The Seventh Sunday after Trinity

 Trinity 7 – August 3, 2025

Psalm 47; Isaiah 62:6-12; Romans 6:19-23

St. Mark 8:1-9

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

Twice during our Lord’s ministry, He feeds a multitude with a few loaves and a few fish. On the occasion before us this morning, it is a multitude of 4,000 Gentile men, plus women and children. This multitude had followed Christ out into the wilderness for three days and seem to have given no mind as to where they would find food or even how they would get home. We might be tempted to accuse the multitude of poor planning, of single-mindedness, or even of being so heavenly minded that they are of now earthly good.

While there might be some truth to those accusations, they should be tempered by the fact that this crowd is paying no attention to their earthly provision for the sake of following Christ. Even this motivation is peppered with impurity. I’m sure there were some who followed Christ for the spectacle; others who followed just because there was a crowd following him and they didn’t want to be left out; and still others who were following in greedy expectation of receiving something.

But even if their motives were not perfectly pure, they were in the right place and following the right Man. They trusted Him enough to hear and consider His words. They even, it seems, trusted that He would take care of the physical needs that they had forgotten about in the excitement of following Jesus into the wilderness. In this, they are to be commended.

And the miracle itself shows us that Christ is not just the Lord of our souls but the Lord over creation, the Lord of body and soul. He has concern both for our spiritual welfare and our physical being. It should not be surprising that the homeless and destitute often come to churches to ask for aid. What is even more revealing is that when offered prayer or biblical admonition, they flee. These would have been among the multitude on the first day but when Christ didn’t provide miraculous food, immediately they departed. If He would not provide on their terms, they would seek help somewhere else.

Imagine a world wherein all men sought first spiritual refreshment and then found temporal blessings that followed, rather than insisting on having their temporal needs met first and only then considering the eternal. Instead, we see mankind dissatisfied with the Providence of God (what He provides for life) and contempt for His divine authority and restraints against corrupt morality. This craving for personal taste and laws of our own making bring true unhappiness and grief – even if we can convince ourselves that it is happiness and joy.

What we see in Scripture and throughout history is that some men suffer in this world for their devotion to the next. They suffer hunger, lack, homelessness, persecution, and even death for their faith. The extreme forms of this suffering are not common but, in some measure, all Christians experience this suffering. And when they do, we see that they always receive the refreshment of God, the rejuvenation of their souls. Maybe not quickly. Maybe not in the way they would have it, but always in God’s good time and pleasure.

In the case of the 4,000, there was no temporal solution to their predicament. No amount of money, no expertise, no extraordinary effort was going to save their bodies. They were in a dire circumstance. Maybe some of them could have made it home but on the whole and for the most part, they would have died on their journey home. And this situation inspires compassion in our Lord.

Now that word compassion is important. It is what moves Christ to feed both multitudes, the four and the five thousand. It is not just pity or an emotion. This compassion is a literal movement in the guts,[1] a sense of mercy so deep it is felt in your body. Think of how intense you might feel when your “heart sinks” or your “stomach turns.” It is so strong that it affects the body, stirs the blood, and agitates the whole being such as to draw out an active desire to see the suffering relieved. That is how intense our Lord is reacting to the situation of the multitude. He is moved with such extremity for these people’s physical wellbeing, as well as for the wellbeing of their souls. He is touched by our aches and pains as well as our emotional, mental, and spiritual ills.

This compassion is all the more intense because this crowd has endured with Him over three days. They have sought Him out and remained with Him for three days with little or no provision. They have come with at least some measure of zeal to hear Him preach—to see Him, hear Him, and be near Him. Their zeal for His Word has led them to disregard their bodies. What they have disregarded, He has noticed. What they have forgotten, He has remembered. They have truly sought first the kingdom of God and now it is time for all these things to be added to them.[2]

This compassion within Christ did not end with a deep movement of His heart but showed itself in deed. He did not just sympathize with their weakness but acted to fill it. He is the Savior of bodies as much as He is the Savior of souls. Your body is important to Christ. He will raise it up on the last day. Note that the multitude was with Him three days. This is no accident. It was on the third day that Christ rose from the dead, and it is on the third day that He will make provision to raise this multitude from the grips of death. He gave Himself into death that these people, and you, would be rescued from it. He shed His blood that you would be fed on the bread of Life and your thirst for righteousness would be satisfied by His blood.

