He Gave Up Everything For Those Who Do Not Give Up Anything

Text:  Matthew 13:44-52

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

How valuable is the kingdom of God to you?  Is the kingdom of God worth more than anything else to you?  What are you willing to give up for the Lord Jesus Christ, His grace, and His rule?  Are you willing to give up your money?  Are you willing to give up your time?  How about your house, your car, or your 401k?  Would you give up your safety, your health, or possibly your life?  My friends the way that we answer this reveals to us our level of commitment and the amount that we are willing to spend on being a disciple of Jesus.  Yes, there is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus Christ; His grace is not cheap for it is of infinite worth.   Is not the kingdom of heaven more valuable than anything else you can have, thus should you not be willing to give up everything to obtain it and keep it?  Is not Christ, the forgiveness of sin, and the kingdom of God so valuable that everything else becomes secondary?

This is what our parable seems to be teaching from today’s Gospel reading. Yes, it is rather obvious in our parable of the treasure and the pearl that a person finds something of such great and tremendous value that he is willing to give up everything he has in order to possess this great treasure, this great pearl.  Indeed, with joy he sells all that he has so that he can buy the field where the treasure is located, for the treasure is surely more valuable than his meager belongings. 

It makes sense to give up things of lessor value to obtain things of greater value, does it not?  Furthermore, the amount that we are willing to sacrifice for something is a visible demonstration of how much we really value that something.  Thus, seriously ask yourself this question today, “Am I willing to lay everything—my material possessions, my time, my money, my savings, my health, my will, my emotions, and my life—on the altar for Christ?”  If you hesitate in answering this question, what is holding you back from fully giving of yourself to Him?  What could possibly have more value than living for Christ and possessing the Kingdom?  Are things like money, time, savings, health, material possessions, and so forth greater in value than Jesus and His kingdom?

If we are honest with ourselves, we will confess that the very good that we want to do, is that which we do not do.  In fact, the very evil that we do not wish to do, is that what we do.  In other words, it seems as if the cost of discipleship is just too great and it is just too expensive for us.  It appears as if our hands, no matter how much we try to release their grip, hold too tightly to our idols.  No, matter how hard we strain, no matter how much we attempt to enact a radical obedience to Christ, and no matter how much we attempt to put God at the center of our lives, it seems as if these attempts only last for a moment.  Yet, over and over in response to our failed attempts, we slap ourselves in the face and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps in order to sober ourselves from our stupor.  Once serious and sober again we fix our eyes on the treasure saying to ourselves, “Self, look at the glorious treasure!  It is glorious; nothing can compare to it!  Now is the time to commit and to give everything up like you mean it!”  Like so many times before, we then attempt to put the treasure into the midst of our hearts and minds hoping that our actions will follow suit.  Everything is fine and well for a time.  The will, the mind, the emotions, and one’s actions have been ‘sold out’ for Jesus that is until they begin to waver yet again.  Slowly but surely, that which was sold out for Jesus is refunded back to ourselves and our own agendas, thus making it impossible to have enough money to buy and maintain the field where the treasure is located.

My friends, if Jesus and His kingdom are the treasure in the parable, we are then truly commanded to find the treasure and love it.  If this is the way it is, how do we find the treasure and just how much do we have to sell or forsake to get the treasure? How do we know if we have given up enough so as to embrace and have the gospel? Once we have the treasure, why do we have such a difficult time keeping it front and center in our lives?  To answer these questions let me spare you the time and the agony by being rather blunt with you.  There is a reason why we fail in our attempts to completely sell out for Jesus.  There is a reason why we are never able to garner enough equity to purchase and keep the field in order to acquire the treasure.  The reason is that our nature is tainted by sin through and through.  From birth we are born with this inclination that turns each and every one of us inward on ourselves and away from the Lord.  We cannot truly love, cherish, and completely sell everything in order to acquire the great treasure.  The cost of the treasure is too great; our addiction to sin is too strong; our spiritual pockets are not deep enough—we are spiritually bankrupt.   

