Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Ninth Sunday after Trinity

July 24, 2016

Luke 16:1-9

Parable of the Shrewd Manager

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

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. (Luke 16:8)

There once was a rich man who had hired a manager to take care of his money. But after some time word got back to the master that this manager was wasting his money.

So the master called in the manager and asked him, “What is this I hear about you?” He was hoping that his manager would panic and spill the beans. But the manager keept cool. Like a seasoned suspect in police custody, he didn't say anything. So the master gave up and told him that he's fired. He wanted the manager to turn in his paperwork and get out.

The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ (Luke 16:3-4)

The manager analyzed his situation and realized that he needed friends. And he came up with a plan to make some friends fast.

So he called in each one of his master’s debtors [one at a time].

He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

He replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’

The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’

Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

He replied, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’

He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ (Luke 16:5-7)

These debtors were renters on the master's land. They paid their rent with goods like olive oil and wheat. The manager knew that as long as these renters still thought that he was the manager, he could act quickly, giving them deep discounts to their rent, and show himself and his master to be compassionate and caring.

So here's the rub. The master is stuck. The manager has returned the books, as requested, and it's quite possible that they both can hear cheering down in the village. It's a celebration in honor of their kind and generous master who has slashed their rents. If the master fires the manager now and then reverses the discounted bills (which the master had ever legal right to do, since the manager had been fired when he made the changes), the village will speak of the master as the old cold man in the big house on the hill who only cares about money. So this is what the master did.

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. (Luke 16:8a)

The master was impressed by how well the manager had analyzed his situation, determined what he needed most in the world, and then acted and boldly. The manager had also trusted that his master would honor these deep discounts. The manager knew what he would do.

And so Jesus ended His story and got to His point.

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. (Luke 16:8b)

Unbelievers are more shrewd than us. They analyze their situation, they determine what they need most in all the world, and they act boldly and decisively to get it. So many unbelievers say they want to be rich and then they get busy making money. Everything else comes second. Others want to save the world from pollution or hunger or immorality and then they commit their lives boldly to that end.

Unbelievers are consistent, but they have based their analysis on false assumptions. They think that the things of this world are the most important things in this life. They are wrong; they don't see the big picture.

Believers have the big picture. This world is temporary; it will end soon. Jesus is coming back, hopefully today; until He returns, He is with us now through His Gospel Sacraments.

So all the money we have now isn't ours. It is on loan from Jesus to us to use wisely. Like the manager of the story, we are taking care of someone else's money. Like the manager of the story, we often mismanage our Master's money. We assume that the money we have is ours to make ourselves comfortable and happy. It is truly a miracle that knowing how we treat God's money, worshiping the gift, instead of the Giver, that Jesus still gives us money.

Jesus gives us brains and hands and bodies to make money through our work. This money is put into your care for a short time. (Just think of how many $20 bills will go in and out of your purse in 80 or 90 years.) So use your money shrewdly. Analyze your situation, determine what you need most in the world, and then act boldly.

Our situation was grim. We are sinners who were born hating Jesus. We thought that everyone around us should worship and serve us. But then everything changed, when your Pastor baptized you and spoke you into life through the Words of Jesus: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And he keeps on bringing Jesus to you every Sunday: “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is using the pastor's voice to say, “I love you.”

Everything looks different now. We look around shrewdly and see not people who should serve us, but neighbors we get to serve. We get to use “our” money to take care of them. After the receiving of God's forgiveness together, there is nothing less important than caring for the physical needs of others. And so we act boldly and decisively to take care of them.

So look around and be shrewd. First, analyze your situation. You are a forgiven baptized soul whom Jesus has entrusted with many gifts and some money. Now determine what is most important in all the world: receiving Jesus for the salvation of your soul. Now act boldly and decisively with this joy with the promise of Jesus ringing in your ears:

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Alleluia! Amen!

Buying without Money Sounds Like the Gospel

Eighth Sunday after Trinity

July 17, 2016

Isaiah 55:1

Buying without Money Sounds Like the Gospel

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

We never hear of Jesus selling anything. We might assume that He sold furniture as a carpenter in order to care for His mother, but during His ministry we never hear of any selling on His part. He gave His life as a ransom for many, but He never sold Himself.

