Tag Archives: Eternity

Beautiful Time – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, 22 for Midweek Lent 3

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 31:14-15; 145:17-19; 16:7-8; Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, 22; 1 Timothy 6:6-11; and Mark 12:41-44.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Last week, we heard how God gives us Christians joy in this life in two simple things. He gives us joy in our leisure or in our eating and drinking; and He gives us joy in our work – not from our work but in our work (Ecc. 2:24). Scripture is clear, you won’t to find enjoyment in the fruit of your work by getting money that buys you things. That won’t work. Instead, you are to find enjoyment in the work God gives you to do. Your work and the effort you expend on all your God-given tasks is a gift from God’s hand. There is goodness and joy in you doing that work. If you didn’t hear that sermon from last week, I’d encourage you to go back and listen to it.

Tonight, as we consider this portion of Ecc. 3, I’d like to pick up our thinking with some words that you heard last week, but you need to hear them again because they set up these verses which, probably, are more familiar to you – even if it’s only because of the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds.

Ecclesiastes 2 closed with these words, “[T]o the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God” (Ecc. 2:26). This is an amazing thing for God to say, and you have to have this clear in your mind. You, Christian, are one who pleases God. You please God because Christ has forgiven you and made you His child and because the Holy Spirit has made you holy. But to the sinner (and, yes, we are all sinners in a general sense, but ‘the sinner’ here refers to who is one who does not have faith in Christ’s forgiveness) to the sinner God has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give what’s been gathered and collected to one who pleases God.

In short, people who aren’t Christians only gather and collect, but they don’t get to keep anything. People who aren’t Christians are always working to try and get some future joy that they will never achieve or attain because they try to find joy apart from God. So, they can’t enjoy either their work or their leisure.

There are really wealthy unbelievers who have a lot more than any of us here have. Dear saints, you are far better off than the richest people you can think of if they aren’t a Christian. Just because they have all that stuff doesn’t mean they are able to enjoy it. They might have a house with way more rooms than your house has, but they – just like you – can only be in one room at a time.

That’s where Ecc. 3 comes in. The simple fact is that we creatures of God are only given one moment at a time. Time comes to us moment by moment. Just as you can’t cling to those moments and make them stay, you also cannot reach out and grab future moments to make them come sooner. They only come in God’s timing.

Solomon summarizes this in v. 11 saying, “[God] has made everything beautiful (or ‘pleasant, right, fitting’) in its time.” Each moment is beautiful in the time that God gives it. And notice, that also means when something is outside of that time, it’s no longer beautiful, pleasant, enjoyable.

In that little poem that opens Ecc. 3, Solomon gives sixteen pairs of opposites: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; and so forth. Those pairs encompass everything in life, but to make sure that point gets across, the Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to preface all those pairs with, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter (or ‘activity’) under heaven.” So, you could add anything to this list.

There’s a time to drive a car, and a time to be chauffeured everywhere. There’s a time to be active and play sports, and a time to sit and watch sports. There’s a time to make a grocery list, a time to go fill up your shopping cart, a time to prepare food, a time to enjoy the food, and a time to clean everything up. Everything you do has a time to do it, and the time to do it is when that thing is before you to do.

Again, this sounds so simple, but think of how many people do not realize this and hijack and sabotage their joy by trying to live in moments that aren’t given to them. God gives a season to be a child and play with dolls or Lego’s and be joyful as a child. But children want to be older, get their driver’s license, and be independent. The young want to be older instead of enjoying the joy of childhood. You’ve heard the saying, “Youth is wasted on the young”? There is some truth to that. But what might be even sadder is when adults try to clutch and hang on to their youth and long-gone ‘glory’ days. We all easily fall into the trap of not having joy in the season of life that God has given.

Parents long for the days when their children can cut their own food and clean themselves and do some chores. Then, when the kids become teenagers and let their parents know how much they hate doing the chores, a parent longs for the former days of diapers, baths, and mushed peas.

Again, the problem is, when you try to find your joy in the future or in the past, you rob yourself of the beauty and joy of the present moment. But God makes everything beautiful (or ‘fitting’) in its time and in the season in which God gives it.

