Trinity 4 [Luke 6:36-42] (1-July-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 6:36-42)

Be merciful, even as your father is merciful.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today’s gospel reading does not really teach us about what salvation is and what Jesus did for us—but it tells us how to live, what to do as Christians. And there are many passages in the gospels where Jesus teaches us what to do and how we should behave.

Sometimes Christians say, “Well, I’m forgiven—it doesn’t matter what I do now anymore.” Well—this isn’t true. Of course it matters what you do. St Paul says in Romans, “What should we do? Should we sin so that grace may abound?” No way! Every day in our lives as Christians we are fighting a battle against our own flesh, putting the old person to death, so that Christ may live his life through us.

But before we get to the text, let’s think about a couple of things first. When God created Adam and Eve, they didn’t need the forgiveness of sins. They hadn’t sinned. There was no sin in them yet, and so there was no need for God to forgive them.

Still, God gave Adam a job. Adam had to look after and keep the garden that God had given to him. Also, he had to keep himself away from the tree that God had told him not to eat.

Adam was created in the image of God—he didn’t need to become the image of God. Adam wasn’t looking to the future all the time to become something better than he was. Adam had a place where God had put him, and he was called to live a life as God’s image in that place.

The same goes for us as Christians. Through the fall into sin, we lost the image of God. Human beings are no longer immortal, they are no longer perfect, pure, and holy in God’s eyes.

But when we are baptised, we are renewed in the image of God. We are created new, afresh, we are made completely holy, immortal, pure, righteous, just like Adam. The only difference between us and Adam before he fell, is that we need to be covered with the blood of Jesus to be holy in God’s eyes. It’s Jesus blood, his death, his suffering, his atonement, that makes us holy. We don’t make ourselves holy by doing good works. Jesus is the one who speaks his holiness over us. When we do something good, we might think that all God wants to do is thank us for it. No—it’s the other way around. God does the good work—he saves us—and all of our offerings are thank-offerings, not atonement-offerings. Jesus is the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for us.

Listen to this verse from Ephesians 4:24: “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Do you hear that? Put on the new self. That means, put away your sinfulness every day—place it in God’s hands for him to anoint each day with Christ’s blood. And put on the new self. Put on the new person that is given to you in Holy Baptism. Put on Jesus Christ. Clothe yourself with him, so that his purity is your purity. It says: Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

So you see, each of us who are baptised have been given this new self, each of us has been created anew in the likeness of God.

Also, in Colossians, St Paul says: “Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

We are baptised. We have been given this new self—and each day we are called to put it on.

So—since we are made new in the image of God, just like Adam in the Garden of Eden, we are given a garden to look after. We are given a place in life, a calling, a station, where are simply called to stand, to stand guard, and protect.

Sometimes Christians think to be a good Christian they have to leave their home and do some great fantastic thing around the other side of the world, like Mother Teresa or something. But actually, it is precisely in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities where we live where God has put us where we are called to shine the light of God’s image.

And so Jesus says: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Jesus does not sit you down in a room with butcher paper and white board markers to work out how many ways you can be merciful in the coming week or in the coming month. That’s not the point. Jesus is not telling you so much what to do, but what to be.

You don’t need to go very far to find out where to be merciful. God has put you, just like Adam, on a little patch of earth for you to look after. All you need to do is keep your eyes open and watch. God will send you someone who needs your mercy.

If you sit around and plan all the ways that you want to be merciful, you might miss the opportunity that God places right under your nose. Think again about Lazarus and the rich man—Lazarus was placed, he was laid there at the rich man’s gate. God put him there. The rich man didn’t need to go out looking for someone to be merciful to.

Think also of the Good Samaritan—he didn’t go out looking for a bleeding man on a roadside. He simply found the man there and had compassion on him.

