He Calls Unworthy Sinners

Text:  Luke 5:1-11

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Peter was face-to-face before Jesus.  He felt his unworthiness.  He knew that he amounted to nothing compared to the one who had authority over the earth, sea, and all created things.  Peter had just witnessed Christ perform an incredible miracle of drawing hundreds of fish into empty nets and then out of a sense of deep fear uttered, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  You see, terror had come over Peter and all who were in the boat, because of the remarkable catch of fish that had ripped the nets and almost sunk the boats.  By this miracle Peter realized Jesus as the Messiah and saw His great, almighty majesty and glory.  He also felt his own insignificance and experienced fear over death and hell in the context of the might Lord Jesus Christ.  He was afraid to be in the presence of the Lord as an unworthy sinner.   

This is the way that it is with the Lord and His disciples though.  The Lord is holy and good and powerful and worthy; whereas, His disciples are sinful, weak, and unworthy.  This is how it was with Peter; it was no different for the Apostle Paul as well.  Indeed, both Peter and Paul – who are championed as heroes of the church – were unworthy.  Paul was a persecutor and an enemy of Christ when the Lord confronted him on the road to Damascus.  Before being called as an apostle, Paul had murdered and imprisoned Christians; he was a terrorist to Christians.  He had nothing that qualified him to be an Apostle; he was not worthy.  On the other hand, Peter was a common man.  He was a rugged, edgy, blue collar fisherman who often spoke and acted first, then thought through the ramifications later.  Peter was a sinner like anyone else, who, despite his Lord’s great love and trust in him, denied Jesus when he was put to the test.  Indeed, both Peter and Paul were unworthy sinners, yet they were both called to be the Lord’s disciples. 

The church has historically understood this, even though it is often misunderstood in today’s day and age.  Yes, the church has historically understood that you do not have to be anyone special to be a Christian.  That is right; Christ’s church does not rest on the superior morals or advanced intelligence of its members.  In other words, the church does not need muscular Christians who have made John Wayne, and not Jesus their hero.  The church does not need academic Christians who have made Einstein, and not Jesus their wisdom.  The church does not rest on the strength of its members and Jesus did not choose His disciples based upon their worthiness.  Jesus chose sinners like Peter the fisherman, Matthew the tax collector, and Paul the persecutor.  He chose sinners to be His Apostles and disciples; He has chosen you and me to be a part of His church.  Indeed, the church is not a museum for saints and it is not a country club for the religious elite, but it is a hospital for sinners.  Christ’s church is a church of sinners; it is a church for sinners.

Simply stated, Zion Lutheran Church is Christ’s church, which means that it is for the scruffy, beat-up, and burnt-out.  This church is for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know that they do not have it all together.  It is for the inconsistent and unsteady disciple.  It is for the poor, the weak and sinful persons.  It is for those who are bruised by the bumps and bruises of life.  It is for those who are spiritually bankrupt who have empty hands.  It is for those who weep over their sin hoping to hear a word of forgiveness.  It is for smart people who know they are stupid and it is for honest disciples who admit that they are sinners in need of grace.  It is for those who want to pull the covers over their head in the morning because the pressures of life seem to be just too much.  It is for those who have been soiled by the stains of past sins.  It is for those who have been defeated by the trials of life.  It is for those who have been wounded by the flaming arrows of the devil. The church – this church – is for sinners, for it is a place of forgiveness and grace.  The church is for sinners, because Jesus is for sinners only.

And so we hear in our Gospel reading from today that Jesus calls sinners to be His disciples, sinners like the fishermen at the Sea of Galilee.  He does not go to the religious synagogues to get prim and proper and professionally educated Pharisees, but He goes to the messy fishing port to get untidy and sinful fishermen.  Jesus comes to Peter – a common man – and called Him to be His disciple while Peter was working.  Jesus did not ask him about his faith.  Jesus did not ask him about his strengths.  He did not ask him for his resume.  No, He did none of this.  He just asked Peter to follow Him.  After that it was up to Peter to listen, to learn, and to see – to be a disciple.

Dear friends, the Lord calls sinners to be His disciples – to be His own.  Because He calls sinners, we can know that the Lord is serious when He calls you and me, for we are indeed sinners in thought, word, and deed.  With that said, when we are constantly called unto Christ through the Gospel, you and I have every reason to do as Peter did and ask the Lord to depart from us as well.  Why is this so? Because we know how truly sinful we are as people.  Like Peter we know that we are lost and are people of unclean lips.  However, that is not how it is with the Lord.  Whoever is in sin must not flee from Christ but rather go to Him, fall at His feet and ask for grace.  The reason why?  Jesus does not back away from sinners.  He does not despise the crushed, destroyed, crippled, and wrecked sinner.  Truly, He does not call the righteous, but He calls sinners and then receives them and allows them to stay with Him.  He takes sinners like you and me, and forgives us.  The Lord takes sinners and turns them into fishers of men and allows them to be a blessing to others. 

