Monthly Archives: October 2021

Sneaky Slavery – Sermon on John 8:31-36 for Reformation Sunday

John 8:31-36

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The crowds answered Jesus, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.” Right.

They must have completely forgotten their history. They had been slaves in Egypt until God delivered them from their slavery. Even when they arrived in the Promised Land, they were ruled by the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Midianites, and the Moabites. They were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians. They had been under the Greeks and the Persians. And even when Jesus is talking to them here, they are under Roman authority. They had to pay taxes to Caesar and are worried that if people believe in Jesus, the Romans will come and take away their place and nation (Jn. 11:47-48). And remember, the chief priests wanted to kill Jesus, but they had to get permission from the Roman governor Pilate (Jn. 18:11). In fact, when you consider the 1,500-year history of the Jewish people, there is probably only a few hundred years where they were not in some sort of slavery to another nation or power.

But when Jesus says, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” they are offended. Even though these are words of comfort and Gospel, there is an implied bit of Law here. Since the truth will (future tense) will set you free, that means that you are in bondage.

We have to recognize Jesus’ audience. He is speaking to the Jews who believed in Him. I know our translation throws in the word ‘had’ in there – “the Jews who had believed in him.” But that implies that they believed at one time but have stopped believing in Him. That isn’t what the Greek is trying to get across. The verb makes it clear.

Jesus is talking to people who do currently believe in Him, but their faith is shallow and in danger. In fact, by the end of this chapter, the faith of these people will be gone. They are offended at Jesus’ Words of Gospel and freedom. They believed in Him, maybe because of the miracles or because He was interesting to listen to. But they don’t abide, they don’t remain, in Jesus’ Word. They are a prime example of the path in Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the Seed. The Word is sown there, but the devil and demons quickly snatched it away (Mt. 13:4, 19) because their hearts were hardened with pride.

“If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” These are gracious words, but there is also a warning here for you and for me. That warning is this: It is possible to fall away. If you do not abide and remain in Jesus’ Word, then you are certainly not Jesus’ disciples; you will not know the truth, and you will not be free. Only those who abide and remain in Jesus’ Word are true disciples and become free.

Dear saints, Jesus might as well be speaking these very same words to you here today. You also need to abide in Jesus’ Word. You also need to know the truth which sets you free. Whether you recognize it or not, you are in bondage worse than any slavery this world can throw at you. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Sin has so infected us that we have a wrong sense of freedom. We think freedom means that we can do whatever we want whenever we want. We think freedom is a life without obligation or responsibility. That kind of existence, well, it doesn’t exist. Instead, we are captive and slaves to our sinful desires.

The Scripture readings you heard today have made this entirely clear. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Ro. 3:23). “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (Jn. 8:34). We sin; therefore, we are slaves to sin. And you can’t just wiggle out of this saying, “Well we don’t really have a choice in the matter.” Our slavery to sin is at a higher level than that. We are slaves in our will. We deliberately chose to sin. It isn’t just weakness or mistakes. We have all ignored our conscience, and knowing exactly what we are doing, we have chosen to sin. We sin on purpose and repeatedly.

And even when we do fight against our sinful desires, which is good, we still are doing so out of slavery. Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32) shows that there is a slavery when we rebel and try to live apart from our heavenly Father, and there is also a slavery when we try to win the approval of our heavenly Father by life of obedience.

 So, remember the younger son? He deliberately tells his father to drop dead so he can have his inheritance early. That son takes all that he has, quickly wastes it in reckless living, and has to hire himself out feeding pigs. Remember, he was longing to eat the slop he was feeding the pigs. What he thought would bring him freedom made him a slave to pigs. So, he concocts a plan to go and ask to become a servant in his dad’s house in order to get a little food in his hungry tummy. Now of course, you know the story. The father doesn’t even hear the offer of his wayward son. Instead, the father restores this little brat to be a son and throws a party.

But don’t forget about the older son. He didn’t do all the wrong things his younger brother had done. He didn’t tell his father to drop dead. He didn’t demand his inheritance be given to him so he could move away and blow it all. He didn’t end up in the pigpen. No, the older brother hadn’t done anything wrong. But that didn’t make him any less of a slave.

