Lent III (Oculi) [Luke 11:14-28] (20-Mar-2022)

 

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

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

If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

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.

 

In these first three Sundays in Lent, there is a particular mention in our readings of the devil and Satan. In the readings for the First Sunday in Lent, we read about Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, in Matthew chapter 4. We read there about the way in which the devil tempted Jesus with different temptations, and how Jesus won the victory over him, and sent him away, using the Word of God.

In the Second Sunday in Lent, we read particularly about a woman who goes to Jesus and prays to him, asking for him to heal her daughter who was oppressed by a demon.

In our reading today, we read about some wonderful teaching that Jesus gives about his victory as the Son of God over the evil one.

Now, if we go to our Gospel reading today, we see that just before our passage, we read about how Jesus was teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and also teaching them many things about prayer. And this gives us a good background to our reading today, because prayer is the wonderful gift that Jesus gives to us, which connects us with him in his mission, and in his work.

So for example, when Jesus was with the devil in the wilderness, we see that he won them victory over the devil. The temptations were very strong and even quite subtle. Many of us fall into all kinds of temptations, and we are often very weak. But Jesus is the strong one, and he is the only one who wins the victory over the devil. Now, for us Christians, for us disciples of Jesus, followers of Jesus, believers in Jesus, Jesus actually shares his victory with us. The victory over the evil one has already been won, and already belongs to us. We should always have it in our mind when we are struggling in life, or find ourselves with all kinds of troubles, that the battle has already been won, the victory is already ours. Our starting point is always one of victory, not of defeat.

And so, many times in our lives, Jesus calls us to turn to him in prayer, and to train us in prayer, just like he did in the reading last week with the Canaanite woman. The reason for the training is not because Jesus is stingy or snobbish, or reluctant to help us, but he wants to lead us and train us and strengthen us and bless us. And so, before our reading begins today, we read how Jesus also teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and teaches them many things about prayer. For example, he says: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Now, at the beginning of our reading today, it says: Now [Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marvelled. Here we see that Jesus performs an exorcism. In this case, it was a situation where an evil spirit, or as it is called here, a demon, causes a person to be mute. They were not able to speak and they weren’t able to hear.

Now, as Christians today, we should realise that sometimes the devil and his demons cause all kinds of trouble and mischief for people. In this case, it caused a person to be deaf and unable to speak. But this doesn’t mean that every situation we come across today where a person is deaf or mute means that they have an evil spirit, and need to be exorcised. In another passage, in Mark chapter 7, we read about how Jesus heals another man who is mute, but in that situation, there is no mention of evil spirits or demons. In that case, Jesus simply heals the person.

Now, it is true, that if it weren’t for the fall into sin, and the way in which the devil tricked and seduced and tempted our first parents in the Garden of Eden into sin, we wouldn’t have all these kinds of sicknesses, and troubles, and illnesses, and disabilities. We wouldn’t even have death. And so, when Jesus comes, he actually heals sicknesses and illnesses, he casts out demons, he gives a remedy for people’s troubles, and he restores people who are disabled in their bodies in various ways. In the first letter of John, he writes: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus is destroying the works of the devil when he restores people and heals them and casts out the demons.

Now, in John chapter 14, we read where Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. On one hand, Jesus says that his disciples will also join him in these kinds of works. On the other hand, Jesus says that on the Last Day, there will be various false prophets. And Jesus says: On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

So, first of all, when it comes to the church today, Jesus says that who believe in Him will also do the works that he does; and greater works that these will he do. In the Book of Acts, we see some incredible miracles that the Apostles perform. It says: They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. These wonderful miracles that the Apostles performed was the way in which God established the authority of the Apostles. Paul says about his own ministry: The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Now, the reason why the Apostles were given these wonderful signs and miracles was not simply so that we would always be performing these signs and miracles too. Sometimes, miraculous things happen, and they can even happen through us. But sometimes, they don’t, and that’s okay. The reason why Moses performed miracles was so that we would listen to Moses. The reason why the Apostles performed miracles was so that we would listen to the Apostles. 

However, in the case of Jesus, we know that he is true God and true man in one person. On the last day, he will actually raise our mortal bodies to be like his. Even in this life, we read in Romans, If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. If we are deaf, we know that when we are raised from the dead, we will hear better and clearer than we have ever heard before. If we are blind, we know that when we are raised from the dead, we will see better and clearer than we have ever seen before. We will have no sin, no weakness, no sadness. As St John writes in Revelation: He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

So, when we preach these things, and hear these things, and speak these things, and learn these things, even on this earth, in the church, we are actually doing greater works than what Jesus did. He cast out demons, he made the deaf here, he made the blind see, but here in his church, when we preach his Word, and speak the forgiveness of sins, we actually give to people the full resurrection of their bodies from the dead. That’s what happens in Baptism too: we are not simply washed with water, but we are raised from the dead, through the Word of God, so that we have eternal life with Jesus. Even in the Lord’s Supper, we are given the body and blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and also as a guarantee and down-payment of the resurrection from the dead which is to come. So these are wonderful things that we do in the church.

And so, also, many times, we are dealing with people who are troubled, and who need supernatural help, the kind of help that only Jesus gives. In the case of helping people who are troubled by evil spirits, it is only Jesus who has the power to help them. Particularly, we are seeing many people today in our country who are troubled by the evil one, because in their naivete, many people kind of experiment with dark things, or occult things, like Ouija boards, or strange cards, or spells, or seek mediums and clairvoyants, and things like that. What they don’t realise that is that for them, these things don’t come for free, but always come at a price for the person who does them, and many times they find themselves in trouble, in a kind of spiritual bondage, and don’t know how to free themselves. Sometimes, they don’t even want to be free, and don’t know that they are enslaved, and can’t see it themselves, but people around them can see it.

In these cases, we ask for Jesus to help them in prayer, we commend people to him, and we ask for him to work with all of his power, according to his will, and in his time. The glory belongs to Him alone, and not to us. As it says in Psalm 115: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory. Sometimes, these things are resolved quickly, and sometimes these things are resolved slowly, depending on the will of Jesus. We are not the experts in these things, but he is the expert, and he leads us and trains us and makes us of us how he wills, not for our glory, not to bolster our pride, and to do something special that makes us look powerful, or whatever. We ask Jesus in prayer to bless a person, or to bless a house, or to bless a particular place, and we leave it to him to cast out the evil one, as he has promised. In the meantime, Jesus has placed into his church’s hands the wonderful gifts of His holy Word, the absolution—the forgiveness of sins spoken by the pastor for the benefit of sinners, and the sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. These are the wonderful medicines that Jesus has given to us for the healing of his people in body and soul. These are the gifts we turn to regularly and as often we can, which receive from the hands of Jesus himself.

So what happens in our reading today is that when Jesus casts out a spirit from this man, some people say: He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. All the way throughout the life of Jesus, we often see those who receive his Word gladly, and those who grumble. Even on the Day of Pentecost, the same happens: there are those that listen to the Apostles, and those who think that they are drunk. Here, there are people that think that Jesus is using demonic power to cast out the demons.

Jesus explains: Every kingdom divided against itself it laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Here, Jesus, is saying that it is a completely crazy idea that the devil, or demons, or Beelzebul, would want to be going around casting out their own spirits from people. They are trying to build up and establish a kingdom of darkness. Why would they want to be going around destroying their own work?

Even Jesus mentions the exorcisms that the Jews themselves carried out, and that there is some effectiveness in what they were doing. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. With the Jews, there was an acknowledgement that there were evil spirits, and that they needed to be cast out. But with Jesus, he is not simply using a formula, or trying to solve a problem. He is the Lord of heaven and earth—he is not subject to a particular formula, or anything. He doesn’t come to them, trying to work out how to solve a problem. He knows the problem before they have even thought about it, and he casts them out because he has the power in Himself.

