Inexhaustible Treasures (Sermon preached Aug. 11, Proper 14-C)

Sermon Text: Luke 12:22-34

In the name of T Jesus.

            Last week Jesus told you the parable of the rich fool; that story of a rich man who continued to store up treasures on earth for himself, so that he could relax, and be merry, while those around him remained in need.  It was a story of extreme selfishness, and in the end the rich man was left with nothing, as his life was demanded of him by God Himself.  This week, Jesus contrasts that extreme selfishness by putting before you the good news of a heavenly Father who does not store up treasures in heaven to keep to himself—that would be nonsense!—Jesus reminds you that the Father’s good pleasure is to give you the Kingdom.  Jesus reminds you that when the Father gives you the kingdom, the Father gives you everything.  Jesus reminds you of the Father’s good pleasure, so that you would have no need to be anxious about anything.

            You see, if you lift up your hearts to the Lord—if you lift up your hearts to the Lord, and set your mind on things above, where Christ is, your heart will bring your eyes with it, and you will see with me a heavenly picture of your heavenly Father, high in the heavens, with His crucified and risen Son seated on His right hand.  If your ears are opened to Jesus’ Word this morning, then you will be given to see past the floundering and failing economies, and the penny-pinching budgets, and the stress producing pressures of this materialistic and money-driven world so that your heart and your eyes of faith would see your heavenly Father, sitting there in the heavens with His Son, and around them a treasure trove of gifts that is inexhaustible, from which your Father is pleased to give to you.

You see, if the Holy Spirit would use these words of Jesus to lift your hearts to the Lord; if the Holy Spirit will use Jesus’ teaching to reveal to you the hidden but very true reality of a Father who delights in giving you from his inexhaustible treasures all the gifts that you need, then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be convinced with all certainty that you will never have anything to fear.  For in hearing Jesus’ promise, and trusting His truth; in the place of fear, you will have faith.  You will have the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things which are impossible to be seen.

You see, the problem is what you do see.  Take Abram in our Old Testament reading, as an example.  Just three chapters earlier in the book of Genesis, the LORD had spoken wonderful promises to him.  The LORD had taken this pagan idolater, named Abram, and his wife Sarai, and with His strong Word, the LORD and called him, and gathered him, and enlightened him to know the LORD’s good pleasure, and to believe the LORD’s good pleasure, so that by faith in what the LORD had revealed, Abram would begin to live by faith in the promises the LORD had given him.  Without being able to see any of it, but with his heart set on things above, when Abram was seventy-five years old, he took his barren wife and set out for an unknown land, convinced that an exceedingly great nation would flow from his loins.

It was only a few years later, and Abram had grown anxious.  He had begun to doubt God’s promises, and to fear that there would be no nation, for he had had no offspring.  Because of what his eyes could see, Abram was filled with fear, and anxiety, and even became a bit angry with the LORD: “O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? …Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”  Abram could not look past what was in front of him.  He was blinded by the sight of his present situation, and had forgotten the truth of the LORD’s promise.

But what the LORD had revealed as His will when He first spoke His promise to Abram was still the LORD’s will, despite Abram’s ability to see it.  The LORD had promised to make Abram’s nation great, and the LORD would make his nation great.  Today, you and I know Abram as Father Abraham.  Today, we know that Father Abraham has many sons, and many sons have Father Abraham. Today we can see this so clearly, but in the moment, Abram could see none of it.  And so it was what his eyes could see, that caused Abram to become one of little faith.

But the LORD hadn’t changed a bit.  Despite Abram’s fears, and his inability to see into the future, the LORD hadn’t changed His will, or His ways.  And so, after hearing Abram’s cry of confusion; after listening to Abram’s anxious appeal; like a father having a heart-to-heart with his dear son who is struggling to make sense of things, the LORD simply renews His promise.  The LORD takes anxious Abram outside, and says, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. …So shall your offspring be.”  The promise the LORD had spoken to Abram when he called him, was the very same promise the LORD spoke to Abram in order to sustain him.  The very same Word which the LORD had used to give faith to Abram in the first place, is the Word which the LORD would use to sustain his faith, when Abram’s eyes were causing him to be full of anxiety and fear.  Because no matter what Abram could or couldn’t see with his eyes, the promise of the LORD still remained true.