Instead, that older brother insists that he did all the right things. He was dutifully working in his father’s field when his despicable brother returned. And when his father came outside to compel him to come and join the party celebrating his brother’s restoration, he answered his father, “I’ve served,” notice that, “I’ve servedyou my whole life. I’ve never disobeyed your command. I’ve never wasted your money. But when this son of yours comes home, you go and kill the fattened calf for him.” And the parable ends with the father pleading with his oldest son to join the party.

We know that slavery can come from living contrary to God’s Commandments; that is entirely clear and plain as the nose on your face. But there is another slavery – a slavery that is more sneaky – and that is the slavery of the older brother and the people Jesus is speaking to in this text. That is a slavery of us trying to live in such a way that God owes us for all the good we have done. My fellow sinners, repent of that thought as well. God will never be in our debt.

In this text and in parable of the Prodigal Son, we clearly see that God doesn’t want slaves. He wants sons. Slaves don’t remain in the house forever – only sons do. 

That is why Jesus has come. The only begotten Son of God came to do His Father’s will. He came to fulfill God’s Law and to be the perfect sacrifice for your sins and free you from slavery. Yes, you sin, and that reveals your slavery. But at the same time you are also a son – redeemed, purchased, and adopted by the blood of Christ. At the same time, you are a slave and a son, a sinner and a saint.

Dear saints always remember what Jesus says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”Christ has. You are free. Free from the condemnation of the Law. Free from the bondage of sin. Free from the fear of death. Free from the burden of having to earn your salvation. Free from the burden of having to complete your salvation. Free to serve God and neighbor without the nagging worry of whether you’ve done it well enough. 

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, has set you free by His death and resurrection. He has freely given you the gift of new life, and that comes with a happy and joyful future that will last to all eternity. If the Son sets you free – and Christ has by His death and resurrection – you will be free indeed. So, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” (Lk. 12:32). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Very Good – Sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:3 for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

Genesis 1:1-2:3

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

27 So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them. 

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

An overture is a medley that opens an opera, suite, or play, and it introduces the different songs you will hear through the whole work. Movies used to do this often. Most of you are probably familiar with The Sound of Music. The movie begins with scenes of the mountains and fields surrounding Salzburg, Austria, and after Julie Andrews frolics through the grass singing “The Hills Are Alive,” the overture begins. The overture continues several more measures of “The Hills Are Alive,” but then transitions into “Do-Re-Mi,” followed by, “A Few of My Favorite Things,” which morphs into “Something Good,” and closes with a brief hint to “Climb Every Mountain.” There aren’t any lyrics in the overture, so you don’t know that part of the song, but you get to hear the melody so it sticks in your mind and you are able to recognize it when the actual song enters the movie. Not every song gets into the overture, but it gives you an idea of the significant events that are coming up in the film.

Well, the text we just heard is the overture of all of Scripture. So much of what the Bible teaches is introduced in these verses, but too often we miss them because we’re so familiar with the account of creation. So, we’re going to do our best to open our ears to hear the themes that are introduced in this text. We will catch some of the melodies presented to us, so that when the rest of Scripture gives us the lyrics, we can recognize the music behind the song. Just so you know, because there is so much packed into these verses, we aren’t going to be able to hit everything. Sorry.

Right off the bat, we are introduced to one of the great, mysterious theological truths of Scripture – we serve a triune God. In Hebrew, the third and fourth words are ‘God’ and ‘created.’ The interesting thing is that the word for ‘God’ is Elohim, which is a plural word, but the verb for ‘created’ is singular. This would sound really weird to a Hebrew-speaker reading it. Imagine if you read, “The painters (pl.) cleans (sg.) their brushes.” It’s a little jarring.

On top of that, in v. 2-3, you are introduced to each of the three Persons of the Trinity (especially if you know the rest of your Bible). You see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. (The Holy Spirit’s connection to water is a whole theme of Scripture by itself, but we’re not going to dive into that today.) The Holy Spirit is over the water. God the Father speaks. And the Word that is spoken is Jesus who was in the beginning with God through whom all things were made (Jn. 1:3).