So Jesus says: If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is saying that his work comes about by the finger of God. In Matthew, it says: the Spirit of God. It is amazing to think just how much God can achieve and work with his finger, and we know that the Holy Spirit is the powerful Spirit of the living God. And so, Jesus is encouraging these people, and all of us too, to think about what’s going on, and to ponder it over in our own mind. If Jesus is destroying the works of the evil one, does he then come from the evil one? No—He is from God, He is God, He is the Son of God, and He works with the finger of God, and with the Spirit of God. And when he works in their midst, and even in our midst, where He promises to be with two or three who are gathered, where he promises to be with his Word and Sacrament, the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is not building up the kingdom of the evil one, but the kingdom of God.

And so, Jesus teaches a few more things about how all these things work, for our benefit. He says: When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Here, Jesus calls the devil a strong man, who is fully armed, guarding his own palace, so that his goods are safe. The devil is strong, because of his lies, because of his deceit, because of his deceptions. But Jesus is stronger, because his kingdom is built on truth and is a kingdom of light. And so, Jesus has a greater power than the evil one. He is a stronger one who attacks the devil and overcomes him, and he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Jesus rescues people, bringing them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, as St Paul says in Acts 26. Jesus is building a kingdom which is completely the opposite of Satan’s kingdom. This is why Jesus then says: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus then gives a warning. He says: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes though waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

What Jesus is saying here is that a person should never be empty. If the devil is kicked out, Jesus must come in. We must be filled with the Word of God as Christians, and continually learn it, and be fed by it. We should continually receive the absolution, and the forgiveness of sins, and return constantly to the wonderful gift of our baptism, and draw great comfort and strength from it. We should continually be fed by the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. These gifts Jesus gives to us to fill us, and to build us up into his kingdom.

But if we remain empty, even though the devil has been driven out, there is a great danger for us to be filled by darkness once again, and in an even worse state than before. So, if a person is rescued from a great darkness, they can’t just go back to way things always were with them, and just get filled with the darkness. The life that Jesus gives to a person is a new life, it is a wonderful life, it is a life that comes from the Word of God.

And so, right at the end of our reading, we have a little incident which is almost a bit random. A lady in the crowd calls out: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed! In other words, she says: Your mother would be proud of you! What a wonderful woman she must be. Jesus says: Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

Here, we see the whole point that Jesus has been saying the whole time. Our great weapon against the evil one is the Word of God! The weapon against the devil isn’t Mary, the mother of Jesus. She also heard the word of God, and said, Let me be to me according to your Word. She also pondered all these things and treasured them in her heart. She filled her heart with the Word of God. She heard the word of God and kept it.

And so, for us too, we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and have been brought into the kingdom of light. We have been transferred from the power of Satan to God. We are baptised into Christ, and with Jesus Christ, we are being built into a wonderful kingdom. We have his Word and his Sacraments. And we commend our bodies and souls, our loved ones, and all those who are troubled in all kinds of ways, into his loving hands. The kingdom, the power and the glory all belong to Him. Amen. 

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

Lent II (Reminiscere) [Matthew 15:21-28] (13-Mar-2022)

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

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

Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.

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 reading today is an amazing reading about a Canaanite woman who has an amazing conversation with an amazing person, Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at the first part of our reading. We read: And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus, just previously, had been in the area around the Sea of Galilee. He had crossed over to the other side and fed five thousand people, but then also when they crossed back over the lake, Jesus miraculously walked on the water. And then when they were all on the other side of the lake, we read that there were many people who were healed by Jesus there, and some were healed simply by touching the fringe of Jesus garment. There were many things that happened in those days that wonderfully demonstrated Jesus’ power and also the fact that he was true God.

Now, after a conversation with the scribes and Pharisees, near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus keeps travelling north. The Sea of Galilee is right up the north of the territory of Israel. Our reading says that Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. It says that Jesus withdrew, as if he was going there for a rest. Just before Jesus fed the 5000, it says that he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place. Jesus does not continually put himself in the firing line, but he takes a rest when he needs it as well. He takes himself away from the busyness, and spends some time by himself, in prayer, in solitude. Here in our reading today, Jesus is doing the same thing. He goes to region of Tyre and Sidon, which today is in modern-day Lebanon. He goes quite a long way north. Now, Tyre and Sidon are mentioned many times in the bible. They were very important cities. Tyre, for example, was a fortified city, with walls. The King of Tyre had helped King David build his palace, and also helped King Solomon build the temple.

But this region, here, is outside the region of the Jews, and Jesus is going into the region where the Gentiles live. And so, the woman who comes and meets Jesus is a Gentile woman, or as the reading says: a Canaanite woman. When the people of Israel originally arrived in the promised land, they were commanded to take over and conquer the land that was inhabited by the Canaanites. We read about all this in the book of Joshua. But in those times, there were many situations, where the Canaanite people were not completely wiped out, but continued to live. And all throughout the history of Israel, we see how the people were tempted to worship the gods of the Canaanites, like Baal or Molech, and such like. So this region near the city of Tyre and Sidon is where Jesus finds himself, and the woman who comes to speak to Jesus is a Canaanite woman.

So what does this woman say to Jesus? We read that she says: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But he did not answer her a word.

This reading is such an amazing reading, actually. We often focus on the fact that this woman was persistent in asking Jesus for what she wanted. But at the same time, we often forget to look at what the woman was actually asking, what her prayer actually was. She says: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.

So, we see here that she had a daughter that was oppressed by a demon. Her daughter is suffering, but she tells Jesus what kind of suffering it is: it is a demonic suffering, a suffering caused by the evil one, by a spirit, by a messenger from Satan. Today, many people, even Christians too, don’t believe in this kind of thing. There are all kinds of situations where Jesus casts out a demon from someone, and actually, if we read the Gospels carefully, Jesus is constantly doing this, it is a tremendously important part of his ministry. In fact, in the Old Testament, we read very little about demons at all. When Jesus begins his ministry following his baptism, it is almost as if he is casting out demons everywhere.

Now, at the end of Matthew 4, we read: And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.

We see that Jesus was healing all kinds of people, and some of those he healed were oppressed by demons. Not everyone was oppressed by a demon, though. There were other kinds of things going on too: diseases, paralysis, etc. Now, sometimes, today, there are two tendencies when we think about these things. Firstly, some people deny completely that there are demons and that there is anything that has to do with demons. This is one extreme. But the other is extreme is that some people think that everything wrong with people is from demons. So, when someone is struggling with sin, or is sick, or dying, there are some people who always want to perform some kind of exorcism. But the Scripture doesn’t speak like this.

But in our reading today, the woman who comes to Jesus recognises that that there is a great trouble with her daughter. She recognises that there is something else at work in her daughter that is not her daughter, another being at work. She says that her daughter is oppressed by a demon, and severely, seriously. In the mother’s eyes, her daughter has been getting worse and worse.

But also, there’s something else in these words that the mother says to Jesus. She says: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. First of all, it’s amazing that she recognises Jesus as the Son of David, but also she calls him her Lord. And it’s true: Jesus is the Son of David, he has descended from the family and lineage of David according to the flesh. But he is also the Lord, he is true God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But she also says: Have mercy on me.

Now, this shows us something very important about the relationship between parents and children. Sometimes, something happens to someone’s child or children that is very worrying. Sometimes, Christian children, or any children, walk away from a good path in life, fall in with strange people, practise strange things, and sometimes their personality begins to change. There are many young people today, for example, who instead of turning to God, look to other spiritual things, by practising occult, or experimenting in things that are spiritually dangerous. And as a result, they can become spiritually troubled, and spiritually oppressed. Now, we don’t know what happened to the woman’s daughter in the reading. We don’t know if she did something, or involved herself in something, that brought about her oppression. We don’t know and we don’t need to know. What we do know is that this is the situation that is before us.

