Matthew 25:31-46
 

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

When we hear the Gospel reading for today, the natural reaction of our Old Adam is to take it as a set of guidelines for what we should be doing so that Jesus will allow us into heaven.  On one side of the judgment seat you’ve got those who did charitable works toward Jesus, even though they didn’t know they were doing it for Him.  And on the other side you’ve got those who didn’t do charitable works toward Jesus, and they likewise were unaware of Jesus’ presence in these brethren who were hungry or sick or naked or imprisoned.  The first group is called the righteous and goes into everlasting life.  The second group is called the cursed and goes away into everlasting punishment.

And so our fallen human nature logically concludes that we’ve got to get doing more charitable deeds.  We’ve got to get on the ball and do more to help the poor and the needy so that we can be counted worthy to enter heaven.  It is a constant temptation for us to take the Word of God and turn it into a list of requirements that we can fulfill so that we can make ourselves right with God.  Inherent within us is this false opinion of the Law that we can save ourselves by our own goodness and acts of love.  And so we keep looking for spiritual checklists that we can fulfill: feed the hungry–check; clothe the naked–check; visit the sick–check.  There, I’ve done my part; I’ve made myself a true Christian now.  

But that isn’t putting your faith in Christ; that’s putting your faith in yourself.  That’s not relying on God’s goodness and love, that’s relying on your own goodness and love.  And to do that is contrary to the Christian faith.  Now let me be clear: we should be helping the poor and needy and doing charitable works toward our neighbor.  The Fifth Commandment requires that we help our neighbor in every bodily need.  We should do better about tending to the needs of others and not being so self-absorbed.  But the key point here is that we shouldn’t rely on how well we’ve done that to save us, for the Law always brings judgment.  We never keep it perfectly as we should.  Even your best efforts to show love to your neighbor fall short.  That’s not what’s going to get you into heaven.

In our attempts to keep the Law, we often forget the first and most important commandment:  that we are to have no other gods, that we are to fear, love and trust in God above all things.  If you are doing good works in order to gain eternal life for yourself, is that really loving God?  If you do deeds of charity so that you can feel good about having fulfilled your responsibility, is that really trusting in God?  Or, under a cloak of goodness is there, in reality, a lack of faith in God, an attempt to manipulate God to get what you want?  Don’t take today’s Gospel reading as a listing of the things you’ve got to do to earn your spot at Jesus’ right hand.  For that is precisely the attitude of those on His left.

This Gospel is not so much about good works as it is about faith in Christ.  The focus is on Him and what He has done.  For notice what Jesus says, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”  Jesus isn’t just talking about any old charitable deeds here, but ones done toward His brethren.  So just who are the brothers of Jesus that are referred to here?  St. Matthew would have us understand that these brethren are in fact the preachers of the Gospel.  And the difference between the sheep and the goats is whether or not they received Jesus’ brethren and believed the Gospel that these men proclaimed.

In Matthew’s account of the resurrection of Jesus, the angel at the tomb said to the women, “Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”  “My brethren” there refers to the 11 apostles, the 12 minus Judas.  At Galilee, Jesus gave the command to these 11 brothers of His, “Go and make disciples of all the nations . . .”  They were to do this by baptizing and by teaching His words.  Matthew 24 states that this Gospel of Jesus will be preached to all the nations, and then the end will come.  In today’s Gospel reading the end is described as “all the nations” gathered before Christ. “The brethren,” then, that Jesus refers to are clearly the apostles whom Jesus sent, and also all those after them who are in the apostolic office of the ministry, those whom Christ has given to baptize and preach the Gospel in His name in all the nations until the close of the age.

Already in Matthew 10 Jesus said to the disciples whom He sent out to preach, “He who receives you receives Me.”  Jesus had bound Himself to them so that their words were His words.  To welcome them was to welcome Christ Himself.  In fact, Jesus said, “Whoever gives one of these little ones [the least of these My brethren] only a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he certainly will never lose his reward.”  That act of giving a cup of cold water was noteworthy not because it was a good work that merited anything but because it was a sign of faith, that the hearer believed the Gospel of Jesus which His brothers, the apostles, had spoken.

Jesus’ still says to His preachers and His missionaries, “He who receives you receives Me.”  For such men are called and ordained by Christ to be His representatives and ambassadors.  You know that when a pastor says, “I forgive you all your sins . . .” he is not speaking for himself but in the stead and by the command of Christ.  When he says, “This is My body,” that is not his voice but Christ’s.  The same thing is true of holy baptism.  Martin Luther said, “To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men but by God Himself.  Although it is performed by men’s hands, it is nevertheless truly God’s own act.”  The fellow whom Jesus uses to do that is really secondary; he’s covered up in robes to show that he represents not himself but the Lord.  To receive a brother of Jesus, then, a preacher of Christ, is to receive Christ Himself–not because of the merits of the minister but because Christ is truly present in the ministry of His words and sacraments for your salvation.

So let us consider again the scene in today’s Gospel: Jesus is seated on the throne of His glory for the final judgment.  All the nations are gathered before Him, all the nations to whom He sent His apostles and preachers to make disciples.  Jesus says, “I have sent to you My brethren, the messengers of the Gospel.  I have given them to be My mouth and hands, to speak My words and to shower on you My mercy and forgiveness and righteousness.  You on My right have received them and their message.  You have believed the Gospel, which was made known by your care for those who proclaimed it to you.  You may not have been aware of it, but whatever you did for these My brethren who acted in My stead, even the least of them, you did for Me.  But you on My left did not receive my preachers or their message.  You trusted in your own wisdom and works.  You did not believe the Gospel, which was made known by your failure to show any regard for those who proclaimed it.  You may not have been aware of it, but whatever you didn’t do for these My brethren who were acting faithfully on My behalf, you didn’t do for Me.”

That the brethren would be sick or hungry or naked or in prison was a very real possibility, particularly in the days of the apostles, though it certainly remains the case in every generation of this fallen and rebellious world.  Jesus told the 12, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”  The Apostle Paul ended up in jail several times for his preaching.  He spoke of sometimes having plenty and sometimes being in want.  But He also gave thanks to God for those who received the Gospel and believed it faithfully, churches like the congregation in Philippi who on more than one occasion sent material aid to provide for his necessities.