Taking a step back and examining this parable, we have concluded several things: the 'treasure' could represent the Lord and the 'man' could represent us. If this is true, then Jesus is teaching us that when people (i.e., you and me) see the Lord and His kingdom (i.e., the treasure), they must do all that they can to obtain Him and seek Him. The Lord and His kingdom are so much more valuable than a treasure. The Lord and His kingdom are certainly worth all our time and energy. Because of its worth, we need to sell all our earthly desires and forsake all other agendas so that we can obtain it. However, we have also concluded that we can’t purchase the treasure, we don’t have enough spiritual capital and we don’t have the ability ‘sell out’ for Jesus.  Thus, we find ourselves at an impasse.  The treasure is good; it is expensive.  We should want the treasure, but our abilities and vision are clouded by idols and we simply don’t have enough religious endurance to obtain it.  This leaves us with two options.  Option #1 is to simply despair, quit the faith, and go home.  Option #2 is to try and convince ourselves that we ‘can’ obtain the treasure through rising to a supernatural dimension of radical obedience, where we are on “fire for Jesus.”  However, as you and I know this is nothing more than foolish self-deceiving pride.  Therefore, if despair and hopelessness are the only options, what do we do with the impasse?  How do we cope?

Thankfully there is another option for there is a different lesson in the parable that can be assessed.  Take a second and look at these short parables. What if the 'man' represents Jesus, the 'field' represents the world, and the 'treasure' represents us? What if we have to change roles with Jesus in our understanding of these parables?  In other words, instead of us being the one having to give up everything we have so that we can possess the great treasure, it is actually the other way around?  If this is the case, then Jesus is teaching us that He is seeking us out; we are His treasure!

Baptized Saints, unfortunately much of Christianity in America accepts a faulty understanding of this parable, “in part, because it fits their understanding of the Gospel and faith and where faith comes from.  For some, you see, the Gospel of God's forgiving grace in Christ, is a treasure that can be found, if a person only searches diligently enough.  Further, when the person finds the Gospel, there is an assumption that he'll have within him an innate sense that compels him to embrace the treasure wholeheartedly.  Finally, he'll be moved by the shear value of the treasure to give up everything he has in order to possess it.”[1]  Alas, understanding the parable from the interpretation of us having to purchase and acquire the treasure, puts all the work on us; it leads us to spiritual bondage; it leads to either hopelessness or deceptive apathetic pride because it doesn’t work. As it has already been stated, we will never have confidence that we’ve done enough to get and keep the treasure for we do not have deep pockets spiritually speaking, but rather are spiritually bankrupt.

On the other hand, seeing the parable from the perspective of Jesus seeking you and me out doesn’t change the fact that the Lord gives commands, but rather it shows that the one who gives these commands is also the one who keeps these commands for those who cannot.  Yes, Jesus is the one who sought out lost and condemned sinners and gave up everything, the glory of heaven, to purchase and forgive sinners.  Think about that! Jesus gave up everything so that he could purchase us—that is you. At the cross, you were purchased. At the cross you were dug out of the ground. At the cross Jesus grabbed a hold of his dirty and muddy treasure—you—and, getting dirt and mud all over himself, proclaimed, “This is my treasure!”  You, who have ears, hear: the tremendous sacrifice to acquire you was Christ’s crucifixion and damnation on the cross on your behalf.  At the cross Christ purchased you as His own.

“But, how can I be a treasure,” you may ask, “for I am sinful through and through?”  That is the radical nature of the Gospel and the blessed hope of Christ.  Christ, who is rich in mercy and abounding love, did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  He did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many—for you.[2] While we were still sinners, Christ died for us—for you.[3]  In a word, Christ gave up everything for those who do not give up anything.  Yes, God the Father did not spare anything to ransom you and me from the condemnation of our sin.  Christ was liquidated; His blood was spent to purchase you from sin, death, and the power of the devil. 

This is no cheap gospel; it is not cheap grace.  It is an expensive gospel, priced at the value of Christ’s shed blood; spent on you and for you.  Yes, “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited form your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”[4] 

“Though we are sinners before a holy and righteous [Lord], unwilling [many times] even to give up the simplest things for the sublime privilege of knowing and following Christ,”[5] Christ, nonetheless, has given up everything and in doing so, He has identified us as His treasure, a pearl of great price. 

