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Luke 14:25-35

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

When you read the Gospel of Luke, make sure you know which side of 9:51 you are on. That verse is the turning point. There Jesus “sets His face” to go to Jerusalem. From that point on, Jesus is determined to get to the cross. Jesus is going to Jerusalem to die, but that news hadn’t spread very far yet. In fact, the only ones who are in the know – the disciples who were told several times by Jesus that He was going to die – even they didn’t get it.

Throngs of people are still surrounding Jesus looking for a favor. They saw Him as a celebrity who could hand out whatever you wanted. Need to be cured? Sure. Throwing a party for thousands? Jesus can cater it for a very low price. Going to a funeral? Bring Jesus, He’ll be the life of the party.

But here Jesus throws a wet blanket on everything. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” How many times have you seen this show up on your Bible verse of the day calendars, or when was the last time you heard this verse read between songs on Christin radio? Right, probably never.

Isn’t Jesus supposed to be pro-family? He called the people hypocrites for not taking care of their parents (Mk. 7:6-13)? And, for goodness sake, how can Jesus overthrow the 4^th Commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother”?

But Jesus isn’t done being a kill-joy. “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Jesus isn’t talking about little, golden necklaces. Jesus is talking about rough timbers of wood. Crosses kill. They are instruments of death. To take up your cross is to take up your death. If you aren’t ready to take up your death and follow Jesus, you cannot be His disciple. Sorry.

Still want to be a disciple of Jesus?

Count the cost. Do you have the resources? Can you afford it, or will you get the project only half completed before you run bankrupt?

Jesus tells you what it costs to follow Him. It’s more than just your money, your name, your reputation. More than your home, your lake cabin. It’s everything. To be a disciple of Jesus means you give up absolutely everything. Anything that gets in the way of Jesus, you have to hate: parents, children, spouses, work, friends, and whatever else you can think of. You can’t juggle those things and carry your cross.

When push comes to shove, if your parents, children, spouse, or friends wander from the faith, do you follow after them by defending their sin or making excuses for them? Or do you follow Jesus? How about when your will and desire are opposed to God’s will which do you choose?

Or what about when persecution comes? Will you stand for what God says is right, or will you cave in to the pressure? When you are forced to make a choice between your career, your livelihood and the truth, which will it be? When your family is marched before you and you have to decide between your family and your faith, what will you do?

You might have good intentions. Right now, you might think that you would be bold. But how can you be so sure? Your resolve today doesn’t mean anything. When that moment comes and the pressure is on, will you cave in? If any of us counted the cost of following Jesus, we wouldn’t follow, wouldn’t believe. No one would.

Our Old Testament reading might sound like God is making salvation a choice, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Dt. 30:19). If you’re dead in sin, you aren’t in a position to choose life. And if you are alive, your only choice is death because Jesus says to follow after Him you must take up your cross.

Besides, you already know what you chose. Every day life and death, blessing and curse are placed before you, and you always chose death. You sin. You not only choose death and curse, you embrace it and hold it dear.

Count the cost of following Jesus and it is the last thing you will do.

The cost of following Jesus is rung up, you can’t pay. But that is why Jesus pays it all for you. Jesus counted the cost of being your Savior, and He deemed it worth every last drop of His holy and precious blood. Jesus gave up His glory, His throne, His dominion. He became your sin (2 Cor. 5:21). He died your death. Yes, He even hated His life. He did it all for you.

When God marches against you, when the Lord of hosts is coming at you with His armies, repent. You don’t have the forces to attack Him, and you cannot retreat. Surrender. While He is still a long way off, ask for terms of peace. He will make a covenant with you. He will give you His very body. He will give you His precious blood. He will forgive you, restore you, and seat you at His eternal banquet. Amen.[1]

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

[1] Much of this sermon is adapted from a wonderful sermon by Rev. William Cwirla.

Listen here.

Luke 14:1-14

¹ One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.

² And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶ And they could not reply to these things.

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Some dinner party this was. Did you feel it in the text? Awkward! Eyes are darting around the room. Everybody is watching each other, and every look is critical. It isn’t just to see who foolishly uses the dinner fork to eat their salad. No! The Pharisees are carefully watching Jesus, just waiting to catch Him doing something wrong. And Jesus has His eyes on them, watching as they stumble over each other for seats of honor. So much for Sabbath rest at this dinner party – it’s exhausting.

The Pharisees are watching for good reason because it appears that they have set up this whole scenario. Somewhere in the crowd is a man with dropsy. Pockets of fluid are collecting in his body tissue, and he has swelling all over. Jesus sees this grotesque-looking man, and knowing the Pharisees are watching His every move, He asks, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

They refuse to answer the question, but Jesus doesn’t care what answer they might have given. Jesus looks at this swollen man just as He looks at all sinners – like a mother looks at her child in the cancer ward. Or, even better, Jesus looks upon sinners like a mother looks at her child who has been rightly convicted of murder and is hours from execution on death row (Pedersen). Jesus sees this man’s need, and He has mercy.

The dining room turns into a doctor’s office and the buffet becomes an exam table. “Move the turkey legs out of the way. Slide those potatoes across. You might want to cover the salad bowl. Time to get this bloated, swollen man healed. Ok. Now that that’s done, let Me ask you – which of you, would leave your son or even your ox in a well if it fell in on the Sabbath?”

