The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

 The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – August 31, 2025

Psalm 68; Genesis 4:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

St. Luke 18:9-14

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

After being cast out of the garden, Adam knew his wife, Eve. She conceived and bore a son named Cain. She then bore another son named Abel. Cain was a worker of the fields, like his father, while Abel tended the flocks. One day, these two sons went to sacrifice to God but only the sacrifice of Abel was accepted by the Lord. On account of this, Cain’s face fell and he grew angry.

Our first question of the text should be, ‘why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted by God but not Cain’s?’ The Letter to the Hebrews gives us the definitive answer.[1] Abel offered his sacrifice in faith while Cain did not. This is the bottom line, the fundamental truth of the differences in their sacrifices.

At the same time, Scripture presents us with a few more details. Cain offered the fruit of the fields, likely a grain offering, while Abel offered a sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock. Both types of sacrifice, gain and the blood of animals, will later be instituted through Moses, but the greater of these sacrifices is the sacrifice of an animal. Again, the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.[2] By this we know that the sacrifice of blood, the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, is the greater sacrifice. Even Adam and Eve would’ve had this knowledge. When the Lord gave them the promise of a Savior, the Son of a virgin who would destroy death and the devil, He then sacrificed an animal and covered them with clothes of skin. By the shedding of blood, their nakedness was covered, their sins forgiven.

Our second question of this text should be, ‘why was Cain angry?’ If the difference was in the orientation of Cain’s heart, his lack of faith in the sacrifice, by what right is he angry with God? Even though we know that the sacrifice of blood is greater in the eyes of the Lord than the sacrifice of grain, both are acceptable sacrifices in the eyes of God. Therefore, Cain’s anger arises from his perception of an injustice committed by God. In Cain’s eyes, God is being unfair.

In this, we can sympathize with Cain. Our thoughts are not the Lord’s thoughts, and our ways are not His ways,[3] and all too often they seem unfair. We experience this in life when the wicked prosper but Christians suffer. We experience this in the words of Holy Scripture when the Lord rewards Abraham for pretending Sarah is his sister, or when He declares, “Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated.”[4]

We know from the Scriptures that God cannot be unjust. Any injustice that man perceives in God is the result of a lack of understanding on man’s part, not a lack in God. He is the very definition of justice, righteousness, goodness, and love.[5]

Returning to Cain, the conflict arises not because Cain perceives an injustice in God but because he blames God for the injustice. Rather than seeking the Lord and His righteousness, Cain becomes embittered toward God. He begins to resent his Creator. Yet even in this state, we see the mercy of God. He comes to Cain and asks, “Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”[6]

The Lord is calling Cain to repentance and guiding him into the way of truth. It is as though God was saying, “Cain, what reason do you have to be angry? No, I did not accept your sacrifice today because it wasn’t offered in faith. Learn from this moment. Learn not to trust in the quality of your sacrifice, nor in your rank as firstborn, nor in the strength of your arm. Place your trust in Me, the One who is truly Good and from Whom all good things come. If your trust is in me and not your sacrifice, then your sacrifices will gladly be accepted. But if not, then satan is waiting to consume you. Your anger will overcome you, and it will be too late to stay your hand.”

But these words did not penetrate Cain’s stony heart. He had hardened himself against the Lord. He had set his mind on killing Abel. Now, generally, Cain’s plan to kill Abel is described as an act of envy. Cain was angry at Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God. There is truth in this observation. Cain was almost certainly envious of the attention his brother received from God. But a closer read of the text reveals something even darker. If Cain’s anger is the result of a perceived injustice in God, then who is the primary object of his anger? Is it not God? It would follow that Cain’s murderous plan was not directed at Abel but at God. He wanted to destroy the object of God’s affection, hurting God for hurting him.

When God comes to Cain and asks where Abel is (another plea and opportunity for Cain to repent of what he has done), Cain says, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”[7] In effect, he is saying, “God, don’t you know where Abel is? Isn’t he your beloved son? Since you accepted his sacrifice, aren’t You supposed to be watching out for him?” Rather than repenting, Cain is doubling down on blaming God for the current situation. To Cain, it is God’s injustice that killed Abel.

