Sermon for Pentecost 10: "Peace and Division" (Luke 12:49-56)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

[Intro]

 

Jesus tells us: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51).

 

Like Jesus, anyone who follows Him will face persecution from the sinful world. But, what about persecution within our own households? Or, persecution from within our own churches?

 

We rarely think about being persecuted by the ones we know best. I know I sure don’t.

 

But, many Christians do face persecution from their own families for following Jesus.

 

This is the case especially for Muslims who convert to Christianity.

 

Not long after Faraidoun Fouad converted to Christianity, he received death threats.

 

He said, “Directly after my conversion to Christianity, I received the first threats. People who I thought were my friends, became my enemies.”

 

At the same time, Christians can also be persecuted from within the church family. 

 

Well, how could this be? Well, in the past few decades, many churches have begun teaching a different gospel, instead of the true Gospel. This has left many in the pews wondering what to believe.

 

Now, this is nothing new. It’s sad, but again, this is nothing new. The Word of God cuts us to the core. God’s Word is both Law and Gospel. God’s Word afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted.

 

[Jeremiah]

 

Our Old Testament reading this morning dealt with this. In our reading, the prophet Jeremiah lamented about what was being told to God’s people from false prophets. In the reading, he warned the people that there were false prophets in their midst who were not speaking God’s Word at all, but were instead speaking visions of their own minds.

 

He wrote: “[These false prophets] say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you’” (Jeremiah 23:17).

 

So, what was going on here? Well, these false prophets and preachers were scratching the ears of their hearers. They were telling the people what they wanted to hear, rather than what God’s Word actually said. You see, God’s people were sinning in obvious and open ways, but instead of preaching the Law to bring about repentance, they said: “It shall be well with you.”

 

These prophets and preachers did not want to cause division amongst the people, but by not speaking the Law, they were perverting God’s Word and causing much more division between the people and God.

 

You see, these prophets and preachers were persecuting the church by not following God’s Word. They wanted to be liked. But, God’s judgment always comes upon sin.

 

[What about Today?]

 

Now, could this happen today? Well, we pray that it wouldn’t happen. In fact, this prayer was included in our Collect of the Day this morning. We began this prayer saying: “Merciful Lord, cleanse and defend Your Church by the sacrifice of Christ.” We also concluded our prayer saying that we would “daily follow in His way.”

 

In this prayer, we pray to God the Father to get rid of all impurities in the Church and defend the Church from false teachings.

So, could we pervert God’s Word? Yes, and very easily. As sinners, we want to be liked by the sinful world. It’s always hard to say tough words from God’s Word that don’t bring peace to our friends, but division.

 

And for our church leaders, especially our pastors, when we do not say God’s Word truthfully, what we are really doing is persecuting the church from within. When this happens, we are thinking of ourselves and our own self-interests, rather than “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a).

 

[Division and Peace]

 

This is the division that Jesus is talking about in the Gospel text.

 

“Do you think I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51).

 

Now, division is nothing new to God. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve, there has been division between God and man.

 

And, now with Jesus walking amongst mankind, that division is very visible.

 

Some believed Jesus to be the Messiah and followed Him, while others — especially the Pharisees and Scribes — rejected Jesus.

 

Then, even within Jesus’ own family, they all didn’t believe Jesus to be the Messiah until His resurrection.

 

Likewise, even today, many people continually reject Jesus. He is as divisive as ever. Our own families are divided. All we can do is to keep witnessing to our loved ones and keep praying for them.

 

Last of all, even us. We would often rather listen to our own minds, rather than Jesus.

 

Even with all this division, Jesus desires to bring peace to all of mankind.

 

This is what Jesus came to do. He came to bring peace to this divided world. But, the peace that Jesus brings is not what the world expects. The world expected a worldly peace, not eternal peace between God and man.

 

[Christ’s Bloody Baptism Brings Peace to All Believers]

 

Jesus tells us: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:49-50)

 

At this time, there was much division, but here Jesus says that His baptism to come will bring further division.

