Sermon for the Third Sunday after Trinity - Lk 15:1-10

                                                                                        

                                                                                         Trinity 3

                                                                                          Lk 15:1-10

                                                                                          6/21/26

 

          The Pharisees do a lot of grumbling in Luke’s Gospel. After Jesus called Levi – or as we more commonly know him, Matthew – to be his disciple, Jesus ate at a great feast in his house that was attended by many tax collectors. So the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

          Later in the Gospel, Jesus sees Zacchaeus the tax collector in a sycamore tree as he passes by and says to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Zacchaeus hurried and came down from the tree, and then and received him into his home joyfully. Then Luke tells us, “And when they saw it, they all grumbled, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’”

          Today we once again hear the Pharisees and scribes grumble. Our text begins with the words: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” Then we learn, “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

          The Pharisees objected to the fact that Jesus associated with tax collectors and sinners. And so we are interested in who exactly these people were, and why the Pharisees felt this way about them. Tax collectors in Galilee did not work for the Roman government, since there was not yet direct Roman rule in this area. Instead, they worked for King Herod Antipas. They had a reputation for dishonesty because they had the ability to manipulate the tax gathering process in order to extract extra money which they kept for themselves.

          The term “sinners” probably included a range of people. No doubt it took in individuals who engaged in public sin, such as prostitutes. But it also certainly included those who did not live according to the interpretation of the Torah that the Pharisees said a person must observe – the so-called “tradition of the elders.”

          Sinners were drawing near to hear Jesus. The judgment of the Pharisees was that our Lord should have nothing to do with them. So in response, Jesus told three parables – parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The last of these is the parable of the prodigal son. Our text today includes the first two.

          Our Lord began by saying, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” Jesus described how a shepherd would seek out a sheep that had gone astray from the flock. Why would he do this? It was because the sheep was valuable to him. He cared about it.

          This fact is seen in the man’s response when he finds the sheep: it is one of joy. Jesus said, “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” When the early church father Gregory of Nyssa preached on this text, he noted the shepherd’s action and how it showed his care. He said, “But when the shepherd had found the sheep, he did not punish it, he did not get it to the flock by driving it, but by placing it upon his shoulder, and carrying it gently, he united it to his flock”

          The theme of joy continues in the parable. We learn: “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’” After finding the lost sheep he calls people together so that they can join him in rejoicing.

          Then Jesus drives home the point of the parable.  He says, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” We learn that God’s attitude toward the lost is that he seeks them out. There is joy in heaven when a sinner repents.

          We find the same thing in the second parable about the woman who has lost the coin. When she realizes that it is lost she lights a lamp, sweeps the house and seeks diligently until she finds it.  The coin had great value to the woman and so she exerted great effort to find it.

          Then, when she found the coin, there was joy.  She called together her friends and neighbors saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Once again, Jesus emphasized the joy as he said, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

          The parables in our text this morning remind us about the character and nature of God. God is the loving God who wants to save.  He does not want to see people receive judgment and destruction. God revealed through Ezekiel, “Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.’”

          God wants people to be saved – all people. After the apostle Paul told Timothy that prayer should be offered on behalf of all people and especially rulers so that we can live a peaceful life, he went on to explain: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

          This desire of God to save is a reflection of his mercy and love. And it is a desire that moved God to act. Paul told the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

The Father sent forth the Son, as he was incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, we are like sheep who go astray as we break God’s will. Isaiah said of Christ, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God judged our sin in the death of Jesus on the cross. And then on Easter he raised Christ from the dead as he defeated death and began the resurrection life that will be ours when the Lord returns in glory.

God’s desire to forgive in Christ continues to be good news for us. As we live the Christian life, we stumble and fall. There are times when the old Adam gets the upper hand and directs our actions. Our feelings and emotions are fickle, and we struggle with doubt and anger.