Dear friends, through the Gospel, God has called you and me to be with Jesus and to learn from Him, to live with Jesus and to receive what only He can give.  We are called to be disciples; we are called to continually believe upon Jesus’ Word and receive His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Now, keep in mind though that you and I might not be able to receive everything right from the beginning.  That is why we usually say that a disciple is someone who listens to God’s Word and prays to come to the faith or remain in the faith.  Otherwise stated, the main thing is to stay with Jesus and follow Him, for He takes care of everything else.  That is to say, you may not understand and comprehend everything about the Christian faith, you may not even understand all the important things, but like Peter, take comfort… listen, learn, and receive from Jesus’ Word and Sacraments.  Come to the place where Jesus can be found – His church where the Word and Sacraments are proclaimed into your ears, poured upon your head, and laid upon your tongue.  As a disciple, follow Jesus; receive from Jesus for you are His and He is yours.  Jesus comes for sinners; He especially comes for sinners on Sunday mornings.    

What does this mean?  It means that you are beloved Baptized Saints who have been called by the Gospel.  You are blood bought – baptized and forgiven!  You have been claimed as Christ’s own.  You are disciples of Jesus.  You are disciples of Jesus who live under the influence of Jesus’ Word.  As a disciple you are not to give up your occupations and you are not to run away from Christ in fear of your unworthiness, but rather you can know this day that Jesus has chosen to bring you out of terror to joy, from hell to heaven, from damnation to life, and from misfits to disciples.  He has chosen you unto Himself as a disciple of His church – loved and forgiven, now and unto eternity.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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Our Crazy Lord Who Runs To Sinners

Text:  Luke 15:11-32

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

In the old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” there are two lines that summarize mankind.  These two lines that capture mankind’s heart are, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love.”  Indeed, because of our sinful hearts we are prone to wander, we are prone to leave the God that we love.  We never stay put.    

This wandering of mankind is so clearly seen in today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel of Luke.  In a parable, Jesus tells us about a father and his two sons.  One day the youngest son came to his father and asked for his inheritance early.  Now, to wish for an inheritance early – before the death of the father – was equivalent to saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.  You mean nothing to me.  You are not important to me, just give me your wealth and your money and go ahead and die.” 

Many fathers would find this as a good reason to kick their sons out of the house and take their sons out of their will; however, in today’s parable the father is gracious and gives his son exactly what he asked for.  That is right, the father liquidates half of everything he owns and gives it to his one son and wishes him well. 

We all know what happens next.  The son sets out to immediately gratify himself.  Contemporarily speaking, the young son went to the big city to smoke pot, drink the finest of whiskies, chase wild women, and probably snort some cocaine – this was the new lifestyle of the rebellious son.  He had cash and resources and was not afraid to spend it on whatever he wanted.  He tossed his father and his former life out of his mind as he did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.  He lived excessively and gave into whatever he desired at the moment.    

The next thing we know, this son was broke and starving.  He lived without limits and gave himself over to every lust of his heart.  He literally blew thousands upon thousands of dollars upon meaningless indulgences – temporary highs.  Now though, the young son broke, hungry, and in debt.  His money had run out and he was working off debt, as he fed pigs and was jealous of their slop. 

So, of course, the young son one day – after hitting rock bottom – decided to go home, confess his sins against his father and God and hope to receive a place as a servant with his father place.  He knew that his father treated the slaves better than what he was going through in the mud with the pigs. 

Up to this point, the story seems to make sense.  Even though we think the young son is foolish and downright ruthless for treating his father the way that he did, we have seen this before with the ways of youthfulness.  We have heard stories about this kind of stuff and maybe even flirted with this kind of lifestyle ourselves. 

With that said though, what does not make sense in our story is the father.  As we hear in our story the father is out day after day looking down the long road for his son.  The father did not occasional think of his son who wished him dead, but rather, the son was upon his mind every single day.  In fact, the whole farm operation is being run by his other son, but the father does not really care about the farm.  He is concerned about his rebellious son.  Where is he?  Is he o.k.?  Will he maybe come back someday?  These are the things that the father’s thoughts are consumed with.  Day after day, week after week, the father watches.  He looks down the road.  He imagines his son walking home on the road.  He waits.  His heart hurts for his wandering son.  Time after time, he is disappointed though that the road is empty.  Time after time, he is saddened that his young son does not turn up.  However, the father does not stop longing and looking for him – he can’t stop longing and caring.  He can’t give up on his rebellious and lost son. 

