"Faithful and Shrewd" (Luke 16:1-15)

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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:

Jesus said: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).

 

Today, the one holy Christian and apostolic Church rejoices to celebrate the Festival of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. 

 

As you may recall, St. Matthew was originally a tax collector by trade, so today’s parable seems appropriate. As a tax collector, Matthew would have been viewed by the Jewish populace as a traitor and a sell-out to the Romans. So, the calling of Matthew by Jesus was certainly a bold move. One day, the Lord saw Matthew sitting at the tax booth and He simply said to him, “Follow Me”(Matthew 9:9). The man who had devoted himself to acquiring money at the expense of his own people just got up and walked away from his table. He walked away from his money. He walked away from his old life. Matthew, a sinner, was called by Jesus, and became righteous through His shed blood. Matthew is a perfect example of Jesus’ words, “You cannot serve God and money.”

 

Some weeks ago, my Grandma Shaw asked me about today’s parable, the Parable of the Dishonest Manager. She asked me about how the master could commend, or better yet, praise this dishonest manager for all that he had done. So, I’d like to get into this parable and what exactly Jesus teaching us.

 

Firstly, I would like to admit, this parable can leave us scratching our heads in confusion. This parable is puzzling. But always keep in mind these words of God: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). There is something to these words of God.

 

So, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Dishonest Manager. This parable is framed by the interaction between the master and his manager, with the master calling his manager to render a concluding account of his management and then at the end commending him for his prudence. 

 

In between all of this, the manager wrestles with the problem that he has been fired, is out of work, has no place to stay, and has no hope of future employment. He has hit rock bottom. He dismisses physical labor or begging, because he is incapable of either. But in the midst of this despair, he has come up with a solution to his problem. His solution is shrewd and effective: he will change his master’s accounts so that both he and the master will be commended by the community. So, he summons his master’s debtors one by one and lowers what they owe the master. 

 

“He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty,’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty” (Luke 16:5b-7). He cancels about 18 months wages with each account. But did you notice that he has them change the amount? It happens in their handwriting, not his. This is an important detail, and the reason is this: the next thing the manager will do is take all these changed accounts back to the master. And when the master reads of his accounts, he will realize two things: first, these debts have been lowered, and second, the debtors know about it, since it’s in theirhandwriting. If it had been in the fired manager’s handwriting, he would have changed them all back and there would have been no harm, and nobody would have known. But the thing is, his debtors know.

 

It is this manager’s shrewdness that leads to both the praise of his master and of Jesus Himself. 

 

But all the while, this manager was not the manager. He had been fired by his master. Nothing he did was legally binding, since he was no longer authorized to conduct any business in the name of his master. But the thing is, nobody else knew. They all assumed nothing had changed. They all assumed that this manager was the master’s manager.

 

If this were a secular story, the interpretation of this parable would be self-evident. Faced with a crisis, the manager is clever though dishonest in solving his problems. The apparent dilemma is that this is a parable of Jesus in which He seems to be commending dishonesty to his followers. 

What are we to make of this? Are we to lie, cheat, and steal our way to prosperity? Is Jesus calling His disciples to make up get rich quick schemes? Afterall, it is Jesus who is the assumed master in this parable, who says, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:8). What are we to make of this? This is often where most people get caught up. This is where most people get stuck.

 

But this is a false dilemma. This is only a dilemma if you continue dwelling on the manager and his dishonesty.

 

Now, if one considers this parable from the master’s perspective, then the focus of this parable is not on the dishonesty of the manager, but on the mercy of the master. This assumes that the master is an honorable man, which seems to be the pattern of the households in Jesus’ parables. The rich master’s mercy to the manager who squandered his estate is parallel to the father’s mercy to the prodigal son who squandered the father’s inheritance. So, the purpose of this parable is actually to reveal the master’s mercy.