Now, instead of refusing to reply, the other dinner guests can’t reply. There they sit, dumber than oxen who don’t even realize they have fallen into a well. The question convicts them, and they are like dead men. Despite their deadness and hatred of Him, Jesus still loves them. His desire is to save them too.

So Jesus tells this parable which is a retelling of Proverbs 25:6-7. Now, we could take this parable as an etiquette lesson: Sit low and get honor by being paraded through the party to a higher seat. But that flies in the face of what Jesus is actually doing. Jesus wants to show them true humility. And pretending to be humble in order to get everyone’s attention isn’t true humility.

This parable is all about Jesus. It tells of His path from glory down to earth and even hell and back again. Jesus was removed from the place of honor at His Father’s right hand in order to make room for you. Jesus was humiliated (Php. 2:5-11). He took the form of a servant. God was found in human form. When we sinners saw God in the flesh, we pinned Him to a cross.

But, then, God does the strangest thing. He takes you who are sitting in the muck and mire of your sin. Because God sees that Jesus’ seat is open, He invites you to move up. You are invited to sit at the table He prepares for you. He anoints your head with oil and makes sure your cup is never set down empty.

Then, from the lowest place, Jesus is raised up. At His name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Notice what Jesus says is the lesson of the parable, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He doesn’t give you something to do by saying, “Be humble.” Pride is your problem, but you can’t overcome pride by humility. To think that you can fix your pride is, by definition, prideful. The anecdote for your pride is not you being humble – it is grace. Grace which is never merited or earned. Grace that is pure gift, pure mercy, pure love.

You have been honored by Jesus’ grace. And as you sit in that seat of honor, you are humbled because of what Christ has done, for you

That is why Jesus, your Savior, still invites you, “Come up higher. Sit here. Yes here! Come and receive what you could not earn or buy. Come and receive what you aren’t even clever enough to ask for. Come and receive My grace, My forgiveness, My mercy.” Amen.

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

Listen here.

Luke 12:49-53

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Is this what you expected to hear from Jesus when you got up to come to church today? Probably not. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, right? You expect to hear Jesus proclaiming a message of peace, but instead you get all this: fire, distress, division, fighting. Fathers against sons. Mothers against daughters. Houses of five divided – three to two. Who will be in the majority and will the majority be on Jesus’ side?

Jesus asks, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?”

“Well, yes, Mr. Jesus, if you are asking, yes. Now that You are here shouldn’t everything go perfectly? Aren’t You here to end all war, famine, and calamity? Aren’t You here to make everything fantastic? Make the lion lie down with the lamb and all that. Make this world the place ‘where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average’?”

Jesus doesn’t let us answer His question, “Do you think I have come to give peace on earth?” He jumps right in and says, “No, I tell you, but rather division.” In the same context in Matthew, Jesus answers His own question more violently, “I have not come not to bring peace but a sword” (Mt. 10:34).

Swords and division go together. Swords divide. They are a tool of war designed with one purpose – to divide. Flesh from bone. Soul from body. Paul writes that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Maybe, then, we shouldn’t be surprised when Jesus, the Word of God in the flesh, brings division. In our Old Testament lesson (Jer. 23:16-29), God says, “Is not my Word like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

Remember that the next time you come to church and hear the Word of God. Remember that before you crack open your Bible. Be careful with the Word of God. You can get burned. You can get smashed. You can get slashed.

The division Jesus speaks about is first and foremost within you. The work of God’s Word is to separate you from your sin, and this isn’t a pleasant operation. It is a terrifying ordeal. God talks about it as removing your heart of stone and giving you a heart of flesh. We’d prefer to postpone the operation. Maybe get a second opinion. But Jesus won’t wait for us to sign liability forms. Jesus is ready to get the whole thing started.

Jesus says, “Fire is coming to the earth, and let’s get it kindled. I’m going to be baptized in My own blood and God’s judgment. I will go to the cross where the napalm of God’s wrath will be poured out upon Me because I will become sin – for you.” Jesus will be baptized upon the cross as God pours out His anger against your sin upon His own beloved Son.

In Christ, God is at war with sin. The Great Physician is amputating what is incurable – your sin, your evil, your wickedness. He took it upon Himself and nailed it to the cross, buried it in the tomb, and left it there when He rose from the dead.

And in your baptism, God joined you together with Jesus. You who are baptized have been baptized in to His death – into a Jesus-type death. You were buried with Jesus by baptism into death. Since you have been united with Jesus in a death like His, you will certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (Ro. 6:3-5).

“But pastor, that’s all over now, right?” Nope, that’s not what the Scriptures say. Sorry. Through His Word, God has raised up a new man inside of you. If it were over, you wouldn’t sin anymore. But you do. Your old, sinful flesh still clings to you. So now the good things you want to do, you don’t do them. The things you hate because God says they are sin, you still do those things (Ro. 7:14-20). God has made your hearts instruments of faith and faith will and must fight against sin and unbelief.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Ro. 7:24-25). All the while God says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 8:1).