Now, this is what does not make sense to us.  In other words, the behavior of the father does not make sense.  You see, this kind of behavior is actually beneath the dignity of such a wealthy and prominent member of society; besides the son wished the father dead – the father should not care that much.  If anything, the father should have hatred for his rebellious son, for the son was a wretched example of a human being, if there ever was one.  However, the father could not get his mind off his son.  He could not stop looking for his son.  Even though the son wished him dead, the father wished for his son in his midst.  It was better to be hated as a father and have his son near, than to have no son at all.

One day everything changed.  The father looking down the road saw someone far off in the distance and with a sudden jolt the father jumped to his feet and said to himself, “Could that be my son? Oh Lord, let it be him.”  As the person on the road drew near, the father’s heart began to thump in his chest.  The person on the road was the same height and had a similar walking stride as his son.  However, his clothes were not like his son.  The clothes were a bunch of ripped rags.  And the person coming up the road had long ratted hair and a scraggly beard.  He was also very skinny.  “Could that be my son?” the father wondered.

The man walking on the road paused and looked up.  In that instance, the father saw his son’s face. 

…it was him!  It was him!  It was him! 

The father lifted up his fancy robe, exposing his legs, and ran towards his son, which was not a dignified thing to do.  However, dignity was the last thing on the father’s mind.  He did not care if rich respected men did not run with their legs exposed, for his son had come home.  He did not care what others thought, all he cared about was his son.  His son was before him and he was determined to grab ahold and make sure that he didn’t get away.  He had been waiting for this day and imagining it for quite some time and now it was happening. 

As he drew near his son, the son looked up with shame in his face and mumbled something, but the father did not care.  “My son is alive, he was dead, but he is an alive.  He is alive.  He is alive!  He is here!” the father shouted with joy.    

Even though the son was filthy and smelled like a dirty pig, the father did not care.  He reached out and embraced his son, getting the sons filth upon himself.  He kissed his sons dirty face, with tears of joy running down his face, getting the dirt and smell of pigs on his lips – but he did not care.  His son was home.  He would gladly get dirty in order to grab ahold of his lost son. 

While the son was trying to apologize the father did not listen for he was yelling out to get his best rob and to get his ring.  He kept yelling to get the best animal and kill it to prepare a feast, because his son lives! 

Once the father obtained the best rob, he used it to cover his son’s filthy body and then placed a ring on his son’s filthy hands as a symbol that everything that the father owned and the entire father’s authority belonged to his son. 

At this point, we can imagine everyone looking at the father thinking: what a crazy old man; that son spat in the eye of the father, squandered the father’s wealth, wished him dead, comes home smelling like a pig crap, and just like that the crazy old man gives him everything – again.  The old man must be crazy!

Yes, my friends, the Lord God is that crazy!  He really is.  He is that crazy about sinners like you and like me.  He welcomes sinners and even eats with them.

In case you haven’t realized this, you and I are that young son.  We are that rebellious self-serving son.  We are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love.  We constantly spit in the face of God, we wish that He were dead because we want to do what makes us happy.  We mock God by our sin; He gives us good gifts and we squander them.  He gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation, and we then make a wreck of our lives by sinning in thought, word, and deed.  And yet when we return to the Lord’s house of worship – His beloved Church – with our heads held low saying, “I have sinned in thought, word, and deed,” the Lord does not hide his face from us, but runs out to us in the Absolution as if to say, “My child is home; you are forgiven; take and eat, take and drink, the feast of the Lamb for you!  Christ has been slaughtered for you.  You are home in my church, where you belong.”

Dear friends, do you realize that when we confess our sins in the divine service that God and the angels rejoice?  And then the Lord clothes us not with a fabric robe, but He declares that we have been clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus in our baptisms?  Even though your sins are like scarlet, you are white as snow because you are clothed in Jesus, because the Lord does not despise the broken hearted. 

Indeed, God and the angels rejoice every time that we confess our sins and hear about the God who runs to sinners in order to forgive.  Every time we confess our sins, it is as if another prodigal has come home.  Again and again and again, every time we confess our sins the Lord rejoices and runs out to meet our sin with forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

And when we feel shame for our sins, the Lord shuts our mouths by pointing us to the finished work of Jesus.  We cry out, “I have sinned against you O Lord…”  And the Lord interrupts us saying, “You dear child are baptized!  You are forgiven!  You were dead, but you are alive!  All of heaven and the whole Church rejoice that you are home!”

Dear Baptized Saints, when we have made a muck of our lives, when we find ourselves at the end of our rope and in the sewage of our sins, there is no better place to be than in Christ’s Church – our home.  Indeed, the Gospel is for sinners; it is for prodigals like you and like me.  The Lord God seeks out the lost sheep, He seeks out the lost coin, He runs out to the prodigal – He draws near to the brokenhearted.  He comes to us contrite sinners not to celebrate our sin or to chastise us, but to absolve and forgive our sins, for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was and is sufficient.    

