Monthly Archives: July 2024

The Gift of Time – Sermon on Luke 16:1-13 for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 16:1–13

1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The scam was over. His gig had been discovered. The pink slip was coming because this manager’s Ponzi scheme had been reported to his boss. Now, the rich man was going to cut ties with his crooked manager. But rather than sitting around and stewing about how everything had gone wrong, instead of denying the charges, fighting the accusations, or making excuses, the manager gets busy. His paychecks had dried up, but the manager recognized that he had something much more valuable than his salary. He had time, and he was going to use that time to his advantage.

This scoundrel manager scrambles to make sure that he’ll still have a bite to eat and a place to stay now that the gravy train had made its last stop. He calls in all the people who owed the rich man a debt. We only get to hear two of the conversations, but all of them get called in, and you can imagine those debtors were nervous and afraid as they are brought into the office one by one. No one likes calls from the debt collector.

The manager knows their fear, and he uses it to his advantage. He asks all of the debtors, “How much do you owe? Ufda. Yes, I can see why you’re worried about that. Well, I have some good news for you. I’m going to make things easier. Take that debt, and lower it.” And all these debtors leave the office with a lighter burden, feeling better about their own future, and extremely grateful toward this soon-to-be jobless manager. And he will go home at the end of the day with no job and no prospects but a lot of new friends. Of course, those friends were gotten by deception and cheating, but they had become his friends.

Now, this is probably Jesus’ most confusing parable. It’s one of only a couple times that Jesus holds up someone who does bad things as an example. Another one comes later in Luke 18:1-8 where Jesus tells the parable of the unrighteous judge who grants justice to the widow who keeps badgering him for justice. In that parable, Jesus teaches that bad people will sometimes do the right thing. But here, Jesus teaches that bad people do bad things and sometimes get good results – at least for themselves.

To help make sense of it, let’s try an analogy. If I said, “Barry Bonds hit a lot of home runs,” what would you think of that statement? Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you think because it’s true. Bonds stands alone at the top of list of all baseball players in history for hitting the most home runs. It’s undeniable. Of course, the reason he hit a lot of his home runs is that he cheated by taking steroids, but he still hit more baseballs over the fence than anyone else. But that doesn’t, necessarily, mean that other players who hit lots of home runs are cheaters. Managers will still encourage their players to hit the ball far and hard even though some do it by cheating. Jesus wants you, Christian, to be shrewd. That doesn’t mean He want you to cheat. But He does want you to be shrewd in ways that invest in the kingdom of God.

We still probably wonder, “Why wouldn’t Jesus use a different parable with a character who is more respectable to teach us to be shrewd?” Honestly, I don’t know the answer. From the rest of the Gospels, it’s clear that Jesus isn’t in favor of theft and cheating. He doesn’t approve of this guy’s stealing and dishonesty (see Mt. 5:17-37). The manager is a crook, thief, and scoundrel. But Jesus does want us Christians to imitate and emulate this manager’s shrewdness. Simply stated, it all boils down to these three ways he is shrewd: One, the manager recognizes who he is. Two, the manager recognizes he temporarily has at his disposal things that will not last or endure. And three, he knows how to use things that are slipping away to secure a future for himself. Let’s dissect each of those.

First, Jesus wants us to be shrewd like the manager and rightly recognize who we are. When the manager heard that his pink slip was coming, he recognizes that he’s about to lose all of his income and that there’s no one to blame except himself. But more importantly, he recognizes that he either can’t or won’t do certain things. He isn’t strong enough to work in construction, and he’s too ashamed to stand on a corner holding a cardboard sign with a sad story which will move people in such a way that they give him money. The guy is brutally honest with himself about himself and his situation.

Jesus wants us to have that same shrewdness. Christ wants us to recognize who we are as sinners. We do this here every week with our confession of sins. We confess that we are, by nature, sinful and unclean and have sinned in thought, word, and deed. We confess that we need to flee to God’s infinite mercy which He freely gives for the sake of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is good and right that we do that here and receive Jesus’ forgiveness which He gives to all of us through the absolution (Jn. 20:23). And it is good to confess our sins each and every day and hear God’s sure, certain promise of forgiveness and mercy.