We see a return to this theme of the Trinity in v. 26 where God says, “Let us make man in our (pl.) image (sg.) after our (pl.) likeness (sg.).” Then, v. 27 says with poetic beauty, “So God (pl.) created (sg.) man (sg.) in His (sg.) own image, in the image of God (pl.) He created (sg.) him (sg.); male and female He created (sg.) them (pl.).” Just briefly, as a sidenote, part of us being created in the image of God is that we share with God a plurality. Our one God has a plurality of three, one mankind has a plurality of two. This is why I would encourage you to not use someone’s “preferred pronouns” – especially if those pronouns are the plural, they/them. That is a demonic attempt to twist and mangle God’s creation and to make an individual more than he or she actually is. Moving on.

The second part of the overture I’ll point out today is that God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:33). And we see this in the details of what is created each day. In v. 2, we are told that the earth is without form and void. In days 1-3, God creates defined spaces that give form and order, and in days 4-6, God fills those spaces. You can think of it as God creating a shelf on days 1-3 and God filling those shelves days 4-6. Day one, God creates light and time; then on day four, God fills it with sun, moon, and stars. Day two, God creates the atmosphere and waters; then on day five, God fills those spaces with birds and fish. Day three, God creates land and plants; then on day six, God fills the space with animals and mankind. 

This is so beautiful. God doesn’t just build the house of creation. He also fills and decorates it. Because God creates with this order, we can say that wherever and whenever we see disorder, there are evil forces working against God. Satan brought that disordering when he tempted Adam to fall into sin, and we see that continued work of the devil and demons wherever there are attempts to bring anarchy, chaos, and confusion. After the Fall in Gen. 3, the rest of the Bible is about God bringing order back into a sin-sick, chaotic creation.

The third movement of this overture we will highlight is the movement from darkness to light. Verse 2tells us that before God spoke over the formlessness and void, there was darkness over the face of the deep. Before God creates, there is darkness, but then God speaks, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And notice how each of the first six days end with the refrain, “and there was evening and there was morning the ___ day.” So, each day of the creation account begins with darkness and moves toward light.

In our culture today, we mark the beginning of a day at midnight, and this is totally fine. We’re just using the way the Roman empire counted time. The Hebrew culture considers the start of the next day to be right around sunset, which would be about 6 PM because they are closer to the equator than we are. So, they have kept that theme of a day moving from darkness to light. And in the Church, we do this as well. Christmas begins in the “eve.” When it is dark, we celebrate the birth of Christ, and the day moves toward the light.

The interesting thing is that when we get to the seventh day, the pattern “there was evening and morning” that we have heard six times, is broken. There is only mention of the fact that there is a seventh day. So, this entire account moves from chaos and darkness to order and eternal, never-ending light. The book of Revelation shows the conclusion and culmination of this beautiful movement from darkness to light. Rev. 21:23-25 tells us that the eternal city of God will have no sun or moon for the glory of God gives it light and there will be no night there.

Since we’re talking about this seventh day with no darkness, we’ll move to the next beautiful piece of this overture – the eternal day of rest. The seventh day is totally unique in three ways. First, God doesn’t speak a single word on the seventh day. God is silent because the heavens and the earth were finished, completed. God has said all that needed to be said, and His creative Word continues to work to this day as it echoes through His creation. All of creation continues to run and exist because of the Word of God.

The second way the seventh day is unique is that it is blessed. On day five, God blessed the sea creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply, filling the waters and the air. On day six, God blesses mankind to be fruitful and multiply filling, subduing, and having dominion over the earth. it. (Many people today are calling for population control. They say there are too many people on the planet. Dear saints, this is a demonic thought. God created the world to be filled with people, and He blesses us for the purpose of filling the world.) But then, God finishes creation by blessing a day. It is God’s intention to use the blessed seventh day to bless His people – both physically with rest from work, and spiritually with His holiness being conveyed from God to people.

The third way the seventh day is unique is that it doesn’t have an end in the text. The text makes the seventh day eternal and open. Even though we have fallen into sin, God has given us access to the seventh day of eternal rest until Jesus comes again in glory on the Last Day. Hebrews 3-4 encourages us to listen to God’s Word and enter God’s rest. Hebrews 4:9–10 says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.”

