+ 12th Sunday after
Pentecost - August 7th, 2016 +
Redeemer
Lutheran, HB
Series
C: Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-16; Luke 12:22-34
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Martin Luther once
described sinful humanity like a drunk man walking down a hallway, bouncing
from one wall to the next. That’s pretty descriptive of our sinful flesh. We’re
always staggering back and forth from one error to the other.
It’s no different
when Jesus starts talking about money, earthly possessions, or mammon as Jesus
calls it – you know, our stuff (that’s the scientific word for it). As it turns
out, Jesus talks about money and possessions quite a bit. We might want him to
stick to talking about spiritual things: holiness, righteousness, fruits of the
spirit and all that. But not Jesus. He creates us - body and soul, redeems us –
body and soul, and calls us to live each day in him in body and soul. So, we
shouldn’t be surprised that he has something to say about earthly possessions
and money.
Last week we heard Jesus’
parable of the rich fool – notice it’s called the parable of the rich fool, not the rich man; there’s a difference. Today, Jesus continues his teaching on
possessions, money, and everything he gives us as daily bread.
But whenever Jesus
starts talking about money and possessions we tend to turn into the drunk man
in Luther’s analogy, stumbling from one side of the hallway to the other.
We disregard God’s
earthly gifts or we idolize them.
We treat money and
possessions as unimportant or of the highest importance in life.
We disbelieve God
will provide for us what we need or we believe that what is provided is our
god.
We close our ears and
think Jesus isn’t talking about our money or our possessions but rather someone
else, or we make the text all about us: how much we give or don’t give the
church. What kinds of possessions and income we have or don’t have; whether we
have big or small worries, anxiety or no anxiety. And so on.
How easily we ignore the
Giver and look only at the gifts. How quickly we thank God for his good gifts
of money and possessions, and the next moment turn them into idols. Thank you,
Lord for your daily bread. Now, give me more. Yes, Lord, you’re the giver…and
now it’s mine, mine, mine.
There are plenty of
traps, ditches, and pitfalls our sinful flesh falls into when reading this
text. Another is to think it’s all Law. To be sure, there’s Law in Jesus’
teaching about money.
Our sinful flesh is
just as content to make an idol out the stuff we want that we don’t have (that’s
coveting), as it is to make an idol out of the stuff we already have (that’s
greed); and of course, our old Adam is a craftsman at mixing our worries and
anxieties into a beautiful distraction that takes our eyes off of the Giver of
all gifts, and turns our hearts inward. Jesus warns us all – whether we have
great possessions and money or little; whether we’re white collar, blue collar,
or clerical collar – that the love of earthly things will lead us away from the
greatest treasure of Jesus crucified for you.
So Jesus calls us to
repent of our greed and coveting. Repent of our worrying and doubt.
Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his
span of life? O you of little faith.
Yes, Jesus teaching
is sobering…but it’s also refreshing.
You see, Jesus isn’t
giving you a command to follow and then become his disciple. Rather, he’s
telling us that we have no need to be anxious or doubt or worry, or even to be
greedy because we belong to him. His words are full of promise. Consider the ravens:
they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God
feeds them. Of how much more
value are you than the birds!
In this life we’ll
doubt, covet, and sin. All the more reason to hear Jesus’ promises: Do not
fear. Your Father knows you need these things. And he gives them as freely as
he gave his Son to die for you. All so that those sins are covered too.
Jesus’ promises outweigh,
overcome, and outlast our doubt, our sin, and our worry. This is not Jesus teaching
you what you must do or give to become a better Christian disciple, but what he’s
done for you and gives you. That’s who God is the gracious giver of all things
to you.
That’s what Jesus
means when he calls us to be rich toward God. To be rich toward God means to
receive Christ and his gifts. To receive his promises in Word and Absolution.
To receive the best clothing of all in holy Baptism. To receive your daily
bread in Jesus’ body and blood.
And if you have these
things – no matter how many or how little possessions you have – you have all
you need.
For if God did not
spare his own Son but gave him up for us
all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? He has. He does. He will. All for you.
Consider the lilies,
how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. But if God so
clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, how much more will he clothe you.
Fear not. You are of more value than birds and
flowers. God values you enough to send his son, not to become a bird or a lily,
but man. How much more has he clothed you in his suffering and death. He knows
your needs and well provides them. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you
his kingdom that comes from the cross to you in word, water, body and blood.
What then do we do
with our possessions and income? Don’t hold on to them like Gollum and the
precious ring…but rather with the dead hand of faith that is open as the Lord
gives and takes away.
When it comes to our
earthly possessions, consider the words of Thorin Oakenshield to Bilbo Baggins:
If more of us valued food and good cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would
be a merrier world.
So, whether we have
great possessions and money or little – give thanks to God; look upon these
gifts as servants, not masters; Jesus calls us to live generously with what He’s
given us (and it’s all gift from start to finish) Be good stewards of our
wealth and possessions, giving them for the service of the church, for the
spread of the Gospel here at Redeemer and for the work of proclaiming the Good
News in our community.
Live as Abraham,
knowing that we are pilgrims and nomads in this life. We live as if we have
nothing, yet possessing everything in Jesus.
Seek his kingdom and
everything else will be added to you. Your heavenly Father knows your needs.
And he provides for you by grace.
When it comes to our
earthly possessions, money, and stuff – don’t look to your own heart – full of
anxiety, worry, doubt, fear, sin, and darkness – but look rather to the heart
of Jesus. Pierced for you on the cross. Where his heart is, there your treasure
is also.
For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might
become rich.
In the Name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Note: Before the sermon, the congregation read the following portion of Martin Luther's Small Catechism:
LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM:
THE 1ST ARTICLE
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
Answer: I believe that God has made me and all creatures. He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them. In addition, He has given me clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods. He provides me richly and daily with all that I need to support this body and life. He protects me from all danger and guards me and preserves me from all evil. He does all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this I ought to thank Him, praise Him, serve Him, and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
THE 4TH PETITION
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
Answer: God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked people; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread?
Answer: Everything that belongs to the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
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