On the Ministry [Lent 1]

 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 3:1-21

• 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

• St. Matthew 4:1-11

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)
 
Jesus speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”

 
Because, in our sin, we would lose in a direct confrontation with the devil, Jesus has given us His Church and His Ministry. “That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.” (AC V)
We condemn others who think that the Holy Ghost comes to men without the external Word, through their own preparations and works.
 
This is the sore spot in our consciences today as we eavesdrop on Jesus v. satan. Were you able to follow what was happening? What I mean is, can you make the distinction between Cain and Abel? Besides one being a murderer and the other being murdered. Why did God accept Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain? Or the difference between King Saul and King David? Or St. Peter and Judas?
 
How about the distinction between the Word of God and the Word of God as quoted by satan? These questions are constantly on the mind of the Christian as he faces his own sin and becomes a gold mine for anyone who wants to write about trying to understand these things. 
 
When we entertain those thoughts and try to get an answer, we enter a cycle of doubt. Doubt we even have sin and doubt our salvation, because how do we know if we’re truly sorry for our sin or if we’re just going along to get along?
 
Let us take Judas as our example here and receive with him, the most heartbreaking words ever spoken to a sinner. When he realizes Jesus has been condemned, he returns to the priests who gave him the 30 silvers and says, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” In response, he is given the coldest words ever uttered by man: “What’s that to us? See to it yourself” (Matt 27:4).
 
And he did. And even though Judas’s contrition was painfully apparent, he receives the wages of his sin in a suicidal death. We would ask, since he felt sorry for his sins, that means that he was ok and made it to heaven in the end, right? We want to somehow equate contrition, feeling sorry for our sins, as enough to merit grace from God.
 
But that is not enough. It is not enough just to feel the sting and wish we had never done something. There must be confession. 
 
The priests made themselves unavailable and unwilling to hear Judas’s confession, but God must have heard it, right? 
When that excuse fails us, we turn on each other. We may even come to the belief that Judas didn’t love God in the first place. He was faking it. So when he was caught, he only feared the punishments of his actions. Though, a bit more comforting, we are placing a bigger burden on us to live up to that standard and we might as well be the priests, saying this sort of thing about Judas.
 
Contrition does not merit grace. So what does? When does my sin become forgiven? How bad do I have to feel about the wrong that I have done and continue to do before its enough.
 
Repent. This is the backwards way of looking at things, which is of course all about me. Regardless of that, we begin all our spiritual journeys with this terrified conscience that can’t tell left from right, up from down, spinning from standing still. So the question actually becomes, “When…will a terrified conscience…[ever] be able to decide whether it fears God for His own sake [out of love it fears God as its God], or is fleeing from eternal punishments?” (AP XII:9). 
 
The bad news is, you can’t tell. Case and point, you think that because satan quotes scripture to Jesus today that that is where the battle is. So you memorize your entire Bible. You know it inside and out, backwards and forwards all in hopes of finally going toe to toe with the devil.
 
Not that that is not a noble goal to have, the Bible reading stuff, but there is where you lose, because in that contest, your terrified conscious comes out on top. You are sure of yourself until you’re not sure. You can be confident, until you’re not. You can be arrogant, until you’re cut down a peg. 
 
You are sure of yourself, until God says, “Is. 28:21: ‘The Lord shall be wrath that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act.’ He calls it the strange work of the Lord when He terrifies, because to quicken and console is God’s [true] work.” (Ap XII:51)
 
If it is the Lord’s work to terrify, then your confidence is shattered and all your hard work preparing goes out the window. 
 
Or are you sure and arrogant in front of the devil? You are, until the Lord says, “ let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Then the ground around us starts to look like quicksand or a raging sea, and we sink.
 
The reason God seems to sweep your leg in front of satan, is because the “two chief works of God in men are these, to terrify, and to justify and quicken those who have been terrified” (Ap XII:53). You are to see and feel your sin clearly, but sin in front of God is terrified.
 
