To the Tree [Trinity 8; St. Matthew 7:15-23]

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The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to you saying:

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The very first time all of creation encounters trees, it is a good thing. In Genesis 1, trees spring forth with the rest of the vegetables on day 3 of creation, in which God separated the dry land from the waters below heaven saying, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth….And God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:11-12)

The second time we encounter trees, the situation is not so good. In fact, its downright fatal (Gen 3) as Eve strove with the serpent and lost, condemning us all to a life of sin and death. Before you judge Eve, the temptation was not just to eat, it was to take what God had not given her to eat, in effect attempting to make a place where she was god and He wasn’t.

Thus it was, that the Tree in the garden of Eden stood not just for food, but as the spot for Adam and Eve to worship God by hearing His command and obeying. And we know from our Catechism, that where the Word is preached and heard, that is the holy Sabbath day; that is the Church. The first sin made on a tree was against both God and Church.

Just as abundant as water, bread, and wine is in the Bible, so are the references to trees. This may be not so odd to you as you have grown up with an abundance of trees. In every kind of environment, there are trees, so you would expect them in Bible stories, no? But too bad the Bible is more than a story for bedtime.

Let’s jaunt through the Bible quickly. We’ve had trees that raise sunken ax heads at the command of Elisha when he threw a branch in to the river where the ax head fell (2 Ki. 6). We’ve heard of trees that make water sweet at Moses speaking when he threw a branch into bitter water in the wilderness for the people of Israel (Ex. 15).

There are also not so nice trees in the Bible. Trees are also for hanging people on as punishment, as the Lord commands Moses to do in Deuteronomy 21 saying, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree...cursed is he who hangs on a tree” (v.22-23). Joseph also encountered this when he had a dream about the imprisoned Baker for Pharaoh and his coming death saying, “In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you” (Gen 40:19) 

There are trees for kings and trees for false gods. So much do we idolize trees that we say to them “...‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For we have turned our backs to God, and not our faces. But in the time of our trouble we say, ‘Arise and save us!’ (Jer 2:27) The false gods of this life have taken our loyalty. Just as Adam and Eve hid behind trees in the garden, we too hide from God behind whatever is at hand, usually a tree.

Like children who are playing hide and seek, a tree become a sure defense in times of strife. We find shade in their leaves, strength for our houses, and fruit from their labors. Even though that is a real threat of danger from a fall, or a toppling over, or from bad fruit, we still cling close as if our life depended on it.

And apparently it does. For, along with bad trees, there are good trees. Trees of hope that, even if cut down, will sprout again, says Job (14:7). Trees that the Lord cares for personally in Psalm 104:16: “The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly.”

The more we hear of these trees of the Bible, the more they begin to take on human characteristics. Trees do not have morality, so how can we speak of trees being bad or good? God beings to blur the lines as in Psalm 1 saying, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (V.1-3)

Again, in Proverbs 3, a tree, even the tree of life, is Wisdom, whom those grab a hold of. Therefore the trees of the Bible become something more than trees. Able to move around, give hope, and offer security. 

It is of no surprise then, that we encounter another tree when God is made man. Jesus speaks to us today in the Gospel saying, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Of course we all think He is referring to the Israel that rejects Him, here. But, according to Scripture, He is also referring to Him Whom Israel rejects: their own Christ. Yes, it is in Christ that the blurred lines between man and tree disappear. Not in a genetic sense, but in a sense of purpose.

It is to this revelation that Jeremiah speaks and prophesies: “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” (11:19)

Now, all of Scripture points no just to Dendrology, but to the coming of the Savior Himself. For the tree we are presented with is the tree of the cross. The tree that, to the world produced no good fruit and was deserving of being cut down. A tree that held no real support and comfort for sin and death and, since these are deeply ingrained in us, we must reject it and throw it into the fire. In sin, we must declare this holy tree dried up and fruitless, burning it away and burying it in the tomb.

And God said, “And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” (Eze 17:24) 

Once again, we see things through sin-corrupted eyes and get things backwards. The low trees of the earth we call high, or heavenly. The dry trees, that are not gods to protect us, we call green. But the Lord sees all things true and calls things like they are. The earthly trees, though they provide food, are pale and sickly and are only good at the command of the Lord.

The heavenly tree is the true tree that provides life, light, and salvation. Where good fruit can only sustain until the next meal, the fruit of the true tree is made sweet amidst bitterness, gives live in the midst of death, and raises Wisdom from the depths.

