Sermon for Pentecost 9: "Chosen, Treasured, Children of God"

+ 9^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 30^th, 2023 +

Series A: Deuteronomy 7:6-9; Romans 8:28-39; Matthew 13:44-52

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

In high school I remember helping our English teacher and drama instructor with painting sets and backdrops for school plays. We painted dark, gray, cloudy skies for the opening tornado in the Wizard of Oz, and lots of green, flowers, and bright colors for the Emerald City. I remember learning that the right backdrop helps set the scene.

 

As our Lord teaches us in parables here in Matthew 13, he unfolds the divine drama of the kingdom of heaven, of his mercy and grace. And there are several passages in Scripture that make excellent backdrops to the parables in Matthew 13, especially the parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl. These passages help set the scene for Jesus’ teaching.

 

First, we go to today’s Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy 7. It’s all about God’s love, mercy, and grace, in choosing Israel to be his holy possession, to rescue and redeem them. “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

 

Next, we go to Isaiah 43, where our Lord calls, redeems, and declares Israel as his own people. But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

 

Next, we go to 1 Peter 2, where St. Peter takes what our Lord says about Israel in the Old Testament – in places like Deuteronomy 7 and Isaiah 43 - and reminds us that it was always about the Church, about those who believe in Christ. We are chosen. We belong to him. You are rescued and redeemed by Jesus. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

 

Let these passages hang like backdrops as you hear today’s parables in Matthew 13. They help set the scene of salvation that unfolds in the divine drama of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. And now, when we come to the parable of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price, the scene is set with God’s gracious action, his rescuing and redeeming work, his undeserved love and mercy.

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The focus in both parables is on the action of the man and the merchant. The man finds something he values in a field. Hides it again. Then in joy he goes and sells everything and buys the whole field. The merchant does the same thing. He’s looking for a pearl. He finds a pearl of great value to him. And he sells everything he has to buy it. 

Now, Jesus doesn’t give us the interpretation of these two parables, like the last two we’ve heard from Matthew 13. But remember the backdrops of God’s grace, his steadfast love and mercy, his rescue and redemption, his choosing and calling you to be his holy people for his own possession out of joy and divine favor. 

And then ask yourself, who are these two parables about? Me? What I’ve given up for to enter the kingdom of God? What I’ve valued most of all to demonstrate my love? What I treasure? No. Rather, these two parables are about God’s loving, merciful, gracious action to save you. 

God the Father is the man and the merchant who in love sends his Son Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the cross for you. For God loved the world in this way, that he sent his only begotten Son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. 

Here in these two parables, Jesus is teaching us that the kingdom of heaven is not about what you do to get into the kingdom, after all, what could we possibly do? How could we ever give up enough to buy our way in, pay for our sin, and be valued on our own merits? We can’t. Martin Luther once was asked, what do we bring to our salvation…sin and resistance he answered. 

That’s why these parables are good news for us. In the kingdom of heaven, it’s not about what you do that gets you in, but about what Christ has done for you. The kingdom of heaven is the seeking love of God, who searches high and low for that pearl of great value, and finding it, gives everything he has, his only-begotten Son, to make you his treasured possession. Jesus redeems. Jesus rescues. Jesus lays down his life to save you. Jesus sheds his blood to buy you back. He spares no expense in saving you. For you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

To be sure, the devil, the world, our sinful flesh, and others around us spend a great deal of time trying to convince us that we have no value, that God doesn’t care, that we’re worthless to him. But the devil is dead wrong. And your sin and death are dead in the death of Jesus.

In Christ, in the kingdom of heaven, in the eyes of God the Father who looks at you through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, you are his treasure, you are his pearl, you belong to him. You are of infinite value to God the Father. You are worth his only Son, shedding his blood, and enduring his innocent suffering and death to redeem you, make you his own, that you might live in his kingdom. 

In the kingdom of heaven, you live in the sheer joy and love of God who has given up everything for you in Jesus. You are purchased from sin and death by the blood of Jesus. You are God’s holy people, chosen, called, gathered, and treasured in Christ Jesus. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

God’s grace and rescue and redemption in Jesus is the backdrop for your life. Christ’s gracious redemption sets the scene, not only for these parables from Matthew 13, but for you, in your life, today, tomorrow, and forever. 