At the same time, there are some situations where mercy is not the right thing for you to do. If you are in a position of authority over someone, you are not called to show mercy if the person needs punishment. For example, if you are a boss, and one of your employees is not doing his or her job, you need to go and sort the problem out. If you are a parent, and your child is naughty, you need to tell them off and teach them how to behave. If you are a teacher in a school, you are not called to show mercy to your students if they are being disobedient. If you are a policeman, and someone is going to open fire on a whole bunch of innocent people in a public street, you are not called to be merciful with your gun. You need to do something for the protection of the innocent people. In those situations, your calling requires you to punish and to judge. And it’s a good thing in the eyes of God—and it’s also considered a bad thing when people in authority don’t use their authority properly.

Mercy is something that you show to people who are equal to you.

You might think—this person is a piece of scum. They have never done anything for me—they deserve whatever they get.

That’s the person whom God calls you to be merciful to. You see, Jesus doesn’t just say, “Be merciful”, but he says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” God the Father is the one who sets the standard here.

So Christian mercy is something different from everyone else’s mercy. Everyone else knows how to scratch someone else’s back in order to have the same person scratch their back some day.

But Christian mercy expects nothing in return. Christian mercy gives when the person receiving doesn’t deserve it. A Christian is merciful—a Christian shows mercy and gives a person what they need—a Christian sends out an invitation never expecting to receive an invitation in return.

But you see, just imagine what God would do if he only showed mercy to those who deserved it. Just imagine if the expression, “God helps those who helps themselves”, were actually true! Just imagine if God looked at all of your failings and decided that he would punish you every day for every single one of them. But you know, he doesn’t. You still have enough food to eat, you still have a roof over your head—even though you’ve probably never thought that they were a gift to you from God. He still forgives your sins. He still pours the blood of Jesus out on you—you don’t deserve it, but he still does it. He wants to show mercy to you. He wants to be forgiving, he wants to be generous, he wants to give you good things.

That’s what Jesus calls you to be like. He calls you to be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Or as it says in another place, “You received without pay, give without pay.” Freely you have received, freely give.

But remember here—God is not calling you to go on some great epic journey to find somewhere to be merciful. God has put you right here—and here is the place to be merciful. And when you have failed at being merciful—God is still merciful to you. He still forgives you day after day.

Listen also to these words of Jesus which follow: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

These words are not principles for life. These are the commandments of God which you are called to guard and protect in your little garden, on your little patch of earth. Watch! Wait! God will put a situation under your own nose, and there will be your opportunity to be merciful, and to show God’s mercy to whomever he puts there for you. God will put someone in your little garden who doesn’t deserve your help or God’s help. Be merciful. Judge not. Condemn not. Forgive. Give. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

One last thought—something often comes to my mind which struck me towards the beginning of the year. It was Shrove Tuesday, and I was reading the Latrobe Express, and at the time I was preparing a sermon for Ash Wednesday. Now the gospel for Ash Wednesday from Matthew 6 says: “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what you right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

This is such an important text—and I remember reading in the newspaper that week about a church in the area that was having a Pancake Day fundraiser for charity. And the article really talked up this church and praised the people for doing a great job.

“They already received their reward.” This group of Christians wasn’t content to let God alone see their work, but they needed the newspaper crew to come in and do an article.

We are not called to do that.

There are so many situations all throughout Gippsland where people are in great need and need your help. They might not deserve your help, but you are called to be merciful, as your Father is merciful.

But take notice especially of those situations where God has chosen you alone to see a certain needy situation that needs your mercy. Never disregard those things—it is very significant. There may be times when God shines his light from heaven just on you and another person in such a way that nobody will see what you do except for God. Let God alone reward you.

He has shown his mercy so abundantly, and so wonderfully to you. He is always being merciful to you. He has remade you, and reworked you through baptism into his image. And in the image of God, he has put you in a little place. It is your job to stand there—to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

And when God puts someone in front of you needing your mercy, needing you not to judge them, not to condemn them, to forgive them, to give to them—then do it. And do it with every piece of joy in your body.

For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Amen.