But the woman says: Have mercy—not on my daughter, but—on me. And this shows us something very special about the woman and her daughter, and in fact, any parents and their children. Because when a person’s children are troubled or oppressed, or in spiritual harm, or spiritual danger, it is not just a trouble that the child has to bear, but it is also a cross that the parent bears too. Have mercy on me, says the woman. It’s as if she says: this is not just her problem, but it is my problem. I am worried about her, I am helpless, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to help her. Please, Jesus, help me.

So this is the prayer that the woman brings to Jesus. This is her situation.

Now, let’s look at how things go from here. First of all, we read: But [Jesus] did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Now, what’s strange about this reading is that Jesus seems to us to be acting a little out of his normal character. First of all, he doesn’t answer her all. It’s like he’s aloof, or distant, or not interested. But actually, this is not the case, right at the end of our reading, Jesus says to her: O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.

We can see that, finally, in the end, Jesus answers her prayer, and is very glad and happy to do it. He commends her for her faith, he congratulates her. Now, if Jesus had simply given to the woman exactly what she asked for in the first place, then the people who were there, and us who are reading about it years later, would actually have no idea about the great faith of this woman. We would just read it as a woman who had a problem, and that was it. But Jesus holds her at arms’ length, not to punish her, or to be unfriendly, even though he appears quite unfriendly and harsh, but to draw out from her this wonderful, strong, courageous faith that she had. Jesus knows what’s in her heart, and he draws it out from her bit by bit, so that she speaks her heart in the open, and then all of us can be blessed by it.

So, first of all, even though Jesus appears unfriendly and harsh and aloof, we can see that there’s a purpose in it all. Jesus actually uses this woman’s example to teach us about prayer, and to teach thousands and thousands of Christian people throughout the centuries how to pray. And this too, should give us some encouragement, because sometimes we have something on our mind that we should pray for, or pray about, and we pray to Jesus about it for weeks, or months, or even years. And it feels to us like Jesus doesn’t care, or he isn’t interested. Or if we are a parent like this woman, it feels like Jesus doesn’t care about our child. But in actual fact, this isn’t the case. There’s a purpose in it, there’s a reason why in our prayers Jesus wants to teach us patience. And when we pray, then, we should always leave everything to the wonderful, good and gracious will of Jesus, knowing that his time is best, his way is best, his solution is best. Actually, sometimes, we often come to Jesus as if he is just some kind of solution. He is not a solution, but he is a real person, our living Good Shepherd. And sometimes, it takes us a while to learn the lesson in prayer, that we are not coming to Jesus, as if he is a solution, or a system, or a button that we just press, but that he is a real person, our real God, our real resurrection Lord and Saviour.

So first of all, it says: But he did not answer her a word. What does the woman do next? It says: And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” As the woman’s energy and desperation increases, she asks the other people who are close to Jesus to ask him too. This often happens with us too: when we feel as though our prayers are unanswered, we speak to other Christians about it, and ask them to pray too. And sometimes, a person’s burden, then becomes other people’s burdens. In the case of the disciples who come to Jesus and beg him, it says, this is not their daughter, and they don’t care about her in quite the same way and with quite the same intensity as the mother. So they say to Jesus: Send her away, for she is crying out after us. It’s almost as if they say: Do something, will you! She’s driving us nuts!

But Jesus says: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, this is a very strange thing. First of all, we see that Jesus has withdrawn into the region of Tyre and Sidon, as we said earlier, which was outside the promised land, where the people of Israel lived. What lost sheep was Jesus trying to find up there? We know that Jesus was sent to live his life, the days of his flesh, as it is called, among the Jewish people, in the Jewish land. And it’s not really until after Jesus’ resurrection, that he sends his disciples out into all the corners of the world.

But there are many situations where people who are not Jews receive help from Jesus, like the Samaritan woman, the Roman centurions, and all kinds of people. It’s true, that the Gospel first went to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles second. All the apostles were Jews, and then the Gospel went out into all the world through them.

Sometimes, we feel in our prayer, that we bring our need to Jesus, and we know that only he can help us, but we think that maybe we’re just the kind of person that should be helped. Other people may be worthy of it, other people might be more privileged or significant than us, other people might have a direct hotline to Jesus, but not us.

And so, what does the woman do at this point? Does she simply walk off? Does she give up? Does she throw in the towel?

We read: But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” Here we see, that she just throws herself at Jesus’ mercy, in all of her desperation, in all of her need, and lays it all there.

What does Jesus say? He says: It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

Now, this is a very harsh word from Jesus. And many of us today even might be offended by it, and quite disturbed by it. Why does Jesus call her a “dog”?

Well, first of all, it is not because she is a woman. Jesus doesn’t look down on women, or treat them as second-class people. There are many situations all throughout the Gospels where Jesus treats many woman with the utmost seriousness and respect, and sometimes people are quite surprised by it, especially at a time in history when men and women didn’t talk to teach other so openly and freely.

But I’ve often wanted to ask this question, why does Jesus say this? Well, I think the best explanation for it, is that we read that the woman was a Canaanite. And we read all throughout the Old Testament about all kinds of situations with the Canaanites, the Philistines, or whoever, who worshipped other gods, who sacrificed their children, who consulted witches and mediums and clairvoyants. In short, the Canaanites were constantly involved in all kinds of evil practices, and were constantly giving themselves into the hands of Satan and his demons. And also, they were constantly tempting and alluring God’s people, the Jewish people, into idolatry. In the book of Deuteronomy, especially, there are all kinds of warnings to God’s people not to worship the gods of Canaanites, not to follow their practises, and not to worship God in the way that they worship their gods.

Even if we study today the paganism and pagan religions of the world, whether it is the traditional religions from Africa, or South America, or even Hinduism in India, or even the New Age movement in western countries, what we find there is incredible superstition and darkness. And this is the kind of people that this Canaanite woman was from. Perhaps, the demonic oppression of her daughter had something to do with the practices of these people.

In the Middle East then, back then in the time of Jesus, and even now in Arab countries, a “dog” is considered a dirty animal. It’s not like us, where we keep pet dogs. In those days, people saw dogs as dirty, filthy, they rummaged through the rubbish and the trash. And in a similar way, there is a spiritual dirtiness when people go to idolatry and worship other gods, and follow strange practices. People are simply rummaging through spiritual garbage, at a spiritual rubbish dump.

And so this woman, who comes to Jesus, acknowledging him as her Lord, as the Son of David, she knows full well who her people are. She knows they are of no help to her. She knows that there is nothing to be recycled out of their spiritual garbage dumps. She knows that their practices are filthy, and she see in Jesus complete and total holiness, and authority, and graciousness, and mercy.

And so she says to him: Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. She says: Yes, I know that I am a dog, I know that I am from the wrong kind of people, I know who we are, and I know what we have done, and I know that there will be a judgment for us. But, even dogs need to be fed, she says. Even dogs need the crumbs. I am happy to be called a dog, but I still need to be fed by you.

And this is the wonderful example that Jesus wants to draw out of her for the benefit of everyone. This is the what Jesus commends when he says: O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire. We are all completely helpless, rotten sinners, wretches, dogs scavenging on the rubbish heap. And yet, we have a Saviour who feeds us, and not just with crumbs, but who prepares a wonderful banquet for us. He forgives us our sins, he helps us in our need. He washes us clean in the waters of baptism, and gives us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet by feeding us with his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

So, let’s commend our prayers to Jesus, and persist in prayer, and yet at the same time, we should prepared to learn whatever wonderful lesson he will gracious teach us along the way. Because when we think we are not being listened to or heard when we pray, when we think Jesus is being aloof or distant, it is not the case. He is in actual fact our Good Shepherd who is leading us closer and closer to himself, and who is shaping us and forming us according to his will and his heart. Wait for the Lord! He will make his reasons and his purposes clear in good time. In the meantime, let’s trust in him for everything, for our salvation, our spiritual health, for our physical health, and strength, and energy, and encouragement, and even when we see people in need who are troubled, let’s also trust in Jesus to provide for those whom we love, our family, our children and friends. And so, we commend ourselves, our needs, and the needs of others, into his hands, and to his mercy. Amen.

