Sermon: Trinity 22

23 October 2005 at Salem L.C., Gretna, LA

Text: Matt 18:21-35 (Historic)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving steward is a simple story.

A man owes his master a lot of money, but pleads his way out of paying off the impossibly large debt. Having been forgiven, the man goes to a fellow servant who owes him a small debt, and ruthlessly demands payment in full. When the master hears of this, he is outraged at the servant’s hypocrisy, and restores his debt and sends him to prison.

Our immediate reaction is one of outrage. How dare this servant behave this way? What a hypocrite! Having been forgiven a huge debt, why can’t he just forgive the small one against him? A simple story, with a simple villain, and a simple moral.

But if only Jesus’ stories were truly simple! Let’s meditate on our Lord’s words, shall we, my fellow hypocrites? My brothers and sisters who have been forgiven the huge debt, and yet respond by our own refusal to forgive. For we all do it, and it isn’t quite so simple when we are the ones in the shoes of the unforgiving steward. And this is exactly why Jesus is telling us this story!

We need to understand the concepts of “debt” and “forgiveness.” Most of us understand debt in terms of percentages on loans. The kind of debt Jesus is talking about here is the debt of our sins (which is symbolized by a debt of money owed to someone else). When we pray: “Forgive us our tresspasses,” the original Greek word is actually “debts.” Just as it is in the next part: “As we forgive those who tresspass against us,” that is to say: “As we have forgiven our debtors.” Our sins are a debt owed to God – a debt that involves a cosmic interest rate so high, that we can never get out of debt by working off the loan. The interest rate exceeds our entire income. Try as we might, work as hard as we can, and we only get further into debt. We become like poor old Brer Rabbit, stuck hands and feet to the Tar Baby. The more we struggle, the stucker we get. Our only hope in this situation is a kind of divine bankruptcy, a holy chapter 11 that will enable us to once again clean the slate and be freed from the burden of debt.

Of course, this chapter 11 is actually found in chapter 27 of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus assumes our debts at his cross.

The other concept that we have to address is forgiveness. There is an old saying: “I’ll forgive, but I will never forget.” While it sounds very pious, this kind of forgiveness is not what Jesus is talking about. The word translated “forgive” in our text is often translated with other words elsewhere. It is the word translated as “let” or “permit” when Jesus tells his disciples “Let the little children come to me.” It is the same word Luke used to describe the fever leaving Peter’s mother-in-law when Jesus healed her. It is the same word that Paul uses for “divorce” in 1 Corinthians. It is the same word translated as “yielded” when Jesus “yielded” up his spirit as he died on the cross.

So the word translated “forgive” in our text also means to let or allow, to yield or surrender, to leave or depart, even to divorce or abandon. This doesn’t sound like the begrudging “forgiveness” when someone decides to “forgive” – while not forgetting, does it? It sounds like our Lord is calling for something more radical than simply deciding not to retaliate. He is calling for us to forgive and forget, to allow and let those who have sinned against us to depart in peace, to yield the hold we have on them because they owe us, and to surrender our victim status just as the True Victim, the one who forgave us, surrenders and yields his Spirit to his Father.

For does our Lord “forgive, but not forget?” Thanks be to God he doesn’t! For our Lord promises that when we confess our sins to him, our sins no longer exist. They have been abandoned, yielded, permitted to depart, and forgiven. As the Lord declares in Hebrews: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Through the Psalmist our merciful Lord proclaims: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” The word translated “removed” in this Psalm is the same Greek word used for “forgive” in our text.

Our Lord is calling upon us to forgive others the same way he forgives us: unconditionally, without reservation, to the point of forgetfulness.

This is not to say that we will never be angry, or hurt, or beaten down by evil. Far from it. We live in a fallen world, and evil lurks about everywhere – especially from ourselves. There are times when we ought to refrain from taking Holy Communion, since our anger is such that we are in a state of unrepented sin until we resolve it. There are times when we need to cool off, when no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to forgive. So what do we do in such a case? What do we do when we can’t seem to forgive those who tresspass against us?

Confess! We need to confess our sinful refusal to forgive. We need to see ourselves in this parable, that hypocrite, that unforgiving servant who accepts God’s forgiveness in great measure and then refuses to give it in a small measure. We need to confess this sin to God – even if seven times. Even if seventy times. Even if seventy-times-seven times! For, dear brothers and sisters, here is the Gospel in this text: God himself does as he bids us to do. No matter how many times we fall into the same sin, he will not refuse us his grace, his forgiveness, his cosmic bankruptcy plan.

Our Lord has given us pastors to speak his word of forgiveness, of release, of surrender to you personally. And if you have to confess the same sin 490 times, seven days a week – then so be it. There is no limit on the Lord’s forgiveness. And the more we are forgiven, the more we can forgive.

For as that wise pastor St. Augustine astutely pointed out fifteen centuries ago, the sin of refusing to forgive is vanity. He declares: “Imagine the vanity of thinking that your enemy can do more damage than your enmity?” What he is saying is that it is pure selfishness to think our own refusal to forgive is somehow a lesser offense than what was done to us. Such thinking elevates us to the status of victim (which in today’s society is the highest social status). Victims get sympathy, victims get rights, victims get special treatment. Real victims do indeed deserve mercy and benefits. However, there seems to be a long line at the station of people trying to get on the “victim” train – whether they have a ticket or not.

And what a better way to extend our status as “victim” (even when it is deserved) by holding onto a grudge, by portraying ourselves as put-upon, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Dear Augustine got it right – our refusal to forgive is nothing less than our vanity. And think about those whom we have victimized. There is a long list for all of us, ending up with the ultimate victim, our Lord Jesus Christ: who is both our victim and our priest. As victim, he is the payment for our sins, and as priest, he is the one who absolves us. Can our own victimhood hold a candle to our Lord, the one whom we victimized and crucified?

For how can we even see the speck in our brother’s eye with the plank in our own? Perhaps we should all focus on our “accounts payable” (the debts we owe God) instead of wallowing in our “accounts receivable” (the debts others owe us). Maybe we should think of the fortune of ten thousand talents our Lord has forgiven us, as opposed to our claim to the measly hundred denarii owed to us by our debtor.

Augustine was right about something else too: our refusal to forgive ultimately hurts us more than the person who hurt us to begin with. For a hundred years from now, what difference will it make who did what to us? Our own vanity and hypocrisy are more harmful to us (and to those we love) than even the most violent criminal, the most brutal dictator, the most evil enemy, or the person we’re angry with for whatever reason.

Dear Christian friends, let us allow our Lord’s Word to do its divine and holy Work. Isn’t that why we’re here? Let us confess our stubborn refusal to forgive – even up to seventy times seven times. “For he has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Let us allow our Lord to show us what is good through his Law, through his warning to us, and let us be receptive to his healing us through the ministry of reconciliation that he has given us from his cross.

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Kyrie After Katrina

by Rev. Larry Beane

[An article published by Lutheran Church Charities. For pictures, click here.]

Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.

Mercy is a prominent theme in Holy Scripture and in the liturgy. When we gather for Divine Service, the first thing we sing after being absolved of our sins is the Kyrie: "Lord have mercy."