We see these things. We know that they are wrong – that they are sin. We are moved by the conviction of the law to repentance. And the good news of our text is that God welcomes us as we return to Christ for forgiveness. Jesus says, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

As Christians your life is one of continual return to your baptism. Your baptism provides the point of reference for all of your life. Through baptism you were buried with Christ – you were baptized into his saving death. Your sins were washed away. And God’s action through water and the word always remains ready to be grasped in faith. God did it, and that Gospel gift is always true. We repent of our sin and return to the forgiveness that is true in our baptism for God rejoices over the sinner who repents.

 When Jesus was with Zaccheus he said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Jesus is the One who seeks out the lost.  Our text is a reminder that God alone can do this. The sheep can’t find its way back to the flock. The coin can’t find itself. Only God can do this.

He does this now through his word – the word inspired by the Spirit and through which the Spirit still works. This word is a word of law and Gospel.  It is a word of law that condemns sin and confronts its presence in the lives of all people. It is a word of Gospel through which the Spirit creates saving faith in Christ. It is through the Gospel that the Spirit works faith in those who cannot by their own will or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to him.

One often hears it said, “Well, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.” This fact is often deployed in the attempt to say that the Church needs to be more accepting of the culture around us.  She shouldn’t be so judgmental. The Church shouldn’t be so hung up on talking about sin, and instead she should just love people where they are.

When the Pharisees asked the disciples about why they were eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus replied, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  On the evening of Easter the risen Lord said to the disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

There can be no forgiveness and salvation without repentance. The Church is not Christ’s Church if she does not speak the truth of God’s word and confront sin. She calls people to repentance, even as Christians themselves continue to repent. All people are sinners. The only question is what kind of sinner you are going to be. Christians are repentant sinners and therefore we are forgiven sinners. We are saints – we are holy in God’s eyes because of Christ.

There will be repentance and forgiveness in the life of a Christian. But there will be something else as well. When John the Baptist was preaching he said, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” The apostle Paul described his ministry after the Damascus road experience by saying that he “declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

The apostle Paul told the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

The resurrection power of the Spirit is at work in us. The return to baptism in which we find forgiveness is also a return to the continuing source of the Spirit’s work in our life. Faith does not simply express relief that sins are forgiven, and then leave things there. It also now seeks to live in ways that are true to God’s will.

So don’t just confess sin in your life. As those who are in Christ, by the power of the Spirit turn away from that sin. Reject that sin.  Put to death that sin. And instead live in ways that show forth repentance as you trust in God and love your neighbor.

The good news of our text today is that God wants to save. He seeks out the lost. He found you and called to be his own. He rejoices when sinners repent. And so rather than grumbling like the Pharisees, we give thanks that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them.

He will now receive you at the Sacrament of the Altar.  As the host he will welcome you to his table and feed you with his true body and blood. Here he will give you forgiveness for all of the ways you have sinned.  Here he will give you food for the new man so that you can go forth and live the life that bears fruit in keeping with repentance.

  

 

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Second Sunday after Trinity - Eph 2:13-22

 

   Trinity 2

                                                                                                            Eph 2:13-22

                                                                                                            6/14/26

 

           

            You have peace. That’s what the apostle Paul says this morning.  You have peace with God. You have peace with the people of God, because you are the people of God. He begins announcing this fact in the opening of our text as he says, “But now in Christ Jesus….”

            That word “now” alerts us to the fact a change has taken place. And in the previous twelve verses Paul has laid out the fact that almost all of you faced a doubly dire situation.  You were under God’s judgment. You were not God’s people.

            Paul began this chapter by saying, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

            That’s a really long sentence.  And it says really bad things. It says that you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, even as you lived in them. It says that the devil was your lord, even as he is now the lord for all who walk in sin and unbelief.  All of that is bad. But the thing that should really catch your attention is when Paul says that you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Paul says that you and every other person were by nature someone who was going to receive the wrath of God.

            Now that is certainly not what the world believes. Insofar as it believes in God, God is certainly not wrathful. God is loving and good. He wants you to be happy. God is not judgmental, and he’s certainly not worried about sin.

