Sermon for Lent 5: "The Rejected Cornerstone" (Luke 20:9-20)

 

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]

 

“The Stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

 

Recently, I came across an article about a new Bible.

 

It reported: “Zondervan Publishing has announced a new Bible with micro-perforated, completely removable pages. This new edition of the Scriptures would allow Christians to remove doctrines, verses, and entire books of the Bible they find unpopular or inconvenient.”

 

“Don’t like some of the heavy-handed calls to repentance, whether in the New Testament or Old? Now, you can just rip that page out. The bottom line is, if you stumble across a snippet of the Word that’s hard to swallow; now you can just get rid of it.”

 

Also, according to Zondervan, the Bible will also ship with a quick-start guide for Christians, indicating which pages they should remove right way.

 

Does this article shock you? Well, it should. But, the good news is that this is from the Babylon Bee, a Christian satirical website, but this article does hold some truth. You see, deleting portions of the Bible for convenience is actually happening. Our sinful nature wants to put itself above what God says. Our sinful nature wants to be in charge, rather than repent of our sins against God. Our sinful nature wants to reject God.

 

[What Authority?]

 

During His earthly ministry, many people rejected Jesus. Today’s gospel lesson tells of some of the people who rejected Jesus — in particular the Jewish authorities, which included the chief priests, scribes and elders.

 

Rejection is nothing new for Jesus, for He had sent the prophets of old to preach repentance and prepare the Jewish people for His coming. These prophets faced rejection, ridicule and sometimes death, because many of the Jews did not care what God had to say.

 

Eventually the promised Messiah came and He faced the same rejection.

 

You see, the Jewish authorities loved the influence they had over the Jewish people and they didn’t appreciate it when anyone shook their apple cart of power. This is why the Jewish authorities hated Jesus. They did not want to lose their power over the people. It was never about God. It was all about them.

 

So, one day as Jesus was publicly teaching in the temple many of the Jewish authorities showed up including the chief priests, scribes and elders who came up to Jesus and publicly criticized him saying, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority!” (Luke 20:2).

 

That is to say: “Who are you?! And, who taught you?!”

 

You see, the Jewish authorities were really upset that any Jew would listen to a rabbi from the backwoods town of Nazareth, rather than listening to them. They felt threatened. They saw their power dwindling from them as more people were flocking to Jesus. They needed this Jesus stopped by any means necessary.

 

So with these Jewish authorities present, Jesus took this opportunity to teach everyone a parable.

 

Now, this parable left no one guessing on what it was about, because everyone knew.

 

Jesus began saying: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while” (Luke 20:9b).

 

Then time came for the owner of the vineyard to send servants to the tenants so the owner could get some of the fruit of the vineyard. But these tenants beat each servant and gave them nothing.

 

Eventually, the owner sent his son and thought the tenants might respect him. Instead of respecting the owner’s son, they thought: “This is the heir! Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours!” So, they threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.

 

Knowing what was on their hearts, Jesus looked right at the Jewish authorities and asked them a rhetorical question: “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” [Pause] “He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

 

This fueled even more hatred at Jesus. “How could this Nazareth know-it-all say this about us?! What gives him the authority to call us out?!”

 

Then Jesus spoke again looking directly into the eyes of the Jewish authorities. “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Luke 20:17-18).

 

[Cornerstone]

 

Now, what exactly is a cornerstone? Well, this is a stone that is placed in the most prominent corner of a building. It also serves as a reference to all the other stones or bricks.

 

When the hearers heard this, they knew that the stone is Jesus and the builders are the Jewish authorities. Here, Jesus is saying that His rejection is how He will become the cornerstone and that God’s glory will be manifested in His rejection.

 

In saying this, Jesus is also implying that these Jewish authorities are godless. Since they have rejected the beloved Son, they have also rejected the owner – God the Father. Jesus is telling everyone that these Jewish authorities only think about themselves and never about God.

 

Because of their rejection and unbelief, the power of the Jewish authorities is about to be broken to pieces under the rejected Stone.

 

In his parable, Jesus reminds everyone that it was God who planted the vineyard and that it was God who established Israel as His people.