Dear saints, there are so many wonderful themes here in the account of creation, but the one that tops them all is the power of the Word of God. Through His Word, God created all things in six days, and since sin entered the world, God has used His Word to bring the sin-induced chaotic creation back into order and rest. So, God sent His Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh, into the world. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “In [Christ Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”

The God who says, “Let there be ____,” and that which does not exist obeys, He now says to you, “Your sins are removed from you as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12), and they are. He says to you, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26), and it is true. He says to you, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will rest you” (Mt. 11:28), and you find peace.

Dear saints, this is very good indeed. God has created, redeemed, and sanctified you. Trust in what Christ has done, and you will find your eternal rest with God and will all His saints. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Just as He Transforms You – Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:1-14

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

If this text was your only indication of God‘s character, what would be your opinion of Him? Because this parable is about the kingdom of heaven, we know that God is the king, but we see that this king gets very angry. He sends out his troops and destroys the murderers. He burns their city and then mocks the very same people he invited to his feast calling them ‘unworthy.’ But what might be the craziest thing about this king is his super strict dress code. He doesn’t just kick the underdressed man out. He has him bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now, maybe you get a little uncomfortable with a text like this. You might find yourself wishing that Jesus would stick to good parables – happy, nice parables like the Prodigal Son or the ones about seeds and birds. Or, maybe, you wish that God always talked like He did in our Old Testament lesson (Is. 55:1-9) where He lovingly invites, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money come buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” We like that kind of God. But the God Jesus presents here – maybe not as much. I mean, seriously, who wants a God who gets all bent out of shape over a guy who doesn’t have the right clothes? Why does God have to be such a hardnose?

Well, dear saints, what if the God that Jesus presents in this parable is just as lavish, just as loving and inviting, as we heard in that Old Testament lesson? In fact, I would argue that even the ugly things that happen in this parable show God’s protection and provision, His mercy, grace, and love.

The king just wants people at his feast. So, he sends out “save the date” cards. When the time to feast comes, he sends his servants to invite those who received those notifications. Still, nobody comes. If we’re being honest, this king is a little too eager to have people at his banquet. Wouldn’t it be better if he was a bit more aloof? “Oh, you don’t want to come? That’s cool!” But the king isn’t that way. He desperately wants these people there at his feast. He wants them to celebrate with him.

So, he sends out his servants again saying, “See, everything is ready. The food is hot, the wine is poured. The music is playing. Come to the feast!” But now the people act wickedly towards the king’s servants. Yes, some only ignore the invitation, but some treat the servants shamefully even kill them. Not a good idea! To attack the king’s servants is the same as attacking the king himself. This cannot stand. The king is done sending his beloved servants to these wicked ingrates. Now, he sends his army to destroy those murderers and burn their city. All the king wanted of them was their presence so he could provide the feast of feasts for them. But they didn’t want anything to do with him.

We should be surprised that the parable isn’t over yet. The story continues. The king still wants a party. He wants guests. He wants people with him to celebrate the marriage of his son. So, he sends more servants out into the streets to invite anyone they can find – good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Just fill the banquet hall with people so we can celebrate. The servants go, and here we see how the servants love their king. The servants know what had happened to the last batch of servants the king sent out. But out of love for their king, they go despite the danger. And surprisingly, they have success! The hall is filled. People arrive at the palace. And every guest finds a place prepared specifically for them at the table even though they have come directly off the street. These guests have come just as they are, and everything is ready.

Now, a lot could be said about the king’s servants. A whole sermon could be preached from this parable about how the king cares for his servants and avenges them when they are wronged. We could consider how God protects you as you go about your work, witnessing for Him as you invite others to the feast. But you are smart people and have been paying good attention. So, I’m going to let you fill in those blanks because this parable is mainly about being worthy to be at the king’s banquet. And there’s one more glitch, one more snafu, in this parable that reveals God’s grace and mercy.

