Tenant or Son? - October 4, 2026 - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) - Text: Matthew 21:33-46

I want first to remind you that the events of Jesus’ life are not random, haphazard events, but are events which happened for a purpose. Through the events of Jesus’ life as given to us through the accounts of the Gospels we have a better understanding of Jesus, who He is and what is His mission. So, this morning, the mission continues. Our text for this morning comes after Jesus has ridden triumphantly into Jerusalem, that is after what we call Palm Sunday. The crowds cheered. They threw down their coats or palm branches, or whatever they had available, as a “red” carpet. So, Jesus was seen to be very popular, especially by those trying to kill Him, which upset them. He then proceeded to cleanse the temple, casting out the money changers and making the statement that the temple was His Father’s house and was to be a house of prayer, not a “den of robbers.” Then comes that thing, that account about the fig tree, which we do not know what to do with, so we skip past it. If you want to talk about it in Bible Class, we can do that. Anyway, next, as we read at the beginning of our Gospel reading for last week, Jesus is questioned as to His authority, which He does not answer, but instead directs their attention to the authority of John the Baptist. And last week we also heard as Jesus told the parable of the two sons to get across the idea of who is a part of God’s Kingdom. Finally, this week and the parable following this parable, next week’s Gospel reading, the parable of the Wedding Banquet, are more “accusations” against the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. I know that is a lot and tha is why we need to be in Divine Service every Sunday, so we do nto miss out. So, let us look at our text for today.
 

If you listened really close to the Old Testament reading and to the Gospel reading you may have noticed that they sounded a lot alike. God, through the prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus here in the New Testament, uses the imagery of the vineyard and the vineyard owner to help the people understand the relationship of God to His people. We are told that the landowner planted a vineyard and built a wall around it. This wall is the wall of the Law. The children of Israel were different from all the other nations and peoples around them. They had a God who was a personal God, who cared for them, who was personally involved with them and their lives. Their God was one who gave them the Ten Commandments, a set of Laws to help them to be better people in this world. Actually, God gave them three types of law, the civil law, or what we might call the law of government; the moral law, which is the Ten Commandments; and the ceremonial law, which were the laws governing sacrifices and temple worship. And which pointed to Jesus. Now to those who today would suggest that we are no longer under the Old Testament laws, that statement is only partially true. We are no longer under the ceremonial law, but we continue to live under the moral law of the Ten Commandments and in this country we continue to be under the civil law which protects us as citizens in this country.
 

Now, as we look at this parable I would ask that you put yourselves in the shoes of the children of Israel, which is right to do, especially as we understand that the Children of Israel were Old Testament Christians, people saved by faith in the promised Christ, promised back in the Garden of Eden, just as we are New Testament Christians, saved by faith in the Christ, namely Jesus who is our Savior. If you want to put yourselves in the shoes of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, that is up to you, but at least put yourself in the shoes of the Children of Israel. Today we can see ourselves as being set apart. As Christians we are different from the people of the rest of the world. We are different from the people around us. Or at least we should be. The comments of the media and our society in general remind us of our differences. Above all is the difference that we have the Word of God. We have God’s Word which is our handbook and our guide to life. Like the Children of Israel, we are different. And please understand that the reason God gives us His Word, His Law and His Gospel is because we need it. Just as children need rules to set boundaries, and let me tell you that although they may test those boundaries, they are glad they are there, because those boundaries make them feel safe. In much the same way, we like God’s Word which sets boundaries for us which make us feel safe. And it gives us the comfort of knowing our sins are forgiven when we trespass those boundaries.
 

Getting back to our text, we are told that the landowner even went so far as to put a vine-press in his vineyard. A vine-press is what is used only after the fruit is ripe and harvested. If there is no fruit, the vine-press is useless. In other words, the landowner is expecting that there will be a harvest of fruit. God, speaking through the prophets, expected that the Children of Israel would be different than those around them. He expected that they would bear the fruit of faith, that they would show themselves to be different. What about us? God expects fruits from us as well. He gives us His Word. He gives us His Holy Spirit. He works through the Word to give us faith, forgiveness and life and He expects that we will show forth the faith that is in our hearts. It is kind of like that old “campfire” song, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love. They will know we are Christians because we are different.
 