Indeed Jesus is the opposite of a seller. Sellers aren't trusted because they so often bend the truth or omit it. They might play on your greed and exploit your lust. Now there are honest salesmen and when you find one, you treasure him like an honest auto mechanic, but the expection proves the rule.

But Jesus doesn't sell. He is the honest Man. We note how often His listeners go away disappointed or even angry because He doesn't tell them what they want to hear. He doesn't bend the truth to sell Himself to them; He doesn't leave out part of who He is to suit His audience. Instead He gave them what they needed, which was the truth, the whole wonderful truth.

He is the God's Servant, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He came to die; He came to rise. He came to feed us with Himself.

And so He calls out to us:

¹“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

(Isaiah 55:1 NIV 1984)

Dearly beloved, come, buy without money. But how do you buy without money? You might think of buying on credit, but then you still need to pay. The bill is still due, and usually means you end up paying more in the end. You might think of payments in kind: you don't have money, but you can work off your bill.

But Jesus says buy without money. He rejects our payment schemes: He doesn't need your money and your hard work isn't enough to pay the bill. The bill is massive. All your sin, arrogance, false humility, doubts, lust, and greed, and more.

So Jesus' solution is to pay your bill for you. Without gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent sufferings and death. Simply put, buying without money is the Gospel, Jesus' death and resurrection paid for you and credited to you.

Buying without money isn't really a thing. Attempts to make it real always involve a trick. But Jesus dying for you is no trick. Indeed buying without money, getting something for free, is the definition of a GIFT.

So, come, buy His Baptism for you.

Come, buy His word of forgiveness.

Come, buy His holy body and blood.

All without money, effort, or goodness from you, because it is ALL from Him.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Alleluia! Amen!

Seven Loaves to Feed the Stomachs of Eager Hearers

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

July 10, 2016

Mark 8:1-9a

Seven Loaves to Feed the Stomachs of Eager Hearers

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

A couple of chapters ago—in Mark 6—Jesus feed the 5,000. Now He repeats this miracle for His eager listeners who devoured every word that came from His mouth.

In Mark 8 Jesus had again attracted a large crowd who eagerly listened to Him . . . for three days! His teaching was God's truth and those who heard His words received comfort and peace. Three days and this after some of them had come from long distances. While many of them had very likely brought some food, all of that had run out. That tells us that they hadn't planned to stay for so long listening to Jesus. But they couldn't leave—they didn't want to risk missing anything that Jesus had to say.

Just to provide a small example of this kind of attentiveness, let's mention the days before DVRs and Netflix. In the days before you were able to pause live television, you had to wait until the commercials to get a drink of water or use the bathroom. If you left the room, you returned as soon as possible. You didn't want to miss a minute of the show.

This was the attitude of the crowd, but they were focused on eternal words from God's eternal Son! We might think of Mary and Martha here, when Jesus came to their house. Mary sat and listened to Jesus, while Martha prepared the food. Martha become upset with Mary, partly because she, too, wanted to listen, but, well, somebody's got to do the cooking.

So there they all are, four thousand men and more, eager ears with hearts like Mary's, who would rather listen to God with empty stomachs than to go and buy bread and risk missing anything Jesus said.

And Jesus had compassion on them. Perhaps some of these hearers were also fed as part of the 5,000 whom Jesus fed earlier. Indeed Jesus had compassion on that crowd, too.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things. (Mark 6:34)

They were hungry for the Gospel, the teaching that Christ came to not be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). He came to ransom His life, so they could have peace. And they couldn't get enough of His peaceful words.

It's hard to tell the attitude of the disciples here. They still seem a bit befuddled about the situation they were in yet again. Their reply to Jesus is a bit equivocal, “We're out in the boonies—there aren't any bread stores out here.” Comparing their conversation from the earlier feeding of the 5,000, they object only once this time. Was this a sign that they were learning?

In any case, Jesus chose to use His disciples again as He prepared to perform a miracle of bread. God took the seven loaves on hand and created enough for 4,000 to have enough and then some. A fast miracle for hungry people.

Look at the loaf of bread on your table. That's a slow miracle. It is only there because our Father in heaven gives us our daily bread even without our asking. He preserves us by richly and daily providing food and drink and everything we need for body and life. He causes the sun to shine and rain to fall and farmers to have hands and wisdom and give life to kids who grow up to be bakers and grocers.