By virtue of your Baptism, you are made a temple of the Holy Spirit. Again, that is not just a spiritual truth. It also applies to your physical body. How you care for your body and how you use your body are important to Christ because it reveals what you believe about Him, about the resurrection of the flesh, and about His love for you. Confessing Christ with your lips but using your body as a tool of sin is inconsistent; the type of inconsistency that is the result of hypocritical faith. It is the result of saying the right words but not actually believing what they mean. The moral precepts of Scripture are given such that your body would confess the same truth your soul receives, making you a complete man; conforming you to the image of Christ.[3]

Lest we reduce the miracle of Christ’s provision to only a physical miracle, we must recognize that every act of Christ is also addressing the inner, spiritual man. This feeding of the 4,000 does not only satisfy their bellies but communicates Christ’s provision for their souls. We see this first in that He commands the multitude to sit on the ground. He gives them a direction before giving them the food. A man can eat while standing, walking, or any number of ways, but He commands them to sit upon the ground. At that time, the multitude was free to disobey, but in so doing, they would have forfeited their participation in the blessing.

In the same way, there are commands that must be observed to receive the bread of Life. There must be a sitting down in the dust at the Lord’s feet, a humbly rejection of the self and submission to the words and commands of Christ. It is common to hear people say, “I can worship God in the field, on the golf course, or the duck blind, just as well as I can in Church;” or “One church is a good as another, they are all the same;” or “Membership in a congregation is up to me, not the congregation, elders, pastor, or even God.” Such attitudes reject the Lordship of Christ and His word. They place the self above the Words of Christ. He has said not to neglect the gathering of the saints.[4] He has said that he who rejects you, rejects Him;[5] and where two or three are gathered in Him name, there He is.[6] If a man operates only on his pride and self-confidence, there is little hope that he will be saved.

At the same time, the command to sit is quite simple. It is not a monumental task to follow the command and, it is even a command to do something pleasant. How delightful it is to sit in a field and enjoy the presence of Christ. How wonderful it is to embody your faith, to be given an opportunity to put your body into the service of Christ and His Word by simply following what He has said. And even if sitting in the dust at Christ’s feet is offensive to your sensibilities, how wonderful an opportunity to train your hardened heart through an action of your body. You may not feel like hugging your wife, but you still have control over your arms. Doing the outward movement, taking the physical action will affect your heart, your inner being. Do it for the sake of those around you. Sit in the dirt at Jesus’ feet and your soul will receive the benefit.

Secondly, Christ does not conjure food from nothing. He takes what is available and amplifies it through His Divine providence. The elements of water, bread, and wine are commonly available. There is nothing particularly special about them. Yet these are exactly what Christ takes and turns into Divine treasures. He imbues the mundane with His Divine Word to impart to you eternal blessings.

In the same way, He uses what you already have to bless you temporally. It isn’t always apparent. While raising children is difficult, it is also a curb against your own sin. When you have other mouths to feed, you work harder to provide. When you have friends to care for, it is harder to hoard your own money and possessions. Even that person who annoys you, gets under your skin, provides you an opportunity to humble yourself, to learn the virtue of patience. Every type of affliction in this world is an opportunity to see that Christ is at work in bringing you closer to Him, if only you will humble yourself enough to see it. Christ Himself was born of a lowly virgin that you would know that He raises the lowly and brings His divinity through the mundane things of this world.

Finally, we must notice that the food of this miracle is distributed through the hands of the Apostles. Christ does not distribute the loaves and fishes. He directs the Apostles to feed the multitude. He has established the Office of the Holy Ministry for the same purpose. He has established an Office into which men are ordained for the distribution of His most precious gifts. Pastors are servants, stewards over the gifts of Christ. Their Master is God and His Word. They are given to take what is given by God and distribute it to those in need of it.

These are the ambassadors of God, set to minister to us the bread of Life and if people will not hear and deal with them, if people refuse to hear and deal with them, there is no other remedy. If one of the multitude refused to receive bread from Andrew, then he went unfed. He did not get to run to another portion of the field and receive from the hand of Peter, let alone insist Christ feed him directly.

