Proper 20 - Series C - Gospel - "Faithful Jesus"

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson (Luke 16:1-15), especially verses 10-13, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a  very little is also dishonest in much.  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?  No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and Money."  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  A little boy wanted a pet dog, and so he asked his parents again and again to have a dog.  "Having a Dog is a great responsibility," his mother told him.  "You have to walk him, feed him, and care for him.  Tell you what, if you prove to me that you are responsible enough to keep your room cleaned, get your homework done, and do all your other chores, you can have a dog.  You have to prove you can handle these little things before you can handle the big responsibilities of a pet."

"One who is faithful in very little, is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."  So Jesus tells us in our text.  Are you faithful, or are you dishonest?  The dictionary defines faithful as "True" or "Adhering completely to something".  Does that describe you, or not? 

It does not describe the steward in our text.  He was the head of a rich man's household, in charge of running the daily affairs of the master.  But he did not do so according to the master's will.  He was not faithful to what the master desired.  Instead he squandered what the master had put him in charge of, wasting it.  Charges were brought up against the man, and he was out of the job, left to fend for himself.  "What shall I do," he says, "I cannot dig and am ashamed to beg."  His unfaithfulness had cost him his entire living.    

And it is not a surprise that the man in the parable was dishonest in these things.  Ever since the creation of the world, man has been unfaithful in their dealings.  Even Adam, the very first man was put in charge of the Garden of Eden, and ended up squandering all of the gifts God had given to him.  Instead of being faithful to God and his good gifts, Adam chose to eat of the only tree he was forbidden.  He wanted to "be like God" in knowing Good and Evil.  In doing so every good thing that God had already given to him was corrupted by sin.   In response, God cast Adam and his wife out of the garden, saying, "By the sweat of your brow will you eat bread until you return to the dust from which I created you."  Unfaithfulness cost Adam his whole life as the reality of death in sin now confronted him. 

And what of you and I?  We too are unfaithful in our own ways aren't we?   Each of us too struggles with this daily.  Christ calls us to be faithful even to the point of death, but we fail.  Instead often, just like Adam, and just like the steward in our text, our own selfish desires come between us and our Heavenly Father. 

God the Father who created you, knows your sin.  He knows your unfaithfulness, even in the little things.  He knows those times where you have turned your eyes lustfully at the wealth and sin of the world and says, "if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out."  He knows those times where your ear has been opened to the words of gossip, or when your tongue complained and spoken words you wouldn't want your mother to hear.  He knows when your hands in idleness have not helped your neighbor or even in busyness have caused you to sin.  Dear friends do not be fooled, God knows that even in these little things, you have been unfaithful.  And Jesus says in our text, "He who is unfaithful in little things, will also be unfaithful in much."  Our unfaithfulness infects every inch and atom of our being. 

In our unfaithfulness we, like the unfaithful steward, are taken from the company of our master.  We, like Adam, are removed from the Eternal presence of God, and left to eat bread by the sweat of our brow.  We are left alone and dead in our sin.  Each of us is guilty, and in our Old Testament lesson Amos, beyond condemning us for our greed, tells us the following, "The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their deeds."  Where do we turn?  What can we do?  In these worldly things, we have been unfaithful.  Our text says, "If then you have not been faithful in the worldly things, who will entrust to you the true riches?"  In other words, in your sin, daily turning away from God in thought word and deed, why should you expect heaven and eternity?  In the pain and suffering of our unfaithfulness, why should we expect comfort and peace from God?

Because your sin has been answered for.  Because your unfaithfulness has been atoned for by one whose very name is called "Faithful and True." (Rev 19:11)  The Son of God has come and taken on human flesh and has lived a life of faith and trust in the True God.  Jesus has been faithful in the little things.  His eyes never gazed lustfully on anything.  His ear avoided idle gossip and his tongue never passed on an untrue word.  He used his hands to help and serve those around them, even you, as they were pierced by nails outstretched upon a cross.  Jesus Christ has done this for you and for your unfaithfulness.  Jesus has proved himself in his own life death and resurrection to be faithful in the little things.  Now, in his faithfulness, he makes promises to you. 

In the waters of holy baptism, he makes the promise that you shall always be his own precious dear child, joined to him in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  He promises to never leave you nor forsake you (Deut 31:6), and to be with you always, even to the end of the age.  (Matt 28)  In his faithfulness he promises to be here with us today, in with and under the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22:19, Matt. 26) given to us sinners to eat and drink for the forgiveness of our sins.  There God promises to be, and God is faithful in his promise.  He who is faithful in the little thins, is also faithful in much. 

Dear friends in Christ, where we have been unfaithful, Jesus has been Faithful.  Where we have sinned, Jesus has become sin for us.  Where we fall short, Jesus excels in grace and mercy.  Yes we are unfaithful people, but Christ still makes faithful promises to you, calling you from your sin and into relationship with him.  Your Lord is faithful to you. 