 

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Lent I (Invocavit) [Matthew 4:1-11] (6-Mar-2022)

                   

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

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

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

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 is about Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, and this reading has always been the focus for the first Sunday in Lent, which we are celebrating today.

Actually, the season of Lent in the church year, is based very much on this event in Jesus’ life. First of all, like Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness, Lent goes for 40 days, and also it is a time when Christians traditionally dedicated themselves to fasting. These things are purely a matter of custom and tradition, and are completely free for Christians, whether they fast at this particular time or not. But you can see that our reading today has made a strong mark on the church’s life throughout the centuries.

But let’s look out at our reading. First of all, let’s have a look first of all at the Jesus and what’s going on with him. This whole event in our reading today takes place immediately after Jesus’ baptism. The Baptism of Jesus was a wonderful event where each of the three persons of the Holy Trinity appears openly, and is manifested publicly. So, we have the Father speak a word from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Then, of course, we have Jesus, the Son of God, in the water, praying. Then, also at the baptism of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit, descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

So, then, we come to our reading, where we also see the Holy Trinity, and we don’t often consider this and think of this. There are three separate, individual temptations, if you like, that the devil throws at Jesus, and we’ll come to each of them in a minute. The devil, on each occasion, says: If you are the Son of God, then do this or do that. And Jesus responds to him on each occasion, by quoting the Scripture, but also by pointing to God the Father. He says: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus points to the words which come from the mouth of God. At the baptism of Jesus, the mouth of God speaks directly from heaven: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. But here, Jesus points to the mouth of God, and every word which comes from his mouth, as the very source of our life and our energy and our being and everything.

Then, in the second temptation, Jesus says: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Jesus points to God the Father again, as the one whom the devil wants to put to the test.

Then, again, in the third temptation, Jesus says: You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. Here Jesus points once again to God the Father, as the object of our worship.

So, in the Gospel about Jesus’ baptism, we see God the Father speak clearly and distinctively out of heaven. But here, in the temptation of Jesus, God the Father is almost unnoticeable, and very much in the background, but at the same time, Jesus reveals that each of the devil’s temptations has to do with God the Father. Actually, in the 10 Commandments, we read in the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. And Luther gives a wonderful explanation of this in his catechism. We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Every temptation of the devil is always directed against God, and having him as our only God. And so, when Jesus speaks against the devil, he points to God the Father, as the centre, as the beginning and the end, and as our everything and our all, in each situation. Jesus removes the devil from the situation, by giving God the Father his rightful place, and his rightful honour.

So, we see God the Father throughout our reading, just as we see him in the reading about Jesus’ baptism. But then, also, let’s look at Jesus, the Son of God, in our reading. Jesus, of course, is the second person of the Trinity, the holy Son of God, who is also true God, who took on human flesh for us. In the baptism of Jesus, we see a glorious, wonderful, happy event, where we see God the Father speak to Him in the hearing of everybody present, and the Holy Spirit rest upon Jesus in the form of a dove.

But in our reading today, we see Jesus very weak. We read that he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Sometimes, the word “fasting” can mean different things. Sometimes, for example, if we need to take a blood test, we are told whether it is “fasting” or “not fasting”. Here, fasting means that we don’t eat any food at all. Sometimes, fasting can mean a bit like what we would call “going on a diet”. Instead of eating the normal amount of food that we would normally eat, we eat less, or we avoid eating something particular. So sometimes, people might eat smaller portions of food, or give some particular kind of food up for a while, like coffee or desserts or sweets, or something like that. All of these things would also be called fasting.

In Luke’s Gospel, we read exactly what is meant, when it says Jesus was fasting. It says: He ate nothing during those days. Now, this is an amazing thing, that Jesus should dedicate himself to such an incredible discipline not to eat for 40 days. But then we read, that Jesus was hungry. How is it, that Jesus, the Son of God, who needs nothing, can be hungry?

This is a serious question. If Jesus is truly God, how can he be hungry? Well, we might also ask the question: how is it that he became a tiny baby? How is it that he needed to learn how to talk from his mother? How is it, if Jesus is truly God, that he actually allowed himself to suffer and bleed at the hands of his enemies? How is it that he died, if he is truly God?

And so, we need to understand here exactly who Jesus is. He is not just a man, and he is not only God. But he is both truly God and truly man, 100% God and 100% man, 100% of the time. He is both God and man in such a way that everything he thinks is the thoughts of both God and man. Everything he says and does are the words and actions of both God and man. He doesn’t have a switch which he turns off, so that this is the God-version, and this is the man-version. No—not at all. He is not like two separate persons who are glued together like cardboard.

In the early centuries of the church, the best way to describe Jesus that many people used was the picture of a piece of iron which was heated up by fire. So, if you want to make a picture or a graphic on a piece of leather, or something, and you just poke at it with a cold piece of metal, you would just put a scratch or a hole in it. If you use a blow-torch, you would just turn it all black, and burn it. So what you need is to have a piece of metal which has been heated up, which has been put in the fire, so that it can make a mark and burn at the same time.

So, with Jesus, he is both God and man in the one person. Everything he touches, is touched by fire, if you like. But also, in our reading today, where we see Jesus in his physical weakness and hunger, this is our true God, Jesus Christ, who experiences hunger. And this is not because he would normally experience hunger as God, but because he has taken on human flesh, with all of its weakness and troubles.

And so, in the baptism of Jesus, we see Jesus in a wonderful, splendid, glorious, happy occasion. Here in the temptation of Jesus, we see him immediately in great physical weakness and hunger.

Also, in our reading, at the end, we read: Behold, angels came and were ministering to him. When Jesus wins the victory in these temptations, we see that all of God’s armies and heavenly hosts were also impacted and involved in some way. And this is very important for us to keep in mind. For example, in 2 Kings 6, we read that Elisha and his servant went out and found themselves completely surrounded by an army with horses and chariots from the king of Syria. We read: The servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

It is so easy to be overcome with what looks like the overwhelming power of the enemy. Even here in the reading, the devil looks like the powerful one much of the time, and Jesus looks like the weak one. But, in actual fact, those that are with Jesus are much more than those who are with the devil. And so, it is a great comfort to us, that the angels come to be with Jesus at the this time, and rejoice with him in the great victory that he wins against the devil.

Now, in our reading so far, we’ve looked at the person of God the Father, and of God the Son, but we also see the Holy Spirit with a very special mention in our reading. In the baptism of Jesus, we read that he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming to rest on him. And at the beginning of our reading today, we read: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Did you hear that? Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness. Even in Luke’s Gospel, it mentions the Holy Spirit twice. It says: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

This is such an amazing thing for us to consider. Often, when we think of the Holy Spirit, we think of great power and wonders, for example, on the day of Pentecost, where there was wind and fire and miracles, and 3000 people being baptised, and all that kind of thing. However, here in the life of Jesus, it says specifically that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and that he was led by the Spirit. But where? In the wilderness. And this is something that gives us great comfort and strength in our own life. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a time in our life when it really feels like we’re in a kind of wilderness—everything is hard, everything is difficult, everything is a trial, and nothing is easy, nothing is straight-forward. We can get tired of life, and run-down, and depressed about things, and we think, “Where is God? What is he doing? How long does he want me to go on in this way? Why doesn’t he help me? Why doesn’t he give me some light at the end of the tunnel?” Jesus went through something very similar in our reading—this was a hard time, a weary time, physically and spiritually. But the great mystery of the whole thing is that he was full of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit led him there.