And yet, “the sum of the preaching of the Gospel is this, namely, to convict of sin, and to offer for Christ’s sake the remission of sins and righteousness, and the Holy Ghost, and eternal life, and that as regenerate men we should do good works” (Ap XII:29). We are not left in our sin, neither do we stay there. We quickly move on to forgiveness.
 
“Therefore, let pious consciences know that the command of God is this, that they believe that they are freely forgiven for Christ’s sake, and not for the sake of our works.” (Ap XII:72)
 
Dear Christians, yes you engage the devil. Everyday. But do not forget to look in that mirror and find that even before that battle, before the bell rings, you see you are disqualified. The Gospel is not “you are equipped to fight”, but “you are equipped to receive”. The Gospel is not how well you contend, or don’t contend, but how well Jesus contends in your place.
 
Yes, in the battle for the Word, it is not a battle of words, but a battle which is practically invisible to us mortals. In other words, it is a battle for the Word, the Word of God, Jesus Christ. It is His battle. The God-man Who steps down from heaven and ascends back into heaven. The God Who suffers and dies on the cross to purchase and win the crown of victory for you.
 
So if the crown of victory is already waiting for everyone, how is it that not all receive it and how are we supposed to view contrition for our sins, then?
 
“Tertullian speaks thus: [The Lord] invites by reward to salvation, even sweating. Saying, “I live,” He desires that He be believed. Oh, blessed we, for whose sake God swears! Oh, most miserable if we believe not the Lord even when He swears!” (Ap XII:94)
 
Similarly, when Jesus commands repentance, we don’t say “I will”, but “I believe”. As in, I hear and believe that Your word of repentance is true, Lord. And in that statement, made in Faith, the good fruit of repentance follows. No doubt.
 
So it is faith that marks out the distinctions between “fearing God out of love” or “fleeing from God because of punishment”. Instead of saying Judas never believed, faith simply states that Judas did not have faith. He did not believe his Lord’s words of repentance led to forgiveness and therefore attempted to make atonement for himself.
 
In contrast, St. Peter did have faith. He trusted that His Lord would redeem him and restore him to his rightful place among the 12 and his rightful place among the Believers, regardless of how many times he denied Him. That is the difference. Faith. 
 
“without faith it is impossible to please God”, says Hebrews 11:6, therefore “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous” (Heb 11:4). Abel had faith. Cain did not. King David had faith, Saul did not. 
 
Without faith it is impossible to please God, but take heart, your faith has saved you, as we heard last week. And this Faith is your faith, not that you grew and nurtured it yourself, but that it was a gift from God to you alone, with your name on the tag and no one else’s. So when we say “your faith”, we mean the faith God has given to you, personally.
 
And because it is even hard to remember all this, the Lord gives us His Ministry, in His Church. In order that we be reminded of Faith and its central importance to all matters concerning God. We quickly forget, because we want to work ourselves into a religious frenzy and prove how great we are.
 
Instead, Jesus wants us running to Confession. He wants our trust to be in His Word and Sacrament. “Ambrose speaks admirably concerning repentance: Therefore it is proper for us to believe both that we are to repent, and that we are to be pardoned, but so as to expect pardon as from faith, which obtains it as from a handwriting. Again: It is faith which covers our sins.” (Ap XII:96)
 
Christ’s focus is not on the fight, but on His victory. He lets you listen to His Temptation in order that you believe He did that for your sake. He lets you see His lovingkindness shown to Cain and Abel, Saul and David, in order that you see the Lord keeps His Word. 
 
So that, in Christ, you may return to Psalm 91, quoted by satan today, and believe that they are for you in two ways, not just one as the devil assumed. The first is that God does defend you against all danger and guards and protects you from all evil. But also, second, that He will command His angels concerning you that on their hands they will bear you up and you shall not strike your foot against the stone of your grave. For, in Faith, you will be raised to eternal life with Christ, for His sake, alone.
 

Divine tension [Ash Wednesday]

[TEXT ONLY]

 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Joel 2:12-19

• 2 Peter 1:2-11

• St. Matthew 6:16-21

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)

 

Jesus speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

it is easy to put these words of Jesus off as one would read a pre-printed “thinking of you” card and then toss it aside. They sound nice, they make us feel nice for a second, and we’re sure the sender meant them in some sort of comforting and sincere way.