 

God never asked the Israelites to volunteer to become God’s people, instead He just chose them and not because they were godly. God chose Israel so He could set His love upon them.

 

The only thing God desires from Israel is their repentance, but Israel struggles even with that. Instead of repenting of their sins against God and giving thanksgiving to God for all they have, these Jewish authorities continue in sin and only praise each other.

 

They kill prophets when the prophet tells them to repent. They kill the owner’s Son in hopes of taking all authority.

 

[Today’s Parable of the Wicked Tenants]

 

This parable also speaks of today. You see, we still have wicked tenants. Instead of Jewish leaders, we have Christian leaders. Today’s wicked tenants again make it about themselves, rather than Jesus.

 

This is prominent among the leadership in today’s mainline Christianity as their leaders have moved their people away from Christ’s teachings and instead show favor to man’s teachings.

 

They refuse to recognize that today’s vineyard is built on the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Instead, they say things about the Bible such as “That was then, this is now” to justify their false doctrine. And if they cite Jesus, they only focus on what they perceive as a good teaching. They use their opinion to say if a particular part of Scripture is true or not.

 

This is sin. This is breaking the First Commandment, since they are placing themselves above God.

 

[We Can Become the Wicked Tenants]

 

It’s not just those religious leaders, but us, too. We also sin and want it our way, rather than God’s way. So, like the wicked tenants, we are just as likely to reject Jesus.

 

We may take offense to what Jesus says about abortion, co-habitation, coveting, homosexual lifestyle, or even that unbelievers are damned. How can this be? I want to say Jesus loves everyone just the way they are.

 

Well, Jesus does love us, but He doesn’t love our sin. You see, the power of sin separates us from God. Repentance, on the other hand, shows that we desire to be closer to God.

 

This is what Jesus is teaching in His parable. He is teaching that we are to listen to God’s Word, rather than follow man’s sinful desires. Jesus wants us to be prepared, so that when we hear false doctrine that we do not run toward it and accept it, but instead challenge the false doctrine with God’s unchanging Word.

 

[Christ Alone]

 

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus is the rejected son of the parable. Jesus is the cornerstone that the builders rejected. Jesus is the owner’s son who was thrown out of the vineyard and killed.

 

The Jewish authorities rejected the prophets. They rejected Jesus. Likewise, when we desire to do the opposite of God, we have rejected Jesus.

 

As those unbelieving leaders rejected Jesus, their authority crumbled, but the cornerstone remained.

 

Jesus tells us, “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Luke 20:18).

 

Everyone will be broken and crushed, including those who believe in Him. For everyone must deny their sinful desires and fall into the brokenness of repentance in order to be raised again as new beings – the living stones of Christ – as the temple of God.

 

We must realize the brokenness of our sin against God in thought, word and deed. We must repent of those sins, so Jesus can raise us up to complete forgiveness.

 

You see, Christ — the cornerstone — builds up all believers through Law and Gospel. Christ is the cornerstone and we are His church. As His church, we are dependent on Christ. He holds us together as living stones to Him as He restores us in Word and Sacrament.

 

When we sin against God, and repent of that sin, Jesus again restores us as His living stone. Jesus alone holds us together as our one foundation and He strengthens us constantly when we repent of our sins and receive His forgiveness.

 

But as much as Christ loves those who love Him, this is the opposite for the unbeliever. Instead of restoring them, they are crushed under the weight of the Cornerstone.

 

Christ knew He would be rejected, but this did not stop Him from saving the entire world. Why us? We don’t deserve saving. We would rather disobey God, rather than obey God. Why would He take our flesh and die? This is truly love unknown to us. He was rejected and yet He still loved us to become the eternal sacrifice for our sins as He was killed outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was then that He took on our filthy sin and made every believer in Him clean in righteousness through His suffering, death and resurrection.

 

God the Father even shows mercy to those who reject His Son, by giving them the same grace when they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus.

 

Through Christ’s resurrection, all who believe in Him are raised up as living stones of His Church. We are given all the benefits as a beloved child of God.

 

We are righteous, because the rejected cornerstone laid down His life for you and for me. We are righteous, because through His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven, God the Father has given us the vineyard! 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

Sermon for Lent 4: "Unconditional Love" (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)

 

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:

[Wandering Away]

On a cold February night in 2001, one-year-old Ericka somehow wandered out of her house and spent the entire night outside. When her mother, Leyla Nordby, found her daughter, she appeared to be totally lifeless. Her legs were stiff and her body frozen, and all the signs of life appeared to be gone.

Ericka was treated at Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Health Center. To the amazement of doctors, the toddler showed no sign of damage. They gave Ericka a clear prognosis; she would soon hop and skip and play like other girls her age.

Some of us have wandered away from our Father’s house, and it has brought us near the point of death. Our hearts have hardened, and our spiritual bodies look as lifeless as the little girl in the snow. But our Father knows we are missing and He is searching for us. He can take our lifeless body and restore us to health.[1]

It is only God the Father who can pick us up and bring us back to His house.

[Amazing Love]

This morning, we heard about God the Father’s amazing love for us in our gospel lesson. It is no wonder that the Parable of the Prodigal Son has become a favorite of Christians.

How many of us forgive one another without any conditions? But this is what God the Father does for us and we are to do the same with our family, friend and neighbor.

We forgive, because God first forgave us through His Son Jesus, when Jesus took on our sin and made us righteous through His suffering, death and resurrection. God did not have to do any of this, but He did it out of His love for us.

But for us, it is often our sinful pride that gets in the way of forgiving others. We want to lord it over each other. We like that power.

The same goes if we are the one repenting of our sin against our family, friend and neighbor. How many of us fear that we will not be truly forgiven by the other?

So, today, we hear again about God’s amazing and unconditional love for each and every one of us as Jesus tells us the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

[The Parable of the Prodigal Son]

As the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled about Jesus saying: “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-3).

So, Jesus began speaking the parable of God’s unconditional love as He spoke about a father and his two sons.

The younger son wanted his share of the inheritance now. He couldn’t wait to get away from his family. He wanted to live his own life on his own.

So, his father gave the younger son his share of the inheritance and his son leaves into the far country.

Now, the entire Jewish community would have been aware of this, so this event would not only be known to the family. As was tradition, one would receive their inheritance after the father would have died, not while he was still alive. People would know. People would talk. People would wonder where the younger son went.

Also, the process of disposing of the estate would have been difficult for the younger son in a community that would be completely opposed to the prodigal’s request. At the same time, the community would be equally shocked at the father for even allowing this.

So, the prodigal son would have had to cut a quick deal with someone unscrupulous enough to help a young man turn his property into cash. So, it is likely that the prodigal son went from person to person to turn his inheritance into liquid assets so he could go to that distant country where no one would know him.

I’m sure he was turned down time after time as community members displayed public disgust at him. Some people may have just displayed amazement, others horror and others flat out rejection of him.

But in the end, this prodigal son was able to turn his inheritance into cash as he moved away from his family and started over.

After some time living in luxury, the prodigal son eventually spent his last penny. He squandered it all in reckless living. He had no plan on growing his wealth, but instead spent every last cent.

Now, we don’t know exactly what the prodigal son did with his money. All we know is that he was reckless. We also know that he was only thinking of himself. He had only his own best interest in mind, even though his interests ended up costing him everything.

So, in just a matter of time the prodigal son went from no worries in his life with his inheritance to being penniless and hungry.

Then he hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country — a Gentile — who hired him to feed the pigs.

If he wasn’t already at rock bottom, he is now there. He is a Jew working for a Gentile. On top of that, he is a Jew feeding pigs. This is the lowest of the lows. He is not only rendering himself unclean and outcast, but this shows how far he has sunk in his own personal demise.

He is feeding unclean pigs and yet, he wishes he was an unclean pig, so at least he could eat. He is longing to feed on the pods that the pigs ate, even though it would be unappetizing and lack the nourishment he truly needs.

He has lost it all. He is scraping by through feeding pigs. And, the only friends he has left are the pigs he feeds. At least the pigs cared for him, in as much as they could.

The prodigal has no real friends and he has alienated his family and his community with him only thinking of himself.

He then comes to the realization that his father’s servants have it a million times better than he has it now. The servants have plenty of food. The servants have clean clothing. The servants have a safe place to sleep at night.

Here is when the prodigal becomes determined to come back home and repent of his sins. So, he begins practicing what he is going to say to his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am not worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:18).

I wonder how many times it took him saying that repeatedly to get up the courage to make his journey back. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. His pride had fallen.

So, while the prodigal son was still a long way off from knocking on his father’s door, his father sees him coming.

You see, ever since the prodigal son left, his father has been searching for him. His father never gave up on him. His father searched day after day in hopes of finding his lost son and bringing him home.

As soon as his father saw him, he began running toward his son and once he met his lost son, he hugged him and kissed him. His son began to speak his prepared speech to his father, but his father didn’t care what he spoke. All he was thinking was that his lost son “was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found!” (Luke 15:24 and Luke 15:32).

I’m sure this catches the prodigal son off-guard. He wants to work off his debts, because he is the cause of his miserable sinful condition against his father and against heaven. He came back not to be called son, but to become a servant. He is a true outcast, just like the tax collectors and sinners who were coming to be near Jesus and to hear Jesus speak.

In the first century, repentance was seen different than today. In that time, repentance was understood as a human work with conditions, terms and reparations. Repentance was something that humans could initiate outside God’s initiative. This is why the prodigal son wished to work off his debt as a servant.

But instead, his father does something radical: He forgives his son without any conditions. His father reinstates his lost son as his son. The lost son has been given the dignity and status as son.

His father calls the servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” (Luke 15:22-24).

[Continuously Searching for the Lost]

This parable displays God’s unconditional love for all of us. God the Father is always searching for everyone on this earth when they wander off in search of their own desires.

Many times people wander off because they feel that the church is too judgmental. Or they seek another church that appears to free from judgement – a church that pleases our itching ears, instead of being fed with God’s truth, which afflicts and comforts. This is similar to the prodigal son, who wanted it his way. Until he realized that his way was getting him nowhere.

For it doesn’t matter what you do. God will forgive you when you repent. You could quit coming to church for decades, you could murder a person, you could ruin another person’s reputation, you could steal property from your neighbor, you could be engaged in a sinful sexual lifestyle, such as being gay, lesbian, transgender, or even watch pornography. It doesn’t matter if you lie, cheat and steal. For as long as you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus, you are forgiven by God the Father. No conditions, just love and forgiveness.

Yes, you may still have to face consequences in this life, but in the life to come, you are forgiven. Your sins are wiped clean!

This is truly amazing unconditional love. You see, God the Father is continuously searching for the lost. We see that especially in Luke 15 where Christ teaches us three parables where God is searching for the lost. He is searching for anyone who has wandered away from His presence with the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost son — the prodigal son.

[The Older Son]

At the same time, when God the Father forgives the lost and brings them back into his flock, we — who have been loyal — may sometimes feel like the older son in this parable.

When the older son heard the celebration for his lost brother, he was upset. He was angry.

He was likely thinking the following:

Why should this lost son be rewarded? Why haven’t I been rewarded for my loyalty? Where is my party? Why don’t you remember the sins that my younger brother committed against you? My younger brother spent his inheritance on sinful living! Why are you throwing him a party?!

We may become like the older brother when we see a person we know who has committed public sins be forgiven. We may take offense to that, like the Pharisees and scribes.

But, everyone in Christ receives the same inheritance. It doesn’t matter if you sinned against God in thought, word and deed all your life and repent on your deathbed, or if you live your entire life in repentance. We all receive the same reward. We all receive salvation.

[Unconditional Love]

The one true God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — does not put conditions on His love for you and for me. He loves us all! He only desires that each one of us repent and trust in Jesus, for He alone gives us forgiveness. We do struggle with forgiving others. We struggle with forgiving and forgetting.

It is only God who unconditionally forgives and forgets our sins. 

We were all lost when we were born. But, we were found when God drowned us in our baptism as we died to sin and rose to new life in Jesus.

Now, some of us know others who have wandered from the one true Christian faith, but God the Father is continuously searching for them and He never gives up.

For it is God’s desire that no one perishes into damnation, but that everyone is saved through His Son Jesus, who gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we would be found and forgiven through His death and resurrection. We are given God’s unconditional love by grace through faith in Jesus.

As sinners, who need forgiveness, Christ forgives our sins at each Divine Service with confession and absolution. Better yet, Christ even throws us a party – a foretaste of the feast to come – when we receive His very Body and His very Blood, which forgives our sins and strengthens our weak faith in the Lord’s Supper.

Because we are forgiven and reconciled through Jesus – who took on our sin and punishment to make us righteous – we too are to forgive one another as we have been unconditionally forgiven by God. 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

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[1] 1001 Illustrations that Connect (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 244.

Sermon for Lent 3: "Repent, or Perish" (Luke 13:1-9)

 

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:

[Warning of Ezekiel]

I hate to break it to you, but today’s Christians are no different than the First Century Jews, or really even the Fifth Century B.C. Israelites.

We, like the Jews before us, cry out: “The way of the Lord is not just!” (Ezekiel 33:17)

Why can’t I do what I want?! I’m not hurting anybody!

So, instead of reading God’s Word as it is – God’s Word for us. Many times, Jews then and Christians today wish to “improve” on God’s Word, by making it “more friendly” to outsiders.

But, how does God respond to this?

“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11a).

As Christians, we are to turn back from our evil, sinful ways and warn other Christians against evil. If we don’t warn others against evil, we will be counted among the evil, even if we believe we are living a godly life.

Recently, our brothers and sisters in Christ of the worldwide United Methodist Church met for a special conference in St. Louis. This conference was all about interpreting God’s Word.

One faction spoke with the vigor of Ezekiel to remain faithful and penitent to the church’s teachings. This faction, which was primarily African, proposed the “Traditional Plan,” which kept with the church’s teachings on sin.

The other faction cried out like the unrighteous Jews of Ezekiel’s time: “The way of the Lord is not just!” This faction, which was primarily American, proposed the “One Church Plan,” which aimed to redefine sin and especially say that all sexual lifestyles are pleasing to God.

The vote at this special conference went in favor of the “Traditional Plan,” however the “One Church Plan” crowd said they would vigorously continue defying God’s teachings on sin and sexuality – this is two-thirds of the delegates of the United Methodist Church in the United States, including the bishop that represents the Minnesota Conference.

Sadly, the divisions within the United Methodist Church could easily happen within our own church body – the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. We are sinners, too, and many times we want to live our lives our way, rather than God’s way.

The Lord tells us all: “I will judge each of you according to his ways” (Ezekiel 33:20b), but also know that if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live. (Ezekiel 33:19)

[Call to Repentance]

Today is the Third Sunday in Lent. We are making our way throughout our Lenten journey. Throughout this journey, we are reminded that none of us are perfect on our own. We are all lost and condemned sinners. We need to repent of our sin. We all need a savior so we can be forgiven.

In our gospel lesson this morning, our Lord and Savior Jesus teaches us that each and every one of us needs to repent, or else we will perish.

And true repentance isn’t being sorry for just getting caught doing the wrong thing, such as getting caught lying or getting caught cheating.

Today, Jesus is teaching us about judgement and forgiveness for the penitent.

So, what spurred Jesus to teach about judgment and forgiveness this morning?

Well, there were some Galileans who believed that some other Galileans must have really sinned badly against God, because Pilate sent his troops into the temple area to murder them as they brought their lambs for the Passover Seder.

What happened was the blood of the people was mixed with the blood of their lambs, which is to never happen. This violated all holiness codes.

These Galileans thought this tragedy happened to those people as a divine punishment for specific sins.

So Jesus responds to their concern saying: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-3).

These Galileans who questioned Jesus likely hoped to get some strong rebuke against Pilate and Rome, but instead Jesus gives them just the opposite to what they were looking for.

