From the Pulpit

All Saints Day, 2017
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
November 5, 2017
Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 149, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

You have a past, a present and a future.  I have a past, a present and a future.  My ancestral past goes back to Europe; to Germany, Norway and England.  In college, when I was studying for a semester in Germany I visited my Great-Grandmother’s hometown of Altenbruch near Cuxhaven.  I found the family house and some of my grandfather’s cousins.  I myself have a past growing up in Indiana, New York, Missouri and Virginia.  I have a present as husband, father, pastor, a resident of Ohio.  And I have a future, but I am not sure all of what that will be.

You have a past.  You live in the present.  You have a future.  You can look back and look forward, but you live in the present where you learn one thing for sure is true; life is hard.  Life is a struggle.  School is hard.  Work is hard.  Marriage is hard.  Being single is hard.  Raising a family is hard.  Even retirement is hard.  Life is hard.

We all have a past.  We live in the present.  We look to the future.  We look to the future through our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and this can hold great promise and great worry.  The future can be frightening and troubling as we see turbulent times and know that our days are numbered and in the end we all face the grave

Knowing you face death can make the future seem bleak, but the grave is not the end.  The struggles of this life are not all that there is.  You are more important than that.  God has made great promises to you.  You are a baptized child of God.  In the waters of Holy Baptism you have been set apart from the multitude of unbelievers.  You are a part of the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints.

You are part of the Church, the Body of Christ here at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Hamilton, Ohio.  The Church has a past.  A past here at Immanuel which has been a congregation in Hamilton on Front Street and Main Street for 121 years after breaking away from Zion Lutheran in 1896.  Immanuel is part of the Missouri Synod which was formed in 1847 by German Lutheran immigrants to America.  Lutherans trace their history back to Martin Luther and the Reformation and back further to the Roman Catholic Church, back to missionaries to Europe, back to the early Church all the way to first disciples of Jesus and Jesus Himself.  And before Jesus’ incarnation back to the prophets and King David and Jacob, Isaac and Abraham.  All the way back to Noah and back to Adam and Eve.

How long will we preach the Word and administer the sacraments?  How long?  Until Jesus returns.  The Church has no choice but to do what She has been given to do until Jesus returns in Glory.

The Church has a past.  We did not invent something new here that we are doing, we are doing what has been given to us to do from the Lord Jesus Himself; to preach the Word and administer the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.  We see this past and present in the verses immediately before our First Reading from Revelations where the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel are assembled as the Church Militant doing the Lord’s work on earth.  The church militant protected by the whole armor of God standing firm against the schemes of the devil as we learn in Ephesians.  Ephesians 6:12-13 (ESV) ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

And so the Church lives this out in the present doing what it has been given to do.  We gather each week to again put on the whole armor of God by hearing the Word of God read and preached.  We continue to baptize infants, children and adults as we saw with little Samuel this morning, to seal them as children of God.  We continue to gather to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion for the forgiveness of sins.  And how long will the Church continue to do these things that She has been given to do?  How long will we preach the Word and administer the sacraments?  How long?  Until Jesus returns.  The Church has no choice but to do what She has been given to do until Jesus returns in Glory.  The church continues to live out what She has been given to do baptizing, preaching, teaching, communing and burying those who die in Christ.  And we will continue to do this until the judgement day.

The Church lives out the present standing firm against false teaching and sin and selfishness.  The Church lives out the freedom of Christ.  Not using freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serving one another.  And this is tough; loving and serving one another.  Being Salt and Light to the world is exhausting.  Love is messy and inefficient.  Love takes great patience and perseverance as we struggle through this life on the way to the grave.

And when we bid farewell to a loved one at the cemetery it is not goodbye forever, but rather, see you later.  The cemetery is not the end.  The Church has an eternal future.  Those who are in the Church have an eternal future.  You are part of the Church that we hear about in our first reading.  Revelation 7:9-12 (ESV) ⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”^[1]  The future church sings praises in the presence of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

As a repentant, baptized follower of Jesus, you will be in this multitude wearing a white robe and waving a palm branch.  Life now is hard being poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker and being persecuted.  Life is hard, but you have a future in the great multitude before the Lamb where God will wipe every tear from your eyes.