So, you see, this passage is chiefly about those who embrace and those who reject the Gospel of Christ.  It’s not primarily a call to do works of mercy, though we very much need that reminder, too.  It’s ultimately about faith in the Gospel of Christ and the concrete signs of that faith, be it in a missionary or a congregational setting.  This faith is brought to perfection on the Last Day, when the sheep seem blissfully unaware of the things they have done.  For faith focuses not on one’s own deeds, but on the deeds of Christ.  “When did we do all these things?  All we did was believe the Gospel!”  Faith forgets itself that it may forever remember and retain Christ and His eternal gifts.

Our Lord Jesus won those gifts for you by becoming needy in your place.  He was weak and hungry in the wilderness.  On the cross He said, “I thirst.”  He Himself took your infirmities and bore your sicknesses in His own body on the tree.  He was treated like a stranger amongst His own people.  He put Himself into the bondage of your hellish prison so that He might burst the bars of your captivity from the inside out by His mighty resurrection.  Through Christ you are set free from death and the devil; you are released from your sins; you are cleansed and forgiven in Him.  He made Himself to be the least of the brethren so that you might receive the greatest of His mercies.  It is He who showed the truest and highest charity, paying with His own blood to redeem you, that you might live in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.  For Christ is risen from the dead; He lives and reigns to all eternity as your King and your Savior.

On the Last Day Jesus will certainly say these very words to you who believe, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  The Father has indeed blessed you by giving you the new birth of water and the Spirit into His heavenly family.  You are now His sons and daughters in Christ.  All that He has is yours.  Christ has given you to share in His everlasting inheritance.  And like any inheritance, it’s not yours because you’ve worked for it, but simply because you’ve been adopted into the family.  In fact, this inheritance was being prepared for you from the beginning of creation, before you were even around.  It’s all a gift, given to you through the merits of Christ.  Believe that Gospel.  Trust in that promise.  For just as Jesus will come on the Last Day with all His holy angels, so also He is here even now with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven to bring you His kingdom in the Sacrament of His body and blood.  Come, you blessed of the Father, receive the kingdom; receive the King.

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

I Thessalonians 4:13-18
Third Last Sunday in the Church Year

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

The Apostle Paul says to the Christians in Thessalonica, “I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep.”  In other words, Paul doesn’t want them to be unaware about what the future holds for the Christians there who have died.  The Thessalonians were eagerly expecting the return of Christ.  These converts, who had been turned away from their pagan idols to the true and living God, were taught by Paul to wait and look for God’s Son from heaven, the second coming of Jesus to save them from the final judgment.  In fact, so great was their anticipation of the Last Day that some of these Thessalonians were even forsaking their jobs and their daily work, expecting the return of Jesus to be at any moment.  In the verses right before today’s epistle, Paul had to remind the Christians in Thessalonica, “work with your own hands, as we commanded you.”  And again, “if a man is not willing to work, neither shall he eat.”

And along with this, another problem developed.  Some Thessalonians were unsure of what would happen to those Christians who died before the Last Day.  They saw Christ’s second coming as being right around the corner, and they wondered what would happen to their fellow believers who had passed away before that time.  Were they going to miss out on the blessings of Christ’s return if they weren’t alive in the body?  Many pagans of that time believed that once you died, that was the end of it for your body.  And so Paul says to them, “I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep.”  

But before we consider the teaching of Paul on this subject, we must first ask ourselves, how do we compare to these Thessalonian Christians?  What can we learn from them about ourselves?  We might be tempted to scoff at them a little bit.  “Those extremists, leaving their jobs to wait for the end.  How ridiculous!”  And yet, it seems to me that we can be guilty of the opposite error.  They may have forsaken their work to focus on Christ’s second coming, but we tend to forsake Christ’s second coming to focus on our work and the things of this world.  When is the last time you thought about Jesus’ return in a serious way?  The Scriptures command us to be prepared for it, to watch for it daily.  But we tend more eagerly to watch what’s happening with our money, or to watch our favorite shows and celebrities, or to set our eyes on politics or sports–my goodness, the never-ending sports.  While the Thessalonians did indeed carry things to an extreme, the fundamental point they had right:  we are always to be watching and preparing for the return of our Lord Jesus.  As we carry out the callings that God has given us, we are to lift our eyes and await the coming of the Son of God from heaven.  For each day could indeed be the Last Day of this world.

In the same way, we might be tempted to look down upon the Thessalonians’ lack of knowledge regarding those who have died in the faith–especially those who may have thought that you had to be alive in the body at Jesus’ return to experience His salvation.  And yet, again, we often make the opposite error.  We tend to give all our attention to the soul or the spirit while neglecting the fact that God also redeemed our bodies in Christ. We forget that the soul of a believer going to heaven is really only a temporary circumstance as we await the Last Day.  Our true and full hope regarding everlasting life is the resurrection of the body, the undoing of the curse of sin and death, the conquering of the grave.  The Word became flesh to save us in the flesh.

Paul speaks these words of God so that we will not grieve or sorrow as those who have no hope.  Most face death without any real hope, only uncertainty.  With no sure foundation they are left only with fear as life ebbs away.  Some may try to comfort themselves with all sorts of false hopes.  Some, for instance, believe in reincarnation, that once we depart these bodies in death, we will be reborn into new bodies in this world.  But that belief in reincarnation is simply a lie and an illusion.  For it says plainly in Hebrews 9, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”  The soul is the life of a particular body, a particular flesh-and-blood person, and it cannot simply hop around from one body to the next, regardless of what you see in the movies.  Soul and body are a unit, belonging uniquely to each other.  The only thing that rips them apart is death.

Others try to comfort themselves with the false hope that everyone goes to heaven, or to something like it, after death.  They deny the reality of hell for those who reject or ignore Christ or who keep Him at arms length and go their own way.  But the Scriptures are very clear on this.  Hell is real, and it is the destiny of every sinner who has not sought refuge in Christ, in His holy cross, in His words, His body and blood.  For only in Jesus is there deliverance from everlasting judgment.

So it is that Paul focuses our attention squarely on Christ.  The Epistle says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”  Our hope is built surely and solely on what Christ has done for us.  He died and rose again.  Therefore, we who have been baptized into His body also die, for the sinful nature must finally be put to death, but we too will rise again to new life through the power of Christ’s resurrection.  For Christ is the head of the body, the Church.  Where the head goes the body must follow.

