LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.
Whom we hear today, speaking to us, saying,
The first thing that pops into our heads when we hear the
word “holy” is quite possibly “holy water” or if you enjoy games, perhaps it is
the holy armor of the ancients or the spell of holy light. What all these
things have in common is that they are flashy. When we use something dubbed “holy”
we want bang, we want action, we want results.
So when the church only gives us holy baptism, holy Bible,
or holy Communion, we look at them and say, “Meh” and turn our thoughts to
others things WE think are more effective. That is, away from the mundane into
the grand and abstract. Now I have a holy calling from God. Now I have a holy
purpose. Now I have a holy blessing, etc., etc.
Thus today we hear of the dishonest manager who was not bad
at his job, as is seen in his redemptive actions, but he devalues his job and
wastes his Lord’s possessions, of which he is in charge. He rests on the laurels
of his job. He has been hired, he does enough work to get by, and he has dreams
of doing bigger things and handling greater success, quite possibly elsewhere.
It seems he does not think very highly of the business that
his Lord is about and much less does he consider his Lord’s goods and promises
as worthy. What good is a debt of 100 measures of oil compared to actually
possessing fifty? What good is a lack of 100 measures of wheat compared to
having the physical wheat?
A person that defaults on a debt does not payback the debt
and the owner of the debt remains at a loss. What is the point of that? Yet,
the dishonest manager does not care. He loans, he wastes, he whittles away his
Lord’s business to nothing, because this is how he thinks he’s doing right.
This brings us to the holy Altar. This is not “alter” as in “make
an alteration”; as in a change here, a snip there. Altar is never associated
with making changes. It is always associated with sacrifice, blood, and death.
You could call that a change I suppose, but it is a change from life to death. Once
you come in contact, you do not remain the same.
Repent. This is how we treat the things of God? Yes, because
no matter how much holy water I throw, nobody melts. No matter how much holy
Bible I memorize or throw at others, nobody listens. No matter how much Holy
Communion I throw down my belly, nothing changes. It is easy to devalue the
Lord’s house and waste that which He has called holy and instead exchange it
for what you call holy.
It is easy to prance around the church and say, “nothing is
happening to me even if I do this”. If I touch the Font, nothing happens. If I
curse and swear and tell dirty jokes in the chancel, nothing happens. If I don’t
bow, if I don’t cross myself, if I don’t reverence the Altar, nothing happens.
In contrast, if I don’t pay my taxes I will get thrown in
jail. If I throw a live grenade, something will blow up. If I don’t work, I get
hungry. It is easy to devalue the Lord’s house and waste that which He has
called holy, because God is a merciful God and slow to anger, so we take Him and
His patience for granted.
So just what does God call holy? Not just holy Baptism, not
just the holy Bible, and not just Holy Communion, but also holy people and holy
Altar. Why? Because the Altar was the place in the Old Testament, the only
place, where God said He would meet with and dwell with His people. He says, “There
I will meet with you” (Ex. 25:22) to Moses. Even St. Paul
Here is the strength and power of a promise from God: that
what He says, happens. Jesus asks, “’Why
were you looking for Me?’…‘Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s things?’”
(Lk. 2:49). Here is the plan from the beginning: that God would be made
flesh. That He would dwell among His people. That He would bless them in this
way and He would do it through means. That He would dwell with us in things
that He makes holy.
Jesus does not make a promise to holy water, but makes a
promise that by water with the Word a person is saved. Jesus did not make a
promise to ink and paper, but that through it forgiveness of sins would be
given. Jesus did not make a promise to bread and wine, but that with the
Word, life, light, and salvation are ingested.
Similarly, Jesus did not make a promise to brick and mortar
and wood and paint and fire, but the promise is to gathering, to hearing, to believing,
and to communing. It is not the things that are special, but the God-man making
the promise with these things.
The holy Altar holds no inner-power or secret secrets. It is
simply the fact that when faith hears that the forgiveness of sins is offered
on an altar, it wants to see it. When faith hears that God was sacrificed on
the altar of the tree, it wants to see it. When faith hears of a stairway to
heaven, or the light of the world, or any of the other wonders God made with
the things of Creation, we want to see it in Church.
The things in church point to the holy. The sacraments give
us the holiness of Christ, but everything else in church moves us towards those
things. The architecture of the church points us towards the Altar. The organ
and the hymns remind us of salvation and forgiveness. The banners and icons
show us scenes of history we did not get to witness. The pews face forward. The
steps lead up to heaven.
The Church is not frivolous. Whatever teaches Christ and His
salvation stays. Whatever detracts or distracts is thrown out. Sadly, many
today throw out actual holy things and replace them with entertainment. The Font
is cast to the side or locked in a closet. The Bible is simply a tool. Communion
is no more than a symbol. The Altar and chancel are simply places up front and
are reduced to shelves and places where the person speaking stands, on purpose.
It is important. It is life and death. We must set aside
things for certain usages or we will lose reverence and awe. We must remind
ourselves that God really is doing something, physically, or we will lose all
value for God’s Word. When the Word just becomes another thing that takes place
in my head or my heart, then what’s the point in acting a certain way or
attending a certain place?
We lose our sense of wonder so much, that when we next
encounter the baptismal waters, we scoff at it. We deride it. We replace it. “It
is my commitment that does something, not water.” “It is my understanding and
feelings that interpret Scripture, not the Holy Spirit.” “It is my
steadfastness and my private belief that makes this meal special, not the words
and promises of Jesus.”
If this is true, then there is no point. If the meal doesn’t
do anything, throw it out. We don’t want it. If the Bible is just moral living,
burn it. If its just plain water, dump it. If this place is just like any other
on earth, then raze it and salt the earth underneath. If it doesn’t matter, if
it doesn’t do anything, then it doesn’t matter.
But if it does matter; if something else is going on here;
if God’s Word is always true and if He has promised that He is working in the
Word and Sacraments, then by God don’t step on them!
If God truly has a body and soul, then don’t waste your own
or those of your neighbors! If God really does come to live among His people,
to serve them in the Divine Service, and we place the means He uses in this
building and on this Altar, then for God’s sake don’t make light of them!
In his loathing of his Lord’s goods, the dishonest manager
was about to lose his job, his means of life, and his reputation. The Christian
has the power to do the same with his belief, to just flush it down the toilet.
Yet it is in great mercy that the Lord covers our debt with His true Body and
Blood and continues to present Himself in the simple and mundane, making them
most holy things.
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