            But that is not what God has revealed about himself in his word. God is loving and good. But he is also holy and just. His will defines what is right and wrong, and the violation of his will is sin. Sinners cannot exist in fellowship with the holy God. Instead, sin evokes God wrath and eternal judgment. Paul says later in this letter, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

            The apostle says that you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” That’s also something that many Christians do not believe. Paul says that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. He says that you were under the power of the devil. And he says that you were this way by nature.  You were people who were going to receive God’s wrath like the rest of mankind.

            Something that is by nature is intrinsic to who we are. Paul is describing the fact that as descendants of fallen Adam, we are conceived as fallen, sinful people for whom the devil is lord.  We are born and enter this world as people who cannot know and believe in God by our own powers. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

            And then, just before our text, Paul continues with more bad news for almost all of you. He says, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

            Sin entered into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. But God did not abandon his creation. He promised that one who came forth from Eve – a human being – would defeat the devil. He called Abraham, and through him created Israel as his people. God revealed himself as Yahweh. He took Israel into a covenant with himself and said that they would be his “treasured possession among all peoples.” He was their God. They were his people, as he worked through them to bring forth this One who would defeat the devil. Those who descended from Israel and continued to believe in Yahweh – the Jews – knew God and belonged to him.

            And in most cases, that does not describe you.  You are Gentiles. Your descendants were probably somewhere on the steppe of Eurasia as they made the long push west into Europe. They were pagans who worshipped false gods. They – and therefore you - were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

            Everything I have said so far is true. But then Paul continues by saying in our text, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  You were far off from God, trapped in your sin. You were far off from God, because you were not part of his people.

But now in Christ Jesus you have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

            The first century was a time when there was great animosity between Jews and Gentiles. In Alexandria, Egypt Gentiles rioted against Jews. The Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. But Paul says that Christ has united Jew and Gentile. He states in our text, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.”

            This peace between Jew and Gentile is a result of the peace that now exists with God because of Jesus Christ. Paul says in our text that Christ acted to “reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Christ reconciled us to God through his death on the cross. We were by nature children of wrath as we lived in sin. But the just God judged our sin in Christ. Paul told the Romans, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

            God condemned your sin in Christ. And then the working of God’s great might continued as he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. As the exalted Lord, Jesus has poured forth his Spirit. The Spirit has now given you rebirth through the water and the word of baptism. You are now a saint – a holy one – in God’s eyes because he as washed away all of your sins. As Paul says in our text, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

            In our text Paul says, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” The Gospel is the source of peace for all. It is the source of peace for Gentiles.  It is the source of peace for Jews.

            As Gentiles, Paul speaks to you when he says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”  You are no longer outsiders who don’t know God. Instead, you are fellow citizens with the saints because you are a saint – you are holy in God’s eyes because of Christ. You are members of the household of God. You are the people of God.

            In fact, Paul draws upon language of the Old Testament as he describes the Church as a temple united in Christ. He says that Christ is the cornerstone “in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

            So what does this mean for us? Well, we start with the reason that we have peace with God and are part of God’s people. Paul says, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” The Gospel – the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – brings this peace through the work of the Spirit. It has for you. But of course, the Gospel is not to be your selfish possession. It is good news for all. And Christ has commanded his church to share this Gospel that brings peace.

            Now certainly this means that you will talk about Jesus and what he has done for you if anyone asks about what you believe. But this morning I want to call your attention to something even more basic: invite them to the place of peace. Here in the Divine Service you receive this peace as you hear the God’s Word proclaimed. And then in the Sacrament of the Altar you receive the peace of sins forgiven as you eat and drink Christ’s body and blood. Later you will sing in the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace.”

            So invite them to come to church. It’s simple. And it also happens to be the reason that most people report for why they joined a church – it’s because someone invited them.  You don’t need any theology to do this. And as President Curtis has explained, if a person asks why he or she should visit Good Shepherd, all you have to say: “Because I think it’s great.” It requires nothing more than that.