Beloved in the Lord, mark well this miracle of Christ. After both feeding miracles, the Apostles are shown not to understand their significance. Mark well the compassion of Christ for sinful man, both in body and soul. Think on His great love for you that He would care even for your hunger, let alone your soul. Consider His humility in descending from the Father into your flesh, that He would carry the burden of your sin and the weakness of your flesh in His own. Be mindful of His great sacrifice, spending three days in the bowels of the earth that you would be spared the depths of hell.

And then rejoice in His glorious resurrection; that He would proceed you in life so that you would know what it is you have to look forward to. You are the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord and He has sought you out in the wilderness of this world.[7] Proceed in this righteousness of both body and soul, having full confidence of your own glorious resurrection. “Having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[8]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Σπλαγχνίζομαι – an onomatopoeia for the sound of a sacrificial animal’s entrails hitting the altar. It is used metaphorically of the seat of emotions and a forceful movement within. Within Christian usage, it comes to mean a deep movement of mercy and pity, such as would cause a physical reaction within one’s body.

[2] St. Matthew 6:33.

[3] Romans 6:19; 8:29.

[4] Hebrews 10:25.

[5] St. Luke 10:16.

[6] St. Matthew 18:20.

[7] Isaiah 62:12.

[8] Romans 6:22-23.

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

 The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – July 27, 2023

Psalm 28; Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 6:1-11

St. Matthew 5:17-26

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

There are truly, only two religions in the world: a religion of the Law and a religion of the Gospel. Both are concerned with the righteousness of men. God has worked into men a sense of natural law, that is, a conscience, which understands there is such thing as right and wrong, good and evil in this world. Among those who still acknowledge a “higher power,” it is still acknowledged that some type of righteousness is required to enter heaven or whatever other afterlife they can imagine. Even those who claim to be atheists, recognizing neither a “higher power” nor eternal consequences for our earthly life, there is a sense that some actions are evil, deserving punishment, while others are good, deserving reward.

The religion of the Law demands that a man make or prove himself righteous to attain heaven. “One might suppose he can enter heaven if he lives a moral life or leads a generally useful life. Another supposes he can do so if he is religious, that is, if he prays diligently, goes to church, and remains with Christians. A third supposes he can enter heaven if he guards himself as much as possible from gross sins and vices. A fourth, who is one of the wicked, supposes he can earn eternal life if, despite all his transgressions and evil life, he can point to some good.”[1]

In short, the religion of the Law sets forth certain standards by which a man may save himself. Those standards might be revealed by a deity or a prophet. They might be created within a man himself. They may be strict or lenient. These standards may even be expressed with great sympathy: “So long as you tried,” “once you’ve done everything within you,” “insofar as you are able,” “with all your heart.” The bottom line is that the religion of the Law demands something of you, which if satisfied, will be rewarded with heaven.

Now what does Christ say? He says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”[2] With these 21 words, Christ destroys any thought that man can achieve heaven by his own means or even by his own means when helped by God. So far as it was within them, the scribes and the Pharisees strictly kept the commands of God as it was read. Their lives were dedicated to fulfilling the letter of the Law. If the righteousness required to enter heaven is greater than this, then it is truly something greater than man is capable of.

The Law of God is good and wise. It is His eternal, immutable will. The Law does not change because God does not change. The Ten Commandments are the distillation, the summary of God’s Holy Law and all men, by virtue of being a creation of God, are held accountable to this Law.

As Christ teaches on the Fifth Commandment, He shows that on outward keeping of this commandment does not itself keep the Law. The Law demands to be kept both outwardly and inwardly; in the hands and in the heart. The righteousness of the Law is a matter of the soul which is then manifested in the work of the hands, and this righteousness demands perfection.

Just for a moment, let us consider a distinction between the Law of God and His commands. A command is an expression of God’s Law, His eternal will. God has commanded, “Thou shalt not kill.” This is an expression of God’s will that life and our physical being are precious to Him such that we should not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body but help and support him in every physical need. Anger harms our own bodies, think rising blood pressure, and it threatens the physical wellbeing of our neighbor. At the same time, some are given the authority to take life, to kill. God has given the sword to the state to punish the wicked. Soldiers are given the authority to take life to preserve life.