 

Its just that its hard to pull those words off of the paper and make them real, especially when we need them, which isn’t always when we’re reading the card. While Jesus’ words can have the same feeling to our sinful ears, Faith lets us know that there is something more behind them and one way the Holy Ghost does that is by leaving us in tension.

 

What I mean by tension stems from our Gospel reading this evening. You see we just publicly imposed ashes upon our foreheads, voluntarily, in the biblical reminder of the dust and ashes we sit in daily, because of our sins. Yet, we hear Jesus saying to do these things in secret so that no one sees.

 

So what are poor Lutherans to do?

 

Well, we are divinely inspired to live in that tension, especially since God leaves us there. Do, do not. Free, bound. Required, Adiaphora. The Christian lives his life stunted by sin and yet redeemed by the Almighty. This life consists of prayer, meditation, and suffering or bearing the cross.

 

While all this can be done in secrecy, Faith can not help but overflow into our lives. We can pray in secret, but our lives will reflect that time spent in prayer and people will notice. We can read God’s Word in secret, but it will make our lives anything but conspicuous. We can bear our crosses and hold our hand as close to our chests as we can, but sooner or later things become public.

 

Look at our Old Testament reading. Verse 15 says to blow the trumpet to announce the fast and to congregate together. Make sure everyone knows that its time to fast and time to go to God’s Service. That is not very secret of God to do.

 

But look again and we find that the secret comes immediately after everyone has gathered. Its all well and good to gather up, fast and have Church, but how? You blew the trumpet what next? We all hold hands and sing Kumbaya? The secret is, what comes after the gathering.

 

This is where St. Peter comes to teach, from our Epistle, saying, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge” (2 Pet 1:5-7).

 

That “knowledge”, there, is revelation from God, not what we are to do, but what He is going to do in front of us and on our behalf, in His Solemn Assembly. “Come, and see the works of God”, says Psalm 66, “terrible work on behalf of the children of men.” Knowledge that we must wait for and knowledge that must be revealed to us.

 

the secret is how God is going to act. The mystery is that He acts through means, even His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. There is no secret or mystery to be discovered in us. It is all in waiting on the Lord and watching His acts.

 

And act He does. But when He does, in His crucifixion, it becomes sort of an awkward, tense moment. All hail the King of kings and Lord of lords victorious…suffering and dying. It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended, and yet backwards to all observation, the victory remained with life. Jesus rises from the dead.

 

He rises to distribute His Word and Sacrament among us, for through those means, He draws near and fulfills His promise of being with us forever, even today.

 

It is His act of drawing near to us that causes us to gather and see what He will do. It is His work of calling, gathering, and enlightening people which causes us to congregate. It is His work of declaring people holy through Word and Sacrament, which causes us to tell others of what God is doing in order that they participate.

 

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, purchases our seat at the Table of God’s action. It completely buys us in to the treasure house that, heretofore, God had kept behind angel and flaming sword. In Christ, the guard is retired and the flame extinguished. 

 

No longer is there a question as to what God is doing and who’s side He’s on. It is glaringly apparent that He is on our side and will go with us all the way in order to get us all the way there. Now that He has told us, revealed this to us, we can have confidence in His love and dwell with boldness in His forgiveness found only in Jesus.

 

And yet the tension remains, in that we remain with sin in our lives. If there is such evil and sin running rampant, how can God have won? This is where faith trusts in the promises God has made, receiving Word and Sacrament as pledges of that victory. God has chosen this way and faith keeps us on that narrow path with Him.

 

These Wednesdays in Lent, I hope to go through this tension with you and discover what it really means to be a witness of these things. Both to ourselves and to others around us. We’ll go through 5 things you can do to witness Christ. They include witnessing to Christ where He speaks and works, witnessing using Law and Gospel, using Justification in Word and Sacrament, witnessing with our own lives, and being on the front lines of defending the faith.