And to insure that there is a crop, the landowner builds a watchtower over his vineyard. The wall and the watchtower are ways of protecting the vineyard from stray animals that might trample over it as well as from stray people who might try to come in and rob the vineyard. The watchtower was often manned by the prophets and priests of the Children of Israel. They watched over the people, bringing God’s words of justice and judgement as well as His words of grace and mercy. In the same way God watches over us. He gives us His Word, the Bible, as well as Pastors to instruct us in the ways in which He would have us to go. He gives us His sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He gives us confession and absolution. Through these means He gives us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He gave His Son and the life of His Son so that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
 

Notice that there is no statement on production, on how much fruit was raised, rather there is simply the statement of the coming to collect the rent. God did expect a harvest. He did expect His people, the Children of Israel to be different and to live differently than those around them, instead of blending in and being like the idol worshipers who were there. Likewise, God expects fruits from us. He expects us to be different. He expects that we act differently, that we speak differently, that we stand out and be different in this world.
 

When it was harvest time, the landowner sent his servants to collect the rent. Unfortunately, the servants who went to collect the rent were killed. This act is the killing of the prophets and priests of old. As I have said before, if you do not like what is being said, kill the messenger. At least we are a little more refined in our “killing the servants” today. If you do not like what the Bible says, either rewrite the Bible, or discount it as not being applicable to today. Sure, the Bible tells us the world was created in six literal days. Sure, the Bible tells us of the first man and the first woman and their fall into sin which corrupted the rest of the world. Sure, the Bible says we should not kill, even the unborn. Sure, the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin. Sure, the Bible says that women should not be pastors. Sure, the Bible tells us that there is only one way to heaven and that is through faith in Jesus, alone. Sure, the Bible says that the Lord’s Supper is His meal and should be administered with special care. Sure, the Bible says a lot of politically incorrect things. But what do we do. If we do not like what the Bible says, we change it or discount it as being not applicable or we call it a cultural thing and ignore it. Perhaps we try to fit the culture of today into the Bible and give it a new interpretation. In these ways we continue to kill the servants even today.
 

Ultimately the vineyard owner sent his son and the renters killed him as well. Of course, we know the rest of this story. We know that the vineyard owner is the Lord. We know that the Son is Jesus Himself. We know that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law plotted and brought about the killing of the Son of God. But, lest we put all the blame on them, we might remind ourselves that we too are involved in the death of the Son of God. We are conceived and born in sin and we daily add to that sin through our own sins of thought, word and deed, as we confessed at that beginning of this service. The renters in the parable are judged by the members of the Sanhedrin to eternal judgement and in their judgement they had judged themselves. Thanks be to God that there is a difference for us and that difference is what we just said, that we do confess our sins and are given God’s forgiveness earned for us by the death of His Son.
 

Yes, very often in life we are just as guilty as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. We are even guilty as the Children of Israel for their lack of faith. But again, thanks be to God that He has given His Son and the life of His Son for our forgiveness.
 

Jesus continues by telling us the words of Holy Scripture. “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.” The rejected stone, the killed Son is be the foundation on which the Church is built. Our hope and our faith is built on the crucified Son, because He did not stay dead, but He rose from the dead. Death and the grave have no hold on Him. But, how do we reject the Son, You ask? We reject Him every time we try to rely on ourselves for salvation. Every time we think we are good enough by ourselves to get to heaven. Every time we think that we have not sinned enough to earn hell. This thinking more highly of ourselves is how we reject the Son.
 

Salvation is for all who believe. Salvation is for us. It is ours and although it is ours without a cost to us, it is not without a cost to Christ. Our salvation cost the life of the Son, God’s Son. Because of His great love for us, He freely gave His life that we might have life.
 

I suppose that if Jesus told this parable today He might remind us of all that God has done for us. He might remind us of the fact that we live in a very wealthy country and that we have all that we need as well as more than we need. Very often we have all that we want as well. He might remind us that we have the freedom, not from worship or from religion as seems to be the case in our country, but we have freedom to worship as we wish. He might also remind us that He has given us the means of grace through which He has given us faith and forgiveness of sins and through which He comes to strengthen us in our faith. Through these means of grace He will also remind us of the gift of His Son and the life of His Son, the shedding of Jesus’ blood for our sins. And finally, He may remind us that He expects fruits of faith from us as well. He did not give us faith and salvation for nothing, but so that we might do the good works which He has prepared beforehand for us to do even today. And finally, He might remind us that He also stirs in our hearts and gives us the ability to do the good works which He would have us to do, to the praise and glory of His Holy Name. Yes, He would also point us to Jesus, just Jesus. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. 

