201129 Sermon on Romans 13:8-14 (Advent 1) November 29, 2020

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Our epistle reading is the second half of Romans chapter 13. Although our reading begins with verse 8, I’d like to also speak about what comes before it. The context for our reading is important. Chapter 13 starts out this way: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God. Therefore the one who rebels against the authority is opposing God’s institution, and those who oppose will bring judgment on themselves.”

During quiet and peaceable times, this passage is rather vanilla. It’s included in our Catechism’s table of duties for what is required of us towards our rulers. It’s an application of the fourth commandment to honor our father and mother and other authorities. Normally, these are not difficult doctrines. However, never during my lifetime has there been talk like there has been lately. Before this year I had never heard anyone talk seriously about civil war being possible. This year I’ve heard people seriously discuss this on various forums.

Now, to be clear, I do not think that this will actually happen. But I think it is telling that such talk is not immediately dismissed by absolutely everyone as being crack-headed. Even though it is still a very remote possibility, the reason why the idea has been entertained by people is that we are only becoming more and more divided. The legitimacy of our rulers is called into question by various groups. The legitimacy of the latest supreme court justice has been questioned. The legitimacy of the president elect has been questioned. Both of these examples have been from opposing sides. Some democrats have questioned one. Some republicans have questioned the other. Questions of legitimacy are, indeed, one of the ways that civil wars can start, even though I think our country is not in great danger of that right now.

Regardless, it might be high time for us to blow the dust off Romans 13 and learn from it how we should think about government and our relationship to it. So, as we’ve already noted, Paul says that everyone must submit to the governing authorities, because no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that exist have been established by God.

In a way, what Paul says is remarkable for what he doesn’t say almost more than what he does say. For example, he doesn’t say that we should only submit to those governing authorities who are good. He also doesn’t say that we should only submit to those governing authorities who are godly. Perhaps most surprising of all is that he doesn’t say we should only submit to those governing authorities who are legitimate and who came into power in the correct, orderly way. He simply says, “Submit to the governing authorities, for those who govern do so by God’s institution.”

Normally an argument from silence is not very powerful, but here I think it is significant. The Roman emperors during Paul’s lifetime were not good or godly or what we would think of as legitimate. Several of them are famous for debauchery and perversion. They all thought that they were divine and were deserving of people’s worship. At least a couple of them came to power by murdering their predecessor. Several Christians had already been put to death by governing authorities by the time Paul wrote this letter. Eventually Paul himself would be executed by the government too. So Paul couldn’t have had a Pollyannaish view of the governing authorities, where he naively said that we should submit to them because he was unaware of the political intrigue that could be involved. No, with eyes wide open he says we should submit to the governing authorities.

Now understand that what Paul says is dissatisfactory to everyone with the possible exception of Christians. You are never going to find a civics textbook or a political science book that says what Paul says. Paul, at the same time, is demanding too much, and has his sights set too low. He demands too much because he simply says, “Obey.” Obeying governing authorities is obeying God who put them in their position. Ask any child, and you will find out how difficult it is to simply obey. On the other hand, Paul is aiming too low. It seems that in order for us to make any progress toward a more perfect government we have to have insubordination. Otherwise we will be forever stuck with what we have. That actually isn’t true. God, the author of history, is the one who gives us good government. But it always seems that it’s up to us in order to bring it about. Therefore Paul’s command for obedience seems like a bad idea.

But the Bible was not written for the purpose of ushering in a more prefect government, a kingdom of this world, a city set on a hill. It has a different purpose—to bring about God’s kingdom on earth. The Kingdom of God, though, is not of this world. It does not come about by governing authorities exerting their influence to coerce people into doing good. It isn’t brought about by the use of guns or even laws. It comes about by the preaching of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’s sake. When and where it pleases the Holy Spirit he creates faith in those who hear this Gospel. When they believe in Christ they are justified without any works or merits of their own. They become children of God, heirs of eternal life. This means that they are set free from the futile task of making their own little paradises on earth. They do not need to organize grand projects and coerce everybody else to do their will. They are set free to love, to serve, to do good, wherever and whenever the opportunity should arise.

So what Paul says here is not by accident or because of some kind of ignorance. Christians are meant to leave the government be. Submit to it unless the government should ask you to do something against God’s will. Then you must obey God rather than men. Perhaps that will mean that you will face harsh punishment from them, like the apostles and martyrs did. But Peter says that it is a blessed thing to suffer for doing what is good. That, after all, is following Jesus, our master, who also suffered for doing good.

But, generally speaking, the government is not going to bother you so long as you are dutiful, honest, and generous. The governing authorities are God’s instruments for our good. It doesn’t matter if they are personally good or evil. God uses them to maintain law and order so that we Christians can lead quiet and peaceable lives, where we keep busy by loving God and loving our neighbor.

Because the governing authorities are doing God’s work for our good, it is also required that we pay them for that work. This is what Paul says just before our reading this morning. Paul says, “Pay what you owe to all of them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect, to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed.” That’s the verse immediately prior to our reading today. “Pay what you owe,” Paul says.

But then our reading starts this way, “Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another.” Did you catch that play on words? There are a couple of levels to it. In verse 7 Paul said, “Pay what you owe. Pay taxes. Pay honor.” In verse 8 he says, “Do not owe anyone anything.” This seems like it is a contradiction, but he is making an important point that I will explain in a second. On another level he is being a little playful and ironic, because he follows up “Do not owe anyone anything” with “except to love one another.” And, as you know, love is a very busy thing. It is always paying, always doing good.

So what is Paul getting at when he says, “Do not owe anyone anything” immediately after saying that we should pay what is owed to our governing authorities? What Paul means by that is that we Christians, no matter how lowly we might be, are free. We are children of God. We belong to him. That means that we do not belong to the governing authorities.

But here is something mysterious about governing authorities: they never seem to be satisfied with doing the job that God has given to them of maintaining order and justice. They also want to colonize people’s souls. They want to shape and form people into their own image. They want fanatical followers because this enhances their power. They want people to be devoted to their country with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind. This was why the Roman emperors wanted people to see them as gods and to worship them as gods. A similar thing goes on today where people give themselves over to one political party or another. Their very identity is wrapped up in how they might vote.

This is unbecoming of a Christian. As Paul says elsewhere, “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” You were bought with the blood of the Son of God. You belong to him. You must not sell yourself to any party or platform. You must not be fanatical devotees. Only one is your master, namely, Christ. Leave government where it belongs, which is beneath you.

Contrary to what most people think, you have more important work to do. This is what Paul goes on to talk about in our reading. The work that you’ve been given to do is to love one another. Love your neighbor. Love the one who is right next to you. Love the person at work who drives you crazy. Love your fellow member of the congregation. Be honest, do your duty, be generous with your resources. The really important things in life are contained in the callings that God has specifically given to you.

Far from being at the pinnacle of human life, the government is God’s instrument for the sake of these so-called little things in life—so that they may continue to be done in peace and quietness. You do not exist for the sake of the government. The government exists for the sake of your home-life. The government isn’t as important, as divine, as people make it out to be.

Recognize that one of the commonest idols since the fall into sin has been the state. If you think about it, it is not surprising. When people get together they can pool their resources. Together they are able to do things that they can’t do individually. They can build up great systems. This gives them power. They have the power to bless and the power to curse. They can pick the winners and losers. They have something of the power even over life and death, for they can establish armies. They can execute. Wherever there appears to be some kind of power, you can count on us sinful human beings to sinfully worship it.

But this is all an illusion, a lie. The history books are full of people who thought that they were humanity’s saviors, but now hardly anybody remembers their names. There is one God, the Lord. There is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ. He gave himself as a ransom for all when he was executed by the governing authorities. They did this because they despised him. They thought that he was a kook or a nobody.

And so it goes to this very day. The high and mighty are busy building a tower that reaches into the heavens. They are busy bringing in a new day that promises justice and a paradise. There is only one way to bring about paradise, and that is through the reconciliation Jesus has worked between the real God (instead of any fake gods) and us. What is truly great is the love that God has for us in Jesus—a love that goes unrecognized because it is so lowly. To Christians he is great. To those who believe in other gods he is small and ineffectual. They imagine that their gods are better.

But we will see about that.

You understand the present time. It is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost over, and the day is drawing near. Jesus is coming.

201125 Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve, November 25, 2020

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If there hadn’t been this latest surge in cases, we might have thought that we were getting back to some kind of normal. As it is, case count have gone up significantly not just in Iowa, not just in red states, not just in the United States, but throughout the northern hemisphere.

In light of this, the governing authorities have recommended that we all stay home for Thanksgiving. And so we can just add this to the list of things that we thought would never happen. Before this pestilence came upon us, I never would have thought that Christians would be prevented from gathering in churches for Easter, and yet, so it was. Now many families won’t get together for Thanksgiving—at least not in the same way as we are accustomed to. Who would have thought?

But Easter was not cancelled this year. Every element of Easter worship was fulfilled this year as it is every year by those who are Christians. For true worship is nothing other than faith. And most assuredly there were Christians on Easter believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who rose from the dead. Even without meeting in large numbers or in the way that we normally do—even without receiving the sacrament that day—nothing was missing from the celebration of Easter for those Christians to whom faith in Christ has been given. For Jesus says in John 6 that his flesh can be eaten and his blood can be drunk by faith. Those who believe that his flesh is the living bread from heaven, and that whoever eats this bread will live forever, most assuredly have what Jesus says, because Jesus doesn’t lie.

As it was, Easter went on an involuntary diet. Lots of stuff went by the wayside. There were no large scale Easter egg hunts. There were no large scale ham dinners. But everything that was essential for Christian worship was there, for you have been given the promises of God concerning Christ. True worship is nothing other than believing that God’s promises in Christ are true. This is pleasing to God, when we honor Christ, by believing what God has said about him.

One of the ways that trying times, such as the ones we are living through, can be beneficial for us is that it reveals what is essential. When all the niceties go away, what does it mean to be a Christian? What is necessary for the Christian Church to survive?

The answer, again, is faith. When Peter identified Jesus as the Christ, Jesus told him that this confession is like a rock. Even the gates of hell cannot prevail against a Christian’s confession that Jesus is the Christ. Not this Sunday, but the Sunday after, you will hear Jesus say in the Gospel reading that heaven and earth not only might pass away, but most certainly will pass away. And yet, Jesus says, his word will never pass away.

This is a very practical matter. It is applicable to times like ours when things are done differently than they normally are. Wherever there is faith in Christ, you may be assured that everything is going to turn out just fine sooner or later. Or even if we are not dealing with these large scale events, but quite personal tragedies and evils, the same applies. If you are sick unto death, and it’s hard to breath, and there’s little hope that you will recover, so long as you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, all things will turn out right. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus’s Word will never pass away. And he says, Whoever is baptized and believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

This means you are not dependent upon living forever in this world in order for you to be happy. Jesus will make you happy at that time that he has already predetermined for you. You are not dependent upon not getting sick with this virus in order to be happy. Any one of us could get this virus, regardless of how careful we might be. Is all lost if that should be the case? Or if we do get the disease, is our happiness dependent upon recovering and surviving?

If that is the way that we think, then we are not Christians. Whether we should die of this disease or in some other way, Christians believe in the happiness that has been promised to us. We know that our Redeemer lives. Even if this skin should be destroyed, nevertheless, in our own flesh we will see God. We will see him with our own eyes.

Now we’ve arrived at Thanksgiving, and it is likely that our plans have changed. It is likely that our festivities have gone on an involuntary diet. We might not be cooking for a crowd. We might only be cooking for one or two. So is Thanksgiving cancelled? No, it’s not. At least for Christians it is not. For Christians this holiday is about giving thanks to God. It is not first and foremost about family gatherings, just as Easter is not about Easter eggs. This virus does not prevent you from giving thanks to God. In fact, this virus might just burn away the dross so that we learn something about giving thanks as Christians.

For many, giving thanks is a matter of counting your blessings. That is to say, “Just look at all the stuff I have!” What we can learn from Paul, in particular, is that we can be content and give thanks regardless of what situation we might find ourselves in. His little letter to the Philippians is sometimes called the epistle of joy because it is practically bursting with praise and thanksgiving. But as Paul himself says in that letter, he is writing the letter in chains. He’s sitting in prison as he writes. And yet he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!”

Or in another place he says, “We boast or rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.”

It is natural and easy to be on top of the world when everything is going splendidly, and to be down in the dumps when things are going poorly. It is natural and easy to set our sights merely on the things of this world, as though our happiness may only be located in our earthly happiness. It is something else to set your sights a little further out, to the life of the world to come—to be far sighted instead of short sighted.

When we are far sighted we might very well recognize that the suffering which God places upon us is for our eternal good. It might make us quit believing in an idol that we especially cherished—idols that have no power to save, even though they might give us a great deal of pleasure in this life. By being deprived of what we might otherwise want, we might be taught about what is really essential. What does it mean to be a Christian? How can I be sure of my salvation? These are by no means small questions. Learning the answers to the questions in the school of hard knocks leaves a much deeper impression than learning them in confirmation class.

Plus we might learn in a new and deeper way, the everyday goodness of God that we so easily take for granted. We wicked sinners are so blind to the goodness of God that practically the only way we can learn about the goodness of something is when it is taken away. We don’t know the goodness of health until we become sick. We don’t give thanks for the sunshine until we’ve had to endure weeks and weeks of grayness. In the midst of all the disruptions caused by this pestilence that God has sent upon the earth, we might recognize what otherwise was taken for granted.

Speaking for myself I can say that I took for granted the ability to gather in person for worship. Meeting in the sanctuary on Sundays ran like clockwork until it didn’t. I took for granted that I could have Bible studies whenever I wanted and anybody who wanted could join them. These were effortless and abundant. I don’t think I ever once gave thanks for them. We don’t know a good thing until it’s gone.

But all things work together for the good of those who love God. With the lessons of 2020 our eyesight has been adjusted. It seems to me that we as congregations have not been harmed by what has happened. By and large, I think our people have learned to pray. We’ve learned to put not our trust in princes.

As the hymn goes: “Trust not in rulers, they are but mortal; Earthborn they are and soon decay. Vain are their counsels at life’s last portal, When the dark grave engulfs its prey. Since mortals can no help afford, Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord. Alleluia, alleluia!”

As members of a congregation, I think we better know what we are about. We better know why we are here. These teachings—and these teachings are by no means small teachings—couldn’t have been better taught than through the bitter experiences of this year.

So Thanksgiving has not been cancelled. If anything, perhaps, it has been sharpened. When other things fall away, there’s a better chance for us to really get it, for we are not distracted by other things. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. And his mercy endures forever.

201122 Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 (Last Sunday of Church Year) November 22, 2020

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Today I’d like to consider our Gospel reading. This is one of Jesus’s parables. At the outset I’d like to remind you that, generally speaking, Jesus’s parables are not nice, satisfying stories, as some might assume. More often than not Jesus’s parables are intentionally unsatisfying. What I mean by that is that usually not everything is wrapped up in a tidy package where the plot goes the way that you think it should go. Jesus’s parables describe the kingdom of God, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts nor are his ways our ways. His parables reveal and obscure at the same time. So it isn’t surprising that there should be plenty for us to wonder about, even after hearing the same parable many times for many years.

With the parable before us today I think there are several elements that we can quickly identify and explain. Then we can spend some more time considering what is more difficult. This parable is taken from a long section at the end of Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus is teaching about the end of the world. With that as the context, it is certain that this parable is about the end of this world and Christ’s second coming.

So the bridegroom in the parable is Jesus. Jesus is coming again. We are not sure of the day nor the hour. The ten virgins represent Christians—or at least those who identify themselves as Christians. As virgins, they are pure and undefiled. With the number ten you have a number of completion. While they all identify as Christians, whether they are genuine or not seems to be at the heart of what is being taught. Not all ten make it into the wedding banquet. Five of them do. Five of them do not. So it seems that all ten of them identified themselves as Christians and thought of themselves as Christians, but only five of them ended up with the Lord Jesus.

Jesus himself gives us the moral of the story, which he sometimes does after his parables. Whenever Jesus does that, I think it is especially important that we pay close attention to what he says. Here Jesus says, “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

I feel quite confident about all the things that we have identified so far, but there are several things that we haven’t talked about yet. We especially have not talked about the differences between the ten virgins. Five are identified as wise. Five of them are foolish. The reason why the five are wise is because they took an extra flask of oil with them. The foolish ones did not.

Perhaps this wouldn’t have been a problem if the bridegroom would have come when they were expecting him to come. But he didn’t. He was delayed. They all became drowsy and fell asleep. Presumably, while they were sleeping their oil lamps were burning away, using up their oil. When they woke up with the cry, “Wake, awake! Here comes the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” They suddenly discover, to their horror, that the flame is ever so low, if not extinguished all together. This would never do for such a festive occasion.

The five wise virgins thanked their lucky stars that they had remembered to pack some extra. The five foolish virgins couldn’t do anything about their lamps then and there. They’d have to find some place that would sell them oil at that late hour. By the time they get back, the door was already shut. The Lord is rather cold to them. He says, “Amen, I tell you: I do not know you.” Presumably, therefore, they are left in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Immediately we wonder, “What went wrong here?” Jesus’s own words supply the answer, “Watch, therefore, because you do not know the day or the hour.” They should have stayed awake. If they had stayed awake they wouldn’t have been surprised. But notice that all ten of them, the wise as well as the foolish, became drowsy and fell asleep. This, I believe, is where we have something that is unexpected, which is a normal feature for Jesus’s parables. Jesus says, “Watch,” that is, “Stay awake,” but they all fell asleep. It would seem that someone being truly wise would require a lack of sleep altogether. The wise virgins not only should have extra oil, but they should have also stayed awake.

When it comes to watchfulness and staying awake, there might be something else that is relevant here. Jesus spoke this parable during Holy Week, after he had entered in on Palm Sunday, but before he was arrested. Just a day or two after Jesus spoke this parable, on the night when Jesus was betrayed, his disciples had a very hard time staying awake. After the Lord’s Supper Jesus went to Gethsemane with his disciples. He went on further to pray, and he told his disciples to stay awake while he did so. This is where Jesus prays, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet, not my will, by thy will be done.”

Three times Jesus comes back to his disciples and finds them sleeping. He says to them, “Weren’t you able to stay awake with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” But this speech evidently was not enough to keep them awake. They fell right back to sleep after Jesus left them to pray again.

As you know, this physical sleep was soon surpassed by an even worse spiritual sleep. That is to say, when Jesus was arrested, when the shepherd was struck, the sheep were scattered. When Jesus the Christ was put in handcuffs the disciples all abandoned him, even though they had promised up and down that they would never do such a thing. Hours before they had said they would sooner die than abandon Jesus. But when the temptation came, they found that they could not resist.

And, as far as their own selves were concerned, they never regained their senses. Let us not forget that nobody was waiting outside of Jesus’s tomb for him to be resurrected except some Roman soldiers whom the Jews had sent to stand guard. The women who first discovered that he was not there, that he had arisen, were not going to his tomb to greet him. They were bringing the things that were necessary to properly lay to rest his corpse, because there hadn’t been time on Friday because of the fast approaching Sabbath. Peter and John, the first of the twelve who heard about it, raced to the tomb because they were totally surprised by this cry of the women: “Look! He’s not there.” Even later on that day, in the afternoon, even after Jesus had for sure appeared the Mary Magdalene, if not to others, the disciples who were walking to Emmaus still did not believe that Jesus had come to life again.

So this is something that we can safely say: Our watchfulness is not very good. All ten fall asleep. The holy apostles and disciples were unbelieving. You should also know this about yourself by personal experience. How often have you fallen into temptation because you did not watch and pray?

Well then what are you going to do when at midnight comes the cry: “Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” What are you going to do when the trumpets blasts long and hard, so that all flesh tingles at the sound of them, waking all those who are in their graves? This is where I think we see the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins that is the most important—the thing that truly makes them wise and foolish. The wise virgins had a good conscience. They kept their eyes on the bridegroom. They were on their way to go meet him, even though they had no merit or worthiness in themselves—after all, they had not done what Jesus said they should do. They had failed to watch.

The foolish virgins, on the other hand, did not have a good conscience. They were ashamed. They couldn’t bear to be seen with their unlit lamps. What, were they supposed to carry around their unlit lamps in the dark? They’d look like fools! So they are desperate to save face. They want to get some of the good conscience that the wise virgins have, but here’s the thing with a good conscience—you can’t give it to anybody else. You either have it or you don’t. So the foolish virgins go off looking for a good conscience, and by the time they find one, it isn’t good enough to pass divine judgment. He does not know them.

Think also of the disciples during Holy Week. Judas Iscariot and Peter had both betrayed the Lord. It’s not clear exactly what Judas thought would happen to Jesus, but it doesn’t seem that he was expecting him to be sentenced to death. Judas is struck with a very bad conscience indeed. He tries to find a better one. He tries to make up for what he had done. Greed had made him do what he did, and now he looks at those 30 pieces of silver with horror. He throws them back to the Jewish authorities. He is sorry! He is so sorry! He wishes that he had never done what he did. He looks at himself in disgust, and in despair he goes and hangs himself. He murders himself—something that the devil would like us each and every one of us to do.

Peter had bragged during the Lord’s Supper that he would never deny Jesus. Even if all the other did, he never would. Jesus said that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed at dawn. And so it was. Peter cursed, lied and swore and said he never knew the man when he was asked about it by a girl by the charcoal fire. What a disgrace! How could he ever show his face again!?

Now the Scriptures do not actually tell us what happened when Jesus came to Peter after he rose from the dead on Easter. The only thing that we know about it is that Paul says Jesus appeared to Peter before he appeared to the twelve. So we don’t know what happened, but I think we can be sure about one thing. Peter did not go away, and he did not tell Jesus to go away, like he did, years before, on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus brought about the miraculous catch of fish. Although Peter was humbled—tremendously humbled—he loved Jesus’s appearing. He wanted to be together with Jesus.

This is what will also make the difference on Judgment Day. There will be those who love his appearing, and there will be those who immediately see that their lamp has gone out. They are unpresentable. They will wish that they had lived a better life. They will wish that they hadn’t done all those shameful and embarrassing things that had mercifully been allowed to forget while they were still living. Jesus says that on that day there will be people who will wish that the mountains would fall on them, to cover them up. Oh God! Save us from such a fate!

And how, pray tell, might we do that? By trying harder? You’re going to turn over a new leaf? You’re going to make up for all that you’ve done wrong? Well, you better go find somebody who is selling oil, ’cause you ain’t got none.

No, let me tell you a better way. Think of Jesus’s second coming as a bridegroom who is coming to you. Look forward to his coming to you, because he is not coming to shame you. He is friendly, loving, even—like a groom who is in love with his bride. And although you have absolutely no right whatsoever to assume this posture towards Christ’s second coming—after all, you have fallen asleep, you have fallen into temptation—you may do so with a good conscience. This conscience is not based on how you’ve lived your life. It is based upon the bitter sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ for you—the bloody atonement that satisfies all of God’s wrath over all sin.

Look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will be the best day that has ever been. But in order for you to do so, you must put aside all your works. You must put aside all your efforts to justify yourself before God. These won’t work. If you don’t do this, then you’ll be too busy trying to fix yourself on that great day so that you totally miss the joy of the wedding. There is no better way for you to prepare for Christ’s second coming, which could come at any day and any hour, than to look forward to seeing him. If you want to see Jesus, then it will be done for you as you have desired.

201115 Sermon on Daniel 7:9-14 (Second to Last Sunday of the Church Year) November 15, 2020

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The Old Testament prophet Daniel lived during a time when everything had fallen apart. Long gone were the days of Moses, David, or Solomon. The northern kingdom of the people of God was no more. It had long been taken over by the Assyrians. During Daniel’s own lifetime the remnant of God’s people, the southern kingdom, Judah, where Daniel was from, was also taken over. The Babylonians had conquered Judah and torn down to the ground the great temple that Solomon had built. The king of Babylon decided to take back with him to Babylon the most talented and noblest of the Jewish people so that those left behind were leaderless. Things had not looked so bad for them since the days of slavery in Egypt.

However, even with the rubble and ruin new growth was beginning to pop up. Daniel was one of these bright spots. He was among the leaders who were taken captive to Babylon. Although he was from a conquered and humbled people, God gave him strength and wisdom. He and three of his friends rose in the ranks of Babylon’s officials so that eventually they far surpassed all the others in power and influence. They were exiles and prisoners, but they couldn’t help but turn people’s heads. Even the king listened to them.

Being placed in such positions of power would be remarkable enough, but besides governing and advising kings, God also gave Daniel many visions of what was to come. Our Old Testament reading today is a portion of such a vision.

We generally do not spend much time studying the visions that are given in Scripture. As a teacher and a preacher I can understand why. They are not as easy to understand as other places in the Scriptures. There often seems to be a stubborn remainder that leaves you wondering whether you’ve quite gotten all of it—even after thoroughly explaining it. Be that as it may, we will still try our hand at it. We should not just always do what is easy.

For better understanding the portion of Daniel’s vision that we heard about, I think it is helpful to know that this is a part of longer series of visions that are recorded in the book of Daniel. And although these several visions are all different from one another in the imagery that is used, they repeat a similar overall message. So before we look at what was specifically spoken of in today’s reading, lets consider three themes that are the most prominent throughout these visions.

First of all, the subject or plot of the visions God gave to Daniel are about kingdoms and the rise of future empires. The Babylonian empire, which was dominant at that time, was soon going to be overtaken by the Persian empire. After the Persian empire was dominant for some time, it would be taken over by the great Greek general, Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great dies as a young man, and the very large empire was split up among his generals and their descendants. After that the Romans would come and rule with their iron fist for several centuries. This succession of great empires, one after the other, is something that runs through all the visions.

The second theme that runs through all the visions is actually more important than the first one. The visions are prophecies concerning Christ. Daniel prophesies about 600 years before Christ was born. In these visions, after these empires turn over, one after another, the Christ rises up and rules over them all.

In a sense, given Daniel’s circumstances, it is a little surprising that there should be such a vision or that it would be believable. After all, the people of God were in shambles at that time. His people were scattered hither and yon. There was no leadership left in Jerusalem. The sacrifices and services at the temple had ceased. The Jews were a tiny people, a conquered people, with no military power. How could one from them rise up and rule over the whole world?

However, in another sense, Daniel would not have had a hard time believing this vision. Daniel had God’s promises in his Word. God said that there would be someone ruling from David’s line forever. The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied that these people in captivity would be brought back home after 70 years.

The third and last theme that I think is helpful for understanding our reading today is that there is an apocalyptic, end times, aspect to the visions that Daniel received. With the rise and fall of nations, it might seem as though what God reveals to Daniel is merely mundane history. When we think of history we think of one thing happening after another, so on and so forth, world without end. But together with these other two themes of the rise and fall of kingdoms, and the rise to power and glory of the Christ, there is also this aspect where the history of the world is coming to an end with the rise of the Christ whom God has promised would redeem his people.

This can be a little confusing because it seems like it creates a problem for us concerning time. We believe, teach, and confess that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He was born, lived, died, was resurrected, and ascended nearly 2,000 years ago. If he is the Christ, and with the coming of Christ comes the end of the world, then why hasn’t the world ended?

I’d like to explain that in a little bit, but before I do that, I’d like to show you how this is what the disciples at Jesus’s time believed about the Christ. Jesus’s disciples were students of the Scriptures. They knew these visions that were written down in the book of Daniel. So when they began to believe that Jesus was this Christ whom Daniel prophesied about, they assumed that he would overcome all other nations and that this world would end, and other one would begin.

Consider when Peter first confessed Jesus to be the Christ. When Jesus heard him, he praised him. He said that the Church would be built on this, Peter’s confession: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But after that Jesus explained to the disciples that he was going to go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead. That was the way that Jesus was going to rule as king—with a crown of thorns instead of a crown of gold. When Peter heard this he took Jesus aside and told him that that was not the way the story was supposed to go. The Christ should be great in power. It would take a lot of power, after all, to break free and subdue the Roman Empire. But Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan, for you are not thinking the thoughts of God, but the thoughts of men.” What the disciples were expecting, even on the basis of the Old Testament prophecies, was not correct. The Christ would not overcome in the way that they thought.

This is also why Jesus’s cross was such a stumbling block for nearly all of his disciples. Dying like a criminal, seemingly helpless, seems to eliminate the possibility of overcoming all nations as a great king. The mocking of the soldiers and the people who passed by him seemed to ring true: “If you are really the Christ, why don’t you come down from there? Then we’ll believe you.” Or: “Look, he who saved others cannot save himself.” And if Jesus had not risen from the dead, then they all would have been absolutely right. But Jesus did rise from the dead, and it was with a special kind of resurrection too. It wasn’t like Jesus’s body was just reanimated. It was transformed. As Paul says, the corruptible must put on incorruptibility. The mortal must put on immortality. Death is swallowed up in victory.

So here is where you might learn to think a little differently about the end times. You should not think that the end times are only off in the distance, sometime in the future. The end times have already begun 2,000 years ago. They began with Jesus, the first one resurrected like his saints will be resurrected; the first one who lives and will never die; the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Having risen from the dead, and have been given all authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus sent out his disciples in order to do end-times things. So he told them to baptize, which is a new birth, a second birth, by water and the Holy Spirit, which makes us sinners children of God.

He told the disciples to announce the forgiveness of sins to all who would repent. This pronouncement of forgiveness for Jesus’s sake is the verdict that will be rendered for all who have fallen asleep in Jesus when the dead are raised, the court is seated, and the books are opened.

He told his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood. This is the New Testament for the forgiveness of sins. “Do this,” Jesus says, “remembering him.” This supper, as our post-communion collect says, is a foretaste of the supper to come. We eat it and drink it in order to be prepared and strengthened for the joy of the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom when he comes again in glory.

Through these end times things that Jesus has commissioned us, his disciples, to do, he reigns and rules in his spiritual kingdom from the right hand of God. He has not yet come again because he is patient, wanting all to come to repentance by hearing his Word. Eventually, though, that last person whom God has chosen from eternity to be saved will be converted to faith in Jesus. Then this old world will have served its purpose and will come to an end. Then the fullness of our redemption and salvation will take place with Christ’s second coming.

And so let us take up what our Old Testament reading says, for it certainly speaks to this great coming Day. Daniel tells us that he sees the Ancient of Days, God the Father, seated on a throne of awesome majesty. His appearance was brilliant. His throne was fire and a river of fire flowed out from his presence. He was surrounded by thousands times thousands of mighty angels. The court was in session, and the books were opened.

But while Daniel’s vision speaks to that great coming day, it also speaks to what has already happened—the beginning of the end times—when Jesus died, defeating our great enemies. In the middle of our reading Daniel tells us about a horn, speaking boastful words, and a beast that was killed. The other beasts have their rulership taken away, but they are allowed to live for a set period of time.

Here Daniel is referring to an earlier portion of the vision that was not part of our reading. Earlier God reveals to him that great beasts rise up fighting, terrifying, and strong. These are God’s enemies with the antichrist and Satan at the head of them. Although it appears that they are unstoppable and strong and on the right side of history, their dominion is taken away. They lose their right to rule over the children of Adam and Eve because we were purchased with the blood of Jesus. Thus, in the middle of our reading, Daniel’s vision also refers to Christ’s cross and resurrection where he defeated death and the devil.

In the last portion of the vision Daniel sees somebody coming in the clouds of heaven. He is the Son of Man, a name that Jesus most often used to refer to himself. The Son of Man comes to the Father, the Ancient of Days. He is given dominion, honor, and a kingdom. All peoples, nations, and languages will worship him. His dominion will be an eternal dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. Thus you see the second theme that I spoke about earlier—where the Christ will rise up and rule over all nations, no matter how powerful they might be.

But remember that Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world. He rule and reign is not with worldly weapons. His is a spiritual kingdom, fought against spiritual enemies. These spiritual enemies would keep people in the darkness of unbelief. In this darkness they fear death, and they fear God. More than anything they fear Judgement Day, and understandably so. But Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords, has given us his end times gifts, tokens of his cross and resurrection. Thus we say: believe in your baptism, it is your second birth. Believe that you are forgiven. Did not Jesus die for your sins? Eat his body and drink his blood. This is the food of immortality.

By what God has given you, you may look up, rather than cower, on that great Day of the Lord that is to come.

201108 Sermon on Luke 17:20-30 (3rd to Last Sunday of the Church Year) November 8, 2020

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The belief that the universe is eternal has been around for a very long time. The ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, taught that the universe has always existed. Plato believed that there was an infinite regression went all the way back into infinity. Aristotle taught that in the gray dawn of time there was a prime mover. Now all things are working themselves out of their own accord.

Despite all our sophistication, our people have not gotten much further. The prime mover has been replaced by the big bang. Matter, time, space, and whatever other dimension there might be has always existed and always will exist. The universe is without beginning and without end. As it was in the beginning, it is now, and will be forever.

Although I am telling you what is generally acceptable to the scientific community, it probably isn’t something that most people think about. That stuff is for philosophers and astrophysicists. Normal people don’t go around talking about this. What do normal people talk about? They talk about buying and selling, eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, planting and building. That is to say that normal people are concerned with the everyday things of life. They do not look at the big picture. Their field of vision doesn’t go out that far.

This is not a mundane coincidence, unimportant, a matter of taste, as we might assume. St. Paul speaks of the god of this age blinding the minds of unbelievers to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image. How exactly does the devil, the god of this age, do this? Jesus’s words in our Gospel reading give us some insight.

The people at the time of Noah were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

These people’s narrow field of vision, looking only to the everyday stuff, made it so that they were not able to see the signs of the times. They could not foresee the change of circumstances that was coming upon them because they assumed that all things would go on like they always have been.

Generally speaking, all of you are practical people who do not wish to be concerned about big questions. You are concerned with your livelihood. You want to put food on the table, and pass along a nice inheritance to your kids. You want to get together with your family for Christmas. You don’t want to be bothered with philosophy, theology, or any other ivory tower subject. Since when did any of these things help anybody accomplish anything? They are totally impractical.

But that only holds true based on the assumption that life will always go on as it always has. If people are going to go on forever, eating and drinking, buying and selling, and so on, then it would be a waste of time to consider any bigger questions—because it has already been decided that there are no bigger questions. All that matters is accumulating and consuming.

But if this assumption is not true, then it is decidedly impractical not to consider it. It was very impractical, for example, that the people at the time of Noah were amassing fortunes and building up great institutions. The flood came and destroyed them all, in spite of all their hopes and dreams and hard work. Or, as Jesus says, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but to lose his soul?”

The Bible teaches that things will not always go on forever. The universe is not eternal. God created it from nothing. It has a starting point. It also has an ending point. On what will otherwise be an ordinary day Jesus will come on the clouds with great power and glory together with his angels. This old creation, which is groaning for its redemption, will be done away with, and there will be a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.

Right in the middle of this great beginning and end of our world is the incarnation of the Son of God. He who has always been God, became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus has redeemed us so that even though we have been and are sinners, we are forgiven and righteous before God for his sake through faith in him. In this way we are saved eternally like Noah and his family was saved, or like how Lot and his daughters were saved. Though the world is doomed to destruction for its sins, God plucks us out of death through his Son who became sin and death in our place.

If this is true, then there is nothing more practical than repenting of our sins, being baptized, and believing in Jesus. For whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned. This also puts a different spin on what we are about in this world. Jesus says, “Do not lay up treasures for yourselves here on earth were rust and moth destroy and thieves break in and steal. Rather, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither rust nor moth destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And what are these treasures in heaven that Jesus is talking about? We will get a good indication of this next week with what Jesus says on Judgement Day to the sheep at his right. These treasures in heaven are the works of love and righteousness that are done by the saints. Jesus says that whoever offers a cup of water to a little one because he is Jesus’s disciple will by no means lose his reward. The sanctified lives of Christians, where they do their duty in the callings that God has given them—these lives are treasures, even though they remain unrecognized by anyone on this earth. The only one who notices is God.

The world only notices anyone when he or she has unusual powers—great strength, great wealth, great beauty, and so on. Therefore only the highest and most unusual positions in society receive honor—presidents, CEOs, athletes, tycoons, so on and so forth. The world has no respect for a mother lovingly changing the diaper of her baby. Our schools give our high school girls annoying dolls to convince them that motherhood is an annoying, unimportant burden. The world has no respect for the worker at Walmart who does as he’s told. The same is true for factory workers, vegetable pickers, garbage collectors—any occupation where people work like dogs and are paid comparatively little.

But God and Christians see things differently. Anybody who has been baptized and believes has had their whole life sanctified. For Jesus’s sake, all the work that Christians do in obedience toward God and in love for their neighbor is holy and precious in God’s sight. He treasures them.

There is no shame whatsoever in any calling where God’s commandments are being obeyed. In fact, those who soil themselves with unrighteous dealings in order to get to the top of the heap and be recognized by the world will have a rude awakening. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. In heaven there will be glorious saints, whom the world rejected as small and worthless.

Such people may well be wives who submitted to their husbands as to the Lord, and husbands who loved their wives like Christ loves the Church. Children who served and obeyed, loved and cherished their father and mother. People who put up with abusive and difficult people—loving their enemies, not holding grudges, but going on with their selfless service.

These are the great ones. Jesus says that if anyone should like to become great, then he must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first, must be a slave. Greatness is defined by God, and look at what he does. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Here you can see another aspect of that narrowing of the field of vision that I’ve already talked about. People become blind to the bigger questions of the nature of this universe because they are too busy eating and drink, buying and selling, and so on. So they miss the bigger things. On the other hand, they also miss the smaller things. They easily overlook acts of kindness, the lowly works of a slave. They do not do them, and they do not notice them. They are thought to be unimportant. What is thought to be important is getting accepted to Harvard, or winning in an athletic game, or getting a promotion. These are all things that are widely appreciated and congratulated. So you can see that the natural, fleshly field of vision is focused on me, myself, and I. How great am I? How rich am I? How will I be remembered? What might be said at my funeral?

The Word of God is a bucket of cold water to all these thoughts. The Bible does not celebrate man’s greatness. Instead it says things like this: Man born of woman has a few short days, and they are full of anxiety. He blossoms like a flower, but soon withers. He recedes like a shadow and does not remain.

Note what this says about us human beings. It says that we don’t live very long. While we live our happiness is always tainted. Our beauty is like a flower of the field. We are as insubstantial as a shadow.

God’s Word pulls us out of our fantasy about ourselves. We are but flesh. We are destined for the grave. The striving after eternity that we might do on this earth whereby we try to leave our mark, or be remembered, or have our legacy, are all doomed to failure. To fight against this is to fight against God. And I don’t like your chances in such a fight. The horror of Judgement Day is the realization that our determination to live for ourselves and for our own happiness (which we are always so eager to do) will be judged as wanting. It won’t matter what anybody thinks or believes. God’s reality will be forcefully impressed upon all whether they like it or not. All God’s enemies must be put under his feet.

But it is not as though God wants people to be or to remain his enemies. This is why he speaks to all who will hear beforehand, to warn them, to bring them to repentance and kindly invite them to believe in him. This is what God did at Noah’s time. This is what God did at Lot’s time. Nobody believed his Word, though, until it was too late. So also God speaks in our own time. How is it received? Is he believed to be a fool? To be impractical? 

It is not good with us. Do you know that even among so-called Christians there are very few who believe that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead? Very few believe in the resurrection of the dead. Thus, despite whatever they might say otherwise, they are not actually Christians. They cannot be Christians because they disbelieve in the very reasons why Christ came and did what he did. Christ came so that when we are judged we might be acquitted of our sins for Jesus’s sake. He came to defeat death as God’s punishment for sin, and to bring about the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep. Those who say that they are Christians but deny the very reasons why Christ came, are only fooling themselves. We’d like to believe that the universe is eternal because no sinner wants to be accountable. But God has set a limit to evil. He will not let evil go on forever. This is why he has done what he did in Jesus Christ. It is also the reason why Jesus will come again.

God invites everyone to learn from him what is good and what is evil. Learn from him what he has promised to do now and in the future for your salvation. Then you will not meet that great day in horror—as though you were dealing with an enemy. Instead, you may experience it according to another picture that is used in the Bible—one we will hear about in a couple weeks. You may greet that day like a virgin waiting for the groom who loves her, and whom she loves in turn.

201101 Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 (All Saints' Day) November 1, 2020

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Lately I’ve spent some free time learning about artificial intelligence by watching some YouTube videos. Artificial intelligence has made much progress in the past couple decades. What by now is a long time ago scientists were able to program a computer that was able to beat a grand master at chess. A little more recently they were able to do a similar thing with the much more complicated game of Go. Perhaps you remember watching Jeopardy a few years ago, when the IBM computer named Watson defeated the most successful human players. It wasn’t even close. The computer blew away its human opponents.

One of the main reasons why artificial intelligence has become more powerful is a new technique in programming the computers. Computers are no longer hard coded with instructions like “if x happens then do y; if y happens then do z.” Instead the computer is taught almost like you would teach a human. It is told to “watch this.” Then it is fed millions upon millions of examples, many lifetimes’ worth of examples, whereby it can make deductions. Computers are able to process this information more quickly than we can. Neither do they slumber nor sleep. So they are able to work out an intelligence that far surpasses our own as the examples I began with have shown.

Thus we might ask, in the words of LBJ: “What hath Man wrought? And how will Man use his miracles?” The applications seem limitless. Think of how computers have invaded so much of our lives. Hardly any part has been left untouched. Artificial intelligence will only increase the power of the computing that has already been applied. Things will be done much more efficiently and easily.

So it appears that artificial intelligence is but the latest step in a long story of progress that we’ve all been taught from our youth. The way that the story goes is that we have less toil and more free time. We have less suffering and more pleasure. The standard of living has been raised for all people.

In the past ditches needed to be dug by ditch diggers. That was a lot of back breaking work. In the near future, with all the advancements that have been made, we won’t even have to have the guy in the cab manually operating the controls. For here’s the thing with all advancements: at first we’re grateful that the old work has gone away, but soon we get tired of the new work too. Even though operating an excavator is a whole lot easier than operating a spade, it still becomes tiresome when you have to do it day in and day out. So if that too is taken away, then we will be given the freedom to do those things that we find more enjoyable.

But what then? There is a hole in this optimistic story of progress. It is always told in such a way where we are all supposed to be fabulously happy. I’m not so sure about that. Supposedly the people in the past were wretchedly miserable. We, supposedly, are so much better off than they are. And in the future people will be happier still. And why? Because we have mechanical slaves to do the work that we used to do. The future holds out the prospect of even more and better mechanical slaves. We arrogantly look back at the relatively slaveless people of times past as almost sub-human.

But this is just a variation of the old Mammon story. Mammon, the god of wealth, promises that we will be ever so much happier if only we had a little bit more money. Visions of cars and vacations dance in our heads. On the other hand, Mammon also threatens. He says that if we don’t have money then we will have to eat our bread by the sweat of our own brow. Who wants to do that? So you better do whatever you have to do so that you are always only increasing your wealth.

This view of life is extremely popular. It dominates how we talk and what is taught. In school people are educated only with the goal of making more money. I’m sure that the reason why it is so widespread is because Mammon’s promises and threats are so compelling. Who, after all, doesn’t like buying a new car? And who likes doing disagreeable work? Striving after money and power seems to be the only way that anybody can be happy.

But Jesus has something to say about this in our Gospel reading today. It certainly is not his perspective that the only way to be happy is to strive after money and power. We don’t use the old word for happiness very much in our everyday speech, so let me translate what he says for you:

Happy are the poor in spirit,
    because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are those who mourn,
    because they will be comforted.
Happy are the gentle,
    because they will inherit the earth.
Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    because they will be filled.
Happy are the merciful,
    because they will receive mercy.
Happy are the pure in heart,
    because they will see God.
Happy are the peacemakers,
    because they will be called sons of God.
 Happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. In fact, that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Happy are the poor in spirit, not the rich in spirit. Happy are those who mourn. Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty. What is going on here? With our hearts and minds that are so thoroughly trained in Mammon’s dogma, it sounds like Jesus is talking nonsense. Who wants any of these things that Jesus says are blessings? Since when did any of them do anything for anybody? And that’s quite right according to the logic of that religion. But Mammon is not the only god. I know of another one. It is according to the logic of Jesus’s God that Jesus makes his claims for what happiness is in our Gospel reading today.

So what is it about this logic of Jesus’s that makes it so hard for us to compute? Why does it seem so nonsensical? It’s because the things that Jesus speaks about are things that we are not in control of. Why do we not want to be poor? Is it not because we are then no longer in control of what we can have or do? Why do we not want to mourn? Isn’t it because we have been confronted with something that we cannot change? If we could change it, then we’d no longer be sad. Why are we afraid to be gentle or meek? Isn’t it because if we don’t fight for ourselves, then who will? Nobody gives it to you. You have to take it. Why don’t we want to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness? Isn’t it because we want to believe that we are good people? Why do we not want to be merciful? Isn’t it because if we don’t insist on our rights we will become doormats and everybody will walk all over us? Why don’t we want to be pure in heart? Isn’t it because lying is the way that we can manipulate people for our own agenda? Why don’t we want to be peacemakers? Isn’t it because if we can collect people for our side over and against their side that we will be more powerful? Why don’t we want to be persecuted? Isn’t it because we want to live for ourselves? Who wants to suffer for standing up for anything besides one’s own interests?

In all of these scenarios you see that we are more or less passive, inactive. We have to wait on someone else besides ourselves to bring about goodness. That someone else is God. The Psalmist says, “But God is my king of old. Whatever help that is done upon earth, he does it himself. … He divides the sea through his power, and breaks the heads of the dragons in the waters. … He brings fountains and waters out of hard rocks. He dies up mighty rivers. The day is his and the night is his. He prepared the light and the sun.”

This Lord God is the one who is believed in. Although you, the blessed, are rather inactive, God, on the other hand, is active. Though the relief might tarry through the night, help comes in the morning. God himself will wipe away every tear from your eye. Therefore you may be content, even though you are not yet in full possession of the kingdom of heaven that has been promised to you.

The world’s prince scowls at this talk. He doesn’t like it at all. He says that all this contentment is quietism. “We must not be content with our circumstances. We must muster up our strength and burst through them like a shining star.” He says “If the mighty men of old had been content with their circumstances, then where would we be? Why, we wouldn’t even have toilets! How terrible would that be?!”

But if you think about what is really going on here you see something very strange: People who are content, strangely have to be convinced that they are not content, so that they may experience the happiness that is being promised to them. Let me say that again: People who are just fine with their circumstances have to be convinced that their circumstances are actually terrible, so that some new circumstances may be sold to them.

This technique is stock in trade for the massive advertising industry. Content people have to be convinced that what they have is not good enough so they go out and buy what is supposedly better. Then they’ll be happy.

More importantly, think about the first temptation in the garden. In order for the devil to shoehorn Eve into his sales pitch he first had to make her discontent, which she otherwise was. Before the devil started lying to her, she was content to live according to God’s promises. She was happy to wait upon his blessings, whatsoever those might be. But the devil convinced her that God was holding out on her. She didn’t have to wait. If she ate, then she would be like God. Then she could fix her own problems. It’s as though he said, “Blessed are those who rely upon themselves, for they will be like God.”

But we are not very good gods for ourselves. Relying upon ourselves is like relying upon a broken reed. It harms us rather than helping us. The Lord God, on the other hand, is good. His mercy endureth forever. Therefore, we should not be concerned with what we will eat or what we will drink. Consider the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Do not become unhappy about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

On this All Saints’ Day, when the Christians who have gone before us naturally come to mind, we might consider what has always been the first and foremost work of all the saints. What always comes first and has precedence over everything else is faith. And that is what we have been talking about today.

In what or in whom do you believe? Popular false gods are all around us. They are all underlings of the devil, whom Paul calls the prince of this world. Blessed are you who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that there is life in his name. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but God himself has. With him as your Lord and your God you can be sure that yours is the kingdom of heaven, you will be comforted, you will inherit the earth, you will be filled, you will receive mercy, you will see God, you will be called children of God. Even if people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for Jesus’s sake, rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

[Finally, on this All Saints’ Day we remember those whom God has called to himself this past year: Butch Schroeder, Ken Meyer, Shirley Burco, Phyllis Hinkel. Blessed be their memory.]