 

Even there, the tension remains, so that when it comes to including others, or telling others about such wonderful acts of God, it is not a “have to”, but a “get to”. Just as fasting is not a “have to”, but a “get to”. No good work, done in faith, is a “have to” as in “God can’t do it without me” or “If I don’t do these things, God’s kingdom won’t expand on earth”. God can spread His own Word just fine, with or without me. 

 

It is a “get to”, as in now that I am found secure in the wounds of Christ, I get to spread His Word. Within His love, I love His Word and Sacrament so much that I get to tell others, I want to tell others, so that they can share this same love. 

 

On Justification [Quinquagesima]

 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• 1 Samuel 16:1-13

• 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

• St. Luke 18:31-43

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)

 

Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has saved you.’”

 

 Your faith has saved you. That’s what Jesus says there. That’s what Jesus means there. Faith alone.

 

One of the most hotly contested words in Christian vocabulary is the word “faith”. It was the center of the fight at the Reformation and it remains our fight today, if only because it appears to be an undefinable, spiritual matter. That is, that when people are asked about faith, it quickly becomes a private issue as opposed to an objective issue.

 

And once something becomes private, there is no more discussion. You can’t talk about it, you can’t question it. Mine is mine and yours is yours and that’s it. But that is not how Jesus talks about faith, ever. Faith is never private. Faith is the same gift given to every Christian, no exception. This is because it is Faith that saves you, as Jesus has already told us.

 

And if we are first class people we are able to have civil discussions about things and when we talk about “faith” in the proper way, we quickly run into the forgiveness of sins. 

However, as it is understood in Roman Catholic churches and other protestant churches, the forgiveness of sins is not enough. They would say that having the forgiveness of sins is only the first step. The second step is true renewal by the Spirit. This is where “spirit baptisms” come from. Water baptism only gives forgiveness. Spirit, or second, baptism gives the renewal of the mind. Or is it marathon revivals? I can’t keep up.

 

Our Gospel reading today gives the perfect example for them. You see, the forgiveness of sins is like Jesus giving the man’s sight back to him. Jesus has brought the man out of darkness and into His light, as He promised in Psalm 107:14, “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart.”

 

But afterwards, it is that man’s new job to “follow and glorify God”. Thus, it is not enough just to be healed of blindness, one must then give their heart to Jesus. They must follow Him and do the things that glorify God. This they take to mean as praying and fasting and doing good deeds, you know, like Jesus did. This “second life”, both say, is the true spiritual life which is beyond the Baptismal Font, beyond forgiveness.

 

There are two problems that I see with that assertion. There are more than 2, but for today we will only focus on two. The first problem is that we are not told what this man, or really any of the people healed by Jesus, did after they were healed. Some were even sent home. There is no program that is given as to what “following Jesus” means nor of what “glorifying God” means. 

 

For any kind of “menu”, we’d need to go to St. Paul, for he is the one to lay out all the “do this’s” and “don’t do this’s”. But if we have to go to St. Paul, then what is the point of Jesus? So let’s not go there as if we will find something in St. Paul’s letters that Jesus left out.

 

The second problem is: Jesus does not add to any of His Passion predictions these sorts of words, “if only they would follow me and glorify me, I would not have to suffer and die”. This means, that even if Jesus was followed and glorified, He would still be mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, flogged, and killed. No amount of “glorification” seems to be enough to prevent the cross.

 

Which should teach us something very important about God. That is: His Glory is His Cross. 

 

To truly glorify God, you must put Him on the cross. Which then clarifies “following Jesus”. If God’s glory is His cross, and the way we glorify God is by putting Him there, or rather, letting Him act as He wishes, putting Himself up there, and suffering and dying for us. Then following Him means simply that: going where He goes and seeing what He does.

 

Dear Christians, when we speak of saving faith, we are speaking of a complete saving faith. When the Lord Jesus speaks of forgiving sins, He is not starting us out on a long journey to become just like Him. When He forgives sins, He also gives life, light, and salvation, because in forgiveness we are made just like Him. 