Merciful heavenly Father, we thank you for your wonderful great mercy to us. We know and confess that we have not been merciful to others as you want us. But we ask that you would teach us to put on the new self each day, which you have given to us in baptism, and teach us to be merciful and shine your light into the lives of those around us, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist: Audio Sermon (24-June-2012)

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The Nativity of St John the Baptist [Luke 1:57-80] (24-June-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am, lay reading), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

This sermon is dedicated to my dear friend, Pastor Matthew Buse.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 1:57-80)

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give the knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Exactly 480 years ago in the year 1532, Martin Luther preached a sermon about John the Baptist on this day, in which he said this:

“The real reason for observing this festival, the day of St John, is not because of his austere life, not because of his phenomenal birth, but because of his beloved finger, because of his message and his office.”

The most important thing about John the Baptist was his finger!

In Luke 1, there are 4 different events that take place, all of which happened before the birth of Jesus. The first is that Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father is visited by the angel Gabriel while he was serving as a priest in the temple. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were both old people, well past the years of having children, and the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that he would have a child. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel, and his ears and mouth were shut up in such a way that Zechariah couldn’t hear or talk.

The second thing that happens is that the angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will conceive and bear a son, Jesus Christ.

The third thing is that Mary goes skipping across the hill country to visit Elizabeth, and John the Baptist leaps in his mother’s womb in the presence of Jesus.

And lastly comes today’s reading, where John the Baptist is born, and his birth causes great joy both to his parents and to their friends. John is given his name, Zechariah’s mouth is opened, and then he speaks a wonderful song, which we often call the “Song of Zechariah”. Throughout Christian history, the Song of Zechariah has been a song that the church has sung in the morning, and is usually part of Matins.

And there are so many miracles that surround John the Baptist’s birth. First of all, his mother was an old woman, she wasn’t able to have children throughout her life, and in her old age, her womb is opened and she gives birth to a son.

And all this happened so that we might have John the Baptist’s finger!

Zechariah, John’s father, was visited by the angel Gabriel and was made deaf and unable to speak. Now in those days, what used to happen was that the priests used to cast lots to choose who would go into the temple to serve at the altar. It wasn’t that they were leaving the choice up to chance, or wanted it to be random—they wanted to let God choose the priest for the day. This one day was Zechariah’s turn—can you imagine what the people must have been thinking when he came out to bless the people and he couldn’t speak? The people thought, “This can’t be a random act! This can’t be simply bad luck!” We read, when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the temple.

And all this happened so that we might have John the Baptist’s finger!

When John was born, we read that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s friends and relatives were disagreeing about the name of the child. Zechariah was given a writing tablet, and he wrote, “His name is John.” And his mouth and ears were opened and he was able to speak. And he spoke a wonderful prophecy: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.”

And all this happened so that we might have John the Baptist’s finger!

Later on in John’s life we read that he lived out in the desert—he had locusts and wild honey, and wore camel’s hair and a leather belt. And this didn’t happen so that we might copy him and go out and live a life like that out in the bush somewhere. John’s no use to us at all from that point of view.

But he’s got a finger!

Now, what’s all this talk about John’s finger? What’s the big deal about this finger?

Well—what did he do with his finger? He pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

John was the last of the prophets. And there is one thing that John was able to do that none of the prophets before him were able to do. All the other prophets—Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jonah, Malachi—could only point to Jesus in the future. But John the Baptist could stand next to a person and point to Jesus who was standing over there and say, “That’s him”, “that’s the Messiah”, “that’s your Saviour”, “that’s your Redeemer”, “that’s the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world.”

That’s why John the Baptist was born. That’s the reason why there were these great miracles at the time of his birth. It was all because of John’s finger.

And all pastors in the church since they models their ministry on John’s ministry. Every pastor in the church when he gets up in the pulpit on a Sunday morning is called to model his ministry on John the Baptist.

Every pastor is called to point to Jesus and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Some people misunderstand this, and think that the prophets in the Old Testament pointed to Jesus in the future, John pointed to Jesus in the present, and pastors are pointing to Jesus in the past. That’s not quite true!

Yes, Jesus did do wonderful things in the past. He was born of a Virgin called Mary in a stable in Bethlehem at a particular time in history, during the reign of King Herod in about 6 BC. He died at a particular day in history—on Good Friday around the year 30 AD. He rose again three days later on Easter Sunday. He ascended into heaven in the same year 40 days after he rose, and 50 days after he rose he sent the Holy Spirit on his disciples.