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

Sermon for Pentecost 8: "We Know How it Ends"

 + 8^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 23^rd, 2023 +

Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

I was talking with someone recently about reading books, and the man I was talking to said, “I like to read the ending first, that way I know if I want to read the rest of the story or not.”

 

You might prefer to read your books spoiler free, but there’s some wisdom in this fellow’s reading habit. When you know how a story ends, it changes how you see the rest of story.

 

God gives us spoiler alerts in Scripture all the time. Remember Genesis 3:15. In the midst of the fall of sin, Adam and Eve’s punishment, and curses, God delivers a promise. He tells us the end of the story. When you read the rest of Scripture, you read the story of salvation with this promise in mind, that Jesus, the Seed of the woman was born and crushed the serpent’s head in his crucifixion. 

 

When you know how a story ends, it changes how you see the rest of story. This is also a good way of reading the parable of the weeds. Jesus’ parable calls our attention forward to the End, to his second coming in glory. Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. 

 

That’s End Times language. Jesus draws our ears forward to the Last Day. We long for this day. Pray for this day. Paul says, that with creation, we groan eagerly awaiting the new creation and the redemption that comes in the resurrection of the body. We hear this parable where wheat and weeds are mixed and we long for the day when God will separate those who are declared righteous in Christ from everything and everyone who has rejected Christ’s righteousness. Come, Lord Jesus! Send your angels. Gather the harvest into your barn. Set right what is wrong once and for all.

 

Knowing this is how Jesus ends the parable changes how we see the rest of the story. So, let’s go back to the beginning and see how that works.

 

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

 

As parables go, this one is fairly straight forward. Like he did in the parable of the sower, Jesus gives us the interpretation. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

 

Still, there’s a tension in this parable, between the now and the not yet, between the present wicked weeds in the field near the good seed and the future harvest of that good seed and destruction of the weeds. When Jesus tells the crowds the focus is on the field and the weeds that have grown up next to the wheat. ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? Of course he sowed good seed. He’s the Son of Man, he only sows good seed. He gives and creates life and faith. 

An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds. 

 

For the crowds…the concern is on the ‘now’ part of the ‘now’ and ‘not yet.’ We get that don’t we. The devil is planting his poison now. Sin and death surround us now. We see wicked weeds growing all around us, and within us. And like the servants in the parable, we want our Master, Jesus, to do something about it. ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them? Ever wondered that? Why doesn’t God just do what he did in the flood, and wipe it all out again? Why doesn’t he go scorched earth and blow torch all the weeds?

Rest assured, our Lord knows what it’s like to live surrounded by wicked weeds. This parable is about his life and ministry too. He is the kingdom of God in the flesh. Our Lord knows about all the weeds, and has done something about it. And promises to do more. But in the meantime, he reveals his compassion.

This is where the end of the story helps us see the whole thing more clearly. The sower doesn’t pull the weeds, not yet…lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Because the sower cares for his wheat – because the Son of Man cares for you and all who believe in him – he does not uproot all the world’s evil and wickedness. Not only that, notice that the job of the final separation of wheat and weeds – of the righteous from those who have rejected Jesus’ righteousness – that job isn’t ours. That’s for the time of “not yet.” 

Does that mean we ignore sin? No. We live as faithful wheat of the Sower. We speak out against evil and wickedness in the world, and in our own sinful flesh. We call the world to repentance and forgiveness, and as we live in repentance and forgiveness. We live by the grace of Jesus the Sower, because we know the end of the story, the coming salvation, the “not yet” of the Last Day.

How then do we live in the “now” of this life? Jesus answers that as he explains his parable to his disciples. Jesus shifts the focus of the parable from “the now” of the weeds” to the “not yet” when the wicked weeds are destroyed. 

You see, the Lord does not let sin, death, and the devil reign without consequence forever. A time is coming when this world will come to a close. The Lord’s angels will separate the wheat from the weeds, the faithful from the sinful, and there will be consequences. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

 

Despite all the silly cartoon depictions, Scripture teaches us that Hell is real, as much as we may not like it. But remember, our Lord has no desire to send anyone there. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, not for humanity. And yet, Scripture clearly teaches us, if one persistently refuses faith unto the point of death, the Lord will give them what they want. 