Imagine you’re on a camping trip in late August. The sun has set; you’re zipping up your tent and climbing into your sleeping bag. Suddenly, a massive fireworks show starts. You’d probably be fairly perturbed. It’s not the time for fireworks. But if you’re camping on the 4th of July, you’d disappointed if there wasn’t fireworks. You see? The fireworks aren’t the problem in August, it’s the timing. Or try this, if one of you right now started pitching a tent here in the sanctuary and rolling out a sleeping bag, we’d all look at you like you’re a crazy person because you would be. Same thing – it isn’t the tent that’s the problem, it’s the timing. Firework shows, tents, and sleeping bags are all fine and good and right and enjoyable – in their proper time. Which leads me to this…

Right now, dear saints, God has given us the moments that are mentioned in Ecc. 3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. And we’re going to be bouncing back and forth in those. With Jesus (Jn. 11:35), we weep because of the passing of our sister, Ros. We miss her. Rightly so. And as we weep, we share memories and laugh and mourn and weep again. And in the midst of that, we can dance because we know that she is with Jesus and we will see her again.

All of that leads me to the other part of v. 11. Hear it again, “[God] has put eternity into man’s heart.” This phrase is difficult to understand, but try this: We humans have a capacity that other creatures don’t have. 1) We can remember the past, and 2) we can anticipate the future. But those abilities can be dangerous if we use them for the wrong reasons. God allows us to remember the past so we can give thanks to Him for it. And God allows us to anticipate the future so we can have hope for what lies ahead.

Even though you can’t hold on to a moment. It’s here one second and gone the next. But God has given you memory. What the Holy Spirit wants you to do with that gift of memory is to use it to thank God for what He has done and given. Even though you can’t reach into the future and force those moments to come sooner, God has given you the capacity to anticipate the future. And the Holy Spirit wants you to use that gift so you can have hope, which is a good thing.

In other words, you can remember the past and be thankful. You can anticipate the future so you can have hope. But Ecclesiastes is clear. You can’t have joy either in the past or in the future. Joy is only given in each present moment, and God makes those moments beautiful in their times.

So, dear saints, receive the beauty and joy in every moment God gives you. When you have past joys, thank God for that gift, but don’t try to go back because you can’t, and you’ll miss the beautiful moment now. Don’t try to pull the future into the present. Don’t do that first, because you can’t. But also, don’t do it because that moment hasn’t ripened yet. Leave the future in God’s good and generous hands so He can deliver those gifts to you in the right, beautiful time.

Finally, dear saints, let the beauty and the joy that God gives in each moment give you a hunger and a hope for the eternal joy that God has promised to give you. What a joy that will be. Amen.

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

Feast & Famine – Sermon on Luke 16:19-31 for the First Sunday after Trinity

Luke 16:19–31

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 37:16 says, “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked” (see also Pro. 15:16).

Today, Jesus puts before us two men. One is fabulously rich, the other pitifully poor. One wears royal clothes, the other painful sores. One feasts sumptuously every day, the other craves crumbs. Jesus makes sure to highlight these major differences between the two men, but Jesus also makes sure that we know what they have in common.

First and most obviously, both die. Both face an eternal existence after death. And that existence is something that all the powers of this world have no influence to change or control. After his death, the rich man is no longer rich, and he is powerless to modify that. After his death, Lazarus is no longer poor. He has eternal riches and gifts that he didn’t earn and cannot be taken away.

But there is something else that these two men have in common with one another. Both men are passive. In other words, things happen to them. Now, this can be easy to miss, but once you see it you can’t ignore it.

To see it, let’s start with Lazarus. Jesus says that Lazarus is located at the rich man’s gate. But notice how Lazarus gets there. Jesus says that Lazarus is laid there. In other words, someone or something puts him there. Lazarus doesn’t intentionally go to the rich man’s gate day after day after day. If you were a destitute beggar but could move on your own, you’d go places where you would get help. And it would make sense to go to a rich man’s gate, but if you saw that rich dude feasting every day and he never gave you crumbs that fell from his table, you’d probably move somewhere else and hope to get noticed and helped in that new location. So, Jesus is clear that Lazarus is laid there (v. 20), but Jesus doesn’t say exactly who put Lazarus there, so let’s keep investigating.