You were lost, but today you have been found.  The Lord possess you; He has wrapped you in the rob of your baptisms.  You are His; forgiven, loved, and cherished today and for all of eternity.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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It's Not A Curse, It's A Gift

Text:  Luke 14:15-24

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Our Lord is not stingy.  He loves to give.  The Lord loves to give out good thing – ordinary things, each and every day.  For example, He gave you life.  Each and every one of you has been uniquely created.  The Lord knows all the hairs on the top of your head.  He delights in His creation; He delighted to knit you together in your mother’s womb. 

The Lord also delights in giving eternal gifts to you.  He delighted in baptizing you – when His name was placed upon your head and your heart.  He delights speaking to you through His most Holy Word.  He delights forgiving you in the words of Absolution.  He also delights inviting you to His heavenly banquet, before this altar, where He gives you His true body and blood.

We also hear about this giving Lord in today’s Gospel reading.  In our Gospel reading we hear about a parable – a great supper where many are invited. This was no brownbag meal or fast food McDonalds gathering.  This was not a meal where Pizza Corner pizzas have been cooked in the oven.  Oh no!  This meal was the finest you could imagine.  The meat had been seasoned and cooked to perfection.  The bread was freshly baked.  In fact, the bread was still warm, steam was rising from it.  And the finest wines had been brought out to the table.  Every spot around the table – down to the smallest detail – had been prepared and thought out.  Everything perfect!  A great bountiful feast! 

What made this great feast even better was that it was free.  Yes, free.  The owner of the house had invited guests to this tremendous feast and then when everything was complete and perfect and ready, he sent his servants out to inform those who had been invited that everything was ready!  We can imagine them going out and saying,

“Come and eat; come and feast!  The owner of the house anxiously waits to give to you.  He wants to bless you with this great feast that has been prepared out of great love for you.” 

This parable of the great feast is showing us and teaching us about the Lord’s invitation to humanity.  Indeed, the Lord has invited millions upon millions to this great banquet.  For example: the Lord has invited Adam and Eve; He has invited Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The Lord also sent prophets in the days of old to invite people of the nations to the great feast.  The Lord has sent His Apostles out far and wide in order to invite.  And today, the Lord has sent out pastors and missionaries to invite as well.  Yes, the Gospel of the Lord is the great invitation to the multitudes to come and receive the Lord and His gifts.

What does this all mean?  It means that you have been invited to the banquet and are now in the banquet. That is right; whenever Christians are gathered together, there you will find the great banquet.  In other words, the preaching of the Gospel is the main course of food.  The servers are the pastors.  Christ is the food.  Through the mouth of the pastor, the food is laid on the table and served to those invited.  Through the pastor serving the guests, the bread and wine are laid upon the mouths of those invited.  In other words, the food of the banquet is Jesus – the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.[1]

What a simple parable to consider today!  The Word and Sacraments are like a great feast to consume and everyone is invited to eat and receive!  Indeed, the Lord has been inviting people to Himself for centuries upon centuries.  It gives the Lord great delight to invite.  It gives the Lord delight to feed and sustain and to bless those at the banquet.  The banquet and invitation and the food are all pure gift – given from the delight and joy of the Lord.

Hearing all of this, who would not want to go?  Who would not want to be there?  We are not talking about a soup kitchen meal or some prepackaged TV dinner meal, but the real deal! 

Well, even though this feast is so rich and the entrance to the meal is so easy, it may surprise us that a bunch of people who were invited in our parable had excuses.  Yes, even though this meal was extravagant and cost nothing, it catches us off guard that that many excused themselves. 

We hear in our Gospel reading that the guests – one after another – excused themselves from the meal. 

“I have bought a field and must

go out and look at it; please excuse me.  I have bought some oxen and I am going out to look at them; please excuse me.  I have taken a wife and I cannot come; please excuse me.” 

Excuses, excuses, and more excuses. 

Some things never change though.  The persons in the parable had many excuses for denying the great free banquet and the same thing continues to this day.  In other words, there are many of excuses in our day and age for people not wanting to receive God’s gifts, but really only one reason.  That reason is that many people are already committed to another feast.  In other words, the reason why people have excuses for rejecting God’s gifts as given from His beloved Church is because people are already committed to another feast.  What feast is that?  This other feast is the feast of the world.

