The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – September 15, 2024

Psalm 86; 1 Kings 17:17-24; Ephesians 3:13-21

St. Luke 7:11-17

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Scriptures speak of three deaths and in turn, our Lord, Jesus Christ, rescues from each of these deaths with resurrection. First, there is temporal death. This is the separation of body and soul. It is the death that we tend to think of, and fear, most. It is the moment when the body ceases to breathe and the soul is separated for a time.

This death comes for all—believers and unbelievers—on account of original sin and the sin which clings to the flesh. Until Christ reveals Himself on the Last Day, everyone experiences temporal death. However, for the unbeliever, this is a terrifying step into the unknown. It is the closing of the eyes to this world and a frightful step into something of which they cannot conceive.

For the Christian, temporal death is a frightening thing until one realizes that Christ has made death a portal. His death has removed the sting of death.[1] We still endure death because of the corrupt nature of our flesh, wrought by sin. This corruptible must put on the incorruptible; the dishonorable must put on the honorable; the weak and natural must put on the powerful and spiritual.[2] We do not face death unknowingly. We know what lies on the other side of temporal death. The holy angels descend to guide our soul to the bosom of Abraham, that is, to the side of Christ.[3] The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made temporal death a sleep for those who die in Christ because “He who believes in Jesus, though he may die, he shall life. And whoever lives and believes in Jesus shall never die.”[4]

Secondly, there is spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God, when the unrepentant and unbelieving are alienated by willful sins from “the life which is of God.”[5] The prodigal son “was dead” in his sinning in the foreign land.[6] All are born dead in your trespasses.[7] Those who are alive in Christ, that is, who have an active and living faith, are still sinners and certainly still sin. However, their faith leads them to hate their sin and desire to be free from it. These holy ones, these Christians, are spiritually alive. Those who are spiritually dead are those who willfully sin against God. They are unrepentant and unbelieving. All mankind is born spiritually dead. We are not born ignorant of God or His holy law. We are born opposed to it; striving against it; and hating God.

And so long as we draw breath on this side of glory, all Christians are tempted to such spiritual death. We are tempted to willfully cast aside God’s Law and His Holy Gospel. We are tempted to cast aside the Savior who bled and died for us. We are tempted to treat His Holy sacrifice as cheap and turn instead toward the indulgence of our flesh. Willful sinning is knowing what God’s Law is and choosing to do the opposite—whether you think it doesn’t matter because “God will just forgive you” or because you don’t believe God is serious. Such willful sinning leads to unrepentance because it isn’t worth repenting of sin that you don’t take seriously.

Finally, there is eternal death. Eternal death is the death awaiting those who are spiritually dead. This is eternal damnation, where the spiritually dead will be eternally separated from God, who is life. This death has two parts. First, there is the suffering of the soul immediately after death. Then, this suffering is intensified when, in the resurrection of all the dead, those eternally damned souls are reunited with their bodies to suffer for all eternity in body and soul.[8]

In Christ, there is life.[9] This Life has promised to rescue in each of the three kinds of death. In Hosea 13, Jesus says, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!”[10] He ransoms, rescues, redeems in the three kinds of death by means of giving life, that is, through resurrection.

Scripture is quite clear that temporal death is the least of the deaths in that it is temporary for everyone. It is still a consequence of sin, but it is the least deadly. Christ’s rescue from temporal death is the physical resurrection of all flesh on the last day. All who are in their graves “…will hear the voice of the Son of God…and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”[11]

Also, to combat this temporal death, Jesus has given His Word, the words of Holy Scripture. These words are given to be used during this temporal life for the instruction, rebuke, warning, exhortation, and consolation of man.[12] These words prepare the soul for temporal death, that the hour of death might be met in peace and joy, strengthened by the Holy Spirit by the Word of God.

From the second death, spiritual death, by which the unrepentant and unbelieving are separated by willful sins from the life found in God alone, we are also rescued by Christ. Because we are born in our sin, we are sinners by birth, and original sin clings to our flesh, we are as good as the dead young man in the reading. He didn’t cry out to Jesus for help. He didn’t accept Jesus into his heart. He didn’t choose Jesus over other gods. Such acts of man’s will to turn toward God are the teaching of the Arminian churches, such as the Methodist Church. They teach that man is born with the power to choose God for Himself. That man was never truly dead in trespasses and sins, only seriously ill. But the Scriptures are clear. The young man of Nain was dead; dead in his trespasses and sins, just as everyone is born spiritually dead and incapable of acting, willing, or choosing to be saved.