So what is it, little flock, that is filling you with anxiety and fear?  What is it that is before your eyes, O you of little faith, and that causes you to be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, and what you will put on?  What is it about what you can see in your situation that causes your hearts to be lowered from heaven to earth, and that takes your eyes off of Christ, so that you forget the promises He has given you?  What is it that you are uncertain of?

Could it be that what you’ve gotten used to living on much more than daily bread, and when the LORD has chosen to bless you with different gifts than what you have had in mind, you begin to question the will of God, rather than your own? 

Maybe your eyes and your heart have been set on earthly things, and you’ve started to believe that life is only full when it’s full of stuff.  You just have to have those designer clothes for school, and you don’t know how you’ll go on if you’re not able to be involved in every extracurricular activity.  That clunker you’ve been driving might have to last a while longer, even if your neighbor just drove home with a new SUV.  That home with a little extra breathing room might not be in the cards right now.  And life will go on if you don’t have all the latest technological gadgets.  But with hearts set on earthly things, what we see we have, or what we don’t have, will cause us to cry out, like Abram, and complain to God.  And we’re really just complaining because we’ve started to believe that God has promised something more to us than daily bread.

But maybe your fears are a bit more serious than having an unhealthy desire for stuff.  Could it be, that your position at work is less than secure, and the financial security that your position has provided for you and your family is questionable?  Because that could cause you to be anxious, if you didn’t have a promise to trust?

Might it be that there’s too much month at the end of your money, and the direction of the balances in your bank accounts is causing your blood pressure to be going up?  Or maybe you don’t have a job; or the job you have is torture.  This could be the source of your anxiety, and could cause you to forget the LORD’s promises.

Or maybe it has nothing to do with money at all.  Maybe your marriage, or your children, or some other relationship is the source of your fear and anxiety.  You can’t possibly see how you could somehow learn to love him, or her, or be loved by him or her again.

Or maybe, just maybe, your fear and anxiety is caused by something you’ve done, or left undone.  You’ve sinned, and you know it, and you’re worried that others will know it too.  Or maybe they already do.  And whether they’ve been gracious to you or not, you’ve begun to wonder if the Father will still have His good pleasure towards you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what is it that your eyes are causing you to be afraid of?  What is it in your life, that drags your heart down to earth so that you forget the things above?  What is it that you are so uncertain of?  Why are you anxious?

The disciples, who had been called by Jesus and sent by Jesus without any moneybags, or knapsacks, or sandals to preach in His own name, and where supposed to be provided for by those who would hear their preaching and welcome them into their homes, were anxious that when they went out and started to preach, the LORD would not provide for them.

Abram, who himself had been called by the LORD and sent by the LORD without knowing the land to which he was going, and without being able to see the LORD’s promises yet being fulfilled, became anxious and fearful that somehow the LORD and His promises had changed.

You and I have been called by the LORD through the Gospel, and through that Gospel you and I have been gathered by the LORD into the one, holy Church to be members of the flock of faith.  And like those who have gone before us, you and I have been sent out to live in our various vocations by faith in the promises which the LORD Himself has given us.  But like Abram, and like the disciples, what we see before us with our eyes, causes us to be anxious and fearful, about many things, because we forget—O do we forget—that the promises of the LORD haven’t changed a bit.

            And so today, Jesus invites you to consider the ravens.  Consider the ravens who neither sow nor reap; these ravens who have no jobs or bank accounts—no storehouses or barns; those ravens who are fed from the inexhaustible treasures of the LORD.

And Jesus would invite you also to consider the lilies.  Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil or spin, they’re not turning fiber into thread or yarn, and yet, Jesus says, those lilies are adorned in even greater glory than Solomon of old.