Jesus says that the dogs came and licked Lazarus’ sores. Where did those dogs come from? They weren’t people’s personal pets that are sent to Lazarus. They were likely wild dogs. Psalm 50:10 says that every beast and the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God. Again, it isn’t directly stated that God sent the dogs. So, let’s keep looking.

When Lazarus dies, what happens? Jesus says that the angels are standing there, waiting to carry him to heaven. Now, there’s an important clue. Psalm 103:20 says that the angels are the mighty ones who obey God’s Word. Here, these angels are commanded to not only escort Lazarus to heaven, they are also the ones who carry him there. They wait for God’s command and direction. And in God’s timing, those angels carry Lazarus to heaven but not one moment before God decides.

Now, if God is in total, complete control of the end of Lazarus’ life, it would make sense that God was in control of everything leading up to that as well. No sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it. Scripture promises that the hairs of your head are numbered (Mt. 10:29-31). The Bible is clear that God was in control of everything happening to Lazarus during his entire life (Ps. 139). God was governing all of his steps and movements. So, Lazarus, poor and sick though he was, was being taken care of by God throughout his entire life. God was the one who laid him at the rich man’s gate. God sent the dogs to comfort him by licking his sores. God sent the angels to carry him to heaven. And after he dies, God comforts Lazarus in paradise. Lazarus is passive. Things happen to him at God’s direction.

Now, consider the rich man. When Abraham is responding to the rich man’s request for Lazarus to give him a drop of water (more on that in a bit), Abraham says, “Remember that you in your lifetime received your good things” (Lk. 16:25). That tells us a lot about the rich man and his riches. All the things he enjoyed in his lifetime were given to him as gifts. His royal, purple clothes were a gift. His sumptuous feasts, a gift. His house and gate, a gift. Even the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate was a gift from God. Lazarus was a God-given opportunity for the rich man to share all the good things he received. But the rich man didn’t see any of his blessings as a gift. By all appearances, the rich man imagined those gifts were all things that he had earned, and he saw Lazarus as an inconvenient nuisance. But from heaven’s perspective, they were all gifts that were given.

That doesn’t mean that the rich man wasn’t a hard worker or a savvy investor. What it means is that He was a recipient of all the good things he enjoyed during his life. God gave it all. Everything he had – even the things he had earned – was given to him by God. But this rich man didn’t receive them as God’s good gifts. Instead, he saw everything revolving around him. If it was good, it was for his own pleasure and use. If it was inconvenient – like a beggar at his gate, it was a hurdle to his pleasure. He never gave thanks to God for the gifts, so he never thought to share the gifts God had given to him with others. He was foolish in his thinking and life (Ro. 1:21-22). All of this meant that he couldn’t enjoy the gifts he had been given. Even his feasting was a famine because he received it in isolation. He didn’t share his bounty with others.

In the end, it didn’t matter how little Lazarus had, and it didn’t matter how much the rich man had. What mattered was faith. Lazarus had faith that was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). The rich man didn’t have faith, and when he stood before God to be judged (Heb. 9:27), he lacked the righteousness God demands (Mt. 5:20).

Now, we might feel sorry for the rich man as he’s suffering in hell. It is a pitiful thing to see someone think that a drop of water is merciful. And we certainly don’t want anyone to go to eternal condemnation. But the rich man’s torment doesn’t lead him to repentance. Look at how the rich man acts in hell. It doesn’t seem like the rich man has changed at all. He doesn’t ask to leave hell. He’d rather have Lazarus leave his comfort. Even in torment, the rich man is bossing people around. He still doesn’t talk to Lazarus; instead, he tries to tell Abraham what to do. The rich man thinks it is unfair that he is in hell. Underlying his desire to have Lazarus rise from the dead and warn his brothers is an attitude that arrogantly says that he knows better how to evangelize unbelievers. The rich man is basically saying, “If someone rises from the dead, then there will be a lot more people in heaven and fewer in hell. If I had seen someone rise from the dead, I wouldn’t be here.”