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, opportunities for giving and receiving mercy abound. People from many walks of life have joined hands and hearts to give aid and comfort to victims, to help in rescue and relief operations, and to show compassion to people who have lost so much. In the case of a small group of us Lutherans in the New Orleans area, the Lord created an unlikely team to go about His works of mercy.

New Orleans businessman Ramsey Skipper serves on the Board of Elders at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA. His home in the once-beautiful Lakeview area of New Orleans was destroyed by waters that engulfed the entire first floor of nearly every home in that neighborhood. After the hurricane, he had moved his wife and two small children to Houston. Upon returning almost two weeks later, Ramsey was determined to enter his home to try to retrieve some of his family's possessions - especially things dear to his small children.

At an impromptu staging area on Veterans Memorial Boulevard near the levee break that left 80% of the city under flood waters, Ramsey found a boat that many others had been using to get back to their homes. With the help of a French freelance photographer named Laurent Guerin, Ramsey piloted the boat to his home. He was able to break into a window and retrieve some items from the second story. Upon returning, some firefighters asked Ramsey and Laurent for their assistance in the recovery of both the living and the dead. Laurent, a self-described atheist, put his cameras down, and devoted himself to helping the effort. In spite of their differences in politics and religion, Ramsey and Laurent quickly became good friends, and were soon joined by Ramsey's pastor, Rev. Brad Drew, of Mt. Olive.

Ramsey realized that many people were desperate for help in retrieving irreplaceable family photos, crucial insurance papers, and stranded pets. The three men began an operation on their own, navigating the toxic waters, shuttling people to their homes, breaking into houses with axes and crowbars, and helping people move around their dark and dangerous homes.

Once inside, people were horrified and traumatized by what they saw: hazardous filth, mold, furniture ruined and overturned, dead animals, and the pervasive stench of rot. These were people not only in need of transportation, but of Christian compassion and mercy.

The team grew as others began to help. Rev. David Lofthus, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Harahan, LA, and myself, Rev. Larry Beane, associate pastor of Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA returned to the New Orleans area after evacuating our own families. We were looking for ways to lend a hand in the relief efforts. We soon found much to do in our ravaged city. We were later joined by Rev. Charles Keogh of Faith Lutheran Church in Olympia, WA who had made the long journey to help.

Also joining our group was Michael Lohr, a Hollywood, CA photo studio owner who had come to New Orleans to assist in pet rescues. He and several veterinarians and helpers hooked up with our team, which had been dubbed tongue-in-cheek as LEMA: the "Lutheran Emergency Management Agency."

Lutheran Church Charities heard about the operations, and immediately asked how they could help. We were all deeply moved by LCC's compassion and Tim Hetzner's efficiency in getting us what we needed. In response to a request for more boats and manpower, LCC rapidly sent us three flatbed boats, outboard motors, dozens of waterproof hip-waders, and many volunteers to help our growing team.

While the group continued running "missions" into the black rivers that used to be city streets, James Bennet, a reporter from the New York Times, asked if he could be put on a boat to write a story for the newspaper. Ramsey answered politely, but firmly: "No." The men were there to help people get into their homes, not to provide transportation to reporters. However, upon observing James' kindness and compassion toward the victims over the course of several hours, Ramsey relented, and allowed him to accompany himself and Laurent on a few sorties. They were joined by Lynsey Adario, a New York Times photographer more used to capturing scenes of devastation in Afghanistan and Iraq than in America. James' lyrical article about the unlikely alliance between the Lutheran layman, his pastor, and the atheist photographer ran on the front page of the Sept. 13 Times. The article included some of Lynsey's haunting images.

[Note: The London Times also interviewed some of us and ran an article as well.]

There were plenty of opportunities to show Christian compassion and mercy to people who were utterly distraught over the devastation of their homes, the destruction of their precious heirlooms, and the loss of their pets. People also gravitated to the pastors on the team who had plenty of opportunities to give pastoral care to the suffering and distressed.

At just the right time, the Lord provided our team with people with specific skills. Gregory Brown, a waiter at the well-known Barreca's restaurant, volunteered to serve as cook for the large group. Barreca's also provided the team with several meals free of charge. Henry Berger, one of my parishioners with expertise in Information Technology, helped us in getting our wireless computer up and running. Volunteers from all over the United States, many of whom were dispatched to us by the LCC, helped with the tedious work of cleaning and disinfecting our equipment. Rev. Brad Drew opened his parsonage to anyone who needed a place to stay. Mount Olive's gymnasium became a warehouse of supplies for people in need.

Our long days of work were followed by lively evenings discussing the Gospel - especially with our ever-inquisitive guests. Some of our most interesting conversations were with our atheist friend Laurent, a veteran of the French special forces - whose integrity, sense of humor, and resourcefulness we all grew to respect and admire. It was a profoundly moving moment when Laurent told us that had he met us sooner, he might not have been hostile to Christianity. Within a few days, he donned one of LCC's distinctive "Christ is Our Hope" T-shirts. Several non-Lutherans grilled us about what Lutheran Christians believe, teach, and confess. All three of us local pastors were able to conduct services at our churches that Sunday - and were blessed with visitors anxious to hear the Gospel.

As the waters receded, "LEMA" had a challenge. Boats would no longer be of use, and yet people were still flocking to us for help. One lady showed up looking for us, having heard what we were doing. She cried out: "Where are the Lutherans!" To the people in need of help, the name "Lutheran" had become synonymous with good works and acts of mercy. To meet the changing situation, we again appealed to LCC, this time for four four-wheel-drive all-terrain-vehicles, and a slew of equipment to run them. Although Federal Express was not even delivering packages in the New Orleans area at this time, LCC found a way to equip us in less than 24 hours. The very next day after our e-mailed request, everything was delivered to us by Rev. Dr. Paul Anderson of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge. LCC had also sent a semi truck full of food, water, clothing, toys, blankets, baby supplies, toiletries, etc., a wireless laptop to facilitate communications, as well as a 24-foot RV, driven by Allen Busse, to serve as a command center and housing for volunteers.

With our mission moving from sea to land, so to speak, we began pulling small trailers with the ATVs, driving through knee-deep water and over every imaginable obstacle in order to continue our work. We continued rescuing dogs, cats, birds, and even turtles and snakes - reuniting distraught children with their beloved pets. Sometimes we found ourselves on our hands and knees washing the toxic muck from people's feet. The gratitude of the people was overwhelming.

The pastors typically wore black shirts and clerical collars on these operations - a uniform which proved every bit as comforting to the faithful and useful for access as the camouflage worn by the National Guard troops who waved us into these restricted areas.

Every "mission" was unique, and we were filled with a driving desire to help every person who sought our aid. We were all greatly moved by the people we were helping: their grief, their sense of loss, their courage, their joy, their desire, and their gratitude. In the midst of the great destruction, there were small victories: the retrievals of pets who survived for more than two weeks with no food or water, the recovery of business and insurance papers, pictures of babies and ancestors, crucifixes, and irreplaceable heirlooms. There were also many people who were unable to recover anything - refugees with only the clothes on their backs. Thanks to the generosity of so many, we were able to provide food, clothing, water, and toiletries to those who lost all the material goods they own.

As the waters receded further, ATVs were no longer needed to get into homes. As folks came streaming back into New Orleans' devastated neighborhoods (including areas outside of New Orleans that were also subjected to storm surges and levee breaks), they needed help. Our churches became outposts of relief as LCC continues to send supplies that people so desperately need.