Yes, there are certain things that Jesus did at a particular time in history, and we always want to remind ourselves of these things. But when we preach, pastors, just like John the Baptist, are called to point to Jesus not just back into the past, but here in the church now. Jesus is here. Jesus never called his apostles and pastors to interpret the word of God for people and to use the bible to explain their own opinions. Jesus simply calls pastors to preach the word. We don’t preach about the word, or about the gospel, but we actually preach the word, and preach the Gospel. This way the word that we preach doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to Jesus. It’s his word—and he promises to come and visit our churches every Sunday and be our preacher.

A good sermon is not supposed to draw attention to itself. It is always supposed to point to Jesus. John the Baptist said, “I must decrease, Jesus must increase.” That’s exactly what happens every Sunday—pastors are not supposed to point to themselves and say, “Look at me!” They point to Jesus and say, “Look at him!” “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John the Baptist can’t comfort anyone. His hairy clothes and belt of leather couldn’t comfort anyone one little bit. The only thing that comforts anyone is John’s finger, and where he points.

And the same goes for pastors—the only thing pastors do is read things out of a book for people. The only thing a pastor is called to do is open the bible, point to Jesus and say “Thus says the Lord.” Jesus does the comforting. He sends the Holy Spirit the Comforter.

And just as pastors do this in the pulpit, sometimes each one of us—each Christian—is sent various situations from God where we are called to give an answer about the Christian faith. In 1 Peter 3 it says: “In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

What do you do when someone asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you? What do you say when someone asks why you are a Christian?

It’s time to pull your finger out! It’s time to give those squeaky knuckles an oil, and to do some old-fashioned pointing and staring.

Too often though, we point to ourselves, and we say, “I believe in God, because I can feel him.” Or “I believe in Jesus, and he answers my prayer, and I know deep in my heart that he’s real.”

Don’t point them there! Point them to Jesus! Show them what Jesus did for you and for them in history. Point them to the birth of Jesus, his death and resurrection. Challenge them to do some research and see whether they think those things are true. Point them to the preaching in the church, to the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and tell them that Jesus is there for them. Point to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! And you know what happened when John the Baptist did this? All of his disciples left him and ran off and followed Jesus. And that exactly what you want to happen!

And so, Zechariah said on this occasion: “You, child, [you, John the Baptist], will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give the knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.”

This is what John’s birth was for. He was called to go before the Lord and prepare his ways. He was a voice crying in the wilderness. And he baptised Jesus. And he gave the knowledge of salvation to people: not by telling how they should live, and what rules they should follow—John didn’t tell people to go and dress like him, and eat like him, and have the same haircut. He gave the knowledge of salvation to people by the forgiveness of their sins.

This is the same knowledge of salvation that we enjoy in the Christian church today. This is the knowledge that comes simply from pointing away from ourselves, from human works, from human efforts, and human achievements in the church and pointing to Jesus.

Of course, what eventually happened to John the Baptist is that they cut off his head. They blamed him for his words and so they cut off that part of him that they thought was doing the most damage. But even John, when he’s a headless corpse, still has his finger intact, pointing with all its might to the coming crucifixion, to the coming wounds and piercings of John’s wonderful Saviour, who will raise John from the dead, body and soul, with head and torso intact.

The same thing happens to pastors sometimes. People kill the messenger! Pastors preach God’s word, and they get they’re heads cut off. They are thrown out of their pulpits and churches and have their mouths taped up. But this is no threat to a pastor who knows that when his head is cut off, the legacy of his ministry survives through his finger.

The same goes for every Christian who gives a witness in their faith in the context of their family or amongst their friends and acquaintances or amongst their work-colleagues or whoever they meet. They might cut your head off—they might blame your tongue for talking too much, they might blame your eyes for looking at them, they might blame your brain for thinking outlandish things and call you crazy. Let them cut your head off! Your witness will be a faithful witness when it is done through your finger!

As Zechariah said about the son of his old age: You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the LORD to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, in the forgiveness of their sins.

