Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity - Jn 4:46-54

                                                                                    Trinity 21

                                                                                    Jn 4:46-54

                                                                                    10/21/18

            When we brought Timothy home from the hospital, I was struck by an amazing reality.  Here was little human being that was completely dependent on us.  Having children changes things – and in God’s ordering of creation it is meant to do so.  Children reorient our life away from ourselves and toward another.

            Most parents, I think, feel the sense that their child’s needs come before their own.  We will make sacrifices for them in order to support and nurture them.  It’s not as if there isn’t joy in that process, but the fact remains that on a regular basis the parent is putting the needs a child before him or herself.

            If that is the case in the normal circumstances of life, it becomes all the more a driving force when they are seriously ill. As parents we will do anything necessary – everything possible – in order to see that our child recovers and is healthy.

            This fact explains the situation that we find in our Gospel lesson today.  John begins by telling us: “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

            Jesus had been in the southern part of Palestine – in Judea. Now he had passed through Samaria as he made his way back to Galilee in the north.  He arrived at Cana, where previously he had worked his first miracle by turning water into wine at a wedding banquet.

            We learn that in Capernaum there was an official – someone in the service of King Herod Antipas – whose son was ill and about to die. When he learned that Jesus had come to Galilee, he went to our Lord. It’s sixteen miles from Capernaum to Cana. Fever ridden, there was no way he could bring his son to Jesus.  So instead he made the journey to see Jesus by himself.  Of course he did.  As his son’s life hung in the balance, he saw in Jesus a chance to save him.

            When he arrived at Cana, the official finally had the opportunity to request Jesus’ help.  We learn that was asking Jesus to come down to Capernaum and heal his son.  Luke uses a Greek tense that indicates the repeated and insistent nature of the request. The father was desperate to save his son.

             So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  It’s not what we expect.  It seems like a harsh response from our Lord.  It could have been the occasion to discourage the father, or even anger him.

            When we face challenges and difficulties in life, we do the same thing as the official. We turn to God and ask for help.  Sometimes it seems like God is silent.  Sometimes it seems like God is almost rebuking us because the exact opposite of our prayers happens and things get worse. The response of our old Adam - the sinful nature that still drags us down – is to turn away from God; to give up hope in him; to get angry with him.

            Yet Jesus was not rejecting or ignoring the man, just as our heavenly Father is not doing this to us. Instead, our Lord was leading the man from superficial hope – a last ditch effort if you will – to real faith. What you can’t see in English is that Jesus’ statement is expressed in the plural.  It was not spoken only to the official, but instead is a general statement addressed to all there.  It described a spiritual problem, and at the same time by pointing it out, Jesus led beyond this to real faith.

            The official did not turn away.  Instead, he asked Jesus directly: “Sir, come down before my child dies.”  He asked Jesus to come back to Capernaum with him and heal his son. Yet Jesus didn’t do this.  Instead Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”

            Jesus didn’t give the man what he wanted. He didn’t go with him back to Capernaum.  Instead, he gave the official what he needed.  He gave him a word that dealt not with mere healing, but instead one that led to faith. For John tells us, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.”

            The man believed the word Jesus spoke to him, and so he headed back towards Capernaum.  He began the sixteen mile journey home.  He believed Jesus’ word.  Yet all he had was faith in Jesus’ word. He had no way of knowing whether healing had taken place or would take place. Instead, sustained by that faith in Jesus’ word he made his way toward Capernaum.

            That is how we live as Christians.  We have Jesus’ word of promise the he loves and cares for us. But very often the only things that seem to be concrete and certain are the difficulties that we know exist. There are several among us who have cancer.  There are those who grieve because of losses they have experienced.  There are those who experience worry and anxiety about what the future holds.  These things are there.  Yet Jesus’ word calls us to faith.  It calls us to believe and trust in him as we journey in life.

            That’s what the official was doing as he made his way back to Capernaum. Yet we learn in our text that as he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” And the father knew that was the exact hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”

            John concludes our text by saying, “And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.”  Before, the man had believed Jesus’ word about healing.  Yet know John simply says that the official “believed.”  The experience had led him to a firm faith in Jesus Christ. And it had not just done this for him.  It had done this for his whole household as well.

            The official made his way back to Capernaum, and as he did so he was met by his servants who reported that his son was healed.  This experience led him and his household to faith.  You and I don’t live in first century Palestine.  We can’t have this same experience. So what is the basis for our believing? How does God sustain us in the faith?

            John is telling us by the way he introduces and concludes our Gospel lesson.  He begins by saying, “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.” Then he ends it with the words, “This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” 

            John is leading us to see our text in relation to Jesus’ first miracle when he turned water into wine at Cana.  After narrating that miracle, John adds, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

            Like the first miracle at Cana, this second one in our Gospel lesson is a sign that manifests Jesus’ glory.  His glory is that of God himself, because Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.  John had said of the incarnation in the first chapter, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

            The signs reveal Jesus’ glory.  But John lets us know that they all point to the great sign of the Gospel.  They all point to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Holy Week Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” The John adds, “He said this to show” – literally, “to sign” – “by what kind of death he was going to die.”

            Jesus’ signs point us to his death and resurrection.  Jesus gave himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But he also showed on Easter that his is the resurrection and the life.  In the resurrection, Jesus has provided the saving action that gives us faith.  He has given us the event that provides confidence in the present. We are able to make the journey in faith because we have faith in the risen Lord.

            After providing the account of what happened on Easter, John says, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  The signs of the Gospel, and especially in the sign of Jesus’ death and resurrection ground our faith in Jesus; they sustain our faith in Jesus. And this caries us through the journey of life.

            This sign of the resurrection of Jesus is a witness that God’s Spirit continues to provide to us.  Jesus told his disciples, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  He said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

            The Spirit borne witness to the resurrection of Jesus provides the signs that cause us to believe.  He gives the sign that sustain us in faith. This is the witness that God himself gives to us, and so there can be nothing more sure.  In fact in John’s first letter he says that we dare not ignore or reject it.  There he wrote, “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

            Because of faith in the Son of God we already have life now.  We have life with God.  We have eternal life.  This is the life of the risen Lord who gave himself for us so that we can live with him.  And so we are able to face the challenges of the present in faith.

           

  

Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist

Today is the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist. According to Colossians 4:14, Luke was a physician.  He joined Paul during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:9-11) and accompanied him during several portions of his travels.  He traveled with Paul to Jerusalem and was with him during the two years that he was imprisoned in Caesarea (Acts 21-26).  It is likely that Luke used this time to gather material he used in writing the Gospel of Luke.  Luke wrote the Book of Acts as the second volume that accompanies the Gospel of Luke (Acts 1:1-2).  More than one-third of the New Testament was written by Luke.

Scripture reading:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:1-9 ESV)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, our Father, Your blessed Son called Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul.  Grant that the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments may put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Commemoration of Ignatius of Antioch, Pastor and Martyr

Today we remember and give thanks for Ignatius of Antioch, Pastor and Martyr.  Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in Syria at the beginning of the second century A.D. and an early Christian martyr. Near the end of the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan (98–117), Ignatius was arrested, taken in chains to Rome, and eventually thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. On the way to Rome, he wrote letters to the Christians at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna, and also to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. In the letters, which are beautifully pastoral in tone, Ignatius warned against certain heresies (false teachings). He also repeatedly stressed the full humanity and deity of Christ, the reality of Christ’s bodily presence in the Lord’s Supper, the authority of the bishop, and the unity of the Church found in her bishops. Ignatius was the first to use the word catholic to describe the universality of the Church. His Christ-centeredness, his courage in the face of martyrdom, and his zeal for the truth over against false doctrine are a lasting legacy to the Church. 

Collect of the  Day:

Almighty God, we praise Your name for Ignatius of Antioch, pastor and martyr.  He offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts so that he might present to You the pure bread of sacrifice.  Accept the willing tribute of all that we are and all that we have, and give us a portion in the pure and unspotted offering of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity - Mt 22:1-14

                                                                                                Trinity 20

                                                                                                Mt 22:1-14

                                                                                                10/14/18

            The television series “St. Elsewhere” ran for six seasons from 1982 to 1988.  It told the story of doctors, nurses and staff at the urban Boston teaching hospital St. Eligius.  The show had a strong ensemble cast that included actors such as Denzel Washington.  It had critical success, earning thirteen Emmy awards for its writing, acting and directing.

            I remember it as an interesting show that I enjoyed watching … until the very end of the very last episode. Like all television series St. Elsewhere eventually came to an end.  Viewers tuned in to the last episode to see how the show would bring all of the stories lines to a conclusion. What they saw was surprising and disappointing.  In the very last scene they learned that St. Eligius was actually a miniature building in a snow globe that an autistic boy looked at, and that the entire series had apparently been nothing more than the working of his own imagination.  Nothing the viewer had watched for the last six years had actually happened. 

            The ending to Jesus’ parable this morning is also surprising, and doesn’t seem like a particularly satisfying one.  Just when things seem to have turned out well, we learn about a very bad outcome, and then it ends.  Yet in fact, the parable is an encouraging word about God’s grace that we have received through Jesus Christ.  And it is also a reminder that God’s grace produces a life of faith in believers.

            The parable in the Gospel lesson this morning is actually the third in a series of three parables that Jesus told during Holy Week, and by the time we arrive at our parable it is quite clear what is happening.