And if that were not enough, LCC continues to support Lutheran schools as they endeavor to reopen. LCC's unbelievable kindness and ability to cut through red tape helped make it possible for our school, Salem Lutheran in Gretna, to not only re-open, but to open our doors to a record number of students - nearly 300! We are able to bring the Gospel to many children whose homes have been destroyed, including many who have never been able to attend a Christian school before.

Thanks to our Lord's mercy - brought to us through the godly work of LCC - we have ourselves been blessed. Flowing from the Lord's mercy to us, we are humbled to be allowed to be instruments of His divine mercy to others "even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). The Church's ministry of mercy will be needed in our region for a long time to come. Lutheran Church Charities has played a crucial role in the rebuilding of New Orleans, and will continue to bring the Lord's blessing to us, our churches, and our schools for many years to come.

Thank you, LCC, and thanks be to our merciful Lord Jesus Christ!

Sermon: Trinity 20

9 October 2005 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Text: Matt 22:1-14 (Historic)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

When it comes to food and dining, few people in America come close to New Orleanians. The old joke is that we spend lunchtime talking about where we will eat dinner. While food is, strictly speaking, a way for our bodies to be nourished – it is also so much more. Eating is a celebration of life – of the gifts our Lord has given us – going all the way back to the garden of Eden. God could have made eating a mindless activity of survival, but instead, in his divine love for his creation, made it what Louisianans might call “joie de vivre” - the joy of life.

A French writer named Valéry writes:

“What is more important than the meal? Doesn’t the least observant man-about-town look upon the implementation and ritual progress of a meal as a liturgical prescription? Isn’t all of civilization apparent in these careful preparations, which consecrate the spirit’s triumph over a raging appetite?”

This is, perhaps, why eating is traditionally accompanied by so much ritual, formality, and manners. In the ancient world, dining was a social statement. Great care was taken not to eat with certain kinds of people – and placement at the table was a way of expressing honor and importance. Jesus scandalized the religiously upright people of his day by eating with various kinds of sinners. His acceptance of “table fellowship” with prostitutes and thieves was controversial – to say the least.

In our more democratic culture, such concepts as “table fellowship” might seem quaint. One of the few times we revive this notion of a pecking order at the dinner table is at a banquet – where typically, guests are seated in order of importance – with the really honored guests being segregated at a head table.

Our Gospel reading is a parable of Jesus that is centered on a banquet.

The father, who is a king, arranges his son’s wedding – and of course, there will be a reception. Invitations are sent, and preparations for the party begin. Food and drinks need to be purchased. The hall must be decorated. Servants must be scheduled. It’s a lot of work, but finally, the big day comes. But nobody shows up. Imagine the insult to the king! Imagine his hurt feelings. Imagine the disrespect shown to the prince and his bride-to-be!

At best, the invited guests mock the king and his son, and tell him they have better things to do. Other invited guests are downright violent – beating and even killing the king’s messengers who have come to remind them of the wedding. It goes without saying that the king is furious. He judges those who have been so ruthless and disrespectful. But, as they say, the show must go on. The wedding will proceed, followed by the reception. Only there will be different guests invited to the banquet. On such short notice, the king has little choice but to fling the doors wide open and invite everyone. He sends his servants into the streets, and beckons everyone to come to the feast: the good and the bad, “come and be glad, greatest and least, come to the feast!”

No more is the banquet to be only for those connected by ties of blood to the king and his son. The banquet is not merely for the upright in the community, the religious, the wealthy, and the well-connected. No, this feast is for all, including the poor, the sinful, those without family ties or business connections. People from all walks of life come into the hall to eat the finest of the king’s bread and the choicest of the king’s wine. Can you imagine the sense of joy to those who never thought in a million years they would be deemed worthy to dine in the palace?

In the midst of this joy and thanksgiving, an intruder is spotted. He’s easy to point out because he is not wearing the proper attire – for at this banquet, there is a dress code – and the king himself supplies the raiment. But this fellow is not wearing the wedding garment, and thus he was not invited to the feast. Perhaps he was one who had earlier spurned the son and shown disrespect to the father. Or maybe he just wanted to join the feast on his own terms, in his own garments that he thinks are as nice as those supplied by the king. Maybe he just likes to stand out and be noticed for who he is – and not be just another face in the crowd wearing a wedding garment. Who knows? But for whatever reason, this person is not welcome at this feast. He is bound and put into a prison of darkness. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Those listening to Jesus preach knew what he was talking about. The Jews knew their own history of spurning the Father and beating and killing his messengers: the prophets. Jesus is himself the Son in this parable. Jesus is being wedded to his bride: the Church. The banquet is the ongoing and eternal heavenly feast. The Lord had called his people Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He continued to stand by them even in their unfaithfulness, even as they sought idols and murdered the prophets. But when God sent his Son, they rejected him, they turned down the invitation to the wedding feast, they mocked those who confessed Christ and they persecuted Christians in their own midst.

And so, God flung the doors wide open, going out into the byways, preaching the Gospel to those who would listen – largely to Gentiles. Jesus himself reached out to sinners that respectable religious people would never sit down at table with. Jesus invites all to his feast – the good and the bad, greatest and least are bid to come to the feast! Though Israel’s priests and scribes would not eat with the likes of us sinful Gentiles, the Father himself bids us to come to the feast. It doesn’t matter what our genealogy, race, ethnicity, station in life, occupation, or even reputation are. Our past sins are irrelevant. We are invited, and clothed for the occasion. For we are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus at our baptism. And that white baptismal gown is a meal ticket that grants us admittance to the feast. That baptismal garment makes us worthy to kneel at this rail and eat the finest of the king’s bread and the choicest of the King’s wine.

The Lord implemented his holy supper as an appetizer of eternity. Using simple, earthy – and yet sublime elements: bread and wine – Jesus himself dines with us, gives us his very flesh and blood which is the one all-availing sacrifice for our sins, and bids us to remain at his table – with all the saints and angels – for all eternity. There is a Greek icon of the last supper that is entitled: “The Mystical Meal.” Indeed, the Lord’s Supper is mystical, it is supernatural, it is the eternal God breaking into our space and time, allowing us to sit at table with Jesus just as surely as did his disciples.

Our Roman Catholic brethren speak of the “miracle of the Mass.” And we agree with them on this point, as our own Lutheran Confessions forcefully declare: “Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. The Mass is held among us and celebrated with the highest reverence.” We Lutherans, as did the early church, see ourselves as a eucharistic community – a gathering of people around Christ in his sacrament. We can no more not celebrate Holy Communion than we can decide not to breath air and drink water. Indeed, this holy banquet, this mystical meal, this miracle of the Mass is truly a eucharist – a feast of thanksgiving. Just as every Sunday is a mini-Easter to the Christian Church, so is every celebration of the Lord’s Supper a mini-Thanksgiving feast. Indeed, one of Martin Luther’s “marks of the Church” (that is to say, how to identify the true Christian Church) is the centrality of the sacraments. Holy Communion isn’t merely an add-on to the liturgy, it is our very life and breath. It is indeed how we can come to Jesus, and how he comes to us. It is our discipleship in action. And Jesus himself tells us how we are made disciples: by baptism and teaching. There is no other entrance into the church – not accepting Jesus as one’s savior, not by answering an altar call, not by living a life free from sin (as though any of us could truly do any of these things).