 

His baptism to come would bring peace between God and man, but not peace between earthly enemies. This baptism is not a water baptism, but a bloody baptism. He is yearning for this bloody baptism to provide reconciliation to everyone who acknowledges Him as the Messiah.

 

At His bloody baptism, Jesus would receive the fire of God’s wrath against our sin. He would face the suffering we deserve and die for you and me. Three days later, He rose from the dead to show that His sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God the Father.

 

Because of His bloody baptism upon the cross and His resurrection from the grave, everyone who trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior is at peace. We are at peace, because by grace through faith in Jesus, we have received forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.

 

Now, this is not worldly peace, but everlasting peace.

 

We will continue to face persecution for our faith in Jesus until that day when Christ returns for the final judgment. But, don’t let your hearts be troubled, everyone in Christ is already at peace with God the Father. And, in the life to come, there will be no more divisions, but perfect peace and unity.

 

So, Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word; Curb those who by deceit or sword Would wrest the kingdom from Your Son And bring to naught all He has done. Amen. (Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word LSB 655, stanza 1)

 

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Sermon for Pentecost 9: "Seek His Kingdom" (Luke 12:22-34)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

O little flock, fear not the foe
Who madly seeks your overthrow;
    Dread not his rage and pow’r.
And though your courage sometimes faints,
His seeming triumph o’er God’s saints
    Lasts but a little hour.

(O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe; LSB 666, stanza 1)

The United States Public Health Service issued a statement some time ago about the tendency of worry to weaken and shorten life. It reads in part: “So far as is known, no bird ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor. No fox ever fretted because it had only one hole in which to hide. No squirrel ever died of anxiety, lest it should not lay by enough for two winters instead of one, and no dog ever lost any sleep over the fact that it had not enough bones laid aside for the declining years.”

As Americans, we find things to worry about. Life is good, but it could be better. Life is never good enough is the thought of society. And, we often think that way.

So, how are you responding to Jesus when we hear Him in our Gospel lesson today saying, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear” (Luke 12:22)?

Why not fear? Why not be anxious?

Well, today’s Gospel lesson picks up where last Sunday’s left off. If you recall, last week Jesus told the parable of the rich fool. Today, Jesus is speaking right to His disciples – you and me – about how we are to live as a follower of Christ.

Now, Jesus isn’t telling us to be careless in our lives, so that we don’t care for ourselves. But, He is teaching us about faith and God’s promises.

Today, Jesus is catechizing us – His disciples – to not worry about food, drink and shelter as the godless people continually do.

So, to remind you of last week: A rich man produced a bountiful crop and so he thought to himself that he needed larger barns to store his abundance crop for many years to come. But then God said to this rich man: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you” (Luke 12:20).

You see, this rich fool was more concerned with his possessions, which he thought he earned all by himself. This rich fool never thought once about when he would die and he never thanked God for his bountiful crop. It was all about him. He was living in the present and never thought about the future.

Now, the very opposite of the rich fool is presented in today’s Gospel lesson — the raven.

Jesus teaches us: “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” (Luke 12:24). 

You see, the raven is satisfied with leftovers and would not think of storing up food for the future.

Now in ancient times, ravens were regarded as careless creatures that even failed to return to their nests. But in Psalm 147:9, God teaches us that He provides food for the young ravens when they call.

Then in today’s reading, Jesus teaches us that we should imitate the raven, rather than the rich fool. Jesus teaches us what our proper attitude should be.

[Our Proper Attitude]

Elsewhere, Jesus teaches us our proper attitude through prayer. In the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray saying: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

In Martin Luther’s Large Catechism, Luther goes into great detail on what this looks like in our life.

“Here, now, we consider the poor breadbasket, the necessities of our body and of our temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread. On the other hand, you also pray against everything that interferes with it.”

So, what out there interferes with our daily bread?

Luther answers that, as well.

“This petition is specifically directed also against our chief enemy, the devil. For all his thought and desire is to deprive us of all that we have from God or to hinder it. He is not satisfied to obstruct and destroy spiritual government by leading souls astray with his lies and bringing them under his power. He also prevents and hinders the stability of all government and honorable, peaceable relations on earth.”

