We Wish to See Jesus - September 4, 2022 - Installation of Robert LeBlanc - Text: John 12:20-26 (esp. v. 21)

Our text for this afternoon is John 12:20-26, especially verse 21b: “20Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” This is our text.
 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.
    What a privilege to be invited here for this wonderful occasion. Thank you so very much. Although I know I am speaking to a wonderful gathering of Christian brothers and sisters, I want to begin my remarks to you as I do to the various other groups I am privileged to work with and speak too, namely my daughters American Heritage Girls troop and my sons Trail Life USA troop. I get to serve as chaplain and shepherd at the Baptist Church and the Catholic Church. Little do they know that I am attempting to make Lutherans out of them all.
 

Our text for this afternoon speaks well of the remarks with which I always begin, namely, “We wish to see Jesus.” So, I ask, and I am asking rhetorically, “To whom or what does the term B.C. on a time line refer or point?” “To whom or what does the term A.D. on a time line refer or point?” “To whom or what does the term Old Testament refer or point?” And “to whom or what does the term New Testament refer or point?” And of course the answer to all of these questions is that they all point us to Jesus. So, I conclude, we get it right when we point to Jesus. In our text, Philip got it right. He pointed the Greeks to Jesus.
 

One of the difficulties we have in our world today is that we would rather not point to Jesus. We would rather point to ourselves. We would rather elevate our own reason above what God says in His Word, that is rather than point to Jesus we would rather point to ourselves. One example and perhaps you have heard it said before are the statements, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Notice my sticking myself and my reason and belief or mis-belief in the equation “I believe it.” Actually, God said it and that settles it. Point to Jesus.
 

Why do you suppose we have so many different religions and denominations in the world. Because we do not like what God says and would rather believe what we want to believe. We want to impose ourselves, our human, that is our fallible, sinful human reason on what God says. We want to see something other than Jesus. We would rather something block our view of Jesus.
 

This afternoon we are installing a man, a sinful man, into the Office of Holy Ministry here in this place. I know Pastor LeBlanc is a sinful man because I am a sinful man and we were in high school youth group together. Interestingly enough, and I say this tongue in cheek as it were, this is the third installation service for him that I have attended. I pray this one sticks. A little humor there. Anyway, we are installing a sinful man into the Office of Holy Ministry. Which makes me sometimes wonder if God knows what He is doing. Of course, what other choice does God have because we are all sinful human beings? Yes, we are installing a sinful man into the Office because God has called him through you to point you to Jesus. God has called him through you to rightly preach the Gospel, rightly administer the Sacraments, to forgive and retain sins, to visit the sick and the shut-in, to point you to Jesus so that by your being filled with Jesus, so that as you are going about living your life in your various vocations you will be ready so that when you are asked you will be able to give others an answer, a defense, of your faith in Jesus. And you will be able to do that because God has given you the authority to speak for Him, He has given you the promise to be with you and to give to you the very words you will need to give an answer. We get it right when we point to Jesus.
 

I love being Lutheran. Really, I do. For the past number of years I have had the opportunity and privilege to present a sectional at the Higher Things Youth Gathering on Why I am Lutheran and I get to extol the virtues of being Lutheran. It is great to be Lutheran because we get it right because we point to Jesus and we never let anything get in our way of pointing to Jesus. Lutheran doctrine, that is what we believe, teach and confess is always clear in Lutheran practice, that is in the way we live as Lutherans. So, our lives begin in the Divine Service which teaches our faith and our faith informs our Divine Service. Even our church building is built according to our Lutheran faith. And it too points to Jesus.
 

When we walk into this facility, this church building the first thing we see is the cross. The building points us to Jesus. When we begin our Divine Service we do so with the invocation, a reminder of our Baptism and entrance into the Church, Jesus putting His name on us with the voice of the called Pastor and water with his hands. We look and we see the Baptismal font, Jesus comes to us through Holy Baptism. Our church building and our Divine Service are Lutheran, they point us to Jesus.
 

Next, in our Divine Service, we confess our sins and we hear the most beautiful words we can hear. Yes, through the mouth of the sinful pastor God speaks and does what He speaks, He forgives our sins. And because it is God’s Word we know that His words does what it says and gives the gifts He speaks, we know our sins are forgiven. We are pointed to Jesus.
 