No, indeed, there is only one way to gain entry into the wedding feast of the Son. Those who seek to gain admittance to the Christian Church by a side entrance, by trickery or deceit, those who rely on the splendor of their own garments instead of depending on the king’s charity, those who seek admittance by their own means and according to their own abilities will find themselves in the prison of hell.

But what comfort we unworthy sinners have knowing that the King himself supplies the pristine white robe that covers our nakedness and filthiness! What a blessing that we have been called and chosen not by our own merits, but rather by the grace of God himself! And what joy we have knowing that we can partake of the foretaste of the feast Sunday after Sunday, joining Jesus at the table, at the mystical, miraculous meal, participating in the heavenly banquet that will have no end!

My dear brothers and sisters: The feast is ready. Come to the feast! The good and the bad, greatest and least, come to the feast! Now, and unto eternity. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon: Trinity 19

2 October 2005 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Text: Matt 9:1-8 (Gen 28:10-17, Eph 4:22-28) (Traditional)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Today’s gospel lesson contains two miracles: the forgiveness of the paralytic’s sins, and the restoration of his health. Both miracles are wondrous, both are healing to the paralytic, but Jesus works the miracles for two different reasons.

Notice what Jesus’ first priority is: the first thing Jesus says to the ailing man is: “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.” It is doubtful that the paralytic and his helpers sought out Jesus for confession and absolution. More likely they came seeking only a physical healing of the man’s paralyzed flesh. However, Jesus understands full well that sin is the cause of the man’s paralysis. Jesus, God in the flesh, the Word who was with God, and who was God, in the beginning, understands that sin is the root cause of all disease, of all misery, of all pain, of all natural calamities, and of death itself. The man’s paralysis, his brokenness, was merely one more step on our common march toward death, toward the final corruption and breakdown of our flesh.

And so Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter: “Do not fret, my son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus, the Son, takes the role of the Father. He is acting under the divine authority of his Father. Notice that Jesus refers to the one he is absolving as “son.” Reverend Father Jesus is speaking as a pastor, as a father-confessor, to the one he is absolving. And this is what upsets the teachers of the law. For a man to speak on behalf of God – especially to forgive sins – is seen as blasphemy. What the lawyers, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the rest of us hypocrites cannot grasp is the incarnation – the fact that God himself would take on human flesh. For human flesh, as we all know, is corruptible. All human flesh is headed toward death. Since the fall, all of our flesh is nothing more than rotting meat.

A perfect illustration of this is cleaning out our refrigerators after the hurricane. All matter that was formerly alive – animal and plant life – is now a horrific sight: rotting, stinking, infested with mold, utterly ruined, and repulsive to our senses. This ugly sight, dear Christian friends, is a picture of ourselves. For we are fleshly creatures, infested with sin, and inching closer to our own corruption day by day.

Jesus links the man’s dying limbs, his muscles that will not move, his corrupting flesh, to his sinful state. And the first thing that needs to happen to cure him is to forgive his sins. And Jesus is himself flesh – but without sin. Jesus is the one the Psalmist prophesies as the one who will see no corruption. For the greatest miracle of all the ages is that God would take on flesh and die in our place, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the sinless for the sinful. And so Jesus carries out this ministry in our text by absolving the man of his sins: the greater of the two miracles.

Jesus’ second miracle – the healing of the man’s paralysis – was what St. John would call a “sign.” Jesus performed this miracle to prove a point. He did it to demonstrate his divinity. For they can grumble all they want about Jesus’ word of forgiveness, they can cast doubt upon its validity – but it’s hard to argue with a cripple leaving his mat behind and walking home. Although this is the lesser miracle – it is the miracle that shuts up his critics.

Our own sinful flesh seeks after, even lusts after, such miracles. Our unbelieving flesh seeks after signs so we can be convinced. I recently met a devout young Christian who told me I should leave my call here at Salem and come with him to be a missionary in Africa, since God is working miracles there. If reports are to be believed, there are many sick people being cured miraculously as the Gospel is being spread there. This may or may not be the truth, but even if it is, why should I abandon my flock to see it? Such miracles are merely signs to convince people of who Jesus is, of his power. Such signs are for unbelievers. The greater miracle happens every day around the world – including here at Salem. The greater miracle happens when Jesus’ ministers – his corruptible fleshly servants – become your father-confessors and forgive your sins. The greater miracle happens as Jesus’ incorruptible flesh and blood are placed into our mouths. The greater miracle happens here at our font, as [will happen today as / has happened today as] Skylar is carried (just like the helpless paralytic) to Jesus to receive healing and forgiveness of sins. The greater miracle happens when the preaching of the Gospel creates faith in the hearers of that miraculous Gospel.

Dear friends, the Christianity that permeates our culture is the kind of religion advocated by the teachers of the law in our text. Many a TV preacher will promise you all sorts of prosperity: health and wealth, fame and fortune, if you only have enough faith. And you can demonstrate that faith with your checkbook, can’t you? And these same folks would no doubt gasp and call us blasphemers because our pastors claim to forgive your sins. The same people who believe a man in a white suit can blow on people and cure them of their diseases will not accept a man in a white robe making the sign of the cross over people and forgiving them of their sins – which has been the church’s ministry since the day of Pentecost in 30 AD.

For the Church exists to bring people to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. We need no other “mission statement” than that.

And notice how the crowds who witnessed Jesus’ miracle react. They are filled with awe, they praise God. Why? Because God “had given such authority to men.” Notice the word is “men.” This is plural. God has given the authority to speak on his behalf and forgive sins to men. Jesus himself gave this authority to his apostles, who in turn ordained future ministers for this work. And this divine ministry of forgiveness continues, and will continue until the final trumpet sounds. And nothing will stop the ministry of our Lord’s Church. Nothing. Not a hurricane, not a dozen hurricanes. Not scoffers and unbelievers. Not sickness, not paralysis, not sin, nor even death itself. For our Lord promises that not even Satan and hell will overcome the holy catholic and apostolic Church.

My brothers and sisters, this is the ministry of the Church. Our work is to support the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments for the forgiveness of sins. For every redeemed paralytic will walk again and be made whole according to the Lord’s timetable. Every one of us, with all of our aches and pains, our worries and our distresses, our illnesses, and our inevitable day of death – will find ourselves like the paralytic in our text made whole. For we have already had the first miracle, the greater miracle, the eradication of our sins and the deliverance of this gift to us through our Lord’s chosen means.

You don’t have to turn on a TV preacher or make a trip to Africa to see the Lord working his greatest miracles. These miracles happen to us week after week at this altar, font, and pulpit. These miracles happen to us day after day in our homes as we confess our sins, repent, and remember that we are baptized.

So let us praise God that he has given such authority to men. Take heart, my son. Take heart, my daughter. Your sins are forgiven.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon: Trinity 14

28 August 2005 at Salem L.C., Gretna, LA

Text: Luke 17:11-19 (and Prov 4:10-23; Gal 5:16-24) (Historic)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Leprosy is a horrible disease – though none of us here may have ever known a person with leprosy. The disease causes a person’s flesh to turn against itself, so that a person dies little by little. Until recently, such people were banished to leper colonies, so that their corrupt flesh would not spread to the healthy. One could hardly think of a more terrible fate, or a more Satanic distortion of creation.