The authority of the executioner and the soldier is not a violation of the Fifth Commandment because they do not violate God’s will, even if a strict adherence only to the letter of the Law would make it seem to conflict. This does not even represent a conflict within God’s will. The specific vocations appointed by God to take life are for the very purpose of protecting life, the keeping of the Law as expressed in the Fifth Commandment.

Yet even in these specific vocations, the question must be asked if the individual carrying out God’s will is doing so according to the letter and the spirit of the Law. And even if he is, what about the rest of the Law? “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”[3] “For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”[4] The Law forbids all sins. If a man is guilty of one sin—one tiny stumble, one idle word, one lustful thought—he is guilty of the entire Law and unable to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Law even accuses man of omitting something which he could have done. “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”[5]

This is a harsh reality. It is the truth that stands behind any religion of the Law. No matter what a person believes might be true, the truth of God’s Word is that the Law demands perfection. And God could not demand anything less. He cannot change or repeal His Law for it is His eternal, holy will. To change one iota, one dot of the Law would make God inconsistent and untrustworthy. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[6] His standards do not change.

Where then is hope? Who can hope to attain the kingdom of heaven? The standards are too lofty for man. Even being the best Christian you can be doesn’t meet the standards of the Law. Now, of course the answer is in Christ. The God-Man, He who is without sin, fulfilled the Law, fulfilled every jot and dot of the Law on your behalf. He who is Life, gave Himself into death on your behalf, shedding His blood where your blood was required. He rose triumphant from the grave to pave the way for humanity to walk through the gates of heaven. The Key of David simultaneously bound the ancient dragon and unlocked the gates of pearl.

And this reality of Christ’s victory over sin and fulfilling the Law is all well and good, but it does not benefit you if His righteousness does not come upon you. Something can be objectively true and good without you receiving the benefit. So the pressing question is not just where the hope of salvation comes from, but how you receive the righteousness required for entry into heaven.

The answer is revealed in our reading from St. Paul this morning. You do not obtain this righteousness. You do not grasp hold of it. You do not seek it out and find it among the treasures of this world. God brings it to you. God delivers it to you. God scoops you up and wraps you in His righteousness, and He does this through death.

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.”[7] There is so much that happens in Holy Baptism and it begins with death. The waters of Holy Baptism begin with our death to sin, as we are drown and dragged to the depths of the sea. This is prefigured in the Flood of Noah. Every imagination of the hearts of man had become wicked in the Fall and the Lord decided within Himself to wash away this wickedness in a watery death. Your death in Holy Baptism is no less real than all those who perished in the Flood. From the moment of your birth in the flesh, the minutes of your life have begun to count down. Holy Baptism points forward to this temporal reality but fast-forwards that clock spiritually. You were drowned and died in the flood of Holy Baptism.

It is a shame that our culture has become so afraid of death that it is almost unheard of for friends and family to be present at the actual burial, pouring of dirt, over the casket of a dead loved one, much less to even witness the lowering of the casket into the grave. This is to our shame because Holy Scripture reveals this as the reality of our Baptism. Not only are we drowned in the waters but we are in fact buried in the earth. We are swallowed by the very ground on which we once walked.

Yet Baptism does not end in death, just as Christ’s sacrifice did not end in death. Having been drowned, having been buried in the depths of the earth, we rise from the font to a new life. Just as Christ is raised from the dead, so too we rise from the dead. And just like the death of Holy Baptism, this points forward to the temporal reality of our resurrection in the flesh. It immediately is the reality of our spiritual new birth. We rise from the waters of Holy Baptism a new creation, created for New Life, the temple of the Holy Spirit and a new-born son of God.

“If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”[8]

Yet again, this new life is not the end of Holy Baptism. Just as our first parents were not sent out of the Garden with the Word of God’s promised salvation alone but clothed in the skin of a lamb, so too the new man who rises from the waters of Holy Baptism is given the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This robe is entirely foreign to you. You did nothing to earn it and if fact, you do nothing to maintain it. It is given to you by Christ, Himself. He takes the very shirt off His back and places it on you. And this righteous garment bears the very righteousness of God. “Be holy as Your Heavenly Father is holy.” This is how you come to possess the very righteousness, the very holiness of God.