The faith given to man is absolutely God’s work alone, just as the resurrection of this young man was the work of Jesus Christ alone. His physical resurrection is a picture of your spiritual resurrection. Just as the young man is raised by the words of Jesus, “Young man, I say to you, arise,” so too your faith is given to you by the Word of God. God works through the means of His Words and those words combined with physical elements in the Holy Sacraments to work faith in you. This faith then receives and clings to the forgiveness won by Jesus Christ on the cross.

This faith receives the benefit of the action of Jesus to deliver you from spiritual death. His death paid the penalty that you owed to God for your state as a sinner. Before you ever took a sinful thought, word, or deed, you had already willfully turned your back on God. Your soul was already spiritually dead and turned against God. The penalty for this sin is death and it is this penalty that the death of Jesus has paid. And so, the resurrection of your soul from spiritual death is entirely the work of God so that you would receive the benefit of the broken and shed Body and Blood of Jesus.

Spiritual death is perhaps the most concerning of the three deaths because it is like a ticking time-bomb. All men are born spiritually dead. Once you experience temporal death, the opportunity for the Word of God to work in your heart has ended and your eternal fate is decided. It is during your temporal life, during your life on this side of glory that the Word of God has the opportunity to work faith in you as well as for you to willfully turn your back on God and return to the filth of your sin. That is why it is essential to be in church every Sunday and every opportunity throughout the week; to read the bible every day; to begin and end each day with the Word of God and prayer; and to focus your life on Christ—that His death and resurrection would be the most important thing in this world for you because it is the most important thing in this world and the next.

Our Lord has also delivered us from the third death, eternal death. He has done this by providing everything we need to endure in the faith until the last day. He died to pay the penalty of our sins, but He rose the third day that we might have life and life to the fullest. He rose for our justification, that we would be declared righteous before the Father.[13] Our penalty is paid, and we are made sons of the heavenly Father, sons who will inherit His everlasting kingdom.[14] This is yours by faith, for it is a promise that you cannot see at this time. It is a promise made by God to all who believe, who hold the faith once delivered by the Holy Spirit and preached week in and week out from this pulpit.[15]

Christ rescues from eternal death by means of resurrection to eternal life. In the resurrection on the last day, you will not be tempted to sin. You will not be inclined toward sin. You won’t even be interested in sin. If that were the case, then it wouldn’t be eternal life. It would be temporary life. Eternal life means you are free from sin in every way. You will not endure sin and you won’t win. Rather, you will be in perfect bliss to enjoy the glory of God in a way not even the angels have been given to understand. You will be in perfect bliss with all the saints who have gone before and who are yet to be baptized. You will know God and see Him with your own eyes.[16]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] 1 Corinthians 15:55.

[2] 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.

[3] St. Luke 16:22; 23:43.

[4] St. John 11:25-26.

[5] Ephesians 4:18.

[6] St. Luke 15:32.

[7] Colossians 2:13.

[8] St. John 5:25-29.

[9] Colossians 3:4; St. John 1:4.

[10] Hosea 13:14.

[11] St. John 5:25-29.

[12] 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4.

[13] Romans 4:25.

[14] Galatians 3:7, 26; 4:1-7; Ephesians 1:5.

[15] Jude 1:3.

[16] Job 19:27.

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – October 2, 2022

Psalm 86; 1 Kings 17:17-24; Ephesians 3:13-21

St. Luke 7:11-17

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When comparing prayers written 500 or more years ago to those written in recent decades, you’ll notice many differences. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Language develops over time. And even if the general temptations and afflictions experienced are common to all men at all times, the specifics certainly change.

There is, however, one area in which we should pay more attention to the prayers of our distant forefathers than even our grandparents. I speak of prayers concerning suffering and death. Hear the words of our hymn of the day, The Will of God is Always Best, written in the 16^th century:

Lord, this I ask, O hear my plea, Deny me not this favor;

      When Satan sorely troubles me,

            Then do not let me waver.

      O guard me well, My fear dispel, Fulfill Your faithful saying:

            “All who believe By grace receive An answer to their praying.” [1]

Notice that in this hymn, we did not pray that God would remove the suffering or temptation. Whenever Satan troubles us—and in whatever way he might do so—we prayed that God would not let us waver from the faith He has given us. It is a prayer against losing faith in the face of suffering and temptation.