You see, the devil desires that we do not look to God for our daily bread, but instead to ourselves. He doesn’t want us to remember that God provides all our needs of body and soul. He wants us to look inward, rather than outward toward God for nourishment.

[Prosperity]

Now, we are fortunate to live in the most prosperous country in the world. Yet, for most of society, we would rather associate ourselves with the rich fool than the raven.

We desire more and more things. Just look at all the storage units sprouting up across the fruited plain. We don’t have enough room in our homes, so we build storage units, like the rich fool.

Now, I’m not preaching against storage units, but the question is why do we need the storage units? You may have a good reason. You may have a small home. But, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, we have a hard time letting go of things that we don’t need, and I for one am guilty of that.

Also in the last decade, I have become aware of food storage programs – now I’m not talking about storing your leftovers in Tupperware containers; but instead buying meals that you have no intention on eating until a disaster.

At one time, Christians thought this was something that only Mormons did, but today more and more Americans are buying meals to store in their basements that supposedly last up to 25 years in storage.

One such company promoting this is “My Patriot Supply” which is promoted by various television and radio shows. This company promotes their food as ideal for economic collapse, global conflict, major natural disasters, and as a suitable food in the event of a power grid collapse. They claim that these meals are tasty, but who really knows?

You may think this may be a good idea, but remember what Jesus tells us. We are not to worry about tomorrow. We are to be like the raven.

But, even as disciples of Christ, we can fall into this trap of becoming a “Doom’s Day prepper.”

This is what Jesus was reminding His disciples. It’s not about our life now. It is about our life to come. Jesus is reminding us to not worry about tomorrow, but to seek His kingdom.

So, what does that mean? How do we seek His kingdom? How do we not worry?

Well, as an example to us, when Jesus sent out the twelve apostles and the 72 disciples, He told them to take no food along. They were to eat in homes along the way. They were to live a day-to-day existence.

We, too, are to live a day-to-day existence. But, also don’t take it too far. We just have to remember that God provides. He provides food to the birds of the air and remember: “Of how much more value are you than the birds!” (Luke 12:24b)

[Fear Not]

Remember, God knows everything we need – even before we even realize what we need – and He always promises to provide. So, through our vocations in our life, God cares for us. He gives us food, clothing, shelter, and so on.

Jesus tells us, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

It is also good to remember that faith isn’t us getting over anxieties. Faith is knowing that God will take care of us. Faith is remembering that God provides.

So, how is your faith today? Are you putting your faith in God that He will provide? Or, are you putting your trust in yourself?

The unbelieving world fears that they will not have enough this or that, or that the world will end if we don’t do this or that. But the attitude that Jesus looks for us is one of faith and trust in the Heavenly Father.

So, fear not and receive God’s promise!

In our life now, God provides our daily bread, but in the life to come, He will provide us even more. He will provide us the kingdom. In fact, this is God the Father’s good pleasure to give us His kingdom.

You see, we became royalty when the Triune God adopted us at our Baptism when we drowned to sin and rose to new life. It was at that moment that we became in Christ and so we share in His death and resurrection.

This is why God the Father sent His Son so that by grace through faith in Jesus we could enter His kingdom as heirs.

Now, our faith isn’t always strong. But, God the Father gives us strength to live out our days on the way to His kingdom through the Means of Grace as we hear God’s Word and receive forgiveness, life, and salvation through remembering our Baptism and receiving the very Body and very Blood of Jesus under the bread and wine.

God does this for you and for me. So, fear not, and receive God’s grace. Fear not, and receive by faith God’s promise of His kingdom!

[Our Hymn of the Day]

 

I began today’s sermon with the opening stanza from hymn 666: “O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe.” When the Lutheran Service Book went to print in 2006, this hymn was placed here on purpose. This hymn reminds us that we have nothing to fear – not even Satan – because of God’s promise.

O little flock, fear not the foe
Who madly seeks your overthrow;
    Dread not his rage and pow’r.
And though your courage sometimes faints,
His seeming triumph o’er God’s saints
    Lasts but a little hour.

Amen.

 

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T