And if this is what can be done through a finger, what do you think can be done when God himself not only uses his finger, but his whole hand?

We read about John in our gospel reading today: For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you for your servant John the Baptist and for his miraculous birth. We thank you for his faithful ministry in pointing us to our Saviour. Make us your faithful witnesses and let our hearts and minds always be turned from looking at ourselves to our loving Saviour. Amen.

Trinity 2: Audio Sermon (17-June-2012)

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Trinity 2 [Luke 14:15-24] (17-June-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 14:15-24)

A man gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our gospel reading for today has something very much in common with last Sunday’s gospel. Last week, we read about a rich man, who had many nice things, who dressed well, and ate well. But he was so greedy that he couldn’t spare a little something for the poor man Lazarus sitting at his gate. The rich man goes to hell and the poor man goes to heaven.

But Jesus is not trying to teach us in that gospel reading that rich people automatically go to hell and poor people automatically go to heaven. Abraham was a rich man too—he was very wealthy—and Lazarus was carried to him in heaven by the angels.

There’s nothing wrong with wealth and with being wealthy. Riches and wealth are a blessing from God. But as soon as we realise this, we want to gather as much wealth as we can, and we think that people who are poor are cursed by God. But we learn in that bible passage that God does take notice of the poor man, and blesses him.

But also, in today’s reading, we have a parable about a great banquet prepared by a king.

But we read about the people invited: “They all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

We have a similar problem here as with Lazarus and the rich man. There’s nothing wrong with money or riches or wealth as long as you’re in charge of it and it’s not in charge of you. The rich man thought he had everything he needed—so much so that he didn’t need God.

But look at these people who make their excuses today. One man has bought a field, one has bought some cattle, and one has married a wife.

Once again, there’s nothing wrong with buying a field, there’s nothing wrong with buying cattle, and there’s nothing wrong with getting married. But why should those things be an excuse for not coming to have dinner with the king?

Just imagine if the Queen invited you to Buckingham Palace to celebrate her 60^th Jubilee with her? Wouldn’t you go? Wouldn’t you go even if you’re not a monarchist? Wouldn’t you like to go just because you’ve been given the opportunity to sponge off of her?! Don’t you think it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity?

Or what about some other rich or wealthy or influential person, like Bill Gates, or the Pope, or some great sport star? What about if you were invited to an exclusive dinner to meet all the members of your football team?

Wouldn’t you go? Wouldn’t you say, “My field can wait till tomorrow, my cattle can wait till tomorrow, my wife can wait till tomorrow?”

If you were given this sort of wonderful invitation to have dinner with some great person, you wouldn’t just pass it up, would you?

Just imagine if you wanted to throw a big party. Just imagine that you, yourself, were planning on inviting all your friends to a special birthday party. And then comes the day and nobody shows up. Why? One person says, “Sorry, mate… I’ve got some spring onions that need planting.” “Sorry, I’ve got to go to the market.” “Sorry, I want to have a night in with my family.”

Wouldn’t you be a bit cross about it?

Surely, you would think that people could plan their lives in such a way that they could do all those things on other days of the week.

But here’s the problem again: There’s nothing wrong with buying a field. There’s nothing wrong with planting veggies. There’s nothing wrong with sowing crops and vineyards. There’s nothing wrong with agriculture. There’s nothing wrong working the land and trying to produce something.

There’s nothing wrong with buying some cattle. There’s nothing wrong with milking cows, with killing and buying meat, there’s nothing wrong with farms, and there not even anything wrong with keeping pets.

There’s also nothing wrong with getting married. There’s nothing wrong with building a home and a house, and having a family. There’s nothing wrong with love and companionship and romance.

But here’s the great problem: God has invited the whole world to feast at his table, and people don’t want to come.

And God says to us in our reading today, “Well, if you don’t want to come, then I’ll invite someone else.”

+++

So what are we talking about when it comes to God’s banquet?

First of all, we’re talking about the faith as a whole. The Christian faith is for everyone. It’s not just for good people, it’s not just for bad people. It’s not just  for Europeans, it’s not just for Africans. It’s not just for the rich, it’s not just for the poor. Jesus said to his apostles before he ascended into heaven, “Go and preach the gospel to the whole of creation”. “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Not one person is without an invitation to God’s banquet.