That’s why Paul refers to those Christians who have died as those who are asleep.  Believers who sleep in death will eventually awaken in the resurrection on the Last Day.  Therefore, it is quite fitting that places of burial are called “cemeteries,”  which comes from the Greek word, “to sleep.”  Many older and rural churches, you may know, had their cemeteries right next door, right on the property.  And for Easter, theses churches would often begin their services at the cemetery, the place where their fellow believers were asleep in Christ, and then process to the place of worship to celebrate the sure hope of the resurrection in Christ, the awakening to everlasting life.

Now this sleep refers only to the body and not to the soul.  The Bible makes it very clear that the spirits of the faithful who have died go to be with Christ in heaven.  Jesus said to the repentant thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”  The soul does not sleep but is comforted in the presence of God as it awaits the Last Day and the fulfillment of all things.  Then at the close of the age, God will bring with Him the souls of His people to be raised from the dead in bodies that are new and immortal and imperishable.  In the resurrection, God’s people will share in the glory of Christ so that we will no longer experience sickness or sorrow or pain or death, but only the perfection of life that the Lord Jesus won for us.  It is written in 1 Corinthians, “The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality . . .  Then the saying that is written will come true, ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’  Where, O death, is your victory; where, O death, is your sting? . . .  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is why Christians throughout history never engaged in the practice of cremation.  While God can certainly resurrect even from our ashes, we never want to give the impression, especially to our unchurched family and friends, that God is done with the body, as if our only hope is for the soul, as if the resurrection of the body isn’t something real. Rather than speeding along the breakdown of the body with fire, we commend the body into God’s hands, the God who conquered the power of death for us.  The same God who created us from the dust in the beginning can certainly also resurrect and recreate us from the dirt into which our casket has been planted and raise our renewed bodies to live in the awesomeness of His very presence.  Since we believe in creation, we also believe in our recreation and resurrection through Christ, who “will change our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”

It is on this basis of the certainty of the resurrection that Paul offers comfort to the Thessalonians regarding their brethren who died.  He says, “This we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”  In other words, those Christians who are alive at Christ’s second coming will not be the first to experience the effects of His return; rather those who have gone before us in the faith will.  Departed Christians are not at a disadvantage when it comes to the Last Day, and therefore, Paul says, you need not sorrow over them as if they’ll miss out on something when Christ comes again.  First, the dead will be raised, then the living will be changed and made new, though this will all happen with instantaneous speed.  It is written in I Corinthians, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  That is the hope which Christ has given you in the face of death.

“The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  Some have tried to say that this refers to some sort of rapture that will occur before the Last Day, where some are caught up and others are left behind.  But that is a false teaching.  Being caught up to meet the Lord in the air is a reference to our sharing in Jesus’ victory over the devil, who Scripture refers to as the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2).   This is the visible, final return of our Lord at the close of the age, when Satan will be cast down forever and we shall bodily be raised up forever.  And we shall always be with the Lord, sharing in and reflecting God’s perfect goodness and beauty and truth, all to His glory and honor and praise.

Until then, do not become impatient, like those who engaged in the idolatry of the golden calf.  But rather wait on the Lord Jesus and His timing.  And do not become complacent like those in the days of Noah and Lot, but rather devote yourself to the Lord’s Word and His Supper.  Comfort one another at times of death not simply with generic hopes of “a better place,” but with the concrete truth that the resurrection of the body is coming.  For the day is near when Jesus will be visibly revealed like the lightning that lights up the heavens, and He will bring your salvation to its fulfillment.

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

“Paralyzed No More”
Mark 2:1-12

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

The man on the mat was paralyzed.  His legs didn’t work at all; perhaps his arms didn’t work so well, either.  He couldn’t move or get Himself anywhere.  He was stuck.  He’s a picture of all of us in one way or another, sooner or later.  To one degree or another we feel the paralyzing effects of sin’s curse in our physical health.  Our bodies are wearing down.  The legs don’t work like they used to.  We will all know the full effects of paralysis in death.  

And there are other aspects to it beside the physical ones.  Many people whose bodies are just fine still find themselves paralyzed and immobilized–by fear and uncertainty, by hopelessness and despair of God’s help.  They’re stuck and can barely move.  Sin can paralyze us that way, too.  Instead of boldly confessing our faith and loving our neighbor, we fear what’s going to happen to us or what others will think of us, and so we just do nothing and stay in our safe zones.  Or we’re trapped in bad habits and addictions that enslave us, that keep us in bondage, turned in on ourselves instead of outward, leading lives of faith and love.  We must all confess that we are like that man on the mat needing Jesus’ help.

The paralytic was carried by four of his friends to Jesus.  In the same way, we can’t we move one step toward God by our own power or reason or strength; we’re immobilized by sin and death.  We must be carried, like babies brought to baptism, or like the people you might invite and bring to church or to adult instruction class to hear the healing and life-giving Word of Christ.  You wouldn’t say to a paralyzed man lying on the ground, “You need to get yourself to a doctor, son.”  Neither should you say to a fallen sinner, “You need to find your own way to Jesus. You need to give your heart to the Lord and decide to follow Him.”  No, we all need help from outside of us.  That’s why it’s so important for you to provide that help by speaking the words of Christ and getting people to Jesus who are paralyzed and immobilized in sin.

The four men who help the paralytic picture for us the four evangelists, the four Gospel writers–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John–who carry us to Christ through their accounts of His life and words.  It is only through the preached Gospel of Christ that we receive the help that we truly need.

And we see here that what we need is often different than what we think it is.  It is written that Jesus sees their faith, their determined trust in Him that ignored the crowd and that was literally willing to go through the roof to get to Him, and He does a rather surprising thing.  He says to the man on the mat, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  He absolves him.  Do you think that’s what the four friends had in mind when they took such great risks to get their friend to Jesus?  An absolution?  Not very likely.  They were expecting a healing, a miracle.  They were hoping Jesus would lay His hands on their friend and say the healing word and their friend was going to walk home.  I wonder if, at this point, they were feeling a little bewildered and disappointed.  And besides, isn’t Jesus embarrassing the paralytic by implying that He needs forgiveness, making an example of him in front of everyone, blaming the victim?  Some people might say that Jesus’ words were almost cruel.

I think that’s why many people today are a little bit bewildered and disappointed and maybe even a bit offended with what happens in church and in the liturgy.  People are looking for advice, for something practical that can help them out right now and make their life better in this world, for spiritual and emotional excitement, for something out of the ordinary and supernatural.  But what’s the main thing that happens here each week?  Well, for one thing, we start off the service with the confession of sins–there’s a great way to welcome people–you poor, miserable sinners.  And then Jesus comes to you and says to you–not just once but several times in several ways–“I forgive you all of your sins.”  