For in the beginning, God created all things and declared them all “good.” And when he had concluded creation by making mankind, he declared his creation to be “very good.” God created a perfect universe for us to enjoy: abundant food, no need for labor, no diseases (like leprosy), and most importantly, no death. Flesh was meant for life – not for death. It was only when Adam and Eve rejected God by sinning that misery, disease, and death came into the world. It was only because of sin that flesh began to war against spirit – even to the point where flesh and spirit separate from one another – which is what it means to die. This is not what God intended. This is what man chose for himself, what the author of our Old Testament lesson bewails: “the path of the wicked… the way of evil.” Indeed, we “do not sleep unless [we] have done evil.” We make others fall. Truly we have perverted creation, even such wonderful nourishments of bread and wine, turning them into “the bread of wickedness and the wine of violence.”

We have welcomed sin into our lives to the point where we accept it as natural and normal. We live among horrific violent crime, and hardly flinch. We are surrounded by lewdness and open perversion to the point where we aren’t even shocked. But worst of all, we accept the premise of all of the world’s religions: the body is evil and the spirit is good. This heresy prompts people to believe that religion is purely “spiritual,” that once we shed the body, once we have elevated ourselves above creation, we can somehow achieve oneness with God. Such a perversion causes people to mistreat their bodies and to look upon God’s “very good” creation as somehow evil.

Look at how our society treats death. It is often seen as a “solution” – be it genocide, euthanasia, or abortion. Or, it is seen as a natural part of life – like the Disney movie “the Lion King” which espouses the Pagan view that our deaths are part of a mystical “circle of life,” that death is good and nourishing.

What can be a more diabolical distortion of the truth as confessed in Scripture? What a debasement to our flesh, which we confess in the Creed every Sunday will be resurrected!

Now, you may be tempted to point to our epistle reading and claim this worldly false religion (that the flesh is evil but the spirit is good) is something St. Paul believes in. But this is not the case at all. For Paul is speaking of our corrupted flesh. He implores us not to yield to the desires of our sinful flesh that wars against the Holy Spirit. For Paul defines the works of the this flesh to be misuses of the flesh, such as carnal sins (which mock God’s good creation of sexuality), selfishness (which mock God’s good creation of a universe in harmony and peace), jealousy (which mocks God’s good gifts of possessions), and heresies (which mock God’s good gift of his Word).

Also listed is the sin of “pharmakeia” – translated here as “sorcery.” Pharmakeia literally means “drugs” or “medicine.” And what could be a more blatant example of something good and life-giving which has often been twisted into an agent of death and the devil? In fact, in the ancient world, phamakeia was a shorthand way of saying “abortion” – for people in the Greco-Roman world would use drugs to induce abortions.

The “path of the wicked” from our Old Testament reading, and the “works of the flesh” from our epistle are one and the same. They are deliberately choosing evil over good, the corrupted, dying, leprous flesh over the flesh that God created to live forever, the idolatry of selfishness over service and obedience to our Lord. And the wages of such sin is, as Paul tells us in Romans, death.

In our Gospel text, ten dying men came to Jesus. They had no illusions that their suffering was part of a sanitary cartoon philosophy of the circle of life. They were literally rotting away like living corpses. They were in pain. They were ostracized by the community. But they knew where they needed to go for restoration of their corrupted flesh: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” That is to say, after invoking our Lord Jesus, they sang the Kyrie along with us. Jesus only spoke a word, and they were cleansed. Their rotting flesh was made whole. They were given life. Jesus sent them to the priests for a declaration of their cleanliness. All were healed, the grateful and the ungrateful alike – by grace alone, “without any merit or worthiness” of their own. All ten were “lost and condemned person[s], purchased and won… from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.”

And in spite of this miraculous healing, this new lease on life, they are still sinners – for 90% of them don’t even come by to say “thank you.” Though their leprosy may be cured, their flesh is still corrupt. They are still walking dead-men, for they still have their sinful nature clinging to their flesh – just like all of us. We seldom give our Lord as much as a “thank you” for all his blessings he has given us – may he forgive us for our ingratitude.

But notice the example of the one grateful recipient of our Lord’s grace. He returns to say “thank you” – and he does so by falling on his face before our Lord, worshipping him. And he is a Samaritan – he is not from the chosen people who had the Law and the Prophets. He is a “foreigner,” he is a “Gentile.” He is a person of mixed ancestry: hated by everyone. But notice his gratefulness. For his restoration was even more dramatic. He loves much, because he has been given much.

How do we imitate the example of this sainted Samaritan? Notice how he shows his thanks: Jesus tells us he “gives glory to God.” Notice what we did this morning. After we imitated the Samaritan leper by singing: “Lord have mercy,” we too gave glory to God by singing “Glory be to God on High.” And after hearing the Lord’s word in Holy Scripture and in his preached proclamation, we will fall down on our knees before our Lord Jesus to worship him – just like the cleansed leper. We do this at the “eucharist” – which is Greek for “giving thanks.” Indeed, we give thanks to Jesus every time we kneel before him and receive his body and blood in the eucharistic feast. And notice what our Lord gives us in the feast: the same thing he gave the leper: cleansed and incorruptible flesh and blood – his own flesh and blood, in fact.

In the same way that we honor the host of a feast by asking for seconds, we show our gratitude to our Lord when we come back again and again as he heals us, cleansing our corrupted flesh by restoring it anew with his own flesh. We join our Lord’s Great Thanksgiving when we partake of the meal with Jesus who “having given thanks” blessed and broke the bread of his body and the wine of his blood. And notice the restoration that our Lord gives us in the eucharist: he exchanges the “bread of wickedness” for his very body, the bread of life, of righteousness. And he replaces the “wine of violence” with his very blood, the wine of peace and reconciliation, of forgiveness.

In this miracle of restoration that our Lord gives us, this thanksgiving feast, we join the church of every time and place in replacing the pharmakeia of abortion and death with what the very earliest church fathers called the “pharmakon athanasias,” the “medicine of immortality.” Our Lord replaces our corrupt, sinful flesh with his everlasting and perfect flesh.

And notice what happens before the grateful, eucharistic Samaritan takes his leave: Jesus gives him a blessing to send him on his way. Jesus continues to give us this benediction before we too leave his presence to return to the world.

Dear Christian brothers and sisters – we are more like the lepers in this biblical account than we realize:

We too are dying bit by bit, plagued by sinful flesh that rots away, fueled by sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.

We too have been cleansed by a physical encounter with Jesus, “crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires,” having been washed in baptismal water like Naaman the leper, who was told to wash in the Jordan River, and whose flesh was restored.

We too have been sent to the priests to be declared clean.

We too cry out “Lord have mercy” and give glory to God.

We too have been given God’s words, “for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.”

We too have been given instruction, “do not let her go, keep her, for she is your life.”

We too kneel before our Lord to thank him by worshipping him, and by receiving the medicine of immortality.

And, dear friends, we receive his gifts again and again, week after week. We hear his absolution and his blessing Sunday after Sunday. And though we sin again and again, we are restored again and again… and again. And though we will all die in the flesh, we will all rise in the flesh. For in Christ, we are on “the path of the just… like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

Thanks be to God! Thanks be to God!