This is an invitation simply to believe in Jesus Christ, and that his death and his resurrection are for you. God has prepared a feast in heaven, and it is for you. God simply invites you to believe this, and then the invitation is accepted, and the banquet is yours.

He says, “Come, let me baptise you. Believe in the cross of Jesus and its power.” That’s it.

God is extending an invitation to the whole world to eat with him in his own kingdom forever. And would people rather have a field and some cows?

You know, all these things, food and drink, house and home, family, land, animals, all these things are necessary for human life. We need them, and God gives them to us. They are our daily bread. But in the Lord’s Prayer, daily bread is not the first thing we pray for. The first things we pray for are that God’s name be kept holy, that his kingdom come, and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Then we pray for daily bread. That’s the proper order—that’s the way Jesus himself teaches us to pray.

So what’s there to lose in taking God’s invitation and joining him for eternity at his banquet table?

But secondly, we can also see this passage as speaking about the divine service which we celebrate together. What excuses have you used that make you think that it’s OK to stay home?

Luther explains the third commandment by saying: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.”

Do you despise preaching and the word of God? Do you hold the word of God sacred? Do you hear and learn it gladly?

Now, sometimes there are some situations where people genuinely can’t make it to church. It’s not easy for some people. And now, in our society where nobody respects Sunday any more, it’s very hard. People have to work on Sundays, there are courses on Sundays, there’s children’s sports on Sundays.

As a pastor, I understand the challenges and the pressures that people face. But you see, the divine service is just so important. Many Christians don’t understand it. Parents throughout Australia send their children to Christian schools and have their children confirmed, and never bring them to church. It’s like teaching someone the rules of football but never actually taking them to see a game. But God has invited you to his banquet—to hear the word of God applied to you for the week, to receive the full forgiveness of your sins, to come into the very presence of God who made you, to pray to him and place before him all your needs, and to receive the body and blood of Christ for you! Wouldn’t you want to come two or three times a week? Wouldn’t you want to come every day if you could?

But thirdly, the call to the banquet of God occurs in our homes and in our hearts every day. God calls us to feast on him every day—to go to our rooms and shut the doors, to pray to our Father who is in secret. God calls us every day to taste and see that the Lord is good. But there’s always breakfast to be had, a shower to be had, a newspaper to be read, a crossword puzzle to be done, some TV to be watched, some coffee to be brewed, some dishes to be washed, some toe-nails to be clipped…

We have pretty mundane lives, you know! What about God? Where does he fit into our hectic schedules? Where does he fit into our crazy lives?

Martin Luther said that when he had more to do in a day, he prayed longer.

But if you read the Small Catechism, for example, the pattern for daily prayer that Luther sets out would only take us 5 minutes at the beginning and end of every day—less than that even: as much time as it takes to say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer? Are we too embarrassed to take that make that sort of time for God? Have we got some field, some cattle, or a newly-married wife that we can’t spare 5 minutes?

“Taste and see that the Lord is good!”

My intention is not to laden you with guilt for all the things that you fail at in your spiritual life. I know from my own experience that the devil always wants to squash me down and make me miserable about all the things I haven’t got done, and it’s no better when the thing I haven’t got done is prayer.

But listen: don’t think about these things as a burden—the invitation is there. God’s happy to hear from you whenever you call on him. The angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents. The waiting father will immediately kill the fattened calf for his prodigal son. Just have a little taste from God’s table—what a blessing it will be to you!

But the banquet that we’re talking about is not duties, or obligations. The most important thing about this banquet is what the food is. And Jesus is the food. He says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.” He says, “Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow streams of living water.” He says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And whoever opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”

He is such a wonderful Saviour to you! He has died such a powerful death for you, and risen from the dead with such victory for you. He has been prepared and cooked and baked on the cross. He is our Passover lamb. And now he wants us to come and eat, to taste, to enjoy, to feast.