“But I have problems,” we say.  “I know that. Your sins are forgiven.”  “But I need answers.”  “No you don’t. Just ask Job. You need mercy.. Your sins are forgiven.”  “My life’s a mess. Don’t you have a program or something?”  “I don’t deal in programs. Just death and resurrection. Your sins are forgiven.”  “How about a miracle? I could sure use a miracle!” “You already have it. Your sins are forgiven.” (Cwirla)  Though we don’t always see it, forgiveness is the best and most practical gift our Lord can give.  For it addresses not just our perceived needs, but our real and deeper needs.

We don’t often recognize that Jesus performed His greatest miracle first in this story, when he absolved the paralytic.  The healing was marvelous and wonderful.  But the forgiveness went right to the heart of the matter and gave the paralyzed man an eternal blessing.  Jesus asked the question, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Arise, take up your bed, and walk’?”  Though it may not seem like it, it’s actually harder to forgive sins (in the fullest sense of the word the way Jesus does), because forgiveness involves both soul and body.  It’s possible to cure the body but not the soul.  Doctors can restore the body temporarily while the inward curse of death remains.  We still haven’t gotten to the root of the problem.  But forgiveness does.

Forgiveness is harder because it requires the cross.  There is a price to be paid to purchase this healing, the price of our Lord's body sacrificed in your place and His blood shed to redeem you and His soul tormented that you might be set free from death and hell.  Jesus became paralyzed with your sin, helpless, immobile as He was nailed to the cross.  He was then carried and lowered into the depths of the grave on your behalf to break its power over you.  But He also would arise and walk so that you would rise with Him in the body to life that is free from disease and paralysis and heartache and pain.  It is all of this and more that Jesus is declaring to you when He says, “Your sins are forgiven.”  You are loosed from them, released, set free.  They’re not your burden anymore.  Jesus took them and answered for them, and that’s the end of the story.  Let your conscience be clear.  Jesus’ words to the paralytic and to you aren’t cruel.  They may be humbling when He speaks real, life-giving forgiveness to your real, deadly sins.  But this is in fact the greatest gift that He can give to you and the only source of lasting comfort.  God is not angry with you.  You need not be angry with Him for whatever it is you have to endure.  Be at peace.  All is well in Jesus.

In order to show that His absolution was real, Jesus does go on to perform the more visibly obvious miracle.  He looks down at the paralyzed man lying there on his stretcher and says, “Arise, take your bed, and go to your house.”  Jesus’ words do what they say.  The man arose, and immediately he took his pallet within sight of a whole house full of people walked out.  And the people were astonished and glorified God.  “We’ve never seen anything like this.”  It was just a small foretaste of the astonishment that the disciples would have at the resurrection of Jesus Himself, when people like Thomas, who had never seen anything like it before, would kneel and say of the risen Jesus, “My Lord and My God!”  That’s how the world knows for certain that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.  He got up and walked out of His tomb three days after He died to pay for your sins.

Our Lord Jesus is still alive to bring you His healing forgiveness at His table.  Here is the remedy that heals you, the medicine of immortality, the living body and blood of Jesus given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, to enliven you and make you whole.  Here is the gate of heaven, where you commune with God.  Surely God is in this place, and like Jacob, you have been given to know it.  Here you partake of Him who is the Life in the flesh, who incorporates your bodies into His own, and who will therefore raise you from the grave just as He was raised.

So be of good cheer.  You are paralyzed no more.  Christ has spoken to you His words of life. You are forever free.  Your sins are forgiven you.  And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation and the resurrection of the body.

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

Matthew 6:24-34
Trinity 15

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

We live in an anxious world, don’t we.  Most of us, I think, have the sense that things are not as stable and sure as they used to be.  A lot of it has to do with COVID and how that has upended virtually every single aspect of our lives. Then there’s the news media which seem to have as one of their purposes to make you fearful and anxious about something, especially your health and safety. We’re anxious about the economy and finances and prices going up and job stuff.  With not enough people working for various reasons, those of you who are working are often stressed from being overworked.  As we pass the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we’re anxious about international threats and political division and governing officials who don’t exactly instill confidence, while our nation’s position in the world declines.  We’re anxious about loved ones who struggle with various needs, about what the future holds for our children and grandchildren.  We’re anxious about the church and how she will survive in an increasingly hostile culture.  

Into all of this, Jesus comes today with the words, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” That sounds a little bit odd to our ears.  Some would say it’s irresponsible.  At the very least, most people would say it’s a little quaint or naive in today’s world.  But Jesus’ words stand.  He doesn’t back down.  He says, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to the span of his life?”  

Now some of you might be thinking about this analogy that Jesus draws.  If you’re a bird watcher, you know they work very hard to make a living. They spend a good portion of their waking hours looking for food.  Jesus knew that too. So the point is not that you should be apathetic and lazy and just sit back and not work.  The point is that sparrows do not worry about the future like we do.  They feel no urge to try to foresee the future.  They work hard and sing, and then they nest down for the night, but they do not worry.  They are provided for by their Creator.  And if your heavenly Father takes care of them, how much more will He take care of you who are of much greater value, you who are created in the image of God?

Jesus is saying here that worry is a symptom of a spiritual problem.  Worry is the opposite of faith and prayer.  Worry is what we do when we doubt that God is really in control or when we aren’t sure that He actually cares and is paying attention.  And so we try to take over His job with our worrying and anxiety.  We think it all depends on us and our plans and our managing of the situation, that it’s all in our hands.  When we’re worrying, we aren’t trusting in Him, are we.  When we’re worrying, usually we’re trying to control what is ultimately uncontrollable.

Unbelief worries, but faith prays.  Faith doesn’t deny that there are real problems to deal with; it doesn’t pretend everything will be all rosy if we just try to stay positive.  But faith knows that in the end, everything is in God’s hands, not ours.  And so it looks to Him for help and deliverance  and mercy, confident that He will work all things together for our good just as He has promised us.  By faith we trust in the Scriptures which say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all [on the cross], how will He not also with Him freely give us all things that we need?”  Jesus Himself says, “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened [and anxious], and I will give you rest.”  