So, also, for us, we might ask for God to send us the Holy Spirit, and to fill us with the Holy Spirit. Actually, when we were baptised, this was the baptism of water with the word, of water and the Spirit, where God promises to give us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And sometimes, we start to think that then everything will go well with us in life—and actually it does. We are always with God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. But, it doesn’t always mean that our life will be easy. Sometimes we find ourselves in the wilderness for a while, and we go through hard times. But this does not mean at all that we are abandoned by God, or emptied of his Holy Spirit. Actually, our feelings are completely unreliable in giving us a sense of how things are going with us spiritually.       That’s why we look to the Word of God, and the sacraments. God’s Word speaks the Gospel to us, that we are adopted as his children in baptism, that we are forgiven all our sins through the blood of Christ, that we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit—and these words are spoken to us, completely outside of us, and completely apart from our feelings. We trust that God has planted and established us in his kingdom, not because of our feelings, but because he has baptised us. And God continually feeds us in the Lord’s Supper, through the body and blood of Christ. These things are completely outside of us, and are completely separate from our feelings. So when we go through hard times, when we find ourselves in the wilderness, we should remember that at the baptism of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit came down upon him, and then led him immediately into the wilderness. The wilderness will not last forever, but only for a time.

So in our reading so far, we’ve looked at the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let’s quickly now, have a look at the tempter and the temptations themselves. A lot of people today are talking about the evil one, perhaps because they think there is so much evil going on in the world today. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in this reading, he is called Satan, the tempter, and the devil.

In our reading, we see the devil tempt Jesus. We see him even physically take him to the pinnacle of the temple. We see him even take him to a high mountain to show him all the kingdoms of the world. If the devil can have such power even over the Son of God, why are we so surprised if the devil bothers us? However, we must always realise that with Jesus, we see nothing but victory over the devil. And we are with Jesus, and so our starting point is always that we have been given the victory into our hands.

In his first letter, St John writes: the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. But then also in the same letter, he writes: This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believe that Jesus is the Son of God? So we should always be encouraged by this.

In our reading, the devil first tempts Jesus to break his fast, by eating a whole lot of bread. And not just one loaf of bread, but a whole lot. He plays on the fact that Jesus is weak and hungry, and wants him to “pig out” and then to rub his face in it. The devil also wants Jesus to use his divine powers to turn stones into bread.

In the second temptation, the devil takes Jesus up on the roof of the temple, and wants Jesus to throw himself down. He even quotes to Jesus the Scripture, that God will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. He tempts Jesus to demonstrate his power for all to see, but also he tempts him to suicide, by jumping off the temple. Actually, the devil here also alters the Scripture that he quotes. He says: He will command his angels concerning you, but the psalm actually says, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Even afterwards in the psalm, it says: You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. You can see that this prayer is a wonderful prayer against the devil. The angels actually do come at the end of the reading, to support and encourage Jesus. But the devil twists everything around, to make it sound like the angels should come and help Jesus is a kind of dangerous circus show.

In the third temptation, the devil takes Jesus on a high mountain and tempts him with the kingdoms of the world and all their glory, in exchange for Jesus falling down and worshipping him. We see here that with the devil nothing ever comes for free, it is always at the expense of our very selves, and of our souls. This is what happens when people involve themselves in devilish or demonic things: it always comes at the expense of their soul. That’s why when it comes to occult things, we should always avoid them like the plague and run a hundred miles.

In each of the three temptations, Jesus wins the victory, not with any outward display of power, not with any special tricks. He simply speaks the Word of God. Each time he says: It is written, it is written, it is written. He says: It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” He says: Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” He says: Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

Now, before, we asked the question: if the devil can have such physical power over Jesus, by taking him up to the temple, by taking him up a high mountain, etc. what hope do we have? But then, if Jesus can get rid of the devil simply by speaking the Word of God, and just a few sentences of the Word of God, and we have that same Word in our own hands, accessible to us, then what hope does the devil have? The power and the victory and the glory is all in the simple, clear, pure Word of God. The devil uses the Word of God, but only by corrupting it. And even though he corrupts it, the angels still come and minister to Jesus anyway, just as that Word promises. We know that the Word of God in the Holy Scripture is the living voice of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus in his baptism, that filled him and led him into the wilderness. This is the same Holy Spirit that fills us, that was poured out on us in our baptism, and that leads us through our lives. And so, we go to the Scripture, we ask the Holy Spirit to help us learn it and understand it, we listen to it, we think about it, and when we have the Word of God, we have every weapon against the evil one that we need. If it’s good enough even for Jesus, then it’s good enough for us!

So, we commend ourselves to Jesus, to the Father, and the Holy Spirit. May the Holy Spirit lead us throughout our lives, and help us in every trouble. May Jesus be with us and stand with us with his victory over the evil one in his hand. And May God the Father sustain us by the Words which comes from his mouth, and let’s commend ourselves to his care and our lives to worship and serve him. Amen.

 

And the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Septuagesima [Matthew 20:1-16] (13-Feb-2022)

                  

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

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

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 

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 today, from Matthew chapter 20, tells the wonderful parable of Jesus about the labourers in the vineyard.

We read: For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Jesus here is speaking here about the kingdom of heaven and he likening it to a vineyard. Now, we often read in the Gospels that Jesus speaks in parables, he uses little stories and metaphors to help us think about something that for us is so incredibly wonderful and mysterious. It’s almost completely wrong or inappropriate to speak of the kingdom of heaven like a description in a mathematical or scientific textbook. Jesus is speaking of the Kingdom of heaven, which is a wonderful kingdom to be part of, and which has a wonderful king, our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, here Jesus is not simply speaking about the kingdom of heaven as when we die and enter into heaven. Yes, we speak about entering into heaven like that, but here, Jesus is speaking about something that is going on here on the earth. The Kingdom of heaven, already in this life, begins here for us on this earth, in such a way that heaven and earth overlap. Even, when Jesus was born, when we consider all the events at Christmas time, we notice how there are so many angels: an angel appears to Mary, to Joseph, to the wise men from the East, even a multitude of angels appears to the shepherds in the fields. It would have been difficult for these shepherds in a way to know whether they were standing on the earth or in heaven itself when they found themselves in this kind of heavenly company.

And so, the church on earth has always been this kind of kingdom. We worship here on earth the Lord Jesus Christ, as he descends to be with us, and speak to us in the Holy Word, and forgive us our sins, and wash us clean from sin in the water of Holy Baptism, to feed his people with His own heavenly food in the Lord’s Supper. And not just here in the Divine Service, but in our everyday life, we go into the world as people filled with the Holy Spirit, so shine the light of Christ wherever God has placed us, to live our life to His glory, to the honour and praise of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Of course, we Christians still carry around with us our sin, our troubles, our weaknesses. Here in this life, on this side of the grave, on this side of death, we are still wrestling, still fighting against sin. We still live in such a way that follow after Christ carrying the cross. We still have our sufferings and our burdens. But in the kingdom of heaven, we know that even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, as Psalm 23 says, I will not fear, for you are with me. Our heavenly, divine Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is with us, even through the difficult times, and leads us forward in times of teaching and learning for us, times which are sometimes difficult, but then also he leads us into times of refreshment. Throughout all of this, we know that the victory over sin, death, the world, the evil one, Satan—the victory has already been won. Jesus has died and he has risen again from the dead, and the victory has been won. Sin, death, the world, Satan have all been defeated. And in the Kingdom of heaven, here on this earth, as we march along to our heavenly destination, as we look to heaven to be with our Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity, we continually need to learn that this victory is already ours. If we look into our hearts, we will only see failure, anxieties, and disappointment. But if we look to Jesus, then we can see his forgiveness, his encouragement, his joy, his hope. St Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 15: Death is swallowed up in victory? O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. St John writes in his letter: This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. In the letter to the Hebrews, we read: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. How desperately we need to here these encouraging words in our discouraging times and in our dark world!