 

You see, when the master discovers what the fired manager had done, he is in a bind with two possible options. First, he can reverse the manager’s decisions to properly adjust the accounts. But in doing so, he will receive anger and wrath from his renters and force them to reassess whether he is a “generous and merciful” master. Second, if he lets the adjustments stand, he has further secured the goodwill of his renters. What would be the better option? He chooses the second, which is the obvious choice, so that he would be consistent with his own character. In doing so, the master must commend, and praise, his fired manager for shrewdly managing his personal crisis since the manager trusted the character of his master and staked everything on the master’s mercy. And the manager was not disappointed.

 

It was this fact. Not the cheating. Not the embezzling. It was the fact that the manager trusted his master’s mercy. It was this that Jesus encourages us to imitate in this manager. You see, the manager, though fired, trusted the character of his master and he staked everything on his master’s mercy.

 

So, Jesus is not calling us steal from our boss. He isn’t calling us to play creative accounting games when you pay your taxes. He isn’t calling us to spend more than you make. But He is calling us to know who you serve. Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).

 

When Jesus poses these two stark alternatives, He is giving us wonderful advice. Advice that we must listen to and follow. We can’t have it both ways. No person can serve two lords. In this example, Jesus puts money versus God. Now, money itself is not evil. Money is a means to purchase needed goods and services. But money can become a false god, a false idol. And when money becomes the priority over the one true God, then one has a classic case of mismanagement. When money and possessions become the priority, it is often called “mammon.”

 

Now, “mammon” is not evil in itself, but it becomes evil when it becomes the object of one’s service, or when one worships mammon instead of God.

 

For this dishonest manager, he knew what to do. He knew to trust his master. He had faith in His master. Yes, what he did was shrewd. He was a crook. He was a scoundrel. But for what he had done knowing His master, his master commended him. He praised him. 

 

When his life was falling apart, this dishonest manager knew where to turn. He turned to his master. So, when you don’t know what to do when your world appears to be falling in around you, turn to your Master. And your Master is not cruel and hard, but is rather unusually generous. And when you have been faithful in your use of His money or have been less than faithful by squandering it, or wasting it, or been greedy with it, your Master is still good to you. Your Master continues to love you and sees you through. We are all saved through the generosity of your Master.

 

And your Master is Jesus Christ, who loves and forgives sinners, just like you and me. He gives you more than just earthly wealth and goods. You and I have been bought with a price and not with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with His holy precious blood shed for you and me on the cross to save sinners. He saved us so that you and I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom.

 

So, when you are stuck and don’t know where to turn, if you are too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, don’t defend yourself and try to get out of your mess on your own. Instead, trust in your Master. Have faith in your Master. Like St. Matthew, respond to His calling. Repent. Plead for forgiveness. Receive His absolution in His Means of Grace: Word and Sacrament. For your Master loves you! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord: Easter Sunrise - "Easter Living" (1 Corinthians 5:6b-8)

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

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:

 

Had Christ not been raised, our preaching and your faith would be in vain, you would still be in your sins, but in fact, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!

 

Since you have received forgiveness of your sins, through the Crucified and Risen Christ, the Apostle Paul calls Christians to be Easter people. He is calling us to Easter living. Paul is calling us to celebrate the Easter festival not in celebrating our sins, but as forgiven people in Christ.

 

Through the Holy Spirit, Paul writes, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5b-7).

 

The Apostle Paul fathered the church in Corinth, but this church caused the most headaches for its father. In so many ways, Corinth most closely resembles the western Christian church today. 

 

For the most part, the western Church has deluded itself into believing that the caring thing is to be infinitely nonjudgmental and inclusive. But this is simply a demonic lie. This lie causes the church to allow cancerous abuses to continue unchecked to the point when that cancer takes over the whole body and the body dies.

 

So, what was going on in Corinth? Well, they should have all been ashamed of an incestuous relationship in their midst, but instead, for the most part, the church was fine with it as Corinth took pride in their openness and tolerance. They were complacent about sin. In fact, they encouraged all sorts of sexual immorality, saying, “Love is love.” They were boasting that the forgiveness won for them by Christ Crucified gives them outright permission to do every sin imaginable.