You see, Jesus sees this tragedy in a religious context and speaks not of the sin of Pilate, but of the sin of the Jews.

But, what did these Jews do to deserve this massacre?! They were just bringing their sacrifices to the temple!

Where is the all-loving Jesus that we often hear about in our culture? He isn’t here. In fact, Jesus loves by teaching us the truth. And sometimes, the truth hurts.

Jesus teaches us that these Galileans were no more sinners than any other Galilean, but that every one of them must repent for they all have sinned against God in thought, word and deed.

The same goes with us. We call out the speck in our neighbor’s eye, but ignore the log in our own eye. We all have sinned. We are all heading down the wrong road apart from God.

Our only way of survival is to repent and believe that the kingdom of God has come in Jesus.

[Tower in Siloam]

If the Galileans still didn’t get it. Jesus brings up another recent tragedy.

These Galileans suffered a tragedy caused by a human event by the command of Pilate. But, Jesus brings up the 18 who died in a tragedy of a natural cause.

Jesus said: “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

The tower collapse in Siloam evidently lacks political or religious overtones, but Jesus describes it as a sign just like the deaths at the temple.

Jesus is not saying that “they must have deserved it,” but rather, “We all deserved the same.” Because of our unbelief, we all deserve destruction and death.

For the Triune God: sin is sin. There is no ranking of the worst sins to not-so-bad sins.

Jesus speaks twice in our text, “I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5).

Through His repetition, He means that repentance is of the first importance as a follower of Christ.

[The Fig Tree]

The One true God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, but there will come to a point when the unrighteous will perish.

Jesus tells us this parable of a fig tree planted in the vineyard as an illustration of this.

A man said to the vinedresser, “Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” (Luke 13:7).

The vinedresser responded saying, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (Luke 13:8-9).

Here Jesus is reminding us that God is patient with His people, but only for a little while longer.

So, there will come a time when God will cut down the unrighteous, impenitent tree from the vineyard.

With this in mind, we may ask ourselves this question: Am I bearing fruit?

Think of it this way: a plant must receive enough water and sunlight or else it will surely die. Like plants, we must receive nourishment for our faith, or else our faith will shrivel up and die. So, how does our faith bear fruit?

Our faith can only bear fruit when it is fertilized through hearing God’s Word and receiving God’s Sacraments. And, the only place this always happens is right here in the Divine Service where we receive forgiveness and strength for our weak faith through hearing God’s Word, receiving absolution and receiving the Lord’s Supper. Here is where God nourishes our faith and then our faith sprouts fruit.

From God’s nourishment, we grow in the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

This parable shows God’s patience for all of us as God gives us the opportunity to repent from our evil ways, and thus be forgiven through Christ.

The focus of this parable is on whether there will be fruit before the removal of that tree.

For those who remain fruitless will face the judgment when Christ returns. They will be cut down. They will perish.

But, for those who receive God’s nourishment in Word and Sacrament, they become the fruit of the tree! They will receive eternal joy! They will receive the kingdom of God!

[Jesus Provides a Way Out from Perishing in Sin]

Jesus is calling us to live our lives in repentance. We will step into sin from time to time, because of our fallen nature, but we are to repent of that sin and follow Jesus.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that “God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This way of escape is only through Jesus the Christ. Without Christ, we are trapped in the bondage of sin, death, hell and Satan. But in Christ, we receive forgiveness, life and salvation.

You see, God the Father has given us a way out from our tree being cut down and thrown into the fire and that way is through His only begotten Son, Jesus.

Jesus provides us a way out through Him fulfilling the Law. Jesus provides a way out through His suffering and death. Jesus provides a way out through His resurrection and ascension.

By grace through faith in Jesus, and remaining true to God’s unchanging and loving Word, we are forgiven. We are righteous. We are children of God.

But, when we turn from God’s unchanging and loving Word, we are turning from salvation and toward damnation. However, God gives us time to repent, but how much time?

Thanks be to God that when we repent and follow Jesus as Lord. We will never perish! We live! We are immediately seen as righteous! All that we did against God prior is erased! It’s gone! We are seen as God the Father sees Jesus: perfect in every way.