You see, Jesus knows your fears.  He is the one that delivers your cries of anxiety to the Father as your mediator.  And he delivers the cries of the fearful and anxious from all the world.  But Jesus knows, that if your hearts would be lifted up to heaven; if your eyes could see past the things of this world, then you might remember the inexhaustible treasure trove of gifts from which Your Father has promised to give to you.

Fear not, little flock, for the Father is pleased to give you inexhaustible treasures.  With Jesus sitting at His right hand, and the wounds of the cross crying out on your behalf, the Father is pleased to give you grace upon grace in the forgiveness of sins.  No amount of sin can exhaust the forgiveness that the Father freely gives to you through the sacrifice of the Son.  His grace knows no ends, and His forgiveness will endure forever.

And fear not, little flock, for the Father’s inexhaustible treasures include a life that is filled with everything He knows you need.  I have no idea what jobs you will have, or what cars you will drive, or if you will have plenty or be given to live on less.  But I do know that the Father will give you daily bread, and that you will be given everything that you need for the support and needs of the body.  For the Father cannot deny those for whom Christ has died.

You see, today, by hearing again the promises of the LORD, the Holy Spirit is lifting your hearts to heaven, and giving you eyes of faith to see the inexhaustible treasures from which the Father is pleased to bless you.  And while today, you are asked to trust in these promises, and be assured of what you cannot see.  As you live by faith, your fear and anxiety will be replaced with the assurance that one day, because of Jesus’ promise, the inexhaustible treasures of heaven, will be all you will see forever.  In the name of T Jesus.  Amen.

Daily Devotional Thought--From the Lutheran Confessions

Today’s look at the Augsburg Confession reveals a deep respect in the mind of the Reformers for those ceremonies of the Church which had been handed down through the ages.  But their respect only went so far as those ceremonies served to confess the Gospel.  And so, this also guides our thinking today.  Enjoy!

Collect of the Week (Proper 13-C)

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Article XV (Church Ceremonies)

¹ Our churches teach that ceremonies ought to be observed that may be observed without sin. Also, ceremonies and other practices that are profitable for tranquility and good order in the Church (in particular, holy days, festivals, and the like) ought to be observed.

² Yet, the people are taught that consciences are not to be burdened as though observing such things was necessary for salvation [Colossians 2:16–17]. ³ They are also taught that human traditions instituted to make atonement with God, to merit grace, and to make satisfaction for sins are opposed to the Gospel and the doctrine of faith. ⁴ So vows and traditions concerning meats and days, and so forth, instituted to merit grace and to make satisfaction for sins, are useless and contrary to the Gospel. (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 39).

Note:

Lutheranism embraces the good historic traditions of the Church, especially those of the Western Church. These include such things as following the pattern of the Church year, lectionary readings from the Bible, a liturgical order of worship, various festival days, vestments worn by clergy, and the use of candles, crucifixes, and other objects. As this article makes very clear, in the Lutheran Church, rites, decorations, or traditions are never used or followed to appease God’s wrath or to earn the forgiveness of sins. Lutheranism removed from the Church useless and harmful traditions such as monastic vows and insisting on certain foods on certain days. (See also Ap XV; SA III XV; FC Ep X and SD X.) (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 39).

Prayer

Almighty, everlasting God, for our many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation. In Your mercy You sent Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and everlasting salvation. Grant us a true confession that, dead to sin, we may be raised up by Your life-giving absolution. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may be ever watchful and live true and godly lives in Your service; through Jesus Christ, our Lord (LSB, collect #153).

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Ap Apology of the Augsburg Confession

SA Smalcald Articles

FC Ep Epitome of the Formula of Concord

SD Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord

Daily Devotional Thought--From the New Testament

Collect of the Week (Proper 13-C)

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Colossians 3:1-11 (From the Epistle Reading for Proper 13-C)

¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ who is your¹ life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:¹ sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices  ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,¹ free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

Each of us have an old man, living in us, who has earthly desires.  And since Paul lists some of them, we can go so far as to say each of our sinful hearts will produce “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  But the wrath of God is not coming against you.

