Jesus

There are 136 posts tagged Jesus (this is page 19 of 46).

Trinity 11 ’12 – Luke 18:9-14

Old Testament: Gen. 4:1-15
Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10
Holy Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

Summary: True faith is the fountain of prayer. True prayer strengthens faith. (Augustine) This truth is given us by Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. While both “pray,” only the Publican prays from faith that rests in the mercy of God. Humility is the character of Christian faith and prayer. Those who are humble will be exalted by the mercy of the Father given in the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than we either desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of Your mercy, forgiving those things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things that we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

“The Things that Make for Peace” – Luke 19:41-48

Old Testament: Jer. 8:4-12

Epistle: 1 Cor. 12:1-11

Holy Gospel: Luke 19:41-48

Preached by Rev. Karl Davies, retired.

The Things that Make for Peace                                                                                                                            St. Luke 19:41-48

 

And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.

 

✠ In Nomine Iesu ✠

It has often been said that some people have an attitude about life that may be described as thinking that their cup is only half full, and others, that their cup is half empty

While there are indeed some people in this world who tend to look at the negative and others who look at things very positively, by and large, people like to complain a lot.  We often hear people complaining about all the other problems of life, weather, health and so on.  Or about our husbands and wives or our children.  Or children about their parents.  It wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t.  And, in a world that is full of problems and sins, it isn’t hard to find things or people to complain about.

The Bible, tells us to be content with such things as you have, and that Godliness with contentment is great gain.  Yet the fact is that most people are never quite satisfied and are looking for that something that will make them satisfied.  The blessings that we have and take for granted often become old and common, and we figure there’s something better out there.  Or worse, we are disappointed with God, because He does not give something that we want.

Today’s Gospel takes us back to Lent.  Jesus came to God’s people, He came to Jerusalem, the city of God.  It was the Holy City, where the Holy Place–God’s Temple was–the place thought to be where God’s presence with His people was manifest.  Everything was done right according to the Law of Moses.  But they did not receive God’s Son, they were not happy with Him, and worse, they plotted against Him.  They rejected Him and thus, as our Lord says

The Things that Make for Peace

I. No poor-mes for Jesus        II.  God’s judgment on rejection       III.  Christ’s cleansing of His Holy Temple

I

And so the Prince of Peace comes to Jerusalem, His final earthly destination.  St. Luke tells us in chapter 9, “His face was set toward Jerusalem.”  Our Lord knew what lay ahead of Him, as He told His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”   The welcoming crowds that cried “Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is He who comes in the Name ofthe LORD,” showed the high expectations that so many had for this Son of David come to save His people.  But looming ahead of Him was “Jerusalem,” not meaning everyone in the city, but in fact, the powers that be–the ruling council, the Pharisees, the high priesthood and the temple uppity-ups who were threatened by Him.

You see, it is often a misconception that those who called for his crucifixion were the same people who cried “Hosanna.”  Dr. Paul Maier makes the point that there were still those who believed in Jesus.  It was in fact a different crowd.  St. Luke even tells us, “Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people.”

On His way into the city, He stops briefly and weeps:  And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.

His weeping is not for Himself, even though by His divine knowledge, He is well aware of what is going to happen.  No case of the “poor-me’s” for Jesus.  He is weeping for the fact that they would not accept His gracious and peaceful visitation, and for the fact that judgment would fall on them–the city and the Temple would suffer utter destruction.

I don’t know truly if Jesus in glory weeps today, although He still is true God and true Man even as our Ascended Lord.  But when Jesus weeps we might well say that He wept for all those who would reject God free gift of grace and salvation through what Jesus would do for the whole world.  The epistle to the Hebrews tells us about Jesus’ attitude: “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.”

It is for unbelief and rejection that our Lord weeps, and not Himself.  There are many sad things in the world today.  Tragedy and  evil things will continue to be part of our world.  There are many that we have seen in the last few years and months.  Even the people of God will not be spared the evils of this world.  But the greatest tragedy is unbelief.

I read recently that the most growing religion in the world today is atheism.  My wife and I visited Austria and the Czech Republic last year.  In Austria, 70% of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic.  In the Czech Republic, 60% of the population is atheistic.  In the city of Wittenberg, formerly in East Germany, only 17% of the people are baptized.  Our LCMS is starting a mission there! In Western Europe, Christianity has lost much of its vitality, and has gravitated into a wishy washyness.  In the Pacific northwest of the US, only 17% of the people belong to a church.

In our world today, people don’t seem to like the idea that there is sin and disobedience, so the list of things that are sinful is getting shorter and God becoming more distant and irrelevant.

In all this there is no humble yielding to the rule of God, and no sense of accountability.  It is as Jesus once said of a crowd, people are like sheep without a shepherd.  God has visited our planet in Jesus.  God has come to redeem us from our sins and the hopelessness of unbelief.  That is our world today.

