Robbing God: The 7th Command [All Saints' Day]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Revelation 7:9-17

• 1 John 3:1-3

• St. Matthew 5:1-12

In the Name…

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account”

 

On this the morning of All Saints’ Day, greet your Morning Star, O people of God: Jesus Christ. All you whom the darkness frightened with guilt or grief or pain, God’s radiant star now brightens and bids you sing again. None of the ghouls and specters of the night held any power to rob you of God. For this day, we focus our thanks on His promise of security from theft. “I give them eternal life”, Jesus says, “and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand”. (Jn 10:28)

 

We remember all saints as the Reformation has passed us in the night. As in, the struggle is coming to an end and there will be a time without the night, where no one will ever be able to take the Gospel from us, and where our joy will never be stolen.

 

As the 7^th Command goes, “You shall not steal”.

What does this mean? “We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

 

Number 1, The three ways this commandment may be broken are by dishonest price gouging (does that mean there’s honest price gouging??), borrowing and not repaying, and expecting daily bread without daily work.

 

It is in the second table of the Law, Commandments 4-10, where God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  He first protects their person and office in the Fourth, their lives in the Fifth, their bodies in the Sixth, their possessions in Seven, Nine, and Ten, and also their reputation in the Eighth.  

 

If we actually and truly loved other people, we would sell to them or buy from them honestly and fairly. No double standards. We would regard their property as private. What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. And we would talk about them kindly. God forbids us to steal and sinfully desire, or covet what others have.

 

A pretty straightforward, easy lesson. But, don’t think the sermon ends that easily, because God always has a wrench waiting to thwart our plans. In this case, our wrench comes from Malachi 3:8-9. It is in that place that God accuses His Old Testament people of robbing Him.

 

He says, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”

Now you must deal with your apparent, human ability to steal from God. Does this mean God has taken out a loan that we can charge Him interest or maybe raise His taxes? No. Notice where God says that the robbery is taking place: on earth, in His Temple, in His Divine Service, through the tithes and offerings.

 

Jesus says a similar thing to St. Paul at his conversion in Acts. As you may remember, Saul was persecuting and murdering Christians after Pentecost. He was on his way to more 5th-commandment-stuff, when Jesus knocked him off his high horse and declared that Saul was persecuting Jesus, teaching us of the intimate union between Jesus and His Church.

 

So at this point we must ask again, what does it mean to steal?

Think of it this way: if you steal something from a store, what has happened? Yes, you have stolen some good or product that you didn’t pay for, but that someone else had to work night and day for. Now step back to a little bigger picture.

 

Now, you have declared the shop owners’ stuff as your stuff. That you are more deserving of it than him, thus coveting his things. In stealing, you have not just broken the 7th Command, but 9 and 10 as well. On top of that, what kind of store does everyone else think it is now? A store worth stealing from and not patronizing regularly. You have destroyed his reputation. 8th command.

 

Ultimately, you had to think and believe so little of your neighbor that you deem his person and work not worthy of honor, 4th command. And by proxy, the God Who made him, not worthy either. This little 7th command you thought was so harmless, that you pulled on its string, breaking it, you found it attached to the Almighty Himself. A sin against your neighbor is a sin against God. 

 

In the fulfillment of the 7^th Commandment, Jesus does not permit stealing, because not only are all things His things, He made everything, but also all holiness is His holiness, He sanctified all. He has chosen to cause His Name to dwell in a certain place and a certain time with a certain people. Jesus, in grace, has exposed Himself to thievery.

 

And much was stolen from Him over the millennia. Honor, worship, praise, offerings. Many have done evil in His Name, many have worshipped demons in His Name, many have attributed words and values falsely in His Name, and many have sacrificed satanically in His Name.

 

Much was stolen when He was walking around with His Apostles on earth, as well. Mainly, faith. “O ye of little faith”, is one of Jesus’s favorite phrases. Not “O ye of little miracles”, or “O ye of little political backing”, or even “O ye of little blessings”. It is always a matter of faith.

 

Jesus has allowed His honor and His Name to be drug through the mud. He has become as one Un-blessed for the purpose of purchasing and winning blessedness for all who are baptized and believe. He has secured His Pearl of Great Price, His Word and Sacraments on earth, and locked them up in His Church. The key is His cross and the safe, His Blood. This is why Jesus can say, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ON MY ACCOUNT”

 

For not only has He covered your sinfulness, paid for your death, and become your substitute in God’s wrath against your allegiance to the devil, but He has united Himself to you.

 

This union is called the Personal Union. It is the phrase used to describe one thing and two. That Jesus Christ is one person in Whom is united eternally God and man. And, by default, since we are men, then our union with Him: He our Head and we His Body. In this Way, His Work, we are called Christians, or little christs (Acts 11:26).

 

Our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions; therefore, we are to guard against all kinds of greed (Luke 12:15). In Christ, our life does consist of the abundance of Christ’s possessions, Word and Sacrament, Faith in Him, Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and with these we are to guard against all kinds of heresy.

 

Including the heresy of wanting to steal us, as people of God, and return us to the slavery of works righteousness. They rob us by destroying our faith, getting us to agree to sinfulness, getting us to believe that what we do is more holy than what Christ does. They rob God, by setting men up as Blessed quite apart from the Crucifixion of Jesus.

 

At least, they believe they do. Since, the Lord’s Honor is now wrapped in the flesh of Jesus, there is no stealing it, anymore. It has been covered by a cloud and has passed beyond being able to be exhausted, steal it all they like. Since the Lord’s work has been sealed and locked up by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the only thing you could steal would be the empty tomb, but that is already empty.

 

And since the Lord’s Work, God’s Work, is embodied in Faith and belief, no amount of your works, burning Bibles, or abandoning the Sacrament can lessen it. You are saved by works, just not any of your own.

 

This is why the Church is blessed. This is why men are blessed. Not because of how well they are doing, but because of how well Christ has done, for them.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, because Christ was poor for them.