Along with this righteousness comes the very hope, the very faith by which you receive that cloak of righteousness. Having been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and clothed in Christ’s righteousness, your mind is renewed and you are made fit to receive these glorious blessings of God’s mercy. Again, even the objective truth and reality of the blessings of Holy Baptism are of no benefit if they are not received by faith, yet even this faith is not of your own doing, your own reason, works, or emotions. This faith is itself a working of God.

So how do you know that you have met the requirements of the Law in order to gain entrance into heaven? How do you know that you have the faith that receives the righteousness of Christ? It is quite simple. Ask yourself, ‘Am I baptized?’ ‘What has Christ said about Holy Baptism?’ Christ has said that in Holy Baptism, the very name of God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—has been placed on you, marking you as one of His own. If you are His, then you have been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and the robe of Christ’s righteousness has been placed on you. And if this is the case, and if faith is itself a working of God, then those blessed words of Christ are all you need, “All who believe and are baptized will be saved.”[9]

Not only has the shed blood of Christ opened the way to salvation, but He has given you His own credentials for admission. He has tightly woven His own righteousness around you such that nothing more is required. Is it possible to wriggle out of His righteousness? Of course! It is quite easy to do. But it is unthinkable for the Christian who realizes just what Christ has done and continues to do for you. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”[10]

Now may Christ the life of all the living and the death of death our foe, guard your hearts and minds in the true and living faith once delivered to you in the waters of Holy Baptism now and forever.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Walther, Gospel Sermons, 55.

[2] St. Matthew 5:20.

[3] James 2:10.

[4] St. Matthew 12:36.

[5] James 4:17.

[6] Galatians 3:10.

[7] Romans 6:3-4.

[8] Romans 6:5-6.

[9] Cf. St. Mark 16:16.

[10] Romans 6:1-2.

Septuagesima

Septuagesima – February 16, 2025

Psalm 18; Exodus 17:1-7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:4

St. Matthew 20:1-16

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

Christ calls you into the vineyard of His Church purely by grace. Notice that in the parable, none of the workers presents a resume or shows he is physically prepared to work in the vineyard. Likewise, the landowner does not evaluate the workers based on their skill or ability to work in the vineyard. He goes out early in the morning and calls workers into His vineyard. This is a call by grace; grace that is undeserved and unmerited. The call is the activity of the Lord alone. Even the acceptance of the workers is by grace. He does not invite them or open the door so that the workers can choose to pass through. He calls them and tells them to go into the vineyard. This is most apparent in the calling of the final group of workers. The landowner literally commands them to work in the vineyard rather than offering a job contract.

The calling of the workers is the calling of people into the Church. It is how Christians are made. They hear the Word of the Lord and are called, gathered, enlightened, sanctified, and kept in the Holy Christian Church by that Word. The Holy Spirit works on the heart of man to turn it from a stony heart, set against God, to a heart of flesh, warmed by the love of God. This call is not deserved by anyone. The greatest philanthropist in the world is not called into the vineyard by his works of love toward his fellow man. He isn’t even prepared to receive the love of God by his acts of charity toward man. The heart of man is set against God by his conception. It is the miraculous call of God alone that brings man into the Church.

This call comes at different times and in different circumstances to different men. The landowner goes out five times to call workers into His vineyard. Each time, He finds different workers who, for one reason or another, did not receive the earlier calls. Perhaps they were standing there from the wee hours of the morning, heard the earlier calls and rejected them. Perhaps they slept in.

From this, we see that Christians receive the call of faith at different stages in life. Some are born into Christian families and raised in the faith. Their entire life is one spent working in the vineyard. Others come at midday, perhaps being converted to the faith as teenagers or young adults. Then there are those who are called near life’s end. They have spent the days of their lives idly standing in the marketplace, consumed by the cares of this life. But in the eleventh hour, the Lord called them by His Word to join the workers in the vineyard.

We can also see these different stages of life simultaneously. There are those of you who have labored in the vineyard seventy, eighty, ninety or more years. You are among the first called to work the vineyard and have born the burden and the heat of the day. There are those of you in middle age, who were called at the third, sixth, or ninth hour. And then there are the little ones, the children, who by comparison were called late in the day. You, little ones, have been called at the eleventh hour and are the newest workers called into the vineyard. No matter the time spent in the vineyard or the circumstances, the call was by grace and received through faith.