This is the good news of our parable for us today, the good news of Christ who search out for us, redeems us, and knows us by name.

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

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[1] Andrew Taylor, “Something of Great Value” http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2335 (22 July 2014).

[2] See Mark 10:45.

[3] See Romans 5:8.

[4] 1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV).

[5] Taylor, “Something of Great Value.”

Sustained To The End Of The Age

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Text:  Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Like last week’s parable of the farmer and the different types of soil, today’s parable is also an agricultural parable. (Now, keep in mind that parables take two different things or stories and lay them side by side to make a comparison and teach a main point.  Thus, a parable helps the listener understand unfamiliar spiritual truths by using everyday objects and everyday illustrations.)  Yes, this parable is another story dealing with seeds being planted in soil.  However, unlike last week, today’s parable entails two different farmers with two different types of seeds, and with two different agendas.  The farmer who owns the field and is the master of the land goes out and plants good seeds.  These good seeds are wheat.  During the evening though, an enemy comes to the same field and plants weeds into the midst of the good seeds.  These weed seeds are most certainly not wheat, but look very much like wheat; they are darnel.  The problem with darnel though is that it initially grows just like wheat thus it is deceiving in the way that it looks.  Only a very skillful farmer can immediately discern the difference.  Furthermore, the great problem is that darnel is absolutely worthless for it is a grass-like undergrowth.

This scheme of planting weeds among wheat is a long range plan of evil hatred.  It is a secret, cowardly, dishonorable, cruel, and an extreme expression of hatred.  These unfruitful seeds are planted and grow like wheat—that is until later on in the farming year in which it will become evident that these seeds planted by the enemy are not wheat but nasty weeds.  At this point of realization it is too late to uproot them, for if one were to uproot the weeds it would harm the wheat. 

Jesus explains this parable by saying that the field is the world, the farmer who plants the wheat is himself, and the devil is the enemy farmer that plants weeds.  As mentioned before, the evil one is indeed cruel, cowardly, dishonorable, and an extreme enemy who plants weeds at night.  Does this not accurately fit the sneaky, unpleasant, and conniving tactics of the evil one?  It also makes sense that Jesus would be the master farmer who sows seed that yields fruitful wheat.  As a result of the actions of the enemy, the field, which is the world we live in, is full of wheat and darnel.  The world we live in is full of believers (i.e., wheat) and unbelievers (i.e., darnel).  Indeed, the weeds are those who have rejected the kingdom of God.  The weeds represent those that are in opposition to God’s grace and are antagonistic to Christ, whereas the wheat are those who receive the Gospel, those who are rest in the forgiveness of sins accomplished by Jesus and given through the Word and Sacraments.

Up to this point this parable seems to make sense, the pieces seem to fit together quite nicely.  However there is a bit of a scandal in this parable, something that seems to go against our common sense way of thinking.  Otherwise stated, what we may find puzzling in today’s parable is that Jesus, the good farmer, does not immediately fight and uproot the weeds.  In fact, in the parable the servants of the farmer want to uproot the weeds and logically so.  I imagine their reaction to the weeds being something like this, “Good farmer, we are sorry for the evil that the enemy did to you, do you want us to go and pull up the weeds and make this right?  We are willing to take on the weeds, for we surely don’t want the enemy to get his way!  We want to address this most certain tragedy, thus please give us the go-ahead and we will uproot this darnel!”  Certainly, the comments of the servants make a lot of sense to us as Christians and they make a lot of sense according to the rules of commonsense. Yes, when we look around in our world what we see is a messy garden of both good and bad.  As a consequence, we want a cleaner garden.  We desire more wheat and less darnel.  We desire to return to the Garden of Eden where things were right and good and true.  Thus, as it is most understandable, these desires drive us to the temptation to go after weeds; to take things into our own hands.  We want to rush in and make changes to the field.  We want to purify things and make improvements around us: a little of roundup over there and some deep tilling over here.  Indeed, we are rightly repulsed by the weeds of life; however, we unfortunately err when we attempt to take the place of the creator and do what only He can do.  Yes, the good farmer in the parable forbids this uprooting request from His servants.  “The servants are most emphatically not to try to change the situation; that would be dangerously premature, and it is not their calling.”[1]  Indeed, “the reason the [farmer of the land] forbids them to pull up the weeds is because of the wheat.  [The servants] thought they could help the wheat by uprooting the weeds; but the [farmer] maintained that they would also uproot the wheat when they uprooted the weeds.”  Otherwise stated, our attempts to go after weeds can have deadly effects.  In our well-intentioned desire to weed out and make the garden (i.e., the world) more appealing or more pure, we can end up plucking out Christ Jesus, His Word, and His Sacraments.  Truly, in an effort to remove the weeds of the world what can end up happening is that the Word and Sacraments get plucked out of the church and out of God’s people too.  The good seed and the roots of the wheat are many times dispersed so much that uprooting weeds will also uproot the good seed.