Blessed are those who mourn, because Christ wept for them.

Blessed are the meek, because Jesus was made meek and mild, for them.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, because Jesus thirsted from the cross for them.

Blessed are the merciful, because Jesus first showed them mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, because Jesus has baptized their heart.

Blessed are the peacemakers, because Jesus has made peace with them.

Blessed are the persecuted, because Jesus was persecuted, for them.

 

See now what kind of love the Father has given us! We share in His earthly things, both daily bread and daily communion bread, which are able to be thieved and stolen. But in Jesus they are connected to His things, the heavenly things. And in Jesus moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal. The world may hold its wealth and gold and false doctrine, but what is that to me? Thou, my heart, keep Christ as thy true treasure. To Him hold fast until at last a crown be thine and honor in full measure.

 

All Saints’ reminds us of this true Treasure, that we are numbered with the 144,000. The Reformation has given us back the pure doctrine of the Lord’s Gospel, that Christ has won us and His Spirit preserves us in the one true faith unto life everlasting. And the 7^th Commandment teaches, that though we and God can be robbed, He is able to compensate, reinstate, and repay a hundred times over.

 

 

Amen.

 

 

Its His Body [Trinity 23]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Proverbs 8:11-22

• Philippians 3:17-21

• St. Matthew 22:15-22

 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.”

 

God has made a Way, as we hear in these words from the Gospel reading. It is His Way and we are not to find others, nor are we to change the ways of this Way. Part of the truth that Jesus teaches faithfully is that He remains faithful when all others, including ourselves, are faithless. The devil hates the Gospel and ceases not to sow weeds among the wheat. To lose this faithfulness, this pure doctrine, is to lose Christ; to lose Christ is to lose everything.

 

People are obsessed, these days, with having a relationship with God. That is all so-called-evangelicals talk about in their services and Bible studies. Every. Single. Day.

Do you have a relationship with God? Do you know Him? Is Jesus the love of your life?  

 

The one problem with that relationship talk, when God is the subject, is the persons involved never ask God what kind of relationship He wants. In one sense because we can’t ask Him, or at least He won’t answer in a way we understand. And in another sense, what He describes in His Word is too complex for us. So, we either give up or pretend God is happy with our version of a relationship to Him.

 

But the 6th Commandment does not say “good enough” or “pretend”, it says, “You shall not”.

“You shall not commit adultery”. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

 

God takes the relationship with Him in that direction and our puritan values cannot stand it. Last week we talked about our bodies and how important they are to God and His work, and this week is no different. Your body is just as important in your relationship to God as your spirit is.

 

But sex is not all adultery means, neither is it all a relationship means. In fact, this is modern language. The catechism used to teach, “We should fear and love God so that we lead a chaste and decent life…” Chastity being our lost word of the day and the real focus of what God has for us.

 

The reason being is because God has spoken of our relationship to Him, and its not just sinner and angry God. Listen to these verses:

From Hosea 2:19-20, “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” 

And Isaiah 54:5, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His Name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.”

 

Two verses among others that puts adultery on par with unbelief and going after false gods. In this way, we will get at chastity by going through adultery, the words that is. For, to adulter or adulterate means to change. As in, when you sin against the 6th Command, you are altering the deal of God’s marriage. You are changing the terms of the Lord’s chastity.

 

Because chastity has mainly to do with being faithful. Faithfulness, truthfulness, and purity. Thus, chastity is simply participating in God’s marriage without altering the deal. Marriage stuff is for marriage. None of it works outside marriage. Sex, love, commitment, sacrifice. All need marriage to be the things they were meant to be.

 

With our relationship with God, we can’t think of it simply as taking His hand and saying “I do”. Just as Jesus gives Himself in marriage, as He gives His mother to St. John for care at the cross, so too will He be the one to institute this relationship for us. As with everything, it begins with His Word.

 

In Psalm 12:6: “The words of the Lord are chaste words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times.” At His Word, He declares us bound to Him by marriage and at His Word we will be kept chaste. And from His Word come His teaching on marriage, adultery, and all things necessary for salvation.

 

Jesus says in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” In everything from the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, we find this teaching, this doctrine. Doctrine is just the fancy Church word for teachings.

 

In this case today, teachings about Jesus, our Husband. This was the entire fight of the Reformation. That the people had been led off the Way. Christ had ceased being the center and the Word was overturned with new laws of purity.

 

Pure doctrine (reine Lehre), therefore, is nothing other than the unadulterated Word of God, rightly divided and faithfully preached, centering entirely on the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As our holy confession in the Book of Concord bears witness, pure doctrine is not a set of clever human opinions, nor the traditions of popes and councils, but the very truth of God revealed in Holy Scripture.

 

During the Great Reformation, the defense of this pure doctrine was not a mere squabble over words or academic vanity. It was—and remains—a matter of eternal life and death. 

Listen to the words of our Confessions:

“The first and chief article is this:

Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24–25).

He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25).

This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. As St. Paul says:

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)

Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls [Mark 13:31]. “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

 

Everything depends upon this article. Everything that we teach and practice. This pure doctrine stands in opposition to the pope, the devil, and the whole world. Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine. Otherwise, all is lost, and the pope, the devil, and all adversaries win the victory and the right over us. (SA 2:I:1-5)

 

In this way, Jesus purifies us, gives us our purity back, which we had lost in sin. As a bride prepared for her husband, Jesus prepares His Church Himself. “Husbands, love your wives”, Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.”

“This mystery is profound, but I am speaking of Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:32)

 

Your relationship with God depends on pure, unadulterated doctrine. This is the Way of God, that He has come to you, that He has given gifts to His Church on earth, and that He is handing them out freely there. The gift of Faith gets you in, belief keeps you faithful.

 

In your own marriage, the gift of your spouse keeps you in and practice keeps you faithful.