God’s Word is still a sword. Believer, on this side of glory you are still at war. The Word of God still cuts and divides. And the place where it is rightly preached is always marked by division. Your neighbors, your friends, and sadly, yes, even your family will be divided against you. God’s Word of Truth is the stench of death to those who do not believe. People you love will stop their ears to the Gospel. They don’t want to hear the Gospel – the free forgiveness of sin – because they don’t want to need forgiveness.

But you, you will run with endurance the race set before you. You will lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. You do this looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith (Heb. 12:1-2). This Jesus is coming again. When He comes, His power will be seen. The fog will clear, and all of the devil’s lies will be exposed.

Then you won’t run. You won’t stand. You will kneel. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Then, and only then, will the division within and without cease.

Until then, you fight. Fight and rejoice in the joy that Christ has given. You will fight singing a battle song. Even though it will appear that the enemy is winning because even if you fall in that battle (and unless Jesus comes first, you will), the victory is already won. Forgiveness is yours. You are now free, and soon you will be whole. Then your warfare will end. Then the sword will be beaten into a plowshare. Then you who have been made clean will lie down with the Lamb. Amen.

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

Listen here.

Luke 12:22-34

²² And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. ³⁰ For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³² “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Through this whole text, Jesus comes at us with the Law to point out our sins of idolatry. The human heart is an idol factory.  Because of our sin, we fear, love, and trust all sorts of things that aren’t God. Answer the question, “What am I afraid of?” and you will find your idol.

If Jesus had wanted to, He could have summarized this whole text with one command: “Thou shalt not worry.” But Jesus didn’t come be a new Moses and give more commands. Jesus came to remove your worry and anxiety. Jesus came to remove your fear of God’s righteous judgment against your sin and idolatry because He came to take your sin from you and to be judged and condemned in your place.

And here Jesus tears down your idols. He clears them all away, but notice how Jesus does it. He does it kindly. He does it with tenderness. Jesus diagnoses your idolatry very acutely, but very gently. The voice of your Shepherd calls you away from danger, away from idolatry to Himself. Jesus gives you several questions to ask yourself. Each of these questions is an argument against your idolatry and drives you to put your trust in God.

First, Jesus invites you to look at the birds. Birds who do not make meal plans. Birds who don’t go to school to learn how to get a job and work. Birds who don’t make barns and storehouses. Birds that just get fed by God. Jesus invites you to look at them and ask yourself, “How much more valuable am I than the birds?” Seriously, answer that question.

Jesus didn’t come to suffer and die for birds. He came to have a crown of thorns pressed into His head, to have His hands and feet run through with nails, to have His side gashed by a spear not for birds, but for you!

Second, Jesus wants you to consider how you can live longer. “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” None of you can. If you cannot do something as simple as that, then what good is it for you to worry? It doesn’t help a lick.

Third, the lilies, question. Lilies don’t work. They don’t toil or spin. They don’t watch for the hottest deals of the season. And not even Solomon – the wealthiest, most powerful king Israel ever had – not even he was clothed as beautifully and luxuriously as one of them. Lilies are alive in the flower bed today and are drowned by the rain, beat down by the hail, or thrown in the burn pile tomorrow. Jesus asks you, “If God so clothes the grass, how much more will He clothe you?”

Finally, Jesus says, “Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.” So, ask yourself, “Does God know what I need?” And the answer is unequivocally, “Yes.” God knows what you need. In fact, He knows even better than you do. God knows better than the health experts who say one week that eggs are good and the next that they are bad. God knows what you need. And He is your Father.

Imagine you are driving home,[1] and you are worried about all sorts of things. You are worried about getting home late. You are worried because work has slowed down and cuts are coming. You have had a pain in your back for weeks that just won’t go away, and you fear that you might need surgery. You are anxious and worrying about all these things swirling around in your head. Suddenly, someone jumps into your car and points a gun at you.

What happens to all those things that you are anxious, worried, and troubled about? They’re gone, right? All those worries are gone in an instant. In that moment, the only thing that you fear is the strange, fidgety man pointing his gun at you.

Jesus says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:23). People can kill your body. Cancer and disease can kill your body. If God allows it, the devil can attack and kill your body. But Jesus says not to fear any of that. Instead, fear God because God alone determines where your soul will be. And because of your sin, you deserve hell.

Jesus says to you, “I have come and taken your sin. So fear not, you of little faith. Fear not little flock. Trust Me. Trust Me when I say that it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Imagine that guy in your car pointing his gun at you, and he says, “I’m here to protect you.” Then all your fear is gone. All those things you had been worried about were removed because of that crazy guy with the gun, and now you know that you don’t need to be afraid of him either.

God comes to you today, and He is not here to destroy you. He says, “Fear not. I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (Gen. 15:1). He comes not to judge you. Jesus is here to give you His Body and Blood in His supper. It is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom in the Bread and Wine. Fear not, you of little faith because you don’t have an inconsistent God who forgets His promises to care for you and all of your needs. Your God and His love for you in Christ will never change, never fade, and never diminish. Amen.

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

[1] This analogy is from a sermon preached by Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller.

Listen here.

Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A man dies leaving behind two sons and no will. One of the sons is greedy and tricksy. He takes everything – the accounts, the land, the house, and all the possessions. The other son just wanted a desk he and his father had spent hours sanding and refinishing together. Would you call that second son covetous? Would you tell him to let his greedy brother keep everything while he gets nothing? Jesus does.

We don’t know if this man is asking Jesus to judge and arbitrate so he can have millions of dollars or just an old desk, but it doesn’t meter either way. This man is asking Jesus to be his brother’s judge according to the Law, and you cannot point the Law at others. He is angry about his brother’s greed, but he himself is greedy and obsessed with stuff.

Jesus says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Remember, Jesus is speaking to people who had just barely enough to live. People who might have had one spare set of clothes but no more. Jesus is speaking to people who were one sickness, one injury, one bad growing season away from disaster and death. “Be on your guard against all covetousness.”

Today, we don’t give coveting a second thought. In fact, the majority all industry and commerce is built around the fact that we covet. You see the commercials. “Get this truck that will haul more than your truck and get better fuel economy.” “Do you have toenail fungus? Talk to your doctor about this pill and see how great your life will be. You will finally be able to wear sandals again. The skies will be bluer. Your spouse and kids will smile more. Oh, by the way, common side effects are headache; diarrhea; kidney failure; and, in some rare instances, death.”

And then there’s HGTV: the network that has made millions because we all break the 9^th Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.” I watch it, and then I walk around the house God has given our family thinking, “I wish our kitchen was a little bigger and our cupboards went up to the ceiling. A walk-in closet would make life a whole lot easier. If only we had a master bathroom. Nothing big or fancy, just a double vanity so my wife doesn’t have to deal with my whiskers in the sink.” And on and on it goes.

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Coveting is the beginning of all sin. Sin, all sin, starts from the bottom, “You shall not covet.” And it works its way up through the rest of the Commandments until, finally, it breaks the First, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” In our Epistle lesson (Col. 3:1-11), Paul says that covetousness is idolatry (v. 5). Think about it. When you covet, you make yourself to be God. That thing over there should be over here. You know better than God what you should or shouldn’t have. Right?

Now, every one of God’s commands can be broken by veering to the right or to the left. We sin against God by the things we do (sins of commission) and by the things we do not do (sins of omission). Take the 5^th Commandment: Thou shalt not kill. We break this commandment, of course, when we commit murder, harm someone else, or even when we hate our neighbor in our heart. These are all sins of commission. But we also break the 5^th Commandment when we do not help when our neighbor has a need. Same goes for the 8^th Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness. We break this commandment when we lie and gossip. But we also break this commandment when we do not stand up and defend our neighbor and put the most charitable construction on our neighbor’s actions.

The same goes for the 9^th and 10^th Commandments about coveting. The desire to bring something into our possession when it is not ours is the sin of coveting. But what is the opposite? Contentment – having joy and delighting in the things that God has given to us.

Imagine going to your cupboard for a granola bar. But you find that the granola bars are all gone, but there is a jar of peanuts. So you take them out and chew away grumping that you don’t have a granola bar. But how many other times would you go to your cupboard looking for peanuts and be perfectly content?

God created all things, and when He was done, God looked around at everything He had made and saw that it was all very good (Gen. 1:31). Everything that we have, God has given to us, and when we do not delight in God’s gifts, we are breaking the 9^th and 10^th Commandments. As our Old Testament lesson said, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (Ecc. 2:24-25).

Our Epistle Lesson said, “Put to death what is earthly in you…” but Paul doesn’t start talking about material things like house, clothes, cars, etc. Instead, the earthly is, “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5). You aren’t less likely to covet by getting more or by having less.

The way to fight against your sin of coveting is to recognize that the God who gives heavenly, spiritual blessings is also the God who gives you all of your earthly, material blessings as well. “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6). Repent. Repent for coveting what is not yours, and repent for not enjoying what God has given.

In the parable that Jesus tells, the rich fool thought he had won at the game of life and figured it was time for a victory lap of food, drink, and enjoyment. But he had miscalculated. He failed to recognize that nothing he had – his riches, his lands, his crops, his barns, and even his own precious soul that he talked to – none of it was his own. Everything he had was on loan from God. Now, God calls for all those loans to be paid in full. Despite all his riches, he had no equity. Everything he had was borrowed. We are just as foolish in our covetousness. Jesus says, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

And so our Gospel lesson has, really, no Gospel in it. Just Jesus saying that there is an alternative – being rich toward God. But He doesn’t say how you can be rich toward God. The Epistle Lesson does. “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). Know that Jesus has come to give you life and life abundantly. But that life is hidden. “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

So today, repent. Repent for trying to win at this foolish game of life. You have Christ. You have Him in the Word, in your Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper. He has given you His life. He has given you His holy and precious blood. He has given you His righteousness. Jesus doesn’t hold back anything good from you. Because you are His and He is yours, you are rich, rich beyond measure, toward God. Amen.

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

Listen here.

Luke 11:1-13

¹ Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” ² And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

³   Give us each day our daily bread,

⁴   and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

       And lead us not into temptation.”

⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? ⁸ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will rise and give him whatever he needs. ⁹ And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹² or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The student should learn from the teacher. So when this disciple sees Jesus praying, it is good, right, and proper to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. What Jesus teaches them is likely what He had just finished praying. To you who believe but still struggle with doubt, fear, and anxiety, Jesus teaches you to pray to His Father saying these very words:

“Hallowed be Your name.” God’s name is, of course, holy by itself, but Jesus teaches us to pray this so that God’s name would be holy among us as His believers. This is done when God’s Word is taught in its truth and purity, and when we as God’s children lead holy lives in accordance with His Word. Nothing is more dishonoring to God’s name than false teaching. You know the phrase, “A man is only as good as his word.” There is truth to that. The same goes for God. And as we heard in our Psalm today (138:2), “You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.”

“Your kingdom come.” God’s kingdom, His rule, His reign, comes even without our prayer, but we pray that it would come to us. God’s kingdom, His active rule over us, comes as He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we believe His Word of love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy. God answers this prayer as you come to church each week, as you read His Word, and as you eat and drink His body and blood in Communion. God answers this prayer now, but you will not fully realize it until Jesus returns on the last day. So, as you wait for Him to return, Jesus continues to teach you to pray just as He did.

“Give us each day our daily bread.” In other words, “Give us everything we need to sustain our life.” But God already gives us the bread we need for each day. God causes the rain to fall upon the evil and the good alike. So why do we need to pray this? To make us thankful. How often, parents, has your child told you, “I’m hungry”? You know what they want, but you make them ask, “Can I have some food?” Jesus teaches us to pray this petition so that we acknowledge God’s gifts to us and receive them with thanksgiving. Food, clothing, house, home, money, goods, parents, children, godly and faithful rulers, good government, seasonable weather, peace and health, order and honor, true friends, good neighbors, and anything else – all of it is God’s gift to us.

So as we wait for Christ to return and as we give thanks for all that God gives to us, Jesus also teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our sins,” or, “Divorce – send away, separate from us so that they have nothing more to do with us – divorce from us the sins of us.” God doesn’t like divorce in marriage, but He loves divorcing our sins from us. If our sins still clung to us, we should expect God to deny our prayers. But God does forgive because of Jesus’ death and resurrection and gives us all things, especially forgiveness, through His grace.

Now, Jesus never sinned, but we do know He prayed the second part of this petition, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). As our sins are forgiven, we forgive those who are indebted to us because we recognize that we are all in the same boat. We all need forgiveness.

Finally, “And lead us not into temptation.” Now, God tempts no one to sin. But Jesus teaches us to pray that God would guard and preserve us so that the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh would not deceive us or lead us into error and unbelief, despair, and other shameful sins. But instead, when we are tempted, we may prevail over it and gain the victory.

If Jesus didn’t teach us to pray this way, who of us would be so bold as to ask God for any of these things? We wouldn’t dare. We would sound even worse than Abraham in our Old Testament lesson (Gen. 18:20-33). “Oh don’t be angry with me. I shouldn’t even speak to you because I am only dust and ashes. I keep asking for things, God, but let me ask just one more thing then I’ll be quiet.” Abraham was very bold to speak to God; he had faith that God was gracious and merciful. But Abraham hadn’t been told to address God the way that Jesus tells you address Him – “Father.”

That one word is all you need to know about how to pray – Father. You are not praying to some sleepy deity in the sky who is lethargic and uninterested in you. You aren’t talking to an angry god who is waiting to hit you with a lightning bolt. You aren’t petitioning a numbskull spirit who doesn’t know what you need. You are praying to your Father.

Jesus tells this parable about the man who goes knocking on his friend’s door at midnight because he was totally unprepared for his guest. There is no chance that the man who is in bed will send his neighbor away empty-handed. The guy in bed is ‘shameless’ in a good sense, he has a perfect reputation. And to keep his shameless reputation, he will give the neighbor not just the three loaves, but whatever else his neighbor needs.

In the same way, when you need something from God, ask Him – even if you think you are inconveniencing God. God will give you whatever you need because He will not allow you, His child, to go away empty handed. God will answer to protect His shameless reputation. God is always your shameless Father.

When you ask God for anything – whether it would be good for you or not – God will give you what is good. God knows the difference between a fish and a snake and between an egg and a scorpion – even when you and I don’t.

So pray. Pray not because there is power in prayer – there isn’t. Pray because there is power in God. Trust in that power. Trust in His good and tender fatherliness to you. Pray whether you feel like it or not. Pray even when you doubt that God will answer. God will provide. He will keep His word to you forever. Amen.

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

Listen here.

Luke 10:25-37

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

When the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, the they figured Jesus was just as defiled as His table companions. But Jesus responded, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, [and He quotes from Hos. 6:6] ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mt. 9:12-13). Jesus reveals His most earnest desire as the Son of God. God desires to show you mercy – mercy which is new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23) and endures forever (Ps. 118).

But you naturally don’t want a handout. You would rather work your way to God with sacrifice. And so, like the lawyer, you ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer lies in the Law. What does the Law demand? Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. And if you think that sounds like a nice warm fuzzy, repent because you have a pathetic understanding of what love is.

Love is a constant self-giving, self-emptying of yourself for the sake of another. Love is complete only in death. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).