 

To all this pride in sin, St. Paul admonishes them. Paul says to them, “You have the Gospel and you have become Christians, but you are also to live according to the Gospel by fleeing and avoiding everything that is not in conformity with faith and Christian conduct.”

 

In a culture where bread was the staple food, the Holy Spirit inspires St. Paul to offer this wayward church an object lesson: “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:6b-7a).

 

You see, everyone knew how a little leaven would permeate a batch of flour, causing it to swell and rise, ready for baking. At the same time, this powerful ingredient, so useful for baking, also came to symbolize evils which had the power to spread.

 

One of those evils was false doctrine. As it is with leaven, false doctrine works the same way. It may appear like a good thing at first, but quickly, false doctrine takes over and Christianity is lost. As it was for Corinth, they wanted to preach the Gospel of Christ, but mixed with the fallen world. This is the case with the mainline western church today. As the mainline denominations reasoned away Biblical authority, the sinful flesh and the fallen world took over. Truth was lost. 

 

You see, when one begins to give way to the flesh and to abuse freedom, even under the name of the Gospel, then that yeast is mixed into the right Christian conduct and quickly corrupts faith and conscience, it sweeps on until Christ and the Gospel are completely forgotten.

 

If it wasn’t for Paul admonishing the church in Corinth, Christianity would have been lost there. With love, Paul admonished and urged them to seep out this yeast, since the church has already begun to practice all kinds of sinful acts. 

 

With only one drop of poison, sweet wine and medicine are made harmful. Likewise, if only a drop of impurity is added to God’s Word, it is corrupted and it is good for nothing. The worst thing about leaven is that it spreads and adheres so strongly that it cannot be gotten out. It’s like cancer. It needs to be completely removed.

 

So, Christianity cannot tolerate false teachings. If it is mixed with human additions, then it will be obscured and damaged, and souls are led astray. To this, Christ says in Matthew 9:16, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.”

As Easter Christians, faith cannot coexist with living according to the depravity of the flesh in sins and vice against the conscience. In one chapter later, Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, no adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

 

So, as Easter Christians, we must sweep away the old yeast of sin – whatever sins they may be – and we are to teach those in our midst to sweep away the old yeast, those who have given into the devil’s lies. We must teach them and tell them that their old yeast must be swept away and that they are not Christians if they consistently give in to their sinful flesh and purposely remain and persist in sins against conscience. For it is so much worse when sin is done under the Name and cover of the Gospel, for in that way the Name of Christ is slandered and despised.

 

For, if we are Easter Christians, we are “a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must sweep away the old yeast. Being a new dough and letting the old yeast remain is not fitting for celebrating Easter, for if it is not swept out, the new dough will be completely leavened and corrupted, so the previous sinful life would gain the upper hand and overthrow faith.

 

Through the Crucified and Risen Christ, we have become unleavened. Christ says to us, “You are clean because of My Word” (John 15:3), but Christ also says, “Every branch that does not produce fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).

 

It is Christ alone who makes us clean. He makes us clean through the Word and faith. But this isn’t immediate. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ works in us daily to cleanse us until we become purer and purer. He makes us purer through the office of the Holy Ministry with admonition, rebuking, improvement, and strengthening, just as Christ did through St. Paul at Corinth.

 

So, how do we live as Easter people? Well, through the work of the Holy Spirit, He leads us to appropriate and transpose our lives and behavior. Just as was done in Corinth, He does for us! The purity of the Corinthian church was at risk, but the triune God didn’t leave them in their sins. It was the work of God who led them to repentance, faith in the forgiveness of sins, and the new life in Christ. And it is the work of God who leads us to repentance, faith in the forgiveness of sins, and the new life in Christ, too!