As the service continues we hear the very word of God read by our called and Ordained Pastor, as if God Himself were speaking His Word to us. And then, from the pulpit we hear him preach and expound in Law and Gospel those very words. Jesus comes to us through the Word of God. And notice it is the Divinely Called Pastor who has been called to read and speak to us the Word of God and point us to Jesus. As disciples of Jesus we are called to come to the Divine Service and be given to so that we might read, learn and take to heart these very words of Jesus read and spoken to us by the Pastor. We are pointed to Jesus.
 

And the Jesus we are pointed to is the Jesus who is glorified in His death and resurrection. The price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden, death, hell. God’s command to be perfect was never rescinded. The only way to heaven is perfection and we cannot be perfect. So, God took care of that for us as well. The fullness of the Gospel is not simply Jesus’ death and resurrection but the fact that He lived the perfect life demanded of us for us in our place because we cannot. Jesus perfectly obeyed all God’s commands and promises, then of His own free will He took our sins upon Himself and allowed Himself to be crucified. No one took His life, He gave it freely for us because of His great love for us. Jesus paid the price for our sins, all of our sins and He gives that forgiveness to us. We are pointed to Jesus.
 

Following our hearing the Word of God, after we have had an opportunity to respond to the gifts of God through our prayers, our offerings, and our hymns our attention is drawn to the altar where in Jesus comes to us to give us His body and blood in His Holy Supper for the forgiveness of our sins. As the pastor speaks the words of God so the gifts God gives are given to us. God gives and we are given to. We are pointed once again to Jesus.
 

Finally, our Divine Service concludes with a benediction, the Aaronic threefold putting of God’s name on us benediction. God using the mouth of the pastor speaks His word of blessing on us. We are pointed to Jesus. And notice, nothing is in the way of the cross, the pulpit, the altar, the font. Nothing draws our attention away to the side or in front of the cross. Nothing points us to ourselves, to our emotions, to our experience, to us. We are pointed to Jesus. Our Lutheran doctrine and practice put our focus where we desire it to be, as the Greeks said, “We wish to see Jesus.” Because it is only as we see Jesus that we are prepared to go out into the world and live as priests in the priesthood of all believers, living our lives as living sacrifices always being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. I tell you, it is awesome being a Lutheran.
 

“20Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’” This afternoon we rejoice in the wonderful gifts God gives to us His people, His sinful people. We rejoice in the wonderful doctrine of the Lutheran Church which is on display in the Divine Service and in the lives of God’s people. We rejoice in the answer we have for the hope in Jesus we have, an answer given to us, spoken through us, and used by God to give, strengthen and keep in faith. And especially this afternoon we rejoice in God’s gifts of a new pastor, sinful though he is, through which God will come to speak to us, to point us to Jesus, to give us the gifts He has to give to us, to fill us to the point of overflowing and as our cup overflows, as we go out into the world, in our various vocations we cannot help but spill out the good news to others, as they ask of the hope that we have. And invite our family and friends to come to this place and see Jesus.
 

Pastor Wolfmueller, members of St. Paul Lutheran Church, and family and friends in this community, God has richly blessed you with two fine pastors who will indeed, point you to Jesus. Indeed, what a great God we have, what a loving God we have, what a gift giving God we have. God gives and we are given to. God does and we are done to. And we can be confident that God gets it right. Thanks be to God and to Him alone be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On Giving up Everything - September 4, 2022 - Thirteenth Sunday after the Pentecost (Proper 18) - Text: Luke 14:25-35

There is the old story about a chicken and a pig who lived on a farm. The farmer was not doing well financially and so the chicken and the pig thought about how each might contribute to help the farmer. The chicken suggested that they provide the morning meal for the farmer to which the pig pointed out to the chicken that her suggestion showed the difference between volunteering to make a contribution, that is that she would lay the egg, and making a total commitment, for to provide the ham, bacon or sausage, meant the pig’s life. Our text for today is not for the squeamish. Our text is another one of those Gospel readings about which we read and question, “This is the Gospel of the Lord?”
 

Our text begins with Jesus’ words of warning, we begin at verse twenty-five, “25Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple’” (v. 25-27). As Jesus moved from place to place, the crowds followed Him. Some were looking to witness a miracle or to be part of a miracle. Some were looking to be feed. Most were looking from something for themselves. At one point, Jesus stops, turns and addresses the crowd. His words are hard words. The cost of true discipleship is great indeed.
 