The Correlation Between Doctrine and Practice

Truisms
    “Practice what you preach.” In other words, you should do, live you life according to what you preach, believe.
    “If you’re going to talk the talk then you better walk the walk.” In other words, your talking is what you believe (your doctrine) and your walking is you practice.
    “The medium is the message.” The form of the message (its practice) forms the message (the belief, doctrine).

Definitions
Worship: 1. (verb) the act of showing profound respect, honor, and devotion to a deity, sacred power, or object of supreme worth. 2. (Noun) a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual.

Worship Service: (noun) God is the audience; we are the actors. We put on a show for God.

Divine Service: God is the one acting, doing.  We are the ones being given to and done to.

Two Parts of Divine Service: 1.) Sacramental (Passive): God gives through the called and ordained pastor; 2.) Sacrificial (Active): We respond. The Laity offers Creeds, Hymns, Prayers, Firstfruits, Tithes, Offerings.

Contemporary: belonging to or occurring in the present.

Traditional: following or belonging to long-established customs, beliefs, or ways of doing things that are passed down from generation to generation.

Theology of Glory: A theology of glory is a human-centered approach to faith that measures God’s favor through visible success, power, wealth, and moral achievement rather than through suffering.

Theology of the Cross: A theology of the cross states that God is truly known only through the suffering, weakness, and shame of Christ on the cross, rather than through human power, success, or rational speculation.

Contemporary Worship seeks to be contextual, that is it seeks to share the Gospel in the context of the people present. This context is equated with their target audience, that is the group or culture they are trying to reach. This attempt to be contextual and reach a target audience does two things. First, it fails God’s desire to reach all nations (Matt. 28:19) and second, it denies the power and efficacy of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. This type of worship flows from a teaching of a Theology of Glory and teaches a type of works righteousness and need and ability of people to offer works to God. See more below.
    Divine Service flows from an understanding that God’s Word is for all nations and further, that God’s Word fits all contexts. It also places its confidence in the power and efficacy of God’s Word, that is God’s Word has the power to do that of which is speaks, giving the gifts it offers. This type of worship begins with and moves from God (as the Author and Perfector of our faith) to people and flows from a Theology of the Cross.
 

While many people may attempt to separate doctrine, what one believes, from their practice, how one lives what one believes, these two parties cannot be separated because if you change one you inevitably change the other and visa versa. This understanding is especially true and important when it comes to worship or Divine Service as previously defined.
 

The practice of worship on Sunday morning flows out of a Theology of Glory. Herb Keistman best describes this Theology of Glory in “The Way of the Cross” (p. 76), taking about Thesis 18 of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, “We will also see in this chapter the Old Adam’s presumptuous attitude in his Theology of Glory, that he thinks he has the right to approach the Almighty God on his own. In fact, the adjective ‘presumptuous’ well describes the Theologian of Glory. As Forde points out, the Theologian of Glory presumes to be able to impress God with his works, or at the very least with the will to please Him, and even presumes the ability to analyze and study God and His ways.” How else can we best describe this worship of us to God than our presumptuous attitude of pleasing Him. Thus, we see that worship as previously defined shows its practice of this Theology of Glory and the mistaken belief that God needs something from us and that we have something we can offer God, besides our sins.
 

The audacity and presumptuous attitude that we actually have something good to offer to God is squelched when Isaiah reminds us, (64:6): “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” The word for polluted is iddah: [עִדָּה] n.f. menstruation (prop. time, period); pl. abs. בֶּגֶד עִדִּים i.e. stained garment (fig. of best deeds of guilty people; || טָמֵא). So, we might blatantly say that contemporary Theology of Glory worship brings presumptuous people bringing their menstrual rags of good works to present to God in order to please Him.
 

This practice of worship flowing from man to God requires something from the participants, that is their involvement in the service in one form or another. The clergy are there simply as prompters for the laity and their offering to God.
 

The Lutheran practice of Divine Service on Sunday morning flows from a Theology of the Cross. We sinners come before God with nothing to offer except our sins and so we come seeking God to pour out on us His righteous gifts and favor. The Divine Service is just that, Divine, from God to man, not from man to God. In the Divine Service the called and ordained pastor is there in the stead and by the command of God to deliver the gifts of God to the people of God. The laity are their to be given the gifts of God and respond simply with their prayers, first-fruit tithes, and hymns. The Divine Service is not an evangelistic outreach opportunity but the time and place for Christians in the Holy Christian Church to be renewed and strengthened in order to go out into the mission field, the world and face the week ahead.
 

Thus, we might understand that in the Divine Service flowing from a Theology of the Cross, sinful human beings humbly bring their sins before God and graciously are given His forgiveness and strengthening of faith.

Doing the Father’s Will - September 27, 2026 - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21) - Text: Matthew 21:23-27 (28-32)

Last week in our Gospel reading we were reminded by Jesus Himself that He came to save all people, of all places, and especially at all times, even up to the point of death. What follows our reading from the Gospel last week and the events that come before our reading this week are the following: Jesus again predicts His suffering and death and immediately after Salome, the mother of James and John, requests that her sons be allowed to sit at Jesus left and right in His kingdom, in other words, she is seeking places of honor for her sons. Jesus then heals two blind men on his way Jerusalem. Continuing on His way to Jerusalem, at Bethphage, Jesus arranges for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and after His triumphal entry He cleanses the temple, throwing out the money changers. Now, in the first part of our text for this morning we have Jesus’ authority being questioned and His response that He will reveal from where He gets His authority if the Pharisees and teacher of the Law will tell from whom they believe John the Baptist got his authority. I know that is a long way to go to get to the second part of our text for this morning and the part on which I would like to focus our attention, but I believe these events are not random events, but that they fit together to help us get a better understanding of what is happening.
 

All during His time of public ministry Jesus has had to deal with the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. The second half of our text, where I want to focus our attention this morning is the parable of the two sons, and Jesus tells this parable right after His authority is questioned. I believe it is significant that this parable comes at this point because of the fact that the Pharisees would not answer Jesus’ question concerning John’s authority, because they did not want to admit that Jesus’ authority might be from the same place as John’s authority that is from God. If John and Jesus had the same authority, if their authority came from the same place, from God, then that would mean that they, the Pharisees, would be left without authority and that did not fit their paradigm of life.
 

In this parable Jesus begins by asking the question of the Sanhedrin, picking up at verse twenty-eight, “28‘What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29And he answered, “I will not,” but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, “I go, sir,” but did not go. 31Which 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. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him’” (v. 28-32).
 

Jesus begins by asking their objective opinion. What do they think? He gives two different scenarios. In the first scenario we have the father asking his son to go and work and his son rudely answers that he will not go, but later he repents and does go. Is this son doing what his father asked? In the second scenario we have the father asking his other son to go and work and his other son kindly answers that he will, but he does not go. Is this son doing what his father asked?
 

Again, the question Jesus asked is, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” Notice that the father wanted the same thing of both his sons. He wanted both of his sons to go out and work in his vineyard. Which son did what his father wanted? The answer given by the Sanhedrin is that the first one did what his father asked. Now, before we go on to Jesus explanation, I would ask you to think about this question, which son are we?
 

Jesus’ answer to the Sanhedrin is, “‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him’” (v. 31b-32).
 

The objective answer is that the first son, even though he refused at first to go and work, did do what his father asked, because he repented and went out to work. The subjective application of this parable is that those who are considered to be the outcasts of the Jewish society, mostly by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and those who repent will be included in the kingdom of heaven. They are the ones who appear to refuse at first and yet repent and believe in the end. Those who refuse to repent, because they believe they are doing the “father’s” will and are not, namely the Pharisees and teachers of the law will miss out. A mere head and mouth Christianity is really no Christianity at all. To confess Christ with your lips and yet to refuse Him with your heart is actually denying Christ.
 

God the Father’s will is that we all believe and respond living lives of faith. His will is that we say what we mean and we mean what we say. We come across this scenario constantly in our world today. When I speak with someone who has decided to absent themselves from divine service, at times I get the “right” answer. “Yes, pastor, I know I have not been in church lately. I have every good intention to go. I promise I will be there next week.” And then they fail to show up. How often do we volunteer to help serve on a board or a committee, or to serve in some other way and then fail to do what we have said we will do. Unfortunately, if we do this turn about often enough then people will begin to know us as a person who does not keep our word. I believe there is a saying that goes something like, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
 

God calls all people to Himself. His will is that all people are saved. He keeps His Word. He kept His word in that He sent His only Son Jesus to give His life for all people. He kept His Word because His Son gave His life for ours, so that we might have forgiveness of sins, so that we might have eternal life. There are some who do not have a part in God’s kingdom and it is not because it is someone else’s fault or even God’s fault, rather it is because they refuse and reject the gifts God gives, only paying lip service to Him. Have you ever thought about how your excuse for missing divine service sounds before God?
 

“Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” And just because someone goes to church does not necessarily mean they will go to heaven either. Being religious does not save a person. It does matter, not only that you have faith, but in whom you have faith. The object of faith is important. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were a very religious bunch. They did a lot of religious things. They said, “yes, father we will work in your vineyard,” and yet, their hearts were far from the Lord. They did not go and work instead they did their own thing. Their faith really was a faith in themselves, not in God. They had become their own gods.
 

The “tax collectors and prostitutes,” on the other hand were not very religious. Why should they be religious? They were chased out of the temple as being unworthy. They felt and believed themselves to be shunned and looked down upon, even judged by the likes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They said, “no, father we will not go and work in your vineyard.” Yet, they repented of their sins. They believed in Jesus. He was the object of their faith and the reason for their repentance and Jesus says, they will enter the kingdom of heaven ahead of the religious leaders.
 

Jesus continues to remind these religious leaders that they had a chance. They saw John the Baptist, the one about whom they were not sure from where he received authority and yet they did not believe and repent.
 

Again, the question, “who are we in the parable?” Are we the son who says that we will go and work? Do we say that church is a priority, that our faith in Jesus is the number one priority in our lives and yet, live otherwise, letting the things of this world get in the way of our regular divine service and Bible Class attendance? Do we wear the name Christian, and act like a Christian, yet have our hearts far from the Lord? Do we tell others we are members of a church, but fail to attend? Do we make excuses and blame others for our lack of attendance?  Do we say “Yes Lord,” with our lips, but live “No Lord,” with our actions?
 

Or are we the son who, at first seems rather rebellious, saying “no” we will not go and work and then repent and do what is asked? Do we quietly live our faith and show through our lives, our actions and our words that our faith in Jesus is what is most important to us? Do we strive, with God’s help, to live lives of faith, attending divine service and Bible Class as often as we can, not making a big deal about it, but simply living our faith?
 

The Old Testament reading for this morning reminds us that we will be held accountable for ourselves, if we do not repent or if we do repent and God’s desire is that we do repent. In the Epistle reading Paul reminds us from where our forgiveness comes, it comes from Jesus “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
 

Forgiveness is ours. Jesus came to pay the price for sin, for all sin, for your sin and my sin, for the sins of all people, of all places, of all times. Jesus even paid the price for those sins we have yet to commit, those sins we will commit as soon as we walk out those doors. Yes, Jesus forgives our sins even when we act like the second son, even when we fail to live according to our faith. All sin, all our sins, the price for all our sins has already been completely paid, not that this fact gives us a license to sin, but gives us the motivation to repent. Our only option is that we might refuse and reject the forgiveness He has earned and paid for and we do that, we reject forgiveness when we fail to repent and confess our sins, when we refuse and reject the gifts He gives through the means of grace He gives especially in divine service. To fail to repent is to reject Jesus’ forgiveness, which has already been paid for and given to us. Yet, as the Holy Spirit works in us and comes to us through the very means He has given to come to us, namely as we have been given this morning, through our remembrance of our baptism, through confession and absolution, through His Holy Word, and in a little bit through His body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine in His Holy Supper, through these very means the Holy Spirit works in us to be given all the gifts and blessings our Lord has purchase and won for us, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
 

Last week Jesus reminded us that salvation is a free gift, neither earned, nor deserved, but certainly a gift we might refuse by thinking we have somehow earned or deserved it, or are somehow entitled to it. This week Jesus continues to remind us that salvation is a heart issue which shows forth in our lives through our thoughts, words and actions. Thus, we are once again pointed to Jesus, just Jesus. Jesus has earned forgiveness and through the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace He gives forgiveness, faith and eternal life. Our only response to the gifts God gives is gift refusal, or rejoicing in the gifts He gives. My prayer is that as the Lord calls, He will stir in our hearts to answer, “here am I, send me, send me,” and then also stir in our hearts to do the work that He gives us to do. Finally, may the Lord also stirs in our hearts to do His work to the praise and glory of His holy name. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Be Ready to Give an Answer - September 20, 2026 - Mission Sunday - Texts: Ephesians 2:8-10, Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15, Matthew 10:17-19

Thank you for inviting me to be your mission speaker and to represent Lutheran Heritage Foundation. This morning I want to encourage you in your mission efforts and yet, I do not only mean foreign mission efforts, but your mission efforts right here in this place. Some would suggest that means evangelism and yes, mission is evangelism and evangelism is mission. My own journey and interest in evangelism began in college and continues with my work with Lutheran Heritage Foundation and my own Lutheran Vocational Evangelism Witness Workshops. The work of Lutheran Heritage Foundation in translating Lutheran Christian materials into other languages makes it possible to evangelize and do mission work around the world and here at home.
 

We all like to quote Ephesians two eight through nine touting our salvation by faith apart from good works, but too often we fail in going on to verse ten, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Indeed, God has created us to love us and He has redeemed so that we may do the good works which He has created for us to do, even though we continually do them imperfectly and those good works include living our lives as priests in the priesthood of all believers, serving God by our service to others and especially always being ready to give an answer for the hope we have in our salvation in Jesus.
 

Most mission sermons begin with dragging out the old Great Commission as we have been told to call it. I am here to help you understand that Jesus’ Words are not really a great co-mission. Let me remind you what Jesus actually said. What He said is translated as, “19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)). Now before we look at these words, let us back up three verses and begin at verse sixteen, “16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:16-19). I find it interesting that we are told that these faithful disciples of Jesus, these eleven who have been with Him for three years watching and witnessing healings, miracles, demons cast out, crowds fed, and water changed into wine, these faithful eleven still have doubts. That fact alone makes me feel pretty good when I struggle as well. Anyway, Jesus tells them that He has all authority and I would suggest He is implying that He is giving this authority to His disciples and even to us today. So, when someone asks, “Who gives you the right to talk about God?” we can answer, “Jesus does.” So, first of all this passage is a passage of the giving of authority.
 

Second, Jesus’ words are not an imperative. His words are an aorist, passive. It is not a command. In other words He is not saying “Go!” He is saying, “As you are going.” His words indicate a natural event. As you are going, as you are living your life; as you are living in your various vocations; He says make disciples or better said, make people excited about hearing the Gospel, the good news. And how do we make disciples? He gives the answer as by baptizing and teaching. And at the end, not only are we given Jesus authority, we are given His great promise, “I am with you always.”
 

So, back to this authority and our mission. Before His ascension Jesus tells His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 (ESV)). Here again Jesus gives His authority and He tells us of our mission field. For the disciples it began in Jerusalem because that is where they were. For us today it is here in Manheim, Lee county, in Texas, in the United States of America and to the ends of the earth.
 

So, how does this natural approach to evangelism work? I call it vocational because our mission, our good works, our evangelism begins in our daily lives with people with whom we have contact on a daily basis. Peter instructs us in our vocations as he tells us, “but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)). Peter encourages us to always be ready to give a defense. The word he uses is an apology. Not only are we to be ready to speak of what we believe, but why we believe. I believe this ability to speak of why we believe what we believe may be some of our downfall today. I believe we do need more education in this apologetics. Anyway, we are encouraged to make a defense of our faith which is usually our natural reaction. It is natural or should be natural to defend Christ who puts Himself in our hearts. And we should be ready any time and anywhere.
 

Now, to answer the question of what to say? How are we to prepare to always be ready to give an answer for our faith and hope. Let me begin by easing your mind a bit. Jesus tells us, “17Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (Matthew 10:17-19 (ESV)). Did you notice another promise from God. When the time comes what you are to say will be given to you.
 

Okay, so the words will be given to us, but where do we get what is given? We get what is given in the same way God gives us all the good gifts and blessings He has to give, through means and through the Means of Grace in particular.
 

At our Baptism we are given faith. As we remember our baptism we are strengthened in faith. Every Sunday morning the first thing that happens in the Divine Service is a reminder of our faith in the Trinitarian Invocation. Every morning when we wake up and splash water on our face we should be reminded of our baptism. Personally I read my Portals of Prayer in the morning and I am reminded of my baptism. And as I continually remind myself, it is not that I was baptized, but I am, present tense, baptized.
 