Those called into the vineyard are called to work in the vineyard. They are laborers. What then, is the work that you have been called to do as one called into the vineyard of Christ’s Church? The first work is to hear and receive the Word of God. This is not a work given only to the “professional” theologians but to every Christian. Every Christian is called to give a defense for the hope that resides in him.[1] As such, it is necessary that Christians not only force their eyes to glide over words on a page of the bible but to ponder those words in your heart. As you read or hear the words of Scripture, you need to consider their meaning. Think about what the words mean in their immediate context and how they interact with the rest of the Scriptures.[2]

Don’t just sit and passively listen to sermons. Hear the words and consider them in your heart. Perhaps you didn’t understand something. Ask your pastor for clarification later on. Perhaps your pastor misspoke. Gently show him where he was wrong from the Scriptures or give him the chance to correct a poor choice of words. Maybe he needs to repent.[3] Perhaps he has given an example within the sermon that doesn’t exactly fit your circumstance. Think about how what he said might apply to you and if you are struggling to see how it fits, talk to him. Ask him.

Attend bible study and do not focus on the warmth of your coffee or the taste of the sugary treat. Consider the words, the topic at hand. What do these words mean? What do they mean for you? How do they impact your faith and life? This type of active listening is, in fact, an encounter and interaction with God through His Word. It takes practice and it takes effort. But in this effort, you will be greatly rewarded. You will be rewarded with the wage promised at the beginning of the day, the day of your call to faith wherein eternal life was promised to you.

The second work in the vineyard is to attend to your vocations. Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, employer, or employee? A neighbor, citizen, or leader? Attend to those vocations according to the Word of God. Being a Christian certainly means you have duties to your congregation. These duties begin with regularly attending the Divine Service and devoting yourself to the Word of God and prayer but also include supporting the work of the congregation through your time, talents, and treasure. This Wednesday, weather permitting, is an excellent opportunity to serve the congregation as we gather to clean the interior of the building. Serving the congregation might mean volunteering for leadership positions or being ready to take a meal to a brother or sister in need. It might also mean simply talking to them, showing interest in them as people.

Such work in the congregation might mean submitting to those already in leadership positions or even just those who have more experience in whatever need you are helping to meet. Sometimes it means venturing into something in which no one has experience. In any situation, setting about the work of the congregation requires communication and humility. Asserting your own way by right is not love, nor is assuming everyone thinks the same way as you. Communication is key. Humility is key.

Sometimes this humility means raising up and preparing others for the works that you once did. Each time workers were added to the vineyard, the amount of work for each worker was divided among a larger labor force. One worker took what he was doing and gave a portion of it to another. On the one hand, that meant less work for each individual. On the other hand, in giving some of that work to another, it means giving up a portion of control. The former cannot control every work of the latter. The foundation laid by the first is important and essential, but the efforts of the last are just as important. There comes a time when the work must be divided among the laborers and this requires communication and humility. It requires the first to be prepared to give authority to others and the last to humbly learn from his forebearers.

The third work of the vineyard is evangelism. In the parable, it is the landowner directly calling the workers into the vineyard. However, we also see that the landowner employs stewards, that is, He works through means. The Word of God is delivered to the world through the lips of Christians. It is the work of every Christian to be the light of the world, shining the love of God in the dark world, both in deed and in word.[4]

Experience shows that while pastors have been given to the public proclamation of the word, it is the lips of the laity that most often reaches the ears of the unbelieving world and draws men to the Church. How do you best accomplish this? Most important is to build relationships with people. Listen to them. Ask questions. When someone makes a comment like, “I have a relationship with God, I just don’t go to church,” ask them, “What do you mean by that?” or “Tell me more about that.” Give them the opportunity to clarify what they mean. Most often, they are simply repeating words or phrases they’ve heard without giving it much thought. Giving them the chance to really consider what they mean will often give you the opportunity to say, “This is what I believe about God and the Church.”

However you go about establishing such a relationship, it should always lead to a conversation about faith and where Christ has promised to be (in His Word and Sacraments). Someone might enjoy walking through those doors because you are a nice bunch of people but that should never be why they are here. If it is, then they are set up to be hypocrites – those who act like the faithful but will find themselves locked out of the wedding feast when Christ returns.[5] The reason to be here is because Christ has promised to be here, giving you His word of forgiveness and especially giving you Himself in the Holy Supper. To hear the Word of God and receive His Sacraments is and always will be the primary purpose of the Church because it is the definition of the Church.