In Holy Baptism, you were crucified with Christ, and you were also raised with Christ.  Your old man, with his earthly desires has been killed, and your new life is hidden with Christ in God.  Your new man, who desires God’s gifts, and who wants to do God’s will, is the man who lives within you by faith in the Words and Promises of God.  It’s the part of you that trusts, and clings to, the forgiveness of sins.  It’s that person who clings to the fact of your baptism, and desires the assurance of Christ’s body and blood in the Holy Communion.  That man, the new man, is in you, even if he remains hidden in Christ.

But that is why St. Paul encourages us to set our minds on things above, where Christ is.  For that is where your life is as well.  It’s easy to think of earthly things, and earthly ways.  But with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, our hearts and desires become set on heavenly things, sanctified things, holy things.  With our eyes fixed on Jesus, and our minds fixed on heavenly things, we put to death our old man and his earthly desires, and learn to walk in the way of Christ, and our new man begins to show himself.

Being patient with others, controlling urges of the body, looking for ways to serve those in need, even forgiving those who sin against us.  These are works of the new man, for these are the works of Christ.  In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

“Before the dawning day Let sin’s dark deeds be gone, The sinful self be put away, The new self now put on.” Amen (LSB 331:5).

Daily Devotional Thought--From the Old Testament

Collect of the Week (Proper 13-C)

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 (From the OT Reading for Proper 12-C)

¹² I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.  ¹³ And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  ¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

When talking about the many aspects of life that confuse or confound, my dad used to say to me, “I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure it out.”  Of course, the implied meaning wasn’t lost on me, even at a young age.  In fact, my father’s statement wasn’t true at all—it was a figure of speech.  And it was meant to help me understand that it is okay not to have an answer for everything.

In the passages above from Ecclesiastes, we hear the frustration of one who needed to learn this lesson.  He had applied his heart, and been diligent in searching out answers to everything on earth.  And when answers eluded him, he concluded that life must be meaningless, that “all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

But mankind isn’t supposed to know everything, or have answers to every question.  Political and human affairs can be complex, and if not having all the answers makes life meaningless, then what good are the promises of God?

And that’s the point.  Forgetting the promises of God will make life appear to be meaningless.  But with the promises of God, given to us in Christ, life is full and rich no matter what questions are left unanswered.  God knows all; we don’t.  And the sooner we learn this, the better.

When we are given knowledge and understanding, we can give thanks, for we know from where it comes.  When answers elude us, we can give thanks, for we know who has the answers.  In this way, by faith, and as Luther said, “Let us deal with everything else as it comes into our hands, leaving to Him the concern about its outcome” (AE 15:25).

In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

O God of all mercies, You have begun Your good work in us. Continue, we pray, to fill us with all dimensions of wisdom and knowledge. Grant that the devil would have no power over us, but that our hearts and minds might be directed to the blessed hope of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen (TLSB, p. 1051).

Daily Devotional Thought--From the Psalms

Collect of the Week (Proper 13-C)

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Psalm 100 (Assigned Psalm for Proper 13-C)

¹  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

² Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his;¹ we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Devotional Thoughts

“The 100^th psalm is a prophecy of Christ. It calls on the entire world to be joyful, to praise, and to give thanks, that is, to worship God and come to His throne and His courts, and to call on Him with all confidence. For His grace is an eternal Kingdom, which truly remains forever and ever” (Reading the Psalms with Luther, p. 235).

“The text of the common Doxology. …Forever joined together are the Church’s much-loved song of praise and the psalm that calls for such praise. How unfortunate when we fail to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Yet even then, we know that He is good. In fact, He gave His Good Shepherd, Jesus, to make one day particularly good. We call it Good Friday (The Lutheran Study Bible, p. 943).