The world is filling up with more and more who are agitated and suspicious. They deny their own sins and damn everyone else. They chase after justice and peace apart from Jesus, and so they tragically have no justice and no peace.

But with Jesus, we have it all, even in our turbulent world. Whether the miracle is fast or slow, the true body of Christ or seven loaves of bread, Christ our Savior is behind it all, bringing us all good things. And as His people we hang on His every word for our peace and comfort.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Alleluia! Amen!

Jesus Played by the Rules for You

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

July 3, 2016

Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus Played by the Rules for You

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

If you play, you have to play by the rules. This is true for basketball, mortgages, and political primaries. But what happens when they change the rules. For a while you don't know where to shoot your three-pointers from, you don't know how many years it's going to take to pay off your house, you don't know which district you get to vote in. But humans are good at making up rules and learning new ones.

God's Commandments are His rules that never change. They are simple and straight-forward. And no one can win by playing by these rules. Winning means entering the kingdom of heaven; the rules say be perfect.

My sinful flesh wants me to think that perfection means avoiding really bad stuff: “I've never murdered anyone.” Maybe I even adds extra rules: drive very carefully, recycle plastic, eat healthy food. And I can feel very good about how well I am keeping myself and others safe.

But feeling good and right in my own mind isn't always the same as being good and right before God. Jesus said:

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

How right and good were the Pharisees? They were a group of religious practitioners who wanted to good and right. They believed that observing all the rules down to the last dotted i and last crossed t would guarantee their goodness and rightness.

But their goodness and rightness didn't go far enough. They held grudges and hated Jesus, but they still felt they were avoiding murder. They spoke to Jesus, not to save Him, but to expose Him as a false prophet and then have the Roman authorities do the murdering for them. Even after Jesus was crucified, most Pharisees doubtlessly told themselves that they hadn't murdered Jesus. They had played by the rules and they thought they had won.

Jesus taught that no one can play by His rules.

²¹You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

We were in danger of hellfire. For this very reason Jesus came to keep the rules for us. During His life and on the cross, He prayed for His enemies and forgave them. He was good and right. And then through Baptism He made us good and right before His Father in heaven.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)

So the final ruling about us is based not on our rightness and goodness, but on the righteousness of Jesus that He has given to us.

The rules of this world are changing, but His decision about you will never change. You are His righteous brothers and sisters.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Alleluia! Amen!

Don't Judge, But Do Remove the Speck from Your Brother's Eye

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

June 19, 2016

Luke 6:37-42

Don't Judge, But Do Remove the Speck from Your Brother's Eye

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

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. (Luke 6:37 NIV 1984)

To most people this is the only thing that Jesus ever said. Even to many Christians, this is the whole Bible in a nutshell. Ironically, this verse is beloved by those who enjoy judging and condemning faithful Christians who speak the truth in love.

Getting drunk, fornicating, lying, and gossiping are sinful and wicked. Murdering babies is evil. Claiming that Jesus approved of sin of Sodom is a wicked lie.

But Jesus insists that you call

wicked things, wicked,

evil things, evil,

and sins, sinful.

He told you to judge yourself, and then judge others. He insists on this, not hoping humans go down into hell, but to save people from themselves. And this goes for us, too, more than anyone else. He said:

“[First] take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42 NIV 1984)

Removing the speck from your brother's eye is judge them. How do you take a speck out of someone else's eye? Ever try it with a little kid or squeamish friend? Good luck. You rarely get past the telling them that they have a speck-in-their-eye part.

How apropos of telling someone they are sinning! But we take our chances anyway and tell them they shouldn't gossip or murder babies. We bring up these uncomfortable truths because we are their friends.

If you're in a car with a driver who's texting, should you say something? Yes, but why are there still so many accidents where texting is the cause. Often no one cared enough to say something and when someone did, the texting trespasser became angry: “How dare you judge me?!”

Ever hear this one: A vain Emperor who cares about nothing except wearing and displaying clothes hires two weavers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot see the clothes themselves, but pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions and the Emperor does the same. Finally the weavers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk play along with the pretense, not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Then a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor suspects the assertion is true, but continues the procession.

Raising kids to call a thing what it is out of care for others is good for saving lives. Raising people to call a sin a sin will save eternal souls, not because of the judgment, but calling someone to repent of sin brings them to Christ.

Think of how often Christ judged others. He judged not to condemn, but to save sinners from themselves. And unlike the texting driver who does what they want, Christ listened to the command and will of His holy Father and went to die on the cross for all our sins, including our sins of silence in the face of evil, especially evil in our own homes and familes and in our own mirrors.

But for all sin, He did die and paid the price to forgive all of it. And so now His forgiven people do not judge, but we do take the plank out of our own eye, and then we'll see clearly to remove the speck from the eye of fellow sinners, whom we love.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

There Are No 99

Third Sunday after Trinity

June 12, 2016

Luke 15:3-7

There Are No 99, But There Is a Shepherd

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

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. ²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2 NIV 1984)

It is very likely that if you knew a Pharisee, you would like him. You would have admired their spirituality and devotion.

They devoted their time to the study of the Old Testament. They devoted their time to praying and going to synagogue, their local church. And they were devoted to the poor—they gave 10% of their wealth as alms to the poor, so that the poor would have food to eat. They practiced what they preached; “they were anything but hypocrites in the modern sense of the word” (Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, page 36). And the world admired them. And you would have, too.

To put it another way, we have just seen the outpouring of admiration for Cassius Clay. He was admired not just for his boxing, but also for his spirituality and devotion to charity. He used his fame to help people. Here's a transcript from a 60 Minutes profile from 1996.

Much of Ali's time is spent signing his name . . . He does do some autograph shows where he's paid a minimum of $100 for each signature. But for the most part he signs for free, responding to the endless requests from people he sees in his travels.

We watched him at one event signing—it must have been a couple hundred autographs . . . not at a card show, where he was being paid, but for free. . . .

And he—when asked about it afterwards, he said, “I'm just”—he whispered, “I'm just trying to get to heaven.”

[His wife, Lonnie Ali, explained]: That's right. Every deed he performs—he believes every signature he signs is a good deed and will be counted.*

Ali saw his performance of kind deeds as his way of earning paradise. He was a type of Pharisee, because Pharisees viewed the performance of good deeds as their way of punching their own ticket to heaven. And if anyone could earn a trip to heaven, it would be Ali and his fellow Pharisees. Even tax collectors and sinners would say that if anyone was going to heaven, it would have been these Pharisees, these “spiritual highfliers” (Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, page 38).

Yet Jesus was having none of it.

²⁷“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28 NIV 2011)

Here Jesus told these spiritual hot shots a story about shepherds looking after their flocks. Jesus didn't describe the shepherd in the story as good or heroic; this is a short story about an ordinay shepherd who goes after one straying sheep and leaves the ninety-nine “safe” sheep in the open country.

But are they safe? “Open country” here is really the Greek word for desert wilderness. And they're out there in it without a shepherd.

So who are these 99? Jesus ended the story by describing them as

righteous persons who do not need to repent.

(Luke 15:7)

All of us are sinners and need to repent. This is exactly why we come to church: to repent and receive Christ. In contrast, only someone who considers himself righteous on his own merit would refuse to repent. And since Jesus is telling this story to the Pharisees specifically because they considered themselves righteous in comparison to sinners, we know who the 99 are. By these 99 sheep Jesus meant the Pharisees.

In our day we see the mindset of the ninety-nine in ourselves. We see it in those who go to church as a matter of performance. But we see it just as much in the people whom we know and care about who don't go to church. We see it in our own grown children who are spiritual, but not religious.

So many claim to believe in Jesus, but don't take the words of Jesus seriously. They claim to part of the flock, but don't want a shepherd. They want God on their own terms, and become agitated when their father or their pastor calls them to repent, trust the Gospel, and go to church to receive Jesus. They become defensive because they are Pharisees.

The shepherd didn't after the 99 sheep in this story; he went after the one lost sheep. And when he found this foolish dumb sheep, he lifted it up and put it on His shoulders and went home. Now sheep aren't small—he was carrying a 50 lb. load all the way home. Jesus carrying us echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah:

He tends His flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart;

He gently leads those that have young.

(Isaiah 40:11 NIV 2011)

And when he got the sheep home, he rejoiced with his friends and neighbors. This was the only sheep he cared about. It almost seemed like the shepherd had left the rest of the flock out in the wilderness to fend for themselves. It's almost like there aren't the 99 out there.