 

Chastity, keeping the deal pure, is letting God be God. First, the Church is not a creature of the law but a creature of the gospel. That is, God has come to serve us His gifts of eternal life, faith, and forgiveness. God has blessed this estate of marriage over all others. “He also wishes us to honor it and to maintain and govern it as a divine and blessed estate because, in the first place, He has instituted it before all others.”

 

In addition, He has bestowed on it and wrapped up in it everything in the world, so that this estate might be well and richly provided for. Married life is, therefore, no joke or presumption. It is an excellent thing and a matter of divine seriousness. For marriage has the highest importance to God so that people are raised up who may serve the world and promote the knowledge of God, godly living, and all virtues, to fight against wickedness and the devil. (LC I:206-208)

 

Second, since practice and doctrine draw from the same substance, they are inseparably related: two sides of one coin. Therefore, a legal piece of paper is not enough for this relationship. Freedom from sin and death is. If you are married, you are freed to love, honor, and cherish your spouse from the heart with perfect fidelity, contrary to what the world teaches.

 

If you are single, you are freed to live decently and chastely, honoring the bodies of others as temples of the Holy Spirit. You no longer need to look to change the deal, because Christ has given us the ultimate, unchanging deal of His eternal love.

 

The Gospel of Jesus frees the sinner from his sinful thoughts and desires, which look and feel good, but are really what drags him to hell. And from the pure doctrine of Jesus, we learn it to be a matter of purity, of chastity, and of faith.

 

He to you, is what I mean. He is faithful to us, gives His faithfulness to us, and it is reflected in our doctrine and practice. You were created for marriage. Marriage between husband and wife, but also a holy union between you and your God. Our marriages are simply reflections of this eternal relationship we are invited into by Jesus.

 

In Christ, the 6^th Commandment is fulfilled. He does not wait for you to get your marriage or relationships right, but instead creates His own and gives it to you, to live in and to live out. You are invited to marriage and you are invited to Church.

 

You may want to side with the Pharisees and adulter the deal with worldly tastes and pursuits, but He will not let you. He will forgive you, putting His life on the line for your chastity. And He will place His image and His likeness upon you, giving you His First and Last Name, so that there is no question who you are and Who’s you are.

 

Now, “thus says the Lord, Who created you…and formed you…’Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine’” and not even death will part us. (Isa 43:1)

 

 

Amen.

 

 

Its His Body [Trinity 22]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Micah 6:6-8

• Philippians 1:3-11

• St. Matthew 18:23-35

 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt”

 

Two things are presented to us in this Word from God today. First, mercy shown, second mercy withheld. And not in an abstract way, but concretely. God shows mercy in the Body and we in our sin, do not show mercy to the body. This should point us to the weight of glory God bestows on our bodies, in Jesus, and to value them as He does.

 

When God teaches us His 5th Commandment, He is teaching us about the body. Our bodies. Two eyes, ten fingers, eleven toes. It is how we recognize each other and, more importantly, how we recognize our Creator. 

 

When Jesus formed Adam from the dust of the ground, Adam was unique and alone. The Lord even made all the animals pass in front of Adam and Adam named them, but none of them were like him. When Eve was brought onto the scene, Adam finally declared, “this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. 

 

So that, when you see another body, another person with a body like yours, there is no way that you can say that other person is not human, or that other person is less than me. When God says, “You shall not murder”, it is clear He is speaking about your brothers and sisters in humanity.

 

Wherever you see another body. Whether you are peeking into the womb at the unborn or observing people with a different skin color than yours. We are all created by God. 

 

What does “you shall not murder” mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every bodily need. You hear, there, that there is not only something not to do, but also something to do.

 

We call this, the weight of responsibility. Meaning, speaking and philosophizing about responsibility is all good, but it only matters when you take action on your words. Saying you are a kind and tolerant person pales in comparison to actually practicing what you preach. God gives us a body to reveal this sin in us.

 

The body that God has given to all people demands us to prove it. Prove that you don’t have murder, anger, and bitterness in your heart by how you treat your neighbor. Prove that you don't withhold forgiveness from this person God puts in front of you. Show me that your refusal to extend grace to, coldness towards, and murder-filled words do not exist by this brother standing before you.

 

In our sin, we believe that we cannot hurt or harm our neighbor if he’s dead! This is the Unforgiving Servant in the Gospel heard today. He is forgiven that impossible debt, glory be! But when he finds debt yet to be forgiven by God, he rejects it, as he believes he is commanded to. Maybe if this man who owes 100 denarii goes to God, he will be forgiven too. So let’s send him off.

 

Let’s end this life, that this debt goes to the afterlife. We are just hurrying their quest for Jesus. Jesus forgives sins perfectly so…

 

You believe you are the pinnacle of creation. On this high and mighty seat, you look down on others, in their bodies, and judge them as less. At the same time, you are not all that impressed with the body. You know, God had His list at the beginning, “Ok. I’ve got Light, seas, moon and stars, trilobites, duck-billed platypuseses, and…oh yeah men.”

 

You want the full weight of your body? I know that’s rude to reveal for some people. Never ask a woman, but bros are definitely eager to tell you he’s over 200, now. No. The full weight of your body is, like Adam, you will have all things in creation passed in front of you and you also will not find a helper. That is, until your God takes His own Body.

 

I would even go so far to say that the only reason you have a God-given body is so that you would recognize your God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. Bet you never thought your own flesh and blood would be a prophesy of the Messiah, did you? 

 

With the tragic verse, Genesis 5:3, where the sons of Adam will now be made in Adam’s image, instead of God, we are pro-created with no Image. Now our bodies have been corrupted by satan, this world, and our own sin. So much so that we don’t recognize our own bodies, our neighbor’s bodies, or the Body of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus shows us who our brother is when He comes down in the flesh. In the Gospel reading, St. Peter believes he is being so clever with his question of forgiveness, but sin clouds his eyes as to Who is in front of him. And Jesus, God and man, points to Himself in answer. Basically saying, how many times should God forgive you Peter?