 

It is no incomplete gift that our Lord suffers and dies to purchase for you. Remember, in Psalm 107:14, Jesus brings them out of darkness and at the same time breaks their bonds asunder. That is at the same time Jesus saves, breaks you away from sin, death, and the devil, He gives forgiveness. 

 

Our Small Catechism reminds us of this in St. Mark 16:16, when talking about baptism. There, St. Mark says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”. Belief and baptism happen at the same time. There is no “whoever believes and then afterwards is baptized”. 

 

Look at the Gospel again. The Blind Man hears the Word of God’s Faith, that the promised Son of David has come to him. At this Word, the blind man follows after Jesus before receiving his sight. In faith, already possessed by the man, he shouts after Jesus expecting all good things. Without faith, that is not possible. Without saving faith, as Jesus said, healing his eyes, ears, or receiving any gift from God is not possible. 

 

Regarding faith, we by no means deny any sort of spiritual renewal happening in a person as a result of receiving God’s gift of faith. The controversy is not whether or not the benefits of Christ include the renewal of the mind, repentance, contrition, good intentions, love, or good works. All these we happily and heartily confess and believe are the possession of a Christian, because of Christ.

 

But, it is not the destination. It is not even the journey. It is the God-man, Christ Jesus. The controversy is whether or not I cooperate with Him to create saving faith. If I cooperate, then there is goodness in me and I can accomplish good things without Christ. If I am “the blind leading the blind”, then Christ must come to me and do all the work or I will remain in the ditch of my grave.

 

The Love that faith unwearily pursues is the Love that leaves no gap, no opening, and no grave left unturned. It is a Love that first creates what it seeks. The Lord that gives Faith first and asks questions later. The Love that lays down His Life for His friends and enemies. 

 

Jesus doesn't go up to this blind man and ask if he wants to believe or not. He asks him what he wants from Jesus. It could have been anything. The door was wide open to ask for wisdom, or riches, or fame. But faith in the man wants only his sight. Sight to see Jesus, the Son of God, Who will save him from his sins.

 

The sacrifice of Jesus atones for the sins of the whole world. Even the sins of those who reject Him, such is the power of His Gospel. That doesn’t mean everyone gets into heaven, but it does mean that saving Faith is produced, active, and doing proper work even before you think about it.

 

From outside of you, Jesus creates His saving faith and objectively gives it to you. It is objective in the same way that the blind man receiving his sight is objective. His renewed eyesight was not going to come “from within”. 

 

This, the Christian Church calls Justification. Justification means that the sinner is justified by faith alone. Nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification from God and it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will.

 

This, then, is something we can talk about. If only because of the pervasive guilt that plagues all human lives. Am I truly loved? Does God really forgive me? Is there really nothing He wants as payment? Am I truly free to go?

 

“…The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who [is] preached among you…[is] not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. …it is God who makes …you stand firm in Christ” (2 Cor 1:19-21)

 

 

On the Son of God [Sexagesima]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 55:10-13

• 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9

• St. Luke 8:4-15

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)

 

Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God”

 

“It is also necessary for everlasting salvation,” we confess in our Creed, “that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

When it comes to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, there are similar disagreements between people when you ask them Who He is, as there is when asking about God. However, historically speaking, Jesus is, or should be, the common point of all Christians, that is that He is true God and true man, that He suffered and died to reconcile us to the Father, and that He was raised to reign over all and to justify and sanctify all believers, as our Creeds confess.

 

But who believes that old junk anymore? That is in the past. We need to move forward, progress, and update our beliefs according to modern times and scholarship. Indeed, that is what the world and the pop Christianity that follows the world, has done. It is no longer the sugar-coated, rose-colored glasses Jesus that people invented to believe in. That Jesus was not enough.

 

Though there are still holdouts, clinging to this saccharine Jesus, the majority have moved on to someone better. A person who actually listens and understands. Someone who says agreeable things and promises that things will get better. Someone who is so sticky sweet and affirming that all of humanity can unite under him, if they just hear him out.