The one who is faithful in the small things is faithful in the big things.  Jesus is faithful in the small thing, and in his faithfulness promises you ever lasting life and peace in His name.  Jesus makes promises to you, and you can expect him to fulfill those promises, because those promises are sealed in the blood of the faithful and true lamb,  Jesus will be faithful to you.  Amen. 

Sheep of the Shepherd - Ezekiel 34

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our Text today is the Old Testament Lesson, Ezekiel 34, especially verse 11. 

Dear friends in Christ.  When you were a child, did you ever pretend to be an animal?  What kind of animal did you want to pretend to be?  I know that we did, my brothers and I would play games and pretend to be Elephants, or talk like parrots, or maybe we would chase each other around the yard while barking at each other.  Sometimes we would argue about which animal was the coolest, you know how it goes.  I would say to my one brother, "You pretend to be a cat, and I will pretend to be a dog."  Woo ha ha ha.  Then my brother would of course argue back, because no one wants to be one of the wimpy animals, we always wanted to be the cool animals, you know with sleek coats and fangs.  Well in our Old Testament lesson today, God compares us to a group of animals.  And unfortunately, the animal that God tells us we are like is not one that my brothers and I would have considered very cool to play.  God compares people in our lesson to Sheep.  That's right, God compares us to sheep, not very smart, stinky, furry sheep.  However, sometimes we are

LOST SHEEP IN NEED OF A SHEPHERD

Lost sheep with out a shepherd?  What does this mean?  I mean, first off I am not lost, am I?  And I am obviously a little smarter than a sheep, at least better looking.  So the question is then, how am I a lost sheep?  How can God even compare me to a lost sheep? 

I.                    Like sheep we have no direction of our own and easily stray.

Well, the answer to that is pretty easy if we stop and think about it, isn't it?  We all know that sheep are herd animals, they go around in flocks, right?  Sheep follow other sheep around.  But they don't always stay where they are supposed to.  Sometimes, sheep get separated from the flock.  Perhaps they see some nice new green grass over the hill, and they pursue it.  Or perhaps they stop paying attention as the rest of the flock moves ahead to new grazing ground.  Sometimes, sheep get scared.  Whatever the case, at times sheep can become separated from the flock. 

When Ezekiel was writing our Old Testament Lesson, Israel was straying from God, and instead trusting in other Gods.  At this time, Ezekiel and the rest of his country had been taken into exile in Babylon.  It was easy for them to lose faith.  God had given them a land flowing with Milk and Honey, and now they were forcibly taken from that land.  They lost faith, because what kind of a God would allow them to suffer?  What kind of God would inflict this much pain on his chosen people?  The people had lost everything, including hope.  They strayed because they no longer believed the words of God to be truth.  They were leaving the flock of the church and being scattered throughout the world.   What's more, they began to trust in other things.  They began to trust other Gods, and they began to trust in themselves.

Well, what about you and me?  Do we always stick close to our flock, the Church?  Unfortunately, the answer is no.    At times we too lose hope in the words of God.  Perhaps we too do not trust God's Word.  No, I know that we have not lost everything as those in Ezekiel's time had.  No, we are not being carried away into exile, as the people in Ezekiel's time had.  But don't we lose hope anyway?  Don't we become complacent in our lives, and lose the hope we have in the Gospel, trusting instead in ourselves?  We are a lot like one of those sheep, who see the nicer grass over the hill and wander off to eat it, because we feel like it.  That is how we are, people who are so inwardly focused on ourselves, that we don't care about others.  We don't do our best caring for the weak and sick of the church.  We don't do these things because we are sinners.  In our sin, we daily stray from the one true faith, leaving behind the comfort of the flock, all because we are only concerned with ourselves. 

In a way, we too act like "herd animals."  We sometimes do things, not because we want to, but because other people are.  I'm sure you have heard the question asked, "If everyone was jumping off a cliff because it was cool, would you too?"  Sad to say, it appears that way occasionally.  We become more interested in what other people think than what the truth is.  This happens in our faith when we become obsessed with fads.  Whether it is the latest self help book, or the latest growth program, we get caught up in what everyone else is doing.

When this happens, we are like sheep, going astray.  We are blindly wandering about, not knowing which way to turn or where to go.  We call our wandering "freedom", but in the end we are slaves to ourselves, and little more than dead men walking. 

II.                Like sheep we have many enemies lurking around us. 

How else are we like Sheep?  As we know from fables and other children's stories, sheep have an enemy, the big bad wolf.  The big bad wolf is always sneaking into the flock, trying to devour one of the sheep.  Aesop's fables tell of a wolf who even dressed as a sheep, just so he could get into the flock and have a nice tasty snack of a lamb.  Sheep are always in danger of being eaten by some sort of enemy.