The king enters the banquet hall and spots one of the guests who is there without a wedding garment. So, the king walks over to him and says, “Friend,” or to put it in today’s vernacular, “Dude, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” No response. Nothing but utter silence. The awkward pause turns into a tragic and even terrifying moment when the king summons his servants and renders swift judgment saying, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It’s shocking. This underdressed man gets punished even more severely than the people who murdered the king’s servants. They were only killed and had their city burned to the ground, but this underdressed, speechless man with no excuse, he gets hell.

Why? Why does the king get so bent out of shape when a guy, who has been brought in from the street, looks like a guy who has been brought in from the street? Well, here’s the thing. The wedding garment that this man was expected to be wearing but wasn’t, that garment would have been provided for him at the door. The king would have provided all the guests with wedding garments along with all the food and wine and entertainment. The king didn’t expect his guests to provide anything to be at the feast, not even the clothes on their backs. So, this underdressed man had despised the king’s gift which meant he despised the feast, despised the other guests at the party, despised the king’s son, and even despised the king himself.

So, dear saints, what does this parable teach us about God‘s grace? Well, there is no question God calls you just as you are. God certainly doesn’t need you at His feast, but He desperately wants you there. He wants you for Himself for all eternity. That is why God sent Jesus to shed His blood and die for the sins of all people (1 Tim. 4:10). In Christ’s death, everyone has been reconciled to the Father (2 Cor. 5:19). But the sad reality is that not everyone wants the forgiveness and restoration Christ has won and purchased. The eternal wedding banquet of God is only for beggars who have absolutely nothing and need everything provided for them – even the very clothes that they wear.

For the self-righteous and self-satisfied, the Gospel is insulting. Imagine going to a wedding reception and being told by the host, “You can’t come in here like that. You look and smell disgusting. Strip off all your clothes. Leave your filthy, smelly, smutty rags in the dumpster. Get hosed off and put these fine, fancy, designer clothes on instead. They’re yours to keep. By the way, we’re so glad you are here. Welcome! Enjoy the feast!” Now, if you are infected with lice, homeless, dirty, and hungry you will appreciate that cleansing and gift and have the most marvelous time at the feast. But if you like yourself just as you are, if you are comfortable with yourself in your sin and shame, hearing that is a total, complete insult.

Dear saints, God has invited you just as you are, but your God has no intention of you remaining just as you are. God loves you more than that. He transforms and elevates you. God has given you new clothes, splendent and radiant clothes. In your baptism, God closed you with the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:27). In that robe, you are without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; instead, you are holy and without blemish (Eph 5:27). Sure, you can despise that gift and treat it as though it is nothing. But you do so at your own peril.

God wants you at his feast, and at His feast there is only one rule: You don’t pay for anything. Everything is provided for you because of what Christ has done. And here’s the best part: Your God invites you now to this banquet where everything is ready. Come. You are invited just as you are. And God accepts you just as He has transformed and clothed you in Christ. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Fear of a Fraud – Sermon on Genesis 28:10-17 for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

Genesis 28:10-17

10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

With a stone under his head, imagine what was going through Jacob’s mind as he lay down to sleep. We have to track what has happened in Jacob’s life up to this point. The name ‘Jacob’ name means ‘deceiver,’ and he had certainly lived up (or down) to his name (Gen. 27:36). Jacob was the younger twin of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was the older brother by a foot (Gen. 25:25-26) because Jacob was born clinging to Esau’s heel. As the younger sibling, Jacob wasn’t in line to receive either the birthright or the blessing that God had first given to Abraham who passed it on to Isaac. Now, Esau was supposed to get them.

These two brothers grew up, and, one day, Jacob was cooking a pot of stew when Esau came home exhausted from working in the field. Esau asked Jacob for some of the soup, but Jacob didn’t act in a brotherly way. Instead, Jacob pulled off the biggest case of price-gouging in history and sold a single cup of that stew for Esau’s birthright (Gen. 25:29-34). Of course, Esau was a fool to agree to this sale (Heb. 12:16-17), but that doesn’t let Jacob off the hook for being a total jerk.