He is blessing and guiding your life with his Holy Spirit every day! He forgives your sin, he has baptised you into his own body, and he is dishing himself up in the Lord’s Supper today for you—he’s the host of the banquet, and he’s the food!

He wants to compel you to come in so that his house may be filled. There’s still room for you!

And so we read in our reading, those wonderful words of the king’s servant to all those people who are invited, “Come, everything is ready!”

And I say the same thing! Come! Don’t look back! Come to the banquet! You will never regret it! The banquet is wonderful! The food is wonderful! The king is wonderful!

Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, our hunger for you is great. Let us taste of your goodness. Teach us to enjoy your gifts, to enjoy Jesus Christ, and to come running to your banquet! Amen.

Trinity 1: Audio Sermon (10-June-2012)

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Trinity 1 [Luke 16:19-31] (10-June-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am, lay reading), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 16:19-31)

He said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” [Abraham] said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Think about this: God has put eternity into your heart.

A philosopher in the 1700s called Voltaire said, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” This is a popular belief for many people today. Many people think that God is just something that stupid people have made up because it serves their purposes, it gives credit to their crazy ideas, or else, it gives people an explanation to things they can’t understand.

I once heard someone on the TV say that because primitive people didn’t know where thunder and lightening came from, they invented God to explain it. Now that we understand the science for thunder and lightening, we don’t need to believe in God anymore.

But the book of Ecclesiastes makes a different claim which is completely different: God has put eternity into our hearts, it says.

What do you think? Did God put that into your heart, or was it put there by people? Did people make up eternity, or did God put it there?

This is a critical thing that we need to ask ourselves today.

Many people like the idea of living forever, but they also hope that God won’t be there. The idea of heaven is not all that dangerous to people—they think that going to heaven will be like going to an old abandoned warehouse, which they can renovate as they please. They don’t believe that heaven will be already furnished with a feast prepared, and with guests invited, and that the banquet will have a host, a master of the house who is paying for it all—who is God himself.

Our Gospel reading today is one of the sharpest passages in the Gospels, where Jesus teaches us about eternity.

He places before us two men, and their earthly lives. And then he places before us the same two men, with two very different experiences in eternity.

Jesus places before us riches and poverty, heaven and hell.

Many people today balk at the idea of hell. Recently I heard one of the most senior Christian figures in our country say that he didn’t believe anyone was going to hell, but he did agree that there was a purgatory where people got polished and cleaned up before they entered heaven.

But people don’t believe that there is a hell, because they don’t believe the voice of the Holy Spirit that they are responsible for their own sinfulness. People think that they aren’t really sinners, so of course, they are not deserving of any punishment. So if there is a hell, then it must be God’s fault. There is no sin in God—but because of the fall, there is sin in us. And sin has to be dealt with: it has to be died for, and it has to be taken away through the resurrection of Jesus.

God is the one who has put eternity in our hearts. We can’t take God out of the picture. Eternal life has to be his gift, and his gift alone. As it says in Romans, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.”

So here in our Gospel reading about Lazarus and the rich man, Jesus puts eternity on our hearts. He sets before us heaven and hell: he sets before us heaven in order to inflame and kindle our desire to be carried on angels’ wings to Abraham’s bosom, and he sets before us hell as a loving warning to increase our hatred of anything that smells of it.

And so Jesus says: There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

It is easy for everyone to picture the difference between these two men. We don’t know this rich man’s name: all we know about him is that he is rich. He was clothed in purple and fine linen. Purple cloth was expensive and normally worn by kings. This man dressed like a king, and he also ate like a king: he feasted sumptuously every day.

Jesus also describes a poor man called Lazarus. He was laid at the rich man’s gate. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that Lazarus sat there, or sat himself down, or laid himself down, but he was laid there. By whom? Who put Lazarus there? God did. God worked things in such a way that He Himself put Lazarus there. He didn’t even ask for a bowl of soup, but he simply wanted a few crumbs. He wanted to eat what the dogs and the rats eat, but he didn’t even get that. Even the dogs took pity on him and licked his sores. Even the dogs, from their animal instinct, knew better than the rich man.