 

We must trust in “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2) as He has made Corinth and us a community of repentant sinners who live under the cross of Christ. We have “washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb” (Revelation 7:14). Fellow purified and redeemed, it is un-Christian to tolerate a fellow brother or sister in Christ who shows open contempt for the Gospel by their unwillingness to repent and look for forgiveness to Christ crucified for we are only made holy, redeemed, and clean through the crucified Christ. 

 

So just as Paul exhorted Corinth, he also exhorts us to properly celebrate the fulfilled Passover inaugurated by Christ’s crucifixion and His bodily resurrection! For Christians, Easter is not just today. It’s not just Sundays and Mondays with the mini-Easters of the Divine Service. No! For us, Easter is every day! We are forgiven in Christ, so let us live forgiven in Christ!

 

As we celebrate the new life in Christ, we should no longer be infected by “the old leaven” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) of sin and arrogance. Nor should this new life feature “malice and wickedness” (1 Corinthians 5:8). Rather, we live the new life in Christ with fresh, unleavened bread “of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).

 

In just mere minutes, Christ will give us forgiveness of sins through the Easter Lamb of unleavened bread in the Sacrament of the Altar. We add nothing, except that we receive Christ’s body and it eat it through faith, which Christ bestows to us and gives to us through that eating and drinking.

 

May we always celebrate the Easter festival in sincerity and truth for Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

 

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 2: "Shaped by Jesus" (Matthew 9:9-13)

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:

The Pharisees said to Christ’s disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11)

 

That’s a good question. Why is Jesus – a Jewish rabbi – sitting at a dinner table with tax collectors and sinners? Doesn’t “bad company ruin good morals”? (1 Corinthians 15:33) Could Jesus be there condoning their sin? Well, that is what the Pharisees’ question is implying.

 

I have heard it often said that Jesus “hung out with sinners” or He “hung out with prostitutes” during His earthly ministry. Is that what Jesus is doing here? Is that what Jesus is being accused of by the Pharisees?

 

Yes, exactly! The whole point of the Pharisees’ question was to slander Jesus and His reputation to make it appear as if Jesus tolerated, accepted, and even embraced sinful behavior. But is that what is going on here? Is Jesus tolerating, accepting, and embracing sinful behavior?

 

Let’s go back to what led to Jesus being invited to this dinner with tax collectors and sinners. Earlier that day, after healing a paralytic, Jesus comes up to Matthew as he is collecting taxes at his tax booth. Jesus walks up to Matthew and says two words to him, “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9). Amazingly, Matthew picks up his things and follows Jesus. He didn’t think twice. Jesus spoke those words of invitation and he just dropped everything. Matthew abandoned his business and gave up his livelihood. He was willing to lose his life, so that he may save it. Jesus spoke and Matthew followed without any hesitation.

 

So, just as Jesus invited Matthew to follow Him, Matthew thought it well to invite Jesus to his home for dinner. Jesus brings with Him His other called disciples and Matthew invites over some of his friends and associates. This is where things get interesting. This is where the sinful world latches on and joins the Pharisees in accusing Jesus as accepting sinful behavior.

 

The sinful world likes this Jesus who tolerates and accepts sinful behavior. You see, sinful man would rather shape Jesus than be shaped by Him. Sinful man would rather see Jesus as an apathetic hippie who wandered around Galilee flanked by drunks and hookers. Sinful man imagines Jesus sitting on the roadside making small talk and watching the world pass by. With a Jesus like this, He is no longer the Shepherd, but a sheep. This is exactly the kind of Jesus that Satan prefers.

 

But that is not the real Jesus. Christ came to save sinners and not to lead sinners to eternal destruction in hell. He came to give eternal life, not eternal death.

 

So, as Jesus, His disciples, and Matthew’s other invited guests were eating together, some Pharisees walk by and notice this odd arrangement of people. First off, a respectable Jew would never eat with such people. Afterall, as I said earlier, “bad company ruins good morals.”