Dear saints, to be brutally honest there is another reason why it is not our calling to uproot the weeds of the world and that is that we can become so focused on trying to root out the weeds of the world that we fail to realize the weeds of our very own flesh, the weeds of our old sinful nature.  We can become so distracted with the weeds of the world that we fail to recognize the very weeds that are planted right in our own lives and within our own church.  Yes, because we have this sinful nature until the day we die, we too have darnel weeds in our lives and within the church.  Also, keep in mind that you and I do not have the power to uproot our own sins for that is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.  Therefore, if we cannot root out our own sin or even pay for our own sin, what makes us think that we can successfully uproot the weeds of the world?  Frankly put, the part of us that acts like darnel weeds, our sinful flesh, should terrify us a whole lot more than the weeds of the world.

Not only are we powerless to uproot our own sin and the sin of the world, “who today can properly distinguish between unbelievers who will remain unbelievers and unbelievers who will one day believe the word and become wheat?  Out of love for the wheat, Jesus forbids us to cut short anyone’s time of grace.”[2] 

Surely, the servants were to “leave the situation precisely as it [was] and let the two kinds of plants grow together until the harvest.  At that time, the master will tell someone else to collect the weeds out from the wheat.  Then the weeds will be bundled together and burned, while the wheat will be stored in the granary.”[3] 

So if we do not have the ability, or the calling, or the wisdom to uproot the weeds of the world what are we to do?  This is the wrong question for the parable does not lead us to a demand of what we must do, rather this parable leads us to the conclusion that good seeds planted in the midst of the world will be sustained to the end of the age.  In other words, relax; God is in control.  The Lord is the dominant gardener.  He is the chief farmer.  He is the master of the field. Rest and let Him work, for He is in complete control and has planted good seeds before in weeds.  Yes, God not only planted a good seed when you were baptized, but He planted another seed long before you.  You see, when Jesus Christ was born into this world, it was as if God planted a good seed into the midst of a weedy world.  Jesus was the fullness of God in Flesh.  He was perfectly good; He came into a world that was full of weeds and He planted Himself right in the midst of the weeds.  As a farmer-become good seed: He grew, He taught, He loved.  Jesus as the good seed was sprinkled everywhere and He was planted into people’s hearts by faith.  But all of this was not the ultimate planting of the Son of Man.  Pushing this even farther, Jesus was planted deeply into the soil of sin when He was nailed to a cross bearing the sin of humanity upon Himself, as if it was His own.  Even after His crucifixion on our behalf, “He was literally planted like a seed in the soil: ‘crucified, dead, and buried’. . . . [Yes,] at the cross Jesus, the Sower-become-seed, the wheat of our wheat, was made to be a weed in our place!  God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).  And Jesus was treated as a [weed] when God forsook Him.  He suffered hell—our hell.  He, too, in a sense, was ‘gathered and burned in the fire.’  God spared not His own Son even this!”[4]  This good seed was planted into the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.  Then, this good seed burst forth, fully bloomed, fully alive, fully healthy, and fully powerful.  This Crucified and resurrected good seed is the seed that is given to many, the good seed given to you and me for the forgiveness of our sins. 

Baptized saints, God has worked in the midst of weeds, He is working in the midst of weeds, and He will continue to.  Let Him work!  Trust Him for He is good and He knows what He is doing.  Know that as you continually receive the Word and Sacraments that the Lord is weeding out, and burning the darnel of your sinful flesh, as well as continually planting the good seed of the Gospel into each and every one of you; the Gospel seed that you receive by faith. 