So don’t doubt but trust that your lives are in the Lord’s hands and that He will care for you according to His gracious will, even when it seems like you’re getting to the breaking point.  Do not engage in worry but in prayer.  Worry produces stress, but prayer produces peace.  For it dwells upon the sure words and promises of God.

Prayer says such things as, “Father in heaven, you know all the things I need, even before I ask for them.  You feed the birds of the air, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your will.  Help me to trust that I am more valuable in your sight than the birds and that you will feed and sustain me even in the midst of my troubles.  And dear Father, you splendidly clothe the lilies of the field, even though they are little more than the grass.  Give me to believe that you will also clothe me and take care of me.  Keep me from worrying about tomorrow, and give me a thankful heart for the gifts you give day by day, my daily bread, and everything that is necessary to support this body and life.  The world is passing away, but your Word of mercy and life will never pass away.  It will save and sustain me forever.”

Faith prays in that way because of what Jesus has done.  For He is the One who made us children of the heavenly Father.  Remember, Scripture says that we're not children of God by nature but children of wrath.  But in Christ we're brought into the family as God's children.  In order that we would be delivered from a world that is falling apart and winding down to its end, the eternal Son of God entered into this fallen world as one of us, as our brother.  Jesus took upon Himself the curse that our sin has brought on creation.  All the deterioration and the degeneration and the death He endured for us on the cross.  In so doing, Jesus caused death itself to die.  Jesus destroyed the sin that makes everything only momentary and impermanent.  In Christ it is written, “The old order of things has passed away . . .  Behold, I make all things new.”  Jesus came forth from the grave in power, bringing with Him a new creation that will never deteriorate or fall or perish, for death no longer has dominion over Him.

Trusting in Jesus, knowing all that He has done and prepared for us, our worries and fears are calmed.  For if God has provided so bountifully for our eternal needs, certainly He will care for us in all the necessities of this temporal life. And even when the hard times do come, even if it’s all taken away and God’s care seems to have vanished, we know that we who are His chosen, baptized people are not forsaken.  We believe that even when terror and tragedy, sickness and death come, He who created us can and will also recreate us in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.  So literally nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ.  And if we have Christ, then we have everything; for all things belong to Him, and in Him all things hold together.  That’s how Job could say in His suffering, in the loss of his property and his loved ones, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  “Though He giveth or He taketh, God His children ne’er forsaketh.”

“Do no worry about your life,” Jesus says.  Work hard, yes.  Plan ahead, certainly.  But don’t worry.  You’re not an atheist who thinks that we’re just drifting aimlessly through space, completely vulnerable to the random changes and chances of life.  You’re not an agnostic who doesn’t know who God is, whether he loves you or hates you.  You’re children of the heavenly Father, who has loved you to the point of giving you His own Son with all of His righteousness as a gift.  

Today with His words, Jesus is inviting you to trust–and it’s not a blind trust in fate or invisible forces or the universe—but trust in the one true God who loves you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Nothing else can save you–not your busy schedules and feverish activity, not all your righteous works, not your investment portfolio and comprehensive insurance.  Nothing can save you other than His grace, His suffering and death for you and for your salvation.  Martin Luther once wrote: “Cast your worries upon God’s back, for God has a strong neck and strong shoulders.  He can easily carry the load.  Moreover, he has commanded us to commit our cares to Him, and loves it when we do.” 

To assure you of this, the Father who gives you your daily bread now feeds you with Jesus’ very body and blood under the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of your sins.  The Father who clothes you and cares for your body robes you in the white garment of Christ’s righteousness in your baptism.  It is because of that certainty of who we are in Christ that we take to heart the words of Philippians 4, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

Mark 6:14-29

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

Before John the Baptizer was born, the angel said that he would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah.  Elijah was one who confronted kings and called them to repentance.  That’s how it was also with John the Baptist.  He was jailed for daring to criticize King Herod Antipas and telling him that it was not lawful for him to take his brother’s wife as his own.

This King Herod Antipas was the son of the infamous Herod the Great, who murdered not only several of his own sons to preserve his throne, but who also tried to assassinate the very Son of God Himself in His infancy in the massacre of the Holy Innocents at Bethlehem.  Herod Antipas would carry on his father’s murderous ways.  Though he was already married, he had taken up with Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip.  To add to the royal sleaze, Herodias was also his niece, the daughter of another sibling.  King Herod was imprisoned to his desires–his desire for power and prestige and dominance over his brother, his sexual desire for this woman.

And so John the Baptist preached the truth to Herod, telling him that he was committing adultery by doing this.  Herodias’ hated John for this, and she wanted him dead.  But interestingly, it seems that King Herod himself knew that John was a just and holy man.  He feared John and didn’t wish to harm him.  Today’s Gospel reading says that, surprisingly, Herod heard John gladly.  It’s not unlike those today who know that Christian teaching is good, that Christian morality is right, who may even be willing to talk with a pastor about religion.  But they just can’t bring themselves to actually embrace the faith and leave behind worldly ways.  They resist repentance and refuse to let go of their favorite sins.  God save us from such a hypocritical hearing of His Word, where we listen to it willingly but then refuse to repent and believe it and live by it.

Herod had put John the Baptist in prison–in part to protect John from his wife Herodias.  Jesus was well aware of what was happening to His forerunner.  Soon after John was imprisoned,  Jesus said about him, “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”  John no doubt knew what awaited him.  After all, from the time he baptized Jesus, he had proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the Lamb destined for sacrifice.  If John was the forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus, that meant that he would go ahead on the way the Lord Himself would travel, the way of suffering and death.  John knew it wouldn’t end well for him in this world.  He said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”   John had now decreased to the point of living in a dungeon, soon to perish.  But even in prison, remember how Jesus sent John’s disciples to him with this comforting message, “Go and tell John that the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them.”  Even behind bars John is not forgotten or forsaken by the Lord.

King Herod knows that John is a man of God.  But Herod gets himself ensnared by the salacious dancing of Herodias’ daughter from her previous marriage.  The lust of his eyes and his groin draw him to do something truly foolish, to offer the young dancing woman anything she wants, up to half the kingdom.  We may mock the silliness of what he says and does here.  But don’t our sinful desires also lead us to do ridiculous and foolish things?  Haven’t you ever looked back on something in your life after the fact and said to yourself, “What was I thinking? What have I done?”  And regarding Herod’s particular sin here, how many today have threatened their marriages and their families and gotten themselves ensnared by the salaciousness of pornography with all the corruptions it brings?  How many who know better still indulge themselves with adulterous flirtations and even affairs with co-workers and friends?  All such things are the way of death.

