Hearing Moses and the Prophets

Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 16:19-31

Dear hearers of the Word: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The rich man and Lazarus both died. Their funerals must have been very different. Lazarus must not have had friends or family since no one helped him when he was in need. Maybe no one even attended his funeral and the pastor alone was there for the funeral service. Without money for food, Lazarus certainly didn’t have money for a fancy casket or graveside flowers.

The rich man, on the other hand, would have undoubtedly had the church packed for the funeral. Friends, family, and feasting companions all gathering together, bringing flowers and admiring the gold-plating on the casket while the pastor is talking about what a good man he was. After all, the text says nothing about the rich man getting his money through deceitful means or being a thief or a cheat. As far as those around him were concerned, the rich man was a good man.

Just as their funerals were very different, so is their existence after death. Lazarus is at Abraham’s bosom in comfort. The rich man is in Hades in torment, tortured in the flames of hell.

Lazarus did not end up in heaven because he was poor and suffering in this life, and the rich man did not end up in hell because he was rich and feasting sumptuously. Being poor or rich has nothing to do with heaven or hell.

The important difference between the rich man and Lazarus is when it comes to hearing Moses and the Prophets. Lazarus heard Moses and the Prophets, while the rich man joined his five brothers. Abraham says concerning the brothers, “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” The rich man doesn’t think that this is enough, for he also had Moses and the Prophets but he neglected to hear them. That means that he didn’t go to church because that would have been the only place for him to hear God’s Word. He didn’t go to church to hear God’s Word or receive forgiveness, and he knew his brothers did not either. While he was alive, he didn’t think hearing God’s Word would save him, and even in hell, he still thinks the same.

That’s tough for us to hear. We would be much more comfortable if Jesus had said that Lazarus had faith but the rich man did not. Faith saves while unbelief damns, that’s why Lazarus went to heaven and the rich man went to hell. Instead, Jesus says that Lazarus went to church and thus he went to heaven, while the rich man did not go to church and thus went to hell.

This is not because going to church is a good work that earns you a place in heaven. It’s not because going to church makes God happy with you. Rather, church is where God’s Word is heard and faith is created and sustained. Faith comes from hearing (Rom. 10:17). If you don’t hear God’s Word, you cannot have faith. If you neglect Moses and the Prophets, your faith will not be sustained. The idea that everyone has faith apart from hearing God’s Word just because their name is in the church directory is utterly wrong!

Faith desires nothing more than to hear God’s Word and receive His forgiveness. Faith desires nothing more than to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God and nowhere else. Faith is sustained by the Word of God and nothing else. Even Baptism and the Lord’s Supper would be nothing more than water and bread and wine without the Word of God.

The rich man thought if Lazarus would return to life and go warn his brothers about hell, then they would listen. If some great miracle happened in their lives, then they would heed the warnings of hell and be saved.

Maybe we are sometimes tempted to think similarly if we have friends or family members that have long neglected hearing God’s Word. If God would miraculously cure their illness, then they would return to church. If God would appear to them in a dream and warn them of hell, then they would listen and be saved. But they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if they would see a miracle or have a special dream or vision.

This is because the power to save is in the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). There is no other way to be saved than the Gospel. Faith is created by hearing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, not by being healed. Faith is created by hearing that your sins are forgiven, not in having a special dream or even in seeing the dead raised to life.

The rich man was surprised to find himself in hell, and he knew his brothers would be surprised, too. He thought everything was good in his life and that he was a pretty good person. He certainly considered himself to be part of the church. After all, he calls Abraham his father. His name was in the church directory and his photograph in the pictorial directory.

The task of the church is to let such people know that they are neglecting Moses and the Prophets. The church is to warn such people of the torment of hell. The church must tell such people that faith comes from hearing, so come hear; faith is sustained by hearing, so come listen.

If he listens, then we have gained a brother. If he does not listen, the church is to tell him that he is demonstrating that he does not have faith and that he is outside the church. Excommunication is not kicking someone out of the church. Excommunication is recognizing that someone is already outside the church. Excommunication is a warning to such a person to wake up and realize that he does not have faith, because faith comes only from hearing.