But in the end, the rich man hadn’t listened to the Scriptures. He hadn’t believed God’s Word. He hadn’t repented. He hadn’t believed in God’s mercy. Instead, he neglected God’s Word, and because of that, he was poor. On the other hand, Lazarus had the eternal treasure of God’s Word which made him rich – even in his earthly poverty. In Lazarus, we see the truth of what Pro. 15:15 says, “All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.”

Now, where does this leave us? We aren’t as wealthy as the rich man, and we aren’t as poor and destitute as Lazarus. All of us are somewhere in the middle, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything we have – whether it is a feast or a famine – is given to us from the hand of God.

God has given you two hands with two palms which are created to receive the things that God gives. And those hands have five fingers with space between them, which allows the good gifts of God fall through your hands to others. Because He is the Creator of all things, God has an infinite supply of gifts to give to you. He gives you everything freely, and He desires that you receive it as a gift so you don’t clutch at it and try to keep it for yourself. You, dear saints, are a conduit that receives from God and passes His bounty on to others. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

Most importantly, you were poor miserable sinners. But Jesus saw you in your poverty. He left His feasting and became poor for your sake so you, through His poverty, would become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Christ has come to give His own Body and Blood unto death for your sake. Now, He is risen forever and invites you not to have just some crumbs that fall from His plate. He invites you to have a seat at His table. Leave the famine of your sin and greed. Come and feast in His presence. Amen.

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

Eden to Heaven – Sermon on Genesis 3:22-24 & Revelation 22:1-5

Genesis 3:22-24 & Revelation 22:1-5

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

God created you to live in perfection. In six days, God created everything in the universe. He created light and darkness. He placed the sun, moon, stars, and galaxies in their places. God established land, sea, and plants and filled the earth with birds, fish, and every kind of animal. And God planted the garden of Eden. Only after all that was completed did God create the crown of creation – man and woman. And Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

But it wasn’t the kind of work that we experience – it was pure joy. There was no need to look at the forecast to see what the weather would be. No worries about gas prices and inflation. No crisis. No war. No disease or pandemic. Everything was in perfect harmony. In God’s own estimation, all that He created was good, in fact, very good (Gen. 1:21). Best of all was the perfect relationship that existed between God and man. God freely giving and man graciously receiving. Even the one command that God gave was gracious, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17).

Now, some suggest that God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden so Adam and Eve could choose to trust or reject God. But this is not the case. God’s prohibition to eat from that tree was a promise for Adam and Eve to believe. Just track with me for a minute here. Scripture repeatedly says, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4; Ro. 2:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). In other words, to be righteous is to have faith. We know that for us sinners to be righteous is to have faith in Jesus as our Savior. But what kind of faith did Adam and Eve have before the Fall? They already knew the mercy, goodness, and graciousness of God because they constantly experienced it in everything that God had given and in everything God was to them. So, what is it that Adam and Eve believed before the Fall that made them righteous through faith?

Well, at some point in those first six days, God created the angels. Now, Scripture doesn’t tell us specifically when, but at some point in those days of creation the devil and demons rebelled and fell. In other words, evil existed. When God banned Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God was giving a promise, “Evil exists, and I just want you to trust Me on this. When you find out what evil is, it won’t go well for you, in fact, you’ll die.” So, Adam and Eve could go to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and know, “What a good God we have. He has given us everything and doesn’t want us to experience or even know what evil is.”

But, as you heard in Sunday’s Old Testament lesson (Gen. 3:1-21), Satan stirred up discontentment in Adam and Eve. The devil told Eve that she could become something more than God had created her to be. Satan said that she would become like God. So, deceived as she was (Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3), Eve took the fruit. Adam was even worse; he wasn’t deceived and knew exactly what he was doing (1 Tim. 2:14). They both sinned and fell. They took. They ate. Their eyes were opened. They had become something more. You heard God say it Himself tonight, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:22).

But Adam and Eve knowing evil wasn’t better. Not even close. Now, because the head of creation had fallen into sin, creation fell with him (Ro. 8:20-21). And Adam and Eve were sent into exile – away from God’s presence, away from the Garden of Eden, and away from the tree of life which was now guarded by the cherubim and a flaming sword. But God sent them into this exile with a new promise to believe. A promise that paradise would be restored to them when the seed of the woman would come and crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). And it was through faith in that promise that God went with them.