Prayer

We are the sheep of Your hand, O Lord. Fill us with joyful praise as we seek to serve You. Amen (TLSB, p. 943).

Daily Devotional Thought--For the Family

Collect of the Week (Proper 13-C)

O Lord, grant us wisdom to recognize the treasures You have stored up for us in heaven, that we may never despair but always rejoice and be thankful for the riches of Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

John 1:43-51

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."  ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."  ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"  ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"  ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these."  ⁵¹ And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

Philip was called, and went to follow Jesus.  But Philip had a friend, Nathanael, and so he shared with his friend the Good News about Jesus: “We have found him!”  But Nathanael, hearing that the one who was written of by Moses and the prophets was from Nazareth, was a bit skeptical: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

There’s no doubt that, if you’ve attempted to share the Good News about Jesus, you’ve been met with skepticism as well.  Because of a variety of unfortunate reasons, many people will not have ears that are opened to hearing the message of salvation.  So what are we to do?

We do what Philip did.  He didn’t argue with his friend.  He didn’t become angry with his friend. And he also didn’t boast of what he had become (You know, “look at what Jesus has done for me!”).  And that’s good, because none of those things could have done anything to change Nathanael’s heart.  So what did Philip do?  He simply said, “Come and see.”  Come and see Jesus.

Jesus is the one who can change our hearts.  And now that Jesus is ascended, the Holy Spirit takes the preaching of Jesus, and delivers it into ears to create faith in hearts.  If you’ve been met with skepticism when you’ve attempted to share the Good News.  You might try Philip’s method.  You might simply invite your friend, to come and see—or hear!  Just come, and hear what Jesus has to say, and what he’s done for all.  In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

O Lord, you tell us in Your Word that faith comes through hearing Your Word.  So make us to be your witnesses, that Your Son would be revealed, and Your kingdom extended; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Not Every Gift Is Created Equal (Sermon preached August 4, Proper 13-C)

Sermon text: Luke 12:13-21

 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of (our) heart(s) be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, (our) rock and (our) redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

In the name of T Jesus.

            “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness,” says Jesus, our Lord.  And we might be tempted to believe that, in saying these words, Jesus, our Lord has taught us to be on guard for others; you know, keep an eye out for those who are greedy…and that may be the case in a secondary sort of way.  But in fact, when Jesus speaks these words, he is encouraging two guilty sinners to take care, and be on guard against their own sinful desires—specifically, the sin of covetousness.

Jesus rebukes two brothers who are coveting the family inheritance, at the expense of their very own brotherhood; he’s not telling them to be careful about someone else’s sin; he’s telling them to repent of their own.  And so, if we are to hear these words of Jesus rightly, and if they are to work in us as they are intended, we must hear them like this: “Be careful, for you will covet; be on guard, for you will be greedy; you will selfishly desire to keep for yourself what should be shared with others.  So be careful,” says Jesus, our Lord, “and guard against your own covetousness desires, for life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

You see, the reason those brothers were fighting over a family inheritance, and desired to have its riches more than they desired to have each other, is the very same reason you will covet, and be greedy, and will have a selfish desire to keep for yourself what should be shared with others, dare I suggest, even sometimes, at the expense of your own brothers and sisters in Christ.  They were selfish sinners.  And Jesus would see them repent of their greed, so that they might stop their coveting, and enjoy their life together as brothers—even if one might have more than the other.  The same is true for you.  The same is true for me.  The same is true for all of humanity.  Jesus would see us repent of our greed, so that our covetous desires might be put to death and no longer separate us from one another.