The goal of church discipline is always the salvation of the one disciplined. It is always done with the hope that he will repent and return to hearing God’s Word. It is done to prevent such people from going to hell surprised because they thought they were in the church and everything was fine even though they never came to hear God’s Word.

But going to church is not all about Law. I already told you earlier that going to church is not a good work that earns you a place in heaven. Going to church is much more about the Gospel.

Going to church is about hearing God’s Word which creates faith. God’s Word powerfully creates faith even in an infant through Baptism. God’s Word powerfully pronounces all our sins forgiven through Absolution. God’s Word powerfully and miraculously gives us the body and blood of Jesus with the bread and wine for the forgiveness of all of our sins.

Going to church is about forgiveness. We daily sin because of our sinful nature, so we regularly need to hear about God’s forgiveness and receive that forgiveness. We regularly need to hear God’s Word which sustains our faith.

We receive the Holy Spirit and forgiveness in our Baptism (Acts 2:38), but our spiritual life is like breathing. The Holy Spirit isn’t just given to us once, but continually. When we hear God’s Word, we receive the Holy Spirit (John 6:63; Gal. 3:1-5). In the Lord’s Supper we receive the Spirit-filled food and drink that forgives and sustains us (I Cor. 10:3-4, 12:13). We continually need the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of sins or we will spiritually die, just like we continually need oxygen or we will physically die.

This is indeed what God gives to us in His Word. He gives us life. He gives us forgiveness. This is true whether we are rich like the rich man or poor like Lazarus. This is true whether we are blessed with more comfort in this life like the rich man or more suffering like Lazarus.

Faith comes from hearing. The Word of God gives and sustains faith. There is nothing else that gives or sustains faith. Only the Word of God has the power to save you and give you eternal life. The Word of God will continue to keep you in the faith until at last when you will be carried home by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Stewarding Unrighteous Wealth

Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 16:1-13

Dear stewards of unrighteous wealth: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The sons of this world are shrewd in dealing with their own generation. You can see it everywhere. If the sons of this world want something, they know what they need to do to make it possible.

If they want a cottage and a big vacation every year, they will do everything they can to make sure that they happen. They will work overtime, get a second job, skip family events, neglect their wife and children, whatever it takes to make sure they get what they want.

If the sons of this world want fame and celebrity status, they will do everything to make sure that it happens. They will move to Hollywood, divorce the spouse who doesn’t want to go, attend every audition for every part being willing to do anything no matter how humiliating and indecent. Even for fifteen minutes of fame the sons of this world will eat beetles, lie in a pit of snakes, and perform dangerous stunts. You know what I’m talking about if you ever saw the television show “Fear Factor” before it was cancelled.

If the sons of this world want their son to play in the NHL, do they not do everything they can to make sure it will happen? They spend thousands of dollars on equipment and ice time. They wake up in the wee hours of the morning to take them to practice. They sacrifice vacation time to drive their aspiring NHLer across the province for tournaments. They sacrifice the cottage and the big vacation and their own fame and celebrity status to make sure this one thing that they really want will happen.

The sons of this world are shrewd. They know what they want and they go after it. They may not be successful, but it is not for lack of trying. They will do everything in their power to get what they want. They will even be dishonest and scam their employers if it is to their advantage.

That’s what the dishonest manager did in Jesus’ parable. Once he got caught squandering his master’s possessions and was given notice that he was going to be fired, he continued his scamming for his own benefit. He continued to steal from his master, in this case giving it to the master’s debtors, so that he would gain goodwill with the debtors. His only hope was that the debtors would help him when he gets kicked out of his master’s house and would have nowhere to go. He’s such a sly, manipulative shyster that even his master can’t help but appreciate his shrewdness.

So is Jesus telling us to be like the dishonest steward? Yes, and no. Jesus is not telling us to be dishonest or to seek personal benefits at the expense of others. Quite the opposite. He says, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” We, the sons of light, are not supposed to be dishonest or using that which belongs to another in an unfaithful way. The sons of light are not supposed to act like the sons of this world.

We are, however, supposed to be shrewd in how we use our wealth. Really, not our wealth, since Jesus says it does not belong to us. It belongs to another – our master – but we are to be shrewd in its use. We are supposed to make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive us into the eternal dwellings.