Dear saints, you and I live in exile. We wander about sinfully trying to become like God by our own works, but all our effort is curved in upon itself. Instead of being like our giving God, we seek after our own comfort and desires. Unlike God who is generous and giving, we try to pile up riches for ourselves. We try to create our own little gardens of Eden in an attempt to regain the paradise we lost. But we never achieve the perfection we long for. The treasures we acquire quickly fade and fall apart in our hands.

We cannot return from this exile by our own reason or strength. Yet, God walks alongside us, calling us back unto Himself. Out of His great love for us, He continues to give us promise after promise. And God delivers on every one of His promises. He has sent Jesus into this world of exile to bring us back to paradise. He comes to us who are bent over in our sin and frees us. He delivers us from the bondage of Satan (Lk. 13:16) and gives us rest. He announces to us that because of what He has done by His death and resurrection, we will be eternally restored. While Jesus was on the cross, He told the thief next to Him, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). That word ‘paradise’ means ‘an enclosed garden.’

In our reading from Rev. 22:1-5 tonight, we get a picture of that garden of paradise. And that is what lies ahead for you, dear saint. Through faith in Jesus, you are righteous. Your destination is the bright crystal river, the tree of life yielding its twelve kinds of fruit, and leaves for the healing of the nations. There you will see God’s face, and there will be no more night. You will need no light of lamp or sun, for you will be restored to God, and He will be your light. Your time in exile has an end. And there, in eternal bliss, you will reign forever and ever. Amen.

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

Unto Eternity – Sermon on Psalm 23, Revelation 22:1-21, and Luke 12:35-40 for Midweek Advent 3 2020

Listen here.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear saints, what will eternity be like? Through these Advent services, we’ve considered the comfort of Christ’s coming and what it means for us now and on the Last Day. But what does it mean for us beyond that? What does Jesus’ coming mean unto eternity? Even though we don’t get a ton of details, the overwhelming picture of Scripture has one common theme, and throughout the all texts tonight (Ps. 23; Rev. 22:1-21; Lk. 12:35-40), God serving you has been that theme.

First you heard how God serves you throughout your life. In Ps. 23, God serves you as your shepherd making you lie down in green pastures, leading you beside still waters, protecting you through the valley of the shadow of death, and finally preparing a table before you in the presence of your enemies anointing your head with oil, and overflowing your cup. Indeed, God’s goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life. Really, the translation there is too weak. ‘Follow’ is not nearly strong enough.

The Hebrew word there is almost always a military term to pursue. It gets used when Pharaoh had his army chase the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:4, 8-9, 23). It is what Israel’s army did to the Philistine army after David defeated Goliath (1 Sam. 17:52). At the end of Ps. 23 – the picture is so beautiful – God’s goodness and God’s mercy pursue you and hunt you down all the days of your life. No matter how often you try to flee, God is coming after you with His goodness and mercy. And that care and compassion of God will continue because you will dwell in His house forever.

In our Gospel lesson, we have another picture of God serving us. And it is so interesting. Jesus opens that text by commanding us to, “Stay dressed for action.” Literally, the phrase is, “Let your loins be girded.”Now, I’m sorry to do this to you on a Wednesday night, but the grammar is too important to not do it. This is a perfect imperative. In other words, it is a command to already be in a certain state. So, Jesus is commanding you to have your loins girded – which doesn’t mean much for us today. But in Jesus’ day this would mean that men would lift up the heavy robes from around their feet and ankles so they were ready work or travel. This is important because God gave the same command to Moses on how the people were to eat the original Passover meal (Ex. 12:11). They were to eat the Passover with their belts fastened (that’s the girded loins idea), sandals on their feet, staff in hand, and eat it quickly.

Now, remember during the original Passover, they had to put the blood of the lamb around their doors to keep the angel of death from entering their household. And this was the final plague which brought God’s people out of slavery. But in this text, Jesus bringing about a beautiful reversal. He gets our minds to be thinking about the Passover with the command to gird our loins, but, dear people of God, we aren’t waiting for the angel of death to pass over. Instead, we are waiting for our Lord and master to come home from the wedding feast He has attended.