You see, all of your sin, all of my sin—maybe especially this sin of coveting—comes from within.  It’s not his problem, or her problem, it’s your problem and mine.  And it comes right from within—right from our heart—from which Jesus has warned us every sinful desire will flow.  St. Augustine had a term for it, incurvatus in se: “Man curved in on self.”  It’s the reason Cain killed Abel.  It’s the reason David fell into sin with Bathsheba.  It’s the reason we hear the apostle Paul lament in Romans 7, that he cannot do the things desires, but keeps on doing the things he doesn’t desire.  Cain, David, Paul, you, me, we are incurvatus in se: “man curved in on self.”  We have hearts which, by nature, seeks to serve ourselves at the expense of others.  It’s the universal human condition and, as Luther says, scripture, “describes man as so turned in on himself (so incurvatus in se) that he uses not only physical but even spiritual goods for his own purposes and in all things seeks only himself.” ^[1]

Cain coveted, and it led him to kill.  David coveted and it led him into adultery and other great shame and vice.  Paul coveted and there’s no telling what sins he had to confess.  The brothers who came to Jesus, asking him to settle their dispute, were coveting, and it was about to divide their family.  You and I have been separated from brothers and sisters in Christ over budgetary disputes in the congregation.  You and I have made accusations of others because of what we would have preferred to see money being used for.  You and I have treated our neighbors with hatred because of our own covetous desires.  The results is that we may be richer, or they may be richer; you may get what you want, or they may get what you want; but too often, we’re left wondering why we’re no longer speaking with one another.  You see, what Jesus desired of those brothers, Jesus desires of you and me.  That’s why we have His rebuke in our ears today.  So that you, and I, might repent of our covetous desires, receive life in the forgiveness of sins, have fellowship in the faith with our brothers and sisters, and use God’s gifts in service to our neighbor.

And boy are we blessed with the abundance of gifts.  Which of you does not have a fridge, stocked with food, and even a second one to boot?  And which of you does not have a freezer full of more food?  Jamie and I have one refrigerator in the house, and one in the garage.  If you visit, I will likely retrieve a beverage for you from the one in the garage—and you’ll have you choice between six or seven different options.  But more than that, each of those refrigerators has a freezer, and then we have a chest freezer in order to keep all of our meat, and other frozen goods.  And of course, there’s a pantry and cabinets with more.  I’ve even thought that I might have to build some shelving in order to be able to store the rest of the food we’ve been blessed to receive.

Which of you does not have two cars or more, and cable T.V., and clothes in your closets you haven’t worn for years, and shoes for occasions you only hope you need to wear, and more books than will fit on your shelves, and numerous bank accounts in a multitude of financial institutions?

And do we not remember a time in this congregation when we had to take from one account to pay bills from another?  We may be a Sunday or so behind in this year’s projected giving, but have you taken a look at the financial gifts the Lord has given to this congregation?  We have thousands of dollars in endowment, just waiting to be used in support of mission and ministry.  We have received gifts from families that love this church, and want to see the ministry of the Gospel continue to go out and impact the lives of people in this community.  We’ve received unanticipated tax refund dollars, and still have Christmas Tree dollars, and other numerous resources with which we’ve been blessed by God.  And we are grateful to receive these gifts, even as we remember, that possessing these gifts is not where we find our life together as Christians.

  When Jesus told the parable of the rich fool to those arguing brothers, he told the story of a man whose land had produced crops in such abundance that his storehouses were filled to the brim.  Notice, that Jesus didn’t describe a man who himself had produced anything, but rather, spoke of a man who received the fruits produced by the land.  As any farmer knows, even a man who is diligent in his work has no control over the earth.  The point is, the storehouses were filled not because the man had filled them himself, but because he had been blessed by God in abundance.  He had been on the receiving end of many gifts.  In fact, he had received such an abundance of gifts that he could not keep them all.  Or should I say, he could not keep them all, unless he built bigger barns?

And so he did.  He built bigger barns so he could gather more goods.  He wanted to continue collecting this abundance so he could relax, eat, drink, and be glad.  But then tomorrow, he was dead.  God came to him, and demanded His life from him.  The Lord Himself came and took back the gift of life, so that those other gifts, could finally be used for what He had first intended them to be used.  That foolish rich man, whose covetous desires lead him to gather more and more goods at the expense of his neighbor, could not stop God from giving those goods to his neighbors, even if God had to end his life to do so.

