Commemoration of Philip the Deacon

Today we remember and give thanks for Philip the Deacon.  Philip, also called the Evangelist  (Acts 21:8), was one of the seven men appointed to assist in the work of the twelve Apostles and of the rapidly growing early church by overseeing the distribution of food to the poor (6:1–6). Following the martyrdom of Stephen, Philip proclaimed the Gospel in Samaria and led Simon the Sorcerer to become a believer in Christ (8:4–13). He was also instrumental in bringing about the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26–39), through whom Philip became indirectly responsible for bringing the Good News of Jesus to the people on the continent of Africa. In the town of Caesarea he was host for several days to the Apostle Paul, who stopped there on his last journey to Jerusalem (21:8–15). 

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, we give thanks to You for Your servant Philip the Deacon.  You called him to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Samaria and Ethiopia.  Raise up in this and every land messengers of Your kingdom, that Your Church may proclaim the immeasurable riches of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Sermon for Trinity 17 - Lk 14:1-11

                                                                                    Trinity 17

                                                                                    Lk 14:1-11

                                                                                    10/8/17

            When you are eating with a group of people who are not family members, I doubt that you give all that much thought to where you are going to sit.  Any consideration you do give probably doesn’t go any farther than that you want to sit with people you know and with whom you want to visit.

            Our Gospel lesson this morning tells us that things were very different in the first century world of Palestine.  The ancient world was very concerned about status.  Now it is not as if we are unaware about status.  We recognize that there are neighborhoods, universities and occupations that carry more status than others.  But our experience of this really can’t compare with the way the ancient world valued status – how it desired to possess it and have it viewed by others.

            We see this today in the fact that places at a table eating were assigned specific levels of status.  Jesus notices that everyone at the meal is choosing the places of honor. There is a scramble to get the best seat possible.  And here “best” is determined by the status that the seat displays to others. A meal is an occasion to show others where you stand in society – an opportunity to show that you are more important than others.

            Our text begins by saying, “One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.”  Now by the time we have arrived at this point in the Gospel, we know that there is going to be trouble.  The Pharisees have already watched Jesus to see if he will heal on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath has been a source of controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees on a couple of occasions.  Jesus has also dined twice at the home of a Pharisee, and each time there has been conflict.  So, when Jesus goes to eat, at the home of a ruler of the Pharisees, on the Sabbath … buckle up, because we know that things are going to get rough.

            Not unexpectedly we learn that that Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully.  A man with dropsy – severe edema – was present.  On this occasion, Jesus took the initiative by asking: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”  The Pharisees could see that their own legalism was being set in contrast to mercy and so they remained silent. Jesus healed the man and sent him away.

            Then 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?”  Jesus knew that the Pharisees made exceptions for this kind of action.  His argument goes from the lesser to the greater.  If they were willing to allow this kind of action in assisting on the Sabbath, how could they not allow the healing of a man?  Our Lord had the Pharisees caught in the inconsistency of their laws and hatred of Jesus.  They knew it, and they could not reply to these things.

            The Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. But we learn in our text that Jesus was watching them too.  He noticed that they were all choosing the places of honor.  So he spoke words that our text calls a “parable.” He said, “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, and 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.” To choose a place of honor, and then to be forced publicly to move to a lower spot would have been humiliating.

            So instead, Jesus gave this advice: “But 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.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

            Luke describes Jesus’ words as a “parable.”  We may find this puzzling because we often assume that a parable is story that Jesus tells in order to teach some deeper meaning, such as the parable of the Good Samaritan that we had in the Gospel lesson not long ago.  But the word “parable” actually has a broader meaning.  It can be applied to any saying or statement that is intended to convey something that goes beyond the surface meaning.

            Jesus is teaching about far more than meal etiquette. The Pharisees’ actions reveal something about their attitude and character.  Jesus had already said in chapter eleven, “Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.” The Pharisees thought that they were better than other people, and they wanted people to see their status.  They wanted to call attention to their status in public settings.

            As fallen sinners, we always face the temptation to think we are better than those around us.  We often have an innate desire to compare ourselves to others.  And we feel better about ourselves when that comparison reveals that we are superior to others in some way.  I have a better job.  I have more money.  I have more education. I have a better house. I get better grades.  I am better at sports.  Feeling good about myself means putting the other person down below me.

            Of course, this strategy can backfire.  Because more often than we would like, there are people who rank higher than we do in these areas.  And when this happens, we begin to covet what they have. We begin to overlook the blessings God has given to us.  We begin to get irritated with God because he isn’t giving us all that we think he should.