Today we remember all those who have died in the faith and now wait for the Lord’s return and the resurrection of the dead.  We remember them and look forward to the great reunion in heaven.  This is the future for the church.  This is your future.

This is why we do what we do in the present; because we have a future.  This is why we gather together to hear God’s promises; and what great promises God makes to you in Christ Jesus.  This is why we sing to Jesus in the Kyrie, “Lord, have mercy.”  Because where two or three are gathered in His name Jesus is here with us.  This is why we gather and sing the Gloria Patri which is the song of the angels sang at Jesus’ birth because Jesus was present with His people.  This is why we sing, “This is the feast”, as we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection, “Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God…For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign.”  That is why we sing the Alleluia verse that declares that Jesus is the one with the Words of Eternal life.  This is why we sing, “Praise to you O Christ” after hearing the words of Jesus.  This is why we sing the Sanctus with words of the Seraphim singing in the presence of God, witnessed by Isaiah, and the words of the crowds in Jerusalem waving palm branches and welcoming Jesus into their midst on Palm Sunday, “Hosanna in the Highest!”  This is why we sing the Agnus Dei with the words of John the Baptist as he sees Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  This is why we sing the Nunc Dimittis which is the song of Simeon who held the little Lord Jesus in his arms at the temple and knew that now he could die in peace.  We sing words of the Bible about Jesus’ presence because Jesus is present here with us today in His Word and in His Sacraments.  The Lord is present with us here for the forgiveness of sins.  The present church sings praises in the presence of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

The present is a struggle but you have a future.  You have a future because you are part of the Church; you have been baptized into Christ.  You have an eternal future with all the Church singing praises to the Lord in the heavenly city forever.  You have a past, you live in the present, you have a future in Christ.

Amen.

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Reformation Day 2017
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
October 29, 2017
Psalm 46:1-11, Revelation 14:6-7, Romans 3:19-28, Matthew 11:12-19

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

We dream of glory and greatness.  Boys imagine themselves hitting the winning grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the World Series.  Or catching the winning touchdown pass as time expires in the Super Bowl.  Or hitting a buzzer beating basket to win the NBA championship.  Girls dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.  Scoring with final goal to win the World Cup.  Breaking the glass ceiling and being the first female president.  I think we all have visions of glory.  Dreams of victory.  We all want to be winners.

Today we find ourselves celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation.  500 years ago on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  Luther was not looking to start a new church or do anything anti Catholic.  He wasn’t looking for anything except a discussion about the sale of indulgences.  The people were being taught that if they bought an indulgence the penalty for sins would be eliminated either for themselves or someone else; dead or alive.  Luther wanted to discuss this abuse and warn the archbishop and the Pope.  Luther didn’t know that the archbishop and the pope were the promoters of indulgences and so Luther ended up entangled in the church politics of money and he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and a warrant was issued that he to be captured, dead or alive.

Despite the many efforts to get rid of Luther and the Lutherans, here we are 500 years later; still alive and kicking.  We kind of want to make a face at the Pope and say nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.  We want this to be a day of triumph, a day to celebrate winning.  We want to bask in the greatness and glory of Martin Luther and his incredible bravery in the face of the threat of being burned at the stake.  We want to celebrate Lutheran victory.  We want to boast in our history, but we don’t have anything to boast about…except Jesus.

It’s still all about Jesus.

We are tempted to celebrate the greatness of Luther the man, but Luther was not about promoting Luther.  Luther knew the truth.  It’s all about Jesus.

The Reformation was a good thing in rediscovering the truth of Jesus, but it wasn’t all good.  It opened the door for a splintering of Christianity.  We see this as we look around at the spiritual landscape in America.  It is pretty disconcerting to see the fragmented mess of hundreds of denominations and thousands of churches who claim no denomination.  Religion in America is chaos.  With a constitutional guarantee of religious freedom America is a breeding ground for anyone who wants to make up their own religion.  We have the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Scientologists, and Christian Scientists along with homicidal messiah figures like Jim Jones and David Koresh.