Now, in the reading, Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to labourers working in a vineyard. Many times throughout the bible, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a vineyard. In fact, after the flood, we read that one of the first things that Noah did was to plant a vineyard. In Isaiah 5, it says: Let me sing for my beloved my song concerning his vineyard: My beloved has a vineyard on a very fertile hill. The prophet here is speaking about his people as like a vineyard which God tends and looks after. Even, if we go right to the very beginning of the bible, with Adam and Eve, the first thing that God does it to put Adam in a garden, to tend it and look after it.

Now, also, the grapevine is an extraordinary plant in many ways, and produces a rich fruit, a sweet fruit, which then can be used to produce all kinds of rich wines. I remember talking to someone from the Barossa Valley, here in South Australia, where of course they have many vineyards, and someone said that the wines there are so distinctive, that this person could almost tell you the exact paddock where the grapes were grown from tasting the wine.

On the other hand, the grapevine is not a particularly spectacular looking plant. It’s not like a strong fig tree, or an impressive palm tree. In the Middle East, in Dubai, I think, they have made some artificial islands off the coast, in the shape of a palm tree, which branches and frons. But could you imagine someone making artificial islands in the shape of a grape vine? It would go all over the place.

And so, this is something also for us to consider: on the face of it, a grapevine doesn’t look like much. It’s gnarly, and twisted. It needs maintenance: it need propping up, and tying back, and stakes and posts, and all that kind of thing. So even in this world, in the eyes of the world, the church doesn’t look like much. The kingdom of God from the outside looks very humble, it looks like it’s struggling, it looks weak, like it doesn’t achieve much, even sometimes like it’s dying and not growing. But in all of this, we remember the words of Jesus in John 15, where he says: I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can no nothing. What a wonderful promise of Jesus this is! Of course, many times we will feel as though we’re doing nothing, achieving nothing, getting nowhere, but all of this is to remind us to turn to Jesus and rely on Him for everything: to rely on Him for our comfort, for our energy, for our hope, for providing our income and means of living, for our words, for our thoughts. Jesus is the wonderful vine, and we often shy away from him and sometimes can even be ashamed of Him, because we see this gnarly and twisted appearance, and we would rather go to some other tree. But we can’t judge these things with our eyes. Remember in the Garden of Eden when the fall into sin happened. We read: When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. So, when it comes to this twisted and weak appearance of the grape-vine, we need to judge not with our eyes, but with our ears, according to the word of God, as Jesus teaches it. Now, there are so many things that we could consider about the kingdom of heaven and the vineyard, but for the moment we’ll leave it there.

Now, let’s go back to our reading. We read that Jesus says: For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Now, let’s think for a moment about the labourers. The master sends his labourers to work for a denarius for the day’s work. Now there are various countries, mostly in the Middle-East, but also including Serbia, where they use a currency called a “dinar”. This word comes from the word “denarius”. A denarius was a normal day’s pay for a labourer. Today, we would think of it as somewhere between a hundred dollars, and a few hundred dollars, depending on the type of work.

Anyway, in our parable, we read there is a master of a house—who we assume is God himself—who goes out and hires labourers to work in his vineyard. What a wonderful privilege it is to be called to be a labourer in God’s vineyard. Actually, all Christians are labourers in God’s vineyard. Now, there’s two aspects to this: the first is the honour, the great joy, the great privilege of simply being asked, being called, to be part of this kingdom. The second aspect to this is that there is a task, there is work, there is labour.

Now, as Christians, in the kingdom of heaven, as labourers in the vineyard, we are called to work. We are called to do things. Now, each of us has a particular calling in life, a particular place where God has called us to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit. For example, maybe you are husband, a wife, a father, or a mother, or a son, or a daughter, in the family. We’re called by God to be a good husband, a good wife, a good father, a good mother, a good son, a good daughter – we ask the Holy Spirit to bless us in our place in life in the family, so that we can shine the light of Christ from that place. Also, we might have some particular employment, or career, or work that we do during the week: we are called to do it well, to the best of our ability, to be a good worker, a good boss, so that the Holy Spirit may also shine his light through us in whatever place we are. We also might have the vocation of being a pastor, or a member of the church, a hearer of God’s Word. Some people find themselves called upon by God to go further afield and serve the kingdom of God in a far-off country as a missionary, or something like that. Of course, we are never perfect, because we it’s in all these particular places, and particular aspects of our lives, that we realise that we have let those down around us the most. And so, in all our labours, we always need to ask for the forgiveness of God upon our lives. It is only Jesus who is perfect, and we are simply unworthy servants. But when we receive the forgiveness of sins, even in this life, through the Word of God, through the blood of Jesus, everything wrong is covered by Jesus, so that when we stand together with Him, it is as if there were nothing wrong, because the blood of Jesus, which has paid for and atoned for every single sin in the whole world, has washed everything away.

Now, the other thing that goes on in this reading is that all throughout the day, the master is going out all day to call the different labourers to work. We read: And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

Here we see a picture of how God is constantly going out every day, all throughout the day, all throughout the history of the world, stretching out his arms and calling people to come to himself. In fact, not one single labourer could even work at all in the vineyard, unless God has actually called them. So, none of this depends on us, and on our choosing, but it depends on God and his choosing. He is the one who through His holy Word calls all people to Himself.

You see, sometimes, we hear about some Christians even who are constantly asking people to make a decision to follow Jesus. But that is something that an unconverted sinner can’t do. A sinner can only choose sin, and not good. God must come with His Holy Spirit, and He is the only one who can convert people and change their hearts. And so, God is the one who acts here, who does something. He is the one who calls and hires the labourers. He must change people’s hearts, before they can make any good choices about spiritual things in their life. When we are converted to God, it is not our choice, but it is God who has chosen us. Even in the passage about the vine and the branches that we read before, Jesus says: You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Let’s look at a couple of examples of this. Take Peter, for example. He was the apostle who was the first preacher when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand people became Christians. But when Jesus called him to follow him, and they were fishing in the boats, and Jesus caused them to catch a huge number of fish, we read that Peter said: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Yes, Peter was right: he was a sinful man. But that is no reason for Jesus to depart. In fact, quite the opposite. It’s the reason for Jesus to draw near. And that’s exactly what happens. Jesus said to Peter: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. Peter didn’t know how to choose to follow Jesus: his sin wanted to push Jesus away from him. So Jesus then calls him to work in the vineyard. And we read: when they had brought the boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

But then, look at Paul, the other great apostle. Paul was actually a persecutor of Jesus and his followers. He had approved of the execution of Stephen and was on his was to Damascus to round up other Christians to have them executed too. But as he was still breathing threats and hatred against the Christians, Jesus converted Paul on the road. He says: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. When Paul went into Damascus, he met a man called Ananias, who said to him: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. So, here you can see again, that it was not Paul who made a decision to follow Jesus, but it was Jesus who reached out to him, despite his sin, despite even his hatred and contempt for Christians. So we can see that it is a wonderful thing to be called by Jesus, a great honour, a great joy, because we realise that the work of converting us and changing our hearts and not been our own doing, but it has been his doing. It has all been by his grace, his mercy, his love which he has shown to us.

Now, at the end of our reading we read about how all the people who were called at different times came to be paid. We read: When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and do. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last.

Now, let’s summarise what happens here. This whole part has to do with how we are saved by God. Are we saved because of the good works we have done, or are we saved by the grace and the mercy of God? Well, firstly, in this life, we are called to work, and do good things for people, and good things which are to the praise and honour of God. But when we do them, we are not counting them, as if we will be paid a particular reward by God because of them.

No, our salvation, our forgiveness, the kingdom of heaven, doesn’t come because we earn it, or because we pay for it, or because we have done some work for it. It is not a reward, or day wages. It is a free gift, which we receive by simply believing in it. St Paul says in Romans: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So the reason why it is free is not because it is worth nothing. Not at all. No, it is worth everything in the whole world and more. It is free, because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has actually come down from heaven, entered into this world, and has paid for it himself through his suffering, his death on the cross, through his holy and precious blood, through his sacrifice.