            Instead of this, Jesus offers a different way as he says: “But 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.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

            Jesus says that we are to choose the lowest place – the place of least honor.  Yet this action actually produces the opposite result. Choosing the least honored position leads to being honored.  As Jesus says at the end of our text, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

            Now this probably sounds counter intuitive – foolish even.  Yet remember that this is a parable. There is far more here than meets the eye because of the One who is speaking these words.  Jesus Christ is the One who humbled himself for you. He was numbered with the transgressors for you in spite of the fact that he had no sin. He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, in order to redeem you – in order to free you from sin.

            Jesus humbled himself all the way into a sealed tomb.  And then, God exalted him.  On the third day he raised Christ from the dead in the resurrection that will one day be yours.  He freed you from death because death cannot hold onto you.  Instead the New Testament calls it “sleep.” For those in Christ, it is no more threatening that an afternoon nap. God exalted Jesus Christ to his right hand.  He is the risen and ascended Lord who will return on the Last Day and raise your body from the dead. Death has already lost. That victory is yours in Christ.

            Yet for those who are in Christ through baptism, Jesus’ words do not only describe what the Lord had done for us. After all, Jesus speaks them to those present at the meal.  He describes a pattern of life that results from his own humble service for us.

            In the parable of Pharisee and the tax collector we heard about the tax collector who standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  Jesus concluded that parable by saying, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

            Because Jesus humbled himself for us and is now exalted, the humility of repentance and confession of sin leads to the exaltation of forgiveness and justification.  We confess our sin in the confidence that because of Jesus it leads to the status of being a saint in God’s eyes.  It leads to the exaltation of being a justified Christian who is ready now for the judgment of the Last Day.

            And Jesus’ words this morning also describe a way of life that is produced by our Lord’s humility and exaltation.  It is a way of life that follows in the footsteps of our Lord. This means that we humble ourselves in the service of others. We willingly choose the lower place for the sake of others.

            For those in elementary, middle school and high school, this means showing kindness and acceptance towards those who are not popular – towards those who have no status in the social hierarchy of school.  For adults it means showing kindness and assistance towards those who can’t do anything for us.

            This sounds wasteful.  It sounds foolish.  But it is the way of the Christian life that follows Jesus.  Our Lord has already walked this way for us in order to reconcile us to God and give us the status of being saints.  He did this to free us from the clutch of death.  And he has already shown us were it leads as we follow our Lord.  As he says, today, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity - Lk 7:11-17

                                                                                    Trinity 16

                                                                                    Lk 7:11-17

                                                                                    10/1/17

            There are tragedies that shake a whole community and bring it together in support someone in their midst.  At the end of July in Beecher, IL Lindsey Schmidt was driving her children to VBS.  A member at Trinity Lutheran in Crete she had her three boys – all six years old and younger – with her.  Lindsey was pregnant with their fourth child.  As they were going to church, the driver of a pickup truck ran through a stop sign and slammed into the family’s Subaru.  Lindsey and all of the children were killed.  Her husband Eddie had to bury his entire family.

            In its first century setting, the scene that Jesus encounters in our Gospel lesson was a similar tragedy that shook a community and brought it together in support of a woman.  We learn that Jesus and his disciples, along with a great crowd that was travelling with Jesus, arrived at the city of Nain. At the city gate they encountered another considerable crowd that was leaving the city.

            Luke tells us that this was a funeral procession.  His description soon explains why a good sized crowd had gathered.  The only son of a woman had died.  Then Luke adds: “and she was a widow.”  The woman’s husband had previously died.  As I mentioned last week, widows were among the most vulnerable people in the ancient world. With no husband to support them, the only people they could count on to provide for them were their children.

            In this case, the woman had only one child – a son. This was surprising.  The Old Testament taught God’s people to view children as a blessing.  Large families were typical.  For some reason, this woman apparently had only one child. He would have been extremely precious to her.  And the fact that he was a son was a great blessing, because after the death of his father he would be able to help care for and support his mother.  Yet now, this only son had died.  The woman’s husband was dead.  Her one son was dead.  She was left with no one.  Others at Nain saw the tragedy and so a considerable crowd was accompanying her to the burial site.

            We are told that when Jesus saw her, he had compassion on the woman and said, “Don’t weep.”  Our Lord’s compassion – his care for this woman – is a great comfort that we find in this text.  He sees what the sin of a fallen world has done to her; he sees what death has done to her, and he is moved.  He is moved by care and concern.