Then, we prayed that God would guard us and remove our fear. Finally, we prayed that God would fulfill the promise He has given us. He has said that the prayers of all who believe will be answered and, in this hymn, we are holding God to His promise.[2]

Our prayer continues in the fourth stanza:

When life’s brief course on earth is run And I this world am leaving,

      Grant me to say, “Your will be done,” Your faithful Word believing.

My dearest Friend, I now commend My soul into Your keeping;

      From sin and hell, And death as well, By You the vict’ry reaping.[3]

The topic of our prayer has shifted from suffering and temptation to death. Notice that our prayer is not for one more day, a miracle, or even for a peaceful end. By praying “grant me to say, ‘Your will be done,’ we are asking that God would again keep us steadfast in the faith once delivered in the face of death. We are begging God to give us the faith necessary to face the dreadful end of our life on this side of glory.

Our prayer ended by commending our souls to God’s care. It is only by His death and resurrection that the victory over sin and hell, and death as well, is given to us. We can ask God as our dearest Friend because He has come to us and brought us into His home through faith. He alone has the power to conquer death and He has called you His own. Why trust the greatest cancer doctor Mayo has to offer when he is powerless against death? Instead, see that God has given great gifts of healing to doctors but it is the Almighty alone that determines the days of your life. He alone will welcome you into the glory of heaven when the number of your days has come to an end. He alone has won the victory over Satan and the grave.

Hear now, a modern prayer, written on behalf of those experiencing serious illness:

O Lord, You are the great Physician of soul and body; You chasten and You heal. Show mercy to Your servant. Spare his life and restore his strength. Even as You gave Your Son to bear our infirmities and sicknesses, deal compassionately with him, and bless him with Your healing power. We commit him to Your gracious mercy and protection; through Jesus Christ, our Lord…[4]

In this prayer, we are asking for God’s mercy, to spare the life of the afflicted, to restore his strength, that God would deal compassionately with the afflicted, and that God would bless him with God’s healing power. Finally, we commend the afflicted to God’s gracious mercy and protection.

There is nothing heretical or false about this prayer. It is published in the Pastoral Care Companion, the small booklet designed for pastors to use on visits for the purpose of individual pastoral care. There does, however, seem to be something missing.

The modern prayer makes no mention of receiving the affliction in faith. It seems to assume that the affliction is contrary to God’s will for the Christian. Strictly speaking, prayers are not written for the purpose of teaching. They are written for the purpose of asking God for something. But our faith is shaped by the words of our mouth and the actions of our body just as much as our words and actions are shaped by our faith.

The temptation in omitting prayers to receive suffering in faith is to believe the goal of this life is to avoid suffering. The sin in this temptation is elevating the avoidance of pain, suffering, and even death, to the highest good. None is good but God alone.[5] The highest good is God, and Him taking on your flesh and dying in your place so that you might receive His life. Modern Western medicine has made this a daily temptation so that we seek constant and permanent relief from every pain. There is always a prescription, doctor, specialist, or surgery for what ails you. And if there isn’t, if you are deemed to be terminal, then there is medication to render you unconscious and unfeeling until the medicine itself finally stops your heart and lungs.

When the goal of life is to avoid suffering, it leaves no room for repentance. If pain, suffering, and death are only medical conditions, they are not the result of sin. If they are not the result of sin, then we have no need for God to remove them. Suddenly, God is only necessary when we choose to do something we think is evil. We must repent of this idolatry. All pain, all suffering, all illnesses, and death are the result of sin. God allows the suffering of His dear children so that we would never forget the severity of our sin. He allows these things so that we would repent of our sins and cling ever more tightly to Christ our Savior.

When our prayers are only focused on God ending our suffering or making it more palatable, we forget that God is a loving Father who chastens those whom He loves. We forget that the just outcome of our lives is misery and eternal death. We forget that it is only by grace that God delivers us from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and finally, when our last hour has come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven.[6]

It is not sinful to ask God to remove suffering, temptation, or grief. St. Paul does this three times concerning a particular messenger of Satan sent to torment him.[7] The Lord refuses to remove this temptation, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” These words cause St. Paul to gladly boast in his infirmities for he knows that God is sending them so that he would be turned away from his own sin. He rejoices in suffering and temptation because it means that he is saved not by his own flesh but by the death of Christ. When Paul is weak, Christ is strong.