Baptized saints, the Lord is at work; His life-giving Word is constantly being sown.  People are being nourished, fed, and evangelized.  He is the Lord of the harvest.  

Baptized saints, know that the weeds of the world don’t and won’t last forever; evil indeed has an end for Jesus has promised that the weeds will be gathered and burned with fire.

Baptized saints, remember that Jesus will build His church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.  It is His church.  The Gospel will not and cannot be snuffed out.

Baptized saints, confess with confidence today and to the close of the age the truth that Jesus lives forever, that He is Lord, and that you have been rooted and built up in Him for the good seed of the Gospel has claimed you.  You are washed, fed, preserved, and embedded in Him.

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

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[1] Jeffrey Gibbs, Matthew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 696-697.

[2] Sermon Studies on the Gospel: Series A ed. Richard D. Balge  (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989), 262.

[3] Gibbs, Matthew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary Series, 696-697.

[4] Francis C. Rossow, Gospel Handles: Finding New Connections in Biblical Texts (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2001), 53-54.

Lord, Grant That We May Hear, Read, Mark, Learn, And Inwardly Digest Your Word

Text:  Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

In today’s Divine Service we prayed after the Hymn of Praise that the Lord would grant us the ability to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures, so that we might embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life.  But why did we pray this?  We prayed this because in today’s gospel reading we heard the sobering truth that many of the seeds that were scattered by the sower, that is the farmer, did not take root and did not bear fruit. 

Now, in case you didn’t notice, in today’s Gospel reading Jesus is speaking in a parable.  A parable is the taking of two different things or stories and laying them side by side to make a comparison and to teach a main point.  Thus, Jesus is speaking about a farmer who is scattering seed among and upon the different plots of soil.  Like pulling a heavy sword out of its sheath, the farmer reaches deeply into his pouch and pulls out large handfuls of seed and proceeds to liberally cast them far and wide upon various soil conditions.  These seeds are cast upon paths, rocky ground, thorns, and good soil.  Some of the seeds take root; others are snatched up by birds, whereas other seed is scorched by the hot sun.  In other words, what Jesus is doing by teaching this parable is that He is “answering the question of why, despite his ongoing ministry of words and deeds, so many people in Israel [were] not responding in faith.”[1] 

Let me explain a bit further. The farmer represents Jesus, the seed represents the Word of God (i.e., the Gospel), and the soil represents you and me.  What this means and what we must keep in mind is that as soil, “we can do nothing to add to the power of the Word of God; [however], we certainly can do something to impede its power.”[2]  Yes, our sin is like a hard crust over the soil that needs to be cracked.  As crisp soil we are barren, unable to produce anything, and more often than not, we have way “too many thorns in our lives—such things as carelessness, indifference, worry, materialism, and pleasure—[that] can choke the word of God and inhibit its success.”[3]

There is also another reason why we pray that we would be granted the ability to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the scriptures and that is because the “prince of demons is at work . . . quickly snatching away the Gospel seed.”[4]  Yes, “Satan knows the gospel’s power and doesn’t want to give it a chance to work.”[5]  He wants to steal, kill, and destroy your faith and attempts to do so by snatching the Gospel seed away from you.

Indeed, soil hardened by sin, the evil one devouring, and thorns within one’s heart will make the planting and results of the seed unfruitful.  Seeds sown will bounce off of crusty and petrified hearts.  Seeds sown into weeds will be choked out.  Seeds cast into shallow soil will be scorched.  Surely, this is the sober truth that Jesus is sharing in today’s parable.  This is the reason why many during His time rejected His message.  Furthermore, it is also the reason why faithful scattering of the seed (i.e., declaring God’s Word) does not always produce the results that one may expect or hope for.  Yes, Jesus literally attracted thousands of people to Him, but toward the end of His ministry He was only left with the Apostle John and some women at the cross, where he bled and died alone. 