The dry tree that removed all life from Jesus is made into the green tree of our salvation. The low tree that humiliated the God of the universe is made into the high tree that redeemed all mankind from their sin.

This tree, upon which hanged the Son of Man, is now the new place of worship, even for Adam and Eve. Here, the Lord’s command is the same as Genesis, to hear the Word. But the threat of death has been removed; paid for. No longer do we hear, “you shall surely die”, but instead, “Father forgive them.”

Never did a tree so fulfill its eternal purpose as the one that supported Jesus at His crucifixion. And never did trees teach so serious a lesson to us as how to see through false prophets and diseased trees. If Jesus is not there, its not right.

Thus, our Lord began this road of salvation, creating all things, both physical and spiritual. And He ends the road the same way, in the God-man Jesus Christ. The unification of the spiritual and physical. Using both spiritual and physical means to save His people and guarding them in His Church until He comes again.

It is not that every tree you interact with is now the tree that held Jesus. But now every time you see one you should be reminded of what Christ did for you, just as every puddle, shower, piece of bread, and gulp of wine should force the cross to the front of your vision. The Lord is not far. He is in the means of the Spirit and in the Tree of Life which was buried and three days later rose again, for you.

And then in the end we expect yet another tree. A tree “…through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, [even] the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2)” The fruit of which shall have no end and shall satisfy even the hungriest recipient.

Ashes to bread [Trinity 6; St. Mark 8:1-9]

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The Anti-Law [Trinity 6; St. Matthew 5:20-26]

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Jesus speaks to you all today saying,

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

You would think that the Ten Commands, which we heard in our Old Testament, would be coupled with the Gospel where Jesus is asked what the greatest command from God is. Then you would expect Jesus to tell us to love God and love our neighbor. That would make more sense to me.

You would also think that God would keep His own commands that He gives to us. You would think that there would be no other gods in the universe, if He’s the only one, so that He wouldn’t say things like, “I have said, Ye are gods.” (Psalm 82:6) If we were not supposed to make graven images, why would He say, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole.” (Numbers 21:8)

It even seems as if the Sabbath day is of no great importance for, “...therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” (John 5:16) 

Should we respect or disrespect our parents? Jesus says to call no man on earth “father” (Mt. 23:9). He also tells a young man who wants to follow Him to leave his dead father to bury himself (Mt. 8:22).

To kill or not to kill? God is infamous for ordering the deaths of so many people in the Old Testament, even causing the prophet in Ecclesiastes to famously say, “A time to kill and a time to heal” (Ecc 3:3). 

What are we to do with the book of Hosea and adultery? God says, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (Hos. 1:2) 

Is stealing ok? “Israel will go out and ...will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.” (Eze. 39:9-10)

Is lying ok? “[Jesus said] Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast. ... But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.” (John 7:8-10)

Though it says not to covet, Jesus says, “And he said to them, “I have earnestly coveted to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Lk. 22:15)

If this has shaken you, then you don’t know your Bible as well as you thought. Or maybe you do and have just glossed over these parts and filed them under, “No one will ever ask me these questions”. And yet, these places are exactly the parts of the Bible that have turned people away from church and why the pews are so empty today, because no one was there to give a proper answer. 

We take the ten commandments up to such a high level, wanting them in schools and courthouses, that we think that if everyone knew about them, could just see them, and follow them then the world would be so much better. We would place them in front of everyone, or else.

And yet even before this, we have to deal with how the Jews dealt with these commands, because they would know better since they received them first right? For the Jews, the ten commandments were not ten commands, but 10 words., This is the literal translation of both the Old Testament Hebrew and Greek of Exodus 20.

Thus they have 10 words, but only 9 commands, for the first word is God declaring Who He is and what He has and will continue to do. So they have the same numbering as we do, but instead make the focus of the commands God, instead of what we do or don’t do.

And yet this is still only half-way to actually understanding what these commands and words are trying to get across to us. But this is as far as sin will allow us to come, for to understand these words as anything other than the demands of an angry god is far beyond our frail tools of comprehension.

If the world does not teach us this by its endless war and raging, then we who call ourselves Christian, certainly do. For when these commands enter our hands, they become sword, mace, and cudgel. We take them up as our own personal crusade from God and swing them around, assailing ourselves and those around us, forcing them to submit, or else.

For that is all there is to these commands on the surface: a command and an implied threat. You shall have no other gods, or else. You shall not murder, or else. You shall not covet, or else. In wielding this sword of God’s words we become even more barbaric than those religions of war that we say we hate.