In the Name of the father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon: Trinity 9

24 July 2005 at Gloria Dei L.C. in New Olreans

Text: Luke 16:1-9 (10-13) (historic)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Some people really know how to make money work. It doesn’t matter what they do, what kind of occupation they have, they simply know how to make money grow. Some people just have the gift. They know when to buy, when to sell, and when to stand pat. They seem to almost have a sixth sense about the world of business. Jesus uses the word “shrewd” to describe this kind of business savvy.

Now, being shrewd doesn’t necessarily mean dishonest – but in this case, the steward was. He was lazy, and didn’t do a very good job of managing the company for the owner. The owner of the company (perhaps taking a page from Donald Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice”) calls the manager into the board room and fires him.

Now the steward is in a fix. He is not good with his hands, so he can’t get a job as a carpenter or plumber. He doesn’t see welfare as an option. And besides, who’s going to hire a middle-level manager who has such a black mark on his resume? So the manager decides to try to win back his job. He pulls one more business trick from his sleeve: negotiation.

Those of us who do not have the gift of making money foolishly pay the full price for everything. But shrewd people do not. They know how to cut a deal. They know how to bargain. Even large corporations understand that negotiating with a debtor to receive something is better than ignoring them and receiving nothing.

So, our dishonest, but shrewd, manager begins to reclaim his reputation. He knows only one thing will save his job: a quick reversal of the cash-flow problem. And one sure-fire way to get people to pay is to lower the price. He begins to visit each debtor and offer him a deal.

Now, this kind of negotiation is not what makes the steward “unjust.” What made the steward unjust was his getting into this mess in the first place by his own laziness and lack of accountability. No, in fact, this kind of negotiation and collection was just what the business needed. The owner was himself shrewd enough to realize this, and he commended the steward for his shrewdness.

“The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” According to Jesus, we in God’s Kingdom are not typically shrewd in matters of money. Maybe it’s because we think money is evil, and so we shy away from it. Maybe we believe being shrewd is somehow in and of itself dishonest. Whatever the reason, Jesus chides his followers for not having a good relationship with money.

And what is that relationship we are to have? Jesus tells us we are not to be the servant of money – since we cannot serve two masters: both God and mammon. And notice the unjust steward’s relationship with money – he was shrewd because he made the money serve him. He was the money’s master, not its slave. He was willing to take a gamble on his plan to negotiate precisely because he didn’t see himself as the servant, but as the master. He also understood that he was the steward – not the owner. The money didn’t belong to him, so perhaps he felt a little more free to negotiate. He also realized who his real master was (in this story, that would be the boss), and that he was in trouble.

As sinners, we should constantly and daily come to grips with the fact that we are in trouble. Based on our own misuse of the Lord’s property – all of the things we like to describe as our own – we should all identify with the unjust steward. Indeed, we are wasting the Lord’s goods, and should he call us into the boardroom to give an account of our stewardship, can we expect anything other than being removed from our position of trust?

And we should also realize, like the steward in Jesus’s story, that we are only stewards, we are only managers. We come into the world with nothing, and we leave with nothing. In between, we are entrusted to care for the Lord’s property. Too often we covet that which belongs to God, and fail to give thanks to him for allowing us use of his goods. Too often we gloss over the fact that the Lord does demand an accounting from all of us.

And so, like the unjust steward, we too should be so bold as to negotiate. Our debts are far too high to pay. Our sins are too burdensome to overcome. No amount of promising, pleading, or old-fashioned elbow grease is going to make a dent in our debts (which, by the way, is the literal meaning of the word “tresspasses” in the Lord’s prayer). And like a person whose credit is damaged, we simply can’t go before the Lord and promise we will do better in the future. No, we need a radical solution to get out of debt. We can’t simply consolidate, take out a second mortgage, or spread out the payments over many years. We are too far gone. We need to have our debt forgiven. We need a form of cosmic bankruptcy that balances the debits and credits once and for all.

Of course, Jesus himself does just this. He takes our debt onto himself at the cross, and exchanges our abominable credit rating with his own perfection before the Father. God himself offers this debt-amortization to the whole world – but most people see it as junk mail and toss it in the garbage. Most people either find the deal “too good to be true,” or they misjudge their own standing before God. Most people either mistake themselves as masters (and not stewards), or they see themselves as good stewards – and not the wicked stewards that we all are. And so, our Lord’s unbelievable offer goes rejected every day.

Jesus wants us to have the right standing with both our boss, and the boss’s money. We are indeed stewards, we are servants of God. He is our master – and we can only serve one master. Too often we serve ourselves, making ourselves the master. Or we turn the pursuit of money (which isn’t even ours to begin with) into a master itself – a false god. We are servants of God, and masters of money.

Ironically, many who see themselves as free from the demands of God and free from financial worries are actually slaves. They serve their master mammon, devoting their very lives to it. They will do anything to get it, keep it, and serve it. They think of themselves as free, but in reality are enslaved. Jesus warns us against such slavery – for we cannot have two masters.

It is important that we have a healthy relationship with money – for it is God’s money, and it is there to do his work. Money enables us to care for our families, to keep the roof over the head, to take care of one another when we are sick, to keep us all fed and healthy. Money also enables the Church to keep its doors open, to keep a pastor baptizing and preaching and administering Holy Communion. Money allows for missionaries to take the Gospel to every nation. And every Christian and every Church is called upon to be good and shrewd stewards.

When we are the masters of money, we can indeed serve only the Lord. When we are shrewd stewards, the Lord indeed uses us to spread his Kingdom.

And let us not forget the greatest act of stewardship and service of all – when our Lord gave himself on the cross so that we might negotiate away our debts. This is why we can be so bold as to approach this altar, eat his flesh, drink his blood, and offer the sacrifice of Jesus as a payment for our debts. For this is the ultimate act of good and shrewd stewardship – to receive the benefits of the Lord’s creation – bread and wine – empowered by his word to become the very payment for our sins.

Let us rejoice in the stewardship the Lord has entrusted to us. Let us make good use of money and the fruits of our labor. Let us offer them all back to God as a thank offering for what he has done to wipe out our debts. And let us serve only him as our Master and Lord.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon: Wednesday of Trinity 8

20 July 2005 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Matt 7:15-23 (Historic)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

In our Gospel text, Jesus is warning us against preachers who deceive us, who teach false doctrine, who tell us things that are not true, things that do not come from the mouth of God. He tells us to be very careful, for our very eternal destination may depend on it.

There have always been false prophets, from the days of the serpent in the garden, right up until today. And these deceivers don’t come to us with horns and a tail, with ugly contorted faces, with a big sign around their necks that say: “Liar!” Indeed not! For what sheep would follow the wolf if he looks like a wolf? For this is why false prophets adopt sheep’s clothing. This is why they look and sound so warm, fuzzy, and wonderful. This is why they fill our eager (and sinful) ears with promises of wealth, prosperity, empowerment, and even being like God himself. No false prophet worth his sheepskin coat is going to offer us trinkets. No, false prophets swing for the fence! False prophets tell the Big Lie – the very thing we want to hear.