 

And it is that mercy and forgiveness that motivates God to save you. Yes the unforgiving servant is punished, but his punishment is to live with his Lord’s mercy which is why he cannot stand to see his fellow servant. 

 

Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, has no fellow servants. As God, He is not obligated to forgive His brother 70 times 7 times because He has none. He has neither racked up debt nor received any. There is no benefit or reward for Him to do any of the things He is preaching about today.

 

This is the mystery of His Incarnation. He took on the form of a servant voluntarily. He forsook His heavenly throne of unending power and riches to live in the depths of woe with His creation. This is why we fall on our faces when God appears before us. He is the Almighty, Who has chosen to be the servant.

 

Because God is merciful and because of the Person, Word, and Work of Jesus Christ, He is motivated to forgive our sins. Unworthy we are, but of worth He makes us. For now that Christ is made man, with all the fulness of God dwelling in Him bodily, He is our brother.

 

Our brother Who lives with us. Our Brother Who suffers with us. Our Brother Who dies with us. Our Brother Who will raise us, as He Himself was raised from the dead. And He died because we refused to recognize Him as our brother. He died because He allowed Himself to be unrecognized, in order that He pay for every last sin of the body.

 

“For we who are in this tent groan”, says 2 Corinthians 5:4, “being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life”. 

 

It is not the weight of our bodies that kill us, but the burden of sinful bodies. It handicaps us, humiliates us, and yet we love it so. In His Body, Jesus does no hurt or harm to His neighbor. Though He is harmed and murdered, He helps and supports in every bodily need.

 

Jesus restores the Image of God to humanity in His flesh and blood. God made man is the pinnacle of Re-creation, washed in the Blood of Jesus. The Body of God sanctifies every other body created and makes the Way to forgiveness. Such that, now, all are worthy of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus simply because they have a body, like Jesus does.

 

In forgiveness, we are given Faith. And this Faith moves and teaches us to love our neighbor. If your enemy is hungry, feed him, says Romans 12:20. Help, support, and have compassion. Be kind and aid your neighbor in keeping His own soul pure from the evils of the body in this world.

 

On top of this, Faith now reveals our God in the flesh to us. He is hidden behind our fellow man, yes, so that what you do to your brother reflects what you would do to God. But Jesus is not only on the cross. The cross has been brough forward to us and the Crucified has placed Himself in front of us, to do now as the Law demands and as the Gospel gives.

 

As the Law demands, we recognize the pierced and slain Body of God, for our transgressions, confessing them. As the Gospel reveals, we also recognize the Body and Blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Not only on the cross long ago, and not even only at the Right Hand of God forevermore, but on this altar today.

 

The fulfillment of the Fifth Commandment stands Himself before you today. He has created and cared for your body even to this day. He has neither willed or wished your hurt or harm, but has sustained you on your way. His help and His support of your bodies has carried you to His Divine Service.

 

In God’s Service to you, your body is given His Body. In communion with His Body, you are now given His mercy and His forgiveness. Your murderous heart is His, His merciful heart is yours. Your anger is His, His kindness is yours. Your neglect is His, His eternal care and concern is yours, of which you handle, eat, and drink today, for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Who is God? We will recognize God by His body. His Body, full of grace and truth, given for you.

 

Amen. 

 

Flesh and Blood hinge: the 4th Commandment [Trinity 21]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 25:6-9

• Ephesians 6:10-17

• St. John 4:46-54

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

 

In God’s first three commandments, we have been living on “easy mode”. That is, we have been told to only have one God, Him. To use the Name He gives us, and to keep His holy day. So easy to do with our lips and even more so, since God is spirit, we just honor His Name and Day in the spirit and we can live life to our pleasure.

 

Every once in a while we use His Name for a prayer. Every now and then, declare publicly how our God is the real God, and on the proper day, give the proper offering, with the proper words, at the proper time and place. 

 

We cruise through life like this, barely even perceiving God in all of it. Just in those places He said, because that is good enough. 

 

However, when we get to the 4th Commandment, God begins to interfere with said life. Often called the hinge of the Commandments, God introduces father and mother into the mix, instead of remaining in the spirit realm. He brings His commands out from our imagination, into the very lives we were trying to live without Him.

 

The Official in today’s Gospel teaches this. Let’s assume stereotypical royalty here. That his success is his own, his prosperity is his own, and yet he pays lip service to his God or gods and they appear to leave him alone. In this worst case scenario, they also leave him alone when he cries out in need.

 

The 4th Command goes: “Honor your father and mother”.

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

 

Our sinful nature causes us to hate God, now, because He ties up His honor with earthly honor and that is impossible to accomplish, for us. However, Pop Christianity is all too eager to teach us these things and it is always by works righteousness, without the need for Jesus.

 

To honor God, they’ll say, you need to place a higher value on Him than other things, you need to be generous, live a life devoted to Him, seek Him in everything YOU do, and make choices that reflect the place He has in your heart. You’ve got a long list, apparently…

 

They will also say that serving God means you loving others, you obeying His word, and using your unique skills in daily life. Many would say that obeying God means simply “giving Him what He wants”, reading His Bible to learn the rules and instructions. 

 

Loving God means choosing to obey His commands, spending time in prayer, and caring for other people. And cherishing Him is thinking about Him, telling Him I love Him, spend time in His presence, and choosing to do everything out of love for Him.

 

But, they are just going in circles here: to love God is to obey Him, to obey Him is to pray, to pray is to be devoted to Him, and to be devoted means to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him. Like a hamster wheel: around and around and around and around. We call this the fallacy of circular reasoning.

 

Here in Christ’s Church we call it God’s Law. Yes, it is circular because these things of God have no end. If you are in charge of honoring God, then you need to figure out how to do it for eternity, before the resurrection of all flesh. If God’s service, obedience, love, and cherishing are all dependent on how well you do, then you will quickly find yourself in the Official’s shoes.

