Tag Archives: Money

The Gift of a Name – Sermon on Luke 16:19-31 for the First Sunday after Trinity

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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. Lazarus and the Rich Man Graphic22 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.

Being rich is not a sin. Money can, of course, be very dangerous to faith in Christ. Jesus plainly teaches that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 19:23-24). But the rich man does not go to hell because he was wealthy. Instead, the rich man goes to hell because he does not love God.

GreedEven though the parable doesn’t explicitly say it, we know the rich man does not love God. As our Epistle text (1 Jn. 4:16-21) says, “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen…. Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 Jn. 20-21). The rich man’s lack of love for Lazarus makes his lack of love for God as plain as the nose on your face.

We can go even farther and say that the rich man is put to shame by the dogs. By licking his wounds, those dogs are more compassionate toward Lazarus than the rich man who can’t even be bothered to send one of his servants to give Lazarus a crumb from his table. Again, it is not a sin to be rich – not at all. But you cannot be saved and live as unlovingly and hard-heartedly as the rich man in this parable.

The Scriptural command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18; Mt. 22:39) is something that everyone, even pagans, know they should do. Everyone has the duty to love and serve their neighbor – but Christians especially have this duty.

God has given you abundant blessings so that you can use your wealth to help and be generous to others. Too often when we hear exhortations to assist the poor and needy – and I include myself in this rebuke – we over-generalize and turn the poor into a category or a nameless group of people that are difficult to identify. And once we have done that, we come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of helping our neighbor.

We know we can’t feed and clothe everybody so we don’t even start. Or we think to ourselves, “Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us (Mt. 26:11), so what good can I do?” But by doing this, we make the poor merely a concept, a demographic, or an abstraction. Once we have done this, we easily dismiss God’s call to help them.

So, don’t fall into the trap. Christian, God has called you to help your neighbor, and don’t forget that your neighbor has a name. In this parable, the rich man had a poor person put into his life by God, and that poor man had a name – Lazarus. And without question, the rich man knew who Lazarus was.

As the rich man was in torment, he doesn’t say, “Abraham, can you send that guy next to you to give me a drop of water?” No. The rich man sees Lazarus’ face, knows his name, and begs, “Send Lazarus.” And more than that, the rich man has five brothers who also knew Lazarus by name. The rich man knows that, if Lazarus could go to his brothers, they would recognize Lazarus, and they would know that he had risen from the dead to warn them about his torments in hell. From those two details, we know that Lazarus was a familiar family acquaintance for the rich man and his brothers.

Here’s the point: God hasn’t commanded you to feed and provide for the whole world. You aren’t God, and, quite frankly, you can’t do that. God hasn’t called you to provide for everyone, but God has called you to provide for Lazarus. God has put you into relationships with people who have a name. And God has called you to provide for them.

Crying to GodSo, when your conscience is pricked and you feel guilt for your lack of love, first repent. Repent of your lack of love. Then, make a list of the people God has placed in your life to help, to care for, and to love starting with the people closest to you.

Take out a piece of paper and draw a circle in the middle and write down the names of your family members who live with you in that circle. God has called you to care for them first. Be faithful in your care for them. Then draw another circle around the first and list your family members who need help – maybe a grandparent or an aged parent or aunt, uncle, or cousin. Those are the first two groups of neighbors God has called you to serve and care for. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “[I]f anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Then draw another circle around the first two, and write down the names of the people from our congregation that need your care and support. After your family, your fellow believers, your brothers and sisters in Christ are the closest neighbors that God has put into your life to care for. Galatians 6:10 says, “[A]s we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Your brothers and sisters in Christ need your love and care. They need you to contribute to this congregation so that they can hear the Gospel and receive God’s gifts in His Word and Sacraments. They need you to help them when they fall into hard times. So be faithful in your giving to our congregation, and God will bless those efforts. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

If you still have more to give, draw another circle. Write the names of your neighbors, coworkers, and friends who also have needs. And be faithful in helping them. Then you can draw another circle and write the names of others you know who need help. Or you can write the names of organizations that help those in need – the Women’s Pregnancy Center, Northlands Rescue Mission, the food shelf, etc. Get their newsletters or go to the websites and read the names and stories of the individuals who have been helped by those efforts as well. You get the idea?