May we repent of any covetous desire that continues to flow from our hearts, and has caused us to be unnecessarily divided from our brothers and sisters in Christ.  May we repent of our selfish seeking of stuff, that has caused us to miss out on opportunities of service to our neighbors.  May we confess, that the greed which flows from our hearts has often been the source of our hoarding, and our fighting, and may even be what has hindered the extension of God’s Kingdom because of a lack of financial support.  By the Holy Spirit, working through the rebuke of our Lord, Jesus, may we all, repent of our covetous desires, and confess them to the Lord, and if necessary, even to one another, so that, the LORD might not put us to an end in order to see His gifts finally being used in service to our neighbors.  The Lord has blessed with gifts in abundance.  Let us not be found having our life demanded of us, because we’ve desired money, goods, or other possessions, more than we’ve desired each other.

You see, not all of God’s gifts are created equal.  There are gifts which are given for the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, house, home, land, money, and host of possessions that most of us have in abundance.  Each of these gifts is from God, and it is good, and pleasing in His sight for us to have them, and enjoy them.  But none of them, should be allowed, to separate what the LORD has joined together.  None of them should be used to divide the body of Christ, or to separate brothers, one from another.  Because none of them can compare to the gifts that are given to us through the preaching of the Gospel.

Forgiveness, life, and salvation: these are the gifts which come to us through the preaching of Christ.  A clean conscience before God is the gift which Jesus has earned for us, the gift He delivers to us through the preaching and teaching of the Gospel.  And life lived in accord with God’s Word, being conformed each day in repentance and faith to the image of Christ, is the gift which is ours when we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word which is placed into our ears.  A life-together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, each of us who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb in Holy Baptism, declared not-guilty in Holy Absolution, and have had the very Body and Blood of Jesus to sanctify us and make us one in the Holy Communion.  And so, in repentance and faith, we receive the gift of salvation, and have every confidence that He who has promised it, will bring it to completion on the Day of our Lord.  There is simply no other gift that compares with what is ours in Christ, and what we have together in Christ.

And so, in repentance and faith, dear friends, being made by the Holy Spirit through the words of Jesus, to be on guard, and looking for our own covetous desires to reemerge from within our sinful hearts, we are no longer, just incurvates inse.  We are no longer simply turned inward on ourselves.  On the contrary.  Being forgiven of all covetous desires, and being guided by the Word of God, and learning to see fellow Christians as our brothers and sisters in Christ, an no longer being able to deny our neighbor who is in need, we will be a people with our eyes turned away from ourselves, and focused on the cross, where we will forever see the one who teaches us to give all we have in service to our neighbors.  For when the Father demanded Jesus to give up His own life, He did it, so that everything He had stored up, could be given to you. And if you know you’ll be given everything, what could possibly keep you from sharing it with those who continue to be in need?  In the name of T Jesus.  Amen.

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^[1]Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther's Works, Vol. 25 : Lectures on Romans. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1972 (Luther's Works 25), S. 25:345

Daily Devotional Thought--From the Lutheran Confessions (AC XIV)

It’s Friday, so our attention turns to the Augsburg Confession.  This week, we hear what the Church believes, teaches, and confesses regarding Order in the Church.  It’s very short, but very clear. Only a regular called Pastor shall serve, and carry out the duties of, the Office of the Pastor.  Makes sense, right? Enjoy!

Collect of the Week (Proper 12-C)

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Article XIV (Order in the Church)

Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call. (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 39).

Note:

When this article speaks of a rightly ordered call, it refers to the Church’s historic practice of placing personally and theologically qualified men into the office of preaching and teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments. No one in the Church can take such authority for himself or bestow such authority on his own. The ministry is conferred by means of a formal, public, and official call from the Church. At the time this article was presented, it was understood that a minister’s first call is publicly ratified and confirmed by means of prayer and the laying on of hands, ordination, a practice that dates back to the time of the Apostles. In the Lutheran Confessions, “ordination” is a term often used as shorthand for both the call and ordination. (See also Ap XIV; SA III X.) (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 38).

