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.
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