Thus we have the words of today’s hymn. We are reminded to pray that God would uphold us in the faith to which He has called us. When you are suffering sickness, pain, despair, or shame, turn to God and pray that He would not let you fall; that your flesh would not succumb to this temptation such that you would lose your soul to eternal death; and if it should be the will of God to remove you from this vale of tears, thanks be to God that He has ended your suffering and brought you home to Him in heaven.

When our Lord arrives in Nain, He interrupts a funeral procession. The mother of the boy is weeping loudly. This could be an indication of the Near Eastern practice of funeral mourning or simply an expression of her grief, but it is certainly weeping and wailing as though there is no hope. Christ bids her stop her weeping. This is not a commandment against grief, it is a commandment against wailing as though death were the greatest enemy, the greatest affliction of man.

Jesus has compassion on this grieving mother.[8] He sees her pain and it moves Him to express His love for her. Stopping the pallbearers, Jesus touches the coffin. He touches the instrument of burial, the mode of transportation carrying this young man from life to death, and He says, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”[9] Immediately, the boy sat up and began to speak.

Jesus was indicating to the crowd that this instrument of burial has no power in the presence of Christ. Jesus is foreshadowing His own death, by which the grave no longer has dominion over man. Jesus will take the place of this young man and conquer death on his behalf. Christ will rise again, just as this young man rose, but the resurrection of Christ endures forever. By His death, the victory has been won on your behalf. By His resurrection, eternity has been given to you.

The coffin is no longer the final resting place of this young man nor anyone who dies in Christ. The tomb is now a cemetery, a word that literally means “sleeping place.”[10] The young man hears the word of the Lord and immediately sits up and speaks the praises of God. Scripture is silent as to what the young man said, but I believe he immediately began singing the Sanctus, the Gloria in Excelsis, or another of the songs sung in heaven. He immediately went from praising God in heaven to praising God in the flesh.

So, when you suffer, pray that God would remove the affliction. Pray that God would hear your prayer and answer it just as He has promised. But do not forget to pray for the most important thing—that God would sustain you through this affliction in the one true faith; that God would grant you the strength to persevere through the affliction, as long as it is His will that you would be afflicted; that God would continue to show mercy to you by bringing to your remembrance that this world is fleeting in the eyes of eternity.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Albrecht von Preussen, The Will of God is Always Best, stanza 3, as found in Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 758.

[2] St. John 14:12-14.

[3] Preussen, The Will of God is Always Best, stanza 4.

[4] The Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, “Prayer 254 alt.,” Pastoral Prayer Companion (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), 199.

[5] St. Matthew 19:17.

[6] Martin Luther, “The Lord’s Prayer: The Seventh Petition,” The Small Catechism.

[7] 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

[8] St. Luke 7:13.

[9] St. Luke 7:14.

[10] “Κοιμητήριον [koi-mā-TĀ-rion] – bedroom, place of rest.” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd edition, revised and edited by Frederick William Danker [Commonly known as BDAG] (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), 551. 

The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – September 25, 2022

Psalm 86; 1 Kings 17:8-16; Galatians 5:25-6:10

St. Matthew 6:24-34

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The most destructive lies tell mostly the truth. One modern lie that uses this tactic so effectively is to take something that is black and white and claim it is a spectrum. You are either a man or a woman. There is no spectrum between these two options.

The flipside of this lie is also true, that is, taking something that is a spectrum and turning it into a binary. Republicans are good and Democrats are evil. Democrats are good and Republicans are evil. These statements are false even by our own ideals (that voting records and stances on issues are the most important factor) and yet seeing a certain letter next to someone’s name inevitably taints our view of him.

Satan would use the same lie on today’s text. He would have you believe that anxiety is a spectrum, that is, it is alright to be anxious for the right reasons. It is not a sin to be anxious is you have a diagnosis. Worrying is part of adult life.

Satan would also apply this lie to mammon. He would have you believe that seeking excessive wealth is certainly a sin but in order to get by in this life, you must focus on beating the next guy. ‘He who dies with the most toys wins.’ What’s more, Satan uses this lie on Christians with greater deception. He says that since children are a gift from God, their happiness is more important than regular attendance at church. He would have you believe that your brother’s name on a membership role is more important than his attendance at the Divine Service.

Christ is calling us to recognize mammon for what it is. Mammon is a gift of God. It is something you have been given to use. All types of mammon have been given to you to use to the glory of God and the benefit of your neighbor.

