Sermon for Reformation Sunday: "Justified"

 + Reformation Sunday (observed) – October 25^th, 2020 +

Series A: Revelation 14:4-6; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.

 

Now, I can guess what you’re thinking. “What in the world does Humpty Dumpty have to do with Reformation Sunday?” “Maybe the mountain air last weekend went to his head.”

 

But if you think about it, this little nursery rhyme has something in common with the Reformation. It’s a window into the world we live in, and into our own sinful condition. If the world was a giant femur the doctor’s diagnosis wouldn’t be a hairline fracture. But a complete crack. Snapped and shattered beyond repair. The world is broken. 

 

And no matter what we do or say, no matter how hard we try, it seems we’re no better off than all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. We can’t put it back together again. We can’t make it right.  

 

Paul says the same thing in Romans 3, albeit more theologically: “No one is righteous. No, not one.” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” “By works of the Law no human will be justified in God’s sight since through the Law comes knowledge of sin.”

 

That word – justified – is more common than you might think. From the Supreme Court all the way down to Judge Judy, lawyers will argue that their client was justified. Or, if you’re formatting a document on Microsoft Word, or whatever,  you can format your text to the left, to the right, to the center, or so it’s justified. A judge declares the defendant justified. The text of your document is put set straight. To justify means to put right.

 

This is what God is doing in a far greater way for us in Jesus. In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we are justified. We are put right with God. We are set straight and nothing —as far as the judgment of God is concerned—is out of place. You are justified in His sight.

 

This is what St. Paul declares in Romans 3. In Jesus crucified and risen, you are justified, saved, declared not guilty, innocent. This word, justified, is at the center of Romans 3; the center of Scripture; the center of God’s saving work in Jesus crucified for you. Justified – or justification - was at the center of Luther’s life and the Lutheran Reformation as well.

 

Luther wrestled with the question, “How can I find a gracious God?” The answer, Luther discovered, wasn’t found in his brains, feelings, hands, or even his own goodness – but in the goodness and grace of Jesus crucified. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

 

For Martin Luther – and for us – God’s gift of justification in Jesus is that important; it’s more than a slogan, it’s a matter of life and death. 

 

The same is true today, some 500 years later. Even though Luther’s question no longer seems relevant. Even when people could not care less about God. Grace. Justification. Even if the questions of our day sound far different: “Does God exist?” Or, “Who cares?” Or “Who are you to tell me I need God or saving?”

 

Even then, underneath all the excuses, denials, and indifferences, the problem remains the same. Our broken world is full of broken people who are constantly seeking justification. From the days of Adam and Genesis 3, fallen humanity has a restless desire, an habitual need, an insatiable appetite to be right. To justify ourselves.

 

That’s what the Pharisees and Jews in Jesus’ day taught and believed. Justification came by their ancestral blood and their keeping of the Law. That’s what the Roman Church in Luther’s day taught and believed too. Justification came by works of the Law: pilgrimages, penance, indulgences, the monastery - an endless system of self-justification.

 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Humanity is still on a fool’s quest for self-justification. The word “justify” may not be on everyone’s lips, but the need for justification is written on our hearts. In simple ways: “Sorry officer, I didn’t see the speed limit.” “But he pushed me first.” We’re constantly trying to justify ourselves. And in far deeper ways. We deny our sin or point to others’ sins. Deceive ourselves: “Well, at least I’m not like one of those fill in the blank people we don't like.” We make excuses. We blame. We accuse. 

 

Like the fallen world around us, like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, like the Church in Luther’s day, we seek justification in all the wrong places: in our pride, or our politics, or even in our piety; in our sinful thought, words, and deeds. 

 

This is why God gives us his Word of Law. Not a ladder to climb into heaven. But to put a lid on our excuses. To shut our mouths. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped…For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. 