So what do we say about these most holy words from our Lord? That they are evil? That it is sin to obey the Law? No the Word of God is holy. It is the only weapon we have against the devil, the world, our sinful nature, and all evil thoughts. It needs to be our main occupation, what we talk about, and meditate on. Anyone who knows the Ten Commandments perfectly knows all of Scripture. Never stop until you have taught the devil to death and become wiser than God and all His saints.

The Law is good. You are not. You are not worthy of being conformed to the image of the living God and yet here it is that the first word of God is, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Saying to us, remember all that the Lord worked out in Egypt all for your sake. All the wonders, all the plagues, all the miracles. If the same Lord that did all that is giving the commands, then it will be all right somehow.

And not just somehow or someway, but through this righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees. And just what is this righteousness? Well Abraham believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteousness. Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness. So we see now that, since “...one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” (Rom. 5:18)

This means, quite simply, that the same Law that is very holy also condemns Jesus to hell. Yes, the Lord your God who has brought your forefathers out of Egypt and of slavery can also bring you out of the slavery of your own Egypt of sin and death and the inability to follow the Ten Commandments.

Much less understand them! You think God can’t follow His own Law, yet in Jesus we see the perfect fulfilling of this strict, demanding lifestyle handed down by God’s own hand. Which leads directly to the Son of God also being given to us by God’s own hand. 

And it is this Son Who does not just come to tell us to worship the true God, but shows us exactly what that means by becoming obedient to Him, even to death on a cross. In not taking the Lord’s Name in vain, not only does Jesus get charges for blasphemy, but comes to fulfill God’s word, not just do away with it.

He fulfills the Sabbath day by giving mercy. He honors His Father and mother by winning salvation through His Body and Blood. He does not murder, but allows Himself to be murdered. He does not commit adultery, but has one wife, the Church. He does not steal, but pays for His own Creation in blood. He does not give false testimony, but bears all false testimony against Himself. He does not covet, but creates that which He desires, that is faith.

Thus, this exceeding righteousness and perfection that Jesus demands is Jesus Himself. It was always the plan to crucify Jesus. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, to put Him to grief (Is. 53:10). It was even always Jesus’ plan to be crucified, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame. (Heb. 12:2)

And here is the second point: it is not you up on the cross. It is not you who are being brought up on charges of not following God’s Word. It is not you suffering and dying for your faith. It is not you being liable to hell fire for your anger, because you are not worthy to bear that image. You are not worthy of being crucified, but you are being conformed to this image.

Such is the force of the small church phrase, “In Christ”. In Christ does not simply mean the power boost you get from God to push through any given situation. In Christ is taken in the Church to be literal. In the Epistle reading today, St. Paul proves this point. 

We have already seen that God’s Righteousness is Jesus Himself and therefore the righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees is only found in Christ. So in order for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must have that righteousness. And the only way to get that righteousness is to be in Christ and the only way to get “in Christ”, is to be baptized.

And baptism is not a work of men, but a work of God. The suffering and crucifixion is not a work of men, but a work of Christ. Therefore you are buried in Jesus’ tomb and have died Jesus’ death all because of your baptism. In Christ, you are dead to sin and since the strength of sin is the Law, you are also dead to the law.

Yet, in this gift of faith and salvation you also have new life in Christ’s resurrection. You have been raised from the death of your own struggles against God’s Law and also those in your own life. Your body of sin has been brought to nothing. Trial and tribulation are now a sign that God is with us, not against us.

Because now, having been found in Christ, we add “In Christ” in front of each commandment. They then become not something we must do, but something Christ has done for us.

So we hear Exodus 20 in Christ’s light:

In Christ, God spoke all these words, saying,

“In Christ, I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“In Christ, You shall have no other gods before me.

“In Christ, You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 

In Christ, I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

In Christ, You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

In Christ, you Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

In Christ, you Honor your father and your mother.

In Christ, You shall not murder.

In Christ, You shall not commit adultery.

In Christ, You shall not steal.

In Christ, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

In Christ, You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

In Christ you have found the narrow gate that leads to life. In Christ you have found the fruit that leads to your sanctification. In Christ, you have found the peace that passes all understanding even in a world full of struggles and sufferings that we don’t understand. But only as much as we don’t understand the reason for God having to hang on a cross. Yet this He does, all for you.

Hope denied, hope given [Trinity 5; St. Luke 5:1-11]

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In the Hymn of the Day, sung today, you hear Jesus speaking to you saying,

“Nor think amid the fiery trial

That God hath cast thee off unheard,

That he whose hopes meet no denial

Must surely be of God preferred.”