There is a medieval distinction between that which is to be used and that which is to be enjoyed. All things in creation have been given to man to be used. Only God is to be enjoyed. Certainly, you can find pleasure in the sound of the songbirds or the beauty of the lilies, but the idea is that you do not enjoy them for their own sake. You may find enjoyment in bird, lilies, fine food or drink only because these have been given to you from God. You find enjoyment in the Giver. You use the gift to find enjoyment in God.

It is so easy for us to place our fulfillment, our joy, our love on things of this world. Mammon includes money, possessions, reputation, and even relationships. Why set your heart on temporal things when they are so fleeting and trivial? The most difficult aspect of love is calling your beloved to repentance. But you endure this frightful difficulty for her sake. By calling her to repentance, you are drawing her into eternity. You are serving her eternal soul that you might enjoy the bliss of heaven together, forever. A little temporal suffering is worth an eternity of bliss.

Our Lord clearly defines what is at stake. He says that the heathen seeks after temporal gain.[1] He is saying that to set your heart on temporal things is the same as rejecting your Savior. One who places his fear, love, or trust in anything but God is committing idolatry and is in danger of hellfire. The heathen naturally concerns himself with temporal things because he knows nothing else. We Christians have the promise of eternal glory. We have the promise of eternal life with Christ. We have the promise of a heavenly mansion prepared for us by the Son of God, and any promise given by God is as certain as though it were already in your hand.

Why then do we worry over trifling things? We worry because of sin. We worry because our faith is frail and fragile. We worry because we refuse to see the promises of God. It is true. You cannot walk out those doors and see a mansion in the sky with your name on it. What you can do is open your bible and see what God has said to you. You can look to the Baptismal font and see that your sins have been washed away. You can look to the altar and see the image of Christ dying for your sins and the reality of His holy Body and precious Blood given to you that your body and soul would be strengthened and preserved unto life everlasting.

What you can do is come to your heavenly Father in prayer and tell Him that you are anxious. You can come to Him and beg that He grant you peace and pardon. Jesus died that you would have rest, not further anxiety. Jesus died that you would have peace with God and with your neighbor, which includes yourself. Jesus died that you would have eternal joy with Him. What God ordains is always good.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This insight is drawn from Johann Gerhard, Postilla, Volume 2, translated by O. Marc Tangner (Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 2007), 163.

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – July 10, 2022

Psalm 27; Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 8:18-23

St. Luke 6:36-42

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today’s portion of the Sermon on the Plain presents the climax of the Sermon. Jesus speaks to His disciples concerning the way they are to live—that is, how they are to imitate God. Today, we will view this text as four discreet sayings of Jesus, and then unite them in a conclusion.[1]

1. “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” This word for “merciful” is very rare in the New Testament. It is not the request of the beggar when a powerful man comes riding into town. It is also not the word we repeat at the beginning of every Divine Service, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” Rather, this word is primarily influenced by the Old Testament. It is the word used in describing God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”[2]

This mercy is a description of God. The simplest definition of mercy is not giving someone the punishment he deserves. The mercy in today’s reading describes first the emotion of grief or sorrow at the misfortune or death of a man and then the sympathetic movement of one’s heart to help the one in need. God not only refrains from the punishment due to man in the Fall, but He is moved by love to take on the flesh of man. In this way, He can sympathize with our low estate. This sympathy moves Him to do something about our deathly condition. He joins Himself to us such that He takes on our punishment. He sees His own righteousness and delivers it to sinful man. The God who cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, sympathizes with man, and dies for him.

This is the mercy we are called to show to our fellow man and the mercy we are so terribly at showing. There is certainly generosity and kindness in the world but there is far more hatred and spite. Friendships built over decades often grow cold in an instant. Marriages that outwardly appear strong are torn apart in one night of careless anger. Human nature is not only incapable of expressing such divine mercy—it is hostile to it.

Even for the Christian, this is difficult. Think about how hard it is for someone to please you but how easily you are offended. Or how many times you expect your wife to read your mind and how quickly you are angry when she can’t. This is not mercy. It is spite, vindictiveness, and cruelty.

2. “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” These commands of Jesus are among the most misunderstood words of Holy Scripture to be found. Much like being merciful, Christ is calling us to imitate our Heavenly Father in these commands, but He is not calling us to imitate Him to the same divine degree. Put another way, do not judge the eternal fate of others and your eternal fate will not be judged. Do not condemn the eternal soul of others and your eternal soul will not be condemned. Forgive others their trespasses against you, and you too will be forgiven.