Now, horrified as we are with Cain’s actions, and you should be, consider the times in your own life when you’ve acted as Cain and not as God. Both God and Cain think themselves justified in their actions but only One of them is right. God comes to Cain seeking the latter’s repentance and a restoration of their relationship. Cain doesn’t even respond to God in the first conversation and proceeds to hurt God by attacking the object of God’s affection. When the Lord again offers the opportunity for repentance, Cain does nothing but passive-aggressively attack the Lord. He shifts all blame onto God. For this, Cain is condemned and cast out of the presence of the Lord.

It is here we also see the connection to our Gospel text. The Pharisee loudly extols all of his righteous deeds to God and expects the Lord to reward him. The tax collector humbly begs for God’s mercy for he knows that he is a poor, miserable sinner. Both believe themselves righteous but only one returns to his home justified. One finds his justification in his righteous deeds. The other finds his justification in the mercy and atonement of the Lord. One believes his righteousness is a work of his own hands. The other finds righteousness in the shedding of the innocent blood of the Lamb of God.

According to our thoughts and our ways, the Pharisee is clearly the one who goes home justified. He has done all of the righteous things. He prays loudly so that all can hear and see his righteousness. According to our thoughts and our ways, it would be a great injustice for the Pharisee to be condemned.

Now the tax collector is a wicked man. He makes a living by cheating and stealing from his neighbors. Worse yet, from cheating and stealing from his kindred, from his fellow Judahites, to support the pagan government of Rome. Yet he comes into the Temple to humbly beg for the mercy of God, that God would make atonement for his grave sins and save him from eternal damnation.

The comparison to Cain and Abel is not to think of Cain as the Pharisee and Abel as the tax collector. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector are Cain. They are the two roads laid before Cain. The Pharisee is the sin lying at the door waiting to consume him. The tax collector is the repentance to which the Lord repeatedly calls Cain – both before and after the murder of Abel. “There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.”^[8]

Since the fall of our first parents, sin has been crouching at the door for every one of you. It is waiting for the opportune time to pounce upon your soul and drag you into the depths. But the Lord is patient. The Lord is kind. He has descended into the depths of your flesh to raise you from destruction. There is no depth of sin at which point Christ cannot reach you, no crevasse of the earth into which the blood of Christ, which speaks better things than that of Abel, is not able to cover your sin.

This does require humility. It requires humility not to trust in yourself or your own evaluation of your sins. Original sin has corrupted even your conscience. Alone, our conscience cannot be trusted to rightly discern between sin and righteousness. Our conscience must ever be formed by and checked against the Word of God. The renewal of your mind which comes with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, will never be complete on this side of glory. It requires humility to submit yourself to the Word of God for His ways are not your ways and His thoughts are not your thoughts. It requires humility to trust that God is good, and He will provide for you the escape from your sins. In fact, He has provided the escape from your sins when He humbly submitted to the death of a criminal. In His goodness, He provides for the needy. He bears us up and is our salvation. Blessed be the Lord.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Hebrews 11:4.

[2] Hebrews 9:22.

[3] Isaiah 55:8.

[4] Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13.

[5] Psalm 92:15; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 3:4.

[6] Genesis 4:6-7.

[7] Genesis 4:9.

[8] The Apostolic Fathers, “Didache 1:1,” 3^rd edition, translated and edited by Michael W. Holmes (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 345. 

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

 The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – September 18, 2022

Psalm 84; Proverbs 4:10-23; Psalm 92; Galatians 5:16-24

St. Luke 17:11-19

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

 There is a distinction between being grateful and giving thanks. Both concern your reaction to receiving a gift but being grateful is oriented toward the gift itself. You are grateful to have received this specific thing. Giving thanks is directed toward the one who gave you the gift. Giving thanks recognizes the value of the gift in the person who loved you such that they gave you this gift.

An example might help clarify. If my wife gives me a tenon saw for Christmas, I am grateful to have received a saw that will help me make more precise cuts. I give thanks to my wife because she has listened to me talk about tenon saws and went through the effort of finding one and buying it for me.

In much the same way, there is a difference between praise and worship. We give praise to God by recounting what He has done for us. The Psalter is full of psalms of praise that tell the story of salvation. Worship is oriented toward the Person of God. In worship, we not only receive the things God gives us, but we recognize the origin of these gifts as being in the Person and attributes of God.