Jesus’ warning that we would have to contend with false prophets – even in the Church – calls to mind our Old Testament lesson. The Prophet Jeremiah was known as a sad sack, a regular gloomy Gus. When all the prophets of Baal were coming up with dreams of peace, with visions of prosperity, old whiny Jeremiah was always a stick in the mud. He was a faithful preacher, who did not make up “visions” or pass his own dreams off as the Word of God. Jeremiah spoke the Lord’s Word faithfully – and that Word is like a fire that burns away the chaff, and like a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces. Jeremiah was sent to a stiff-necked, unrepentant people – and his divine call was to preach the law to them, so as to turn their hearts, to break their pride, to re-orient their faces toward the Lord – so that the Lord might again embrace them and forgive their sins. But they didn’t listen. They would rather hear the phony “good news,” the false gospel of wolves in sheep’s clothing than to heed the warnings, the faithful preaching of the law of a simple preacher who lacked the ability to dazzle with brilliance and baffle with nonsense.

A con man is able to get away with fooling people only because people allow themselves to be fooled. People become victimized by pathological liars because they want so badly to believe them, and their false promises. Every day, people respond to e-mails that promise that a million dollars will be deposited into your account if you only give out your bank information. Of course, there is no million dollars – only criminals in Nigeria sucking money out of your checking account. Con men thrive on their victim’s sinful nature. And con men have been running variations of this scam since the serpent told Eve she would get better than a million dollars if she would only disobey God. Her greed got the best of her, and Adam allowed her to do it.

And it is this selfish, sinful nature that chooses the snake who lies to us instead of the God who gives us life. It is this sinful nature that chooses the smiling prophet of Baal with his dreamy visions over the droopy-faced Jeremiah with all his warnings. It is this sinful nature that falls prey to the wolf who lies to us about self-empowerment over the shepherd who proclaims Jesus to us.

For just as in Jeremiah’s day, we need to hear the Word of God call us to repentance. We desperately need faithful preachers who clearly and without waffling warn us – with all the alarm of Jeremiah and our Lord Jesus Christ! We need pastors, not politicians. We need the fire and hammer of God’s Word calling us to repent, not feel-good programs and watered-down doctrine that oozes out of our synodical and district offices. For in the final analysis, a cowardly preacher – all of his cutesy words and smily faces notwithstanding – is not being loving. Jeremiah risked his life preaching the truth to a hostile crowd. Paul was beheaded for his preaching. And we know what happened to our Lord.

Dear Christian friends, I know we sometimes sound like a broken record, but it is because we need to warn you – again and again. Don’t follow a preacher because he gives you a warm feeling inside. Don’t send a preacher money because he promises you health and wealth. Don’t listen to a preacher because he is a polished speaker who makes you laugh. Don’t be deceived by televangelists who even claim the ability to work miracles, who say “Lord, Lord!” and who quote the Bible chapter and verse.

For our Lord is warning us against them, and it is my vocation to do the same. If a preacher is telling you how to be a success in this world, he is a preacher sent by Satan. If a preacher tells you that your works, your prayers, or your money can make God love you, such a teacher is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If a preacher lacks the fire and hammer of God, and instead tells you just what you want to hear – run away like you have never run before! If a preacher is not preaching the cross of Jesus, there is a reason – because the cross is offensive to the devil. Why? Because that is what crushed his head and consigned him to hell. If a church or preacher has a problem with the cross – with Christ crucified, and with our cross that comes from following our Lord – that is a sure sign he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, one of Baal’s dreamers and con men – not a shepherd of the flocks of the Lord God.

And, dear friends, I wish with all my heart that I could simply point at the televangelists and preachers outside of Lutheranism, and even outside of the Missouri Synod. But I can’t do that. For our Lord tells us clearly that the false prophets would come “among you.” Just because we are Lutheran (LCMS Lutheran in fact) does not exempt us from our Lord’s warnings. For faithful preachers in our synod are under increasing pressure to compromise the Gospel, to play the numbers game, to make worship entertaining, to toss away the historic Christian faith in exchange for the dark pottage of a feel-good wishy-washy religion.

The devil will use any and all tactics to cripple and impede the proclamation of the Gospel. Satan will (and does) use the political leadership of our synod to attempt to gag faithful pastors from preaching the true Gospel to the Lord’s sheep.

Our Lord tells us that preachers who bear bad fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Only those who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven. And what does it mean to do the will of God? In John chapter 6, the people asked Jesus: “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Our Lord replied: “This is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he sent.”

Jesus is not saying that unless we are all perfect, we will be sent to Hell. Jesus came to save the world, not to condemn it. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the Gospel! But to do the will of God is to believe in him. False prophets do not believe in him. They do not put their trust in the Triune God to rule and govern his church, instead relying on gimmicks and slogans. They do not depend on God the Son to redeem them from their iniquities, rather relying on their own works, their ablazing hearts, their purpose-driven life, rock music, or the latest fad being sold in so-called Christian stores.

As God’s beloved, redeemed people, if you want to tell the sheep from the wolves, pay attention to what they are saying. Do they preach and teach and confess the Word of God? Do they use the fire and hammer of God to purge and pound your sinful flesh? Do they warn you to turn from your sins – even begging with you, pleading with you because they truly believe the warning of our Lord in today’s text? Do they preach the pure Gospel that salvation is a gift of God secured by the blood of Jesus and given to you miraculously only through preaching and sacraments? Do they constantly point you to Jesus – not as merely a wonderful human being, not just as a teacher to imitate, but as God made flesh, as victim and priest, who died and rose again, that we poor miserable sinners might be reconciled with God? Anything less is of the devil. Anything less means you have a wolf in the pulpit.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I plead with you today not to listen to false preachers – no matter how “Christian” they may sound. I plead with you to avoid the all-too-common temptation to think that loving Jesus and being nice is more important than doctrine. I plead with you to heed the warning of Jesus that not every preacher is leading people to heaven.

Unless you are hearing that baptism saves you, that Jesus gives his flesh and blood to you for the forgiveness of sins, that Jesus has ordained men to absolve you of your sins, you are not hearing the Gospel. And if you’re not hearing the Gospel, you’re hearing something else – something evil and diabolical – something characteristic of the ravenous wolf.

The Lord has indeed provided his Church with faithful preachers in every generation – men who truly believe God’s Word, and who see themselves as restrained by it. Our Lord will not leave you to the cruelties of the wolves, but has given you, and will give you, true shepherds who preach the truth to you out of love for you, and devotion to the instructions of their Lord.

Don’t listen to them because of who they are, because of what they sound like, what they look like, or how they make you feel. Listen to them because they preach what is true. Heed them because they preach the Word of God. And rejoice with them not because they entertain you, but because they have been given the authority to proclaim forgiveness to you. A false prophet will never simply invoke the Holy Trinity and forgive your sins, asking nothing in return. Instead, a false prophet will make lavish promises that he can’t keep. He will never be content merely to be a servant of the Word, that is to say, a slave of Christ, and only to speak on behalf of the Lord Jesus saying:

“I forgive you all your sins…”

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon: Trinity 7 (Pentecost 8)

10 July 2005 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church

Text: Matt 13:1-9, 18-23 (3 Year)

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Today’s text is the very familiar Parable of the Sower. In fact, it’s so familiar, there is a temptation to gloss over it. But it is so important – especially in our culture – when words are no longer considered powerful, and are, in fact, simply matters of interpretation. In fact, our current age is different than most of the centuries of the Christian Church in that most people in our time and place no longer believe words have concrete and unchanging meanings. Today, words are seen as flimsy expressions of opinion, and they can even mean the opposite of what the speaker of those words really means.