How true that is! There are no righteous sheep. Every soul is that one straying sheep, and Jesus pursues us all. He pursues us like a Good Shepherd with His baptism, and His absolution, and His preaching, and His supper. He sends shepherds out to find these straying sheep to call them to repent and to carry them home with the flesh and blood of their mutual Savior Jesus.

We admire Pharisees because we are them. And Jesus even went after us, and still today goes after us with His promise: “Take and eat, this is My body, given for you.”

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

*cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-muhammad-ali-ed-bradley

Come and Eat the Master's Bread!

Second Sunday after Trinity

June 5, 2016

Luke 14:16-24

Come and Eat the Master's Bread!

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

Think of the fanciest house where you eaten your fanciest meal. Maybe it was your house, but it was probably someone else's. You were on your best behavior. You ate slowly. You talked carefully. The stories you chose to tell were designed to please your dinner companions.

Jesus ate at fancy places. In Luke 14, He was invited over to supper at the house of a big shot, “a prominent Pharisee.” And He was “being carefully watched.” They wanted to catch Him out when He said something wrong.

So why did He go there and eat with His enemies? Because He loved even them. And He was there to invite them to eat at His banquet.

This dinner party turned into one of the most read-about suppers in the history of the world. The dinner was rolling along, when Jesus grabbed and healed a man suffering from abnormal swelling.

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say. (Luke 14:3-6 NIV 2011)

Jesus kept giving them opening to attack Him—just as they had hoped—but they remained silent. Perhaps they were too polite. More on that later.

Then Jesus told a story about people who tried to take the best seats at a banquet and then are humiliated when the host asks them to move to the cheap seats when a real VIP shows up. Jesus' point?

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Then Jesus said to his host,

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:11-14 NIV 2011)

This caused one of the guests at the meal to say:

“The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!” (Luke 14:15 HCSB)

And this brings us to the story that we already heard read. When we read a parable of Jesus, we need to locate ourselves in the parable. Which characters sound like us? Which characters do things that we do? We also need to find Jesus. What is He saying and doing in these stories?

“A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ (Luke 14:16-17 HCSB)

The man giving the large banquet is the Lord God, and the slave sent out is His Son, Jesus Christ. This is where we find Him, doing the will of His Master, His Father. His Father's will is for all to enjoy this feast of good bread. Since we can't fully grasp the joy of life together with the one true God, He puts it in terms we can understand: delicious food with joyful guests hosted by our dear Lord. His Son went out and invited the guests to come and eat.

But now we quickly find ourselves. The guests politely made excuses to the generous invitation. And they all were quite reasonable. The first needed to inspect his new land. The second chose to take a test drive of his new cattle. The last was on his honeymoon and thought how his absence was so obvious that he didn't even bother making a polite apology, as the first two had.

Too often we are these wretched invitees who make reasonable excuses to avoid the good food that our Father has prepared for us.

To borrow from our Catechism we should fear God because of our sinful excuses. Indeed the Master's reaction was furious anger.

But His anger did not lead to destruction, but to more invitations! The Son is told to invite all those whom are considered undesirable: the poor, maimed, blind, and lame. But this Slave, Jesus, is so in step with His Master's mercy that He has anticipated this request. All these had been invited and brought in. But there's still room for more. And so the Slave is sent to the corners of the earth to invite even more and carry even more of the poor and the lame into life with His Master.

In context the original guests would have collectively been the Jews, many of the very people with whom Jesus was eating supper. And the undesirables would have been the non-Jews. Jesus brought the Gospel to them as well as the Jews. But the Slave's work is brought full circle by the holy apostles and preachers that Jesus has sent out into distant corners of the world.

And in this continuing work of the Master, the poor, maimed, blind, and lame are brought into life together with Him. And we find ourselves again: we are the poor, maimed, blind, and lame whom Christ carries from death to resurrection. And He calls us blessed in His name.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness, for they will be filled.

(Matthew 5:3-6 NIV 2011)

Share this Bread with those in your life whom you have been called to serve, as the wise servants listen to our dear Master's voice. For those who refuse to come and eat the Body of Christ in Communion, call them to repentance and forgiveness in God's good bread of life. And for yourself as you let God's holy absolution feed you with joy, enjoying the company of His other servants, your sisters and brothers saved by the blood of His Son.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21