If you are a “To-Do-List” person, you go through your day checking things off. “Make the bed,” check. “Wash the dishes,” check. “Fold the laundry,” check. “Love God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind.” If you still are alive, you cannot never mark that as done. “Love my neighbor as myself,” same thing.

The Law is right and good, but it doesn’t stop making demands for you to love – ever. If there had been a law which could have given life, righteousness would have been by the Law. But Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin (Gal. 3:21-22). The Law robs you of all your works, strips away the thin veneer of what you call ‘love,’ beats you up with its demands, throws you in the ditch, and leaves you there to die.

Watch this play out in our text – and not in the parable!

The lawyer already knew what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus just drives it home by asking him what the Law says. The lawyer answers correctly. Love God perfectly.
Love your neighbor perfectly. This is nothing new. It is simply what the Scriptures say in Dt. 6:5 and our Old Testament text Lev. 19:5. Jesus tells the lawyer, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” But Jesus might just as well have said, “Yup. Go to hell.”

And the lawyer gets it. He is trapped, caught in his own question. He understands the gravity of the situation. According to the right and just judgment of the Law, he is damned. So, desiring to justify himself, he asks, “Well, who is my neighbor?” Now, this desire to justify himself is not evil. He wants off the hook. The Law has done its work of exposing him for the wretched sinner that he is. The Law has left him scared and confused because he doesn’t know the Gospel yet. So, looking for a loophole, he asks, “Who is my neighbor? Whom should I love”

But every Sunday school student knows the answer. “Who is my neighbor?” Everyone. “Whom should I love?” Everyone. Without fail.

Now, as we turn to the parable, we need to be careful. The parable doesn’t answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” If the parable of the Good Samaritan is mainly meant to tell the lawyer that he should love everyone, then Jesus is kicking a man who has already been beaten up by the Law. “You’re tired of being dead? Well, try harder.”

But that is not why Jesus tells this parable. You see that Jesus is not answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” by the way Jesus ends the parable. Notice that Jesus changes the question, “Who was neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” And the answer is not, “Everyone.” Jesus changes the question to get the answer He wanted – the one who showed mercy. The one who showed mercy.

Remember God says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Jesus desires to show the lawyer and you hope. Jesus wants to show you what God mercifully does for you. He wants to show you the Gospel.

Now look at the parable: The man is going the wrong way – he is leaving Jerusalem, going away from the place where God is, and heading toward Jericho. He falls among thieves and is left half dead. The priest and the Levite represent the moral and ceremonial law. They do not help him because they cannot help him. The Law cannot go down into the ditch. The Law simply shows you that you are down in the ditch.

The Samaritan comes – the despised one, the rejected one, the one who had no form or majesty that we should look at him (Is. 53:3) – and He has compassion.

In the Gospels, that word, ‘compassion,’ is only used of Jesus and characters in parables that represent Jesus. He goes down into the ditch. In mercy, He goes down into the blood and the mud. He binds up the man’s wounds, pours on oil and wine (think Baptism and Lord’s Supper), puts him on His animal, takes him to the inn. Before he takes off, the Merciful Samaritan leaves two denarii (enough to house and feed this guy for two days) promising to return. A nice little hint, there, that He will be back on the third day.

But He also promises, “Whatever more you spend, I will repay when I come back.” In other words, the Merciful Samaritan vows to make good on a no-limit account to this complete stranger who could ruin Him. But He makes the promise nonetheless.

Jesus does all this for you. He rescues you who were going the wrong way – away from God. He rescues you who have been robbed, beaten, stripped, and left half dead. He binds you up with His Word, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. He puts you in the inn of His Holy Christian Church promising to return and pay for your no-limit account. Jesus desires mercy and not sacrifice. Jesus desires to be merciful to you. Nice little parable, huh?

The parable is over. And Jesus asks, “Who was a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves.” Duh. The one who showed mercy. Jesus says, “You go, and do likewise.” What does that mean? Exactly what you think it means. Be like Christ. Go and have compassion, be loving be compassionate toward your neighbor, not because you have to, but because good works follow faith. Always.

What God pours into you – His love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy – spills out to your neighbor around you. Thanks be to God for this mercy. Amen.[1]

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

[1] I am thankful to a sermon by Pr. David H. Petersen as inspiration for portions of this sermon.

Listen here.

Galatians 6:1-18

¹ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. ⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.

⁶ Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. ⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸ For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

¹¹ See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. ¹² It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³ For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. ¹⁴ But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. ¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

¹⁷ From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Far be it from me to boast except in the guillotine. Far be it from me to boast except in the lynching rope. Far be it from me to boast except in the electric chair. Sounds odd, right? But what Paul says here is even more shocking, “Far be it from me, may it never be, [even] God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Paul’s day, you didn’t utter the word ‘cross’ in polite circles, but now it is the cause of boasting. The cross is, arguably, the most brutal form of execution, the most horrific instrument of death, that has ever been devised. Designed to make death as slow as possible, the cross is symbolic of defeat and humiliation. But for Paul and for you, the cross reveals God’s power.