How do you make friends with money? Giving it away of course! Give away the master’s money which has been untrusted to your stewardship, so that those who receive it will receive you into the eternal dwellings. That is, give God’s money to the spreading of the Gospel, so that those who hear and believe the Word of God that you have supported will be in heaven to receive you when the unrighteous wealth fails, that is when you die. In this life you may never meet the people that your mission dollars support, but they will receive you into eternal life. Your giving away of the master’s unrighteous wealth makes eternal friends for you. That is faithful use of the master’s wealth which also benefits you.

The Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for saying this because they were lovers of money. They thought that you can serve God and money. They thought they could be unfaithful with unrighteous wealth and still receive the true riches of eternal life. They thought they could be unfaithful with God’s money which had been entrusted to them and still receive their own riches in eternity.

Jesus told them, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Dear sons of light, do not be like the sons of this world. Do not sacrifice everything in the pursuit of wealth. Do not cling to unrighteous mammon like it can save you. It will fail. You will die. Then whose will all the wealth be that you have stored up? (cf. Luke 12:20) You cannot take it with you.

Rather, be shrewd like the dishonest manager, but in a faithful way. Jesus says, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)

Giving to the needy and supporting mission work around the world will not save you, but it will save those who hear God’s Word and believe. Giving your unrighteous wealth to support the sharing of the Gospel results in eternal benefits – for you and for those who hear God’s Word through pastors and missionaries.

The unrighteous wealth of this world will fail. It has an expiry date. So be shrewd. Use it wisely. Give God what is His and provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

There is a world out there dying, even in our own community. They need to hear the same thing that you hear. They need to hear of the forgiveness of sins. They need to hear that the Law that they are unable to keep has been kept for them by Jesus. They need to hear that the punishment they deserve for their sins was put on Jesus. They need to be baptized and brought into the Church.

The world, and we, need to hear of the shrewdness of Jesus. Jesus knew what it would take to save the world lost in sin. Jesus didn’t scam someone else to pay the price of our sins, He paid the price Himself. He paid it with His own holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. There is no one else who could pay the price.

The debts that we owe God were wiped clean. Jesus didn’t just give us a discount on what we owe. Even that we would be unable to pay. Jesus paid the whole entire price of our sins and the sins of the whole world. Your bill has been paid in full. No balance remains. Jesus knew what it would take to save you and He did everything for you to save you. Take you bill, and sit down quickly and write zero. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Lost are Found

Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 15:1-10

Dear sheep in Jesus’ fold: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The scribes and Pharisees had a problem with Jesus. They complained that Jesus received sinners and ate with them. Jesus hung out with sinners whose sin was known by everyone: tax collectors who everyone knew were thieves, prostitutes who made their livelihood through fornication, drunks who spent all their families’ resources on booze, scam artists who conned widows, and other lowlife liars, thugs, and troublemakers. If you’re known by the company that you keep, what does this say about Jesus?

Such sinners destroy the fabric of society with their indecency, immodesty, and immorality. Their peddling of vice spreads and influences the entire community. The scribes and Pharisees thought that certainly such sinners did not deserve to have their sins forgiven.

Here, at least, they were right. Such sinners do not deserve to have their sins forgiven. No sinner deserves to have his sins forgiven. We have no merit or worthiness in us that we should receive anything from God, least of all His forgiveness.

Misunderstanding this is why we sometimes have difficulty in forgiving others. We have a hard time forgiving because we think that whoever has hurt us does not deserve forgiveness, and until they do, we will not forgive. But no sinner deserves forgiveness – our forgiveness or God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness can never be deserved.

Jesus told parables in answer to the grumbling of the scribes and Pharisees – the parable of the shepherd who seeks the lost sheep and the parable of the woman who seeks the lost coin.

A lost sheep is helpless against predators and is unable to find its way back to the fold. The lost sheep may not even realize that it is lost. Thus the shepherd goes to find the lost sheep. The lost sheep cannot find the shepherd.

The lost sheep does not deserve to be found, having again wandered from the shepherd and the rest of the fold. However, the shepherd values the sheep, so he goes in search of the lost sheep. Likewise Jesus values sinners and seeks them so that they might be brought into His fold.