 

What kind of shoes are those? The kind that stand before a silent god in the face of suffering. The kind that stand in the presence of all the praying, tithing, and fasting you did that now returns nothing. Turns out, all that effort, work, and lip service were not enough.

 

Because the 4th Commandment is the one that God appears in flesh and blood. He accepts worship from His first three commands, but then places His honor and His Name on earthly parents and other authorities. In other words, in order to get to God, you have to go through man.

 

This begins with Jesus being made man. Jesus Christ fulfills the 4th Commandment in two profound ways: His Active Obedience (perfectly keeping the law in our place) and His Passive Obedience (suffering the consequences of our failure to keep it).

 

It is divinely necessary for our Savior to be true man in order to act in our place under the Law and fulfill it for us. God keeping His own Law is redundant and doesn’t mean anything. But when a man does it, then it has fulfilled its purpose. Thus God is made man, in Jesus Christ.

 

As Galatians 4:4-5 says, “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

 

Two examples of this from Jesus’s life are from Sts. Luke and Matthew. First His submission to His parents, Joseph and Mary, from the age of 12 when He appeared in the Temple until He is baptized. And second, when He tells us to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”, that is when He honors father and mother and other authorities. (Lk 2:51; Mt 22:21)

 

That is His active obedience as a man. It is also divinely necessary that He passively obey, as a man. That is, to be able to suffer and die for our guilt because we failed to keep the Law. This is passive because His guilt and death are not self-imposed. Taking our sin and guilt, He deserves death for those transgressions. And as our substitute, also allows the ruling class and other authorities to condemn Him publicly and crucify Him.

 

Colossians states (1:22), “He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

And Hebrews 2:14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.”

 

That is not the end of Jesus, however. For, it is also necessary for our Savior to be true God in order that His fulfilling of the Law, His life, suffering, and death might be a sufficient ransom for all people in any case! “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him” (Ps. 49:7). Yet, Jesus came to serve, and as God He serves in an eternal way, making propitiation by His Blood, holy and precious Blood, that no one else has.

 

He also has to be able to overcome death and the devil for us. Only God can do this and our Official with the dead son knows this today, which is why he comes to Jesus. Life is hard. Life is impossible, with death stalking everyone. But with God, life is not just possible but certain.

 

The Official comes to Jesus in faith, honoring Jesus as God. Faith is the only true way to honor God. First because faith only comes from God and second , because faith trusts that God’s Way is the only Way. In the case of the Gospel today, the Way that is shown goes through death. The Official honors God by trusting Him, even though his child dies.

 

And, instead of the false and external Worship of inventing human traditions, experiences, or special clothing to merit God's grace, Faith believes and rests in the completed work of Jesus Christ. That is, His suffering, death, and resurrection.

 

Our service and obedience, then, is only possible within this perfect service and obedience of Jesus. We do not get to obey God in our own way. We do not get to serve Him in any way we see fit. We only approach Him by His rules, that is, with a clean conscience through the forgiveness of sins, in Jesus’s Name.

 

Hopefully, you remember how to love and cherish God, as the 4^th Command teaches. That our love is giving His love back to Him. He first loved us, then we love. And that goes for the whole thing. He first cherished us, He first served and obeyed us, He first honored us.

 

Because Jesus was walking around in His own flesh and blood, this Official was able to find Him, beg Him, and receive an answer to his begging. If Jesus had not, then there would be no point, no meaning. But since the Father wills the resurrection of the dead, Jesus comes.

 

This is where our part comes in. To honor father and mother is to honor the heavenly Father. To honor the heavenly Father is to Honor the Son. To honor the Son means trusting in His work, His Word and Sacrament, in which He promises to serve us the forgiveness of sins, faith in Him, and eternal life.

 

True service and obedience is hearing the Word, believing it, and communing the way God is communing with you, in bread and wine. True love and cherishing God, is not you inventing new and exciting ways to worship and experience God, but submission to His Way of doing things.

 

We get to fall at the feet of Jesus, in His Church, in His Liturgy today, because He promised to be working for us. Not in our old dusty ceremonies, but in His Word and His Sacrament. For true faith trusts in Christ and centers around two things: Justification by grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake, and the true presence of Christ’s Body and Blood.

 

In Whose presence we then get to approach and pray that Jesus come down and heal our own sin and death. And His answer is the medicine of immortality: His Body and Blood.

 

Amen.

The Lord's Day: the 3rd Command [Trinity 20]

 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 55:1-9

• Ephesians 5:15-21

• St. Matthew 22:1-14

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast”’”

 

The Bible is emphasizing speaking and telling, in the Gospel today, and the Lord’s 3rd Commandment also emphasizes this. That it is love that fulfills God’s Law and it is hearing and believing that saves (Jn 5:24). So when we are attempting to figure out Old Testament laws, we begin first at Jesus Who fulfills, authorizes, and perfects faith. Then puts all that in His Church, for us.

 

When certain Christians argue against Christmas trees, they will cite Jeremiah 10 in support of their claim. It says, “Learn not the way of the nations, [and their false idols]…a tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move” (10:2-4).

 

Jesus responds to those types of people by calling first dibs. He says all trees are created by Himself and though they are abused into false gods, they are not false gods themselves, but good created things.

Likewise, when certain Christians and or people who wish to tarnish God’s Word argue “in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath”, says Colossians, or a wedding feast says the Gospel today, Jesus likewise responds that all food and drink and all days are His to begin with and they will serve His purpose, no matter how many ego trips are taken (Col 2:16).

 

Colossians goes on to interpret these things as shadows. “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col 2:17). 

Thus our Lord’s 3rd Command, “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy” (Ex 20:8). 

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.”

 

Two words people use, when thinking about the Sabbath and other demands of the Old Testament, are replacement or abrogation. One side says the Sabbath Day is replaced with the Lord’s Day and the “abrogation” side says that the Sabbath is discontinued. Many enlightened Christians have settled on these two terms to describe what God was doing in the Old Testament and what He is doing now in the New.