God forbid that we should boast except in the cross because, by the cross, the world has been crucified to you and you to the world. On the cross, Jesus ended the Law’s accusations against you by taking your sin and guilt into Himself. Jesus knew what He was doing. And, now, it is finished. On the cross, Jesus has purchased and won the world for Himself. He has opened eternal life to all believers.

While the world around you beats its chest in accomplishments, possessions, and power, you boast in the cross. You boast in the cross and the world laughs. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…. Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we, we preach Christ crucified – a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.… I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 1:18, 22-23, 2:2).

Know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Keep the cross as the lens through which you see everything else because, on the cross, God was reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). When you sin, remember Jesus died on the cross. When you are sinned against, Jesus died on the cross. When you do a good work, Jesus died on the cross. When your family is torn apart, Jesus died on the cross. When your relationships are fantastic, Jesus died on the cross. When you are thankful for the country and freedoms God has given you, Jesus died on the cross. When the world falls into chaos and your liberty is taken away, Jesus died on the cross.

God forbid that we should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, but why? Because by the cross, the world has been crucified to you and you to the world. Because of Christ’s crucifixion, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, nothing you do or do not do, neither your obedience nor your disobedience, counts for anything. The only thing that matters, the only thing that counts, is a new creation.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). You, believer, are in Christ.

On the cross the old way of the world died. With the resurrection, the life of the new creation has begun. On the cross, Christ gave Himself to deliver you from the present evil age (Gal. 1:4). This evil age is crucified, but it is not yet buried. The crucifixion of the world is not yet complete. You feel the evil of this age, and your own sinful flesh still clings to you. But those things no longer dictate your thoughts or way of life. You are in Christ and live by faith. You are a new creation. Through faith you perceive the new world which is dawning.

And you don’t have to wait. Your Lord is here with you now. He is coming to you – Body and Blood in Bread and Wine. Here is a foretaste of the eternal feast to come in the new creation. He comes again to make you new. Peace and mercy be upon you all. Amen.

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

Listen here.

Galatians 5:1-25

¹ For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

² Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹ But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You are saved by works. You heard me right. You are saved by works. But don’t misunderstand: you are not saved by your works but by the works of Jesus for you. As He did His Father’s will of suffering, bleeding, and dying on the cross, Jesus set you free from the Law of sin and death (Ro. 8:2). Through Jesus’ work of becoming a curse for you, you have been made right with God. Christ has made and set you free. Stand firm in that freedom.

Stand firm in the freedom that Christ has won for you. Stand firm in the fact that it is Christ’s righteousness alone that makes you right with God. Stand firm in God’s proclamation that you are in Christ and a rightful recipient of all of God’s promises. Don’t be so foolish as to think that you are free and saved by a concoction of grace plus your work and efforts, otherwise “Christ will be of no advantage to you,” and you will be obligated to keep the whole Law. You are saved by Jesus alone. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. Hold fast to Jesus’ work for you.

Aesop tells a fable about a dog who was given a bone from the butcher. As the dog went home, he had to cross a bridge over a calm, clear pond. The water was so still it’s reflection was like a mirror. As the dog crossed the bridge, he happened to look down and thought he saw another dog with a bone that was bigger than the one in his mouth. In his greed, the dog dropped his bone as he lunged and snapped at his own reflection to get the bigger bone only to find himself swimming for his life to reach the shore. Finally, he managed to scramble out and realized what a foolish dog he had been.

We do the same. We have been given the greatest bone in the Gospel – one that reconciles us to God for all eternity. But we think there is another bone, a better bone, and this other bone takes two different forms. And we fall for both:

The first, let’s call ‘the meatier bone.’ This is the bone of works. We know that God is angry at our sins, so we conclude that God will be pleased with our good works. So we drop the bone of the Gospel and snap at the meatier bone of good works. But when we do this, we lose everything.

For the Galatians, the meatier bone was circumcision. They were being told that they needed to keep the law of circumcision in order to please God. But that law had already been fulfilled by Christ. Paul emphatically says, “No! If you think that obeying some law or doing some other work will make you right with God, then Christ is of no advantage to you. If you want to be justified by the Law and works, then you have fallen away from grace.”

Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything.” In other words, when it comes to being righteous in the sight of God, it doesn’t matter what you do or what you do not do. The only thing that counts is “faith working through love.”

Which brings us to the second bone we lunge after. Let’s call it ‘the tastier bone.’ This is the bone of sin. Our sins taste good – at least for a while. But they never leave us full and we are always looking for something even more tasty. But when we lunge after those sins we lose hold of the Gospel.

By saying that the only thing that matters is “faith working through love” Paul is already warning against the tastier bone. Paul writes, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Paul also writes in 1 Cor. 9:19, “Though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all.”

To keep us from falling from either of these two fake bones, Luther takes these verses and offers us two statements that are very helpful: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

While these statements seem to be contradictory, they are both true. When you think that you have to do good works to complete or improve your salvation, remember the first. When you think that you can go on living for your sinful self, remember the second.

The Gospel gives you everything. Don’t think that peace with God comes by anything but through faith in Christ. The Scriptures do command us to do good works, but those good works are always done in service to our neighbor. You do not have to aim your good works at God. God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does. So aim your good works at your neighbor. Live in step with the Spirit bearing the fruit of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Let’s get away from talking about dogs and bones. Let’s talk about this fruit. You, believer, bear fruit. Jesus says that He is the Vine and you are the branches (Jn. 15:4-5). A branch does not produce fruit to benefit itself. It produces fruit for the benefit of others. Same with you as you bear the fruit of the Spirit.