But do not fear. You know the end of the story. Jesus Christ has taken all your sins away. Jesus gave his life to save you from destruction. Here in the now of this life, we live in patience and trust in Jesus the Sower. We know the end of the story. Our Lord Jesus endured the weeds. He wore the crown of thorns on his head. He withstood the torments of the evil one. And by the sons of the evil one was nailed to the cross. Jesus fell into the ground and died. He was planted in the tomb. He rose from the dead and produced a harvest greater than we could possibly imagine. He has paid for our sin. He has covered our shame. He has given us a place in His kingdom which has no end. 

And if that weren’t enough, He continues to call, gather, tend and nourish you, his precious wheat. Jesus gives you free forgiveness, life, and salvation. He cares for you, even when the weeds grow around you. He is patient and kind. And when Jesus returns, he will gather you, his into his barn, where the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 

Until that day, we know how this story ends, and it changes how we see everything.

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost 7: "Ears On the Word"

 + 7^th Sunday after Pentecost – 7.16.23 +

Series A: Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:12-17; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

The batter approaches the plate. Steps into the box. Waits for the first pitch. A swing. And a miss. It’s sinker. Strike one. The coach yells out, “Keep your eye on the ball.” This familiar baseball phrase finds its way into our daily conversations when we want to encourage someone to keep focus on and be attentive to what’s important.

 

Something similar happens whenever Jesus is preaching, especially in the parable of the sower. Only instead of our eyes, Jesus calls us to use our ears. “Keep your ears on my word,” Jesus says. 

 

“He who has ears let him hear.” “Ears to hear” are faith ears that hear everything Jesus teaches in light of His death and resurrection. Ears attuned to the Word, listening for the voice of their shepherd.

 

Hearing Jesus’ word is a central theme of the parable of the sower. Hearing the word he sows, plants, gives growth, tends, and bears fruit in those who hear his word all by the power of his saving word. 

 

Why does Jesus want us to keep our ears on his word? Because it’s God’s word does that the work. God’s word is sown. God’s word saves. God’s word gives life. God grows his word within you. By his word God bears fruit in your life as well. God’s word does the work. 

 

“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

 

It’s easy to hear this familiar parable and let our ears jump immediately to the various kinds of soil Jesus mentions in his parable – the rocky, thorny, or shallow ground. These are important parts of Jesus’ parable, but it’s always tempting to hear this parable and turn our ears inward. What kind of soil am I? Am I rocky, thorny, shallow, or good soil? 

 

Jesus doesn’t tell us this parable to take our eyes and ears off of him and onto ourselves, however. Just the opposite. Keep your ears on the word of God, because it is the word of God that does the work.

 

Nothing good happens when we take our ears off of Jesus’ word. Remember in Genesis, how like a raven, the devil quickly snatched the seed of God’s word away from Adam and Eve. “Did God really say?” They took their ears off the word. The same thing happens to us. Although there are plenty of other words to listen to in the world around us, only Jesus’ word saves, gives life, and bears fruit.

 

So Jesus calls us to keep our ears on the word that he sows, plants, and gives that we would have life and salvation. Jesus calls us to hear his word that he has sown. Jesus even helps us by unpacking the meaning of his parable.  

The seed is the Gospel of the kingdom, in a word the seed is Jesus, the promised Seed. The soils are various conditions of the heart. The hard pavement is the unbelieving, hardened heart. Though the Gospel is heard, it pings right off the hardened heart. This happens when people hear the word of forgiveness in Jesus, but they don’t think they need to be forgiven. It’s tempting to turn our ears and hearts inward and follow our hearts rather than listen to God’s word. To rely on our feelings rather than the Word of Christ, to feel good about ourselves rather than die to sin and live in Christ. “Keep your ears on my word that replaces your heart of stone with a heart tuned to my word,” Jesus says.

 

Some seed fell among the rocks. This is shallow soil of shallow hearing. A faith based on feelings is faith with no root, a shallow faith unable to endure the heat of persecution, hardship, and testing. This is what happens when you use your heart as a barometer of God’s presence and the Spirit’s working. However, faith based on feelings and enthusiasms does not endure. This is not the kind of faith that can endure under the sword of Islam. the hammer and sickle of communism, or any hostile persecution. For that you need an objective word – Baptism, Absolution, Body and Blood. Something outside of yourself and certain, no matter how you happen to feel. Keep your ears on my word that roots you deeply in my death and resurrection, Jesus says.