The reality may well be cause for grief on our part, but certainly not a cause for hopelessness.  For God’s call is to repentance and faith.  Jesus knew what awaited Him when He went into Jerusalem, but He continued to fulfill the work that the Father had set before Him.  He died and paid for the sins of unbelief and disobedience past and present.  He rose to call all people to Himself in the Gospel.  And, He has not given up on our world.  As long as the Lord reaches out through the Gospel in the witness of the Church, the Holy Spirit calls to faith, obedience and eternal life.  All the more should it cause us to be faithful and steadfast in our witness to Christ’s grace and love in the Gospel

II

In some very clear words, Jesus speaks of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  ”For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Now these are not pleasant thoughts to think about on a quiet August evening/morning.  We don’t have to look into the past to see what used to be called man’s inhumanity to man.  We have seen the horrors of war on our televisions screens.  How does God allow this, we might ask.  Yet that question shows an unrealistic view of the hearts of men and of the grace that God does give us.

Jerusalem was destroyed in part because it no longer became the light to the nations that God intended that it should be.  The city of Peace, became a city of political corruption and materialistic values.  And they rejected the true Temple of God that came to them in Peace.  We are told by historians that Christians in Jerusalem were given warning by prophecy to leave the city before the Romans came to destroy it.  The city rose up in rebellion against Rome, following false prophets and false messiahs.

People don’t like the idea of God’s judgment today.  God, if there is one, seems to be one that only winks at sin and disobedience, and says neither do I condemn you, go and sin some more.  The gracious visitation of God in Word and Sacrament today may be rejected, but in time all knees must bow to the Son of God when He comes again in glory.

“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Best to know by faith that Christ has suffered the judgment of God for us in His suffering and death on the cross, and that when we come in repentance and faith to God today, we hear those real words of Jesus to the sinful woman, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin NO more.”  And we know that we are by the grace of God judged righteous because our Savior has been righteous for us, and He leads us to everlasting life no matter what may happen to us on earth.

III

Christ does not condemn His Holy Temple or forsake it.  He cleanses it. “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”  And he was teaching daily in the temple.

The high priest and his associates lived a very comfortable life living by the perks and kickbacks of those who sold sacrificial animals and changed money–and these were necessary services in a way, but it did not belong in the Temple, especially since the sellers were crooks and thieves, robbing the people.  Thus what was to be a holy place of prayer for all nations had become corrupt and evil.

By His cleansing and presence, Jesus brought the Temple back to its Holy purpose of marking the presence of God among His people–a place of peace, of redemption, of prayer, of God meeting man.  We cannot help but think how the Church of Jesus Christ on earth continues to be plagued by the sins of mankind.  People who bear the name of Christ, and claim Him as their Lord, live contrary to the will of God.  Church leaders have fallen and continue to fall prey to the Evil One’s temptations.  In the past a corrupt church hierarchy brought about the Lutheran Reformation.  Where sin and corruption rule in the lives of the people of God, it casts a veil on the holiness of the Temple of God today, which is God’s people, built like living stones into it.

But Christ does not abandon His Church.  No, it is within His Church that He cleanses His people through the preaching of the Word and the Holy Sacraments.  He washes us in Holy Baptism, and feeds us with Holy Food in His Supper, the very Body and Blood that were given and shed for us on Calvary.  We must never forget that the church is holy because Christ is Holy, and the cleansing of Christ is continuous for those who repent and call on His name.

Yes Jesus continues to teach in His Temple today.  For here we learn the holy things of God in the midst of a world of doubt and unbelief.  Here we find peace in a world which knows no real peace.  Lord, may the things that make for peace never be hidden from our eyes.

✠ Amen ✠

The Sunday of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-9)

3. August 2012
The Sunday of the Unjust Steward
Luke 16:1-13

A common problem for Christians is understanding the less-than-obvious sayings and actions of Jesus. No one balks at “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Its the Golden Rule, after all. Yet, even for Christians, words like “No one comes to the Father but by me” pose a real challenge. Jesus is saying only Christians go to heaven. There is no other in heaven or on earth by which we can be saved. No faith Jesus Christ crucified? Damned. Guilty as charged.

There are two courts in the church: the court of public opinion and the court of the last judgment. The first is a sham and the second unavoidable. The first is full of second chances, loopholes, plastic justice, and not-nearly-divine Judy’s. The second is all-or-nothing, no escape, hardcore justice, and the divine verdict of Jesus. Ah, that we would no consider what others think of us! Who cares with the public think? They can go to hell with their repeat offenses and love of badness. What does Jesus say? That’s the only question that matters.

For Jesus, the Pharisees sat as judge in the court of public opinion. They were disgusted with his eating, conversing, touching, and just plain loving tax collectors and sinners. He had private chats with prostitutes. He partied at leper colonies. He visited the emasculated eunuch on the road. He went to Levi and Zaccheus’ homes despite both having cheated his own friends out of their hard earned cash. For all this and more, the Pharisees were justly repulsed.

Just in our eyes, true, but according to heavenly justice? Not at all. Jesus is no respecter of persons. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Lost in drugs, alcohol, and worse. Lost in the despair of their own ego. Lost in petty theft and highway robbery. Lost in their perverted use of sex. Lost in love of stuff. Lost after being swallowed by the cushions of the armchair of life. Forgotten, sat upon, vacuumed, and lost forever.