 

As the Pharisees were watching this, they made their accusation, but they didn’t have the courage to speak to Jesus directly, but instead spoke to His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

 

Even though Jesus was not addressed directly, He answers them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Jesus is there to treat the sickness of sin, not to condone the sin. Here, Jesus speaks about why He is there. Here is there as a physician. Physicians treat sick people. These people are sick, and their sickness is sin. They are not free of guilt. Jesus is in no way saying that these people are not responsible for their sin. Jesus is there because they are sick and cannot heal themselves. They all need rescuing from their sins.

 

Here, Jesus tells of His mission: “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13b). He has come to rescue every single person from all times and all places of their sin, since there is no such person who has no sin.

 

But who are these people that have caused so much offense to the Pharisees? First off, it’s always good to remember that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23a). But this isn’t exactly what the Pharisees were after. For them, “sinners” were a much narrower group of people. In particular, tax collectors and prostitutes for these were the people who flagrantly and publicly violated the Law of God.

 

You see, tax collectors had the reputation for being dishonest and unrepentant Law breakers, and most tax collectors would scheme on getting wealthier in the process. Pharisees considered them among the worst of sinners, since they were both traitors – in working for the hated Roman government – and liars, since they cheated people out of their money.

 

So, Matthew – a tax collector –was about as likely a candidate for discipleship as Saul of Tarsus, who had taken the lead in the bloody persecution of Christians before Jesus called him and transformed him into one of the pillars of the Church, the Apostle Paul.

 

The sin of tax collectors was greed. They had a reputation for not trusting God to provide, so they just fleeced and extorted the people. They had the reputation as those who had the love of money. For this, the Pharisees considered them among the scum of the earth.

 

What about you? Could you be among these men holding too tightly to your money? We’ve all seen how rising inflation has cut into our income. We can’t get the same value for material goods as we used to. The volatility of the stock market may cause you to worry about your investments and retirement accounts. Money isn't going as far as it used to. You may be feeling anxiety about money: “Am I going to have enough?” When your mind goes there, you begin to hold tight to your money, or it takes hold of you tightly. We sin.

 

Closely related to the tax collectors would be the prostitutes. They too, are considered the scum of society. This sin involves selling your body for money or acceptance or drugs. It could be about anything. But more is going on with this than sexual immorality. Underneath prostitution, we find the loss of the sanctity of marriage. Sex sells and buys, instead of being a sacred gift for a husband and wife.

 

Now, you are likely not a prostitute, but we all live in a time when sexuality and nudity are exploited, exposed, and explicit for us to see every day of our lives. How difficult it is today to keep our desires, our urges, our minds, and our hearts chaste. The internet, movies, television programs, and even commercials, tempt viewers to keep on looking, even fantasizing about what counts as beauty. We are bombarded with these images day in and day out. They catechize us, but in the wrong way. We sin.

 

With the lowest of the low there at the table, there are likely some people there speaking filthy words. Speaking profanity. This is no different than today. Foul language flows into our ears and perhaps flows out of our mouths. What do you say in anger when you lose your temper? How quickly we lash out with mean words, hateful words, words that God never wants us to speak. We sin.

 

There at that dinner table reclining with Jesus are what the Pharisees consider the worst of the worst of sinners. Dishonest men, scandalous women, worriers, and Law breakers. There at that dinner table is Jesus sitting with you and me. 

 

Jesus is there not to accept or tolerate any sinful behavior, but to treat that sinful behavior as any good physician would with any sickness. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13).

 

Jesus is not there to merely accompany them, but to bring them to repentance. He is there to heal their sin. These are all guilty people who want to be rescued. Jesus is there to say, “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15) and “Sin no more” (John 8:11). Jesus is there because these sinners recognize that they are spiritually poor, and spiritually miserable. He is there because they recognize their personal sinfulness and unworthiness. He is there to give them the remedy for their sins: His forgiveness.