With all those names, you might be overwhelmed. So, pray for wisdom. Ask God to give you the wisdom to know when you are equipped to help and when you are not. And remember that the closer to the middle of the circle those names are, God has called you to help those individuals first. And trust that God knows how to order your life and the lives of others as well.

Now, maybe you are a Lazarus. You might be the one who needs to be cared for, and if you aren’t now, you may be in the future. If that is the case, you might wonder, “How can I show love for my neighbor? How can I provide for others when I am in need?” The answer is surprisingly simple.

In Jesus’ day, beggars were seen as offering service to God be being needy. The generous cannot be generous if there is no one to be generous to. God may call you into His service by being the one who needs to receive the generosity of others who have the means to give. So, if you have needs, let us know.

Baptism 2And never forget, Christian, that you have been given a name. Through the waters of your Baptism, God gave you your name. He has adopted you into His family. You are His child and part of the household of Jesus. The love you fail to show to those God has placed in your life is forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus, your Savior. And God does not forget to pour out His love, mercy, forgiveness, and provision for you.

This is what the Scriptures teach. The Scriptures point you to Jesus, your Savior. It is the same Scriptures that this parable says the rich man’s brothers should look to so that they do not come to the place of eternal torment that the rich man did. Those very Scriptures all point you to the Jesus who shed His blood, died, and rose again for you.

Sinner, you are not some nameless, faceless person to God. He knows you by name. He has called you by that name, and you are His (Is. 43:1). And, dear saints, your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 3:5; 13:8). Amen.

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

Anxious – Sermon on Matthew 6:24-34 for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

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Matthew 6:24–34

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin offered us “a little song [he] wrote.” He thought we “might want to sing it note for note. Don’t worry; be happy. In every life we have some trouble. hakuna-matata-don-t-worry-be-happy-1But when you worry, you make it double. Don’t worry; be happy. Woo, ooh.”

As chipper as Mr. McFerrin’s song was, apparently the ditty didn’t work because in 1994 the lovable characters, Timon and Pumbaa, came along to teach us a “wonderful phrase.” Hakuna Matata. In case you didn’t know, “it means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s [their] problem-free philosophy. Hakuna Matata.”

As catchy as those jingles are, their philosophy and approach to anxiety is terribly simplistic, and we still find ourselves getting worried.

Mothers worry when their children wander off and get lost. Fathers worry when an unexpected expense comes up and the bills pile up. Children get anxious about the first day of school with new teachers and higher expectations. The evening news and papers get your attention by reporting on the worst stories first. Television shows will end with foreboding cliffhangers to make you anxious about what will happen next week. And to get your vote, politicians have become masters at creating worry and anxiety then telling us that they are the ones who can save us. “If we don’t ban straws, the turtles are going to die.” “If we don’t reduce carbon emissions, the planet is going to die.” And both political parties are guilty of this. Years ago, it was, “If Obamacare gets passed, people will die.” Today, it’s, “If Brett Kavanaugh gets a seat on the Supreme Court, people are going to die.” Or, “If we don’t do something about the border, people are going to die. If we don’t do something about ISIS, people are going to die. If we don’t do something about taxes and the economy, people are going to die. Our country is divided, people are going to die.”

“Don’t Worry Be Happy” and “Hakuna Matata”? These seem to be nothing more than trite, naïve dismissals of the anxious world in which we live. But here, Jesus seems to be just as dismissive. He tells us, “Don’t be anxious about your life. Don’t be anxious about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Don’t be anxious about tomorrow.”Maybe Jesus lives in the same fantasy land as Bobby, Timon, and Pumbaa.