The people in Ezekiel's day also had an enemy.  The enemy that they faced was made manifest in the nation of Babylon.  Babylon had come and oppressed the people, and then defeated them in battle and led them away into exile.  Their enemy was very easy to see. 

Yes, we too, just like sheep, and just like the people from Ezekiel's day, have an enemy.  Our enemy is death and the devil.  And just like sheep have the enemy of a wolf waiting to devour them, St. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that "our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  In fact our enemy has us right where he wants us.  He is always lurking around us telling us one of several lies.  He is either saying to us, "You haven't done anything wrong," or "Your sin is too great, you will never be saved."  Both of these lies he whispers into our ears.  And we believe them, because we want to.  We want to believe both of them, because when we believe either one of them, we are once again in charge of our own life, and able to leave the fold of the flock. 

III.             Like Sheep we have a shepherd who leads us to eternal life.

But things are not hopeless.  For just as sheep have a shepherd who walks amongst them and leads them to safe pasture, so too do we.  We have a shepherd who walked in our midst.  We have a shepherd who comes to us when we have strayed and carries us on his shoulders back to the flock.  We have a shepherd who would rather die than let enemies steal us from his flock.  Ezekiel tells us about our shepherd, saying "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd."  Our shepherd is this one, the shepherd king, Jesus Christ. 

Though we were scattered, and without hope, alone in the utter darkness of our sin, Christ came and rescued us.  It is told here in our Old Testament Lesson,   "I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness" (v. 12).  Here is the promise for us, rescue from our sin.  How are we rescued?  The Shepherd lays down his life for us. (John 10:11)   He is the one who was without sin, the one who fulfilled God's will completely, willingly suffered, and died for you.  Jesus, though He had not sinned, "became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!" as Paul says in Philippians 2:8.  Jesus was crucified, dying a criminal's death.  He came to rescue his sheep from slaughter, and instead was slaughtered himself.  Isaiah 53:7 tells us that Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter.  The blood of the shepherd cleansed the sheep.  The blood of the shepherd cleanses you. 

Where does this happen?  In the waters of Holy Baptism, He puts His name upon us.  In the waters of baptism, He washes away all of our sin with His very own blood, and makes us a part of the flock of God.   At the font, Christ claims you for His own flock.  Ezekiel said in our lesson that we will lie down in good grazing land, and there we will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  This means that the best food available will be ours.  We already get a taste of that glorious food, here at the Altar where we receive Christ's own body and blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins into our very mouths.  In these gifts we receive the priceless treasures of heaven.  In these holy sacraments, the Lord becomes our shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, and he leads us beside still waters, and prepares us a feast before our enemies. 

Shepherds are interesting people, because they lead their flock while standing in the middle of the sheep.   They walk with sheep before them, and behind them, sheep to the right and to the left.  This is how they lead them.  This is how Christ leads us, from among us.  As He promises in Matthew 28, "Surely I am with you, always, even unto the end of the age."  So he is.  Christ, our Good Shepherd, has walked among us.  Christ walks with us, through the valley of the shadow of death, and we fear no evil.  Not because we are special.  Not because of anything we have done.  Not because we are without sin, but because we are His flock, and He is our shepherd who died and rose again.  Now that we are a part of his flock, we too will rise from the dead.  We too will share in eternal life, and we too, will live in heaven forever.  The hymn "I am Jesus' Little Lamb" puts it well when it says: 

Who's so happy as I am?  Even now the Shepherd's lamb,

And when my short life is ended, by His angel hosts attended,

He shall fold me to His breast, there within His arms to rest. 

Revelation 7:17 says, "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  This is our promise:  Jesus our Shepherd ever leading us, and God the Father wiping all tears away from our eyes.  This is our promise in Christ.

Amen.

Proper 18 - Series C - Gospel - Counting the Cost of Discipleship

Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson that was just read (Luke 14:25-35) especially verse 27, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  What is the cost?  How much will that be?  We are used to calculating the cost for other things aren't we? $3 or so for a gallon of gas.  $4 for a gallon of milk.  Even in big things, we like to count the cost:  $30,000 for a new truck or $100,000 for a new house.  For everything there is a cost.  We have all heard the saying, there is no such thing as a free lunch.  But here today, we are at church, and Jesus is telling us to count the cost?  What is the cost of being a follower of Jesus?  How much do I have to pay to be a disciple?  Our text answers that question, telling us

The cost of being a disciple of jesus is more than we can afford, but even then Christ pays the price for us. 

i.

Let's count the cost.  In our text today,  Jesus says "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yea even his own self, he cannot be my disciple."  Wait Pastor, what are you saying?  To be a follower of Jesus I am supposed to hate people, especially those people who are closest to me?  That doesn't sound like Christianity.  How can I hate my father, mother, wife and children?  Is that really the cost of following Jesus?