 

This someone is the devil, of course. Made up Jesus is just that, made up, and is no good. It is because of this Jesus that people are leaving churches. But the devil is real and he has real things to say about equality and unity and acceptance and peace. The “now”. How we get things done is by making sure everyone is equal, or else. How we come together is by accepting everything, or else, and finding true peace in that beautiful one-thought-world, or else.

 

You thought the punk rockers of the 70s and 80s were devil worshippers for dressing up and acting as they did. No. Those were just LaRPers, live action role-players, acting simply to get a rise out of you and sell their records. It worked.

 

But that is not devil worship. The real worship comes in the form of fear, love, and trust. Do you fear the God Who “…can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28)? Sounds arrogant. Maybe He should try being sweeter, like this other guy.

 

Do you love Jesus “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37)? Here He is in front of you, looking suspiciously like a regular bloke, talking about farming today in the Gospel. Maybe He should speak more plainly.

 

Do you trust? You should, but “Why are you discouraged? Why are you restless? You should trust the Lord” (Ps 42:5). You should, but God is very fickle with His help and everyone keeps asking where He is, when you don’t even know. You’d rather have the here and now. You’d rather have the immediate gratification.

 

Repent. As you practice these things, you are just as guilty of trampling God’s Word as are those you yell at on your Television, which you should stop because those people are all paid actors. The devil doesn’t win if he is on TV. The devil wins when you, yes you have to do it, when you bring all this into the Lord’s Bride, His Church.

 

When you fear worldly success and numbers more than Word and Sacrament, the devil wins. When you love your private preferences more than the Church’s historic preferences, your sin wins. When you trust in your judgement as judgement from God, sowing hate and wicked feelings among the Baptized of Christ, the world has converted you.

 

God has given us to be stewards of His Creation, but we have ruined it. We have ruined it in such a way that we think we are doing God a great favor, instead of hearing and believing His Gospel. 

 

It is so ruined, that when Jesus comes to sow His own Word from His own mind and lips, He finds more places where it will not grow, than places it will grow. He finds the path, the rocks, and the thorns where all should be good. He finds unbelief, suffering, and wickedness in your life and in your hearts, where there should only be what He created, that is things that are “very good”.

 

And when God comes down, what do you suppose He should do with such wicked servants? “[Jesus asks] When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

 

 If there is one aspect of Jesus that we have lost in today’s age of pop-religion and religious freedom, its the serious Jesus. He is not only serious about worship being only offered to Him, which includes all our fear. love, and trust. But He is also serious about how Good His Creation is and when He finds what He has made suffering and dying in sin, He is the God Who acts.

 

 Yet to such destroyed, irredeemable soil, only the blood of God can bring it back. But God is God. He doesn’t have blood. He takes His own. His own Body and His own Blood and offers it as fertilizer for you. The Incarnation of Jesus is the Incarnation of God, in order that He be the seed thrown away for a miserable death, substituting Himself in place of all wretched sinners.

 

 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn 3:18). 

And that Name is Immanuel Crucified. God with us, through His suffering, death, and resurrection. 

“Through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38).

 

 What is ruined is recreated, in Christ. Jesus’s Blood is redemptive. It does not go on someone and they remain just as they are. They are changed. They are changed the same way the soils of the Sower were changed, in the Gospel.

 

Those on the path gave the path purpose. No longer was it just to be walked all over, but it was meant to hold the seed out to feed the birds. Those on the rocks gave purpose. Who thought rocks could grow anything except moss? Not these rocks. Yet when the Word is thrown at them, they come alive. 

 

And what did the thorns have to choke, before the sprouting seeds came along? Even the good soil was empty before Jesus filled it. It is the Word that is the power of salvation, the Word of the Crucified Jesus. And that Word creates life and light, through Faith, which it also gives. 

 

And in that Faith, we believe that the Lord’s forgiveness is our forgiveness. So continue to bring all your sin into Church, for now that you are found in Christ you hate it, you confess it, and you rid yourself of it in Confession. That is how Jesus made it to be, for here is the dumping ground. Jesus, both God and man, still makes Himself available for all your sins.