We have the so-called mainline churches which have abandoned the Bible and are falling all over themselves trying to adjust and erase ancient church teachings to keep up with an ever-changing sexual morality and political correctness.

We have churches for which numerical growth is the most important thing and they are willing to do whatever it takes to fill the pews.  Worship becomes entertainment and sermons focus on self-improvement and success and dreaming big dreams and achieving big things.

There are churches that claim they are about deeds, not creeds.  That it doesn’t matter what you believe it’s all about what you do.  There are churches where week after week the sermon is about feeding the hungry and helping the poor.

There are churches that are very quiet and regimented and there are churches where emotionalism is highly valued.

American religion is a mess.  It is easy for churches to go astray in the quest for success or just survival.  But it is not about making up your own religion, or chasing cultural trends, or having more people in the seats, or achieving your dreams or doing great things or helping the poor or being quiet or being emotional.  It’s not about those things.  It is still all about Jesus.

Jesus on the cross is not how you would imagine God to be.  No one would make up a God who does what Jesus does.  Jesus on the cross doesn’t make sense.  What kind of God is beaten and naked and bloody hanging on a cross?  It is still all about Jesus.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

It is still all about Jesus.  It is about Jesus ruling as Lord of your life.  It is about Jesus being God in flesh; God with us.  It is about Jesus reigning from the throne of the cross.

It is still all about Jesus on the cross for you.

You want it to be about success and power and winning, but you get the cross.  Jesus on the cross is not an image of success and power and winning, even so, it is still all about Jesus and that is good.  Because your greatest need is not success and power and winning. Your greatest need is forgiveness and eternal life.

Jesus on the cross is not an easy sell to others.  It is still all about Jesus.

Jesus on the cross will not make you rich or powerful or healthy.  It is still all about Jesus.

Jesus on the cross reminds you of the seriousness of your sin and that is uncomfortable.  It is still all about Jesus.

Jesus on the cross is not how you would imagine God to be.  No one would make up a God who does what Jesus does.  Jesus on the cross doesn’t make sense.  What kind of God is beaten and naked and bloody hanging on a cross?  It is still all about Jesus.

Jesus on the cross shows you God’s great love and sacrifice for you.  It is still all about Jesus.

And there is victory.  There is Jesus’ victory for you.  Jesus is victorious over sin, death and the devil.  Jesus dies on the cross for your sins and then rises from the dead to conquer death for you.  Because of Jesus you will rise from the dead on the last day to live forever with the Lord in the Heavenly City.  For now, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear….Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  It is still all about Jesus.

Listen to Jesus.  Obey Jesus.  Follow the Ten Commandments.  Love God and Love your neighbor.  Do what God calls you to do; love and serve one another.  Tell others the Good News that it is still all about Jesus.

It is easy to say and hard to do.  Telling others about Jesus is difficult.  The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and it continues to do so.  It is not easy.  People reject Jesus and sometimes will reject you because of Jesus.  They need Jesus, but don’t know it and don’t want it.

We so much want to have a method that if we say just the right words in the right way people will have to come to faith in Jesus.  We want a way that we can advance the kingdom of God with deliberate efficiency.  We want to way to make people believe that it is still all about Jesus.  We want a method to easily eliminate sin and temptation from our lives and the lives of others.  But we don’t get any of that.  We get Jesus.  It is still all about Jesus.

This Reformation Day as you remember Martin Luther getting things started 500 years ago remember what Luther was trying to do.  He was trying to get back to basics.  He was trying to have everyone know that it is still all about Jesus.

Luther was troubled by his sin and guilt and could find no peace; no forgiveness.  The Roman Catholic Church over the years had so buried the truth of scripture under a pile of traditions and bad translations and a system of payments that it took Luther a long time to uncover the truth; it is still all about Jesus.

And what great peace and comfort you get from knowing that in the equation of salvation Jesus does 100 percent and you do zero percent.  It is not about you.  It’s about Jesus for you.  Jesus does it all.  Jesus brings you into the Kingdom of Heaven in Holy Baptism.  Jesus gives you the gift of salvation and eternal life.  Jesus continues to forgive you and feed you with His Body and Blood.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  Struggle against sin and seek to love and serve your neighbor.  You are a child of God because of Jesus.  You are a winner, but only because it is still all about Jesus.

Amen.

Pentecost 20, 2017, Proper 24
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
October 22, 2017
Psalm 96:1-9, Isaiah 45:1-7, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22

Sermons online:
Text:                                      pastorjud.org
Audio:                                   pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                                    bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:            bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Whenever you encounter communication of any sort, three things are vitally important to consider; context, context, and context.  This is true when listening to a speech.  This is true when reading a book.  It is true when watching the news.  This is especially true when working with the Bible.

We need some cultural context to make sense of our Gospel lesson today and understand how bizarre the situation really is.  The Gospel we just heard tells us that some disciples of the Pharisees and some Herodians came together to confront Jesus.

The Pharisees are extremely nationalistic Jews.  They believe Jerusalem should be ruled by Jews, not by the Gentile Romans.  After all, the Law of Moses states in Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 17:15 (ESV) “¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.^[1]”  The Pharisees hate the Romans and their occupation of the land.  They hate the Romans, but at this time they are not bold enough or stupid enough to rebel against the powerful Romans by force; that would be suicide.

The Herodians are just the opposite.  As you might guess by their name, they support Herod.  Herod Antipas is a puppet king of the Roman Empire in Galilee and a son of Herod the Great.  The Romans had put his father in power and they kept Herod Antipas in power after his father’s death.  Herod’s family members are not Jewish descendants of Abraham and Sarah but converts to Judaism and often considered to not be real Jews but only Jews for political purposes.  Herod’s clan’s first loyalty is to Rome.  So, if you are a Herodian, you are a fan of Herod, and, since Herod is a puppet of Rome, you are a fan of the Roman’s and Roman occupation.

They have the perfect question that will put Jesus between a rock and a hard place.  With this question they can trap Jesus with His words: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  They think there are only two answers.

Ordinarily, the Pharisees and the Herodians are at each other’s throats … if not literally, at least figuratively.  The fact that these two groups are working together to attack Jesus shows how much they hate Jesus.

And they have a plan.  They have the perfect question that will put Jesus between a rock and a hard place.  With this question they can trap Jesus with His words: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  They think there are only two answers. If Jesus says yes to Roman taxes, He is against God’s Word and the Pharisees and the Nationalist Jews will hate him. If He says not to pay taxes He is against Caesar and the Herodians will report Jesus to the Roman authorities to be arrested for rebellion.  If He does not answer at all, the crowd will label Him a coward.  The Herodians and the Pharisees think they have Jesus in a no-win situation.

Of course, it is not so easy to trap Jesus in His words.  Jesus sees the fallacy in their plan.  There aren’t just two possible answers to their question.  There is a third answer: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  You can be for God and still pay taxes to Caesar.

The Gospels record many interactions like this between Jesus and His opponents.  The opponents come up with some sort of plan to trap Jesus, embarrass Jesus and destroy His influence.  But every time, Jesus turns things around on the Jewish leaders and embarrasses them.  Plans to trap Jesus in His words always backfire.

We are tempted to believe that Jesus won all these debates because He was such an excellent debater.  We are tempted to believe that it was His superior skill and knowledge that won all these debates.  While Jesus was the perfect human being and had flawless thought; that was not His main advantage.  His main advantage was that He knew the truth and He never wavered from it.  Making your case based on truth gives anyone a tremendous advantage over those who depend on lies.

The opponents in today’s Gospel engage in a logical fallacy called the false dilemma.  This is a logical fallacy that falsely offers only two possible alternatives even though a broad range of possible alternatives are really available.  An example would be a child who says to their parent, “Either you buy me this book I want right now, or you don’t think reading is important.”  The opponents offered two possibilities: either you pay your taxes or you don’t.  Either you are for God or for Caesar.  Jesus simply exposes their faulty reasoning by showing that there actually are other answers.  We can pay our taxes, and give our offerings, and care for our families.  God is gracious enough to give us the resources to do all three and maybe even have a little left over for recreation.  The opponents try to trap Jesus using a dilemma that does not exist.

Your enemy, the Devil, often presents you with false dilemmas.  One that involves your very salvation is the dilemma between self-righteousness and despair.  It goes something like this.  And remember this is a fallacy; it is false logic.

As you read the Bible, you see that God gives you a lot to do.  Do you do what God says and go to heaven, or, are you failing and on the road to hell?  This false dilemma is all that the unbeliever knows.  He does not know that there is another way.  He thinks, good guys go to heaven, bad guys go to hell.  Are you good or bad?  How good do you have to be in order to be good enough?  This is the false dilemma of the law.  Are you a good guy or a bad guy?  Am I a good guy or a bad guy?

Now, I can deny the truth of my sin and insist that I am one of the good guys that go to heaven, but this is self-righteousness which directly contradicts John’s epistle: [1 John 1:8, 10] “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us … If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.”  To say “I hope I am good enough to go to heaven,” is an arrogant sin of pride.  To believe I am good enough is just lying to myself and calling God a liar.  Self-righteousness is one choice.

My other choice, according to this false dilemma, is the utter honesty of recognizing my sin and believing I have no hope.  This is despair.  Here too, there is a strange sort of pride … the belief that my sin is more powerful than God.  My sin is so terrible that there is nothing that God or anyone else can do.  In the case of Judas, the pride of his despair is so great that he takes justice into his own hands and murders himself.

What a comfort and relief it is to learn that the two choices offered by the law are a false dilemma.  Just as Jesus provided a third answer to the Pharisees and Herodians, He provides a third answer to the false dilemma of the delusion of the law.  In the middle of John’s condemnation of our sin, we hear, [1 John 1:9] “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Here is the way that God forgives our sin and cleanses our unrighteousness.  God has given us a third answer in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the one who does the work that makes this third answer possible.  Jesus actually does what God gives Him to do.  He keeps God’s law perfectly.  He goes to the cross and endures the punishment we deserve for failing to do what God commands.  In this way, He provides the third answer … the third answer that shows the futility of self-righteousness and the vanity of despair.  You are not responsible for your own salvation.  Jesus has taken that responsibility for you.  Jesus earns forgiveness for you.  Jesus cleanses you of all your sin.  Jesus forgives you and gives you new life in the waters of Holy Baptism as we saw with baby Keith this morning.  Jesus forgives in His words of absolution and in His Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

Jesus proves the benefit of His third answer by rising from the dead and ascending to the Father.  Jesus invites all to trust Him and receive this blessing.  God invites you to trust Him.  God will raise those in Christ to immortality on the Last Day and join body and soul once again.  On that day there will be a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and earth will have passed away.  Then our Lord [Revelation 21:4] “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

The Pharisees and the Herodians in today’s Gospel try to make Jesus irrelevant by asking a trick question.  When that doesn’t work, they give up on questions.  They decide that the only way to remove Jesus from the scene is to remove Him from this life – to kill Him.  During the next few days they carry out their plan and arrange to have Jesus crucified.  When Jesus lies dead, the powers of sin, death, and the devil think they have won.  They don’t understand.  They don’t understand that the death of Jesus is His greatest victory.

It is by Jesus’ victory that you receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.  It is by Jesus’ victory that even though you die, you will rise again.  Jesus’ resurrection is the assurance that the work He did on the cross is the ultimate victory for you … the assurance that you don’t have to choose between self-righteousness and despair.  The devil’s options are a false dilemma.  In Jesus Christ there is another way, the only way, the way of the cross, the way to life everlasting.  Amen

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Pentecost 19, 2017 Proper 23
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
October 15, 2017
Isaiah 25:6-9, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:4-13, Matthew 22:1-14

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

It is a beautiful wedding reception.  Everything is tastefully decorated with the latest styles the bride learned from Pinterest.  There is an incredible buffet line with turkey and prime rib carving stations and an amazing number of selections.  At the end of the buffet line there is magnificent tiered wedding cake just waiting to be cut.