To be fair, these distinctions are not perfect. These words can be used in different ways. But to distinguish the concepts is very helpful. It is helpful because it places our focus not on what we are doing—being grateful, giving thanks, praising, worshiping—but on the object of these actions. On whom or toward what are we grateful, giving thanks, and offering worship or praise?

All ten lepers cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. All ten lepers were grateful for the cleansing. They rejoiced to have received a life-altering miracle. Leprosy caused them to be separated from their families, their communities, and the life of the Temple, where God dwelt with man. The gift of healing meant these lepers would be reunited with mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and children. It meant they could go to church again, to receive the blessings of God. All ten lepers undoubtedly recognized the goodness in the gift of healing and were abundantly grateful.

It is possible, and quite likely, that all ten lepers praised God for what He had done. When they went to the priests, the lepers probably told the story of how they were healed. They proclaimed the works of God. This is the essence of praise—to recount what God has done for us.

Although all ten were grateful and possibly praised God for this miracle, only one gave thanks to God and worshiped Him. Only the Samaritan leper recognized the value of healing in the person of Christ and directed his worship toward God in the flesh. Only the Samaritan realized the true nature of the Man standing before him.

When Jesus commanded the lepers to show themselves to the priests, it was the Samaritan who realized that the true High Priest was standing before him. With a loud voice, he glorified God, fell on his face, and gave thanks to Jesus. This is an act of worship.

Our worship is oriented toward the Triune God: One God in Three Persons. We worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. This means we see that the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are meaningless if they do not originate in the Person of God. If God is not a Person, that is, someone with whom you have a relationship, then He is not worthy of worship or thanks.

Our world is content with an ambiguous god. Quite often, we are content with an ambiguous god. Perhaps it is because we don’t like something the True God has said. Perhaps it is because we are afraid that we will say too much and so we purposely remain ignorant of who God is. Perhaps we know exactly who the True God is and yet we prefer a god of our own choosing.

Whatever the reason, an ambiguous god cannot save you. The abstract concept of a divine being who loves you just because will not save you. Even the idea that god loves you, if not given the flesh of meaning, is not enough to save you. The only god who saves is the God who took on your flesh, then died for your sins. The only god who saves is the God who calls you to repentance for your sins. It is this God alone who loves you such that He would die for you, rise from the grave, and call you out of the darkness of your sin and into His marvelous light. An ambiguous god can do no such thing because it is not a person.

God is love and this means He acts on your behalf. Leprosy kept these ten people from going to the Temple to be with God so God came to them wrapped in flesh. Your sin, both the sin from your birth and the sins you commit in thought, word, and deed, prevents you from drawing near to God. Your sin prevents God from smiling upon you for it is evil in His sight.

God is love and this means that He cannot abide His beloved children dwelling in evil. He comes to you, wrapped in flesh, that you might come to Him. He comes to you in water, where you are drowned in the first death. In Holy Baptism, you died. But if you died a death like His, you shall certainly rise in a resurrection like His. You rose from the waters of Holy Baptism a New Creation, breathing new life in Christ. Therefore, the faithful Christian has nothing to fear in temporal death. You have already died in Christ. Now, the sleep of death is a portal to eternity.

Between your death in the waters of Holy Baptism and your rest in the grave, God comes to you wrapped in bread and wine. He comes to you not as a performance, not as an act, but as your loving bridegroom. He comes to you just as certainly as He came to that village where ten lepers came out to meet Him. Your eyes of flesh do not see it, but the eyes of faith see the face of Christ in the Eucharist.

Our worship is oriented toward Christ. Physically, we orient ourselves toward the altar as the primary symbol of that which is truly happening. Jesus Christ comes to you today and every day. He comes to you today in Word and Sacrament. He comes to you every day as you pray, sing, read the Scriptures, and obey His commandments while serving your neighbor.

There is nothing fake about what happens when we worship. There is nothing theatrical about giving thanks to God. Thanksgiving and worship of the Triune God cannot be done without sincerity because to do anything else would be to deny that God is a Person.

In + Jesus’ name.  Amen.