 

God in the Old was demanding sacrifices, but in our days He has replaced that with the sacrifice of Jesus. God, back in the day, was demanding purity by shopping cart, saying this or that animal was clean or unclean. Today, He has abrogated, caused the old to be erased in favor of new, those verses with freedom in Christ.

 

What is the problem with replacement and abrogation? It means God changed His mind. It implies God started out one way, but has chosen to continue in another. This would contradict other verses that say, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8) and as Revelation 13:8 teaches, "...the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world." 

 

Weaseling into the gap between these words that appear to punch a hole in God’s trustworthiness, we, the Jews, and “those who were invited” from the Gospel reading today, throw it in God’s face and dare Him to go against the contract. 

 

You said sabbath on the seventh day and we keep that seventh day, as we see fit, so You must accept us.

You said we were invited and here we are. What do you mean we can’t “come as we are” and instead need special clothes??

You said New Testament, what do you mean we can’t forget the Old?

 

Dear Christians, it was never about the day, or the food, or the new moon. Notice our friends in the Gospel reading. They do not despise God’s gifts, but run to their lands, business, and family. They do not forget that God Himself has invited them, and defend that honor with violence. They uphold God’s commands better than God Himself, knowing their rightful, promised place is sonship, and not this fake son that has come to them.

 

So we believe that the outward rest of the Sabbath was given for our bodies and our servants, yes, but its true spiritual purpose is to sit us at the feet of God. What do these guests do? They elevate their worldly labor, their farms, and their commerce above the King's invitation. And what else is the invitation, but His Word.

 

To despise preaching and God's Word does not only mean openly mocking it; it means treating it as a matter of secondary importance. It is prioritizing your daily bread over the Bread of Life. When a man says he is too busy with his trade to hear the Gospel, he acts precisely like the wicked guests who turned away from the King's table to tend to their own molehills.

 

Rather, Christ is Lord of the Sabbath and has come not to abolish the Law or Prophets, not to erase an iota or a dot, but to fulfill. Jesus’s job is not done until all the Law has been accomplished, has “come to pass”. As St. John says it in his gospel book, “The Word came to pass flesh and dwelt among us” (Mt 5:17-18, Jn 1:14).

 

Jesus does not replace or abrogate, but fulfills. He fills up the Law so much that there is no room for any more “doing the Law”. He fills up the prophets so much that there is no doubt that the Son of God must be sacrificed in order to make friends out of enemies of God, dying on the cross while we yet hated Him.

 

Our Large Catechism states that the day itself does not make you holy, for all days are created by God. Rather “the force and power of this commandment lies not in the resting, but in the sanctifying…here a work is to be done by which man is himself made holy, which is done (as we have heard) alone through God’s Word” (LC I:94). 

 

When we gather together to “be filled with the Spirit…singing psalms and hymns…giving thanks” to God as our Epistle taught, it is at the Word of God, accomplished with us hearing and believing, that is keeping Sabbath. When the Holy Spirit is at work through that same Word, granting Absolution, mortifying our old flesh, and filling us with His grace, that is keeping Sabbath.

 

We are not moved to laze about in idleness or even pretend idleness, such as not pushing elevator buttons. Instead, a true Christian Sabbath, fulfilled by Jesus, is a joyous, spirited feast of body and soul, a wedding feast if you will, where our mouths and our hearts are given power to house the Son of God through faith (Eph 3:14-17).

 

In the Gospel, there is no room for abrogation or replacement, because these necessitate the works of men. To replace one law for another is to trade one Moses for another. And Moses did not point to another of himself to come, but a man like him. Thus saith the Lord, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him” (Deut 18:18-19).

 

It was and always will be about the Word. It was and always will be about Jesus. The Apostles knew this. This is why they gave us the Divine Service for the Lord’s Day. The same service we hear of in Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”. 

 

What else is the Apostles’ teaching, but the Word? What else is fellowship, but gathering together? What else is the breaking of the bread, but the eating and drinking of the Lord’s Body and Blood, as often as we come together, in order to proclaim His death until He returns? (1 Cor 11:26)

 

Remember Colossians, which we quoted earlier, “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col 2:17). There is a darkness of understanding, a veil over the Old Testament things, just as there was a veil over Moses’ face in order that “when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Cor 3:14-16). 

 

In Christ the veil is torn in two and we see Him. The Sabbath points to Him. The Old Testament points to Him. Weddings point to Him. And we are wed to Christ. He the Head and we His Body. And in that baptismal wedding, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

 

You are not a replacement, but an invited guest. You are not a change of plans, but the plan from the beginning. The Sabbath is God’s rest for you, that you may set aside the work you do so that God may work in you. This is accomplished any day. Any day the Word is heard, held sacred, and believed.

 

And where does one receive this lifted veil, this wedding garment? It is not woven by our own hands, nor by our own good works or legalistic keeping of days. This garment is Christ Himself which includes the very righteousness of Christ, given to us freely by grace through faith. And how is this faith kindled? It comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ! 

(Complete Sermons of Martin Luther III:3.1:234)

 

For everything is already ready. 

 

Amen.

 

 

Call upon it: The 2nd Command [Trinity 17]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Proverbs 25:6-14

• Ephesians 4:1-6

• St. Luke 14:1-11

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who, once again speaks to you today, saying: 

“But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’”

 

We have heard this Word from God at His Divine Providence this day, that we may reflect on what it means to have received God’s Name in Baptism and what it means to call upon it. It is no small thing that God has shared His very own Name with us and so we should seek it out and speak of it to others.

 

In the Second Commandment, we hear God commenting on the ignorance of Him. He has given the world His own Name, and yet our sinful nature, the world and the devil want it both ways. They want their gods to play the role of Christ while still rejecting Christ. they want all the “nice” of Jesus, but they just don’t want Jesus doing them.

 

Why? Because Jesus is a person. He has thoughts, words, and ideas. He will be nice, but He will be nice in His own way. In fact, this is the problem men have with gods: if their help is not a metaphor, then neither are their commands. If it can answer when you call, then it can speak without your asking. And if you can go to it, it can come to you. 