Later, when their father was old, blind, and thought he was near death, Isaac asked Esau to prepare a meal for him so he could pass God’s blessing on to Esau. Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, heard about this and told Jacob to pull a fast one over on his dad so he would get the blessing. Initially, Jacob was hesitant, but ultimately, he went along with his mom’s plan. Jacob dressed up in Esau’s clothes so he would smell like Esau. He even put animal skins on his arms so he would feel hairy like Esau in case his blind father touched him. The plan worked pretty well. At first, Isaac was skeptical because he recognized Jacob’s voice. But after Jacob lied several times, insisting he really was Esau, Isaac gave Jacob the blessing that the Messiah would come from Jacob’s descendants (Gen. 27:1-29).

After this, Esau decided he’d had enough and planned to kill Jacob after their father died. Rebekah heard about Esau’s murder plot, so she sends Jacob from their home in Beersheba to Haran (which is about 450 miles away as the crow flies) to find a wife. Our text here picks up about 50 miles into the trip, maybe two days into the journey.

So, again, imagine all the fear Jacob must have faced as he lay down. He had reason to fear because, for the first time in his life, he is away from his parents. He had reason to fear because his brother has plans to kill him. He had reason to fear because he is going to an unfamiliar land where his mother wants him to get a wife. His past is full of fraud, and his future fat with fear. And now, as the sun goes down, he has nothing to lay his head on but that rock.

Yes, the rock would have been an uncomfortable pillow, but what really made Jacob uncomfortable is his rightly guilty conscience telling him how big of a fraud he had been. Sure, in the eyes of men Jacob had gotten both the birthright and the blessing, but what about in the eyes of God? Would God honor the blessing that had been passed down to him?

Well, God came to Jacob that night and gave him the comfort he wasn’t expecting. In a dream, Jacob saw a ladder set up between heaven and earth. That ladder was the connection between the two as the angels of God ascended and descended on it. And God said to Jacob, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring will spread abroad to the west, east, north, and south. And in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. Jacob, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

In other words, God is saying, “Jacob do not be afraid. You may be a fraud, but I am not. I’m going to keep My promises. Yes, you took advantage of your brother to get the birthright, but I’m still going to give you the offspring and land I promised to give to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, you fooled your father into giving you the blessing, but he still spoke the words that I put into his mouth. So, I’m going to give you what was promised even though you received that promise deceptively and impurely. The Messiah that I swore to give to Abraham and to your father is going to come from your own body. And when the Messiah dwells in this land that I promised to give to you, heaven is going to touch earth. The Messiah, who will be your descendant, is going to unite heaven and earth, unite God and mankind, and bring my forgiveness and blessing to all the families of the earth. With His forgiveness, all mankind will have the right to ascend to the throne of God. Jacob, don’t think for one second that your fraud and deceit will make My promises void and go away. My promises are My promises. Your sin, deceit, and trickery cannot change what I have promised.”

Do you ever find yourself having similar fears as Jacob had? Do you ever worry that God’s promises aren’t really for you because you are unworthy? Do you think His blessings aren’t for you because you have too much sin and baggage? Do you see all your unfaithfulness think His mercy cannot be yours? You have confessed to have faith in Jesus in the past, but do you question if you’ve really meant it? You recognize that the sins you speak against publicly are the same sins that you privately love. You are surrounded by all sorts of evidence that you are a fake Christian and a complete fraud. You know that God can see through your façade, so you figure His promises aren’t for you.

Dear saints, do not fear. Even though you are a fraud, God is not. When you are filled with that doubt and fear, close your eyes and look for Jacob’s ladder, and you find that ladder in Christ. Jesus is the One who unites heaven and earth (Jn. 1:51). The eternal Son of God took on your flesh and blood and shed His blood which cleanses you from all your sin. This Jesus is the one who has given you the right to become children of God (Jn. 1:12). A right that you have not earned or deserved, but God Himself has stamped His seal of approval on your adoption papers with the very blood of Jesus.

It is absolutely true that those who do not believe in Jesus will be eternally condemned. But know this, the sincerity of your faith does not and cannot change the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you (1 Jn. 2:2). Your faith is not what causes your salvation. Faith is what receives that salvation. God doesn’t save you because you believed His promises purely. God saves you because He sent Jesus to be Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth and reuniting God to the sinners of this world. Look to the cross. Look to the perfect work of Jesus alone.