So, here’s the picture: Jesus has died, risen again, and ascended to God’s right hand in heaven where there is a joyful celebration going on. But Christ has promised that He will come back for us, and He wants us to be ready for His return. And those who have heeded Jesus’ command to be ready to work when He returns find the most amazing thing upon His return. Instead of us, Christ’s servants, serving Him, Jesus serves us. In other words, Jesus will go to work while you recline at the table and feast for eternity.

Dear saints, Jesus, the Son of Man, came on Christmas day not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for you (Mt. 20:28). And Jesus is returning not to be served but to serve you and shower you with His eternal love.

Finally, we have the most beautiful picture of this in our Epistle text (Rev. 22:1-21). Christ Himself will be your Lamb who shepherds you by the still waters of the river of life which flows from the throne of God. He will feed you in the eternal green pastures from the tree of life which bring healing for the nations. No longer will there be anything that is cursed. You will see God’s face, and His name will be on your forehead. There will be no more night. God Himself will be your light, and you will reign forever and ever.

Dear saints, throughout these Advent services, you have been reminded of the urgency to be ready for Christ’s return. Jesus could come back before this service ends, so be ready. It could be months from now, so do not grow weary, but be ready. It could be millennia before He returns, so ingrain the faith in your children and pass on the faith to ensure others will be ready as well. We need to heed Jesus’ warnings about being ready for His return.

But then we need to take a deep breath and let it out with a laugh because what we are waiting for an eternal party. Christ has already come winning your salvation. Jesus continually comes bringing you His forgiveness. And your Savior is returning bringing eternal joys. 

Ultimately, know this: Jesus isn’t returning like a picky mother-in-law inspecting the china she gave you as a wedding present to see if it’s been chipped or damaged. Instead, Jesus is returning like your favorite uncle with treats in one hand and a pile of fireworks in the other. Yes, we do need to watch and be ready for His return but mainly because it would be such a pity to miss all the fun. 

Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.

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

Slave Wages & Gifts – Sermon on Romans 6:19-23 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Listen here.

Romans 6:19-23

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The wages of sin is death. Scripture teaches that sin pays when you work for it, and the wages it pays is death. Probably, many of you have that passage memorized. After John 3:16, this is probably on the second tier of passages that most Christians have stored in their noggins, and most of the time we understand it in a certain way. Normally, the way we interpret this verse is that the payment we earn for committing a sin is death. And that is true. When I go out and do sin-type work, the payment I get for that is death.

But that interpretation can have some serious and even dangerous drawbacks. It can easily lead us to the wrong notion that certain sins are more serious and pay more than other, less significant sins. When people say that they are basically a good person, they make that claim because they figure their sins aren’t as bad as the sins of others. In the end, this kind of interpretation ends up with us making distinctions between this sin and that sin in an effort to self-justify ourselves. “I’m not as bad as that guy over there.”

Here, in this context, Paul is saying something more devastating than that the payment you get for doing the work of sin is death. Instead, Paul is saying that sin is not just the type of work you do, rather sin is your slave master whom you submit yourself to. The picture Paul is giving us is that your employer, your boss, your master is sin. And with Master Sin as your as your master, employer, boss, there is a particular currency that he uses to pay you and that is the currency of death.

So, let’s try this analogy: Let’s say you are looking for your first job, and you are going to be flipping burgers. It’s a respectable first job. You go to Burger King, and they will pay you $8.00/hour. During your interview at Dairy Queen, you learn that they will pay you $8.15/hour. Then you go check at McDonald’s, and they will pay you $8.50/hour. You go to Five Guys, and they will pay you $9.50/hour. (At this point, you can probably tell where I prefer to get burgers if I’m not making them myself.)