Prayer

Almighty, everlasting God, for our many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation. In Your mercy You sent Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and everlasting salvation. Grant us a true confession that, dead to sin, we may be raised up by Your life-giving absolution. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may be ever watchful and live true and godly lives in Your service; through Jesus Christ, our Lord (LSB, collect #153).

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Ap Apology of the Augsburg Confession

SA Smalcald Articles

Daily Devotional Thought--From the New Testament

Collect of the Week (Proper 12-C)

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Colossians 2:8-10 (From the Epistle Reading for Proper 12-C)

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits¹ of the world, and not according to Christ.  ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  ¹⁰ and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

Even in the first century after Jesus’ earthly ministry, Christians were being led astray.  False teachers, who would teach according to human tradition and the elemental spirits (principles) of this fallen, broken world, were leading followers of Jesus to reject the teaching and Word of—and about—Jesus.  And since Paul was the apostle who had started the church at Colossae, he had a duty to oversee their spiritual welfare, which any false teaching of philosophy and empty deceit would surely put in jeopardy.

False teaching in the name of the LORD misuses the name of the LORD, and is a breaking of the Second Commandment.  To attach the LORD’s name and authority to something He never said, or to a teaching He has not revealed, is to misrepresent the LORD, and the deadly affect is that people who fall prey to the false teaching put their faith in something false—a false god.

This is not unlike Jesus’ own famous rebuke of Peter (Matt. 16:13ff).  Peter has just confessed—correctly—that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Immediately, Jesus began to unpack that confession, and to reveal that for Him to be the Christ, he must go to Jerusalem and “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”  But since Peter had in mind the things of man, rather than the things of God, he rejected the death and resurrection of the Christ: “Far bit from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

Jesus doesn’t allow Peter to hold on to his false teaching.  He rebukes it: “Get behind me, Satan!  Paul does the same, albeit in a bit more gentle way (if you want to see Paul get angry, read Galatians!), and tells the Colossians that they must keep watch for false teachers, seeing that no human teaching would lead them to a false belief that would reject the right teaching regarding the person and work of Jesus.

And why is this so important to Jesus, to Paul, and for you?  Because the right teaching of Jesus is the true revelation of Jesus.  It’s how you know Him, and it’s also how you know the Father and the Holy Spirit.  A right teaching of Jesus reveals the true Gospel.  It’s the very means by which the Holy Spirit brings you to faith and gives you life.  It’s the means by which he strengthens and sustains in the one true Church on earth.  And it’s the means by which he brings to life everlasting and the resurrection of the dead.

Today, we’re not used to this sort of sudden rebuke.  And maybe that’s why there are so many false teachings that hover in and around the Church—false teachings that threaten to destroy the faith once delivered to the saints (Jud 1:3).  But false teachings are no less dangerous today, than they were in the day of Paul, or Peter.  False teachings still do what false teachings do.  They reveal a false god, and lead people away from the light of Christ and into the darkness of confusion, or even unbelief.

So look for those who teach the Word of Christ.  Look for those who teach it in its truth and purity.  Look for those who see Jesus on every page of Scripture, and whose confession reveals the Jesus in whom the whole deity dwells bodily, the Jesus who fills you with Himself by His Word and Spirit, and who is your head.  Look for those who hang everything on Jesus’ death and resurrection for your forgiveness, and who point you to font and the rail.  For when you’re looking for those who are teaching what Jesus has given to be taught, then you’ll see, and believe, rightly, and His teaching—the Gospel—will bring you life.  In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

In Thee all fullness dwelleth, All grace and pow’r divine;

The glory that excelleth, O Son of God, is Thine.

We worship Thee, we bless Thee, To Thee, O Christ, we sing;

We praise Thee and confess Thee, Our glorious Lord and King (LSB, #527).