Let it be perfectly clear, the Lord’s invitation to His great banquet has been open to all and for all since mankind first fell into sin in Genesis 3.  However, mankind loves the darkness.  Mankind seeks the riches of the world, that is to say, mankind runs to a banquet of death where the passions of the flesh, the passions of the eye, and the pride of life are served up (1 John 2:16).  Tragically, excuses are offered up over and over and over in refusing to come to the Lord’s banquet, because mankind can become so busy chasing the excesses of life.  For example, we can say,

“I cannot come to the Lord’s banquet because I am too busy trying to acquire food, drink, and clothing.  I cannot come to the banquet because I am too busy taking care of my stuff and acquiring wealth.  I cannot come to the banquet for I am too busy doing things with my own family.  Can’t you see that I have more important things to tend to?  Perhaps I can fit this banquet in at another time.” 

This is the way that it unfortunately is.  Tragically, when the invitation of the Lord keeps going out day after day, these same persons will eventually end up saying,

“Don’t you know that I am busy doing more important things?  I don’t have time.  Quit inviting me!  Yes, you are annoying me.  Leave me alone; for I am too busy trying to take care of myself.  I’ve already got too many things to do.”

Dear friends, the invitation from the Lord to come to the great banquet is not a curse, but a gift that the Lord longs to give.  The Lord will not stop inviting and giving His gifts.  With that said, the problem that can happen is not that it is wrong or sinful to own land and property or to buy oxen and cars, or to have a spouse and family.  These things are not evil, but are good.  In other words, everything needs to be kept in perspective.  God does not condemn the owning of land and property and having a family.  However, the problem occurs when our sinful nature takes the Lord’s gifts of the Word and Sacraments in the Church and measures it with these other things.  Oh, dear friends, let’s us repent right here and right now.  As soon as we measure God’s gift of the gospel with other things around us, we have then destroyed the gift.  Yes, when we start measuring the Word and Sacraments and start comparing it to other things and weighing out what we think would be best for us and what would give us the most advantage…well, we have then – without evening knowing it – made God’s Word and Sacraments into some sort of curse.[2]  For example, we will say to ourselves,

“I want to go fishing, but there is Church.  I want to sleep in, but there is Church.  I want to watch the pre-game football show, but there is Church.  I want a day off, but there is Church…  If only there wasn’t Church, then I could do what I want.  What a curse the Church is!  What a curse that the Lord keeps inviting me when I have better things to do!”

Repent dear friends!  Yes repent.  The Lord’s Word and Sacraments, His gifts of the Gospel, are not a curse!  They are gifts!  When the Lord invites you to His banquet to receive from Him, He does not do this to inconvenience you or curse you – He does this because He delights to give you the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

But what of owning land, buying things, and having a family?  The choice is not an ‘either or’ between the Gospel and these things.  But rather the point is that we must beware of clinging to our land, oxen, and families at the expense of neglecting Christ and His gifts of the Word and Sacraments!  The point is not to compare the Gospel to these other things and then think of the Gospel as some sort of inconvenience or some sort of curse and then to neglect it. 

      

Dear Baptized Saints, the way of the Lord is the way of gift, not a curse or an inconvenience.  The way of the Church is the way of gift, not a curse or inconvenience.  You have been invited to the great banquet because the Lord delights to give to you.  You have been made a member of the Lord’s Church, because the Lord considered it worthwhile.  Indeed, Christ Jesus Himself has redeemed you from the devil, death, sin, and hell, and taken away from you God’s wrath and a guilty conscience.  And today, He invites you again to partake of a great supper, where He feeds you His body and blood. 

As you receive the gifts from the Lord’s Table, He will not only forgive you of your sins, but strengthen your faith toward Him and grant you fervent love towards one another. 

Dear Baptized Saints, dine today at the Lord’s great banquet.  Receive!  The Lord loves to give to you.  As you continually receive from the Lord’s Word and Sacrament though, the more you eat the more you can eat, and the greater the delight in His gifts.

So, come, for all is now ready.  Come and receive and rejoice.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

---

[1] Martin Luther, Complete Sermons of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 243.

[2] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 163.

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Are You Livin' the Good Life?

Text:  Luke 16:19-31

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

We all want the good life.  Yes, you and I want the good life where we have an abundance of food, nice clothes, laughter, dance, joy, and plenty of cash to drop on any toy that we want.  Life is easy – or so we think – when we can eat what we want, sleep when we want, and do whatever we want, without any worries whatsoever.  We all want the good life. 

It seems that everybody else wants this good life too.  Our culture constantly exalts this good life by highlighting the supposed good lives of celebrities on tabloids, social media, and reality television shows.  It is easy to turn on cable television or go to the internet to watch celebrities drive around in their fancy cars and living in their Hollywood mansions, while going to parties where everyone is dressed like a supermodel.  We see the good life on advertisements and commercials as well.  Buy this car!  Buy this makeup!  Listen to this kind of music!  Buy this new technology.  Buy this and buy that and if you do, you will enhance your meager lives and then be living the good life.  Don’t settle as a second class citizen; don’t fly coach; don’t buy generic cereal; don’t shop at Kmart; don’t be a loser – live the good life!