            Because of Christ we have peace with God. Our text describes that through the work of the Spirt we have been joined together in Christ. Paul describes the church as a temple. Elsewhere he calls her the Body of Christ. In chapter four Paul states, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

            This is the unity that we share in Christ, and so Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

            Paul tells you that you are to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. You have been given God’s peace. You have been made part of the people of God in Christ. So be humble and gentle in dealing with others. Put their needs ahead of your own. Be understanding towards those who are experiencing difficulties.

            Paul says that we are to “bear with one another in love.” We can also translate this as “put up with on another.” Sinners are annoying because they keep sinning. They do dumb and thoughtless things. But the apostle tells us to put up with one another in love because we are eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

            If we are going to put up with one another, then we will have to forgive one another. And that is exactly the instruction that Paul provides in this letter when he says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Living in Christ, through the work of the Spirit, we treat others as God has treated us in Christ.

            You were by nature children of wrath for whom the devil was Lord. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise because you are Gentiles. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  You have been reconciled to God through the cross.

            The Spirit of the risen Lord has called you to faith in Jesus. Jew and Gentile alike have been united through baptism in Christ. You have peace with God for you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. This is the peace that you share with others as you invite them to come to this place of peace.  It is the peace you share in your life as you bear with one another in love. 

 

 

 

 

           

 

           

 

Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity - Lk 16:19-31

 

   Trinity 1

                                                                                                                        Lk 16:19-31

                                                                                                                        6/7/26

 

            Our text this morning, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, fascinates Christians because it talks about something that is often our focus: the question of what happens when a person dies before the return of Christ. While we are very interested in this, when we look in Scripture we are disappointed to find that God’s Word basically never talks about it.  Instead, its overwhelming and repeated emphasis is the return of the Lord Jesus on the Last Day and the resurrection of the dead.

            What Scripture does say about the death of a Christian before the Last Day is clear and comforting. As Paul contemplates the possibility of his own death he tells the Philippians, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” He describes death to the Corinthians as being “at home with the Lord.” And of course, Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

            But if you are looking for details about what this is like, you are out of luck. At first glance, the only exception to this appears to be our text. And while, as we will see, we do learn some clear truths here, it seems unlikely that can gain many specific details. Though never actually labeled a parable, it seems to take that form and so this raises the questions about how far you can press the individual features of the account.

            So if we don’t really learn much about what happens after death in our text, what do we learn about here? The answer turns out to be very basic: money and the word of God.  The fact that it teaches about the word of God is not difficult to understand. The last verse in our text says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” 

            But the emphasis on money – how we view and use it – is something that runs throughout this chapter. It began with the rather puzzling parable of the unjust steward. And while it seems strange that the parable sets before us a man who was defrauding the owner, the point of the parable is that the man recognized the critical moment that faced him and used wealth accordingly. In the same way, we are to recognize the critical moment that has arrived in Jesus and use our wealth in ways that reflects this.

            Jesus then went on to say, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”  The Lord calls upon his disciples to be faithful in how we use the wealth of this world. And then he tells us why as he says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

            Christ describes money and wealth as a competing lord in our life.  It is a false god which becomes the focus of our attention, and the source of our sense of security and well being. Jesus had been talking about money, and Luke reports, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.”

            So when Jesus says, “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day,” this is a continuation of his teaching about money and wealth. We know that this parable is going to teach us about how this should function in our lives.

            Our Lord describes a rich man who is living an obscenely wealthy life. He wears the very finest clothing. He feasts excessively on the very best food every day. Think of billionaire who jets around the world eating at the most expensive restaurants as he down thousand dollar bottles of wine. 

            By contrast, Jesus then describes a desperately poor man. He says, “And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.” Destitute and sick, this poor man desired only to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. This was his desire, but it soon becomes clear that the rich man paid no attention to Lazarus and did not help him. 

            We learn that both men died. Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side, which is a Jewish way of describing salvation. However, when the rich man died he found himself in Hades where he was in torment. From hell he was able to look up and see Abraham with Lazarus.

            He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.”  Even though he was in hell, the rich man was still thinking in the way he had lived his life. He still thought of Lazarus as being beneath him. He was a servant who could be used to attend to the rich man’s needs.

            However, Abraham pointed out that things no longer worked in the ways that the rich man expected. He said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.”  The rich man had enjoyed the comforts of the world. But as we will see in a moment, his wealth had ruled his life and he had not used it in ways produced by faith in God. Now, Lazarus was comforted and the rich man was in torment.

            And then Abraham added an explanation about why the rich man’s request was simply not possible. He said, “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”

            While we may not know exactly how far to press the details of the story, there are a number of things that seem quite clear. First, death does mark a great divide. Either you are with Christ in salvation or you are not. You are one or the other, and after death there is no changing the outcome.

Second, the torment of hell in being separated from God is very real. Our text describes this torment before the Last Day. All the more we know that this will be the case at the Last Day. Remember, the resurrection of the body will be experienced by all. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” The judgment of hell will not only be a spiritual reality. It will be a judgment in body and soul. Jesus said, “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The rich man had been confronted by the hopelessness of his situation. He was in torment and there was nothing he could do to change it. So he said to Abraham, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” Presumably the man’s five brothers were living in the same way that he had. The rich man hoped to turn them away from the path that had led him to hell.

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” The patriarch responded that the rich man’s brother already had the Scriptures. They had God’s word. They should listen to it.

The rich man objected, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He asserted that someone coming to warn them from beyond the grave – from the dead – would make all the difference. It would do more than just hearing the Scriptures. But Abaham replied, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

When Martin Luther preached on this text he said: “All the Gospel readings teach faith and love, which (I hope) you understand easily enough, since no human being can please God unless he believes and loves. Now in this Gospel reading the Lord presents us with an example of both faith and unbelief or the godless condition, so that we also avoid the opposites of faith and love and all the more diligently cling to faith and love.”

The Christian life is defined by faith in the crucified and risen Lord. St Paul told the Romans that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” As Paul told the Ephesians about Christ, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

This faith is the work of the Spirit. Though we were once spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God the Holy Spirit has given us the washing of regeneration and renewal in Holy Baptism. We now live as those who are in Christ. We are a new creation.

This faith, forgiveness, and salvation is a gift of God. But as God’s gift its impact does not end with us. Instead, as those who are in Christ we become “little Christ’s” in the world. Paul told the Galatians that “faith is active in love.” He instructed Titus that Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

The rich man in our text used his wealth in selfish excess. He ignored the needs of Lazarus. The Lord’s words should lead you to consider the role that money and wealth have in your life, and the extent to which you are using it in faith. God has promised you daily bread – those things that you need to support this body and life. The apostle Paul teaches us the correct attitude when he writes to Timohty: “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

We have already seen how Jesus described money as a spiritual threat. He said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Paul went on to warn that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”

Faith will act in love. It will view the money and wealth with which God blesses us as the means for doing this. The first place this applies is in the life of the Church – in the support of the Means of Grace that go on in your midst. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their offering he said, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Next, we will see our wealth as the means by which we share Christ’s love with the Body of Christ – the Church. We have an opportunity to do this by giving money to assist the Lutherans in Sudan who have been displaced from their homes by Muslim attacks. We can support the proclamation of the Gospel and the life of the Church around the world through supporting groups such as the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and LCMS missionaries. And then there will be human care ministries and services through which our donations can assist others, including those outside the church.

Peter told the Christians in Asia Minor, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”  Born again by God’s Spirit through the word, our text today reminds us about the continuing power of that word for our lives.

Lazarus claims that if someone goes to his brothers from the dead, his brothers will turn away from their sin. But Abraham says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Here Christ tells us that the Scriptures are entirely sufficient for our spiritual needs.  They provide all that we need because it is the word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit continues to be at work through that word to sustain the life of faith. Through that word he illumines the way that we should walk, even as he provides the ability to do so.

Faith and love – these define our life as Christians. We live by faith in Jesus Christ. By his death and resurrection he has given us forgiveness and salvation. Baptized into Christ the Spirit has made us a new creation in Christ so that we can live in love toward others. In this life of love, our money and wealth cease to be something that serves as a false god.  Instead, it becomes the means by which we share God’s love in Christ.