A lost coin also cannot find its way back to its owner. Jesus uses an inanimate object here to show just how helpless a lost sinner is to go to Jesus. A sinner cannot turn himself away from his sins and go to Jesus any more than a coin can find and go to its owner. The coin has value to the owner, so the owner diligently searches until the coin is found.

As the shepherd has joy over finding his lost sheep and as the woman has joy over finding her lost coin, so there is joy in heaven over a lost sinner who is found. Or, in Jesus’ words, “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

This is where Jesus makes it clear that His association with sinners is not simply to turn a blind eye to their sin. Jesus didn’t sit around with sinners because He was fine with their sins. Jesus doesn’t tell sinners to remain in their sin, rather He says, “Repent!”

Repentance, however, doesn’t come about because a sinner decides that he’s going to be better. Remember, sinners are the lost sheep and the lost coin that cannot find their way back to the shepherd and the owner. The shepherd needs to go find the lost sheep, bind up its injuries, lay it on his shoulders, and carry it back to the fold. The owner of the coin needs to go find the lost coin, shining a light and sweeping the floor until the coin is found and washed. Likewise, repentance is not our work. Repentance is the work of God in our hearts.

Repentance comes about through the Word of God. First the Law reveals sin by saying: you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder. The Law reveals sin by saying, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (I Cor. 6:9-10)

But the Law alone is not the answer. The Law only tells us what to do, but it does not give us the ability to carry it out. The Law shows us our sin but does not take our sins away.

The Gospel takes sin away. The Gospel forgives the sinner his sin that he does not deserve to have forgiven. The Gospel tells us that Jesus took what we deserve so that we get what He deserves. Yes, the Gospel tells the thief, the prostitute, the drunk, the scam artist, the liar, the thug, the troublemaker: your sins are forgiven, and all the company of heaven rejoices over the sinner who repents.

Sinners do not deserve forgiveness, but because of Jesus’ death for all sin, for all sinners, God forgives everyone who believes in Him. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks out lost sheep in order to save them. Jesus does this because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He took on our flesh so that He could die in our place. He was the sacrificial lamb led to slaughter without complaint. He is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed so that we can eat His body and drink His blood and the Angel of Death passes over our door instead of coming in with judgment. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks out lost sheep and rescues them from where they have wandered.

When we sinners fall into sin again because of our great weakness, will Jesus forsake us? Will Jesus stop forgiving His children because we have again fallen into sin? Jesus will not stop forgiving us. Jesus will not leave His sheep out to wander and remain lost. We have value to Jesus, so He will come and find us.

Jesus will continue to forgive us and turn our hearts away from sin. His forgiveness gives us the desire to do what is right so that we fight against sin. His forgiveness strengthens us so that with the help of the Holy Spirit we resist sinful temptations. His forgiveness keeps us in His flock and strengthens us not to wander away from Him.

Jesus knows our weaknesses and how prone we are to wander. That’s why every Sunday He absolves our sin. That’s why ever Sunday He offers His body and blood for the forgiveness of sin. That’s why He comes after us when we are lost until He finds us, and rejoices with all the company of heaven in our repentance. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Cost of Discipleship

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 14:25-35

Dear disciples of Jesus: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus says that in order for you to be His disciple, you must hate your own family, bear your own cross, renounce all that you have, and even hate your own life. This is often referred to as “The Cost of Discipleship.” These are viewed as the costs of following Jesus. So, sit down and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus says it is foolish to start building a tower without sitting down first to count the cost or to start a war with another king without first sitting down to count if you have the men required to win such a war. So, sit down and count the cost of being a Christian.

First, you are to hate your family: hate your father, hate your mother, your wife, children, brothers, sisters. Before you say that you are doing really well with that, understand that Jesus isn’t talking about feelings or emotions. Jesus isn’t saying that you should feel hatred towards your family. After all, if you feel hatred towards your brother you are a murderer (Matt. 5:22; I John 3:15). Jesus is saying that when it comes to a choice of following him or following your family, you have to love one and hate the other. If a spouse wanders from the faith, do you follow him or do you follow Jesus? If a child wanders from the faith, do you follow him by defending his sin or do you follow Jesus? To whom do you give preference – your family or to God? That’s the question.