Jesus speaks words which might at first hearing sound rather harsh, that is that one must “hate” one’s own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even one’s own life or he or she cannot be His disciples. And here is one of those instances in the Bible where we might be puzzled and think that the Bible contradicts itself, because we are told in other places that we are to love others. So if we are thinking this is some contradiction then the problem is not with the Word of God, but with us and our understanding, or misunderstanding. Always remember, the Bible never contradicts itself, so if we think there is a contradiction, then we need to look deeper to find our misunderstanding. So, let us look a little deeper. And as we look deeper we see that this word “hate” is a word which means “not love more than,” in other words, we are to not love our father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even our own life, more than we love Jesus. Of course, this is what we confess in the explanation to the first commandment, that we “fear, love and trust in God above all things.” One must be willing to love Jesus more than one’s own family, even more than one’s own life. We can only be a true disciples of Jesus by putting Him first in our lives.
 

The ultimate challenge of true discipleship is showing one’s love for Jesus so much that one must be willing to die for Jesus, which, incidentally is what we promise at our confirmation and when we joined this congregation, that is that we will “remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death.” Similar to the hen and the pig providing breakfast for the farmer, true discipleship is more than simply volunteering to make a contribution, true discipleship is a total commitment.
 

Jesus continues by giving two illustrations to help the people and to help us to understand what He means, we pick up at verse twenty-eight, “28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace” (v. 28-32).
 

Notice how Jesus builds His illustrations. First, one does not build a tower without first setting down and counting the cost of building a tower. Here we are reminded of the very foundation of our own Christian faith life. The foundation of our own Christian faith is that of the means of Grace, the Word, the Bible and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and of course, confession and absolution. Through the means of the Word of God and Holy Baptism our Lord brought us to faith and made us a part of His Kingdom. Now, through our Divine Service and Bible study and through our private reading and devotions, we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, work to build on that foundation.
 

It is only after we have set a firm foundation that we count ourselves worthy to go to war for the Lord and so, we then count the cost of war. We do not go to war by ourselves thinking that we might be able, by ourselves to defeat the enemy, that is the Devil, for he is far too superior to us, rather we go to war only as our Lord leads us into battle.
 

The final step in being a disciple of Jesus, after building a firm foundation and after being made ready for battle is a fight against one’s own sinful flesh and renouncing oneself, we read the last verse of our text, verse thirty-three, “33So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (v. 33). Many of you know that I like to put things into context and perspective and in particular into an eternal perspective. So, let me remind you of the eternal perspective of discipleship. What we are born with and what we take with us when we die is what is truly ours. So, basically, nothing is really ours. The “preacher” in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that all is vanity and that what wealth one spends a lifetime of accumulating, their heirs will quickly be rid of, spending it without thought to how much effort was put into accumulating it. Jesus’ warning is that we not let the things (and this is what they are, things) of this world get in the way of our discipleship and unfortunately, that is too often what we do, we let the things of this world cloud our minds and keep us from discipleship.
 

Perhaps, if we are looking to a “bottom line” for this text, the bottom line is that Jesus came to give His complete self, to give His life and so He demands complete allegiance from us. Which brings us back to the question, “This is the Gospel of the Lord?”
 

So, if this is the Gospel of the Lord, What does this mean? Jesus is speaking to a group of people with a mind set, not unlike ours today. Today, we live in a country which believes that there is nothing free in life. And everything that is said to be free, we are told that there are strings attached. So, when we hear these words from Jesus we might first declare, “See, I told you so, there are strings attached to being a Christian.” Well, let us see if that is really true, or if there is more to this than meets the ears.
 

First, we might remind ourselves that we are saved by grace, that is we are saved, we have the gift and promise, we have the hope and certainty of eternal life only because Jesus gave His all, even His life for ours. Jesus did not simply contribute something to save us, He gave His all to save us. As we were reminded last week and the week before, and many times, Jesus is God and as God, He was enjoying all that glory that was His in heaven, and yet, He gave up the glory that He was enjoying. Because of His commitment to us, His children, the commitment He made back in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned, He gave up all the glory that was His in order to take on human flesh and blood, becoming one with us, one like us except without sin. He humbled Himself, being born of a woman, being born and placed in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. He humbled Himself, coming, not to be served, but to serve. He came to give His life as a ransom for all. He lived perfectly, for us, in our place, because we cannot. He took our sins upon Himself and suffered and died to pay the price for our sins. He rose from the dead, showing Himself beyond a doubt to be alive, and He promised to send the Holy Spirit. He also promised that He would come again. He ascended into heaven from where He came and now, along with being everywhere present, He is also in heaven watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us.
 

