231029 Sermon for Reformation Day 2023

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

Today we commemorate the Reformation. One of the greatest consequences of the Reformation was that western Christendom was divided. Prior to the Reformation the Christians in Europe were united under the pope and the bishops under him. After the Reformation there continued to be Christians under the pope and the bishops, but there were also other Christians who no longer recognized the legitimacy of the pope and the bishops.

As you might be aware, this division continues to the present day. There continue to be Roman Catholics who are under the pope and the bishops. And then there are also Protestants, Lutherans included, who do not recognize the pope or bishops as having any divine authority over them.

Although the Reformation is a very large topic, and we could spend many hours going through the history and the issues involved, the fact that Christendom was split is a good way to get at what is especially important about the Reformation. Martin Luther’s rejection of the divine authority of the pope and of the bishops is what made him so despised at the time. The pope and the bishops would have been willing to put up with an awful lot, but they would not tolerate a Christendom that was outside of their jurisdiction.

And as I mentioned, Christendom remains divided to this very day. Therefore, at least among traditional Roman Catholics who have an understanding of church history, Martin Luther is the arch villain. Martin Luther broke the power of the pope over the peoples of Europe. Prior to the Reformation the pope was able to keep kings, princes, and other authorities in line by the power of his excommunication. After the Reformation, vast swaths of Europe no longer recognized his legitimacy. He never again had as much power.

And it is not like that was an unmitigated good. A vacuum of sorts was created. What filled that vacuum was the power of kings and princes. The church lost more and more power. Eventually the kings and princes were replaced by other forms of government, but, still, these governments had all the power. And today maybe it’s the corporations and hedge funds who have all the power. What power does the church have? Very little. The churches, regardless of their denomination, are very easily ignored.

So it’s not surprising that people who care about Christianity, who want Christianity to succeed, would trace the church’s seeming impotence in today’s world to Martin Luther. He broke the power of the pope and the bishops. He divided Christendom. He’s the reason why we’re in the mess that we’re in.

But Martin Luther is terribly mischaracterized if it is believed that he was some kind of revolutionary. If anything he was the opposite. He didn’t set out to destroy the power of the pope or the bishops. He was quite content to live under the pope and the bishops. The problem, though, was that he was not content to live under the pope and the bishops no matter what. If the pope and the bishops were siding against Christ and against the truth, then that was the end of Luther’s loyalty.

This was how Luther broke the system that was in place. There was a system for handling disagreements, a chain of command. If a disagreement came up that the local priest couldn’t handle, he could pass it along to the bishop. If the bishop couldn’t handle it, then he pass it along to the pope. The pope usually could handle it, but he did have the option of calling a church council made up of all the bishops. Perhaps the most important part of this system was that whatever was decided by this structure needed to be followed by the people.

And Luther was willing to go along with all of this. Again, he was no revolutionary. But if the end result of this chain of command was something false, then Luther wasn’t willing to deny the truth for the sake of keeping the peace. This is what stirred up all the trouble. Luther wouldn’t give up on what was true.

This is where what we heard in our Gospel reading applies: “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

It’s Jesus’s words that matter—not the church’s word, not the pope’s word, not even any Lutheran pastor’s word. Jesus’s words teach what is true. And it is the truth that sets free. It’s not lies that set free. The truth.

And this is where we can easily find much applicability to us today. This is not just some history lesson so that you can better understand the Reformation or Lutheranism. The burning issue at the time of the Reformation remains the burning issue in our time too: Is the truth going to prevail among us or are we going to be content with lies?

In fact, this has always been the issue since the very beginning, and it will remain the issue until the end. The truth that God spoke to Adam and Eve was replaced with a lie. Adam and Eve preferred the lie to the truth. God, however, was merciful to them and restored them in the truth.

But, as we see in Adam and Eve, it is always hard to come into the truth. When they heard God walking through the garden in the cool of the day they had never been more scared or unhappy. They went and hid in the bushes to try to stay in the lie. It was painful for them to come into the light of God’s judgment. They preferred the lie to the truth.

And at the time of the Reformation, Luther could have avoided all kinds of trouble if he only would have left things be as they were. If he would have left the powerful officials alone, he could have lived out his days in peace and quiet. He would have been on the wrong side. He would have been an enemy of Christ and his truth—siding instead for those in power and for personal advantage. He also wouldn’t have had peace with God. He would have had a guilty conscience, but sins and lies have a way of deadening our conscience so that it eventually doesn’t bother us too much after a while.

So it is also for each one of us. Are we on Jesus’s side or the devil’s side? Are we fighting for the truth or are we content to live peaceably with lies? Being on Jesus’s side is not easy. Jesus tells us that explicitly: “If you wish to be my disciple, then take up your cross and follow me.” That doesn’t sound like a very good deal. If you want to be his disciple, then a cross and suffering are going to be there. Jesus says more about being a disciple in our Gospel reading today too: “If you remain in my word, then you will truly be my disciple, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So it looks like we have a choice before us. We can either embrace the way of lying or we can embrace the way of truth. The way of lying has its advantages. You can be unscrupulous. You can be extremely practical—do whatever works for you. If you’re a good enough liar you can keep doing almost anything you might want to do as nobody will find out about it. And finally, after a long life of wickedness and covering it up, we can hope in one final lie, that there won’t be any judgement at the end of it.

The way of truth is very different. It is uncomfortable. It is awkward. It can be embarrassing. It can mark you as a target for those who don’t want their lies exposed. As Paul says, “We are like sheep being led to slaughter.” Going the way of truth looks like it won’t work. It looks like it’s a bad deal. Jesus himself appeared to be a failure as he was hanging on the cross.

But, on the other hand, there’s nothing like the truth. It’s divine. It sets us free. The truth of Jesus’s words speak of a hope in Christ for a better existence—a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. We don’t have to hide. The truth of forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus means we don’t have to lie. We know Jesus, and he has set us free.

A lot of people have blamed Martin Luther for dividing Christendom, weakening it, allowing other forces to rise up with nobody to keep them in check. These forces certainly are out there living it up, with no fear of God or man. Our churches, in contrast, look weak and miserable. We have so very little clout in the world.

But to dream of something different seems to me like the temptation when Jesus was shown all the kingdoms of the world. He could have them all if only Jesus would bow down and worship Satan. That’s not the way of truth. Salvation comes through the cross.

So we do not need to dream of something different. We are fully equipped for the kingdom of God with the truth of Jesus’s words. But we must use of it. If we reject Jesus’s word, if we reject God’s commandments, if we prefer lies and power to the truth, then we would be doing no good even if we managed to become the biggest church in Fairmont with all the trappings of success. Even if we managed to become as powerful as the medieval popes, it would be for naught, for that is not the way the Church of Christ goes forward.

The church of Christ goes forward by holding to the truth of Christ, come what may. This necessarily means that we take up our cross and follow him. When we abide in Jesus’s word we ourselves will be saved, and we will prove to be a light to others, leading them to Christ as well.

The work goes on. Luther didn’t fix things—come up with some magic formulas—so that there is no work, and he certainly didn’t wreck everything either. The words of Christ, the truth that sets free, must be presented to every individual of every generation. We must be sure that we don’t substitute what is false for what is true just because it is easier or looks like it will work better. The truth is in Jesus.

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

231022 Sermon on Matthew 22:15-22 (Pentecost 21) October 22, 2023

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

For better understanding what is going on in our Gospel reading, it is helpful to know the context. Our reading today is during Holy Week. Jesus entered Jerusalem a couple days before on Palm Sunday. The people hailed him as king. He then went to the Temple, clearing out the money changers, flipping over tables and such. All of this made the leaders in Jerusalem very upset. They had always believed that Jesus was no good. So in the readings for the past few weeks we’ve been hearing about the interaction between Jesus and these leaders in Jerusalem.

Our reading this morning is another of those interactions, but in today’s reading the Jewish leaders are trying to trap Jesus in what he might say.  So they come to him with something of a trick question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

To understand why this is a trick question, we need to know something about the political situation at that time. The Jewish people had not been able to govern themselves for quite some time. They had been ruled over by foreigners for a few hundred years. The latest of the foreign rulers were the Romans, with the Caesar at the head of that government. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to that guy or not?”

I’m not aware of any people who enjoys having foreign rulers over them, and the Jews were no exception. They resented the presumption, arrogance, brutality, and so on of the Romans. They were hoping that they could get their own kingdom back. One of the hopes at the time was that the Messiah, or the Christ, promised in the Old Testament, would come and restore their kingdom. So they’d rather not pay taxes to Caesar. Plus they could add some pretty legitimate sounding excuses. The Caesar was a rank unbeliever. He even styled himself as something of a god. How could tax-payers give their hard-earned money towards something like that?

So that’s one part of what is going on. The Jews didn’t like the Romans or Caesar. The other part of what is going on with Jesus being asked this questions was that it was dangerous for anyone to say that they didn’t like the Romans or Caesar. If someone had rebellious thoughts, and the Romans found out about it, they wouldn’t think twice about killing especially non-citizens like most of the Jews. I think this is what Jesus’s opponents were hoping would happen. I think they were hoping he would say that we should throw off the Roman yoke and start building a better world. And if Jesus’s opponents heard something like that, the first thing they would have done was to run to Pontius Pilate. They’d turn Jesus in and all their problems would go away.

But Jesus disappoints them. Instead of saying “Throw off the Roman yoke,” he says, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God.” So Jesus avoided their trap.

Now let’s think about what Jesus’s answer means. There are two parts to his answer: “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God.” We’ll take them in turns. With the first part of Jesus’s response there seems—to me, at least—to be something of a dismissal of the whole issue. The saying, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar,” strikes me as being something like, “Let sleeping dogs lie,” or “That’s all a tempest in a teapot.” Not much to see.

To respond in such a manner is unexpected, to say the least. Maybe it would be along the lines of someone saying, “It doesn’t matter if Biden or Trump is president,” when we all know that nothing could be more important than who is president. Right? We have about a dozen cable news channels that are dedicated to nothing else than covering every last whisper and wink that comes out of Washington. Jesus just says, “Leave Caesar alone. Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar.”

Perhaps what Jesus’s response identifies is a false god that we easily end up fearing, loving, and trusting in. There’s no denying that those in government have power, and so we easily believe that if only we were able to get these things straight—if only we could get our guys or our party in there—then we’ll be happy. Every four years, every two years, we hear the same things over and over again. Vote for this guy and then you’ll be happy. Or, conversely, God forbid the other guy should be elected otherwise the world will fall apart. Our fear, love, and trust belong with the true God instead of in anything else. To fear, love, and trust in those who have power in earthly affairs is just as much idolatry as if we were bowing down and worshiping some statue.

In order for you to see how idolatry can be present with our thoughts about government, let me speak briefly about another kind of idolatry, the idolatry of money. Very similar things are said about money as are said about the government. “If only I have money, then I’ll be happy.” Or, conversely, “if I should happen to lose any money, then gloom, despair, and agony on me.”

Now I have to admit that there’s something going on with these things we idolize. For example, does it feel good to come into some money? You bet it does. Does it hurt to lose money? Yes indeed. So also with the government. There are good governments and bad governments. We’d all like to have a good government. Does it feel good to have your guy win on election night? You bet it does. But even though we can get some pleasure and satisfaction through these things, they are not very good gods. They don’t really deliver the happiness or blessedness that they are always promising.

So do not put your faith in this person or party being elected or not elected. A lot of people at Jesus’s time believed that if they could only get rid of that awful Caesar, then happy days would return again. Whether Caesars exist or don’t exist is not what will do the trick. What is needed is a new creation. The things of God are what is needed. We need to be born again of water and the Spirit. We need to enter into a new relationship with God where there is true righteousness, justice, peace, and so on—much purer and profounder than any earthly ruler could ever accomplish under even the best of circumstances.

So do not obsess over who is in power or not in power. God still exists in heaven above regardless of who is in power. Make it your aim, instead, to please God.

This is one thought that I believe Jesus is expressing when he says, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar.” Leave him be. Another thing he is saying is actually the answer to their question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus says, basically, “It is.” Pay the things that belong to Caesar to Caesar. Paul says the same thing in Romans 13: “Pay taxes to whom you owe taxes.” Why? Because government is a gift from God. They need to be supported in the work that God has given them to do.

Now I can understand why it might not seem as though government is a gift from God. There is always waste, corruption, nonsense, if not even worse things. It can seem as though government is not a gift of God at all. But just because something that is good can be abused, doesn’t destroy what is supposed to be good. Admittedly, the government does not always do what is right. Governments never have! They’ve all been run by poor, miserable sinners. But there is a lot of goodness that God accomplishes through his gift of government that is easily overlooked.

Consider how good it is that we can pick up the phone and call 911, and we don’t have to wonder about whether help is on the way. God’s gift of government defends us and protects us. God’s gift of government also prevents all kinds of evils and mischief. Because of the fact that we have laws, police, judges, prisons, and so forth, those who want to do evil have to think twice before harming their neighbor. They don’t want to get caught. They don’t want to get punished. In this way God keeps the lid on all kinds of evil that otherwise would boil over. God’s gift of government, even if it be ever-so-imperfect, allows us to live quiet and peaceable lives.

So with Jesus’s words, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar,” Jesus is indicating that government has a God-given role to play. Taxes should be paid to whom taxes are owed, because God works through those who are in government to maintain peace and prosperity. However, we should keep our distance when it comes to our heart. Don’t give your heart or your soul to anyone or anything but God alone.

Which brings us to the second part of Jesus’s response: “Give God’s things to God.” What are the things of God? What we must think of first and foremost when it comes to the “things of God” is God’s Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus did the things of God.

And what did Jesus do? Jesus became Lord over everything that afflicts us the worst. We might think that government or money could fix our problems—and maybe they could fix some of them—but these things cannot even come close to addressing our worst and most pressing needs. What makes us saddest and most miserable is our poor spiritual condition—our coveting, greed, anger, hatred, lust, meanness, fear, self-loathing, and so on. We could sum all these things up with the word, “Sin.” And Sin would like to rule us like a tyrant both now in this life, and eternally in the life to come. Jesus defeats sin. Sin is not Lord. Jesus is Lord.

And Jesus defeats the gloomy grave. Death and decay in all around I see. Wave after wave of people go away and there seems to be no stopping it. But death must let go despite its terrible, seemingly invincible, grip. We shall rise as Jesus has arisen.

The glory of these things is so magnificent! Jesus gets to the root and source. There is so much talk of happiness: “I would be happy if only I …” and you fill in the blank. Happiness is so much higher and holier of a thing than people imagine. There’s no way government, or money, or any other earthly thing can truly bring about happiness. Happiness is tied up with God.

So, as Jesus says, “Give to God’s things to God.” The way we give God’s things to God is by believing him. Believe what God has done in his Son whom he sent, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Believe that Jesus is Lord and God. Faith, simply believing God, is the highest worship. There is no substitute for faith. Either we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord—in him is my happiness. Or you will be looking somewhere else for your happiness. Lots of things seem like they should do the trick. None of them, ultimately, can, except the things of God.

Jesus’s message is therefore remarkably applicable to us today. The Jews at Jesus’s time were lost in the same kinds of things we get lost in—political intrigues, lying, meanness, and so on. A lot of the Jews believed that if only they could attain some change in the government, then we’d have our happy days. But there is finally only one way to happiness, and that is in our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us.

231001 Sermon on how outward appearances are not enough (Pentecost 18) October 1, 2023

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!”

In our Gospel reading the chief priest and elders are upset about Jesus. The chief priests and elders had never liked Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a part of their club. He wasn’t from Jerusalem. He didn’t go to the right schools. He wasn’t from the right families.

What’s more is that he also appeared to them to be a dangerous heretic. He healed people on the Sabbath, for example. That’s work, is it not? That’s forbidden. And his disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate. Every self-respecting Jew had been washing his hands a certain way from time immemorial! And here these cheeky disciples were flaunting the traditions of their people.

So the chief priest and elders already didn’t like Jesus, but what had been going on lately was over the top. The day before our reading took place was Palm Sunday. Jesus entered Jerusalem amid shouts of joy: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Jesus is the King like King David! Hosanna, which means, save us we pray!” The people were joyously saying stuff like that, and it made these people sick. Jesus was a heretic! Jesus was no good! All their best theologians had said so.

But then Jesus did something more. He entered into their home turf. He entered the Temple. When he saw what was going on, it made him angry. Buying here. Selling there. And so Jesus kicked them all out. They had set up tables with pigeons, cash registers and such, and Jesus grabbed hold of their tables and flipped them over. Money and pigeons went flying everywhere. Jesus quoted Scripture to them: “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer.’ You have made it a den of robbers!”

Our Gospel reading today is from the day after Jesus did these things. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the chief priests and elders should go up to him and say, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” They wanted to know: had Jesus been authorized to raise havoc? They, of course, believed that they already knew the answer. Of course he didn’t have the authority, because they were the higher ups, and they certainly had not given him any such authority!

But Jesus surprises them by not immediately answering their question. He asks them a question. If they’ll answer his question, then he’ll answer theirs. Jesus asks, “John’s baptism: where did it come from? Was it from God or from man?” You heard how the chief priests and elders discussed how they should answer. If they said that the baptism was from God, then Jesus will ask why they didn’t get baptized? But if they said that John’s baptism was merely human they knew the people wouldn’t stand for it. The people were sure that John the Baptist was a prophet. So they said, “We don’t know.” And neither did Jesus tell them by what authority he did what he did.

Now let’s look a little more closely at what the chief priests and elders were doing. Notice how the chief priests and elders were dishonest right from the start. Already with the first question that they ask Jesus, they weren’t looking for an honest answer. It’s more an accusation in the form of a question: “By what authority do you do these things?” They don’t want to know what authority he has. They already know that he has no authority—at least so far as they’re concerned.

Then, when Jesus asks them his question, Jesus subtly points them towards the truth. Jesus brings up God—something that wasn’t even on the chief priests’ and elders’ radar. Jesus would have them consider: Might it be that John the Baptist was sent from God? Might it be that if John the Baptist was sent from God, then Jesus, also, was sent from God? Might it be that his authority comes from God?

This subtle suggestion is lost on them, however. It was like seed being sown on a beaten path. They didn’t think about God. They only thought of how they hadn’t liked John the Baptist either. He too wasn’t part of their club. He too said stuff and did stuff that annoyed them. No, of course John’s baptism wasn’t from God, but they dare not say that out loud. The idiotic people regarded John to be a prophet.

So notice what these church leaders are doing, or, rather, not doing. They aren’t interested in what is true. They don’t lay their cards on the table. They operate in a calculated and artificial way. Their thoughts are not on God, their thoughts are only on how their words and actions are going to affect themselves negatively or positively. Since they do not care about God or about what is true the meat and substance of what they are supposed to be about as members and leaders of the church has been lost. They are only dealing with the husks, the outward appearances of faith.

This was the very thing that Jesus reacted against so violently the day before. When he came into the temple and saw what was going on he saw that it was mechanical and empty. There was certainly a lot of hustle and bustle, but nothing of substance, nothing of faith. People were coming and going. They put in their offerings. Week after week, rinse and repeat. Jesus looks upon their bored faces and exclaims: “This house is to be a house of prayer!” That means that people are supposed to care, to think, to wrestle and to call upon God. Wrestling with God was not on the table. The husks were. The meat and the substance was gone.

That’s a good way to understand the contrast between the chief priests and elders on the one hand and John the Baptist and Jesus on the other. John the Baptist and Jesus called out for the meat and the substance. The Gospels summarize the preach of both as being the same. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of God draws near!”

That is a clear message. The king is coming. God is coming. That is a simple message that affects every last one of us. God can come suddenly and unexpectedly. Any one of us could die today or tomorrow and that is when we will meet our maker. That is the kingdom of God drawing near for us personally. Or today or tomorrow could be the end of this age when Christ will come with his angels in power and glory to judge the living and the dead.

In light of the kingdom of God drawing near both John and Jesus say the same thing: “Repent!” Change your ways! Let the sinner sin no longer. Paul says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor partiers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God!” There’s that word: “kingdom of God.” “Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now I know that you’ve done such things. I’ve done such things, I’m sorry to say. John the Baptist and Jesus say, “Repent!” “Stop it!” To which we might very well say, “I don’t want to.” That might very well be the truth! After all, why have we done these things to begin with? Nobody held a gun to our head and said, “Be sexually immoral or else!” “Be greedy or else!” We did these things because we wanted to do. It might be against our will to stop.

I’ll give you another example: Your dad comes to you, as dads tend to do, and tells you, “Go outside and work!” I’ve never met the kid who unfailingly responds: “Hurray! I get to go and work!” More often than not we say, inwardly at least, “I don’t want to.”

Jesus gave the chief priests and elders a parable along these lines. He said, “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but afterward he repented and went. And the father went to the other son and said the same. He answered, ‘Yes sir. I will go,’ but he never did. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John the Baptist came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.”

It is not surprising that someone doesn’t want to go work. Likewise, it is not surprising that anyone who likes to sin would want to stop. The tax collectors and prostitutes were the open sinners. They brazenly said: “We don’t want to,” but later they changed their mind. They repented.

The other son, on the other hand, looked better. He looked more pious. He said, “Yes sir!” when his father told him to do something he didn’t want to do. Although he looked different as far as outward appearances and words was concerned, inwardly he was just like his brother. He had the same heart.

But, as it turned out, he ended up being worse. He had looked better, he had said the right words, but he was worse because he did not repent. Even when his brother, who had said the wrong words, nevertheless went out and worked, he still didn’t repent and go and work. He was content to have merely said the right words and to have had the right appearance.

This is a special danger for regular churchgoers like us. We can be content with appearances. We have our church machinery that runs here week in and week out. It is quite easy for us to believe that being minimally involved in that machinery is more than enough. We don’t need to repent, unless we should happen to want to.

But to this we must say, “No!” The kingdom of God draws near. Husks and outward appearances are not enough. We might fool our fellow human beings with such things, but there’s no fooling God. God’s kingdom is coming. The king is coming. How will you welcome him? See to it that you are not ashamed! Welcome him with joy!

It is not like we need to be afraid of the real substance, the reigning and ruling of God. God’s kingdom is good! Jesus is gracious and merciful. The people who greeted him on Palm Sunday were full of joy at the prospect of Jesus being their king. When Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead, they didn’t go running in terror from him. They were glad when they saw the Lord, even though they knew that they had done much that needed forgiveness.

God’s kingdom is like our opening hymn:

As surely as I live God said,

I would not see the sinner dead.

I want him turned from error’s ways

Repentant, living endless days.

The Lord bless your communion with him today. May this house be a house of prayer! Amen.