 

Paul’s words cut to the heart. It’s a death blow. How do we get out of this grave we’ve dug ourselves into? You don’t. You can’t.             …But Christ has. Christ does. Christ will. It is Christ who justifies you. In Jesus, God declares you fully accepted. Pardoned. Slate clean. Not guilty. You belong to me.

Reformation Sunday is a day we rejoice in Jesus, the righteous judge who came down to earth and rendered his judgment – not upon you, or me, or anyone at all – but on himself. Jesus bore the judgment in our place. Jesus assumed the punishment for sin that we deserved. Jesus took all our excuses, blames, accusations, all our sinful, self-justifying ways and nailed them to the cross. 

Yes, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  but…you are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 

You, a sinner born in Adam’s sin, stand righteous before your God in Christ’s righteousness. You stand righteous before your God not because you have done good, but because Christ has done good for you. You stand righteous before your God covered not in the resume of your religious works, but in the Blood of Christ your Savior.  

Who is to condemn? No one. It is God who justifies. You are justified in Jesus. Set right. Saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. And if the Son justifies you, you are justified indeed. 

A blessed Reformation Sunday to each of you…

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

Sermon for Pentecost 19: "God Loves A Feast"

 + 19^th Sunday after Pentecost – October 11, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 25:6-9; Philippians 4:4-13; Matthew 22:1-14

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

 

Ever noticed that many of Jesus’s parables revolve around a feast? The father throws his prodigal son a feast. The woman finds her lost coin and invites the whole neighborhood to a block party. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

 

It’s no accident Jesus chose a wedding feast as the setting for his parable in Matthew 22. God is like that uncle, friend, or neighbor; you know one. They’re always throwing parties – not for pride or popularity – no, simply for the sheer joy of hosting and giving a feast. God loves a feast. God loves nothing more than when his people are joyfully eating his food, drinking his wine, receiving his gifts. God gave Adam and Eve the tree of life. Israel the Passover, manna, and a meal on Mt. Sinai. Jesus fed the 5,000, gave the Lord’s Supper, and promises the marriage supper of the Lamb.

 

Yes, God loves a feast. As we chew on Jesus’s parable of the wedding feast today, these divine dinner parties set the table in our minds. The wedding feast is God’s invitation, to believe, to sink the teeth of faith into his salvation, to drink the wine of redemption, to digest divine grace in Jesus, the Bridegroom, the Messiah, and Master Chef of our salvation.

 

Once again Jesus dishes up a parable for the religious authorities. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 

 

Quite the contrast isn’t it. On the one hand, a generous king, a festive occasion and a gracious invitation to the wedding feast. On the other, rejection. No lame excuses. No last-minute plans. Just flat out refusal. They would not come. They rejected the king’s generosity, and deeply insulted and dishonored the king and his son. 

 

But this king is gracious and joyful; he loves a feast, and he wants everyone to be as joyful as he is. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “I have prepared my dinner. The meat’s on the grill. Drinks are poured. Table’s set. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 

Once again the guests reveal that they don’t care for the king, his son, or his feast. This time, they violently, dishonorably, and shamefully refuse the king’s invitation. They seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. Actions like this, toward the king, have consequences. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Jesus’s words are a stark warning to the religious leaders: when you reject the feast of salvation that God gives in his Son Jesus, all that remains is judgment. Outside of the wedding feast there is no life. Of course, it need not be that way. God desires mercy, not judgment. Everything is given in Jesus. The Bridegroom is here. Salvation is done. And yet, like the shameful wedding guests in this parable, the religious authorities violently refuse and dishonor God and His Christ. 

 

There’s a warning here for us too. Do not neglect Christ and his gifts. You have a seat at the wedding feast. You’re his honored guest. The feast of salvation is yours. Purchased and won by the sacrifice of Jesus our bridegroom; given for you. There’s a seat at the table with your name on it written in the blood of the Lamb. As Hebrews says, therefore, let us not neglect so great a salvation.