Jesus came to give His all and He did. And He continues to give to us. Now He gives to us all His good gifts and blessings: faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. And He gives us these blessings through His means of grace, His Word and Sacraments. Jesus gives, and we are given to, no strings attached. But what about our text and its demands on discipleship?
 

Again, let me say that Jesus demands nothing from us and yet, while Jesus demands nothing from us, He instructs us in appropriate ways in which He directs us to respond to all that He has done for us and given to us. Our response of faith, not our way of working for salvation, not our way of paying off what He has done for us, which we could never do, but our response of faith is, with His help and only with His help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live lives of faithful discipleship, imperfect though that may be as we are and continue to be sinners as well as saints. We are not our own, we were bought with a price, the price of Jesus’ life. Jesus loves us with a complete love. He counted the cost and He paid the price. And His offer to us is to work in and through us through His means of grace so that we might be His disciples.
 

If you have not figured it out by now, one of the reasons the world despises Christians and the Christian faith is because the Christian faith is an exclusive faith. There is only one way to heaven and that way is through Jesus and faith in Him, alone. This means that we are not sure and confident of our eternal well-being simply by being associated with a church or a family of Christians. We may be confident only as the Lord gives us faith, strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Word and Sacraments, reminding us of the importance of making regular and diligent use of these means.
 

Whenever I sit down to look at a text in order to preach on it, one of the first things I do is to look at the text and in one sentence say what the text means. As I looked at this text, the sentence I used to state the main idea of this text was this, “Although there may be many who would associate with a Christian church today, simply for social reasons and the like, Jesus continues to warn that true discipleship costs one’s life, that is that one is willing to give their life to follow Him, as He has given His life for us.” My prayer for each one of you is that the Lord would continue to work in your life, through His means of grace, as you make regular and diligent use of the means, to give you, strengthen you and keep you in such faith until Christ comes again, at which time we will gather with all the saints and say, “to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake,” Amen.

Humble Service - August 28, 2022 - Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17) - Text: Luke 14:1-14

God gives and we are given to and as you have heard me say many times, our purpose in life is to be love by God and to be given to by Him. God gives life at conception. God gives new life, faith and eternal life through the waters of Holy Baptism. God gives gifts, talents and abilities, even our vocations and careers. And our response of faith is to live our lives as living sacrifices, to serve God by serving others. This morning by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God, which is His usual way of working in our lives, we will hear Jesus teach us concerning our humble acts of service to Him in our serving others.
 

Our text begins with verse one, explaining that Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee, “1One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6And they could not reply to these things” (v. 1-6). Interestingly enough, as we read in this opening verse, we are told that the Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They were watching, waiting, even hoping that He might “slip up” so that they might somehow catch Him and be able to accuse Him of something, anything. Because Jesus is omniscient, that is because He is all knowing, perhaps His knowing they were watching Him is why He intentionally questions them concerning healing on the Sabbath and because of their refusal to answer, He does heal the man and then uses their smugness and lack of an answer to teach them which He does through the parable.
 

Now, remember, we were told in verse one that the Pharisees were watching Jesus. In verse seven of our text we are told, “7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, “Give your place to this person,” and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you’” (v. 7-10). In verse one we were told that the Pharisees were watching Jesus and now in verse seven we are told that it is Jesus who was observing those around Him.
 

And what is Jesus noticing? He is noticing that the people who were invited to the party were coming in and taking the seats of honor. Now there is nothing wrong with taking the seat of honor, especially if you were invited to sit in the seat of honor. After noticing what was going on, Jesus tells a parable to explain what He is noticing and what might happen.
 

In the parable we are told how someone might be invited to a party and thinking they are the honored guest they might take the seat of honor. However, if this one is not the honored guest, then the host of the party will come to them and asked them to move down to a lower seat and in so doing they would be humiliated, or humbled. In the same way, the one taking the lower seat, would be asked to move up to a higher seat, even to the seat of honor and in so doing they will be honored in front of everyone.
 