The rich man probably received a good funeral, and Lazarus was probably swept up and thrown in an unmarked mass grave somewhere. But Jesus doesn’t tell us about that. When the two men die, the tables are turned.

We read: The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

Look what a wonderful funeral God gave Lazarus! Look what a poor funeral God gave the rich man!

Our English translations often say that Lazarus was carried to Abraham’s side, which makes us think of authority and status. But actually the word is “bosom”, which makes us think of Abraham’s love and embrace and warmth.

Now, we have to understand that this passage is not teaching us that rich people go to hell and poor people go to heaven. The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich. After all, Abraham was wealthy. Lazarus didn’t go to heaven simply because he was poor. It just happened that way. Lazarus was saved by faith in God’s promises.

It’s not a sin to be rich. The seventh commandment teaches us that it’s wrong to steal. That means that it’s a good thing and a gift of God to have wealth and property. It’s a blessing from God.

But it’s amazing how quickly our flesh and our sinful nature want to turn around God’s gifts. As soon as we hear that there’s nothing wrong with money and wealth and property, we say to ourselves: Great! I’m off the hook! Now I can do whatever I like! I can make as much money as I want at anyone’s expense!

And then people say: Look, I’m rich! This is proof that God loves me! You’re poor. This is proof that God hates you.

I’m healthy, therefore God loves me!

You’re sick, therefore God hates you!

I’ve got an easy life, therefore God loves me!

You’ve got a hard life, therefore God hates you!

But God doesn’t see it like that. He loves the poor, he loves the sick, and he loves those who are suffering. And when this valley of suffering is finished, when God finally draws us to himself, he will give us all the riches of heaven, heal us completely in body and in soul and put an end to our suffering so that there will be no more tears.

Tears, sickness, poverty, suffering—all these things are the blessing of God under the cross. Christ will not let one tear fall to the ground unavenged. He will not let one sickness go untreated and unhealed. He will not let one ounce of poverty go unrepaid.

But then we read a conversation between the rich man and Abraham.

We read, in Hades (that is, in hell), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his bosom. And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”

This is Jesus’ own rejection of purgatory. He is saying to us: Don’t wait until you die to settle your account with God, do it now. The time of grace, the time of repentance is now. When you’re dead it will be too late. In eternity, there is a chasm fixed between heaven and hell. Now is the time to fix your heart on God’s promises for you, which Jesus won for you through his death and resurrection.

And then we read: And he said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

Do you hear those words? If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then even someone rising from the dead will not convince them.

Well, we know that Jesus is risen from the dead. And we read in the New Testament that he appeared to Mary Magdalene, Peter, the twelve disciples and over 500 witnesses. And still that doesn’t seem to convince people.

But the church is here as the living temple of God on earth to speak to the human race from the other side of the grave. In this place, we speak the words of Jesus, and his words are words that have been paid for with his blood, and confirmed and proved through his wonderful resurrection on Easter day. He commands his church to speak the forgiveness of sins freely to all people because of the atonement of Jesus’ death.

The Holy Baptism is where the Holy Spirit has descended on each person. It is a gift from the other side of the grave which unites you to your risen Lord Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper is also a gift from the other side of the grave: the resurrected and glorified body and blood of our Lord Jesus, given for us and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins to keep and preserve us in body and soul to life eternal.

So ask yourself—What will convince you? Either you can listen to Moses and the Prophets to convict you of your sin, and trust the words of the risen Lord Jesus for your forgiveness, or the alternative is scary.

But God will not neglect you—he will remember the Lazaruses of the world. He lifts up those who are bowed down. He fills the hungry with good things. He promises this to you, and he has risen his Son from the dead for you.

Dogs won’t lick your sores forever. The angels will carry you to heaven, not because you have paid your way in, or because you are well-dressed, or well-fed, but because Jesus has redeemed you with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering death, that you may he is own and live under him in his kingdom.

This is most certainly true.

Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, open our ears to listen to Moses and the Prophets. Convince us of our sin while the doors of your grace are open. But also convince us the resurrection of your Son Jesus from the dead, so that we can also be carried to heaven on the wings of angels. In his name we pray. Amen.