 

Now you would think the king would call off the party at this point. No one RSVPed. Toss the food. Dump the wine. Send the servants home. But no. Not this king. This king loves a feast. The wedding hall must be full! ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

 

Not worthy? How is one worthy to attend the wedding feast? Not to worry. Jesus explains as he goes on. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good.  

 

Stop right there. Did you hear that? Both bad and good. The king does not invite the good and snub the bad. He invites everyone. God loves a feast. In the feast of salvation there are resumes, no scorekeeping, no Spanish inquisition on our behavior. Christ dies for the good, the bad, and the ugly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

 

To be unworthy in Jesus’ parable is to dishonor and reject the king and the wedding feast for his son. Like the first guests did. Worthiness to attend the wedding feast, however, isn’t found in the hands of the guests, but in the gracious invitation of the king. Worthiness to the wedding feast of salvation isn’t found within ourselves, but in the King’s grace in his Son Jesus. If we’re looking for a worthiness within, or apart from Christ, we won’t find it. Jesus makes you worthy.

 

Jesus’ parable isn’t over yet. The king surveys the party. But there’s a problem. He saw man without a wedding garment. “Hey buddy. “how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ His response? Not speechless, like he was embarrassed. No. He was silent. He probably could have said anything. Something. And the king would’ve been gracious. But instead, silence. 

 

Jesus’s ends on a rather grim note. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

It sounds harsh. But notice when this man is kicked out of the wedding feast. Not before he’s in the hall, but after. He’s there. He’s in. Why is he kicked out? Just like the previous guests dishonored and shamed the king and his son by refusing the invitation, this man refused to wear the appropriate wedding garments. He deliberately dishonored the king and his son. Refusal. Rejection. The man is thrown out of the wedding feast because he refuses what the king has prepared, just as the pharisees refuse and reject the salvation God had prepared in Jesus. 

 

This final scene is a picture of judgment. Outer darkness. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. These are words not of pain, but sorrow and anger towards the king, towards God himself because those who find themselves outside the wedding feast loved their own righteousness more than the gifts of God. Remember, God loves a feast. He wants his wedding hall fill. And yet, sadly, some refuse. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

Yet, even in a parable that ends with a gut bomb of judgment, God’s grace is bigger. Remember, God loves a feast. He loves the feast because he loves to give to you his goodness, grace, and gifts. God our gracious King sent his Son to give you a seat at the great marriage supper of the Lamb. God sent his Son, the bridegroom, to live for you. Lay down his life for you. Rise from the dead for you. Feed you in his body and blood. Clothe you the holy baptismal garments of his righteousness. To seat you at his banqueting table. Today. Tomorrow. And forever. 

 

Come, the wedding feast is prepared. Everything is ready. 

 

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

Sermon for Pentecost 18: "God Loves His Vineyard"

 + 18^th Sunday after Pentecost – October 4^th, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 3:1-14; Matthew 21:33-46

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

After hearing Jesus’s parables off and on these past few months, one thing is certain, Jesus’s parables are challenging. Sometimes his parables are hard to understand. As in the disciples asking Jesus to tell them the meaning of the parable of the sower. Other times, Jesus’s parables are understood perfectly – and that’s the problem. 

 

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 

 

The problem isn’t that they misunderstand Jesus’s story. No. They understand exactly what Jesus is saying. Jesus is comparing them to the wicked tenant farmers. And you can just imagine their body language as they listen to Jesus tell this story. Scrunched faces. Crossed arms. Clinched fists. Waiting for their chance to arrest him. But not yet. First, the crowds. They had to be turned against him.

 

The chief priests and pharisees were right. Jesus is a prophet. The prophet. The One greater than Moses. The One who is the very Word of God made flesh. Israel’s true King. Israel’s long-expected Messiah. The Son and heir of the vineyard Owner has come to reign in grace and mercy. And yet the religious authorities want none of it. They oppose, confront, and reject Jesus. So, Jesus sends a laser-guided missile straight at their unbelieving hearts in the form of this parable. 