And in case there are any doubts: Again, God forgives our sins and strengthens our weak faith at each Divine Service. He does this through holy absolution, hearing the Word of God and receiving the Lord’s Supper. Here is where God puts fertilizer on our faith as we grow as fruit in the one true Christian faith! 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

Sermon for Lent 1: "Championship Fight" (Luke 4:1-13)

 

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:

[Intro]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

In this corner, weighting in at 126 pounds and wearing red trunks we have the Featherweight Champion of the World, Satan!

In the other corner, weighing in at 215 pounds and wearing gold trunks we have the Heavyweight Champion of the World, Jesus!

The winner of this bout is who creation is to trust and worship.

Now, let us have a fair fight.

Does this sound fair? The Featherweight Champion versus the Heavyweight Champion?

Well, what if I told you that it was the Featherweight Champion who challenged the Heavyweight Champion to this fight?

You see, this Featherweight Champion believes he has a legitimate chance on defeating the Heavyweight Champion. Will this be a fair fight? Well, you know Satan has something up his sleeve, so to speak. Could it be brass knuckles? Could it be a low blow? He is prepared to win at any cost. In fact, the only way he could win is only by deceiving the rules. He can only cheat.

[Round One: Seduction]

Immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove and the voice of God the Father proclaimed about Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22), at this moment Satan challenged the Son of God, Jesus, to a fight. This fight was over who has the power. This fight was over salvation or damnation. This fight is between Satan, the Great Deceiver, and Jesus, the Redeemer of the World.

For forty days in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Jesus took blow after blow from Satan. Jesus took lie after lie from Satan.

As true man, Jesus became hungry. After all, he had not eaten for 40 days. Who wouldn’t be hungry?

So, Satan attempts to seduce Jesus with round one of the championship fight.

“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3).

As true man, Jesus must eat bread. He must eat something or else he would surely die.

But Jesus responds to Satan: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4).

In the case of Adam, the first man, he ate of the forbidden fruit when seduced by Satan. But, as for Jesus, the Second Adam, He did not succumb to the seduction.

Jesus lives by the Word of God. He is the man, the Son of God incarnate, who is the Word of God. Jesus is the bread of life from heaven who came to feed the people of Himself.

This first temptation of Satan aims to seduce Jesus into being content to repeat the miracle of manna in the wilderness, instead of offering up Himself as the Bread of Life.

Satan loses round one, but on to round two.

[Round Two: True Worship]

Then Satan took Jesus and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Satan said to Jesus, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7).

To anyone else, this sounds like a great offer. But, this is coming from Satan.

Satan is promising Jesus that “authority” and “glory” will be His if the Son of God would only worship Satan. The problem is that Satan’s promises are hollow. Adam and Eve found that Satan cannot deliver on what he promises. The only “authority” Satan has is over a fallen world, estranged from God. To worship Satan would mean to lose the authority and glory of being a child of God.

Satan desires to be worshiped, even though he has no authority.

So Jesus responds, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’” (Luke 4:8).

You see, “authority” and “glory” of man is to worship and serve the true God. To worship any other false god would be usurping God’s own authority and glory, and thereby losing all authority and glory.

Jesus picks up on the theme of worship and proclaims that true worship is to worship the Lord God. You see, true worship is not conditional. God freely gives out His grace and is then worshiped.

So, Satan loses round two, but on to round three.

[Round Three: Prove it!]

Then Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11).

Now, having twice been bested by Scripture, Satan now appeals to it. He now has the audacity to teach the Son of God from Scripture. However, this is a cheap and deceitful imitation. Here Satan quotes from Psalm 91, but leaves out the phrase “in all Your ways.”

You see, Satan knows Scripture. He knows it so well that he can misuse and misapply Scripture to make it sound like God’s Word, even to the most devout Christian. Satan has never stopped doing this through centuries of false teachers who have led Christians away from salvation in Christ alone.

Again, Jesus bests Satan in round three when He says, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12).