These commands are against making claims to the eternal fate of others. They are not commands against judgments and condemnations of those actions and beliefs God has judged and condemned in His Word. Rather, it is a call to remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to you. Calling on your Heavenly Father to damn a man He has bled and died for just because you are angry with him is a terrible blasphemy. Such rage and spite are easy for the perverse human nature, but it will do nothing but harm your own soul. Giving in to the temptation to wish the damnation of your neighbor is giving in to Satan and slapping Jesus in the face.

But there is a strange comfort in these words as well. No matter the condition of the world; no matter the hatred shown to you and the church by the city, state, or even your relatives; no matter the harm that has come to you on account of your faith—God will have vengeance. It is not your duty to determine the eternal fate of your neighbor. It is not even your duty to determine the eternal fate of your children. That is the duty of God alone.

What is given to you is to forgive. Forgive those who persecute you and turn the other cheek such that you would imitate the God who died for you. Such forgiveness is not what grants you salvation, but it is a necessary consequence of your salvation. When you forgive, you know that you have been forgiven.

If you struggle to forgive, pray for the strength to forgive and know that even the desire to forgive is a holy thing. The struggle you feel is the struggle between the Holy Ghost and your Old Adam. This struggle will last until you draw your final breath on this side of glory. If you had no desire to forgive, Satan and your Old Adam would have already won the struggle. There would be no conflict.

3. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” There are so many temptations in our age that it is difficult to name the greatest. We live in such prosperity it is almost insufficient to call material wealth and possessions a temptation. Rather, materialism is our default position. The frustration and difficulties we experience when the electricity goes out, the internet slows to a crawl, or the AC breaks down reveal how fragile we are.

It is this fragility that leads us to trust in material things. If we know that our electricity is prone to going out once or twice a year, it is more important to have a generator or two than to learn how to live without electricity. Internet slow? Better increase the speed (and the bill) rather than use it less. I’m using somewhat frivolous examples of modern conveniences, but the Holy Ghost who dwells within you is smart enough to find the deeper temptations of your heart—those fears you hold higher than God which prevent you from giving freely.

As for the measure, you must understand that Christ is promising to give you an unfair measure. He is promising to pack it down and overflow the cup which He will give to you. He is also comparing this to the measure which you use to give to one another. This giving is not strictly financial. In fact, it could apply to everything that has come before—mercy, compassion, patience, and forgiveness, as well as material giving. There are many in need in our world, all you have to do is open your eyes to find them. It is also entirely possible to give to someone who is not impoverished but who could use a gift—a gift of sentiment, forgiveness, patience, or mercy.

4. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” This parable is clearly hyperbolic but is not difficult to understand. Before claiming to judge the faults of your brother or sister in Christ, reflect upon your own faults. Beg for the mercy and forgiveness of God before you beg the repentance of your neighbor.

Very rarely do I use personal examples in sermons, but when my Beloved and I were going through pre-marital classes with our pastor, he told us that the worst fights in marriage occur when you are thinking about how she hurt you. This is the single greatest piece of advice we have ever received, and it is rooted in this parable. Before accusing your husband of being lazy because his shoes are in the middle of the floor, remember that you left the dishes until morning because you were tired last night. Then, remind him to put his shoes away because you both desire a tidy home.

The parable does not forbid calling your brother to repentance. Rather, it teaches us to first repent of our own sins that we might see the sin of our brother clearly and call him to repentance in love and mercy. It is a loving act to call someone to repentance because it means you are concerned over his eternal soul. Such a call to repentance is not to be made in a moment of anger or frustration but should be done in love. Therefore, you must first examine your own conscience. You must recognize that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.

5. “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” There is no mistaking that today’s text is full of God’s Holy Law, that is, God’s eternal Will for our lives. Christ is instructing all who would be His disciples. This instruction necessarily carries with it the accusation that you do not live up to this standard. You are not and will never be as merciful as your Heavenly Father on this side of glory and yet that is the standard to which you have been called.

Throughout history, many have seen this as unfair. Such a conclusion leads to either disregarding God’s Law as unimportant or unnecessary. Others have concluded that God would never command something we are incapable of doing, leading to a belief that man must work his way to salvation.