 

Jesus is there for the Pharisees too, but they don’t see any need for a physician for their souls. They are so deluded that they don’t think they need to be saved, since they wrongfully regard themselves as spiritual healthy.

 

The Church is the hospital for sinners and not a club for the righteous. Jesus is the Great Physician who knows just what the sick need – His merciful forgiveness. Jesus never came to an adulterer to approve of adultery, or to the tax collector to approve of his greed and corruption. No, He came to purge them of their sins – and us of ours.

 

He came to treat their illness. He came to treat their sin. He listened as they confessed their symptoms, so that He could give them the remedy.

 

The Law exposes that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23a). We deserve only damnation since not one of us is innocent. Thanks be to God that we have the remedy for sin, justification by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus “whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25). 

 

Today, and at each Divine Service, Christ is here for you! He is here in this hospital known as Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. He is here to shape you through repentance and faith. He hears your cry for forgiveness. And He comes with the remedy – His Medicine of Immortality, His Word and His Sacraments. Through these Means of Grace, He gives you food to eat as we inwardly digest His Word and receive His forgiveness through His Body and Blood broken and shed for you, so your sins would be forgiven, and your faith strengthened. Then He says, “Go and sin no more!”

 

Whatever your sin, Jesus has taken that sin to the cross for you. He suffered, died, and rose in your place, so that through repentance and faith in Him, you could receive the soothing remedy of His forgiveness that only the Great Physician brings. Amen.

 

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

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

A Time of Growth

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord!

We have now come to the Green Season of the Church. This “green season” is known as the season after Pentecost, or the season after Trinity.

During this “green season”, like the green plants, this color represents our growth. For us Christians, this color represents our growth in the one, true Christian faith. So, you may notice a change in our church lectionary during this season of growth.

Throughout the Easter season, we read how our Lord Jesus the Christ bodily resurrected from the dead and appeared to many during His 40 days prior to His bodily ascension into heaven (Acts 1) where He promises to return to judge the living and the dead on the Last Day.

Now, during this green season, our Scripture readings have changed. Instead of our readings being only about Jesus, our readings have become about Jesus and us, His disciples.

§  On June 14 (Second Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus called the twelve Apostles and sends them out (Matthew 9:35-10:20).
§  On June 21 (Third Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus tells us to not be afraid and to acknowledge Him as Lord, so He will acknowledge His follower to God the Father, so we would have eternal life (Matthew 10:5a, 21-33).
§  On June 28 (Fourth Sunday after Pentecost), Jesus tells us that by following Him, our closest family and friends may hate us for Christ says, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34-42).

July continues our time of growth. But growing is not easy. Christ never said that being a Christian – a follower of Christ – was going to be easy. Just look back at the Apostles. Was their life easy? By no means. They dealt with persecution and death. But they all never turned away from their Lord Jesus. Instead, they persevered to the end. And at that end, eternal life with Jesus.

A couple weeks ago, I preached on the Epistle reading from Romans 5:6-15 on the Second Sunday of Pentecost. Here, Paul reminds us, who are growing in the one, true Christian faith, that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Here, Paul is reminding the followers of Christ that we all did nothing to receive God’s grace. Instead, God accomplished His grace on behalf of us through His Son Jesus. In the sermon, I focused upon what divides us from God: sin. Sin is all the evil we do in thought, word, and deed. Although, we are sinners, God the Father gives us the cure to get rid of sin. This cure is Jesus Christ alone!

As our sinful nature is full of hate, which leads to all sorts of horrible acts, such as rioting, burning, and looting, the cure for all of us is already here! 

So, each time we repent of our sins to God the Father, we are forgiven through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ alone! The world around us needs Jesus. We all need Jesus!

Thanks be to God, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, so we would have the sure and certain hope of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and salvation!

God’s richest blessings to you!

In Christ,

Pastor Adelsen

Sermon for Pentecost 2: "Peace and Reconciliation through Christ Alone!"