Notice Jacob’s reaction after this vision. Notice how, in the last verse, we are told that Jacob was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” All of Jacob’s fears of leaving his family, the threats of his brother, even the fear of himself because of his doubt is all removed. The only fear Jacob has left is God alone. The multitude of God’s grace promised to him brings Jacob a holy and right fear of God.

I’m going to change gears a bit here because we might find it surprising that Jacob would fear after hearing all these wonderful promises. The thing is: fear and service go together. Hebrews 2:15 teaches us that our fear of death actually causes us to become slaves of the devil. We don’t like to think about it this way, but the truth is that we end up serving what we fear. For example, if you are afraid of public shame and humiliation, you might be hesitant to share about your faith in Christ and end up serving your reputation instead of God. But there is a right fear – the fear of God. Luther’s explanation to the 1st Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” is, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” And Scripture repeatedly says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” (Pr. 1:7; Pr. 9:10; 15:33; and Mic. 6:9).

Even though we live in the safest time in all of history, there is a lot of fear today. The best explanation for why that is is that we fear things that are not worthy of our fear (Lk. 12:4-7) and we end up serving them instead of fearing and serving God alone. But when we fear God alone, He casts out all other fears (1 Jn. 4:18).

I’ll close here with a few verses that are so interesting. (I printed them on the back of the Scripture insert for you.) It’s Jer. 33:7-9 where God gives all these wonderful promises. He promises there that He will bring Judah and Israel home from their captivity. He promises to cleanse them from their sin and rebellion. He promises that their city will be a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who hear about all the good God will do for them. And here is God’s conclusion to all those promises: “they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and prosperity I will provide for them.”

Dear saints, like He did for Jacob in our text, God has a multitude of promises to love you, forgive you, care for you, deliver you, and rescue you out of every trouble. Let Him alone be your fear, and He will cast out every other fear with His love and mercy. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fear, Love, & Trust – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:34-46

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44 “The Lord said to my Lord, 

       ‘Sit at my right hand, 
until I put your enemies under your feet’?

45 “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Well, here they go again. Those tricksy Pharisees. Trying to catch Jesus, trying to get our Lord to say something that would get Him in trouble. Last week, it was at a banquet watching to see what Jesus would do with a sick man (Lk. 14:1-11). This week, it’s with a test question. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

To be honest, there isn’t really anything wrong with the lawyer’s question as it is. (More on that in a bit.) But the motive behind the question was sinful. The Pharisees wanted to catch Jesus pitting one part of God’s Word against another. It’s impossible to know exactly what they had planned to do with Jesus’ response. Maybe, they figured Jesus would say that the 1st Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” was the greatest. Then, they could falsely accuse Him of teaching that profaning God’s name, dishonoring parents, murder, stealing, or lying wasn’t a big deal. Whatever their plans and thoughts were, they were trying to make Jesus look like a fool with this question about the Law.

They miscalculated. Badly.

They didn’t realize with Whom they were speaking. Jesus is the Author of the Ten Commandments. He carved them into stone tablets and declared them to Moses and all the people of Israel (Jn. 1:18). Trying to trick Jesus with a question about the Ten Commandments is like trying to trick Herman Melville with a question about Moby Dick, Mark Twain with a question about Huck Finn, C.S. Lewis with a question about Aslan, George Lucas with a question about Luke Skywalker, or Dr. Seuss with a question about the Cat in the Hat. (Hopefully, one of those combinations works for you.)

Jesus, the Author of the Law, will not let one part of His perfect will – which is expressed in the Commandments – be pitted against the rest. The Commandments are not in competition with each other. To love God with the whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind is the first and great commandment. And notice how Jesus continues. He says there is another commandment, a second commandment, that is like the first and great commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Now, it is interesting in Mark’s account of this same encounter with the Pharisees Jesus says there’s no other commandment – singular – greater than these – plural (Mk. 8:31). In other words, perfect love of God and perfect love of your neighbor go together. The two are inseparably tied together and are really one commandment. On these hang all the Law and the Prophets. Love for God is demonstrated by love for the neighbor. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” In other words, when you love your neighbor, you are loving God who has commanded you to love your neighbor.