The truth of the Scriptures is neither. The truth is that you have been called to become merciful, to become holy just as your heavenly Father is merciful and holy. This is done first in recognizing that you are not merciful or holy. You cannot be merciful and holy on your own. You must recognize your inadequacy before God. This is repentance. You must first receive the mercy and holiness of God. You must first receive Jesus and the sacrifice He has made in your place.

Then, you must submit to the will of the Father. By this I mean you must recognize that God’s ways are not your own, but they are in fact better than your own. Seeing the fault in your own flesh, desire and seek the mercy and holiness that reside in the Father. By the presence of the Holy Ghost, strive to imitate your Heavenly Father not to earn salvation but because of salvation. Repent of your own sins and then call your brother to repentance so that he too might enjoy eternal life.

Claiming to be Christian in word but not deed is not enough for salvation. The heart of merciful flesh transplanted for the stony heart of your birth must change the way you think, act, and feel. This is the Christian life. It is the life of all who would be saved. It is the life of the Baptized. It is your life. It is the glorious life you have been called to live in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This five-fold division is inspired by Joseph August Seiss, Lectures on the Gospels for the Sundays and Chief Festivals of the Church Year, Vol. 2, 3^rd edition (Philadelphia: Lutheran Bookstore, 1888), 743-754.

[2] Exodus 34:6; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Psalm 86:15; 103:8; 145:8.

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

 The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – September 19, 2021

Psalm 86; 1 Kings 17:17-24; Ephesians 3:13-21

St. Luke 7:11-17

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

The day after preaching on the plain and healing a centurion’s beloved servant, Jesus went to a town called Nain. He was followed by his disciples and a large crowd, for word of his teaching and miracles was beginning to spread. As he approached the gate of the town, our Lord is met by a funeral procession. The only-begotten son of a widow has tragically died. The boy was barely old enough to be called a man. The widow wept loudly and a large crowd followed in her sorrow. The mourners close at hand, the pallbearers marched slowly out of the town to bury the boy.

Upon seeing the woman, Christ has compassion upon her and tells her to stop weeping. Upon touching the funeral bier, the open coffin, everyone stops. The pallbearers freeze, almost as though they are dead where they stand. Christ then utters his second command, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the boy sits up and begins to speak, presumably speaking glory of God and blessing the name of the Messiah. In one of the most tender gestures in all of Scripture, Jesus takes the boy by the hand, helps him down, and presents the now living boy to his mother.

Then everyone in the crowd was seized by fear and began to glorify God saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us,” and “God has visited His people.” The report of this resurrection then spread throughout all Judea and the surrounding lands.[1]

Three times our Lord is recorded to have raised someone visibly from the dead. It is possible he raised many more that were not recorded. It is also entirely possible that this boy, Jairus’s daughter, and Lazarus were the only three souls to be reunited with their bodies during the ministry of the Christ. The important question is not how many, but why these three? St. John tells us “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”[2]

These three were raised to teach you something about Jesus – that he is the Christ, the Son of God – and that by believing you may have life in his Name. How then does this resurrection teach us about the Christ?

First, this miracle is a prophecy of Christ’s own death and resurrection. The boy is carried outside the city in death, just as Christ himself will be given over to death and crucified outside of the city of Jerusalem.

The boy is the only-begotten son of a widowed mother. Jesus is the Christ, the only-begotten Son of God the Father and the son of a widowed mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Upon seeing the widow of Nain, Jesus has compassion on her. At his own death, Jesus looks with compassion upon his own widowed mother, commending her into the care of St. John.

The boy is carried upon an open casket, a funeral bier, for all to see his lifeless body. Christ our Lord would hang upon a cross in full view, for all to see his body as he breathed his last.

When the miracle is performed, the pall bearers, the guardians of the body in a funeral procession, are made to stand perfectly still, almost as corpses themselves. On Easter morning, as the women arrive at the tomb, the guards stationed by the Pharisees shake for fear and fall down as dead men.[3]

Then there is an important difference. The boy’s funeral procession is stopped, and Christ touches the bier. Speaking to the boy, he is raised from the dead and Christ presents the now living boy to his mother. In Christ’s own death, he is taken down from the cross and presented to his mother a lifeless corpse. This is the most important comparison between these resurrections.

In touching the funeral bier, Jesus made himself unclean. He touched the death of the boy and took it upon himself. The clean white robe of Christ wiped the filth of death from the boy’s forehead – cleaning the boy and soiling Christ. We can see very clearly that Christ gave his life to the boy and took the boy’s death upon himself. Jesus took the place of the boy in the grave so that the boy could take his place in the arms of his mother.

The second teaching of this miracle concerns a false understanding of death and resurrection. When Jesus traveled to Bethany to mourn the death of Lazarus, he is met outside the city by Martha, one of Lazarus’s sisters. Martha confesses that had Jesus been there, Lazarus would not have died, and yet she retains faith that the Father will do whatever Jesus asks. Jesus responds, “Your brother will rise again,” to which Marth confesses, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus gently corrects her, “I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”[4]

When someone we love falls asleep in death, we are tempted to think like Martha. We know our beloved, our friend, our father will rise on the last day and that is our only comfort. But that is not true of the Baptized. Those who believe in Christ shall never die. Our death was in the waters of Holy Baptism. We were drowned in that saving flood. We come to the waters of Holy Baptism as sinful creatures, less than human, turned away from God. In judgment, the Lord drowns us, just as he drowned the unbelieving multitudes in Noah’s day and swallowed hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his mighty host in the Red Sea. Sinful man has no hope of escaping the waters of Holy Baptism. He is drowned to the depths and cannot recover. His funeral procession will stop for nothing.

Thanks be to God our funeral processions are stopped by the Light of Christ. The Only-Begotten Son of God reaches out and pulls us forth from the water. Our filth of death is left behind and we are raised to a new life in Christ. Death no longer has a claim to us. Those who fall asleep in Christ have already died – on the day of their Holy Baptism.[5] Baptism now saves you.[6] It makes you a child of the Heavenly Father and heir of heaven with Christ. You are fully human, restored to a right relationship with Christ and presented to your mother, the Church.

When we bring a child to the font, the procession is interrupted by the waters of Holy Baptism, just as a funeral procession is interrupted by the Paschal Candle. Both stand in the place of Christ, who freezes the funeral procession of Nain, stopping death in its tracks.

Why then must the Christian suffer temporal death? Sin is still at work in our members. The wages of sin must still be paid by our flesh and yet, as Jesus says, “even though he dies, he shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Those who die in Christ are still living, for our God is the God of the living, not the dead. All who believe and are baptized died in the waters of baptism. Temporal death is now the victory over sin. Even as sin must finish its course of decay in the flesh, the Christian is alive and free from the chains of sin. He now enjoys eternal, sinless life.

Do not weep inconsolably over the death of a Christian. Weep with tears of joy and sadness for the separation you must endure. But know that Christ has compassion on you. When Jesus came to Nain, he did not resurrect the boy out of compassion for him. Jesus had compassion on the mother, the bereaved. The miracle of the resurrection was for the sake of the comfort of the widowed mother.

Tears at the temporal death of a Christian are a confession of sorrow over sin and a longing for eternal life. Christ himself cried at the death of Lazarus. Yet weeping and wailing are a confession of death, the end of life, something unknown to the Christian. We know that the body of the departed will rest in peaceful sleep, even as it awaits the resurrection, to be reunited with the already living soul for all eternity.

Finally, know that this resurrection of the boy at Nain is consolation for the living, as well as the bereaved. If Christ took on the death of the boy, he has certainly taken on your death. Jesus took the sins of the world upon his shoulders, standing in the place of mankind from Adam to the last baby born. His death swallowed the death of all, including you.

You were conceived in sin and born in iniquity. Since Adam, all mankind has been carried out of the heavenly Jerusalem to be buried outside the gates. The pallbearers of sin, temptation, Satan, and our flesh have processed to the grave every hour of our lives. But the Son of God would not have it. He halts the procession and reaches out to touch our sinful filth. He drowns our sin and washes us clean. Even then, he does not leave us alone. He presents us to our mother, the Church, who will continue to care for us even as we grow in the faith. As we age in knowledge and wisdom of Christ, we too come to care for the Church.

There came a day when the widow’s son once again fell asleep in Christ. He presently enjoys the nearer company of Christ, awaiting the day when he will be reunited with his body. So too, we who enjoy life in the Church await the return of Christ look forward not to our rest in the grave, but the coming of our Lord. We, who are held in the arms of Mother Church, look for the triumphal return of Christ, who will lead us into the heavenly Jerusalem through the gate of pearl.

In + Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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[1] A summary of St. Luke 7:11-17.

[2] St. John 20:30-31.

[3] St. Matthew 28:4.

[4] A summary of St. John 11:17-27.

[5] Romans 6:3-4.

[6] 1 Peter 3:21.