When it comes time to distribute the wages, they are given out from last to first. If we understand the last to be those called into the church late in life, they truly have spent the least time working in the vineyard and likely have suffered the least for the name of Christ. Yet these are rewarded the same as the rest of the workers – eternal life with Christ. If we understand the last to be the children, who have also spent the least time working in the Church and likely suffered the least for the name of Christ, they too are rewarded with eternal life in Christ.

In fact, there are many things we can learn from the faith of those called at the eleventh hour, whoever they may be. Christ commends the faith of little children, saying, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”[6] Children trust that what you say is true. They are also curious, always asking, “Why?” This is to be commended. How shall they learn without someone to teach them?[7]

With age and experience, we tend to keep the questions but lose the trust. We assume that we always know better or even that every source of knowledge is questionable. We question the motives of everyone around us. Are there charlatans? Of course. We shouldn’t be naive. But we should put the best construction on everything, especially when dealing with brothers and sisters in the faith. If something sounds off, ask questions. “What do you mean by that?” “Tell me more about that.” Loves suffers long and is kind, not insisting on its own way but rejoicing in truth.[8]

This is doubly true when confronted with God’s Word. A child wants to know why something happens in Scripture because they are not as familiar with the whole bible. An adult often doesn’t like what they hear and wants to find a loophole. An adult asks ‘why’ hoping to find a way that it doesn’t apply to him.

And this is why those called first are indignant with the landowner. They are offended that those called late in the day would be paid the same wage when they haven’t put in the same work. They resent the landowner’s call and the landowner Himself. They are not concerned with the Word of God but their own interpretation of it. If God acts contrary to what they think is right, it is God’s fault, not theirs. He is unfair for not conforming to their idea of fairness.

By man’s standards, God isn’t fair. And thank God He isn’t. If God was fair, then we would all be doomed. If God was fair, He would give us what we deserve – His wrath and displeasure, temporal death, and eternal damnation.[9] Yet God is merciful by not giving us what we deserve. He is gracious to give us something we don’t deserve. His call into the Church is by grace. We don’t deserve it, but He gives it to us. From those called in the early morning to those called at the last hour, we are saved by God’s grace, completely undeserved and unmerited.

For those who insist on being recognized for their long hours, days, weeks, or years of service to the Church, the Landowner gives them their denarius and sends them out of the vineyard. He gives them their earthly due – the praises and respect of man. But He casts them into the outer darkness. They have no home with Him now or in eternity. Their great works toward man are but filthy rags before God because they were done without faith, without thanks for the gracious call into the vineyard.[10] Despising the Church is despising God.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] 1 Peter 3:15.

[2] Acts 17:11.

[3] St. Matthew 18:15; 1 Timothy 5:1-2.

[4] St. Matthew 5:14.

[5] St. Matthew 25:10-13.

[6] St. Matthew 18:3-5.

[7] Romans 10:14.

[8] 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

[9] Romans 6:21, 23.

[10] Isaiah 64:6.

The Commemoration of All Saints

The Commemoration of All Saints (obs.) – November 3, 2024

Psalm 31; Revelation 7:2-17; 1 John 3:1-3

St. Matthew 5:1-12

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

In Holy Baptism, your soul, stained with the impurity of your sin, is washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is made white in the purity and righteousness of Christ. His righteousness is imputed to you, that is, it is made yours by faith. This robe of righteousness is not strictly figurative. Christ is, Himself, united to you in Holy Baptism. And, since Christ is in the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, Holy Baptism joins the entire Trinity to you. This spiritual union is a glorious gift of God.

There is another union with Christ. The Sacramental Union with Christ occurs when you receive the Holy Body and Precious Blood of our Savior. In the Holy Supper, Christ joins His physical body with yours. What is spiritually joined in Baptism is physically joined in the Supper. It is in this way that faith is strengthened and for this reason we can proclaim that the Holy Supper strengthens and preserves you in body and soul unto eternal life.