And so, then, when we are baptised, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the water and the Word of God, this is not a work that we do. This is an event where God himself adopts us as his own child, and where he pours out his Holy Spirit to fill us, and where he actually forgives us our sins. And we don’t earn any of it, we simply believe that God’s word is true and that it has been given freely for us. When we believe in it, it is ours, completely apart from any our works, or whether we have done anything.

The people who come at the eleventh hour get the same pay, because it is a gift from God who gives it. He says: Friend, I am doing you no wrong? Did I not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. Those who complain about the payment wanted to be rewarded for their labour. They worked, God should pay them. But this is not how it works. Some people work very hard in the Christian faith and in the kingdom of heaven. Some people only come recently, or even close to the end of their life. The master says: I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

Not only does God do what he chooses with what belongs to him, but he also promises us certain things too. For example, we do not go along thinking that at the end of the day, God can do what he likes, and can just chuck us in the bin if he chooses. No, God promises, He actually binds Himself to his Word, and says: Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. He says: Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.

So, let’s commend ourselves into the wonderful hands of our dear Lord Jesus, ask him to fill us with His Holy Spirit, so that we may be useful in all kinds of ways in the Lord’s vineyard. And let’s look forward to that wonderful time, when he will receive us into his kingdom, together with all his saints and angels, and all the company of heaven, not because of anything that we have done, but because Jesus has done everything. It is paid for in full, it is paid for with his blood! And it is poured into our lap in abundance, completely for free, totally freely. All we do is believe it, and even our faith itself is his gift. All the glory, honour, the power, the wisdom, the righteousness, and the kingdom belongs to Him! Amen.

 

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Transfiguration of our Lord (Matthew 17:1-9) [6-Feb-2022]

                 

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

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

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." 

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 we are celebrating the event of Jesus’ transfiguration. This is the wonderful event in the life of Jesus where he took Peter, James and John up a mountain, and his clothes and face began to shine with bright heavenly light. We are also told that Moses and Elijah appeared next to Jesus, talking with him about his departure, his journey to Jerusalem to die as the Lamb of God for the sin of the world. We are also told that when Peter, who was completely amazed by this appearance and had no idea what to do, was suggesting that he make three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, a cloud came and covered over everything. And God the Father spoke from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

This is such a wonderful event, and yet many Christians don’t often think about it too much. We have a custom in our church of remembering this event, and celebrating it on the last Sunday of the Epiphany season. The Epiphany season is that time of the year after Christmas, which begins by remembering the visit of the wise men to the baby Jesus, and the Baptism of Jesus. The word Epiphany means to “show”, or “manifest”, or “display”. We see God making a wonderful “showing” when he sent the wise men a star to lead them to the country of Israel, and also when he “showed” himself as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at the Baptism of Jesus: The Father spoke from heaven, the Son was being baptised in the water, and the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. Today, as we celebrate the Transfiguration, we remember the wonderful way in which God showed to us the power and the divinity of his Son, Jesus Christ—he shows us that he is truly the powerful Son of God himself—by speaking his voice from the cloud, as wonderful light radiates and beams forth and shines from Jesus’ face, and body and clothes.

Actually, the two events of the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration form a kind of pair of bookends to the Epiphany season: we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus at the beginning of the Epiphany Season at the beginning of January, and we celebrate the Transfiguration at the end of the Epiphany season. And both of these events have something in common. On both occasions, God the Father actually speaks his voice in the hearing of all the people who were present at these events. In fact, at both events, he says the same thing: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. However, at the Transfiguration, he says something extra: Listen to Him! It’s this command of God to listen to Jesus that I’m going to focus on today, and I think that these words of God the Father actually give us a wonderful interpretation of everything that goes on. In fact, these words are the centre and the focus of this event at the Transfiguration – Listen to Him!

 So firstly, today, I’d like to take us back to the Old Testament, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18. Now, the book of Deuteronomy is a particularly special book in the Old Testament, which contains—if you like—a long sermon or speech from Moses, just as all the people are about to cross the River Jordan and enter into the promised land of Canaan.

Now, during the book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives the people all kinds of warnings to the people about what they should do and not do when they enter the Promised Land. Particularly, they must remain faithful to God, and not start worshipping the false gods of the people in the land. But not only that, but the people were not allowed to copy to worship practices of the people who worshipped other gods, and use these practises to worship the true God. For example, you might remember in the book of Exodus, when the people worshipped the Golden Calf. Not only did they worship this statue, but Aaron said that the calf was in fact God himself, and that through worshipping this statue of the calf, they were worshipping God himself. Do you see? Aaron made it look like they weren’t worshipping some other god, but that they were actually worshipping the God of Israel. But the people weren’t allowed to do this—they weren’t allowed to use idols, and such like, in such a way that they could gain access through them to God. The way to meet God was not to worship a calf statue made out of gold.

So, in Deuteronomy 18, this is what Moses preaches to the people. He says: When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.

Let me read to you this last verse again. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen. Moses is saying that God will raise up a prophet like himself, from his brothers, from the Jewish people. Now, there are a number of places in the New Testament, where this verse is taken to be talking about Jesus. After Pentecost, Peter uses this passage to speak about Jesus in one of his first sermons, after he heals a man sitting outside the temple. Stephen, the first person to be killed for the Christian faith, uses this passage from Deuteronomy to refer to Jesus. It’s as if to say, that since the people entered the Promised Land all those hundreds and hundreds of years ago, after Moses had died, they have been waiting for a prophet. And Christians say, that this prophet that the Jewish people had been waiting for centuries, is in fact, Jesus.

Let me read the prophecy again. Moses says: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen. Now, let’s have a look at the Transfiguration, and see how this prophecy is actually fulfilled in our reading.

First of all, Moses calls Jesus a “prophet like me”. Actually, at the transfiguration, Moses is there. In fact, we’re not entirely sure whether this is Moses in his spirit, or in his body, because at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, it says that nobody knew what happened to Moses body. Mysteriously, here is Moses, talking to Jesus. And after Moses had received the law, we read that his face began to shine with bright light, such that he even had to put a veil, a cloth, over his head, because the people just couldn’t cope with and withstand this wonderful light. In the same way, Jesus’ face shines, but not only that, but his whole body shines, and even his clothes. But Jesus doesn’t normally appear like this, but he is always the Son of God, he is always God of God, Light of Light, but most of the time when people saw Jesus, this light was not hidden by a cloth or a veil, like Moses, but is was hidden simply by his human flesh. So Jesus is like Moses, in that his face also shone like Moses’ face.

Also, Jesus was like Moses, in that both of them performed miracles. But they performed very different types of miracles. Moses performed miracles that were frightening and scary for people. They were miracles that revealed God’s anger and his judgement and his wrath. For example, Moses put his hand in his coat, and it was full of leprosy. He put his staff on the ground, and it became a snake. He poured water on the ground, and it turned to blood. He brought about many plagues in Egypt—flies, frogs, darkness, death—you name it!

Now, when Jesus came, he also performed miracles, but miracles that were comforting and encouraging and which strengthened people. For example, he turned water not into blood, but into wine, for people’s enjoyment. He didn’t bring about leprosy, but he healed lepers. He healed many people, he cast out demons, he gave sight to the blind, and allowed the deaf to hear, and raised the dead. So Jesus’ miracles were of a different character to Moses’ miracles. But the fact that they both performed miracles like this, means that Jesus is very much like Moses.