 

Some seed fell among the thorns. The thorns are the cares and concerns of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Anxieties such as what will we eat, what will we wear. Houses, investments, portfolios, retirement. Another way of looking at this is to ask ourselves, what gets in the way of our hearing of God’s word. What cares, worries, and concerns draw our ears away from God’s word and onto some other word? Keep your ears on my word, Jesus says, and remember the birds, how greatly he clothes and feeds them, and how you are of much more value than they.

 

Keep your ears and eyes on the word of God and Christ the sower. This is the good news in this parable. The sower sows the seed. Generously. Abundantly. All over the place. The word is preached whether men like it or not. Whether they listen or not. Whether they believe it or not. The Divine Sower casts the word of Jesus, the good news that in Jesus there is forgiveness, life, and salvation. That in Jesus there is no condemnation under the Law. That in Jesus there is peace and hope. 

 

Jesus not only sows his seed, he turns our ears to his word. That is how we live as his baptized people. We preach the Word. We baptize. We call men to repentance. Few seem to hear it. Many times it pings off hardened hearts. Some of it gets a shallow, superficial hearing. Some gets choked out by riches and cares. Hearts grow cold. People fall away. We get discouraged. We stop trusting the Word and start doing it our way instead of God’s way. We try to make the Word more palatable.

 

This is why Jesus’ parable of the sower does not call us to turn our attention inward, to examine our hearts and question, “What kind of soil am I?” No, this parable turns our ears outward…to Jesus’ word; to the good news of Jesus crucified and risen for you. To Christ the generous and gracious sower. Keep your ears on his word. Because, as Isaiah declares, it is His word that does the work of creating life, sustaining our lives in him, and bearing fruit in our lives.

 

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

 

Keep your ears on Jesus’ word. Because Jesus’ word saves. His word gives life – his life laid down for you; his life buried in the ground like a seed for you; his life raised up again for you, the first fruits in his resurrection. His grows his word within you every time you hear it in his house and daily in your own homes. By his word He bears fruit in your life as well in your callings in life at home, here in his congregation, and out in the world.

In all these things, God’s word does the work to save you, keep you, and bear fruit in you. A bountiful, abundant, overflowing harvest – all by his gracious word of life. 

 

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

 

Sermon for Pentecost 6: "Rest in God's Grace"

 + 6^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 9^th, 2023 +

Series A: Zechariah 9:9-12; Romans 7:14-25; Matthew 11:25-30

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

The runner who has the fastest time in the 100 meter dash wins the gold medal. The student with the best GPA is the valedictorian of the graduating class. The best proposal at the business meeting gets the contract. We’re used to this way of thinking. It’s how things usually work. It’s the way of the world. 

 

It’s not the way of things in the kingdom of God, however. In the kingdom of God, things are completely different. We live by mercy, not merit. We live by grace, not entitlement. We live in Christ’s redemption, not the rewards of our own efforts. We live by Christ’s righteousness, not our own. We are not self-sufficient, but utterly dependent upon Jesus’ blood on the cross to save us. We live by the work of his hands, not ours. In our life we rely on his wisdom, not ours. Instead of growing up and becoming all we can achieve or be, Jesus tells us to become more like little children…to be totally, completely, and utterly dependent upon him for everything.

 

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

 

When Jesus prays this prayer and confesses these words of truth, Jesus is revealing to his disciples then, and to us now, that when he reveals his kingdom and salvation, he does so entirely by his grace and favor. And it’s always by his undeserved grace to people who don’t deserve it and haven’t done anything to earn it. 

 

In fact, the conflict that we see Jesus embroiled in throughout the Gospels comes as a direct result of the undeserved grace of God’s kingdom and salvation that he comes to bring in his dying and rising. The scribes, pharisees, chief priests – the religious authorities of Jesus’ day – are at odds with Jesus because they think the ways of the world – of merit and law and rewards – is the way of God’s kingdom too. But it isn’t.

 

It’s no wonder they’re so often upset with Jesus and eventually plot to kill him. Jesus completely upends their self-righteousness. He turns their world of works and law completely upside down. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day want the kingdom of God to come by merit, not mercy. By seeking righteousness in the Law, not in Christ who fulfills the Law. By the work of their own hands, not Jesus’ hands. 