Jesus loves dead people. He loves people who have been condemned by public opinion so many times that they think there’s nothing left. He loves people who know and believe they haven’t been good enough, strong enough, or lovely enough. He loves the ugly, the shamed, the desecrated, the mutilated. He loves the one lost sheep, the one disappearing coin, or even the one son squandered everything and lost every shred of humanity in the pigsty. He loves them not because they’ve tried hard, jumped through the right hoops, or even kept themselves alive.

He loves them despite their wastefulness and being an utter waste. How then are we to understand today’s parable? Doesn’t it teach the opposite? Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.”

Caught. Guilty. Thief. This manager is a crook and a waste. He is about to get called onto the carpet. He knows the hammer is about to crush him but he is also on the ball. And the manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.” Sharp-witted and clever. Faced with pending just deserts, he figures to get when favors by cheating. He’s going to use his master’s property to gain benefit for future posterity.

A hundred measures of oil is cut to fifty. A hundred measures of wheat cut to eighty. He’s already squandered the master’s possessions on wine, women, and song. Now, he’s even cutting the master’s holdings but debt reduction all for an advantage with his fellow scumbag friends. And what does the rich master say to this thieving, self-interested freeloader? Its the only question that matters: The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.

In the court of Pharisaical public opinion, this manager is a jerk, a crook, and pretty much deserves whatever the righteous judge has in mind. But the master is an unrighteous judge. He doesn’t care about his stuff. He doesn’t miss the cash, or the oil, or the wheat. All he cares about is his reputation and its been boosted by the shrewd manager and his accomplices. There’s no one in this parable who does the right, good, or true thing. They’re all villainy.

And yet, Jesus gives them to us as a noble example. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into eternal dwellings.

Jesus is not readily understood on this point. What is He talking about? Certainly, it seems He is telling us stop craving wealth and use it to make friends, some who may also be welcomed with you into heaven. Good. Go waste some money making friends. Stop being a Pharisee, and loving your money. All true.

Jesus said to them in the subsequent verses: You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. (Luke 16:16-17)

The one who cares about public opinion is a miser who only loves fellow good, right, and lovely people. That’s what the court of public opinion demands, that is, justifying yourselves before men. All are full of this highly esteemed behavior. But none of it is God’s behavior and instead an abomination in his sight. Now, that’s Law and prophets business and lasted until John. Now in Jesus the kingdom of God has been preached, revealed, and has erupted onto the scene. Everyone is pressing into it. Why?

Time is short. Life is ending. The earth is dying. Tick tock, tick tock goes the clock—for you and all your outrageous kind. No more need to keep up appearances. No more need to worry about tomorrow. Be shrewd and waste the master’s stuff. See a beggar? Give him from the master’s hand. Someone owes you a great debt? Forgive it and let the master take care of it. Worried about your reputation? Never mind that, its all over anyway.

The Christian life is one of reckless abandon—loving the unlovable, forgiving the unforgivable, giving to the least and the last. You know you’re a rotten manager. So what? You never were going to be a good one anyway. The rich master entrusted everything to the worst bums ever to sit in his pews. He didn’t expect them to give a perfect accounting when he finally comes back to judge. He’s not a bit surprised by our waste, our disgusting luxury, or even by our piss poor attempts at caring for the sick and needy.

Its only in the court of public opinion that these things matter. Santa Claus cares whether you make the cut not the master. Your friends might consider your donations to the church a waste of time, effort, or money. What recklessness! You should be investing in yourself not your friends and neighbors. You keep sending money to that corrupt overseas mission? Don’t you care that half the money ends up in the wrong hands? Nope, you shouldn’t. Pharisees see your poor management and corruption and don’t want to have anything to do with you, certainly not eating, drinking, touching, or loving.

Jesus doesn’t care about the sham human court of opinion. His justice is not our justice, nor his righteousness our righteousness. He sees red-handed thieves, dirty whores, lovers of stuff, and haters of God and has compassion on them. He takes what is His and gives it to them freely, abundantly, and even wastefully. Why bother saving this unrighteous? Why bother but because they are His. He came to seek and save the lost, the worthless, and the dead.

He takes what His eternal Father has made Him a steward. He takes his own life and gives it to us criminals, stone cold in our trespasses. He gives like the wasteful manager, knowing that the only thing that matters is the Father’s reputation. He gives to lead us to love His Father, that we may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Jesus has forgiven you a great debt by taking what He was entrusted and wasting it on you. But you are no waste but are the beloved of God. Jesus’ life is given to you that He may receive you into the eternal dwellings. He declared “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” His blood was freely poured upon your head to call you one of the Father’s own. His own flesh is given to you to eat and to drink, purifying you of wickedness and deceit. The Father commended Jesus for forgiving us our trespasses, raising Him from the dead on the third day.

The stewards of this world are cunning but only operate in the court of public opinion. Jesus is the judge who acquits you by the Father’s own riches, that is, His own life shrewdly given,to all, unrighteous sinners though they be.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana