Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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The text for our consideration this morning is the gospel lesson just read. It immediately follows the words of Jesus that we read last Sunday, “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

The story opens with 10 leprous men who “lift up their voices saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” And the story ends with just one of these 10 hearing Jesus reply, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

This is a story that is bitter-sweet. Sweet, in that one man gets it. And that’s wonderful. How often have we said of our evangelism, ‘if we reach just one person it’s all worth it’? The angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents.

But bitter in that 9 didn’t get it. 90% of those who received the grace of God from Jesus Christ never made the connection between the miracle and the miracle worker, the healing and the healer, the gift and the giver.

At the end of the story Jesus asks a series of haunting questions that sound like fingernails on a chalkboard, “Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Continue reading →

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If you are one of those people for whom “seeing is believing,” you’re going to miss out on a lot. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that doesn’t exist. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that ‘it’ doesn’t see you.

In fact, isn’t “BELIEVING WHAT IS UNSEEN” what the life of faith is all about? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). In fact, isn’t it precisely the things that are “not seen” the very things that the Christian puts his hope in? “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18). In fact, isn’t Jesus Christ the One whom you confess to be your Lord and Savior and the only hope for all mankind, and Him you have never seen? “Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1Peter 1:9).

Like I said, if you are one of those people for whom “seeing is believing,” you’re going to miss out on a lot. “Vision” is not all that its cracked up to be. We may think that couldn’t live without our sense of sight. But real living begins when you shut your eyes and learn to trust in what you hear. Continue reading →

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The text for this morning’s sermon is the parable of the dishonest manager as we just heard in our gospel reading.

I. The Parable Repeated
A brief summary of the story goes as follows:
 a RICH MAN hired a MANAGER to look after his business; nothing unusual about that.
 Charges were filed against the manager. We’re not told WHO filed the charges against the manager, just that they were filed.
 The manager was charged with ‘wasting the rich man’s possessions.’ We’re not told how the manager was being ‘wasteful.’ Maybe he was using an excessive amount of company money for travel and entertainment. Or maybe it was that pocketing some of what should have gone into the register, we’re not told.
 When the charges came to the rich man, he called his manager into his office. It was undoubtedly one of those meetings with the boss where the manager was told to ‘SHUT THE DOOR,’ which is always a bad sign.
 The owner says to his manager, “what is this I hear about you?”
 The manager doesn’t deny the charges or try to defend himself.
 Hearing no reply to his question, the owner demands that the manager, “turn in the account of your management.” That is, he’s to turn over ‘THE BOOKS.’ The owner wants to have the books ‘audited’ to see what’s been going on.
 And with that, he fires the manager. “You can no longer be manager.”
 Then the ‘ex-manager’ gets really worried about how he’s going to survive on ‘unemployment,’ since, in his day, there is no such thing.
 He thinks about putting his resume together, but quickly concludes that no one is ever going to hire him for management again with this blemish on his record. He could probably get a job doing physical labor, but frankly, he’s been sitting behind a desk for so long that just the thought of using a shovel wears him out. He could get a piece of cardboard and write, ‘homeless and unemployed –God bless you,’ and stand by a busy intersection. But he is too proud for that.

So far, Jesus has painted a picture that, sadly, sounds very familiar. There’s nothing unusual or shocking about any of this. It’s been all too easy to put this into a very contemporary context. Continue reading →

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The parable is often called the Parable of the Lost Sheep. But that really puts the emphasis on the wrong side of this marvelous lesson. It would be much better to title this, the Parable of the Worthy Shepherd.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

A. Two Groups
There’s two, distinct groups in the congregation this morning. One group is called “the tax collectors and sinners.” The other group is called “the Pharisees and scribes.”

The ‘tax collectors and sinners’ “draw near to hear him.” They don’t say anything. They just listen to Jesus. The ‘Pharisees and scribes’ also “draw near” to Jesus, but not to listen. They ‘draw near’ to complain and to test Him. “They grumbled, saying, ‘this man receives sinners and eats with them.’

B. The Shepherd
“So He told THEM this parable…”
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?”

The way Jesus puts it, this is just common sense and common practice. “Which one of you…” if you were entrusted with 100 sheep and accountable for each and every one of them to the One who entrusted each and every one of them to your care, “which one of you,” wouldn’t go after the one until he finds it?

Jesus sounds an awful lot like the prophet Ezekiel. Or, was it the prophet Ezekiel who sounded an awful lot like Jesus? “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Ah, shepherds of Israel… the weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought…” (Ez.34:4-5).

I’m told that in real life, sheep can get so focused on eating that they put their head down and simply move from tuft of grass to tuft of grass without ever looking up until at some point they discover that they’re all alone. They didn’t deliberately leave the flock. It just happened. The job of the Shepherd is to poke and prod them with his rod and staff if necessary to make sure that they don’t just drift off. Continue reading →

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It’s not very often that we use the appointed Psalm for Sunday as the basis for the sermon. But this past week, I finished reading and praying through the Psalms, one a day. It’s a race I’m going to run again, beginning today. And what better way to begin than with you as we meditate on Psalm 1 together.

I. Blessed is the man…
“Blessed is the man…”

The very first word in the entire book of Psalms is the wonderful word, “blessed.” How good it is to met at the door by such a warm and gracious greeting as this. ‘Knock, knock.’ ‘Who’s there?’ ‘A poor, miserable sinner.’ We expect to be told to go away and come back again when you get your life in order. But what do we hear? A beatitude.

The 1st Psalm in the Psalmody prepares us for every other Psalm with the incredible greeting, “Blessed is the man…” “Blessed are you…” The ‘man’ who is ‘poor in spirit,’ the ‘woman’ who ‘mourns,’ the ‘person’ who “meek,” all those who ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness.’

“Blessed is the man,” who hears this divine ‘benediction’ as spoken to him, to her. ‘To me?’ ‘Yes, to you.’ He is making ‘all things work for good,’ for you. He is making ‘all things new,’ for you.

II. He delights in the law of the Lord… Continue reading →

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Our gospel for this morning brings us into the house of a man who was a “ruler of the Pharisees.” It’s Friday, the sun has set, and the Sabbath has officially begun.

“One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, THEY WERE WATCHING HIM CAREFULLY.”

And, as it turns out, Jesus was watching them carefully as well.

I. Man with ‘dropsy.’
Just as this dinner is getting underway, there’s an interruption. A man who is an ‘uninvited guest’ is somehow present. “And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.”

He was there to be healed. But it’s the Sabbath Day. And to heal this man on the Sabbath Day would be a violation of God’s commandment, “on this day you shall do no work.” At least that’s the way that the Lawyers and the Pharisees interpreted the Law.

WWJD. What would Jesus do? Would he tell the man to come back later, and save His reputation with His guests? Or would He heal the man and jeopardize His reputation? That is, would He humble Himself. Would He make Himself nothing for the sake of this man with dropsy?

Luke writes, “And Jesus RESPONDED to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, “is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? But they remained silent.” They refused to answer Him. It was not they who were on trial here. It was Jesus, the One who will “come again to judge between the living and the dead,” who was on trial.

“Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. That simple. Not too much work for Jesus really.

“And he said to them, ‘Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

And to that, they not only ‘remained silent.’ “They could not reply to these things.”

“THESE THINGS” being the fact that Jesus actually healed this man of his disease just by “touching” him. What can you say to that?

“THESE THINGS” being that they would most certainly work as much as they had to work on the Sabbath day to save a son or even an ox. Was it that they did not think as much of this man with ‘dropsy’ as they did of their son, or of their ox?
Well, actually they could have replied. They could have replied, “We repent in dust and ashes.” “You have shown us our sin and our sinful pride and we are sorry.” “You have shown what is good and right salutary and we will amend our sinful ways.” But, “they could not reply to these things” because to do so would have jeopardized their reputation among the others – and that’s what they were most concerned with.

But Jesus loved this man just as much as He loved the “ruler of the Pharisees” and all the other guests at this dinner. What can you say to that? “They could not reply to these things.” Continue reading →

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The text for the sermon is the gospel reading that we just heard. It’s the record of one of the many questions that are posed to Jesus. This one comes from an anonymous person, a “someone,” who could very easily be any one of us. Before we hear the question and Jesus’ response though, St. Luke wants to remind us that it comes as Jesus is traveling.

I. Vs. 22
“He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and JOURNEYING TOWARD JERUSALEM.”

Back in the 9th chapter of his gospel, St. Luke noted this very significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Lk. 9:51).

“Taken up,” is Luke’s shorthand way of saying, “to be crucified, buried, resurrected and ascended into heaven.” “He set his face,” indicates His determination and firm resolve to carry out the mission that He had come into the world to accomplish, which according to the Scriptures, must be accomplished in Jerusalem.
 He set His face to repair the break that was opened by our sin that separates God from man and man from God. He set His face to reconcile us to the Father.
 He set His face to redeem the world by the holy deposit of His body and blood. He set His face to reclaim what was rightfully His.
 He set His face to take our place in the great and final judgment of God against the sin and rebellion of man against his Creator. He set His face to become sinful man, so that sinful men and woman might become holy and righteous before God.