 

Not so fast, says Jesus. My kingdom comes by mercy, not merit. By my hands, not yours. By my keeping of the Law, not yours. By my sacrifice for sins, not yours. By my labor and love, not yours.

 

“Father, Lord of heaven, thank you. Thank you for hiding the treasures of your kingdom from the wise and understanding who are so smart they think they don’t have anything to learn. Thank you for hiding your goodness and mercy from those who think they have you figured out. Thank you for hiding your wisdom under foolishness, your strength under weakness, your victory under defeat. Thank you for revealing these things to the little ones, to little children.” 

 

It sounds so opposite of what we would do or expect or deserve. And that’s precisely the point. God does this, gives his kingdom to us this way, reveals his righteousness to us without us doing a blessed thing so that it rests entirely on his grace, in his hands, and on his mercy.

 

God hides the mysteries of the kingdom from the worldly wise and understanding. He reveals them to the little ones of faith. He uses the foolish to shame the wise. He uses the weak to shame the strong. He uses the losers of this world (and little children were considered losers in Jesus’ day) to shame the “winners” of this world. He tucks the Mystery of salvation under the simplicity of baptismal water, pastoral words, eucharistic bread and wine.

 

Unlike fine wine and good cheese, sinners don’t really with age. The apostle Paul was probably in his fifties when he wrote his epistle to the Romans. He had been a Christian for over a decade. In chapter 7, which you heard as the this morning’s epistle, Paul speaks of the reality of being a believer in the flesh of Adam, what it means to have the mind of Christ and the flesh of Adam, or as Luther termed it, to be simultaneously a sinner and a saint. The good he want to do with his mind, he does not do. The evil he tries to avoid, that he does. When he wants to do good, evil lies close at hand. And what does Paul have to say about all that? “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” And the only answer is this: “Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

When our Lord Jesus reveals his kingdom and salvation, he does so entirely by his grace and favor. And it’s always by his undeserved grace to people who don’t deserve it and haven’t done anything to earn it. 

 

God’s love and kingdom and grace must be revealed to us. Given to us. So that’s what Jesus did. Christ came to us. The Father sent the Son to be humbled under the Law for us, to put Sin to death in our flesh, to deal with this fatal and blinding spiritual disease that robs us of our innocence, our blessedness, our holiness. Jesus became the little one in our midst – lowly, despised, rejected. He embraced the little ones as pictures of faith not because they were innocent and sinless, but because they trusted, they received, they were open and teachable. 

 

And that is why it is good news when he says what he says to us today in Matthew 11… Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

 “Come to me. Come to me, you weary and burdened, broken and miserable, anxious and despairing. Come to me, laboring under the Law, weighed down by the burden of your sin, Come to me where I have come to you. Come to me in Baptism where I make you an infant again. Come to me, in my Word, in the bread that is My Body, in the wine that is My Blood. Come to me, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke, the yoke of childlike faith and trust in me. I bore your burden on the cross so that you don’t have to. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and I will be there with you.” 

 

When our Lord Jesus reveals his kingdom and salvation, he does so entirely by his grace and favor. And it’s always by his undeserved grace to people who don’t deserve it and haven’t done anything to earn it. 

 

That’s the way of life in the kingdom of God for us, his children…we live and rest in God’s grace.

 

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

 

In Memoriam - Funeral Sermon for Margaret Donnelly: "All the Alleluias"

 + In Memoriam: Margaret Donnelly – 7.1.23 +

Psalm 23; Lamentations 3:22-33; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26; John 3:13-17

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church 

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Whenever I would visit Margaret we would enjoy good conversation together, read the Scriptures and receive Holy Communion together. I know she enjoyed all these things, though one of her favorites was always singing and hearing hymns. So we would close our time together with prayer and hymns. It’s no surprise to any of you who know her, then, that from time to time, she would mention in our conversations that when the time came for her funeral service that she said, “I want all the Alleluia songs!” 

 

Today we’re doing exactly that, singing alleluia songs in thanks and praise for the life and faith our Lord Jesus gave to Margaret. We give thanks and praise for his gift of eternal life given to her and to all who believe. We give thanks and praise to Christ Jesus who shed his blood on the cross for Margaret and for you, who rose again victoriously from the dead for Margaret and for you, and who fills our hearts and minds with thanks and praise for all he has done for Margaret and for you.