            This compassion – this care and concern – is the same thing that Jesus Christ directs towards you.    Our Lord sees all of the ways that sin manifests itself in your life.  He sees the ways that your selfish actions damage the relationships in your family.  He sees the ways that you disobey God’s ordering of the world, and the harm you incur upon yourself by doing so.  He sees all of the ways that the presence of sin in the world and your life causes pain and suffering.  And he has compassion on you.

            Now compassion is one thing.  No doubt, many of the people who accompanied this poor woman in the funeral procession felt compassion for her.  It is certainly appreciated. But for the most part, it also really doesn’t do you all that much good. And that is where we see in our text that Jesus is different. For we are told, “Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’

And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”  Jesus has compassion.  And then he also has the power to do something about it. He raised the son from the dead and gave him back alive to his mother.

            Naturally the crowd – both the people following Jesus and those in the funeral procession – were amazed.  We learn that “Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ‘God has visited his people!’”

            In our text the people call Jesus a great prophet. But here’s the thing about prophets that Luke’s Gospel wants us to recognize: they suffer and die.  Immediately after our text we are told that from prison John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  John was a prophet. He had prepared the way for Jesus who was now carrying out his own ministry. And yet John the Baptist sat in Herod’s prison because he had spoken the truth to Herod.

            Our Lord answered: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”   Jesus said that he was the One sent by God. His raising of the widow’s son demonstrated this.  But he also told John that the way God was working through Jesus probably didn’t look like what John expected.

            It didn’t because Jesus was a prophet too – the final and great prophet like Moses whom God had promised.  This meant that suffering and death was the path for Jesus as well.  On his way to Jerusalem Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.”

            Because Jesus Christ had compassion on us he journeyed to the cross.  He went because it was only by going through the suffering and death of the cross that he could provide the answer to sin that you and I need.  It was only by offering himself as the sacrifice for sin that he could win us forgiveness.  It was only by passing through death and then rising on the third day that he could defeat sin’s final outcome and give us resurrection life.

            In our text we see that Jesus has compassion on the woman. He restores life to her son at the same time that John the Baptist is in prison.  Our Lord gives the son life and then also tells John, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

            Jesus Christ leaves no doubt that he is the One in whom the kingdom of God – the reign of God – has broken into this fallen, sinful world. He is the One who has compassion on us and he has done something about it.  He is the One who has secured the victory for us, even as we await the final consummation.

            This sets before us a reality of the Christian life that we cannot avoid. We have not yet escaped this fallen world. We haven’t even yet fully escaped the fallenness in ourselves.  When we look around us we see tragedies and injustice and suffering. When we look inside ourselves we see doubt and jealousy and anger. The old Adam is still there doing his best to resist the new man created by the work of the Holy Spirit. The devil wants us to focus on these things. He wants us to let these define the way we see our life and world.

            But this is a lie.  It is a deception.  These things do not change the fact that in Christ the victory has been won.  We are not what we were before.  We are a new creation in Christ. We are a royal priesthood.  We are saints. 

            And it does not change the fact that the Spirit has not only created new life, but also sustains that life as we struggle against the old Adam. It is the Spirit by whom we are able to cry, "Abba! Father!”  It is the Spirit himself ho bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.  And indeed when we do not know what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

            Jesus says, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me,” even as he looks upon us with compassion.  In our text Jesus speaks to the woman as he says, “Don’t cry.”  Then he approaches the funeral bier and applies his life giving touch.  Our Lord continues to speak to us through his Word.  He speaks the comfort of his victory for us.  He speaks his love and care. 

            And he touches us through the gift of his Sacrament.  His body and blood, given and shed for us, touches us and in doing so he forgives and strengthens.  He bears witness to the certainty of our resurrection and transformation because as he said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

            In our text today the people exclaim, “God has visited his people!”  These are our words too. They are because the incarnate Son died on the cross for us and rose from the dead on the third day.  They are because he continues to visit us through his Means of Grace as the Spirit creates and sustains faith.  These facts now define how we view life.

            There are times we don’t understand why things happen.  There are great tragedies like what happened to the Schmidt family in Beecher.  There is pain and suffering and heartache.  When we encounter these, our answer is to turn in faith to Jesus Christ. We turn to the One in whom God visited his people with salvation.  We turn to the One who by his own resurrection has overcome death itself. We turn to the One who not only had compassion on us and but did something about it to give us comfort in the present and a living hope for future.