Well, there is a significant difference between Jesus’, “Don’t be anxious,”and Bobby, Timon, and Pumbaa. Jesus recognizes how serious of a sin worry and anxiety are. You see that in how this whole text is related.

First, Jesus points out that your anxiety is evidence of idolatry. He says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

When you have two masters, you are always going to be torn between the two because they will never fully agree on the service they require of you. FranticAnd Jesus addresses the most common master that you and I serve – possessions and stuff.

The word translated as ‘money’ here is the word ‘mammon’ which means more than ‘money.’ But since you get your stuff with money, ‘money’ is a fine translation. Jesus here is addressing your most common idol. You worship your stuff. Idolatry isn’t simply bowing down to statues. Idolatry is fearing, loving, or trusting in anything that isn’t God.

The God who created you, gives you everything you need to live, and sustains it all isn’t seen. But you can see how much money in your wallet or purse. You can look at your balance in your bank account and investments. You spend lots of time at your job. You probably know your boss and the person who signs your checks. And so, you are tempted to you trust those things rather than God who is hidden behind them all. And anxiety is the liturgy and worship that your possessions demand.

We think if we have enough we are secure, so we worry when we think we are running short. Or we think that if we have a little more money, then we’ll be happy. So, we get anxious to accrue a little more. But this is sinful idolatry, and these words from Jesus expose our lack of faith. Scripture says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Repent.

Repent and then laugh at yourself. I think that is what Jesus wants us to do with our sin.

Don’t laugh because your sin doesn’t matter or isn’t serious. Your sin is deadly serious. Serious enough that Jesus will go to the cross, suffer, and die for that sin. But He also wants us to see how foolish and downright silly it is when He tells us to look at the birds and the lilies. He asks, “Do you trust God as much as a crow trusts God? Do you trust God as much as a lily trusts God?”

Birds in a nestWhen was the last time you saw a bird driving a tractor or operating a combine? A bird cannot plant and harvest like we can. But God didn’t design them to do that. He designed us to do that. Birds simply do what God designed them to do: have chicks and raise them and sing.

A bird wakes up, finds a branch, and sings the song God put into its beak. While that little bird sings, it isn’t worried about food even though it has more reason to be worried about food than we have because it doesn’t know where its food is going to come from. It can’t go into the store and buy food. The bird just sits there and sings for a while. Then, when it is hungry, it flies off and finds the food God has set out for it. Jesus says, “Those birds don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

Did you notice that? Jesus doesn’t say, “Their heavenly Father feeds them.” He says, “Your heavenly Father feeds them.”Your Father cares enough about the birds to feed them. Jesus wasn’t born to save birds. Jesus wasn’t crucified to save birds. He did all of that for you. You are the peculiar object of God’s saving love. If He feeds birds, He is going to feed you.

Same with the lilies of the field. God hasn’t given them anything more to do than to grow and look and smell nice. God provides everything they need even though they are alive today and tomorrow are shriveled up and burned. If God clothes the grass like that, how much more will He clothe you?

Worry is useless. It doesn’t help at all. In fact, it makes things worse. Jesus hasn’t given you permission to worry. Worry is the worship that money demands. So, what should you do when you have worry and anxiety?

Philippians 4[:6]says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Take your worry and turn it around don’t let it be the slavish worship you offer to your idol, money. Instead, when you are worried about anything, make it your prayer. Pray, Open Prayer Hands“God You have told me not to be anxious. You have told me not to worry. Well, I’m worried about ______. You take care of that. Help me. Protect me. Etc.” Then your worry becomes a true service to God.

God loves you. He has provided you with everything you need for eternity. In His mercy, He sent His only-begotten Son to shed His blood on the cross to make you His own so that you will live forever in His kingdom. So, there is no reason to doubt that He will take care of the things you need today or tomorrow.

And then, be free. Free to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness – the righteousness He delivers to you in His Word and Sacraments. Jesus has promised that all these things will be added to you. Amen.

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