What we will be doing today is keeping the words of our hymn of the day in the front of our brains as we ponder the Gospel reading in which the Disciples haul in a great catch of fish. It is because the words ring very close to what is happening, as it should if its the Hymn of the Day. In singing, “He whose hopes meet no denial must surely be of God preferred”, we see these hopes come to pass in the great catch of fish. Perhaps...

Surely you can agree. The disciples spent all night hoping to catch fish. This grand hope was not to make them rich or gain them any fame or notoriety, but simply to care for and feed their family. It is a hope that Creation will work like it is supposed to and provide sustenance and product for these business owners, in the form of fish in water. Or in this case, out of water.

I’m sure St. Peter would have been singing our Hymn of the Day afterwards, but probably not before. However, I am absolutely positive that those Jews who were well off, not dependent on fickle bodies of water and weather, and not living from paycheck to paycheck would be singing this stanza over and over again. Indeed, we have already heard the cry from those people, when they said, “Blessed are those who will eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.” Suggesting that we can know who will be eating in heaven by what they are eating on earth.

What we don’t like about this part of God’s Word is that St. Peter did NOT catch anything. He was all out of hope. He had no doubt that there was no longer any God in Zion watching out for His people, because St. Peter’s nets, and the rest of his company’s, were empty after struggling all night. Thus, he and his employees sang a different tune from their own history during the time of Elijah, “The deeps afford no water and the rivers are exhausted.” In other words, God has forsaken us.

Fast forward to the time of the creation of our Hymn of the Day. Mister Georg Neumark, at 20 years old and fresh from his higher education in Germany, makes a journey of 152 miles only to be completely cleaned out by bandits. Unable to find work, he goes another 172 miles north, in December, to the city of Kiel, because the friends he had made brushed him off.

Yet, it was there that he found a friend in the local Lutheran pastor and, hope against hope, Neumark was given a top position as family tutor of a rich judge at the recommendation from the pastor. Upon receiving this appointment, Neumark’s relief was palpable and like St. Peter, burst out in a new song, praising God instead of cursing Him.

If this seems just about right to you, I’ve got some bad news. Its not right. There are two things wrong here. One, that people are cursing God and two, that there is a reason to curse God. It is sinful to only turn to God when things are going well, as St. Peter and Mr. Neumark have done. To be sure, you must give thanks to God for all things, but even evil people receive income to survive, no matter if it comes in the form of a job or a catch of fish.

Even though Neumark wrote thusly of his hymn: “Which good fortune coming suddenly, and as if fallen from heaven, greatly rejoiced me and on the very day I composed to the honor of my beloved Lord the here and there well known hymn; and had certainly cause enough to thank the divine compassion for such unlooked for grace shown to me”, like all good prophets, he did not know the greater importance to his words.

In this case, the line, “he whose hopes meet no denial must surely be of God preferred” are not simply pointing to earthly, temporal hopes. For, these we know are just as fickle as water, weather, and bandits and change with any passing season or fad. St. Peter and Mr. Neumark had many hopes in their lives lost and destroyed before one stuck, but what is the one that stuck?

For both, it was the same hope, but we’ll get to that afterwards. For now, it is St. Peter that teaches us and in the beginning, he calls Jesus master. And it is only in the Gospel according to St. Luke that Jesus is ever referred to as such. So we look to the Old Testament and find that this word is invariably linked to someone who is set over laborers or slaves to ensure work is accomplished. In Exodus 1:11, the Egyptians were “masters” set over the Hebrews to afflict them with burdens.

What does this mean? This means that Jesus is being looked at as one who creates burdens and we would agree. Life is hard work and there doesn’t seem to be any relief for us in sight either. So even though St. Peter has heard Jesus call Himself God, he still thinks that God only gives hard work, especially right after a failed 24-hours of fishing.

In our sin, God is our master. He is there to speak and we to obey. He is there to call out and we are there to follow orders. He is there to make life whatever it will be and we are there to plod along like good lemmings. This would certainly invoke curses from anybody, even a true believer.

And yet, Mr. Neumark sings about hope and we know from Ps. 71:5 that God is our hope. But how can God be our “master” and our hope. It sounds counter-intuitive and it is, but only as counter-intuitive as the resurrection.

Because here it is, in Psalm 22, that we find God praised as the hope of the Psalmist and yet the entire psalm begins with lambasting God for forsaking him. God is our master, demanding impossible tasks of us and yet declares to be the easy yoke. But this contradiction is only possible because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You see, our hope is not just built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness, our hope is Jesus’ blood and righteousness. It is Jesus Himself. St. Peter and Mr. Neumark were not just hoping for a favorable outcome to the lives they were living. They were hoping and praying for a Savior to rescue them from such a life that inflicts such hardships upon people.