Jesus ends this parable with a statement of truth, verse eleven, “11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (v. 11). Certainly we understand these words in our world today. How often it is that we might think we are the honored guest and take the seat of honor only to be humbled and perhaps humiliated when we are asked to take a lower seat. And how often are we honored when we show a real humility about ourselves and take a lower seat only to be asked to move up to the seat of honor. How true it is that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
 

I cannot say if Jesus intended to quote the Proverb lesson for today or not, but His word certainly do sound like they come from our Old Testament lesson. Of course, we understand that Jesus is God and is the author of the Old Testament as well, so perhaps He did have in mind this verse from Proverbs when He told His parable. Above all, please make note that Jesus’ words are not just for the Pharisees He is addressing. His words are to us today. I will say that I know from personal experience that His words are true, if we exalt ourselves we will be humbled, and if we humble ourselves we will be exalted. And remember that the ultimate exalting and humbling will be done on the day of Judgement.
 

But our text is not complete. Jesus continues by speaking to the host of the gathering, we pick up at verse twelve. “12He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (v. 12-14).
 

True charity is not simply inviting those who you know will invite you over and in so doing repay you. True charity, true Christian charity, true charity in God’s eyes is not what most of us do, most of the time. And let me say that does not mean that there is anything wrong with having friends over, even if you know that they will invite you back over to their house on another occasion. It is certainly God pleasing to share in fellowship of food and company of fellow Christians, family and friends. Yet, our text is speaking about true Christian charity which is not simply inviting those who repay you by inviting you back over to their place. True Christian charity is inviting those who cannot repay, those you know cannot repay.
 

And the great thing about true Christian charity is the fact that it has a reward, not on earth, but in heaven. As we exchange having family and friends over and going over to their homes, that is its own reward. Yet, true Christian charity of giving to those who cannot repay has its reward in heaven.
 

Not only is there a connection to our Old Testament reading for this morning, but there is also a connection to our epistle lesson for this morning. The Hebrews connection is that Paul urges us to have a similar attitude of service to others. “1Let brotherly love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (v. 1-3).
 

It all begins with faith which reflects in our attitude, which reflects in our actions, and finally which reflects in our works of service. James reminds us that “faith without works is dead.” Yet, the heart of works is faith which motivates such works. And Jesus here reminds us that our works come from a humble attitude of putting others first.
 

So, we ask, what does this mean? or what lessons might we learn today? Certainly the greatest lesson we can learn is the lesson of Jesus’ own life. Jesus humbled Himself. He gave up the glory that was His in heaven. And think about it, as God, He certainly was enjoying great glory in heaven, yet He gave up His glory in heaven in order to take on human flesh and blood, to become one of us. Jesus shows His humility in the fact that His first crib was a manger, a feeding trough for animals. He further shows His humility in that He did not come to be served, but to serve. His greatest show of humility was to humble Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross for our sins.
 

Jesus shows true charity in giving His life for us, knowing that we cannot repay and that is precisely why He gave His life because He knew we could not repay. By the giving of His life, Jesus gives us forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness we have life and salvation. And now, here in our text Jesus also gives us instruction in faith, that is that faith shows itself in humility. Faith shows itself in putting others first, in giving and especially in giving when we know we cannot be repaid.
 

Faith shows itself in service and in works of service. These are not works which we do in order to attempt to repay Jesus for all He has done, nor to try to minimize the fact that we owe Him our very lives, but these are works of service done in response to all that He has done, does and continues to do for us.
 

At Christmas time, do we give gifts or do we normally exchange presents? Perhaps this might be something to think about now, before Christmas gets here. I would suggest that our normal way of doing things at Christmas is that we gather at someone’s home and we exchange presents. And this we do to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. How would we like it if everyone came to our birthday party to celebrate our birthday and exchanged presents and we received nothing? And please understand, I believe exchanging presents can be a great expression of love as well. That is not the point I am trying to make, nor the point Jesus is trying to make. The point is that exchanging present for present, invite for invite, meal for meal, is not really charity. Real charity is giving with out expecting and without receiving in return. Real charity is what Jesus gives to us, His life for ours.
 

So, in response of faith and in response to all our Lord has done for us and given to us, might I suggest that this Christmas, since it is still early and you have plenty of time to prepare. This Christmas, along with our usual exchange of presents, perhaps we might think of something to do that is more fitting of Jesus’ words in our text. Something, such as giving a gift to someone we know will not be able to repay us, perhaps even doing it anonymously so there would be no guilt or less guilt on the part of the recipient. Perhaps even giving a gift to the Lord in some fashion or another. And as we make this unusual gift, might we remind ourselves to do it in humility, without telling anyone, so that our reward is indeed not on this earth, but in heaven.
 