Truly, the sowing of the seed of the Gospel does not ‘ensure’ or ‘guarantee’ automatic success according to the popular ways of our marketing culture.  It does not necessarily work “in the sense of attracting droves of believers and not inciting opposition.”[6]

This serious truth from today’s parable may cause us to attempt to manipulate, manage, fertilize, and plow the soil.  We may say to ourselves, “If we can just ‘fix’ the soil and improve its conditions, then the seeds will be planted and growth will happen more effectively!”  While these intentions are noble, we need to keep in mind that we cannot—I repeat—we cannot plow, manage, and fertilize the soil.  We neither have the ability nor the tools to do such a task.  Thus, this too is a work of God to and for us.  In a word, “our sins serve to form a hard crust that has to be cracked and broken open.  God does this [through] the ploughshare of His holy law, which ploughs us over and lays bare what lurks beneath.”[7]  My friends, “only a miracle of God can make the heart good soil for the gospel seed.”[8]  Our hearts are just too hard, our wills are just too bent inward; the soil is like set concrete. 

Thus we pray, “Lord, grant us the ability to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest your Word so that we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.”

Thankfully, God’s Word is like fire that melts; it is like a hammer that breaks rock into pieces.[9]  You, who have ears, hear!  The Law of God comes to us mainly to get things ready.  The Law of God uncovers our sin, produces remorse, and brings forth the terrors of hell, death, and wrath.  It drives us to desperation as it rightly should.  It stirs the soil, breaks up the crusty layer, and disturbs the weeds.  This is good for without the Law of God, the soil cannot receive the good seed of the Gospel.  Beware my friends of preaching and teaching that avoids the Law, for the Law is indeed good even though it hurts at times.  The Law must be proclaimed to you and me before the Gospel, otherwise the Gospel will have no effect.  To paraphrase several of our Lutheran forefathers, “We must be preached into hell before we can be preached into heaven.  We must be made to realize that we are sick unto death before the Gospel can restore us to health.  The Law must first reduce us to nothing in order that we may be made to be something” and I might add that the soil needs to be tilled, stirred, cracked, and mixed before the Gospel seed is cast and before it takes root. 

After the Law does its work on you and me, “the little seeds of the Gospel are sown into our [mixed, tilled, and stirred] soil. In those seeds is life. . . . The Lord puts seeds into your soil.  With His words He is sowing into you what those words say and convey with their potential fruit. . . . [These seeds] do not derive anything from us.  His words come to us from outside ourselves.  They are what God gives us to hold on to Him by” [10] and they are Words that hold us.  My friends, without God’s Words we are barren soil left without the ability to reach for the Gospel seed and left desperately trying to find the Gospel seed.  However, take comfort dear flock for the Gospel seed comes to you.  Yes, the Gospel seed is not a limited commodity stashed away in a silo.  Rather, it is liberally dispersed and cast to you every week of every year.  This Gospel seed is cast out to you whether there is rain, snow, sleet, or hail.  Yes, the Lord has given to the church pastors to proclaim not their own word, but His Word from pulpits just like this one.  Yes, every week at this Divine Service through the liturgy, through the absolution, through the hymns, through the readings, through the sermon, and through the Holy Supper, this Gospel seed is sowed and cast into your very soul unto salvation.  The Gospel “tells of a love so great it’s hard to imagine.  God loved the world of sinners, [you], to the point that he would send and sacrifice the Son he loved so dearly!  Jesus loved [you] so much that he willingly took [your] punishment on himself.  That saving love penetrates [your] hearts and gives birth to faith and trust.  There is a hidden, miraculous power in the seed of the word[—for you].”[11]

Indeed, today we open our empty hands while confessing “Lord, we thank you that you have sent forth Your Word among us rooting us in the Gospel and making us steadfast in the faith, even unto death.  We thank you that you join this Word to simple bread and wine so that we might continually receive Your Son’s body and blood—for us.”  Thank you for granting us the ability to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest your Word so that we may continually embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.
 

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

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[1] Jeffrey A. Gibbs, Mathew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 680.

[2] Francis C. Rossow, Gospel Handles: Finding New Connections in Biblical Texts (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2001), 51.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Sermon Studies on the Gospels: Series A, ed. Richard D. Balge (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989), 254.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Gibbs, Mathew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary Series, 687.

[7] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 365.

[8] Sermon Studies on the Gospels: Series A, 256.