(Click here, to watch the Divine Service for the Second Sunday after Pentecost)

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]

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

These past weeks, we have all seen and heard the turmoil happening throughout our country that all began in our own backyard of Minneapolis.

We have all felt sadness and anger at the death of George Floyd. We have all heard the calls for justice. Many of us here today have called for justice to be served. But, unlike the justice system in television and movies, the real justice system moves slow in order to protect our rights as citizens.

At the same time, some people want justice served now. They see the video footage and they believe that is enough for a conviction in the court of public opinion. Then, we have the agitators who are taking advantage of the situation by rioting, looting and setting fires.

Where do we go from here? Is there any hope for humanity?

On Tuesday, June 2, I witnessed the Glencoe protest along with Pastor Welch and Tori, alongside with us was Pastor Jon Niebuhr and Ted Stroming of Good Shepherd.

I heard much anger as many told of their past encounters with police. I also could tell that they were searching for something. There was a void that was not being filled. In the words of Christ, they were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

I saw them kneel and lay on the ground. I heard them chant George Floyd’s name. I had compassion for them. But, there was something missing. I can tell they were searching. And, there I was in full sight of the protesters holding my Bible.

The Apostle Paul tells us: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

[We are All Afflicted with Sin]

We are all afflicted with the same illness. For the past months, we have focused upon the COVID-19 Pandemic. We have kept ourselves socially distant from one another. We have been wearing masks out of respect and care for our neighbor. But, there is another illness that is much worse than COVID-19. I’m not talking about cancer or heart disease. This illness is sin.

Within the past decades, the culture has tried its hardest to eliminate the idea of sin from our collective conscience. We are told that love is love and that we must tolerate and accept each other. We are told that broken families are normal families. We are told that a celebrity’s word is more important than God’s Word.

But, here we are again. As the culture has attempted to sweep sin under the rug, we see a mountain of sin emerging under that rug.

Our sinful nature has taken over our television sets, our computers, and our tablets. At one click, we see riots here and there. Some of us may actually enjoy seeing destruction. Afterall, that is why the news media continuously airs bad news. This is what is taught in journalism schools. I know since I went to a journalism school and I was a journalist. Bad news sells papers. Bad news brings ratings. Bad news gets clicks.

Apart from Christ, our sinful nature just takes over. This is what Paul is saying. Paul is depicting humanity in starkly negative terms:

• He describes us as “weak” and “ungodly.” 
• He describes us as “sinners” and “enemies.”

We are hostile toward God, since in our sinful nature, we believe we are gods. We believe we know more than what the one true God has revealed to us.

Our whole culture and us here need to repent of our sins against God the Father and repent of our sins against our neighbor. 

Yes, just minutes ago, we confessed our sins to God the Father and we received His forgiveness, but did you confess all of your sins to God the Father? 

• Do you actually fear God’s wrath and avoid every sin? 
• Have you been angry, stubborn, or disrespectful toward those in authority over you? 
• Do you have hate in your heart? 
• Do you have a grudge against someone? 
• Have you been respecting your neighbor’s property and possessions?

And, if you have been able to watch the endless hours of riots, protests, upheld fists, and the confrontation on both sides — without an inch of hatred in your heart, you are only lying to yourself, because that sin exists in all of our hearts.

From catechism class, we should all remember the Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother, which means we are to honor all authorities. This speaks of the authority of family and the authority of the State. But, what happens when this commandment is abused?

Remember, just because the government has the authority to wage war, this doesn’t mean that the government is doing the right thing. So, just because you have authority, this doesn’t mean that you are free from sin. 

You see, the sin of authority can and does do lasting damage. So, if we are abused by a stranger, that is one thing. But, if we are abused by someone in authority, that is an entirely different thing. This could be the same physical damage, but when it comes from a person in authority, this does have a deep and profound wounding experience. This does deep damage.

So, oftentimes, in response to abused authority, we often want to take vengeance against that authority. Now, are Christians to take vengeance?

No! As God says: “Vengeance is mine” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30). So, if we do not leave room for God’s wrath, we are stepping into His authority and into His office. We are placing ourselves in the place of the one true God.

Instead, we are to love our neighbor and to pray for all. The culture says that prayer is a retreat, but in reality prayer is taking the offensive.

God always responds to our prayers! In fact, God tells us “I hear the cries” of my people (Exodus 3:7). These cries are prayer. God delivered the Hebrews from Pharaoh, and He continues to deliver us each time we cry to Him in prayer.

You see, if we take vengeance, instead of prayer to God, Satan works with anger in the conscience. He hardens our conscience against a person or if the sin comes from a person in authority, Satan hardens our conscience against that institution. This feels like righteousness and a good work. But, this is dangerous and Satan knows that. This sin is disguised as righteous indignation. We think that this sin is excused. But, this sin is truly a sin. And, all sin separates us from God.

We all deserve the wrath of God. But God the Father freely gives everyone who trusts in Jesus as Lord His grace! 

God gives us a free solution to every sin against Him — hatred, murder, lust, racism. God the Father’s solution for every sin is Jesus Christ alone!

In His incarnation, Jesus took upon Himself our one human nature. He didn’t pick a certain race, but the human race. By His death on the cross, He redeemed all of mankind. He did not just redeem various colors of mankind, but all of mankind. He paid the price for all of our sins and He is the only thing that unites the human race. 

We cannot unite around slogans, politics, or anything else. Everything else in an effort to unite us, will also divide us — and set us against each other.

The only One who can truly unite us is Jesus Christ, united in His flesh, in His death, in His resurrection, in His ascension, and in the sacrifice He made for us all upon the cross.

[God Reconciles Us to Him]

Look what God does: “For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:10-11).

This metaphor of reconciliation comes from the world of relationships. The earthly context may be between nations, armies, spouses, enemies, or friends. Reconciliation often results in meeting in the middle and compromising by both parties.

With this in mind, we need to be reconciled to God.

But, this isn’t the case with the Triune God. Instead, He came to us! He does all the reconciling, not us! We do nothing! We just receive His grace! For while we were still His enemies, God the Father reconciled us to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ!

You see, God the Father is personal, seeking, caring and forgiving. He reaches out and takes the initiative to restore a relationship that was broken through no fault of His own.

Before the incarnation of Christ, reconciliation in the Old Testament times occurred through a mediator like Moses, who foreshadowed the fulfillment of Christ.

Today, we – who were enemies of God – are reconciled to God “through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10).

Since, we have been bought, redeemed and purchased by God the Father through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, we are now a child of the Heavenly Father!

We no longer have to fear the wrath of God, for by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, we have the hope and assurance of eternal life. We hear and receive this hope and assurance through God’s Word and in receiving Christ’s true Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins that He won for us upon the cross.

[In Christ Alone We Have Peace and Reconciliation]

So, as I asked earlier: Where do we go from here? Is there any hope for humanity?

Yes, we go to Jesus for He is the only hope for humanity! The only thing that unites humanity is Jesus Christ alone!

In response, we pray to God for our neighbor. We pray thanksgivings to God for our forgiveness. We look to God’s Word for examples on how we can have peace and reconciliation with one another.

As Christians, we live in God’s grace. Now, we don’t sin all the more because we have been given grace. Instead, we live peaceably with all, as we thank and praise God for all of His benefits that He bestows upon us. Yes, we continually do fall into the trap of sin, but we repent of our sin and know that we have been reconciled through the blood of Christ. We are to flee to Christ for the forgiveness of all of our sins.

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned … For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many” (Romans 5:12, 15).

We have all received the grace of God and the undeserved gift in grace through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

As sin and death originated with Adam, forgiveness and life abound for all His children through the one man Jesus Christ in what He has done for us. In Christ alone, we have peace and reconciliation! 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