In his horrifying novel 1984, George Orwell describes a government department called the Ministry of Truth (whose job it was to lie) and the Ministry of Peace (whose job it was to make war). There were language police and thought police – because we all know that if one can control language, one can control how one thinks, and thus, how one behaves. Political correctness is based on this desire to control the words we use as a way of controlling our thoughts and behavior.

But what does Scripture say about words, and specifically about the Word of God?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us a little short story – and, of course, stories are all comprised of words – words with specific meanings. In this story, a farmer plants seeds by tossing them to and fro. Of course, the outcome depends on the circumstances of where it lands. If the seeds land on the road, they are exposed to being eaten by birds, and produce no crop. Those that fall in shallow, rocky soil spring up quickly, but quickly die off because they have no sturdy root system. The ones that fall in the thorny ground get choked off, and die for lack of sunshine. And the seeds that land on good soil not only grow and thrive, but at the end of their lifespan, will produce up to 100 new seeds, so the farmer can plant anew.

Of course, Jesus explains this story as an allegory, as a parable explaining how God’s Word works. His word is tossed about like seeds by preachers. And although every Word of God has power (just as every seed has the power to become a viable plant) – not every preached Word yields repentance, salvation, and eternal life. We ourselves can become impediments to preaching, either by allowing the devil to snatch the Word from our hearts, or by lacking depth by not being rooted into the Church – causing us to grow quickly only to be scorched at the first sign of trouble. We can also allow the cares and worries of our lives to choke out the little plant of faith as it presses its way toward heaven.

This little story is a warning to all of us hearers of the Word, and also a warning to preachers who think they are anything more than one who delivers God’s Word. A preacher cannot bring a sinner to repentance by being a good speaker, or a salesman, or a debater, or a clown. A preacher may have the best personality and the most charming presence in the pulpit, and yet no-one is converted; while at the same time, another preacher, a dry, dull, uninspiring preacher, may well bring the life-giving Gospel of our Lord to many.

The rock band The Who have a line from one of their songs: “It’s the singer not the song that makes the music move along.” That may well be true for singers. But when it comes to preachers of the Gospel, the opposite is true: “It’s the Gospel not the preacher that converts the wayward creature.” Now, if you hear that line on Bayou 105.7, I need to know about it.

And yet, the Word needs someone to speak it, to proclaim it, just as a seed needs a sower to cast it about.

The preacher is basically a parrot, a mouthpiece. He is authorized to speak, but only what has been given to him: the pure Word of God. His own opinions, thoughts, feelings, plans, strategies, and schemes mean nothing. Whether it’s Forty Days of Purpose, or Ablaze, or Seven Steps to Living At Your Full Potential, or some other spiritual success program – he has no business preaching it. It is only God’s Word that can deliver the goods.

The most frustrating thing for any preacher is the age-old problem (in fact, it’s so old, it’s name is in Latin) “Cur alii, alii non?” Why some, and not others? Why can two reasonable and intelligent people hear the same Gospel. One repents, the other does not. One believes, the other scoffs. One enjoys everlasting life, the other, damnation and hell? This is the age-old crux theologorum, the “Theologian’s Cross.” The fact that some people will not only not be saved by our preaching, but will actually be condemned to hell by our very words – is indeed a pastor’s burden. It’s the kind of thing that makes us look to heaven and ask “Why?”

Our Lord’s parable explains all of this – though perhaps not to our liking.

But look at what comfort this text offers us hearers and us preachers. It is not up to me whether or not people repent. It is the Word alone.

It is not up to you to “empower” yourselves to lead a Christian life – not by seven steps, 40 days, or by telling a hundred million people about Jesus by 2017. In fact, it’s not about big numbers on your part at all: it’s about the one sacrifice of the one begotten Son of God for you!

No, indeed, it’s not about your works (thank God!), for you are merely soil. The power is not in the soil, but in the seed. God does it all for you. He creates the seed, and he provides a sower to plant it within you. He waters you with Holy Baptism, and nourishes you with his Holy Supper. He covers you from Satanic assaults with the canopy of Holy Absolution, and continues to lovingly weed and tend you using the farmer’s preaching and pastoral care.

And contrary to our post-modern culture’s view that words mean nothing, God’s Word is secure and sure. God will not, no, he can not break his own promise. When God created the universe, he did it through his word: “Let there be light, and there was light.” “In the beginning was the Word.”

In our culture, we often think of words only as symbolic squiggles on a page. In the Hebrew language, the word for “word” and the word for “thing” are the same word. To put it another way, God speaks, and there is reality. God says: “let there be…” and there is.

So what does this mean for the Church? We gather here every Sunday to hear and respond in the liturgy (which really is God’s Word). And when God speaks, it is a reality. When God says: “I forgive you all your sins,” and when God says: “This is my body… This is my blood… for the forgiveness of sins,” he is not merely expressing a hope, or describing something – God’s Word creates the reality itself.

You are not merely being described as forgiven, dear friends, you are forgiven. These elements of bread and wine aren’t just symbols, they are reality. When we join the angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven in singing the unending hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” we aren’t just pretending, we are indeed joining the heavenly hosts around the throne of God himself, in a way that our sin-limited reason cannot understand.

In our Old Testament reading, the preacher Isaiah proclaims the Word of the Lord, and he quotes God as saying: “So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

And Paul, in our Epistle explains what the purpose of the Word of God is: it’s all about creation. Just as the Word of God created all reality in the book of Genesis, it is the Word of God that is re-creating the universe, fixing the very thing we broke. God’s word in the book of Revelation describes what this new creation will be like. We are part of this great divine construction project. And it is being carried out by God’s Word.

This Word is there to both condemn and save, it is both Law and Gospel. Preachers are not to change this simple biblical formula, but are there to proclaim it. To those whose hearts are hard, like unfruitful soil, the Word of God condemns (while always seeking the repentance of the sinner). To those who do repent, whose hearts receive the seed like a fertile garden, the Word of God saves. And it does more than save! It brings growth. It brings fruit. It multiplies and benefits many.

Though it seems to the preacher some days that he is wasting his time, that the preaching of the Word of God is doing nothing – this is not so. Though words seem to the world to be worthless wisps of air, this is not so. Though man’s word is laced with lies and easily broken, not so with God’s word. The word of God is always potent, always full of power and might.

As the hymnwriter, the sainted Dr. Martin Franzmann, proclaims:

Thy strong word did cleave the darkness

At Thy speaking it was done.

For created light we thank Thee,

While Thine ordered seasons run.

Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous;

Bright with Thine own holiness,

Glorious now we press toward glory,

And our lives our hopes confess.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray that our preachers may ever faithfully proclaim the Word of God, in season and out of season. And that we hearers may not despise it, but always gladly hear and learn it. Let us pray that the seed planted within us may be nourished, that our faith may grow, that our good works spring from us like fruits on a vine, and that even as we live out our lives on this side of the grave, we may always be a blessing to those around us. And all of this so that our almighty and merciful Lord may use his strong Word to carry out his work of re-creating the universe anew. All glory be to the Triune God alone, now and throughout eternity. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.