 

There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. The master spares no expense for the care of his vineyard. He plants. Provides. Protects. The master loves his vineyard with an everlasting love. Just as YHWH loves his people.

 

The tenant farmers, on the other hand, have no love for the master. When the season for fruit drew near, the master sent his servants to the tenant farmers to get his fruit. And the tenant farmers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 

 

That right there, is a pretty good summary of the Old Testament. Israel’s religious leaders have a long history of rejecting YHWH. Yet, YHWH has a longer history of love for his vineyard, for his people. YHWH sent Israel priests, judges, prophets and more prophets. And yet the religious leaders rejected YHWH’s messengers, His Word, and ultimately YHWH himself. 

 

Finally the master sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ Perhaps you’ve noticed by now that this master of the vineyard is a strange businessman. His patience towards the wicked tenant farmers is astonishing. He sent not one, but two groups of servants to the vineyard despite the actions of those murderous tenants. I don’t know about you, but if I was the master there would be no mercy. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go directly to jail. Or worse. And yet, the master sends his own son to the wretched tenant farmers. 

 

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

 

This is where things get interesting. First, there’s the tenants. “Really? That’s your plan, kill the heir?” “Yea, if the son is out of the way, we can be our own masters.” Think about how crazy that is. It’s an insane, absurd thought. That’s not how inheritance works. But that’s exactly how the warped, sin-darkened, twisted hearts work. 

 

Second, if they haven’t figured out already, the chief priests and Pharisees start picking up the beat that Jesus is laying down. He’s talking about them. 

 

Jesus finishes his parable with a set up question. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” And once again, the religious authorities bring down the gavel on their own heads. 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.” Just as the religious leaders of old rejected YHWH’s prophets, they are now rejecting YHWH himself in the flesh. The master’s Son is standing right in front of them and they’re plotting his murder. 

 

Jesus’s parable ends with the son of the vineyard owner dead, certain punishment for his killers, and new tenant farmers chosen to care for the vineyard. But Jesus isn’t done yet. Jesus adds a little extra hot sauce. “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

 

Jesus quotes Psalm 118. A messianic psalm. A psalm full of explicit promise and vindication and exaltation of the rejected stone. The religious authorities may reject Jesus. They may put him through a sham trial. Beat him. Spit at him. Mock him. Even crucify him. But the stone the builders rejected will rise again on the third day. Nothing will come between the master and his vineyard. Nothing. 

 

So, what does this parable mean for us? After all, we’re not the religious authorities. Jesus’ parable is still his Word to us. A word of warning and promise.

 

Jesus’s warning is this. Never come between the Master and his vineyard. This is what the religious authorities had done. Wedged themselves and their authority between God and his people. YHWH and his Christ and his promises were no longer at their center. Like Peter, we’re tempted to cry out, “I will never fall away.” I will never let anything come between me and Christ and his good news.”  Really? We never let fear, politics, pandemics, money, anger, greed, lust, or our selfish desires come between us and our Lord? Of course we do. Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.  

 

And you know what? Here’s the remarkable thing about God the Father, the Master of the vineyard. God loves us with an everlasting love. God will let nothing come between him and his people. God will let nothing – nothing - come between himself and you. God has promised. God is faithful.

 

Even when His Son is killed. Especially then. God’s love looks like Jesus crucified for you. Jesus risen for you. God spares no expense for your care. God sends His own Son, Jesus, to be rejected so we are redeemed. What a gracious irony. Jesus is beaten and we are blessed. Jesus is thrown out of the city and crucified to make us heirs of eternal life. Jesus is killed and in him we are alive forevermore. 

 

God loves his vineyard. God loves you. You are God’s planting. God’s beloved, redeemed, baptized people. He has given his own Son to heal, sustain, and save you. Today in simple water and words, bread and wine. And tomorrow, and every day after that. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

 

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.