Be As Thoughtful As Martin

Reformation Sunday

October 26, 2014

Matthew 10:16

Be As Thoughtful As Martin

†

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

Do your best. It's a piece of advice that you hear at school, at home, and at work: Do your best. But if Do-Your-Best is the advice you receive at church, then her pastor needs to repent and reform.

Do your best was the advice that Martin Luther and thousands of other Christians like him had been hearing their whole lives. Do your best. Do your best and God will happy with that. Do your best and God will not punish you for being the worst of sinners.

So Martin did his best. He had been told his whole life that the best one can do is to become a celibate poor man of God. So he naturally became a monk.

But then Martin wondered, now what? I'm a monk. But was that his best? A lot of his fellow monks seemed to be causal monks—they didn't seem to take their vows of poverty and chastity seriously.

Martin thought he needed to take being a monk seriously. So he set out to be the best monk he could be. And he seemed to be successful. He didn't eat very much. He didn't sleep very much. When he did rest, he slept rough in a cold stone cell. By any objective measure he succeeded in being the best monk ever. But Martin still didn't know if that was his best. And even if it was, he didn't know if his best would be good enough for God.

II.

Then one day the church made him a professor of the Bible, and so in his study of St. Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome, he read,

For in the gospel a righteousness [of] God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:17

And he read it again. And he thought about it. And he read it again. And he thought about it some more. And he read it again.

At first this passage drove him more deeply into despair. "The righteous will live by faith." But he wasn't. He wasn't righteous. He had been taught that God's righteousness was something he needed to get by doing his best. And only then would he be certain that he would survive God's punishment.

And then one day after reading it again, God the Holy Spirit opened Martin's eyes to see that this perfect and full righteousness of God is something He gives you. For the rest of his life Martin would thoughtfully consider how receiving righteousness as a gift from Jesus changed everything.

III.

Over time Martin began to realized that paying money to be righteous undermined righteousness itself. So he nailed a piece of paper to the door of his church that questioned the buying of indulgences. People paid money to the pope to get a certificate that declared them to be righteous before God.

Indulgences were based on that old terrible piece of advice: do your best. If you had the time and inclination, you could do your best by becoming a monk and earning righteousness with your own rightness. If you didn't have the time or inclination, you could do your best by buying righteousness.

Martin thoughtfully saw the earning of forgiveness by your own monk and by your own money and asked the key question: where is Jesus? Where is Jesus and His cross in all this buying and selling and doing your best? Martin would go on to beautifully summarize that Christ,

He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. Small Catechism: Apostles' Creed

The suffering and death of Christ Jesus delivered to sinners through the washing of Baptism, the hearing of the Word, and the receiving of the true body and blood of Christ in Communion brings the righteousness of God down to lost and condemned creatures, since our best work and all our money is never enough. But Christ always is.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Baptism now saves you. 1 Peter 3:21

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

"Take and eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26:26-28

IV.

Martin did his best, but it was never enough. Instead he was given forgiveness by the death of Christ delivered by the Gospel Sacraments. When it comes to giving advice to concert pianists, eye surgeons, and bridge repairmen, do your best. When it comes to the righteousness of God, run to Christ for He died for all sinners.

Sin is spiritual disease; the bad things we think, say, and do simply confirm the diagnosis. So the Great Doctor of Souls said,

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . . . I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12-13

He calls all sick and dying sinners to Himself. He calls sinful little babies in their mother's wombs and in their father's arms; He calls sinful toddlers and teens. He calls sinners in the prime of life; He calls sinners in their golden years. He died for all and paid it all and loves to forgive sinners of all ages and abilities. He sends away their sin by washing them, speaking to them, and giving them His own true body and blood.

And so by grace through faith all believers run away from our best as a means of saving ourselves. Instead we run to the righteousness that Jesus gives us.

Under His cross, do your best as a fruit of faith. Do your best to pray with your family every day: "Our Father, who art in heaven." Do your best to remember and even memorize the words that speak of God's great acts of mercy for you: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Do your best to gather around the body and blood of Christ to receive His mercy.

And rejoice with St. Paul, and Martin Luther, and all your fellow believers in our confession of our trust:

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:14-15

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Parables of Two Vineyards

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 19, 2014

Matthew 21:28-32

(and Matthew 20:1-16)

Parables of Two Vineyards

Compassion for souls means being honest about the sin of lazy

indifference towards our dear Father's call to faith and work.

-

The greatest good work is receiving by faith the precious

gifts of God for the forgiveness of our sinfulness.

†

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

Last week Jesus told a story about a vineyard and the people working in it (Matthew 20:1-16). Today Jesus tells another parable where the characters are different and it's much shorter, but it's also set in a vineyard (Matthew 21:28-32).

Last Sunday Jesus told a story with a vineyard, a landlord, a foreman, and many hired workers. Today He tells us of a vineyard, a father, and his two sons.

Last Sunday all the workers in Jesus' story were called by the landlord to work. They all said yes and they all came and worked.

Today the two sons are called to work in the vineyard by their father. The first son said no and then changed his mind and worked. The second son said yes and then changed his mind and stayed away from his father's vineyard. He worked on his own.

Each vineyard parable is different because Jesus is calling out different sins. Last Sunday's parable was about pride. The first hired workers grumbled about the Master's generosity because they thought they were better than the rest. Today's parable is about lazy indifference toward our dear Father's call to faith and work.

Please notice that the work in both these stories is only mentioned in passing. Important, yes, but the central joy of each parable is the call of our dear Lord to faith and work. And the greatest good work in His vineyard is receiving by faith the precious gifts of God for the forgiveness of our sin.

II.

Every congregation is a mix, more or less, of these two sons. For that matter every believer is a mix, more or less, of these two sons. You are here today because you confess that your sinful You says No to the call of our dear Lord. But through God-given faith you cling to His promises of mercy. And in faith you repent, that is, you change your mind and your new You says Yes to your heavenly Father's call to follow Him. And where does He lead you?

He leads you to His fruitful vineyard, His church. He gives you food and drink, and you go and labor in your little patch of His vineyard. Instead of plants and vines, you live and work and serve other people. We are the branches of the Lord's vine (John 15) and tend these other branches with mercy.

III.

But there are also those in our congregation who follow their own path and do their own work. They are members through a profession of their faith or by baptism. By having become members they have said Yes to our dear Father in heaven. But at some later time they repented—changed their mind—and do their own thing.

Since working in God's vineyard means receiving God's gifts of grace, namely, hearing the preaching of Christ crucified and eating and drinking the true body and blood of Christ, there are many under our spiritual care who are not working in God's vineyard. They don't receive God's gifts here or at any church. They are content to do their own thing.

So as humble and repentant sons and daughters of God, what is our responsibility to these second sons?

First of all, invite them again and again with our dear Father's call to work, to receive His gifts in the Divine Service. If they don't listen, then after a time we will gently, but firmly remind them of the spiritual danger of lazy indifference toward God's call to work.

If even then they refuse to change their mind, we do the only thing that true love calls us to do. We remove from their promise to be faithful to Christ, so that they will stop being hypocrites like the second son who said Yes with his lips, but No with his life. Jesus said,

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21

IV.

And this is where the other vineyard parable from last Sunday comes back into the discussion. The only people that our dear Lord called and saved where people standing idle in the vineyard. They had no illusion that they were in the vineyard. They knew what they were. Out of His mercy these are souls that God called to faith and work.

At the end of the parable for today the second son is dead and damned, because he thought he was still in the vineyard and in the family. But Jesus said that the father did not want the second son. It is unloving to allow those who say yes with their lips and no with their lives to remain indefinitely under an illusion of false security, which they may get from their church membership.

Since we care deeply for these precious souls, let us confess the many times daily we say No toward our Father's call. And let us receive forgiveness and rejoice that He has changed our minds to say Yes and follow Him.

Then let us pray for courage and gentleness as we call on our fellow members to join us in turning away from saying No to our Father and change our mind and go to work in His vineyard.

And if and when it may become appropriate to remove someone from our membership, keep in mind that we are not giving up on them. It means that we are simply applying the Law, a different Word of God, to them for the sake of their soul.

V.

But these parables above all exemplify the Gospel. He loves us. He calls us. He brings us into His vineyard and puts us to work by receiving His gifts. Let us share this truth with strangers and with our own loved ones.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Thank God! He Is Too Generous!

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 12, 2014

Matthew 20:16

Thank God! He Is Too Generous!

†

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

The key to unlocking this parable is the identical sentence that bookends it.

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Matthew 19:30 & 20:16

Everyone in this story got paid from last to first because our Lord and Master Jesus Christ is generous.

Everyone got paid a day's wage, but not because they worked. If they had got paid for their work, then the Master would have given more to the first-hired and less to the last-hired. Notice that for the first-hired the master of the vineyard promises them a denarius, a day's wage. But each time he goes to the marketplace and find more idle hands, he only says,

'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' Matthew 20:4

He promised the last-hired whatever is right. Their assumption was that it would half-wages or less. That would have been fair. Yet they must have been just as surprised as the first-hired would be when it came time to pay out. The last-hired got a day's wage for a few hours' work. The first-hired called this unjust. But what do you think those last-hired who were paid first said of this? Our master is good!

Everyone got paid the same not because of the work of the workers, but in the goodness of the Master who called them to work. And so the parable is summed up in the simple truth that the last will be first and first will be last. Payment becomes gift.

II.

This parable played on in real life, when Jesus ate with Matthew the tax collector. Matthew was considered to be a late hire by those who considered themselves God's first hired workers: the Pharisees. So when Jesus gave Matthew the same hospitality as any of His other workers, the Pharisees grumbled against Jesus. They did exactly the grumbling as in the parable.

When those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Matthew 20:10-16

And the Master's reply in the parable is heard in Jesus' words to the real-life Pharisees:

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12-13

Our sinful flesh distrusts our Lord's generosity that gives based on His mercy and work, instead of paying us based on our sacrifice and work. This distrusts comes alive when we doubt the repentance of really bad sinners: wife beaters, abortion doctors, atheist professors, gay ELCA pastors.

We want them to stop sinning, to stop beating, to stop murdering, to stop brainwashing, to stop preaching that God just wants you to be happy. But because of our sinful flesh we distrust that God would really forgive them. We assume that if Jesus is really that generous, then these sinners will take advantage of His mercy and never stop being bad.

Our dear Lord is really that generous.

[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all. 1 Timothy 2:4-6

III.

Jesus is teaching us about sin and grace in this story. He shows us that He is generous to the Johnny-come-latelys and to the tail-end Charlies and to all the those who only seem to run to church in times of calamity: terrorists or Ebola or the funeral of a beloved mother. If you are tempted to look down and grumble about these last-hired workers, remember how Christ has been generous with you.

Yes, perhaps you have been laboring under the cross of Christ your whole life. That whole time you were in the vineyard, working as a member of God's family. We might think that the grass is greener on the other side, but ask any Christian who came into the vineyard later in life if they feel that they got the best of both worlds. They got to have fun and sin and enjoy life, and now they came to their senses and are safe with God. Talk to them and you'll see that they wish that they had been a Christian their whole life long.

Instead of grumbling, look to your own work, the little patch of His vineyard our Master have given you to work. Our town. Our place of work. Our classroom. But most of all, our church and our home. We pray to Christ that we may stay humble.

This humility comes from the truth of who we are. So we confess that we are sinners who were freely hired and are working in our Mastor's vineyard. We work not to earn salvation from God, but our work is gift from Him and will be rewarded because of Christ's generous death on the cross.

And there on the cross we see the last are first.

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. ³⁴ Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up His clothes by casting lots. ³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." ³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, "If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself." ³⁸ There was a written notice above Him, which read: This is the King of the Jews. ³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" ⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong." ⁴²Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. " ⁴³Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise." Luke 23:33-43

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Serving Christ Is the Only Freedom There Is

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 5, 2014

Romans 14:9

Serving Christ Is the Only Freedom There Is

†

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

For most of us freedom means doing what we think is good and right. We choose how to raise our children without interference from the government. We choose who to marry without interference from our parents. We choose where to go to church without interference from the Bible.

I'm glad that we have freedom to raise our children, but I'm not glad that we raise our children as we see fit. I'm glad that we have freedom to marry whom we choose, but I'm not glad that many ignore the counsel of their parents. I'm glad that we have freedom to go to church, but I'm not glad that so many shop for a church based on their preferences.

Freedom all by itself is tremendously good. But when our freedom is twisted into doing what you think is good and right, then we are slaves. Your opinion of what is good that comes from within yourself is no good.

²⁰[Jesus said:] “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

Doing whatever you think is right is not freedom. It is slavery.

II.

A man held captive in a beautiful cage is still in a cage. And even Christians spend a lot of time building their own beautiful cages.

Consider man caves: the rec room or garage transformed into a temple for the religion of sport. Wives and mothers can see the danger of the man cave more easily than men, but men always fail to see our own sinful desires and the cages that our sinful flesh build. Now not all man caves are evil, but some are. When your Sunday joy is found mostly in your bark-a-lounger, flat screen, and nachos, that says a lot, doesn't it? If your kids see indifference on your face on Sunday morning, and then see great emotional investment, whether joy or pain, on your face on Sunday afternoon, they will learn.

Why do some men build their caves? To hang out with friends. Others build then as a refuge from their wives, from the old ball and chain, because these husbands have been taught that freedom comes from getting to be your own master for a day once a week (and maybe Thursdays).

I mention the man cave not to mock, but to point out the danger of living in the moment. Man caves are all about sport. And sport is above all living in the moment. There's always the next snap, the next series, the next half, the next game, the next season. I always groan when the color commentary man on TV says that this series of downs is the most important of the game. But he says that almost every time they pick up the ball. Why? Because only right now matters.

Freedom to live for yourself in the moment is not freedom. Dear friends, there is no freedom in the spectacle of the now. It is only slavery.

III.

However, do not despair and run to your caves wherever they might be. Don't despair for there is hope out there and He is right here. Christ saved us from the illusion of freedom by giving up His freedom from death by dying for us on the cross. He took responsibility for our slavery to the moment and became a slave for you. He freely and willingly gave up His freedom to set you free.

Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:9

And now we live not as free agents living in the for now, but we now live as servants of Christ our Lord forever.

So the question becomes, for what does Christ desire we use our freedom? Jesus told us when He said,

³⁷"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37-39

As servants of Christ, we use our freedom for others. We love God and those whom He has placed into our lives. We love by placing the best interests of others ahead of our own. And these best interests of others is exactly what Paul had in mind when he wrote:

⁵One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:5-9

III.

One of the things that I miss since I'm a pastor is that I don't get to participate in the services of many other churches. But some of you do. With travels back to visit relatives, vacation trips across the country, and business trips, some of you have extra chances to see and gather around different fonts, pulpits, and altars.

Every church looks different, and we often do the same things in different ways. If you would open your hymnal to page 15, you'll see a rubric, which is a little italicized note. It suggests, "The congregation may kneel."

We don't. Most of our churches don't kneel for confession. But at a some Lutheran churches the congregation does kneel for the confession. Perhaps some of you have been to churches where they kneel. Is this difference a problem?

We do kneel at the communion rail to receive Christ's true body and blood. But in some churches they stand to receive the Communion. Even here some of us stand. Is this a problem?

I'm glad to say not at all. In different churches, in different times, and even in different times in our own lives, our God-given reverence for Christ in His divine service is the same, but may be shown by our bodies in different ways. But our reverence in how we use our bodies will always be informed by Christ the Word of God, never by our own preferences or by a culture that lives for itself in the moment.

This freedom to serve Christ happens in our homes and in our churches. This is where we get to set ourselves in the hands of God and where He feeds us with His living Word. And so we are set free to gather in His house every Sunday to receive His Word and His Sacrament. And so we are set free to gather in our own homes to pray His Words.

With freedom comes responsibility. When we have members of our families at home or those who live far away in their own homes who are failing to hear and receive the Gospel, we in our freedom that is bound to serve others must speak. We are not free to live for ourselves. Paul wrote:

⁷For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. Romans 14:5-9

Out of freedom we will call them to back the Gospel. And if they can't see their slavery of doing as they see fit, then we will speak the truth to them that they are in danger.

IV.

There are some things that are optional. To kneel for confession or not? To stand for communion or not?

But some things aren't optional. Christ has set you free to confess your sin and receive forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself. Christ has set you free to receive His true body and blood for forgiveness of your sin.

And in this Christian freedom all things are made good. Watching the game. Eating a meal. Praying together in the name of Christ.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.