[9] See Jeremiah 23:29.

[10] Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis, 365-366.

[11] Sermon Studies on the Gospels: Series A, 256.

The Gift Of Rest For The Fatigued And Overburdened

Text:  Matthew 11:25-30

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Are you tired?  Are you worn out?  Are you like an ox who is tired from the tremendous weight of a yoke placed around its neck and shoulders?  Are you burdened from the load that you must pull?  Then you are in luck, for Jesus bids you in today’s Gospel reading to come to Him.  Yes, you who are laboring to justify yourself and you who are crushed by the yoke of the Law are indeed blessed, for the Gospel calling is to and for you. 

In today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, we hear that those who are weary and exhausted from constant ‘doing’ and never-ending ‘striving’ are called by Jesus.  In other words, those of you who are exhausted and weary due to trying to work out your own salvation in your own strength by dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t’ are the ones that Jesus has in mind.  In case you think that you don’t need this gracious calling of the savior, keep in mind that there is no relief for you apart from Christ.  Apart from Christ you are most certainly in a trap that only leads to depressing despair.  The more you attempt to meet perfection in your own strength, the more you will toil and work; the more you toil and work, the more you will exhaust yourself.  There is no end to this trap; there is no bottom to this ploy.

There is indeed a great desire that is built into each and every one of us to justify ourselves, to be whole, and to be right.  Beneath all the layers and beneath all the facades we come face to face with the reality that we are not right due to our sins.  We have indeed sinned in our thoughts, words, and deeds.  We do not hit the mark.  We do not reach the goal.  Thus, to overcome this sin (this twisted deficiency) we do our best, we labor, we attempt, we plan, we strive, (consciously and subconsciously) to meet the standard of holiness.  Thus, we exhaust ourselves.  We believe the myth that we can reach the carrot on the stick; we believe that we are capable of meeting God’s perfection, thus we are driven to strive, work, and labor towards the never ending and constant demanding goal.  This leads you and me to exhaustion.  It leads you and me to despair and weariness, for we cannot qualify for God’s favor by our performance in keeping His commandments.  We are sinners. 

Jesus though, says, “Come to me and I will give you rest.”

Jesus also addresses in our Gospel reading that those of you who are being burdened are to come to Him as well.  Yes, those of you who have felt the pressures of the yoke of the Law pressed down upon not your neck and shoulders but upon your hearts and minds are the ones that Jesus has in mind.  You see, God’s Law is good, right, and true.  It makes demands upon you.  It demands perfection, as it should.  It not only is inscribed in the words of the Ten Commandments, but it is also inscribed on your hearts.  God’s holy and perfect Law rightly comes to you and tells you what to do, but it does not enable you to comply with its demands.  God’s holy and perfect Law rightly interrogates you to uncover your sin, yet it offers no help to get out of it.  Surely, the Law produces remorse and it brings forth the terrors of hell, death, and wrath of God.  God’s yoke of the Law eventually drives you to desperation, as it should.[1] 

You who have ears; you who are burdened by the yoke of the Law and are loaded down, you will not find true rest or save yourself underneath the yoke of the Law or by your own strategies and abilities to overcome this heaviness.  Why?  You are not God, but a mere mortal.

My friends the truth is that “all the vain, fruitless striving after peace, contentment, happiness, rest, and joy, which is found the world over, is this constant laboring; and those who come with their deceptions and their [offers] of help only load men down the more.”[2]  Rest from your wearisome hearts and a break from burdens does not come nor is it found in the unholy trinity of ‘me, myself, and I.’ Looking to ‘self’ to overcome the tired soul and the burdened mind will only result in more suffering, more unrest, more trouble, more fear, more grief, more pain, because looking to yourself essentially adds more labor and a bigger load to your own spiritual and emotional checklists. ‘Self’ is not the solution, but the very source of the problem.    

Indeed, all of your striving, all of your efforts, and all of your endeavors to fulfill your own demands, fulfill your own expectations, fulfill the demands of others, and fulfill the demands of God’s holy divine Law become like a heavy yoke.  They are like a yoke, which is placed over your shoulders and over your souls.  It becomes heavy and constantly weighs down upon you as its sheer weight drives your face into the mud, thus suffocating you and making your soul weary and burdened.  There is no escape from this yoke as it seems to be cemented to you, clinging to your hearts and minds.