Next, to be a disciple of Jesus, you are to bear your own cross. This means that from God’s hand you receive your days of gladness as well as your days of sadness without grumbling or complaining. It means that in the face of suffering and loss with Job you say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) and further ask, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)

Then, to be a disciple of Jesus, you are to renounce all that you have. Once again, it is a matter of preference. When it comes to a choice of possessions or Jesus, which will you serve? As Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)

Finally, to be a disciple of Jesus, you are to hate your own life. It is a matter of preference. When it comes to a choice of your present life or eternal life, which will you choose? When your will and desires differ from God’s will and desires, to which will you give preference? No one can serve two masters. Either you selfishly serve yourself or you serve God. You will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and self.

Do these things and you will be a disciple of Jesus. As always, the Law promises life. Life is found in obeying the commandments of the Lord and death is found in following anything else. We heard in our Old Testament reading, “Choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19). Jesus Himself says concerning the Law, “Do, this and you will live.” (Luke 10:28)

Our problem is that we cannot. We cannot obey the commandments of the Lord our God; we follow our own way, doing what is right in our own eyes. We cannot choose life; we choose death.

We may not start out with the intention of giving preference to our family over God, but our love for family clouds our judgment and causes us to twist God’s Word instead of hearing it faithfully.

We may not start out with the intention of hating our crosses and seeking to avoid them, but when real suffering starts our judgment is clouded and we seek to get rid of our crosses. When we look around and think we have the heaviest cross to bear, we want someone else’s cross rather than our own. Their crosses seem lighter to us.

We may not start out with the intention of giving preference to possessions over God, but when possessions pile up our love for them increases and we don’t want to lose what, in our minds, we have worked so hard to earn. Our judgment becomes clouded and we say: It’s mine; God has no right to take it away from me and I certainly won’t give it to Him willingly.

We may not start out with the intention of giving preference to self over God, but this is the easiest of all: I know what I want; I know what’s best for my life; my will be done; my plans are best; my ideas are best; me, me, me is easiest of all.

If it is up to us, we cannot be disciples of Jesus. We cannot do what the Law demands of us. We cannot pay the cost of discipleship. Since we cannot pay the cost of discipleship, how can we be disciples of Jesus?

The cost of discipleship must be paid for us if we are to be disciples of Jesus. The payment that we cannot pay must be paid by someone else. This is exactly what God has done. Before the foundation of the world God sat down and calculated the cost of saving us. Yes, it was a great cost, but He was willing to pay it. It cost God the Son taking on human flesh and putting Himself under the Law that He Himself has written. It cost the fulfilment of the Law by the perfect life that Jesus lived in which He never gave anything preference over God. It cost the suffering and death of the Son of God for every time we have not done what the disciples of Jesus are supposed to do.

Jesus paid the cost of our discipleship. Jesus paid the price that we could not pay and sends His ministers to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them (Matt. 28:19). This is like a slap in the face to us if we are trying to be disciples of Jesus by what we do. What is impossible for us happens as easily for God as sprinkling a little water on a head with His Word. Baptized into Christ we receive all the benefits of His life and His death. Baptized into Christ we are His disciples despite our failures to pay the impossible cost of discipleship ourselves.

Just as we cannot become disciples of Jesus ourselves, we cannot remain His disciples ourselves. Even as His disciples we continue to sin; we continue to choose death over life even though we know better. That’s why Jesus continues to give us life. He continues to pronounce our sin absolved. He continues to cover our sin with His blood shed for us. He continues to remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. He continues to give us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in His body and blood.

So, if you sit down and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus you will realize that the cost of your discipleship that you cannot pay has been paid for you. Every time you look to the cross you are reminded of how that cost was paid. Every time you look to the cross you are reminded of who paid it for you.

Jesus paid the cost of discipleship that you cannot pay. He has made you His disciple through Baptism, crushing the thought that you can make yourself His disciple. He continues to forgive you all your sins through Absolution and His own body and blood to keep you as His disciple. The cost of your discipleship has been paid. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.