Yes.  To really be Jesus' follower, it costs everything.  I want to be clear, Jesus does not expect us to be cruel or mean to our family He has given.  Rather, we are to love Him first.  Jesus is to be number one, with absolutely no competition.  We are to love Jesus so much that we follow him forsaking our family and friends if need be, leaving them behind.  This relates directly to the first commandment, which our confirmation students will tell you (especially since this is their memory work for the week) is "You shall have no other Gods." Meaning we should fear love and trust in God above all things.  In other words, Jesus should be number one. 

That is difficult for us to do isn't it?  How often is Jesus really number one in our lives?  Instead don't we have all sorts of other things and people that we worry about?   We worry about our Children, and what is going on in their lives.  We worry about our friends, and what they can do to help us.  We worry about how we are going to make ends meet this month.  We worry whether or not the crops will be good this year or whether they will struggle.  Have we had enough rain, or too much? 

We worry about all these things, and in the midst of all this worry, Jesus often gets lost.   When we do this, Jesus is no longer most important.  When we think things like these, we are not paying the true cost to be a disciple of Jesus, we leave it an unpaid debt. "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  Instead of paying the cost, we often care more about the things of this world, including family and friends, more that Jesus.  The cost of following God, requires us to give up our friends and family, and all our Earthly possessions to follow Jesus.

II

Jesus goes even further, stating that we ourselves also can be the problem.  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate…. even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."  Yes, we even must hate ourselves in comparison to Jesus.  We cannot allow our own selfish thoughts and concerns to separate us from Him. 

But even so, often times they do, don't they?  We like to be in charge.  We like to make our own decisions and do our own things.  Given the choice, I would like to sit on the couch and watch football all day, (especially when Nebraska and North Dakota State both win) rather then spend some time in reading God's word.  I would rather go fishing then pray about what is happening in my life.  It is what I want.  It is what I desire.  Sometimes, I don't even think I am that bad of a person, as to need Jesus around all the time.  Is it the same with you?  Do you have something that separates you from Jesus?  Something in yourself that you like just a little too much to give it up should the need arise? 

The answer, is yes.  Sin is that thing in your life that separates you from Christ and that you cannot and will not give up on your own.  Sin infects our entire being, it makes us completely self absorbed and unable to pay the cost required by God.  In theology we say that sin makes us completely turned in upon ourselves (incurvatus se).  In our sin we cannot see past our own nose enough to even consider being Jesus' disciple. 

The cost for being Jesus' disciple is complete and total.  It involves giving up everything we have, giving up our family, our friends and our selves to follow Jesus.  Perhaps it is best said by Dietrich Bonhoffer, a great Lutheran theologian from the 1930's.  He says "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."  In other words, God requires us to give up everything to be in relationship with him.  God wants you to give up everything in this sinful world, even your own life, and instead to be His possession.  That is the true Cost of discipleship.  As Jesus says in our text, "Therefore any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

III

So how do we pay?  How do we  make sure that we can afford to really be Christ's disciple?  Dear friends, we on our own cannot do this thing, and so we must rely on one who can.  Jesus Christ walked the way of the perfect disciple of God.  He was sent do to the works of His Father, and He did them to perfection.  He was the obedient Son, giving up everything on this Earth, his Family, his friends, his possessions, yes even his own life to pay the price required of you.  That obedience was a pure and perfect love for God.  As Jesus hung bleeding and naked on the cross, there was nothing left for him to give up, he had given it all up for you.

Jesus paid your cost.  He paid the price you owe because of your sin.  He paid the price required of you to be a disciple of Jesus.  In your baptistm, you were clothed with Jesus, and share in his death.  You have taken up your cross, and followed Jesus.  In your baptism, all you have and own was given away.  In your baptism, even your life is taken and killed with Christ, and then raised it again into glory eternal.  With that death and resurrection of Jesus, your lust and passion for sin has been destroyed.  Your have been freed from a bondage to the wants and worries of this world.  You have paid the cost of discipleship with the very blood of Jesus.

  And now, with that cost paid, you are set free.  No longer need you worry about how ends will meet, or how the bills will be paid, for the highest cost is paid by Jesus.  No longer do you need to worry about anything, for Christ has called you to be his disciple, and paid the price for your life.  Yes there are struggles here, but ultimatelyh Christ is victorious over them all.  Your sin is now as far from you as the east is from the West.  It no longer can haunt you, or separate you from anyone.  It is completely and totally forgiven. 

Everything here on Earth does have its cost, but Christ has paid the cost required of you.  Christ has paid the price that has brought you admission into the heavenly kingdom of God.  Christ has made you his own.  Amen. 

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Our Lord.  Amen.