Second, Jesus wants us to be shrewd like the manager by recognizing what does not last. The manager’s career was fleeting. He’s in the process of being fired, and because his career doesn’t last, his income isn’t a stable fixture either. The only thing he has is time, but that won’t last either. Eventually, the rich man will send guards to bring the paperwork back to the headquarters. So, the manager acts quickly. He sees that every second is a gift, so he uses every precious second. This manager shrewdly recognizes that time is a lot more valuable than money.

Dear saints, time is always short because time is always a gift. We take time for granted, but we strive for money. This is backwards. If you found a $200 recurring charge on your bank account had no idea what that $200 was going toward, you would investigate. But how much time do we waste each day or week or month and barely even notice?

Your income of time doesn’t and can’t increase. The amount of time everyone has is the same. You can’t save time to use later in your retirement. Still, time flies away, and we think little about it. The gift that you always have the same amount of is time. So, what are you doing with it? In the parable, the rich man realizes how intelligent and shrewd this manager was in his use of the gift of time. The manager used his time to secure a future for himself by treating the time he had as something incredibly precious. Jesus wants us to do the same. Which leads us to the third way Jesus wants us to be shrewd like the manager and that is to use things that are fleeting – especially the gift of time – to our advantage.

You don’t have any guaranteed time. None at all. Every second you are breathing in and out is a gift. What are you doing with that gift? Are you investing your time in things that last like hearing God’s Word, growing in your faith, training your children, and building up your brothers and sisters in Christ? Stop acting that you are in charge of your life. Be reconciled to God now. If you have accounts to settle, if you have something to confess to God or to someone else, now is the time to do that. If you have something important to do, today is the day for that very thing. The only things that will last are what God says will last. Everything else will fail.

Jesus wants us children of light to make friends for ourselves by means of ‘unrighteous wealth,’ in other words, Jesus wants us to make friends by means of things that will not last, by means of things that will fade away. A time will come when you have to speak to the Master and explain what you have done with the temporary gifts that He has given to you.

Dear saints, as you see everything else fail and fade, also see that the cross is not going away. Jesus’ hands are still wounded for you. Christ’s blood has still paid for all of your life. God’s will for you in Christ Jesus is that you be reconciled to God. Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Time doesn’t touch Jesus, so your time with Him cannot touch you. Invest in Him. Put your time in Him, not in things that fail.

You, child of God, be shrewd. Pour yourself in lasting things. Confess, forgive, love, and receive the promises of God knowing the time is precious. Invest in what lasts, and you will reap a rich and lasting reward because Christ and His kingdom will never fail. Amen.

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

Adopted – Sermon on Romans 8:12-17 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Romans 8:12–17

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Whenever you say something about God, you are simultaneously saying something about yourself. When you refer to God as ‘Lord’ or ‘Master,’ you are saying that you are His servant. When you call God the ‘Creator,’ you are also saying that you are His creation and creature. When you say that God is ‘Almighty’ or ‘omnipotent,’ you concurrently saying, “I am weak.” Now, of course, God is all those things. He is your Lord, your Master, and your Creator. God is the Almighty who is all-powerful. Scripture clearly and repeatedly gives those titles to God. And because God is all of those things, you are the inverse. You are God’s servant and His creation. You are weak, in fact, much weaker than He is. And there is a time and place for you to recognize and confess all of that about yourself. That’s proper and right.

The thing to notice, though, is that when you talk about God in those ways, you are using language that is only focused on the difference of power between you and God. Again, yes, of course, there is a difference of power between you and God. But, Christian, your relation to God isn’t primarily measured by power. If all you know about God is how big, immortal, wise, powerful, sovereign, etc. He is, then all you can do is throw yourself on the ground before Him and hope for the best.