Some people today will say that since Jesus distills the Commandments down to, “Love God, and love your neighbor,” that we don’t need the Commandments or any other teaching about God’s Law. Basically, they will say, “We just have to love each other.” Be careful with that. The reality is that we need the Commandments, we need the Law, to teach us what love looks like.

If you want to love God, love your neighbor, and here is what that looks like: Loving God is obeying His command to honor your father and mother by serving, obeying, and respecting them. Loving God is obeying His command to not murder your neighbor or cause him any suffering. Loving God is obeying His command to not commit adultery – which means, husbands, live a chaste life for your wife, and wives, live a chaste life for your husband. Love is not stealing, rather helping your neighbor improve and protect his property. Love is not bearing false witness and putting the most charitable construction on all that your neighbor does.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if you think what you are doing is motivated by love; if your thoughts, words, or actions fall outside of these Commands, it is not love. In fact, we could go a step farther and say that, whenever your actions fall outside of the Ten Commandments, they are selfish and sinful actions motivated by hatred toward both God and neighbor.

Dear saints, all of this is to say, we all have a lot of reasons to repent. We do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things, and we do not love our neighbor as ourselves. We let our fear of things other than God dictate how we act. We let our love of things that are not God distract us from the God who loves us. We let our trust in things other than God draw us away from God. Again, dear saints, repent. The Law always accuses us and shows how we fail in our obligation to love God and neighbor.

Now, I said earlier that there isn’t anything wrong with the lawyer’s question about what is the greatest Command. But that question, by itself is incomplete because the Law leaves us hanging out to dry under God’s wrath and punishment. At best, the Law can only curb and deter people from sin, but that’s as far as it can go. The Law is good because it tells us what we must do, but the Law is limited because it can only reveal what we have failed to do. The Law is never helpful in saving us unless we also know the One who hung upon the cross for all our sins of failing to love God and neighbor.

That is why Jesus asks His question about the Christ. Just like in last week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus turns the tables and asks the Pharisees a question, “The Messiah, whose son is he?” And the Pharisees were right when they answered, “David’s son.” God had promised that a son of David would sit on David’s throne forever (1 Sam. 7). But David also wrote in Psalm 110:1, which is the verse that Jesus quotes, that this Son of David is also David’s Lord. So, Jesus’ question is, “How can the Messiah, David’s son, also be David’s Lord?”because a father would never call his descendent, “Lord.”

Here, Jesus is teaching the Pharisees and you that the Messiah is both God and man. Here’s why that is so important:

Because the Messiah is God, He has kept the Law perfectly. And because He is man, that keeping of the Law is for you. Jesus perfectly loved God and your neighbor in your place. And through faith, that perfect keeping of the Law is credited to you (2 Cor. 5:21).

The easiest example of this is the 4th Commandment. The Law says, “Honor thy father and mother. Love God by loving your parents as yourself.” And you are left saying, “God, I haven’t done that. I need Your help.” If the Jesus had not come to earth as a Man, God would have to say, “Well, I’m God. I don’t have a father or mother, so I can’t help you. You have to do that yourself.” But God did become a Man. Jesus had a mom and a dad. He did love and honor them perfectly. So, He can and does help you by reckoning His obedience and keeping the Commandment to your account. And this applies to each and every one of the Commandments.

Jesus, the eternal, righteous Son of God, became a Man, perfectly loved God and neighbor, died, and rose again. Through this, He has brought the Law to perfection. This might be too simplistic of an explanation, but it might help shape our thinking.

In His answer to the lawyer’s question, Jesus shows us that the Law has a divine aspect and a physical aspect – love God (divine) and love neighbor (physical). God be praised, that He has given you a Savior who is also divine and physical – God and Man. So, now, when you hear the Law and what it requires of you, you realize that you are lost and deserve God’s wrath and judgment in both body and soul. So, you cry out, “God I’m lost. I deserve punishment and death, could You take that punishment and die for me?” And because the Son of God has taken up your flesh, Jesus says, “Sure. I already have.”

Dear saints, Jesus has perfectly loved God and neighbor for you. All of His perfection and righteousness – His perfect fear, love, and trust in God – is given to you through faith. And to strengthen that faith, your Savior is here now to give you His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. For that, God be praised. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.