And then, when Herodias finally has the chance to get her revenge on John, when her daughter comes back with the request for John the Baptist’s head on a platter, why did King Herod go through with it?  He didn’t want to do it; he was exceedingly sorry he made the offer.  He realized how stupid he had been.  But, it is written, “because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.”  In other words, he preferred pretending like he was a man of his word instead of honoring the Word of God.  He cared more about looking good in front of his friends than he did about doing what was good in the sight of God.  

Is that not often our problem?  We want everyone to think we’re better than we really are.  Too often we’re so much more concerned about pleasing others than we are about pleasing God.  What God thinks takes second place to what people think.  And so we end up compromising and acting against our consciences and what we know to be right.  

Let us, then, listen to the preaching of John and repent.   For the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.  The hour of salvation is now.  For despite your self-justifying and posturing, the truth is that the Lord still desires to save you and to have you with Himself.  The truth is that He kept the Law in your place and died the death of the unrighteous in order to make you a righteous person. The truth is that in Him your conscience is cleansed, your soul is spotless and pure as new-fallen snow–all of it accomplished by His steadfast and unfailing love for you.  

Herod tried to use John’s death to make himself look good and cover up his foolishness.  But the death of Jesus actually does cover your foolishness and your sin; the shedding of the blood of Christ actually does declare you to be good and holy in the sight of God.  That’s who you are now by faith in Him.

Remember that Jesus, too, stood before this same King Herod.  Herod was in town for the Passover during Holy Week.  Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to Herod for questioning.  The king had gladly received John, but Jesus doesn’t get the same treatment.  When Jesus wouldn’t perform any miracles for Herod or answer any of his questions, Herod and his men mock Jesus and dress Him up in a gorgeous robe as some sort of fake royalty and send Him back to Pilate.  

So Herod had a hand in the deaths of the two greatest men who ever lived.  Again Jesus had said, “Among those born of women there has not arisen any greater than John the Baptist.”  “Nevertheless,” Jesus continued, “He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  Our Lord Jesus made Himself dead last and utterly least in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus became the lowest of the low and the Servant of all in order to save us.  John’s death was quick and relatively painless, but the death of Jesus dragged on for hours under torture–torture that He bore in order to redeem His torturers, people like Herod and Pilate, like you and me, and the entire fallen world.  John’s disciples manfully came forward to collect his decapitated body and bury it in a tomb.  But Jesus’ disciples fled, and it was left to Joseph of Arimathea to bury the Savior in a borrowed tomb.  Truly, Jesus went to the lowest depths for us and for our salvation.  That is why He is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, with the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.  He alone is King of kings.

Let us, then, learn to live and die as John did, always with Christ in view.  When you face death, whether from ordinary causes or at the hands of an enemy enslaved to his passions, let the words which Jesus spoke to John ring in your ears, “The dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.”  In the end our enemies can only do us good.  For John was mercifully removed from the shallow world of lies and vanity.  He was brought early to the perfect gladness that Christ won for him.  John, who leaped for joy in his mother’s womb in the presence of Jesus, now is born into eternal life and leaps joyfully in heaven where the Lord is present forever before his face.  Though sometimes our cry is “How long, O Lord?” still we are able smile at an enemy like death.  For the Lord brings good out of that evil so that we are drawn into his nearer presence, where we wait for the day of vindication and the resurrection of the body.  

So let us be like John, full of courage and zeal, willing to decrease all the way unto death so that Christ might increase and be all in all for us.  For that is your calling in baptism.  The Epistle said it: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”  Dying to our passions and to our love of the approval of others, we are raised with Christ to live a new life, a life that bears witness to Him who is our life.  That is what many Afghani Christians are doing right now.  Reports have come out of Afghanistan that they are requesting prayers not primarily to be rescued–since that’s unlikely for most–but especially that they may remain faithful to Christ in the face of the threat of death for themselves and their children.  As it was for John, and for our Lord Jesus, so it also remains for the church today.  We pray that we may take Christ’s words to heart, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

One last thing: what do you think John’s disciples did after he was buried?  They did what John had taught them to do; they went to Jesus and followed Him.  And that’s what we do, too.  If John was the forerunner, then we are the afterrunners, following after the One John pointed to as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  We go the altar of our Lord, where a very different sort of dinner party is prepared, a true Kingly feast where He bestows upon us not just half but the fullness of His kingdom, where He lavishes His mercy and forgiveness upon us with His sacrificial body and blood, where He gives us to reign with Him as kings and priests.  In the confidence and assurance of what Christ gives to us here, we say “Let the world hate us, mock us, even kill us if the Lord wills it.  It harms us none.  Baptized into Jesus, we are sons of God in whom He is well-pleased and whom He will never forsake.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”  

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

Mark 7:31-37

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

Ordinarily when I preach on today’s Gospel reading, I like to focus on the miracle and the things that lead up to it.  Today, though, I’d like to focus more on the results of the miracle and what follows after it.  The Gospel reading tells us that after the deaf-mute’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosed, the man spoke plainly. More precisely Mark tells us that the man spoke rightly.  The Greek word is orthos.  It means to act in conformity with a norm or standard–rightly, correctly.  Our words Orthopedic (right feet), Orthodontics (right teeth), and orthodoxy (right teaching or right praise) all come from this word.  And so the deaf and mute man spoke orthos; he spoke rightly.

Applying this to ourselves, we are reminded that there is a right way and a wrong way to talk, and not only when it comes to your ability to form words but especially when it comes to what you say.  Even if we have perfect pronunciation, we can still fail to speak orthos, rightly–if we don’t honor our Lord’s name with our lips, if we speak with words of self-serving pride, if we gossip about our neighbor and put the worst construction on his actions.  And so we also need the Lord to heal our tongues so that we speak orthos, rightly and correctly. 

When the deaf mute had his speech restored to what is straight and right, the people knew  that the healing was good.  It was miraculous.  They wanted to tell others about it.  What they didn’t understand was why Jesus told them to be quiet about it. And since they could not understand that, they ignored Him.  Because they couldn’t understand the reason, they chose to do what they wanted and what they thought best.  What harm could come from telling others about the compassionate power of God in Jesus?  Such a thing seemed not only victimless but good and even necessary despite the Lord’s command.  But don’t ever let not understanding God’s words and commands be the reason for you to do something against them. The person who does not know why the pin is in the grenade should not be the one to pull it.