There is no doubt about it that the good life is exalted and those who do not wear a certain type of clothes or drink a certain type of beverage or have a certain type of pedigree are frowned upon as lessor human beings, unless the person does everything possible to overcome it.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day believed that they were living the good life.  They turned their noses up at everyone around them, made long prayers, and acted holier-than-thou. They paraded around acting like they were living the good life and everyone else around them was a subpar.  They believed – along with others – that whoever is rich and powerful and living the good life is fortunate and should be respected; whereas, those who are poor, needy, and forsaken are unfortunate and should be looked down upon. 

But why is the good life exalted so much?  There is a temptation to look externally to clothes, material things, money, and power and then determine on the basis of these external things how important or valuable we are.  Furthermore, there is a temptation to try and acquire a supposed good life, where we can have everything together and look like we are the cat’s meow, all for the sake of justifying ourselves in front of others.  It is a temptation that stands before all of us.  We want to be respected and admired and worshipped by others – we want God to be impressed by us and our lives. 

Unfortunately though, when we begin to buy into the mentality of the good life, we can deceive ourselves.  In other words, fine clothing, quality products, and good living should ‘not’ be condemned; however, when we try to live the good life by looking for pleasure and identity and worth from these things… well, we have forgotten God and have been ensnared in a vicious trap. 

Dear friends, the desire for the good life is so enticing.  As we have already heard, not only are we tempted to base our worth and identity off of the good life, but things within the good life have a way of distorting reality as they suck us into them.  In other words, we can be so seduced by the good life that we turn good into evil and evil into good.  For example, food and drink and clothing and joy are good gifts to us, they are wonderful gifts; however, if we are enticed by the ideology of the good life, we can take food and turn it into gluttony, drink into drunkenness, clothing into self-centered glory, and joy into a pig’s life.  Furthermore, this good life knows no limits as it leads us to dress up sin, as if it were good: greed is viewed as talent and pride is turned into honor, to name a few. 

Simply stated, it is easy to separate and forget God and then be drawn into the endless chaos of trying to grasp the imaginary treasures of the good life. 

So, not only can we wrongly base our worth and identity off of the good life, but we can be drawn into deception, where evil is made good and good is made evil. 

Knowing this, we can start to make sense of why the rich man found himself in hell.  Permit me to explain. In our Gospel reading Jesus lays forth two men.  “One is rich and the other is poor.  One lives each day well, has abundance of food, the other suffers need and dies of hunger.  One is handsomely attired, has his chests full of suits and clothing, the other goes naked, unable to cover his body.  One laughs, the other weeps.  One dances, sings, leaps, and lives to the full [a true playboy]; the other lies down and dies.”[1]  Yes, Jesus lays out two men side by side, in our Gospel reading.  They have nothing in common, except death.  At death though, contrary to what people might think, the rich man finds himself in hell and Lazarus, the poor beggar who experienced hell on this earth, finds himself in paradise. 

Dear friends, do not be deceived.  What is prized and desired by mankind is abhorrent to God.  That is what we are learning from today’s Gospel reading.  That is to say, the things that mankind believes is the good life – the things that mankind looks up to, admires, finds pleasure in, boasts of, glories in, and uses to justify ‘self’ is actually utterly abhorrent in God’s eyes.  To put it another way, all of our forms of self-exaltation before God are disgusting in God’s eyes.  God is not impressed by the size of our paychecks, the beauty of our makeup, the quality of our cars and pickups and farm equipment.  He is not impressed by the fanciness of our houses, the accomplishments of our spiritual resumes, and the impressiveness of our reputations, even though we cherish these things four ourselves.  Being proud of ourselves and boasting of our own worth, dressing up our greed and polishing our pride, and clinging to clothes and material things, while snubbing those around us, will not earn us a place in paradise, but will make us beggars in hell. 

Being sufficient and having plenty of prestigious things in this life does not validate a person as being godly and being poor does not mean one is accursed.  With that said though, is the point of today’s Gospel reading that we should all become poor in order to avoid the fire of hades – that is hell?  Should we become like poor Lazarus and lay dead at the feet of wealth, with sores on our body, beating our breast saying, “I am justified because I am so poor and beggarly!”  No!  Absolutely not!  We must understand that poor Lazarus does not come into paradise because he is poor or the rich man into hell because he is rich.  Being rich is not evil and being poor is not good.  Riches save no one.  Poverty saves no one.  It is only Jesus who saves. 

You, who have ears, hear this:  it is not spiritual millionaires who receive the kingdom of God, but spiritual beggars.  Those who mourn over their sin, those who are meek, and know that they have nothing – those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for the kingdom of God is for people such as this. 