 

Thus the Name of God and its command: You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord your God. 

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His Name, call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

 

The Gospel we heard today, has laid out a man in need of healing, the Sabbath Day, a wedding, and a friend. And there are names attached to all of those things, ownership. Who’s Name is on the letters of the Law? Who’s Name is on the wedding invitations? Who’s Name is on the sinners and friends that Jesus has come to? 

 

You see, the greatest breaking of the Second Commandment is when preachers falsely say, “Thus says the Lord.” That is when they put words in God’s mouth that He hasn’t said and when they take words out, which He has said. 

 

Everyone cries out for help. They disguise it and dress it up in other words, like justice and love, but it is the same. Something is not right in the world and they have just the thing to solve it. Something has gone wrong, but it was because we really never tried before. But today will be different. Because today we are strong. We are together. We are one.

 

Here now are the demonic trumpets of the Last Day sounding before the end. They sing of unity. They sing of the strength of men. They preach tolerance, but are disgusted by it. They preach harmony, but it makes them sick. They preach prosperity, but hate to see it wasted on anyone but themselves.

 

Here now, back to the Gospel reading. The Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully, not to see if He was truly God or not. That didn’t matter. They wanted to see if He would follow the Law or not. Their laws. Yes, free healthcare for all, but if you cannot be cured immediately, you must be euthanized to make room for others. It is a kindness, is it not? And even God is kind.

 

Be careful what you wish for, they say. In this case, be careful who you pray to, He just might hear it. More than that, you just might find yourself on the wrong side of things, having gone against who you’re praying to, rather than for. 

 

All our cries for help reach the same ears and there is only one pair of ears listening. Jesus comes to teach that. There are no other gods to listen. Men appeal to men and set it up so that might makes right. If I can arrest you, sue you, or kill you then your beliefs were weaker than mine.

 

Call him louder, cries Elijah to the prophets of Ba’al. “For he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention” (1 Ki 18:27-29).

 

And in His own turn, patiently, God answers Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven even before he is finished praying!

 

If you notice, the man who is sick in today’s Gospel says nothing. He is just there, in front of Jesus, and Jesus does His work. He does not wait for a prayer. He does not wait for a decision. He does not wait for a cry. This we are taught in the Lord’s Prayer, “the Name of God is certainly holy in itself”, without our prayer.

 

So it is for us today, that God does His work without asking us for permission and before we were even born. Surely His Name is great. But how? Is it great because we don’t use curse words or swear like a sailor, as the meaning of the 2nd Commandment says? Is His Name great because we don’t use satanic arts, whatever those are?? Is it great when we don’t lie or deceive? 

 

Then it isn’t, because we do.

 

You know how God’s Name is great? Because we call upon it. We use it. 

God gave His Name in order that we use it at His Word and according to His Will. Who are the ones calling on that Name, as commanded, in the Gospel? The man with dropsy is in trouble, he cries out. 

 

The men who need help with son and ox, pray for aid. those who have received invitations praise God for His favor shown to them, and the “friend” who is low gives thanks for being brought up on high.

 

You see, God’s Name is on His creation. He knows what’s His and it is all His. He created it. He named it. He gave it life. And He has handed over all things to His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus does the Father’s will is not taking the Name of the Lord in vain and fulfilling it for us.

 

He does that by curing the sick, which is not just a show of force, but a proof of His authority over creation and that He is our substitute. This man will no longer be sick, but Jesus will be. He will be sin-sick leading to His death on the cross.

 

Jesus lifts the poor out of the pit. Not because they have no money, but because they are dead in their sins. All the sons who sleep the sleep of death will be raised, because Jesus fell into the pit of hell and returned as conqueror.

 

Jesus sends out only one invitation: His. Many are invited, because He shares His Sonship with all, baptizing them into His Body. That is being invited in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One Name. One God.

 

Jesus is the friend Who humbles Himself, even below sinful man, taking the lowest seat on the cross and purchasing their crown with His holy precious Blood. With His Name on the line, He takes action and secures faith in Him, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.

 

Jesus fulfills the 2nd Commandment by fulfilling all of God’s promises to hear, to heal, and to raise up. The Name of God is not just for diplomacy, but for mercy. A Crucified Mercy. A mercy that has been through suffering, death, and hell to come out clean on the other side. A mercy that is merciful without our prayers.

 

Which do not know the first thing about what we need in this life or the next. We think we need healing, justice, and love, but what we need is salvation. We need dropsy healed forever. We need all the pits filled, forever. We need an invitation of the highest order, out of the corruption of this world. 

We need to be called friend by the Most High God of all.

 

Calling on the Name of Jesus brings this to the believer. Not health, justice, or love as we give it, but Jesus. Jesus and all He has to give: life, forgiveness, and faith. Jesus and His eternal kingdom. Jesus and His Name that is above every Name. Not just because He is almighty, but because His Name is mercy. His Name is “He will save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).

 

Amen.

No other Word: the 1st Command [St. Matthew]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 1:10-14

• Ephesians 4:7-16

• St. Matthew 9:9-13

 

Grace to you all and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phile 1:3)

 

Who, once again speaks to you today, saying: 

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

 

In the first place, you shall have no other gods (Ex 20:3). 

What does this mean? You should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. 

In the second place, in this house, St. Matthew is a hero and not just because he followed Jesus. He is a hero, because the true Hero, Jesus, called out to him and made him one. And at the Word the heavens were made and all the host of them and St. Matthew was called out from the receipt of custom.

 

In the third place, those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick, and St. Matthew is sick. Although he presents himself as being pretty healthy, wealthy, and wise, we know he is sick, because the Word of God has come for him and calls to him. Jesus would not, otherwise.

 

Tax Collectors. Do you know why we have ridges on the rims of our coins? Tax collectors would shave off the edges of the gold and silver coins to make new ones, all the while making the old ones worth less. The official name for that practice is inflation. 