And here was the problem. They weren’t telling people that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the one who has come to redeem and restore creation.  They were telling people that He was a miracle worker.  Now that wasn’t incorrect; it wasn’t heresy.  But it was misleading since it wasn’t the whole story  (sort of like most of our evening news).  This confusion about who Jesus is, what His mission and purpose are, ended up making His ministry more difficult.  You may recall that when Jesus was brought in front of Herod at His trial, Herod wanted to see what he had heard about.  The news was that Jesus performs miracles.  And so Herod wanted to see a trick; he didn’t care what Jesus had to say or teach or who He was.

The real miracle Jesus came to perform, though, is the atonement of the world.  He came to reconcile all of humanity back to His Father through His death and resurrection.  He came to give His life as a sacrifice and ransom and to rescue us out of Hell.  He came to make all creation orthos again.  But Herod doesn’t get that.  And that might well be partially the fault of these people who couldn’t stop themselves from blabbing about this miracle when Jesus told them not to.  And so you could say that the people who brought the deaf mute to be healed also did not speak orthos, rightly.

These things are a warning to us. God’s Word is never arbitrary. When He says don’t tell people, He means it, even if it seems counterintuitive.  The history of sin is the history of thinking we know better than God’s Word what is good.  Eve didn’t understand the reason for God’s command not to eat the fruit.  She couldn’t see why God would command this since it was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and capable of making her wise.  Why then not do what she thought to be good, since God’s Word and command didn’t make any sense.  She didn’t think she would bring pain, sorrow, and death upon herself and her children. She thought God was wrong about what was good, or that God didn’t really understand. So she took matters in her own hands. And her husband who was with her let her do it.

That is what you do every time you sin.  We refuse God’s Word for our own wisdom. “Sure,” we say, “gluttony is a sin, but what’s wrong with overindulging in a little food or drink?  Doesn’t God want me to enjoy myself?”  “What’s wrong with skipping church for a few weeks when the kids have sports or when we’re on vacation?  Sure, God commands us to remember the Sabbath Day each week, but these other things are good, too.”  “What’s wrong with living together and having sex before marriage if we intend to get married eventually?  Sure, there’s that 6th Commandment, but doesn’t God support our love?”  “What’s wrong with conceiving a child outside of the womb with in vitro fertilization?  Sure that’s not how God created it to happen, and IVF almost always kills multiple embryonic children, but doesn’t God want us to try to be fruitful and multiply?”  And I could go on and on with examples of how we justify and rationalize our departure from God’s words.

God’s Law is always good.  His Word is always trustworthy.  Sometimes, to our fallen reason, it seems contrary to what is good.  But that is only because we are ignorant.  Don’t pull the pin on the grenade.  Don’t be like the friends of the healed man who ignored Jesus’ words and did what they wanted to.  When God’s Law seems contrary to what is good, we do best simply to repent and submit to God’s Word.  When we don’t, when we insist upon our way, we hurt ourselves and we hurt others. We pull the pin. There are no victimless sins.

But here is comfort for sinners. Despite the glaring imperfections of these people, the Lord had compassion.  He listened to the prayers of the people.  He healed the man.  He didn’t put them off as if helping them was beneath Him.  He came with real compassion.  For He came to restore our bodies as well as our souls.  He cares about people when they are suffering physically.  He sees you and cares about you.  His sigh to heaven comes from His heart. The sorrow and pain of the deaf man moves Him to act even though it will result in making His ministry and mission harder. The fact that they don’t listen to His Word, that they take the miracle and run, that they don’t fully understand who He is, does not stop Him or lessen His compassion.

Jesus is the friend of sinners. He has compassion on all who suffer.  He groans in sorrow and grief over our predicament; He literally feels our pain.  He groans, too, over what has been done to us by the devil, by our neighbors, by our loved ones, and of course also by our own foolish decisions and actions.  Getting involved with us means that He will have to suffer, that we will complicate things–but it doesn’t matter to Him.  He gets involved anyway.  He sticks His fingers in our ears.  He is dirtied by the gunk of our fallen nature.  He takes our sorrow, our sin, our blame into Himself in order to heal and save us.  He groans all the way unto death on the cross and overcomes the curse for you, that you might be made new, that your entire selves might be orthos and right again forever.

This flesh and blood Jesus bears with you; He does not turn away from you but gets up close and personal with you.  He puts the finger of His Holy Spirit into your ears in the preaching of the Gospel, so that you can hear rightly and believe and be saved.  He spits and touches you in baptism, where by water and the Word of His mouth He regenerates you and gives you new birth.  He places His true and real body and blood on your tongue for the forgiveness of your sins.  He opens your lips, and your mouth declares His praise.  He is faithful to you even unto death and has risen from the dead in order to bring you to Himself alive and healed on the last day.  Truly then, He has done all things well–for you.

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

(with thanks to Jason Braaten and David Petersen)

Luke 15:1-3,11-32
 

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠

If your parents were anything like mine, they didn’t want you hanging out with the wrong crowd.  They knew that if you spent too much time with those who were troublemakers, disobedient, kids who experimented with drugs, that you might well go down a dangerous and destructive path.  The Bible says this explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15, “Bad company ruins good morals.”  Even as adults you know that this is true.  If you hang out with people whose talk is foul-mouthed, you tend to start talking like they do.  If you spend a lot of time with those who are worldly and secular in their lifestyle, you’ll tend to start thinking and behaving like they do.  If pop culture is your daily company, with all of its mocking humor that scoffs at what is decent and true, with all of its shallow, mind-numbing silliness, that will certainly affect your faith and life negatively.

So it seems understandable, at least on the surface, why the Pharisees and scribes complained about the company that Jesus was keeping in today’s Gospel.  “This man receives sinners and eats with them!”  He wasn’t just keeping company with thieving tax collectors and conspicuous sinners; He was actually sharing a meal and fellowship with them.  How could this man dirty Himself and His reputation like that?  Was He lowering the standards of His teaching?  Was He condoning their sin?  It all just seemed wrong to the religious leaders.

To show what He was doing, Jesus told three parables–the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.  The first two reveal Jesus’ searching love, how He has come to seek out and save the lost, to call sinners to repentance, back to Himself–not to condone sin but to forgive sin.  Bad company may ruin good morals, but the good company of Jesus redeems and gives new life.  What brings joy to heaven is not the self-righteous model citizen, but the one who repents and trusts in God’s mercy.

