentious Scribes.  And it’s not you, dear Christian.  Who is the One who believes, and therefore for whom all things are possible?  Jesus, of course!  Jesus is the Faithful One.  And in Jesus, the God who created all things out of nothing, faith is called forth from unbelief.  The dead are raised to life.  And that is how you come to faith, so that this is now the cry of the father, and it is your cry: “I believe; help my unbelief!”  Only the faith of Jesus Christ, given to a person as Jesus’ own gift to him, can cry for freedom from unbelief.  Only the faith of Jesus Christ, bestowed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in His Word and gifts, can cry out for resurrection from the dead. 

            Which is why you are here.  In spite of all that makes it hard… nay, impossible… to believe.  You have heard the Word of Jesus.  You are baptized into Christ.  Now, simul iustus et peccator.  That is the paradox of your life now..  At the same time righteous and a sinner.  There is still an unbeliever in you, with shrugged shoulders and an “if You can… but You probably can’t, or won’t.”  But that unbeliever is teased out into the open by Jesus, who exposes him for what he is.  The Lord kills the unfaith, Old unbelieving Adam in you.  And there you lie, like a corpse.  Which is right where Jesus wants you.  And He takes you by the hand, and lifts you up, and you arise.  You had to be killed.  You had to be good and dead.  So that Jesus could raise you up.  So that you could live.  That is how He helps your unbelief.  That is how He gives you to confess: “I believe!”

            And that is how He helps the boy.  And my son.  And you.  And me.  Death and resurrection.  His for us.  Ours in Him, baptized into Christ, as was little Annika Lucia this afternoon.  So that even physical death must serve His helping us, His giving us to believe.  When He doesn’t take away the problem, the cross we are bearing.  He is ferreting out the unbelief.  Old Adam must die.  But you know what He will do in the End.  He will raise you, bodily, from the dead.  Faith keeps its eye on that, shutting out everything else that our fallen eyes see. 

            By the way, why couldn’t the disciples cast the demon out?  You know what it was?  They were cocky!  They took their eyes off of Jesus.  They were impressed with themselves.  They had cast out enough demons, they started to believe they were the ones doing the exorcisms.  No, it was never them.  It was always Jesus.  It can only be Jesus.  Through them, yes, but only Jesus.  So, the cocky disciples had to die.  Failure.  Humiliation.  That Jesus may raise them up true disciples.  That is, those who follow Him.  This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.  That is, the power is God’s, not yours.  If you want to drive out a demon, you have to ask God to do it.  And there is good evidence that the text continues: and fasting.  This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.  That is, denial of self.  The coming to the end of yourself.  Because if you’re still in yourself, you are easy prey for the demon.  But if you come to the end of yourself, then you have nothing left but Jesus.  Which is exactly the way it should be.

            Faith is complete and utter dependence on God… on His Son, Jesus Christ.  Faith confesses sin and unbelief, and cries out to Jesus for help and salvation.  Faith commends loved ones to Jesus, knowing He is the only One who can help.  Faith knows there is no deliverance from sin, Satan, trial, or tribulation apart from Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Faith looks never to itself for sufficiency, but to Jesus Christ alone.  He is the Faithful One.  He is the One who believes.  All things are possible for Him.  And so faith says, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him… (Old Adam is rebellious and dead!)  But if He helps my unbelief by sending His Spirit in His Word (and He does!), then His faith becomes my own, and I can confidently say: ‘I believe!’  (New Creation in Christ!)  And I can leave all things in His hands, where they belong, and rest in His life and salvation.”

               “I believe; help my unbelief!”  That is your lifelong prayer.  And Jesus’ lifelong answer is to take your hand, and raise you up.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.