 

Tax Collectors. 

When we ask chatGPT about the ancient practices of tax collectors during St. Matthew’s time, it tells us that Publicans actually bid against each other for the right to collect taxes and paid a fee to Rome to do so. They were not paid by the Empire, so their paycheck came from whatever amount above the regular tax they could get from the people.

 

The collectors had the backing of the military and so were able to threaten, coerce, and assess the value of private property, income, and traded goods on the spot. If one could not afford the taxes, you could take out a high-interest loan to cover it, trapping families in debt, which is why usury is a sin against God. Yes, we’re still talking about ancient practices…

 

Thus, one reason they were seen as traitors is because their wealth went back to Rome, not to their own community. They were considered most unclean for Temple, because they ate and drank with the goyim, and were usually shunned in society, grouped with sinners, as the Pharisees comment in today’s Gospel reading. 

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun and we have not changed our ways.

 

And this was St. Matthew’s whole world and he thought it was wonderful. He probably grew up in Jerusalem and it became small and po-dunk, to him, as he learned of the Empire and the wider world. He began to see his future as he strived for higher education and a chance at tax collecting. Bigger and bigger his dreams got.

 

Worldly friends, worldly work, and worldly play. Hey Levi, let’s go party! Yeah! Hey Levi, let’s go drinking! Yeah! Hey Levi, let’s go count de money! Yeah! Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. Party again? Drink again? Money again? Didn’t we do that last week, guys?

 

Suddenly his world wasn’t so big anymore. Suddenly, he took a look at his life and found that, instead of being a man of culture, he had become a man of ill-repute and there was only so much he could say to make himself believe that it was everyone else’s fault, instead of his own.

 

Then one day, someone mentioned a saying going around recently. It went, “he who sins is a slave to sin”. And Levi paused and thought, that couldn’t mean me, could it? And as he continued his life, spinning faster and faster down the proverbial drain, another saying was thrown in his face as he was trying to focus on business:

“Follow me”.

 

This time, his whole world stopped spinning. He stopped spinning a thousand miles per hour. He stopped dreading the next extrovert, social interaction. He stopped counting other people’s money. This happened, not because he heard a still small voice, but because he heard a Word with authority. Unlike the scribes, unlike the Pharisees, and unlike his rabbi. 

 

Follow me.

Levi had no reason to obey. He had it made. He was well off. Maybe had a kid or two on the side. And because his grandmother nagged him, he went to sabbath every once in a while, and gave a tithe…sometimes. There was no benefit, no advantage, no promise of return on Levi “following”.

 

Yet in those words there was a fire he could not deny. There was a declaration that “what you have is not your own”. There was a condemnation there that “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest.” (Deut 23:19). And there was a promise there: “I have not forgotten you”.

 

At that Word, the heavens and the earth come into being, and at that same Word, Faith comes into the being of Levi, now known in the Lamb’s Book of Life as St. Matthew. Sure, at first, St. Matthew is not forgotten. All of his sins now are confronting him and bearing their demonic fangs. But St. Matthew is also not forgotten within the Lord’s Atonement for all his sins.

 

We are not St. Matthew and we do not sit at the receipt of custom and we do not have Jesus walking past and saying, “Follow me”. However, we do have that same Word. And it is found in the catechetical question: Who is your god?

 

Though we underestimate the Word; though we doubt it; though we question its relevance in our day to day lives, He has been given to us. And He does the same work on us as He does to St. Matthew. In our sin, we believe that throwing a bible verse into normal conversation is awkward, embarrassing, and irrelevant. Though that’s the trick: it should be.

 

But that is coming from you who are saturated in it. You have been already brought into the widened world of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For those not there yet, the Word is a shock to the system. Again, as it should be.

 

For example, imagine this awkwardness with me as you sit down with an acquaintance and ask him, “So, which god do you serve?” He has more than likely thought of this before, on his own. And this will link to many topics, among which are “how do you make hard decisions” and “why do you have the values you do” and what gives your life purpose”. 

 

Asking, “what is God’s first commandment and what does it mean”, stops the world from spinning. And either the person will know it or should know it or will reject it completely. Either way, you find their true god. You find what they truly fear, love, and trust above all things and it is usually the self.

 

That is our lesson from St. Matthew today. In our sin we believe we can create the life we want and God will be pleased no matter what. And He’s not. We know He’s not, because He has come to give His own life, which is not ours to begin with. He has come to remake us into what pleases Him and that is only found in His Word, His Son Jesus Christ.

 

So, so what? So what if the world thinks Scripture is awkward? So what if you challenge others to really confess their values? So what if you both leave a little more purposeful and contemplative? Is it best to leave the blind men in the pit or pull them out?

 

This is St. Matthew’s position at the time of the Gospel reading. He hears Jesus’s words and he could care less what the soldiers think. He hears Jesus and he could care less what his friends and colleagues think. He hears Jesus and he could care less what the Pharisees think, because the Word has come to take away sins and St. Matthew has plenty of those.

 

And the strength of that Word moves the Holy Spirit, Who was given to St. Matthew, to forsake all and follow Jesus. The Root that gives the fruit for free. St. Matthew followed Jesus to rebelling against the world. He followed Jesus through His suffering and death, to the empty tomb and His Church. 

 

It’s not enough that Mathew change his ways. He must now live within the Body he has been baptized into. But he cannot get there on his own. He must be brought there, through the Word. Then he must be brought back, through Baptism. Then he must be brought back, through the Sacrament of the Altar. 

 

Because that is where Jesus is leading him to. To follow Jesus is to find His Word and sacrament and pitch your tent there, until He returns. To follow means the fulfillment of “You shall have no other gods”. And that fulfillment means to live and have your being where that God has chosen to dwell. “You shall have no other gods”, and the One, True, Triune God is preaching the forgiveness of sins and communing with His people.

 

 

 Amen.