 

Today we join Margaret and all the faithful departed in singing alleluia. It’s a great Hebrew word that we hear in the Scriptures over and over again, and it means praise YHWH. Praise the Lord.

 

The Scripture is full of alleluias…of praises to the Lord. In Psalm 23 we join David in praising the Lord who is our shepherd, as he was for Margaret, laying down his life for his sheep.

 

In Lamentations we join the prophet Jeremiah in praising the Lord whose mercies are new every morning, and whose steadfast love never ceases, just as his mercies were with Margaret every day and his steadfast love was always with her.

 

In 1 Corinthians we join Paul in the alleluia of praise for Christ’s resurrection from the dead, rejoicing that in Christ’s death and resurrection, all who believe in Jesus, as Margaret did, do not die forever. For the saints in Christ, death is temporary. The last enemy is defeated. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

 

In John 3 we sing alleluias to God the Father who sent His Son Jesus, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

This good news is why Margaret enjoyed singing hymns and praising the Lord. For our Lord Jesus had done great things for Margaret, as he does for you. Jesus was born for you. Lived perfectly for you. Kept the Father’s will and words for you. Went to the cross for you. Suffered for you in your place. Paid the punishment of sin for you. Bled. Was crucified. Died. And was buried for you. Rested in the tomb for you. And rose again on the third day from the grave for you.

This is why Margaret loved that word alleluia so much, because so much of what our Lord Jesus did for her and for you is wrapped up in that little word, Alleluia. Praise the Lord!

There is a psalm, the last one of the psalter, psalm 150, and it begins and ends with that word, Alleluia. I couldn’t help but think of that psalm as I thought of Margaret’s life and faith in Christ. That’s how it was for her too. Her life began and ended with alleluias, with the praise of the Lord. In Baptism she was clothed in Christ’s righteousness that covered all her sin. And even in death, she rests in the promise that death and sin do not get the final word over her, or you. Rather, Christ’s word does. Alleluia wins the day! 

Praise the Lord for he has done marvelous things for Margaret and for you. 

Praise the Lord for Jesus’ life and death and resurrection for Margaret and for you.

Praise the Lord for calling Margaret to faith in Christ, baptizing her in his holy name, and joining her to his death and resurrection.

Praise the Lord for rising from the dead on the third day so that when he returns in glory in the Last Day, he will raise us from our graves as well.

Praise the Lord for his saints here on earth and with him in heaven as together we await with Margaret and all the faithful, our Lord’s return, and his voice that will call us forth out of the tomb and into the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Praise the Lord who will raise us from the dead in a glorious, physical, and bodily resurrection, a new creation so that we can spend an eternity with Margaret and the faithful departed singing all the alleluia songs to the Lamb who was slain and yet lives.

Indeed, as the Psalms say, let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sermon for Pentecost 5: "The Sword and the Cross"

 + 5^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 2^nd, 2023 +

Series A: Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 7:1-13; Matthew 10:34-42

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

It doesn’t take you long in reading through the Scriptures to discover that God loves giving his gifts to man. It seems that wherever God’s gifts abound, soon after, and often with tragic and disastrous results, the devil and our sinful flesh quickly turn those gifts into weapons and tools of temptation. 

 

Consider the opening chapters of Genesis. In Genesis 1 and 2, God creates a world, a garden, a man and a woman in perfect goodness and holiness. Over and over we hear how everything God made was very good. Then comes Genesis 3, where everything that God created very good goes very bad. God’s creation, his relationship with Adam and Eve, their very life with him, and all lives from that moment on were shattered. 

 

So it goes with other gifts of God. With God’s gift of wisdom comes the temptation to arrogance. With God’s gift of intelligence comes the temptation to hubris. With God’s gift of beauty comes the temptation of vanity and lust. With God’s gift of earthly possessions comes the temptation to greed. 

 

Even those relationships that God gives to be the closest and most intimate of all – those within our families – are not left alone by the devil and our sinful flesh. With God’s gift of family comes the temptation to place the love of family over the love God the Father has for you in His Son Christ Jesus.

 

This is what Jesus is getting at when he says…“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.³⁶ And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

 

What does all of this mean? Remember the context. Throughout Matthew 10, Jesus has been sending out his disciples. Jesus warned them of the coming persecution. He taught them they need not fear because they are of more value than many sparrows. He promised to be with them. And now he is teaching his disciples – then and now - that nothing can come between us and Him, because without Him we will lose everything, including our own lives. And in Jesus we have everything we need.