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

II. Vs. 23
And it is as He is on this journey, that “SOMEONE,” an anonymous “SOMEONE,” “SOMEONE” who seems as though he has at least some understanding of what Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to accomplish, “someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are being saved be few?’”

You see what he was asking? Would the salvation that Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to accomplish by His death and resurrection and ascension and return again on the last day, would that be for just a few, or for many?

You’ve got to wonder what motivates a question like that one. “Why do you ask?” Continue reading →

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It is a happy coincidence that as we come to the conclusion of our summer sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, that the assigned Gospel reading for this morning focuses on Jesus’ giving His disciples this precious gift that we call the Lord’s Prayer.

And yet as happy a coincidence as this is, and as much as I would love to be able to connect our gospel reading into this sermon, we have come to the 7th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer which is “but deliver us from evil,” and unfortunately St. Luke doesn’t include that in his gospel.

And so we need to go back to St. Matthew’s gospel where Jesus gives this prayer to the whole crowd of people gathered around Him in what we call, “The Sermon on the Mount.”

“Pray then like this, Our Father in heaven… but deliver us from evil.”

A. Summary Petition
As we just recited, Martin Luther begins his explanation of this 7th and final petition of the Lord’s Prayer by calling it a “summary” petition. “We pray in this petition, IN SUMMARY…” In other words, this 7th Petition includes Petitions one through six in it.

Think about it. “Evil” is what stands in the way of and hinders:
 God’s Name being Hallowed;
 God’s Will being done
 And God’s His Kingdom coming.
We ask our Father in heaven to deliver us from “evil” so that these things may come to US.

 What is it that causes hunger and the basic necessities of ‘daily bread,’ which includes all of the needs of the physical body? In summary, it is ‘evil.’
 What hardens our hearts so that we will not receive the ‘forgiveness for our trespasses’ that Jesus Christ has shed His precious blood on the cross for? “Evil.”
 What makes us so stubborn and determined to hold onto that grudge so that we will not “forgive those who trespass against us”? In summary, it is ‘evil.’
 What ‘leads us into temptation?’ In summary, it is ‘evil.’

“In summary” means, that if God were to only answer this 7th Petition of this prayer, He would answer them all. And that’s just the point of this Petition – He has, and He does, and He will. Continue reading →

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“Jesus said, ‘Pray like this, Our Father in heaven… lead us not into temptation.”

I. The Connection Between The 5th and 6th Petitions
A. Forgiveness comes before Trespasses
One of the benefits of doing a sermon series on a particular part of the Catechism, is that after a few weeks, you begin to see connections that you might otherwise not see.

I can’t help but see a very close connection between the 6th Petition and the 5th Petition that we considered last Sunday. The 5th Petition deals with the forgiveness of sins and the 6th Petition deals with temptation to sin.

What strikes me as odd though is the order of these two. Doesn’t it seem as though the Petition about temptation to sin would come first and then, if and when we fall into it, we move to the Petition on the forgiveness for our fall.

But that’s not the way that Jesus gives it to us. He puts the Father’s forgiveness first. Like we said, God’s forgiveness always comes first. Before we even get to the topic of temptation and how weak we are to stand against it and how often we fall into it and how stupid and naïve we can be about just how dangerous it really is, we already know that we are forgiven.

And when you think about it, that really changes the way we treat the Petition – “lead us not into temptation.” We’re not asking God to keep us from falling into temptation so that He doesn’t have to go to the trouble of forgiving us and lifting us up and washing us off again, and again, and again. He’s already paid that price up front, in advance, in full. Continue reading →

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Jesus said, “Pray like this, ‘Our Father in heaven, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

I. The Plural Perspective
A. We pray WITH Jesus
One of the things that is finally beginning to sink in for me as we make our way through this in-depth consideration of the Lord’s Prayer this summer is the “PLURAL PERSPECTIVE” that the prayer is set in. I know we touched on this last week when we said that in the 4th Petition, Jesus tells us to pray that our Father would give US OUR daily bread and not ME MY daily bread. Jesus has us pray that the whole community have enough to eat, not just me personally.

But right from the start Jesus tells us that we are to address the Father in heaven, not as MY Father but as OUR Father. I checked, and sure enough, in the entire New Testament, there is only one person who ever talks about the Father as MY Father. And that is Jesus.

And this is because He is, as we just confessed, “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds.” (Nicene Creed) But you and I are nothing like that. We would totally understand if Jesus were to have said, “Pray like this, “The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” But He says, “Pray like this, OUR Father in heaven…” It is really an incredible thing that Jesus gives us His identity before the Father. Continue reading →