Why did the rich man go to hell?  He was proud in the world, he was self-sufficient, and considered himself good to go because he had the good life.  He was blind to the reality of his sinfulness, that he was a sinner in thought, word, and deed.  He was blind to the reality that he needed grace, mercy, and forgiveness. 

Why did poor Lazarus go to paradise?  He saw himself as a sinner.  His stony heart was crushed; any aspirations of the good life were unattainable.  He knew that the circumstances of his life – his weakness and beggarly status – were the same for him spiritually speaking.

Dear Baptized Saints, beware of seeking out the good life with the intent and purpose of becoming self-sufficient, so that you will not wish to be looked upon or feel like a spiritual beggar.  Yes, beware of the temptation of trying to acquire the good life, so that you will no longer be in need of forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

Here is the catch, the better that things go, the easier it is to deceive ourselves supposing that we do not need Jesus’ forgiveness, life, and salvation.  For example, it is easy to go to church when times are tough, but it is easier to neglect the Word and Sacrament when times are good.  In the words of Martin Luther, “Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one.  For Christ dwells only in sinners.” [2]  The Gospel is for sinners only.  Paradise is for spiritual beggars only. In other words, repent of aspiring to be like the rich man with his supposed good life, for his end is hell. 

So, dear Baptized Saints, whether you are financially wealthy or beggarly poor, we are all the same – we are poor miserable sinners in need of forgiveness.  All of us are brothers and sisters not to the rich man, but to poor Lazarus.  Yes, indeed, whatever your status in the eyes of the world - no matter your outward appearance, accomplishments, or success, as measured by earthly standards – you have been brought before God’s Word and His Altar this day as poor miserable sinners.  And before God’s Word and His Altar, you hear and receive the goodness of the Lord, who has befriend you, who has saved you, and who has opened your eyes to see your need of salvation.  You are right there with poor Lazarus as an inheritor of paradise.  Your end is not hell, but paradise.  Yes, you are with Lazarus, for the Lord knows you by name and He gives you the good life.  He gives you the right to be called the children of God.  He gives you His good Word.  He gives you His good body and blood to lavishly feast upon.  You are given the good life in Jesus Christ apart from anything that you have done, can do, or will do, so that you can and will recline with Lazarus and all the saints in paradise forever and ever. 

The good life is not in the empty aspirations of this world, but it is in the Lord who gives you your identity, your worth, and the promise of the good life for eternity.  He gives this to you now, as His baptized Christians that you should not want or fear, but rest with complete and total assurance.      

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] Johann Spangenberg, The Christian Year of Grace: The Chief Parts of Scripture Explained in Questions and Answers tr. and ed. Matthew Carver (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2014), 234.

[2] Excerpt of Martin Luther’s Letter to Friar George (April 8, 1516).

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What is God Like?

Text:  Isaiah 6:1-7 and Romans 11:33-36

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Amen.

What is God like?  Yes, what is God like?  Being asked this question, I am assuming that your first inclination is probably not to recite and share the Athanasian Creed.  Yes, I assume that you are not thinking about answering this question with the long creed that we confessed today as a part of our Divine Service.  But rather, you are most likely thinking about ways to define God by using a metaphor or a simile or an example.   

But there is a problem.  No matter how we try to define God or visualize God, we can only partly understand God.  The reason why?  We are finite and small and mortal, whereas God is infinite and big and immortal.  In other words, God is not like a product that we can hold in our hands and then examine with our naked eye.  God cannot be put under a microscope or dissected so that we can then write a description and a review about Him.  No way; no how!  We are not big enough, smart enough, or supreme enough to be able to put God into our hands and then think that we can fully grasp and understand Him.  Frankly stated, we are supremely arrogant if we think that we have fully discovered the mysteries of God. 

So, what do we know about God then by our natural reasoning?  Well, we can glean several things, but that is about it.  We can look to this world that we live in and see the fingerprints of a creator in nature and our eco system – we are not here because of an evolutionary mutation or a biological accident.  We can also examine our own bodies and conclude that our bodies are extremely complex and are evidence that we have been knit together by someone greater than ourselves.  Simply stated, by viewing the beauty of creation and the complexity of life – how wondrously constructed and wisely arranged everything is – a person cannot help but conclude that all of this is ‘not’ the handiwork of mankind or the byproduct of chance, but the work of God.  Only the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

Now considering this, if God is the Creator and Master of all that there is (i.e., the creator of mankind, the world, and the universe), we can then conclude that we are nothing more than a small drop in the bucket.  Compared to the grand scheme of things, we are nothing more than a small pawn.  Or, we could say that we are nothing more than a small insect compared to God.  Indeed, if God holds this world in His hands, in comparison, we are nothing more than small tiny insects that inhabit this earth.  No wonder why we can’t fully fathom and understand the complexities and depths of God.  No wonder why we live in fear of God’s wrath as human beings – we are afraid of being crushed. 

 

We humans though can try and offset our fear of God and our tininess in the face of God, through acting big and tough and unafraid.  We can construct our buildings, create our nations, and stand tall; however, we are all wiped to dust when earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes destroy us.  We really are nothing before God.  We are here today and gone tomorrow; civilizations rise one century and fall apart the next, only to be remembered in the pages of dusty books lying on shelves. 

So what is God like?  Well, God is not like us and apart from owing our existence to God, we find ourselves living in fear of God, because He is big and we are small.  He is in charge and we are not. 

But certainly we should be able to know more about God than just this, right?  That is the problem though.  How can we know more about God when we are like a bunch of tiny insects trying to understand one who is bigger, grander, and more supreme than we can comprehend? 

Dear friends, I do not say this to be mean or rude or to cause you discomfort, but you and I cannot comprehend God.  Our minds are too small, our vision is too weak, and our arms are too short to wrap around God, which leaves us with the limited understanding that we have been created and that we should be afraid of God. 

All of this stated there is another way though.  Yes, there is another way for us to understand and know God.  That is to say, instead of us trying to get to know God on our own terms and by our own efforts and by our own limited intellectual reasoning, what if God came to us and revealed Himself to us?  My dear friends, this is what God did.  He came to us. 

So, when we are asked the question, ‘What is God like?’ our answer is that God is like Jesus of Nazareth.  In Jesus we have “a man who claimed to be God, said things that only God can say, did things that only God can do, and accepted worship that belongs to only God.”[1]  Yes, Jesus is God confronting us as a man.  Jesus is God expressed in human terms.  To know Jesus is to know God. 

This changes everything, does it not?  God became man – He became one of us and dwelt in our midst.  He taught, lived, and moved among us, which means that we can behold His glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. 

As we behold God in the flesh – Jesus Christ – what should then grasp us then is that this God-Man did not come to be served by us insignificant peons, but rather, He served us!  He served us by going to the cross of Mt. Calvary.  Do not look over this too quickly.  The God of the universe died for ungodly people like you and me and considered it well worthwhile.  He died for sinners. 

Indeed, Jesus gives us the answer of what God is like.  He shows us God is holy and just and also merciful and forgiving.  Jesus shows us that God does not take sin lightly, yet still cares for us because He chose to do something about that very sin – it’s called the cross. 

Furthermore and towards the theme of today’s service, Jesus also shows us that God is Triune.  Yes, from Jesus we hear about the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God now and forevermore.  Not three gods and not three substances, but three persons.

Now, I would by lying to you if I said that this is easy for us to understand, for it certainly is not.  Again we are back to where we were before, as mere mortals we cannot totally understand the complexities of God; however, we confess these complexities of God as true because Jesus confesses them as true… and Jesus is right because He rose from the dead.  That is to say, there is no Heavenly Father for us other than the Heavenly Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is also no other Holy Spirit for us other than the Holy Spirit that is sent by Jesus. 

What this all means for us this morning on this Trinity Sunday is not it is necessary to wrap our finite minds around the nature of God – to figure Him out and domesticate Him – but rather to know that God – as revealed by Jesus and the Scriptures – is living and active for you and for your salvation.  That is to say, for today’s Trinity Sunday Service we do not confess the Athanasian Creed – the doctrine of the Trinity – for the sake of merely saying it, but we use this doctrine properly when we believe and know that our Triune God is active for us, all three persons active for you and for me.  Indeed, today we have heard from the lessons and readings and the prayers that our God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is alive and active towards us. 

Dear Baptized Saints, consider this! 

You were baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – one name, three persons; three persons who are active for you and for your good! 

God the Father created you.  He has given you your body and preserves you.  He provides for you and protects you from evil.  All of this is done out of fatherly and divine goodness, without any of your worthiness. 

God the Son has redeemed you a lost and condemned human being.  He has purchased you and freed you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.  He has done this in order that you may belong to Him and live under Him in His kingdom. 

And God the Spirit has called you through the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts and made you holy and kept you in the true faith in the Christian church.  The Holy Spirit abundantly forgives you of your sins through the Word and Sacraments and on the Last Day will raise you and all the dead to eternal life. 

Truly, our Triune God reveals Himself to us in the Word.  We cannot understand Him by our own reason or strength, but He makes Himself known to us and shows us what He is like and gives to us what Christ has accomplished. 

Today we confess and believe upon God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: one God now and forevermore – for you and for me. 

Amen. 

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[1] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 153-154.

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