 

Though you bring numerous sins daily to Him, His sacrifice was enough for all of them and more. He gave Himself as a ransom, even for the devil worshippers, for if they repent, it is a forgivable sin. 

 

And He is so serious about this, that He is willing to go at it Himself and confront and defeat any and all crazy the world or you can throw at Him. And He does this by the same method today: offering His Body and Blood to a world full of nothing but God’s enemies. 

 

At the fullness of time, God sent His very own Son, Who is mocked, scourged, and crucified. But three days later rises again, afterward He ascended into heaven that He might sit on the right hand of the Father, and forever reign and have dominion over all creatures, and sanctify them that believe in Him, by sending the Holy Ghost into their hearts, to rule, comfort, and quicken them, and to defend them against the devil and the power of sin (AC 3:4-5).

 

 

 

Removing the Origin of sin [Septuagesima]

 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 17:1-7

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5

• St. Matthew 20:1-16

Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)
 
Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”

 
We talk about sin a lot in the Church. Some even say that the Lutherans are notorious for being gloomy and sour-krauts, so much does sin permeate our conversations, hymns, and liturgy. I don’t understand the problem seeing how you don’t get to the forgiveness of Jesus except through repentance and repentance includes recognizing and owning your sinful nature. Rather, for Lutherans, the Gospel is the goal. The more Gospel the better, though we must walk through the valley of the shadow of our sins.
 
All our problems are the result of our sinfulness. Our problem with Evil is the result of sin. And all too often we take our own side, I mean who wouldn’t? When evil happens to us, we don’t see what we did to deserve such suffering in this life and when we are suffering evil, we want to solve it so it never happens again.
 
Indeed, what we do with evil is what we do with Original Sin. We treat it as a textbook subject, a laboratory object. We observe it and study it to see where it came from, what it does, and how it affects things around it. Maybe it was part of the apple from the Garden. Maybe it was the breath of the Serpent. Maybe it could be treated with a vaccine?
 
This is the argument from the workers in the vineyard who have “borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat”. They have put in the work, they have made themselves worthy, they deserve everything coming to them. What they put in, they should get out which would add up to much more than one denarius. 
 
So they say. But what of their work? Was it truly up to standards or was it just work? Now, in the civil realm, we should absolutely get compensated for our time. That is the definition of mutual exchange. Someone wants our labor and skills and agrees to exchange that time for remuneration, whatever that may be. 
 
But does that same exchange work in the heavenly realm? Has God ever said, “equal pay for equal work”? To be mean, I don’t think those laborers put up the proper work. Though they “worked”, their work was insufficient, probably even incorrect. Their work did not meet the standards of the job contracted to them and therefore no matter how much of that sort of work they do, it would never break through to the next pay scale.
 
This is Original Sin. We start below scale and do not have the ability to progress and are passed up for every promotion. We work hard, and think that our hard work is enough, but if we aren’t doing the proper work then we might as well not be doing anything at all. Our work is cursed from the start.
 
Repent. We can only think of standards as relating to our own person and experiences. We are unable to think out of the box in our sin and therefore force others into our own standards, never thinking that there could be disagreement. This is the cause of all conflicts on earth. We think we are worth more, but no one is buying it.
 
That is not the point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The focus of Jesus was never the work. It was never the payment. It was definitely never the laborers. It is Jesus and also this word Jesus uses for “generosity”, in verse 15. 
 
Now, we can easily silence the ungrateful laborers by first bringing up the original agreement as Jesus did Himself. If that is not enough, we can go on with this “generosity” word and prove that providing the vineyard, providing the opportunity to work, and providing payment for it would be ten times the proof necessary to show just how wrong those workers are.
 
But Jesus doesn’t want to only be right. This is why He leaves His case at the original agreement and instead points to His generosity. Jesus doesn’t want to be right only, He wants to be Good. Good in the way that only God can be Good: eternally and universally.
 
This is the importance of the comparison Jesus uses in verse 15. He doesn’t just say “begrudge my generosity”, but literally, “is your eye evil because I am good”. And the answer is yes. Compared to God Almighty and all His Good work, our eye is evil, our hand is evil, our heart is evil, our work is evil. 
 
Can you make water in the desert to flow for a people dying of thirst who hate you? Can you create an imperishable wreath to award those who do good at the end of their lives? Can you make and offer a spiritual drink from a spiritual Rock that will reach into eternity?
 
First, you would have to not be sinful to do these things. But really this work requires something outside of your standards and something you would never even dream up. The work that accomplishes such feats is described by Jesus immediately following this parable of the workers in the vineyard where, for the third and final time, Jesus predicts His Passion and Resurrection.
 
The real work of the vineyard is crucifixion. The Vineyard, the opportunity for labor, and the wages must be paid for or come from somewhere, especially if it is to be eternal and universal. The standard of labor in the Lord’s Vineyard is the death and resurrection of the Son of God. The water that a man may drink of and never thirst again, flows from the pierced side of the crucified Christ. The imperishable wreath that is the righteousness of God, freely given to all, is purchased by the suffering and dying of Christ.
 
Jesus labors in His own Vineyard, not because “if you want something done do it yourself”, but because in His labor, our labors become eternal and universal. Out of His proper and Good work of enduring the burden of being the Son of God and the scorching heat of the wrath of God on the cross, comes the credit to our accounts of His Goodness.
 
In Christ, you are raised to the standard God desires in His Vineyard. Your evil eye is changed out for His Goodness. Your begrudging of anything that is not you, is converted into the generosity of God in Christ. Jesus works off your debts, you are credited His heavenly, eternal standard.
 
Because the second, true point of this parable is the invitation. Jesus does not have an exclusive Vineyard He keeps to Himself. It is open. He does not even spare His own kingdom, but gives that away as well. And He does so requiring only the belief that it is He Who has done such a thing and no one else.
 
Yes, you are not worthy. Your Original Sin, the sin that originates all sinful thoughts, words and deeds in you, keeps you from even hearing the call for laborers. But the Lord of the Vineyard doesn’t wait for you to hear Him. He comes close. He comes to the place where you are lazing about in your sin and death, unemployed, opens your eyes and ears, and reveals to you this wonderful invitation.
 
That invitation to come to a perfect Vineyard, which basically takes care of itself, and to simply enjoy all the benefits of being there. Of receiving the highest gift anyone could ever receive, that is rewards from the very hand of God. So that no matter what it is, it is eternally sufficient and it is catholic, universal, able to be received by everyone.
 
This is not an Invitation to work, but an invitation to receive from God exactly what He wants to give you. No questions of compatibility, no doubts about qualifications, and no quarrels about gifts. Faith is the universal gift that is from God and that all Christians have, regardless of what they’ve done, who they are, or where they’re at.
 
The Christian’s primary gifts are faith in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. This is the goodness and generosity of the Crucified Vineyard Master. This is the denarius that our sin and the devil would have us deny and begrudge. 
 
Thus, this becomes our greatest treasure, for not only is it from God Himself, but it is enough to overcome our Original Sin and seat us next to His Son for all eternity. So, while we may find some benefit of debating whether or not this or that fruit is sinful or whether or not this or that lifestyle is hell-bound, rather the Christian simply confesses.
 
Though Original Sin can be somewhat of a mystery, the Christian only has to admit his guilt in the matter. He does not need to search far for proof. No, you did not eat of the fruit of the tree of Eden, but you have the fruits inside you. For you have been disobedient, unfaithful, slothful; you have grieved others by words and deeds; you have stolen, neglected, and have been wasteful, and any other number of personal injuries done to God and neighbor.
 
For these we simply say, “I am a sinner.” We do not take the chance of any one of those being the sin that casts us away from Jesus. If it is Original Sin, that the Lord says we are guilty of, even better. For this means that our Lord and Savior has not just saved us from our sin, but from the Origin of our Sin.
 
He has cleansed and covered us from head to toe and from conception to grave with His righteousness. Since Jesus desires our sinfulness and sins, we give them to Him. He has come for sinners, to make grace abound much more, wherever sin abounds. So, we confess all and more that Jesus can be all in all and more, on the cross, for us.