The Epistle reading is filled with language that proves that the relationship between you and God isn’t based solely on power. You, believer, are a son of God. God is your Father. That fact illumines all the other titles of God. The all-powerful God is your Father. The Creator is your Father. The Lord and Master of all things is your Father. God is your Father, and you are His son.

Now, before I go any further, something needs to be crystal clear. When the Bible talks about Christians as ‘sons’ here, that doesn’t mean only the men and boys have this status, but women and girls don’t. No! That’s not what this means. The term ‘son’ here means that you are God’s child and have a legitimate, legal claim and right to inherit everything that belongs to God. And this changes everything for you and for how you now live in this world He created.

Paul here is elaborating on what Jesus had already taught. Remember, when Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, Jesus’ response is, “When you pray say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven…’”(Lk. 11:2; Mt. 6:9). With these words, Jesus is tenderly encouraging us to believe that God “is truly our Father and that we are truly His children, so that we may boldly and confidently come to Him in prayer, even as beloved children come to their dear father.”[1]

These verses (along with many others) clearly teach that this status of being God’s son and child is not something that you have earned. God, by His grace, has done it. He did the work of making you His son. You are not sons of God by virtue of your existence. You aren’t biologically God’s sons. Sure, everyone is created, knitted, and formed by God in their mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13), but that simply means that you are His creature. Not everyone is a child of God – not in the way Paul is talking about it here. You, believer, are God’s sons because you are adopted. God has chosen you and made you His sons (Eph. 1:5). The Holy Spirit has brought this about by giving you faith in Christ. 

Because you are God’s adopted sons and have Him as your Father, you, dear saints, are God’s heirs with a coming inheritance. You, Christian, are an heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ, and Scripture clearly says what you will inherit. You will receive the entire world. The whole world belongs to God. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” All of creation belongs to God, and because it belongs to your heavenly Father, that is your inheritance as His heir. Back in Romans 4:13, Scripture says that the promise to Abraham and to you who share the faith of Abraham (Ro. 4:16; Gal. 3:29) is that you are all the heirs of the whole world. That’s your inheritance; that’s what is in store for you, believer.

Because that is your coming inheritance, your life is different now – especially regarding the things you suffer. Look again at v. 17. You are children and “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” That word ‘provided’ might make it sound that you need to go do something – go and find Jesus to suffer with Him. But that can’t be the case.

Jesus has already suffered, bled, and died for you. Now, He’s risen. And Jesus isn’t suffering anymore. He is seated at God’s right hand with all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). Christ’s suffering is over. So, when Paul talks about suffering here, he isn’t saying that you need to find Jesus somewhere over there and join Him in His suffering. Instead, Paul is saying that Jesus is beside you in your suffering – whatever that suffering may be. This can change our attitude toward suffering. You suffer in this life with Christ beside you. He is with you in your suffering. Your inheritance is coming, but for now, you suffer with Jesus at your side.

All of us are tempted to groan and grumble when we suffer even though the Bible tells us, “Do all things without grumbling” (Php. 2:14). We’re all guilty when it comes to this. We say things like, “He doesn’t know all the things I do for him.” “She’s only thinks about herself.” “The roads are so torn up and full of potholes.” “It’s too hot.” It’s way too easy to grumble and complain. My fellow adopted children of God, we need to fight against this.

I’m going to borrow and update an analogy from John Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Imagine that a man is traveling to claim a massive inheritance. Picture a multi-million dollar lakefront mansion. The waters are clear and clean. Trees all around. A huge boathouse. A pole-barn filled with fancy new and collectable cars. And a massive safe filled with gold bars. But imagine that the man traveling there is driving ’03 minivan that breaks down just before he arrives at the estate, and he has to walk the last mile. We would think he’s an absolute fool if he was grumbling that last mile, complaining, “My minivan is broken! My minivan is broken!” That’s us. We are on the way to our inheritance. It’s just around the corner. Yes, things have gone wrong, and we are suffering. But it isn’t going to last very long.

Now, that analogy might minimize the suffering you’re enduring right now. Some of you have been enduring a lot of physical, mental, and spiritual pain. Some of you have lost spouses, parents, and children. Your suffering is hard, difficult, and real. It absolutely is. But whatever that suffering is, it is nothing, absolutely nothing, in comparison to what you are about to receive when you get to your inheritance. And whatever is broken now will be fixed when you arrive. You’ll have plenty.

Dear saints, you are on the way. You have suffered losses. It’s hot. You’re tired, dirty, and sweaty. Yes, it’s difficult.

Keep going. Your inheritance is just around the corner. Christ is coming. Keep your mind on your inheritance (Col. 3:1-4), brothers and sisters of our heavenly Father. Amen.

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

[1] Luther’s Small Catechism Lord’s Prayer Introduction.

Completed – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 5:17–26

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This Gospel reading today is all Law. These verses begin a long section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is, basically, giving a long commentary on the Ten Commandments which runs all the way to the end of chapter 5 – thirty-two verses worth of our Lord’s teaching on the Ten Commandments. Now, God’s Law, which is succinctly given to us in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17), does a couple different things.[1] Let me just briefly tell you what they are before we focus in on one.

First and foremost, God’s Law shows us how creation works. It reveals what is good in this life. In other words, the Commandments teach you how to be happy and how to live in perfect harmony with God, harmony with your neighbor, and harmony with the rest of creation. Because God’s Law does this, you can think of it as a ‘curb,’ and keep that term in your mind because we’re going to come back to it in just a bit.

Second, because the Commandments teach us how creation works, they also show us where we are living in a way that is contrary to how creation works. The Law shows us how we have violated God’s will, how we have offended Him, and have earned His wrath because of our sin. In other words, the Law accuses us. It stands there like a perfect, clear mirror showing us what we really look like, and it isn’t a pretty picture.

As far as your salvation is concerned, this is the most important thing the Law does. It accuses you and exposes the fact that you are not what you are created to be. So, when you see yourself in the mirror of God’s Law, run to Him in repentance seeking His mercy which He freely gives to you for the sake of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Again, as far as your salvation is concerned, this is the most important thing God’s Law does. But! Make sure you notice that the Law is only a mirror because of that first function, the ‘curb,’ which again simply shows us how God has ordered creation.

So, back to the ‘curb.’ Unless you have really poor spatial awareness, you probably don’t think about curbs very often. Maybe, you hit the curb when you’re driving your spouse’s vehicle that has a longer or wider wheelbase than you are used to, but that curb just bumps you back onto the street keeping you off the sidewalk and lawns. Typically, if you hit a curb when you’re driving, it’s no big deal. It just means you’ll need to get your tires realigned a bit sooner.

But know that there are different kinds of curbs. If you’re driving on I-29 or Hwy. 2, there aren’t what we normally call curbs, but there are those rumble strips that shake the car and make a loud noise to keep you from straying off the road. You might hit those rumble strips periodically on a curve or when the wind is blowing exceptionally hard. But there are still other curbs. If you’re driving on the freeways in the Cities, the curb might be a thick, four-foot concrete wall to keep the traffic traveling in opposite directions from colliding. Those, you avoid, and, hopefully, you’ve never hit or scraped one of them because it’ll do extensive damage to your car. Rumble strips, normal neighborhood curbs, and concrete barriers are all types of “curbs” that keep vehicles where they should be – on the road and away from danger.

Now, take that idea of those different types of curbs to God’s Law and the Ten Commandments. We might hear the 5th Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” and think of the curb of the 5th Command as the thick, four-foot concrete barrier. It’s big, but it’s also quite easy to avoid running into it. You can always see it and know that hitting it would cause significant damage. Because the 5th Command is so big and impending, you easily avoid it. But just because you’ve never physically murdered someone, don’t think that you’re righteous according to the 5th Command.

Here, in this Gospel text, Jesus says that the 5th Command is also a regular curb. Christ says, “Don’t relax on this command because everyone who is angry with his brother is also guilty of murder” (Mt. 5:22a). Jesus shows that the 5th Command isn’t just a concrete barrier to keep us from physically murdering someone, it’s also a curb that keeps us from being angry toward our neighbor. Again, when you’re driving your vehicle, you might bump a curb a couple times a week or once a month. But just because you don’t think much about your anger toward others doesn’t mean that God doesn’t notice. Even nudging the curb of anger toward your neighbor makes you liable to judgment and earns you an eternity in hell.

Think back to Genesis 4. Before Cain murdered Abel, God asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” (Gen. 4:6). Even though God hadn’t yet given the command, “Thou shalt not kill,” God was warning Cain there with the 5th Command because Cain was angry. But Cain blew right over the curb of anger that God had constructed and smashed into the concrete barrier of murder.

Jesus goes even further and tells us about the 5th Command rumble strips. Calling someone a fool is the same as murder (Mt. 5:22b). And Jesus still isn’t done. Christ teaches us that the 5th Command demands that if we remember that someone has something against us that we must go to them and try to reconcile, or we are violating the 5th Command (Mt. 5:23-24).

When it comes to keeping the 5th Command, it’s not enough for you to not physically murder someone or never be angry. It’s not even enough for you to never call someone a fool. You also need to seek reconciliation with others who are angry against you. Otherwise, you have 5th Commandment blood on your hands. Jesus is teaching here that you’ve run into all kinds of 5th Commandment curbs. You do it every day. And because of that, you are guilty before God and liable to His eternal judgment.

Jesus, who was the One who spoke the Ten Commandments, clearly spells out what they mean. You could say that He is giving us the “fine print” of the Commands explaining the full, complete picture of what they demand. But don’t misunderstand that either. It isn’t as though the Ten Commandments weren’t enough. They are enough. Imagine you told your teenage kid to clean the kitchen, and all he does is wipe down the exposed counters and leaves a pile of dishes by the sink. (To be clear, this is not an example from my household. My kids know better.) You come into the kitchen and see all the greasy, grimy pots and pans. You’d rightly get after him and say, “I told you to clean the kitchen. Get back in there.”

Here, when Jesus teaches us the “fine print” of the Ten Commandments, we are left with no excuse for hitting any of the curbs of any of the Commandments. Christ says, “Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. You need a righteousness that exceeds the goodest [sic.], most moral person you know of, or you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:19-20). And when Jesus talks about the “least command,” He is not saying that the Ten Commandments have a ranking where some are more important and some less. No! Christ is saying that the tiniest infraction of any of the Commandments, even refusing to reconcile with someone who is angry with you, makes you unrighteous and means that you are outside the kingdom of heaven. In other words, we’re all in deep, deep trouble. Repent.

Repent and know that Jesus completes and fulfills the Commands in another way than just explaining them more fully. Jesus also keeps all the Commands, all of God’s Law, perfectly and completely – for you. Every aspect of every command was perfectly obeyed by Jesus. And His obedience is yours through faith in Him.

Think of it this way: God is going to grade you on one test, and that is the test of keeping His Law, and you need to get a perfect score, 100%, never hitting any curb – ever, or you will spend eternity in hell. Even with an open book, the best, most righteous person is going to bomb that test. Maybe get a score in the teens or something. But also know God has told you that you can use a partner to take the test. Through faith, Jesus is your Partner for this final exam, and He answers every demand of the Law perfectly. Through faith in Him, His full, complete righteousness is yours. 

And now, He invites you to receive that righteousness as He gives you His righteous Body to eat, and His holy, cleansing, forgiving Blood to drink. So, come to His table and receive His perfect righteousness. Amen.

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

[1] The Formula and Epitome of Concord Art. VI. both talk about the three uses of the Law – 1) curb, 2) mirror, and 3) guide. This sermon is written with the understanding that the 2nd and 3rd uses of the Law are both subsets of the 1st. So, I’m not denying the 3rduse of the Law in any way. Instead, it is a clear extension of the 1st use as is the 2nd.