You belong to Jesus. He has claimed you as His own. He has grafted you into Himself. And now, fruit comes forth. With the fruit of the Spirit, there is no law, no comparing, no scorekeeping. The Spirit produces this fruit where and when it pleases Him – all for the benefit of your neighbor.

And you will fail to bear this fruit. But that is when you return to Christ’s mercy which never fails. When you fail to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and you will, return to Jesus. Your love, joy, and peace, your patience, kindness, and goodness, your faithfulness, gentleness and self-control will all fail. When those fail, hear God’s word of forgiveness, remember your Baptism, and come to the Lord’s Supper. There, your God will forgive you, refresh and restore you. God will pour out His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control upon you so that you can go back into the world and bear those good fruits. Amen.

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

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Galatians 3:15-4:7

¹⁵ To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. ²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

¹ I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Paul writes about your freedom. Your freedom was won when Jesus Christ became a curse for you on the cross (Gal. 3:13). Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection for you has made you right with God. Paul continues to battle against those who say that faith is not enough and that you have to live a righteous life to be right with God. Paul says, “Not a chance! You are either saved by Christ alone through faith alone, or Jesus died for nothing.”

God made and kept His promises to Abraham and to Abraham’s offspring. In English, we can say that all of a man’s descendants are his offspring (plural), but we can also say that each individual descendant is a man’s offspring (singular). It is the same with the word that Paul uses in this text. But Paul makes it clear that the offspring who was given the promise is not many but one, namely Christ. In other words, all God’s promises to Abraham’s offspring are fulfilled in Jesus. But If God made promises that are only for Christ, what good is that for you? We’ll get there – eventually.

But first, Paul writes, “Before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” By giving the Law, God kept you under captivity – in protective custody.

God gave the Law for your own good. God’s Law keeps you from hurting others and harming yourself. The Law restricts you with rules and regulations, “Do this. Don’t do that.” When you are tempted to kill, steal, lie, or gossip, the Law holds you back from doing those things that would destroy you and those around you. Like prison bars and razor wire, the Law keeps you in custody – it protects you. But protective custody is still custody. And this is good. But those who are kept under lock and key never love the custodian. Prisoners don’t love the prison guards.

In the same way, you do not love God when you are under the Law. You will fear Him and His punishments, but you will not love Him. God gave the Law to be your prison guard restricting your freedom. The Law keeps you from doing what you want to do, but again this is good. Because you are sinful, bent in upon yourself, what you want to do is harmful to yourself and to others. So God puts you under the guardian of the Law.

As your guardian, the Law always raises the bar. Do you think that you fear, love, and trust in God above all things? The Law responds, “Yeah right. You haven’t even scratched the surface.” If you think you are holy, the Law says, “Oh, not holy enough.” If you think you are pure, the Law says, “Not pure enough.” Do you think you are a good spouse? The Law says, “Pbth. Not good enough!” Do you think you are an exemplary employee, a fine parent, or an obedient child? The Law says, “You aren’t even close to what God demands of you.” If you plan to point to your good works on the Last Day, the Law will say to you, “You and your good works can go to hell.”

The Law kills you and every notion of goodness you have. The Law simply whispers and blows away your fig leaves to expose how naked and shameful you are.

So why did God give the Law? First to protect you and those around you. But more importantly, God gave the Law to drive you to Christ. All the Law can do is teach you that you do not and can not please God with your works. If you could earn God’s favor by living a good life by keeping the Law, then Christ died for nothing. The Law shows you your sin, and this is good because, again, the Law drives you to Christ – the one to whom the promises were made.

Now that you are in Christ, Paul writes, “Now that faith has come, you are no longer under a guardian – no longer under the custody of the Law.” As you have faith in Jesus, the Law has nothing more to say to you. “Christ is the end of the Law… to everyone who believes” (Ro. 10:4). In order for the Law to condemn you, believer, it would have to condemn Jesus – and it already has. Jesus was condemned for you. Jesus died your death and took your place in hell. Hell has no vacancy for you.

Remember when Moses was hidden in the cleft of the rock while God passed by? That is now a picture of you. You are hidden in the Rock of Christ. God puts you in the cleft of Christ’s wounds, in His pierced hands and side. Hide there and the Law cannot touch you. Now, believer, you take refuge in Christ who is the promised offspring of Abraham to whom all God’s promises were made.

You are now sons of God through faith, “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” When God looks at you He doesn’t see your sins past, present, or future. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus covering you. He doesn’t see your disobedience because He sees Christ’s perfect obedience. He doesn’t see your sin; He sees Christ’s holiness. All of this is because God made a promise to Abraham and to Abraham’s offspring.

And here is the point: the promises made to Abraham’s offspring were not made to many – they were all made to Christ. And because of your baptism, you are in Christ so now you receive those promises. God made promises. God has kept those promises. You belong to Christ. You are Abraham’s offspring and a rightful heir of all God’s promises. Amen.

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