 

That’s why, here in Matthew 10, Jesus warns his disciples then, and us today, of the danger of placing father or mother, son or daughter, wife or husband, ahead of Jesus Christ. Of worshiping our earthly families instead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus places Himself over every one of our human relationships, even those of family. So, when we love another more than Christ, we make that person, whether  they are father, mother, son, or daughter into an idol. Idols always crumble under the pressure of being our gods. They will disappoint us; they will fail to live up to our expectations; and ultimately they cannot save us.

 

 

As important as these relationships are, they are not above the most important one of all…the saving relationship of God the Father in giving his Son Jesus to rescue and save you. This is what brings peace – the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Not necessarily an earthly peace. Peace of reconciliation before God the Father through the death and resurrection of God the Son for you.

 

It is this peace, Jesus says, that comes with a sword. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 

 

It’s ok to admit, this sounds strange. We’re used to hearing Jesus the Prince of Peace. And He is, just not our definition of peace. The peace we think of – peace found in this world – is a fickle, fleeting, and failing thing. 

 

The peace that Jesus brings, however, is far different. Far better. Jesus’ peace never fails because it is peace that is found in his blood and death on the cross. Peace that comes from the good news of his resurrection. Peace in his word and baptism and supper for you. 

 

This peace that Jesus gives does not always mean we will be at peace with the world, or even within our own families. That’s the sword that Jesus is talking about. The division and separation. Jesus redraws family ties based not on blood lines and family trees, but on those who believe in him who shed his blood on the tree for you, and those who reject this peace. 

 

There’s hardly a congregation or family that hasn’t felt this sword Jesus speaks of here in Matthew 10. Since Cain and Abel, Lost and his sons-in-law, Joseph and his brothers, David and Absalom, it’s been this way. Even Adam turned on Eve after they both devoured death together. 

 

I’m sure there’s someone, some relationship in every one of our families that have felt the sword of division and separation that Jesus is speaking of here. Not the kind of family division over whose team is better, Cougars or Huskies, but the kind of division that happens as a result of your faith in Christ and another’s rejection of Christ. It’s a division of trust in the blood of Jesus to save, or trust in ourselves, our blood, our reason, our whatever to save us and bring peace. 

 

Jesus orders everything – even our earthly families – around one thing, and one thing only – his crucifixion, his cross, his life laid down for you in death. Any relationship that is put over this one, becomes an idol. Every relationship that is placed under the cross comes with his grace and mercy to be sure, but also comes with a sword, a division. Some, even in our own families, will by God’s grace believe, and others will reject that gift. 

 

It’s a good thing, then, that Jesus knows exactly what this is like. For all the time there has been struggles and divisions in our families because of the faith we confess and the life we live in Christ, Jesus himself endured all these divisions and separations. Some of Jesus’ own family thought he was crazy. One of his close disciples betrayed him. On the cross he bore every one of our sins, even those where we have failed to fear, love and trust in him above all things. Jesus bears it all for you. 

 

Once again, though, we’re not alone. The sword Jesus brings is a sword that touched Him as well. His cross comes first, then your cross. His death comes first, then your death. It was for the sake of our sin and our salvation that He came under the Law, that He refused the easy peace of compromise with this world. The sword divided Father from Son. The sword put His mother Mary at the foot of His cross and pierced her soul with grief. The sword caused Jesus to experience the God-forsakenness of our humanity, the darkness of God’s wrath, the suffering of our sin. He took up His cross to lead humanity through death to life. It’s the only way for a sinner to live before God and that is to die with Jesus. Not simply to die. Everyone does that sooner or later. But to die with Jesus. To take up your cross, your death, and follow Jesus in the way He goes, namely through death to eternal life.

This is what he gives you in your Baptism. You are the body of Christ. Your life is not your own. You belong to Christ, wholly and completely.  

 

And only in Christ can there be peace in the family, peace in the world, peace in your hearts and minds. He didn’t come to bring peace on earth. He came to bring a sword, the sword of His cross. And by that sword, you have a peace the surpasses your understanding, a peace the world cannot give, a peace the goes on forever. Peace that is yours in Jesus crucified for you. 

 

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