Unlike Adam before Him, Jesus has not wavered with Satan’s temptations. Unlike Adam, Jesus responded to each temptation perfectly. Jesus won this bout for us – for you and for me.

[Our Christian Life]

Once Satan realized that he was getting nowhere with these temptations against the Son of God, he departed until an opportune time.

You see, Satan seeks opportunities to tempt us into following him, rather than the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Martin Luther writes of this in his Large Catechism.

“Such is life that one stands today and falls tomorrow,” Luther wrote. “Therefore, even though at present we are upright and stand before God with a good conscience, we must ask once again that He will not allow us to fall and collapse under attacks and temptations.”[1]

As Christians, we face temptations every second of our day. We face temptations from the flesh, from the world, and of course, from Satan.

Our flesh lures us into unchastity, laziness, gluttony, drunkenness, greed, sexual sins, deceit and deception.

The world drives us to anger and impatience. We long for luxury, honor, fame and power.

Then comes Satan, who baits and badgers us on all sides. Satan’s purpose is for us to scorn and despise both the Word of God and the Works of God and to tear us away from faith, hope, and love, and draw us into unbelief and false security. Satan wants us to deny God and to see sin as good.

Every Christian is attacked by our flesh, the world, and Satan. As long as we live in this sinful world, we are attacked, hunted and harassed on all sides, we are constrained to cry out and pray every hour that God may not allow us to become faint and weary and to fall back into sin, shame and unbelief.

Because of Jesus alone, God gives Christians power and strength to resist these attacks, even though the attack is not removed or ended. For no one can escape temptations and seductions as long as we live in the flesh and have Satan prowling around us.

We will suffer these attacks, but realize that we are not alone.

To experience attacks is quite different than consenting to the attack. Some people may have more frequent and severe attacks than others.

§  Some people are attacked chiefly by the flesh: We want what we want now.

§  Some people are attacked chiefly by the world: We want to be honored.

§  Some people are attacked chiefly by Satan: Did God really say?

Or, it could be a mix of attacks.

But, no one can be harmed by merely experiencing an attack. We are only harmed if we consent to these attacks and then give free rein to our flesh, the world and to Satan.

So, Christians must be armed with God’s Word and expect every day to be under continuous attack. We are to live our lives knowing that Satan’s flaming darts are flying right toward us, but it is by grace through faith in Jesus that He is fending them off.

If we attempt to help ourselves by our own thoughts and resources outside of Christ, we only make the matter worse and give Satan a wider opening.

Remember, Satan has a serpent’s head, so if he finds an opening into which he can slither, his whole body will follow. It is only Jesus who can resist Satan’s power and drive him back.

[If Jesus Lost?]

So, what if Jesus lost this championship fight?

If Jesus succumbed to any of Satan’s temptations, we would have been lost in our sins. This would have reversed the order of the kingdom, placing glory before suffering.

[Jesus Won for Us!]

However, Jesus showed that suffering must precede glory.

Satan departed after round three of this championship fight, but he promised to return at an opportune time.

Satan returned again when he deceived Judas Iscariot into turning Jesus over to the Jewish authorities on that Maundy Thursday. Here again, Jesus was faced with the temptation to abandon His vocation as Christ, the Son of God.

Instead, Jesus remained true to His Word even when He forgoes the protection of the Father and angelic armies as He was beaten, whipped, spit upon and pierced with nails through His bones upon the wooden cross.

Jesus was not rescued from the cross, but died a shameful death on that Good Friday. At that moment, Satan believed he had won the championship fight.

But, God works all things to His purpose. Three days later, Jesus gave a knock-out blow to the powers of our flesh, the world, and Satan when He rose from the dead three days later, as He said He would.

Through His resurrection from the dead, Jesus has proclaimed victory for all time to all who believe and trust in Him as Savior and Lord! Through our baptism into Christ, we receive Christ’s victory – forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation! We are renewed in Christ’s victory each time our sins are forgiven in Word and Sacrament!

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Through Jesus, “the valiant One,” we have conquered the fight! Satan “can harm us none, He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him.” “Our victory has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.” This is most certainly true. 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

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[1] The Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), 453.