Today’s parable of the lost son highlights that mercy of God.  A certain man had two sons.  The younger son tells his father that he wants his share of the inheritance.  He’s tired of waiting around for his dad to keel over.  He wants to move on with life and have some fun.  And so in his impatience and audacity, he makes this self-serving request of his father.  

The father could have rebuked him for his insolent attitude, but instead, he grants his request.  The father knows that he can’t coerce and force love from his son, and so he takes the hurt and lets him go, knowing that the son will likely have some very hard lessons to learn as a result.

God also deals with us in the same way.  For we too have sometimes tried to use Him for our own ends, praying selfishly or using a religion as a cloak to justify our behavior.  In fact you could describe sin as the wish that God were dead, so that we could then live our lives the way we please.  God could sternly enforce obedience from us if He so chose.  But He doesn’t want slaves cowering in submission; He wants children who receive and return His love.  And so He sometimes lets us go our own way; He lets us mess up so that we can see how barren our life is apart from Him.

And indeed the younger son’s life turned out about as barren as it could be.  He may have had fun partying with his friends and living the good life for a time.  But when his money ran out, so did his friends.  In the end he was left all alone, and the best job he could find was feeding pigs–the bottom of the barrel for a Jewish boy.  That’s the way sin always works.  It gives short term happiness and long term pain.  It lives for the moment and sacrifices eternity.

When the younger son was so hungry that the pig food started to look good, he finally came to his senses.  He realized what he had lost by leaving his father.  He realized that even his father’s servants were doing better than him.  He was sorry for what he did.  But notice that sorrow isn’t what brought him back.  It was the memory of his father’s goodness that moved him to turn and head toward home.  In the same way, we are made able to truly repent only in the certainty that we have a merciful heavenly Father.  Being sorry is only the beginning; Judas was sorry, too, you recall.  Believing that your heavenly Father will receive you back for the sake of Christ in spite of your unworthiness is the heart of the matter.  True repentance includes faith.  Romans 2 says that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repent.

Even with his repentance, the younger son underestimated his father by thinking that he could only be allowed back as a servant.  But the father hadn’t written him off like that.  He’s waiting, looking down the road, hoping that his lost son will return.  It says here, “But when (the younger son) was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”  Dignified men don’t run, but the father was compelled to by his love, hurrying to welcome his son back.  

The father goes out to the son, even as God is always reaching out to us with His mercy.   And notice that the father embraces the son even before the son can say a word, even before he can make his confession!  In this we see that God doesn’t receive us back and forgive us based on how well we repent or because we formulate the right words.  God forgives us and receives us to Himself because of His grace and mercy toward us in Christ.  His very nature is love.  It’s all based on His undeserved and unmerited kindness.  There is the saying that confession is good for the soul, and that is true.  But we learn here that absolution is even better for the soul, for the mercy of God is what restores and saves us.  That’s what the father is doing here–forgiving and welcoming his son back to the family.

And it’s not just a conditional or probationary status that he’s given until he proves himself.  Rather, the Father treats him in a way that only a full, honored son would be.  He puts a distinguished robe on him.  He gives him the family ring.  He puts sandals on his feet, for only the servants would be barefoot.  And the father throws a party, to celebrate that his son who was “dead” is alive again.

This is the picture of God’s compassionate love for you.  God’s servants, the holy angels, rejoice over the sinner who repents.  You don’t have to prove yourself first.  Rather God embraces us fully as His children with all the blessings that brings, so great is His joy to have us home.  

In fact so much does God want to have us with Himself that He made His own Son to be like the younger son.  When it comes right down to it, Jesus is the real prodigal son in this parable.  It says here that the father gave to the younger son of his livelihood, or literally his “substance”– just as we confess in the Creed that Jesus is of one substance with the Father.  Then the Son of the Father goes to a far country, which is to say, the Son descends to earth and becomes man for us.  Here He blows His wealth and His substance consorting with tax collectors and sinners and the likes of us.  He is prodigal and beautifully excessive in the way He dishes out His grace and mercy toward us.  He loses it all for you, dying in your place as if He were the rebellious sinner, to win your forgiveness.  Then Jesus arises and returns to His Father, who exalts Him to His right hand, and gives Him the name that is above every name, rejoicing that He who was dead is alive again, that He who was lost for a time to the grave has been found triumphant over sin, death, and the devil.  

Once you were dead and lost.  But God raised you to life in His Son Jesus.  The Father now says to you, “Your brother, My Son was dead, and is alive again.  Repent and find your life in Him.  No matter how low it has gotten for you, Jesus has gone to the lowest depths on your behalf in order to become the way back for you. You’re not an outcast stepchild here.  You are robed in Jesus’ righteousness at the font and the family ring is put on your finger.  The banquet table of the supper is laid before you, the body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  You’re a full-fledged child in My house through Jesus.  There is great joy in heaven for each one of you who are here in penitent faith.  Welcome home.”

Now before we finish, we unfortunately need to talk about the older son.  Notice that the father has to go out to him, too.  He too had left home in a sense, forsaking the father’s love by thinking He had to earn it, that his father’s favor was a reward for his good behavior.  “All these years I’ve served you” he says, talking more like a servant than a son.  But here, too, the Father gives all.  He says, “All that I have is yours.  That’s the way it’s always been.”  And in the end the question is left unanswered: does the older brother believe that?  Do we?  Do you believe that the fullness of God’s mercy is yours apart from any merit or worthiness in you?  Do you believe that it’s all a free gift in Christ?

Jesus declares in today’s Gospel that it most certainly is.  Let us, then, never become like the older brother, whose legalism and self-righteousness kept him outside of the household and away from the joy of the feast.  Let us never think that there are certain sinners who aren’t worthy of God’s mercy, as if Jesus didn’t shed His blood for them, too.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–only sinners.  If we refuse to keep company with those who repent and trust in Him, we are refusing to keep company with Christ Himself, just like the Pharisees.  We are putting ourselves outside of the joy of the household.  Only as we repent can we rejoice in the repentance of another.  Only as we see ourselves as lost sinners can we rejoice that Jesus welcomes penitent sinners to His table.  “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”  That’s good company.  So come in and make merry and celebrate the Lord’s mercy.  In Him the lost are found and the dead live.

✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