St. Paul clarifies this in Romans 5 saying: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame” (v.1-5)

He also says in Chapter 8: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (v.24-25)

St. Peter rejoices at the catch of fish, not because he can now keep his doors open for another day, but because a man, Who is standing in front of him, has just commanded the dried up sea to produce in abundance. A man that looks like him, smells like him, and talks like him has spoken but one word and made all the fruitless labor of St. Peter’s hand an overflowing cup of salvation.

Christians don’t really rejoice in moments of God’s seeming intervention of joy and comfort in life simply for the sake of joy and comfort. We rejoice in the fact that there is a God Who was made man that covers all our sin and gives us the hope of a better eternity by His side.

A master is not a master because he does the work of keeping his own law. A preposterous proposition. A master is a master because he orders others around. The fact that God Himself comes down as a man, born under the law, in order to fulfill it, is very backwards. Yet in the case of the one, true God of all things, we see this is true. Jesus has come not to be served, but to serve and offer His life as a ransom for many.

“Our hope for you is unshaken,” says St. Paul, “ for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” (2 Cor 1:7). Jesus Christ shows that hope is alive on Easter, because Easter means resurrection for all flesh, not just those who are well off and well-to-do. The death of Jesus Christ our Lord we celebrate with one accord; it is our comfort in distress, our heart’s sweet joy and happiness” which we sing in LSB 634 written by Mr. Spegel, alive around the same time as our Mr. Neumark. 

Thus we find that our hope is the God-man Jesus Christ, Who suffered and died for us to show us He cares for and loves us. Now the master who demands perfection, is the same master Who purchases and wins that perfection for us, on the cross. Now the master who overloads our workload, is the Master to bare all our burdens, on the cross. 

So that when we return to our Hymn of the Day, we find a much truer meaning to Mr. Neumark’s words. For instead of “hope for a good life”, we sing for “hope for an eternal life”. Instead of “hope for easy street”, we sing for “hope for streets covered by the Blood of the Lamb”. It is in this Jesus-centered hope to which God will not deny us anything, even up to His entire Kingdom!

So how do we know we have this hope and are preferred by God? It is in your baptismal date, engraved in stone, when Christ entered your life and gave you faith to hear and believe that the hope He reveals on Easter, is now very much your own hope. And this hope, God will never deny you.

Body of comfort [Trinity 4; St. Luke 6:36-42]

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Jesus speaks to you today in the Gospel, saying,

“Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”

The joke goes: I used to think the greatest organ in the body was the brain. Then I realized who it was telling me this. For some of us, the brain is the most wonderful. It can think, it can rationalize, it can do wonders. Mind over matter, for example.

For most of us, the opposite is true and we find the mind to be one hidden trap after another. Leading us towards the inevitable dementia, Alzheimer’s, or any number of other mental diseases that would disqualify us from owning a gun.

There are four words that no one wants to hear, especially from their own brain: “please let me die”. We don’t want to hear them because they are a sure sign that the person uttering them has given up. They are confessing that the struggle is too much for them, battle has drawn on too long. 

We don’t want to hear them because they hurt us, especially if its from our own mind. “Us” who are still able to move around and do things. “Us” who are still energetic enough to work and drive and sit comfortably for more than five minutes at a time. For us who are able, giving up is not an option.

We would rather that they are having trouble not judging others or not condemning others or forgiving others. This is because we can recommend a book for each one. There is a class for learning how not to judge. There are feelings to be sought out in not condemning others and there are Bible lessons on how to forgive. 

Are you blind? Just as good! We can get you a seeing eye dog, a cane, and make it so that you can safely walk around the city with noise-making crosswalk signs. I can see so I can help you. Life will be grand with both of us and everything will be ok. The seeing will lead the blind and we will not fall into a pit.

But the words “please let me die” do not have any manual, or class, or sympathy to recommend fixing the problem. No amount of not-judging, or not-condemning, or forgiving, or being able to see will solve the problem that these 4 words present.

When our Lord commands us in His Gospel heard today, our response is immediately: “Point me towards my judgement, Lord, that I may eradicate it” or “where do I condemn and not forgive enough, that I remedy such error on my part” or “just tell me how to see again and I will do whatever you ask”. 