But also, Jesus was a prophet like Moses, in the way that he spoke. Moses brought the 10 Commandments to the people. But then Jesus applies and comments on the commandments in a way that had never been done before.  He says: You have heard that it was said, “You shall not murder”. (Jesus quotes the 10 Commandments). But then he says: But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. So Jesus is also like Moses in the way that he speaks. Moses spoke the thunder of God’s law, and brought the people in a limited way into God’s presence through all the laws and details about worship, about the tabernacle, and the priests, and the food regulations, and all that kind of stuff. But Jesus also speaks the thunder of God’s law, but he does so in order to lay them bare and to bring them the forgiveness of sins, which he won for them through his suffering, his blood, and his death on the cross. That was something that Moses didn’t bring, but Jesus did bring. So in this way, Jesus is very much like Moses, and he is a wonderful teacher of both the law and the Gospel, but especially the Gospel. We read in John’s Gospel: The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Now, if we look back through the bible, we read that there were many great prophets, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And if we were to name the greatest of these prophets, we would probably say, Elijah. Elijah was an amazing prophet, and he spoke God’s word clearly and boldly at a time when very few people wanted to hear it. However, we believe that Elijah was not this prophet that Moses spoke about, but that Jesus is this prophet.

And we realise this at the Transfiguration, because not only is Moses standing there with Jesus but also Elijah. And together Moses and Elijah testify by their presence, that the prophet that the Jewish people are looking for is not Elijah, but Jesus Christ. Can you see this wonderful way in which Moses and Elijah point to Jesus here? And together they show that Jesus is the fulfilment of these words from Deuteronomy: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from your brothers—it is to him that you shall listen.

But there are two more things in the Transfiguration that relate to this prophecy. First, it says that Jesus will come from among you, from your brothers. Moses means that Jesus will come from the Jewish people, not from some other people. And so, we see Jesus here, just like an ordinary Jewish man, amongst his three friends, Peter, James and John. He takes them up the mountain, these three fishermen, who grew up similarly to him, and to whom Jesus talks to as an ordinary person to ordinary people. Jesus came from among them, from among the Jewish people. But then, when they arrive at the place, a separation occurs—Peter, James and John are over there, and Jesus is over there. Jesus is shining with brilliant light, with all the light of his divine nature, brighter than the light from heaven itself, and Peter, James and John are completely dazzled by it. Because Jesus is not just a normal Jewish man, but he is also the Son of God, and in fact, true God of true God. At the end of the reading, when the cloud has gone, and everything is back to normal, Jesus touches his disciples, like a brother, like a friend, and he says: Rise, and have no fear. Don’t be afraid, it’s me, let’s go, let’s walk together. And so, Jesus comes from among his people, from the Jewish people, from their brothers.

But secondly, God the Father wants to make it especially clear that these words from Deuteronomy apply to Jesus. Moses says: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from your brothers—it is to him that you shall listen. At the Transfiguration, God the Father himself hides his voice in a cloud, and speaks his voice to all who are there: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him! Moses said: It is to him that you shall listen. And now God the Father says: Listen to him! It’s as if God the Father is coming with his own finger, and pointing to his only Son, and saying to Peter and James and John: This is the one that you’ve all been waiting for, this is the one you should listen to. In fact, every Sunday, this is what we Christians actually come here to do. We come to listen to Jesus. We don’t come to listen simply to a pastor, or to listen to each other over morning tea. We come to listen to Jesus, as he speaks his own words to his people, through the absolution and the forgiveness of sins, whenever someone is baptised through the words that are spoken, in the Lord’s Supper when we hear that this bread and wine is in actual fact his body and blood, and in the sermon, when the word of God and the words of salvation are proclaimed and spoken to you. So listen to God the Father’s voice, when he says to you: Listen to him! Listen to Jesus!

Now, there’s another aspect to the Transfiguration that we haven’t really spoken about yet. What happens here is an amazing vision. And Jesus himself calls it a vision, but it’s not like the disciples were dreaming or day-dreaming, and what they saw wasn’t actually real. It was real, it happened. They saw it, and they saw it as something that was happening right there in front of them, they didn’t imagine it, and it didn’t happen in their heads.

But also, there’s something very mysterious in the way that Moses and Elijah appeared. Because in one sense, they were dead—but also, there was something very strange about the deaths of both these men. With Moses, nobody knew where he was buried. In the book of Jude, it says that there was some kind of dispute between the archangel Michael and the devil about the body of Moses. We don’t really know much about it, but it’s a strange thing that nobody knew where Moses’ body was, and yet, here at the Transfiguration, here is Moses. Also, Elijah was taken into heaven on a chariot—he didn’t die a normal death, and he also didn’t have a grave site. And yet, at the Transfiguration, here is Elijah. All this is very mysterious, and strange, and is a holy mystery that we leave in the hands of God. We don’t want to delve into it too much, because if we do, it can even become dangerous to us. When Peter starts to ask about these things, God brings down a cloud. It’s as if he puts all these things off limits. Sometimes Christians are deceived into thinking that they need to penetrate through this cloud of unknowing to discover God in the darkness there. No—the cloud comes down, the mysterious things are off-limits, and God the Father points us to Jesus.

Now, there are actually many people in our country and in our society who are interested in spiritual things. In the 60s, many hippies went to India to find spiritual enlightenment. Many people still go to wellness clinics in Asia to find spiritual health. Many people want to receive visions, and they want to contact the dead, and cross over into other dimensions, and they start to wonder about all these things. People even today, just like superstitious people in ancient times, look up at the stars, and practice astrology, and try to derive meaning from them, as if the stars and the zodiac are telling us messages about our lives.

Well, Moses spoke about these things in Deuteronomy: Earlier, I read where Moses said to beware of the practices of the nations when they entered into the Promised Land. Moses says: The nations, which you are about to possess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. Moses makes a long list of these strange practices of the nations: fortune-telling, sacrificing children, practicing divination—which is, let’s say, “trying to get a message from something that doesn’t give messages”—, interpreting omens (like reading stars, or tea-leaves, or bird-calls, or whatever, to get some warning), sorcery (which is witchcraft, or occult), charming (which is attaching some spiritual power to something that doesn’t have that power—like saying, “this magic rock will protect you”). Moses also mentions, “mediums” (who are people who claim to give messages from the dead), or “necromancy” (which is talking to dead)… all these things, Moses says, the nations listen to these people. But the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. Instead, who should you listen to? Moses says, “It is to him you shall listen!” To the prophet like me! God says: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!

What Moses describes with all these strange practices things, is basically the traditional religions which are found all across the world. If you go to India, you’ll find talking to the dead, reading omens, fortune-telling in Hinduism. If you go to Africa, you’ll find it there with the witch-doctors. If you go to South America, you’ll find it there with the shamans, or whoever. And this stuff is making a strange come-back in Australia. If you start take notice, you’ll see this stuff everywhere, and realise just what a pagan country Australia.

What you need to know, and what Moses teaches, and what God the Father teaches at the Transfiguration, is that, if you hear a message from any of these people, who practice this stuff, it is not Jesus. It is not the voice of Jesus. The Word of God does not come through these people, and these practices. It is mutually exclusive to listen to the fortune-tellers, and to listen to him!

So we don’t become distracted by the wonderful spiritual vision at the Transfiguration, and go off trying to chase our own personal spiritual vision, through whatever means. We don’t become distracted by the presence of Moses and Elijah who are there, and start trying to build tents for dead people, and try to talk to them, and get messages from them. King Saul wanted to talk to dead Samuel, and he was rejected by God.

And so, at the Transfiguration, there are so many comforts for us. We don’t need to embroil ourselves in all this complicated, mystical stuff. We are simply told to listen to Jesus, to hold fast to his Word, and never let it go. When we have the Words of Jesus, we have everything we need. We have everything we could ever possibly want, and we will never be disappointed. He is our true Saviour, our true God, our true Light, who has won the true forgiveness of our sins, and promises us eternal life with Moses and Elijah, and all his saints, in wonderful glory, just like we see in the Transfiguration. Our bodies will be transformed to be like his. The forgiveness of sins which receive even today through the absolution and the Lord’s Supper is the beginning of that wonderful Transfiguration that will happen to us on the last day so that all our sins will be completely erased and we will shine like Jesus. So let’s listen to him, and take tremendous comfort in this event! Amen.

 

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