Jesus though, says to you, “Come to me and I will give you rest.”

You who have ears, hear, “Jesus bids us in these Gospel words to come to Him and bring our heavy load, give over all that laboring to justify ourselves, all that yoke of the Law, to Him.”[3]  He then says to take ‘His yoke’ and learn from Him.  This sounds like exchanging one load for another, does it not?  This sounds like Jesus takes our yoke and we get Jesus’ yoke.  Yes, this is exactly what happens.  Jesus’ Gospel words are bidding us to come to Him so that He can relieve us of our yoke, that which we cannot bear.  Truly, Jesus “relieves us of all that.  What we cannot bear, Jesus bears for us.  He carries that yoke for us, fulfills the Law for us.  Its condemnation on our sin He bears for us, for on Him is laid the burden of the iniquity of us all.  The death for sin Jesus dies in our place.  The forsakenness of God, which is for our sin, He takes in our place, for He is the sin-bearer for us all, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”[4]

“Then Jesus gives us His yoke.  It is a happy exchange: Jesus, I am your sin; You are my righteousness.  Our yoke of sin He takes and bears for us, then gives us His yoke.  What a yoke, though!  Never such a yoke as this, really no yoke at all, as is shown by the paradox of its opposite canceling it out.  [A] yoke [that is] easy [and a] burden [that is] light.  What is light is no burden, and what is easy is no yoke.”[5]  You see, “Jesus’ yoke is an easy and light burden because he does all the work.  We love because he first loved us.  We are committed to him because he was first committed to us.  He paid for all our sins and set us free.  He fights all the battle for us.  He equips us with his mighty power, the full armor of God.  He provides our escape from temptation so we can stand. . . . Jesus is our relief, our rescue, our rest at every turn.  Our rest does not rest on us at all.  It rests only on Jesus, who broke the yoke of slavery and removed its burden on the cross, who daily lifts us up and carries us on eagle’s wings”[6]

Indeed, “Jesus gives His cross to us and with it forgiveness, acceptance.  God is our Father as surely as Jesus is His Son who exchanges yokes with us, and the yoke that is ours from Him is easy. . . . [This great exchanging of yokes] is how you feel when the heavy pack comes off and you take off your heavy boots and your feet can’t believe the ease and the lightness of walking.”[7] 

With the yoke of Jesus placed upon you, as a complete and sheer gift, you will rest in the unforced rhythms of grace, as you learn to live freely and lightly.  When the demands, expectations to earn righteousness, and the need to justify ‘self’ emerge, as they surely well, we can be sure that this is not from Christ’s yoke but evidence that we have crawled back under the old yoke as if it is still ours to bear.  Dear friends, do not let the old sinful flesh deceive you, for this old yoke is not ours to bear.  The reason why? We died to the old yoke and we have been crucified with Christ.  We no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in us.  The life we live, we now live by faith in the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself for us.  Yes, in Christ there is no heavy or ill-fitting thing laid upon you.  He does the verbs.  He is your shepherd, king, master, substitute, savior, and Lord—for you.  Thus, whatever comes to you, whether good or bad, you can face it together with Jesus.  Yes, “with the Jesus yoke, we can only be crushed if He gets crushed too.”[8]  Ah, but keep in mind that He has already been crushed and He was resurrected; therefore, in Christ there is no more judging yoke of Law, no condemnation of sin, no fear of death, but only forgiveness and life with Him.[9] 

Blessed Saints, come and get away with Christ for He gives real rest.  Walk with Him, dance with Him, and sing with Him.   Take, trust, and feast upon the Gospel for your souls knowing that it is not by your own might or power, but by Jesus’ power and might that you live, walk, and breath.  Indeed, the yoke He gives in exchange is easy, and His burden light.

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

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[1] Paraphrases from Walther’s Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel.

[2] R.C.H. Lenski, Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 2001), 456-457.

[3] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 175.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Sermon Studies on the Gospels: Series A. ed. Richard D. Balge (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989), 250-251.

[7] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis, 176.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.