We rush to the sector we think is bringing down our Lord’s judgement upon us and start shoring up the defense. Jesus says, “here” and we move there. “Here” “Here” “Here”. We’re tiring but Jesus doesn’t slow down. “Here” “Here” “Here”. If we could just take a break. Here here here. Just a second to catch our breath. Here here here here here here.

Instead, Jesus shifts into higher gears: “Blessed are the poor”, Jesus says. That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not poor. I thought I was doing ok. Blessed are the hungry. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the hated. Just when we think we are getting ahead of Jesus’ commands, He turns a corner and demands that instead of accomplishing, we should be languishing and regretting even thinking that our hard work could stave off dying.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Tim. 4:3). Our own itching ears don’t want to hear that our bodies will eventually betray us and disable us. They don’t want to hear that no amount of “not judging” will get us out free, neither do we want to hear that Jesus is the One who judges.

Church history teaches us this lesson. For, in our study of the first 500 years of the church, the bishop’s have done nothing but battle over the two natures of Christ and how they relate to us. The fight was over whether or not Jesus was God, man, a mix, or something different.

It turns out that our beloved Nicene Creed was the thing to save us. For in it we learn that Jesus is of the same substance with the Father and yet was made man. No mixing or mingling, just the mystery of the God-man, Jesus Christ.

This is important because God has a body just like ours, but without sin. And He made our bodies for us, not so they could fall into sin, decay, and death, but so that they could live with Him forever.  

By becoming man, He takes all our sin upon Himself, even the sin we feel there is no escape from or even sin that we think is unforgivable. For it is these bodies that will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The mortal shall become immortal. The perishable, imperishable. 

Thus, the main idea in today’s Gospel is mercy and forgiveness, but since we cannot even restrain our judgement, this mercy and forgiveness must come from somewhere apart from our failure. For what is the measure we want to be measured with when we come in front of the Judge? Not ourselves, but The cross.

It is the suffering and dying of Jesus that shows us what true mercy is: forgiveness. It is the judgement of Jesus in front of the world that shows us what true judgement is: forgiveness. You get the picture. We want the cross and nothing else to judge our deeds.

Jesus shows us this is two instances. The first is Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and her hair. The Pharisees are grumbling and denying Jesus’ divinity, but Jesus turns to St/ Peter and says: “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” (Lk. 7:41-42) 

It is in life where, when we examine ourselves according to God’s Word, we find an enormous ineptitude in following Him. And since that ineptitude is so enormous, it is that exact proportion with which we love our Redeemer in return. Our debt piles up, but our moneylender in heaven is full of forgiveness. 

Thus even if our minds betray us and lie to us, forgiveness is greater than that lie. Even if our life is failure at doing good and success at doing evil, there is forgiveness for that. Life is a series of events in which we become like our teacher, who is Jesus. 

And that Teacher suffered, but was brought into glory; everlasting glory. That compared with temporal suffering is insignificant. For, “...not only does creation groan, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom 8:23) We wait, but we wait in hope. The hope that our groaning will only last a short while.

But we must wait with Jesus, Who shares our humanity. We must bear our cross to be found a good and faithful servant. And we must bear it in these bodies that get tired, get hungry, and get worn out. Though our bodies betray us, our Savior does not. He keeps His promises and His Word is true. 

So even though the devil, the world, and our sinful nature mean nothing but evil for us in our bodies, God means it for our good. He will provide for us and our little ones, in His Church, that many will be saved and brought to new life.

Forgiveness, not condemnation [Trinity 1; St. Luke 16:19-31]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus says,

“Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.”

Even our bulletin cover betrays us today, as we contemplate the Gospel according to St. Luke. For on it, we see fear and fear leads us to focus on the rich man going to hell: what sent him there, how he got there, and what we can do to not go there. Thus, even Christians will present their belief as simply, “well, you don’t want to go to hell, right?”

This is no witness to the Christian faith. This line of thinking only leads us to the life of the rich man and neglect of our neighbor. If our only mode of accessing the Christian faith is “how not to go to hell”, then our worldview turns very black and white and all we see are those going to heaven and those going to hell. And of course, those going to hell aren’t worth our time, right Lazarus?

And it is not just that we take time out and care for the poor and those who need our help in our community. Those should be things that are our default positions. No one should lead a luxurious life, nor live in worldly pleasures and perpetual feastings, nor should he be a slave of his lusts and forget God (Against Heresies, p. 464). For, as Isaiah says, “They [drink wine with] lyre and harp, tambourine and flute ...at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands.” (Isa 5:12)

Again, here is godly fear that the Lord employs in order that we not be like these men, showing that if they had simply obeyed Moses and the prophets, they would believe in Him whom these had preached, the Son of God, Who rose from the dead, and bestows life on us.