The second thing we do in Divine Service is we confess our sins and we hear the most beautiful words we can ever hear, that our sins are forgiven. It is this forgiveness which brings us peace, true peace not simply a few hours of calm and relaxation. It is this forgiveness that removes all doubt and fear. Indeed, through God’s Holy Absolution we are given forgiveness and strengthening of faith.
 

Next in the Divine Service we hear God’s Word, and actually that is the joy of the Divine Service as it is permeated with God’s Word. And as one of my professors always said, “We worship best when we say back to God the very words He has given us to say.” Indeed, my words are often inefficient, but God’s Word is powerful. As I always like to say, God’s Word is efficacious, that is it does what He says. When God speaks His Word it happens. Just look at creation. As we hear God’s Word read and proclaimed we are given and strengthened in faith.
 

Then we move into the part of the Divine Service wherein we participate in Lord’s Supper. In the Lord’s Supper we are physically connected with Jesus as we eat His true body and drink His true blood so that He actually becomes a physical part of us, so that His life becomes our life, His suffering and death become our suffering and death and His resurrection becomes our resurrection. Indeed, through this very means we are given forgiveness and strengthening in faith.
 

The Divine Service then concludes with the called and ordained pastor placing the Trinitarian Aaronic Benediction on us so that we are prepared to go in peace as we are strengthened to live lives as priests in the priesthood of all believers, serving God by our service to others and always being ready to give an answer for our faith and hope in Jesus alone.
 

So we see the importance of regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace, of being not only in Divine Service, but also in Bible Class, in other Bible Studies, in reading our Bibles at home, in having person and family devotions, because these opportunities to be filled with God’s Word are what the Holy Spirit draws on to help us give an answer. Indeed, how can we share if we are not filled with something to share. I like to think of it as God has a pitcher full of gifts and blessings He pours out on us. We have a cup which we bring for Him to fill. Every time we come to Him, read our Bible, come to Divine Service, attend a Bible Class, have a devotion, our Lord pours His gifts and blessings into our cup. Now, if we stayed away, the contents of our cup would eventually evaporate and disappear reminding us of the need to make regular and diligent use of these means. On the other hand it is not until our cup is full and beings to over flow that we will be able and excited about giving an answer for our faith.
 

Lutheran Heritage Foundation comes in with materials for us to use and give away to help us give an answer for our hope and faith. Certainly we all have neighbors, or know people who do not have English as their native language. Would it not be great to be able to offer them a book in their native language so they can read of God’s great gifts? I know here in Texas we have a lot of Spanish speaking people so perhaps the church might want to keep some Spanish Luther’s Small Catechisms available to give out. My neighbor across the street is Vietnamese so I brought him a copy of the Children’s Book of Garden Stories in Vietnamese. 
 

Today we celebrate our Mission Festival, Mission Sunday, but what does that mean, or does it actually mean anything or change anything? Years ago there seemed to be the unspoken idea that we give to missions so we do not have to do any work, because, after all, the mission field is out there somewhere, not here. But today we must admit, the mission field is right here in our own back yard, as the saying goes. So we see the importance of being ready and hopefully that is what we have been hearing about this morning, being ready.
 

To review, first and foremost we rejoice and acknowledge that God gives and we are given to. God created us to love us. God gives life at conception; new life, even eternal life at Baptism; gifts, talents, and abilities to work a job or career; and He even gives us good works to do which He has prepared in advance for us to do, so that we serve Him by serving others in our vocation. God gives us His authority to speak His Word. He gives us His promise that He will give us the words to speak as well as the opportunities to speak His Word. And He promises that He is with us always even to the end of the world. He reminds us that our opportunities begin right in our own homes, towns, cities, communities, counties, state, country and world.
 

God gives and we are given too, and as I always like to point out, when it comes to sanctification and our response of faith, He gives that to us as well. Indeed, a thankful response is not something that comes natural to sinful people, but is motivated in us, and worked in and through us by the Holy Spirit meaning we give Him thanks for our giving thanks. And especially knowing that any response from us is always an imperfect response.
 

What a great God we have. What a gift giving God we have. What a loving God we have. Thanks be to God and to Him be all the glory. Amen.