But let’s say you go to one more burger establishment, and it’s probably safest for me to make up an imaginary restaurant for this. Let’s say you go apply at Sin Burger. Sin Burger is a nice establishment. They have a clean restaurant and friendly employees. Your responsibilities are going to be the same as at any of the other locations, and the hours are just as flexible. At the end of the interview, the manager says, “If you work here, you will be killed. Your wages will be paid out with death.” The manager notices the shocked look on your face, and says, “Yes, here at Sin Burger, we don’t deal with dollars or pounds or rubles or pesos. Sin Burger only pays with the currency of death. It doesn’t matter the type of work you do – you could be a burger flipper, a fry fryer, the head of accounting, or the CEO – Sin Burger still pays only with death.”

So, would you take the job at Sin Burger? Of course not! And yet, that is what we all do. But why? Why do all humans work for a master who pays out with the currency of death?

It’s because Master Sin is so deceptive, so insidious. When sin is your master, it makes demand after demand after demand. But all of these demands seem so pleasant. Master Sin makes working for him appear to be so appealing, so satisfying. When we are obeying Master Sin, it feels free. It seems nice and natural. It doesn’t feel like work. And it doesn’t seem like the wages we will be paid with really matter all that much.

Nobody sins out of duty. You don’t sin because you feel like you have to. Serving Master Sin means you just do what comes naturally, and what is convenient. You do it because it feels good or because it seems to make your life easier. For those outside of Christ, serving Master Sin feels like freedom.

We hear, “the wages of sin is death,” but, when we think of sin as the type of work we do, we think we can simply make a change in our lives before payday rolls around. But that is not the picture that Scripture is giving here. Sin is not simply the type of work you do. Sin is your employer, your boss, your master, and even your owner.

Every moment, Master Sin is draining your blood, sucking the life from you. But while he does that, Master Sin likes to inject good feelings and energy into you every time he takes more blood. He’s sucking your life away while you are enjoying it. But eventually, Master Sin will leave you dead at his feet, sucked completely dry and eternally lifeless. You see the difference?

Repent.

Christian, we ought to hate Master Sin and his slave wages. But remember, as you heard last week, you have been Baptized. You don’t belong to Master Sin anymore; you are no longer a slave to Master Sin (Ro. 6:1-11). Identify Master Sin for who he is and hate him. You have been bought and freed by the death and resurrection of Christ. So now, every time Master Sin calls to you from across the plantation lines, you ought to hate him and his wages and his chains and his whip even more. Plug your ears to him, and run back to your new Master, your true Master, Christ your Savior.

Look at v. 22, but “now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God.” Yes, the slave wages of Master Sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Consider your new Master and how Christ is toward you. What does He pay?

He doesn’t. God doesn’t pay you. Only those who need you and your work pay you, and God doesn’t need anything you could ever give Him. God Himself says, “Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine” (Job 41:11).

So, God can’t pay you wages, but He can and does give you gifts. And the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus your Lord. Consider Eph. 2:6-7 (it’s in your insert), “[Christ] raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Think about this for a minute. God has endured the death of His Own Son to remove you from your slavery to Master Sin. And He has done that for a reason – to demonstrate and show you something. He wants to show you for all eternity the immeasurable riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. God wants to show you His riches, and these riches are incalculable. They are infinite.

In this life, riches are always measurable. Even if you owned the whole world, you could count the number of mansions you have. Your account would have a certain amount in it. Your net worth would still be finite. It might take several lifetimes to account for it all, but it would still have a limit. But God’s gifts and riches are immeasurable. His mercies are new and fresh every morning.

Think of that! For all eternity God would never have to show you a mercy or a treasure that He freely gives to you a second time. Every one of them is new and one that you haven’t seen before. God is infinite, and his mercies are infinite. it will take an eternity of eternity’s for God to show you His love and mercy toward you.

That’s what ‘infinite’ means. It means you could go on for trillions of trillions of years and yet there is still all of infinity before you and nothing is exhausted. There is as much left as when you started. God’s gifts for you are infinite. That is your life now in Christ Jesus, and that is your future.

So, when Master Sin comes and knocks on your door whispering to you about his slave wages, he wants to take away from you the gifts that Jesus would freely give to you. Send Master Sin away and rejoice and hope in the gifts God has for you.

Your God desires to give you an Infinity of riches and mercies delivered to you on account of the death and resurrection of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and all of it is His free gift for you. Amen.

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