But what are the deeds of the Lord and the works of His hands? The prophets and the Psalms are quick to praise the Lord for creating all things. Those are the easy things, although not many people believe that these days.

And even though these things were continually in front of their noses, I mean what on earth isn’t, God still says, “But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel...but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did...Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.” (Ps. 106:13, 35, 39)

We have learned from the nations, from the unbelievers, to do their works. Their works of unchurch. Their works of unworship, unprayer, and unthanksgiving. So it is that we find condemnation from Jesus, not because of works, but because of unbelief. “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (Jn 3:19)

So the rich mans works and deeds were evil enough to land him in hell, but Lazarus’ deeds were sufficient enough to bring upon him the furnace of poverty, hunger, and distress. So it is with the sinner. His works, by their very sinful nature, take him away from the Lord’s work. Simply acknowledging God’s handiwork in creation is not enough.

The works and deeds of the Lord are for Jesus to accomplish as He says (Jn. 4:34). And we already heard last week that the works of the Lord are far above us and our ways. In light of this, we must wait for God to show us His works. He must be the one to reveal them and tell us that these are His works and no one else’s.

So we wait on Jesus and see what He does, since the works of God are His alone. Miracles are not enough. His work is to suffer and die for us which is the only true work of God.

In our Epistle, St. John tells us that we have come to know and believe that God loves us and that He is love itself. That perfect love is given to us, for free, and in this perfect love we can have confidence for the day of judgment. Meaning, Christ has taken that judgment upon Himself already in His suffering and dying.

Abraham feared that the Lord would not be able to keep His promise to give him a son, in the OT reading. The Lord basically said to Abraham that Abraham will not be the heir, neither will his relative, because Abraham feared and did not believe. Instead a son that is not afraid, shall be heir. Not Isaac, but a son of Abraham none the less.

That son, the true Son of the Father, is one Who will not only create numerous offspring of Abraham, but also count our belief as righteousness. In fact, the Lord is in the business of belief and confession (Ps. 111:3). Which finally are His works for us.

In fact, you may ask Him directly if you don’t believe me. Ask what must you be doing to be doing the works of God. Jesus answers you, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

Belief. Belief is the work of God. The work that God gives you to do on this earth, in this life. Belief that there is a true Son Who is heir to an eternal throne. Belief that God created all things. Belief that there is a perfect love given to you, for free. Belief that there is a spot at Abraham’s bosom reserved just for you.

Here is the real Gospel. That you are Lazarus, just as Christ was Lazarus on earth for you. Despised, forsaken, rejected. In the furnace of God’s wrath because of sin. But, because of Jesus’ belief and Jesus’ faith, Lazarus’ sins are not counted against him. They are removed from him as far as the east is from the west and because of that hidden grace that does not look upon outward appearances, but on the heart, Lazarus is carried to eternal peace.

The Christian does good to all, because all good has been done to him. The Christian should not be so quick to point out hell, as he should be to point out forgiveness and heaven to those who do not yet believe, because forgiveness and heaven have been given to him for free.

In the resurrection, because of your belief, you will receive good things many times over the amount of bad things you had in this life. Because of Jesus, you will not only receive eternal peace, but such a great chasm has been erected so that there will be no danger of you losing it. This is the Good News.

Not my words [Trinity; St. John 3:1-15]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Who speaks to you all today saying,

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

If anyone were to come up to you, uninformed, or even you have doubts yourself, as to whether or not the Divine Service is a work of men instead of a work of God, I submit for your approval the Call of Isaiah, in chapter 6 of his book. This Divine Service Isaiah has been made a part of is the work of angels.

The similarities are that the Lord fills the space, He is with angels and archangels, the song is the Sanctus, holy holy holy, there is the Lord’s house, there is confession and absolution, there is an Altar, and there is communion.

But all that doesn’t matter, does it? I mean, just listen to St. Paul’s words in the Epistle reading. No one can know God. He is unsearchable. He shows up on no intellectual radars. His mind is a closed book. His needs are all hidden and He has no lack of anything. How can you be so uppity as to pretend that you have a handle on what the Lord is doing in Isaiah?

All we need is God’s holiness. All we need is His majesty. All we need is His omnipotence. And you know why that’s all you think you need? Its because then you are right and are called by God on your very own holy crusade. Yes, because your God is the one in charge and you are His faithful hound, then whatever you do is justified and forgiven, no matter who you steamroll.

This is what we all mean when we say, “Its God’s will”. This is what we mean when we say, “God is in charge”. Nothing bad will happen to us and our plans and even if we encounter sadness on the way, that is just God’s way of showing that we are the chosen one to carry out His will. Too bad for those of you with little faith.

And what does this kind of attitude lead to? Who are the types of people that spout this type of nonsense? We call them fanatics. We call them zealots, bigots, and hypocrites. If this is all we are garnering from Isaiah 6, then we are no better than them. Worse, we use this “favor” from God to justify interpreting the Bible however we want, completely removing Jesus from Isaiah 6.

You do not have to take my word for it. Neither do you even have to take any Lutheran’s word for it. Even before there was a “lutheran”, Isaiah 6 had been nothing but Isaiah meeting Christ and offering the Divine Service. Beginning immediately in the New Testament, St. John tells us that Isaiah saw the Lord’s glory here (Jn. 12:41), just as we have seen His glory as of the only-begotten of the Father (1:14) in other words: Jesus.

Even before this, Zechariah likens the burning coals to Jesus saying, “Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?” (3:2). Moving ahead to the 4th century AD, St. Cyril comments that when the angels say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord”, they are referring to the Trinity. The three, holy holy holy, in One, the Lord.

St. Chrysostom says that God does not sit, so what or who was Isaiah looking at on the throne? St. John already answers that question in Revelation saying that the creatures of heaven never stop singing the Sanctus to Him Who sits on the throne, Who of course is the Lamb that was slain (rev. 4:6-9, 5:13).

Finally, St. John of Damascus speaking from the 7th century, says, “Wherefore with all fear and pure conscience and certain faith let us draw near and it will assuredly be to us as we believe. Doubting nothing. Let us pay homage to it in all purity both of soul and body: for it is twofold. Let us draw near to it with an ardent desire and with our hands held in the form of a cross let us receive the body of the Crucified One: and let us apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divine coal, in order that the fire of longing, that is in us, with the additional heat derived from the coal may utterly consume our sins and illumine our hearts, and that we may be inflamed and deified by the participation in the divine fire. Isaiah saw the coal. But the coal is not plain wood but wood united with fire: in like manner also the bread of communion is not plain bread but bread united with divinity. But a body which is united with divinity is not one nature, but has one nature belonging to the body and another belonging to the divinity that is united to it, so that the compound is not one nature, but two.” (Exposition of the Orthodox faith, Bk IV, Ch XIII).

So now what do we do? We have not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament, and the Church teachings from the first 800 or so years after the Apostles all telling us that something more is going on in this event with Isaiah. In fact, you may rightly conclude that Isaiah has been taken up into the Divine Service that goes on in heaven for all eternity.

I don’t make any of this stuff up folks. I don’t sit in my study and think of how to sell my make-believe stories about what the Apostle’s doctrine is. I’m not buying into the “gifts of the spirit for home use” self-help books, and we don’t take spiritual gift inventories for this reason: You don’t find any of that in the Bible or history.

Thus, as a called and ordained servant of the Word of God I am constrained by that Word to preach and teach. Meaning, only what is found in there. And as we have just discovered, what is in there is God’s glory of His crucified Son and the Spirit’s glory of the one, true Church. That’s it.

So we either accept and believe that the history of the Church has been kept holy by the Holy Ghost Himself or we can reject it and find ourselves opposing God. St. Cyprian also says, “There is no salvation outside the Church”. Likewise, “He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.”

In this way, very conveniently, we find gathered all that is necessary for our salvation, as we talked about at Pentecost. We find knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, fortitude, fear, and wisdom. We find the Word Incarnate, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, sins forgiven and sins reproved, pastors called and ordained, public and intelligible prayer, praise and thanksgiving, and the cross.

The gifts of the Spirit are the gifts of Jesus. The gifts of Jesus are the gifts of the Father. The vision of Isaiah is the vision of the Church. No higher and greater calling does a Christian have than to receive the good things the Lord of hosts comes to give.

Jesus is born of the flesh and the Spirit. He is high and lifted up on the cross. So now the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God has been made man. His judgments and His ways are the way of the cross. His mind and His counsel are set on forgiving sins through means.

Truly, God is with Jesus. Truly, truly the rebirth of water, fire, and Spirit is purchased and won on the cross and given freely in the Church. We can’t help but be caught up in the times and history that we live in and we did not choose the Way, the Way chose us. But the One Who put us on this path and the One Who keeps us on this path is none other than the one God in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.