They physical union with Christ is necessary because we are physical beings. If we were somehow only spiritual, then a spiritual union with Christ would suffice. But we are created, embodied beings. We are the crown of creation. We have been given dominion over all the rest of creation and as such, it is meet and right that God would join Himself to us not only spiritually, but physically.

And if the Lord has said that He is physically present in the Supper, if He has said that This is His Body and This is His Blood, then who are we to deny it? Or who are we to treat it as common food? If we cannot trust the Lord who has joined Himself to us in such a physical manner, how can we trust His other physical promises?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the merciful, Blessed are the pure in heart, Blessed are the peacemakers, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”[1]

Each of the Beatitudes praises and proclaims blessings on those who are seen as weak and reviled by the world. No one will advance in the world by seeking to be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, or pure. This is something Christ tells us directly, “because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”[2]

Almost every year, on the Commemoration of All Saints, I have taught that the Beatitudes have their first fulfillment in Christ. He fulfills each of these statements to their fullest. At the same time, the Beatitudes find fulfilment in you, Christians. This is precisely because Christ has joined Himself to you. You are spiritually and physically united with Him and if the world hates Christ, so too the world will hate you.

What is worse is the truth that hypocrites exist in the Church on earth. There are those who will persecute you and think they are doing service to God.[3] And these will seek to tempt, to deceive, to persuade even the elect, if possible, to join them in the persecution of the Church.[4] Therefore we must holdfast to the true Word of God. We must holdfast to the true Bridegroom of the Church, who has united Himself to all His people.

And it is, in fact, because of this union that we experience persecution, affliction, and suffering. This is, in fact, a promise and a blessing of God. By persecution, affliction, and suffering – both spiritual and physical – we know that we have been united to Christ. He has chosen you to be united with Him in a death like His, that you might also rise to a new life like His.[5] Like a father proudly training his son in the family business so that one day, he might inherit his father’s life’s work, Christ joins you to Himself. He joins you to His own suffering and affliction because He loves you. It is not torment. It is not masochistic. It is an act of love.

On the one hand, He does it so that you would be driven away from sin and into His loving arms. He allows the suffering of the saints on account of our sin and that we would know that we have been truly united to Him. Even the martyrs sit beneath the altar of the Lamb in glory, crying out ‘How long until our blood is avenged?’[6] They are not so arrogant as to believe their blood is more righteous than Christ’s. They are crying out for the vengeance against their persecutors on account of the Blood of Christ’s. It is Christ’s blood that speaks better things than that of Abel’s. Abel’s blood cries out for redemption in the very blood of Jesus.[7]

We do not seek out suffering. We don’t have to. The Lord has promised that it will come to His faithful because they have been united with Him. At the same time, we do not have to earn our rest. He has promised that our reward will be great in heaven.

We commemorate, today, all those who have received that reward, or at least have received it in part. The saints in glorious array who have fallen asleep in Christ enjoy the nearer presence of Christ. They enjoy a union with Christ that we, the Church on earth, are still looking forward to. While our union with Christ is by faith through Baptism and physical in the Holy Supper, their union is glorious as they stand before Christ in His flesh. Their souls enjoy the company of the whole host of heaven, and they are given to worship Christ, whom they can see with their own eyes.

And yet even these have something greater to look forward to. Their glorious union with Christ will be made complete in the resurrection of the flesh. Currently, they worship Him in soul, freed from sin and in joyous rest in Christ. At the resurrection, they and all the saints of God, will worship Him in their own flesh. At that time, our union with Christ will not be mediated by water, bread, or wine. It will be in actuality, in a way that we can only dream of now. St. John says “now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”[8]

While the saints in glory are at rest, even they long for the day when we will be made like Him, receiving bodies glorious as He is glorious; pure as He is pure. Thanks be to God that He has joined Himself to us, united us to His Holy Body and Precious Blood in spirit and truth; even if that means we must endure a time of suffering, just as our Lord did on our behalf. Let us rejoice with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven as we look forward to the day when we too, will be at rest in body and soul, united with Him in glory.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 5:3-11.

[2] St. John 15:19-20.

[3] St. John 16:2.

[4] St. Matthew 24:24.

[5] Romans 6:5.

[6] Revelation 6:10.

[7] Genesis 4:10; Hebrews 12:24.

[8] 1 John 3:2-3.