            First Jesus told about a man who had two sons.  He told them both to go and work in his vineyard. The first said he wouldn’t, but then later changed his mind and did. The second said he would, but didn’t actually do it. Our Lord asked the Jewish religious leaders, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They responded that the first did. And Jesus then said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” Jesus told the leaders that believing tax collectors and prostitutes would be saved rather than the supposedly reputable who rejected.

            Next Jesus told a parable about a vineyard. The owner leased it to tenants and went to live in another country.   When it was time to harvest the fruit he sent servants to get his share.  However the tenants beat and killed them.  So the owner sent his own son, and they killed him too.  Our Lord asked, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

            Jesus responded, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”

            Now in our text, Jesus tells a third parable.  He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.”  This was not just any wedding banquet.  It was for the king’s son.  And we need to recognize that these people had not just been invited.  They had indicated that they were coming. All was now ready, and that is why the king was sending servants to tell them to come.  However, the people had the audacity to refuse.

            Yet surprisingly, the king still wanted them to come.  In fact he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”  The king sent more servants urging them to come to the sumptuous meal he had prepared.

            However they paid no attention as they went off to their field and business. The rest even seized the king’s servants, mistreated them and killed them.  Finally, enough was enough. The king was enraged, and sent his army which destroyed those people and burned their city.

            Next, the king said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” Jesus added that, “The servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

            After the previous two parables, our Lord’s point is clear.  He is teaching about the kingdom of heaven – that is, the kingdom of God – the reign of God that had arrived in Jesus. God’s saving work was at its critical moment during Holy Week. And yet, the religious leaders were rejecting it. They were rejecting Jesus. We learn in the verse just before our text that they were looking for a way to arrest Jesus.  Very soon they would set in motion a plan to kill him.

            They were rejecting God’s saving work.  Their rejection would bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate, and then to a cross. They would mock him saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

            Jesus showed that he was the faithful Son of God by remaining on the cross. He carried out the Father’s will by dying for your sin.  And then on the third day, the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead.

            Many in Israel may have rejected Jesus. But that could not stop God’s grace.  It could not stop God’s undeserved love.  That’s what this morning’s parable teaches us.  It has now been extended to others. It has been shared with you – with Gentiles who were not part of God’s covenant people. It has been shared with you who are sometimes good, but quite often are among the bad – with you who are sinners.  You have not loved God with all that you are.  You have not loved your neighbor as yourself.  Yet because of Jesus Christ you now have a seat at the feast of salvation – at the marriage feast of the Lamb that has no end.

            However, this morning’s parable does not stop there.  Instead, the ending holds in store a disconcerting surprise.  The king came in to see the guests, and he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless. He was in the wrong and there was no defense that could be made. Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

            The king’s gracious and unexpected invitation had brought the man to the banquet.  Yet now the king ordered him to be bound and thrown out.  It’s not what we expect.  It doesn’t make for a pleasant ending to the parable.  So what is happening here? 

            To answer this we must consider the wedding clothes that the man was not wearing.  In the Scriptures clothes can be used as a metaphor for good and righteous behavior.  The man was at the banquet, but he wasn’t adorned with the wedding clothes that he knew he should be.  In other words, he was receiving the gift of God’s kingdom, yet his life did not in any way reflect this fact. 

            Martin Luther put it this way when he preached on this text: “From this we easily understand what it means that this man was without wedding clothes, namely, that he was without the new finery with which we please God, which is faith in Christ, and thus also without true good works.  He remains in the old rags and tatters of his own fleshly opinion, unbelief and security, without repentance and knowledge of his misery. His heart does not take comfort from the grace of Christ, nor does he improve his life; he seeks nothing more in the Gospel than what the flesh desires.”

            The invitation to the banquet was based solely on the king’s good will.  He sent out his servants to the main roads to invite all they could find – both good and bad.  And so it is that by God’s grace you have received his saving reign.  God has given you forgiveness and salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works.

            But God has not called you to faith so that you can remain the same.  He has called you to live in ways that are produced by faith – ways that are righteous and good.  This is actually no different than when Jesus responded in his second parable, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”

            You are not saved by these things, but where saving faith it present it will do these things.  Jesus Christ put your needs first, and so now put the needs of others before ourselves.  Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for you, and so now make sacrifices for the sake of your husband or wife; your son or daughter; your father or mother.  In these ways faith adorns us with the wedding clothes of those whom God has invited to the banquet.

            In order to make this possible – in order to sustain you in this new way of life – Christ again now invites you to the banquet he hosts here.  He invites you to the foretaste of the feast to come.  He gives you his true body and blood to nourish the new man within in you.  In this way you have the assurance of your place at the feast that will have no end. And by this God enables you to wear wedding clothes here and now.