God gives and we are given to, our purpose in life is to be love by God and to be given to by Him. God gives life at conception. God gives new life, faith and eternal life through the waters of Holy Baptism. God gives forgiveness of sins through His Word, through Holy Absolution and His Holy Supper. And God gives to us and stirs in us our response of faith is to live our lives as living sacrifices, to serve God by serving others. God has indeed done great things for us and certainly He expects nothing in return from us. Instead of our meeting His expectation, of giving Him nothing in return, my prayer for each of us is that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we might live our lives of faith in humble service to Him and others, and as we do so we are boldly professing our faith saying, “To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake.” Amen.

Christ Brings Division - August 14, 2022 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15) - Text: Luke 12:49-53 (54-56)

At Christmas time we hear the familiar Old Testament verse, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). We sing the song, “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. . .” and we sing about how “no crying He makes.” What a nice picture. What a serene view of the world. Everything is calm and peaceful. And then we get to our text for today and all the demons break loose. It is Jesus, Himself, who tells us that, “49I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (v. 49-51). After reading our Gospel reading for today, instead of declaring that this is the Gospel of the Lord we might rather ask, “This is the Gospel of the Lord?” In the next few minutes we will look at the divisions and separations between unbelievers and believers about which this text is speaking.
 

First this text is speaking to the unbeliever. To the unbeliever Jesus was a good man and a good teacher. Jesus had some good words to teach us about how to get along with others, how to live peacefully in this world, and how to bear up under the struggles of life. To the unbeliever, Jesus was a good example. Through the life of Jesus we are shown how to live in peace and harmony with one another while we are living in this world. To the unbeliever, that is all there is to the life of Jesus, that He was a good man, a good teacher and a good example, no more, no less.
 

On the other hand, to the believer, to us who have faith in Jesus, to those of us who believe that He is truly God and truly man, Jesus is so much more. Yes, Jesus is a good man and a good teacher, and we say that in the present tense, because He is still alive and through His Word He is still teaching us. Jesus is a good example, but He is not just an example, He is more. Jesus is the one who came to do everything for us and ultimately to give His life for ours.
 

As we read in the Old Testament lesson for today, Jesus is our God who is far off. He is so big of a God that the universe cannot contain Him. He is so big that He fills every expanse, every space of the universe. He is everywhere present. He is in every inch of the universe. There is no place that we can go that we could get away from Him or hide from Him.
 

At the same time, Jesus is our God who is very near to us. Jesus is right here with us. Our God did not create the world and then leave it to run on its own. Our God is not “watching us from a distance.” No, He is right here with us. When we are alone and there is no one else around, Jesus is with us. When we are feeling lonely and are in need, Jesus is with us. He is with us every moment of the day, watching over us, guarding and protecting us, loving and caring of us.
 

Yes, Jesus is our “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus is true God, who gave up all the glory that was His in heaven, took on human flesh and blood, was born as one of us; one like us, one with us, expect without sin. He was born as a baby and placed in a manger, in a feeding trough for animals, in the small town of Bethlehem. He grew up in Nazareth and began His public ministry at the age of thirty. He is a real historic person. After He turned thirty years old, for three years He showed Himself, beyond a doubt that He is the Messiah, the Christ, the one promised by God to come and save the world. He showed Himself to be the Messiah by the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, by doing those things that only God and only God in flesh could do. Jesus is the one who was sinless, without sin, perfect and holy so that He could and did take our sins upon Himself. He is the one who suffered and died, who paid the price for our sins, who suffered the eternal death penalty of hell for us, in our place. He is the one who died for you and for me. The baptism that He was to be baptized with is His suffering and death on the cross for us in our place. He is the one who brings forgiveness, life, and eternal life to you and to me.
 

And for us Christians, Jesus brings peace. He brings peace, not as the world thinks of peace, not simply a moment or two of calm in an otherwise chaotic day, but He brings true peace. His peace is the peace of forgiveness of sins and forgiveness of sins is the greatest peace because with forgiveness we know we have eternal life. Indeed, Jesus gives the greatest peace, true spiritual peace. Yet, His peace is only offered to those who believe in Him.
 

And so, as Jesus brings peace, He also brings division. Jesus has given His life for ours and He has given us His Word. It is His Word through which the Holy Spirit works to bring us into His Kingdom. There is only one way into the Kingdom of Heaven and that way is through Jesus and faith in Him. The Christian faith and Christian teaching, that is, the Bible teaches the exclusivity of the Gospel, that is that there is only one way to heaven. Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” And that is why Jesus brings division. The people of this world do not want to be judged by the standard which Jesus gives. The people of this world would rather set their own standard and yet we can see the hypocrisy in that as well, because they do not want to be judged by their own standard either.
 

As Christians, we believe the Bible is the Word of God. We do not believe the Bible simply contains the Word of God, which would allow for the possibility that some of the Bible may not be the Word of God. We believe all of it. As we say, God said it and that settles it. We believe that our God is a God who does not tolerate sin or lack of faith. And so there is division. The people of this world would rather go on living like they want to live, with the focus of their lives being on the things of this world, the temporariness of this world as we talked about last week, and they do not want to be condemned by God, so they condemn those who do believe.
 

Jesus, Himself, tells us that He came to bring a fire on earth. He came to bring division. The fire He came to bring is the fire of judgement. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. If there were other ways to heaven, to eternal life, certainly He would have told us and if there were other ways, why would He have allowed Himself to suffer and die on the cross? As Christians, now, living in the pluralistic society in which we live, we are left to face the divisions created by our faith in Jesus.
 

So what do we expect? Well, it does not look good. We can expect intolerance toward us as Christians, especially from those who espouse a doctrine of tolerance. We can expect ridicule from those who say there is absolutely no absolutes, there is no one truth, but truth is relative, in essence, that everyone is right. We can expect hatred from those who suggest we love each other, as they define loving each other. That is the way our world deals with people who believe that there is only one way to eternal life. That is what happens to people who believe there is a right and a wrong. That is the way the world treats those who believe in absolutes, in an ultimate authority, in other words, that is the way the world treats Christians. That is the way the world treated Jesus and we should expect nothing less as His followers.
 

Jesus’ words ring true still today. He comes to bring division and He even brings division in families. How often it is that, as a family, when we gather together, we do not discuss religion or as we say, religion and politics, which I believe are probably two of the most important things we need to discuss. Have you ever noticed how good the Devil is at distracting us from talking about what is most important, our faith. He does that by fooling us into believing that our faith is a matter of opinion. Everyone has certain “opinions” and everyone believes their “opinion” is the right opinion. Notice I said opinion. God’s Word is His Word. His Word is truth. Too often, we tend to become like the rest of the world. When we read and hear parts of God’s Word which we do not like, we develop our own “opinion” about His Word. We impose “our own understanding” or “our own” misunderstanding, instead of letting His Word speak to us and believing what it says. Thus, we too become trapped in our own hypocrisy. There are times that Jesus’ Words are hard words. His Words demand that we put aside our opinions and cling only to Him. His Words demand our complete allegiance, and with so many other things vying for our attention and allegiance in our world today, that makes it very hard for us and it often moves us to a divided allegiance, thus a divide house. Yes, Jesus brings division.
 

But we are not alone. Jesus never said we had to go it alone. He has promised that He will be with us, even to the end of the age. And so, once again, what can we expect. We can expect that Jesus will be with us. He will strengthen us and give us the strength we need as we struggle through life. As we read in the Epistle lesson, Jesus will give us the strength we need to endure the hardships that come in this life. And as He strengthens us, we are to strengthen each other, our bothers and sisters in Christ.
 

Our text for today is one of those texts that is hard to comprehend. This text takes Jesus out of the role of being a nice God and puts Him into a role that we do not like to see or admit, that He is also a just God and so He is then a God who brings division. But that cannot be helped. That is the nature of our world and the sin which has infected our world. We cannot have it both ways, thus there is division. We are either for Jesus, or against Him. And if we are for Him, we are for Him, one hundred percent.
 

Jesus is for us and He has shown how He is for us in that He has given His all for us, one hundred percent, His life for ours and He calls us out of our lives of sin. He puts faith in our hearts, gives us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And as He has promised, so He is with us, even unto the end of the world. My prayer for each one of you, then, is that the Lord would continue to work in your life, as you make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, reading your Bible, attending Divine Service and Bible class, remembering your Baptism, hearing Jesus’ words of Absolution and coming to the Lord’s Supper, so that you might be strengthened in your faith, and kept in that faith until Jesus comes again to take us to be with Himself in heaven. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.