The bride, groom, wedding party and guests are all dressed up in their finest; it is a lovely celebration of a man and woman being joined together in marriage.  All is going well when the father of the bride sees a young man at the buffet.  This man, dressed in an old t-shirt, shorts and flip flops makes his way down the buffet piling his plate high with all the delicacies.  Something isn’t right here.

The father of the bride comes over to the man and asks him why he isn’t dressed for the wedding.  The man doesn’t answer.  The father asks the man if he knows the name of the bride or the groom.  The man doesn’t answer.  The father signals for the reception hall staff to come over and remove the man from the party.  He doesn’t belong.  He doesn’t know the bride or the groom.

That’s bad news for the wedding crasher.

It’s bad news when you get thrown out of a party because you don’t belong.

What do you do with bad news?  How do you handle it?  Do you serve it straight up?  The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, or do you try to water it down; soften it up, lie a little to make the truth sound better, less harsh.

I think often we will lie to children about things to try to protect them from the harsh realities of life and death.  With little children parents need to choose how much to share when a family member is caught up in addiction, or grandma is really sick or when a pet has to be euthanized.  With children sometimes we want to soften the truth.

But what do we do with Jesus’ harsh truths.  How do we handle them?  How should the pastor handle them?    Should I water them down and soften them up to make them less intense?  Should I lie about them to make them sound better?

Today it is tempting because in our Gospel reading we have a tough teaching.

Many are called, but few are chosen.  This is a harsh warning from the Lord Jesus.  Few are chosen.  This is not what we want to hear from God about salvation.

There is only one way to the salvation celebration; there is only one way…through the front door.  Jesus is the door.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.  This is a strict warning.

This is a strict warning from God and we don’t like that and sometimes, when we don’t like something, we simply pretend it isn’t true.  We just make up lies about it to make it seem better.  We just deny what Jesus says and make up our own answers to difficult questions.  Doing theology in many churches today involves ignoring what the Bible says and making up your own truths to fit an ever changing world.  People believe that there are many ways to heaven and everyone is going to get there somehow.  We want to believe that there is a back door into the heavenly banquet.  We want to believe there is a secret passage.  We want to believe that we can make up our own way into the feast, but we cannot.  Many are called, but few are chosen.

There is only one way to the salvation celebration; there is only one way…through the front door.  Jesus is the door.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.  This is a strict warning.  Jesus is the only way.  Many are called, few are chosen.  To be chosen is to believe that Jesus is the king; to believe that Jesus reigns; Jesus rules; Jesus is indeed God, Jesus is your Lord and Savior.  So many refuse to believe that Jesus is in charge because they want to be in charge of themselves.  They want autonomy; self-rule.  They want to ignore the King’s invitation to come to the banquet.  The Lord God invites them and they refuse.  They want to live their lives their own way and in the end they will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  As much as we hate the idea, Hell is real; the Bible teaches this.  This is a terrifying thought.  The reality of Hell is a terrible reality, and we do not get to make up our own alternative.  But many do try.

We live in a time when false teaching is spreading quickly.  Churches that once held to the truth of the Bible have taken to making up lies to fit their own desires and understandings.  Recently, Elizabeth Eaton, the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times that she believed, “There may be a hell, but I think it is empty.”  That is a lovely idea.  I wish that were true, but I do not get to make up the truth.  When we hear Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel reading is there any doubt that those who reject the king’s invitation are outside salvation?  This is a hard teaching, but it is Jesus’ teaching.  The ELCA Bishop is telling lies about the bad news of the Bible.

Now there is bad news in today’s Gospel reading, but it is not all bad news.  There is also great Good News.  The great Good News is the King is so very generous.  The great Good News is that you are invited to come to the heavenly feast.  The King, the creator of the universe, God Himself, invites you to come to feast.  So come to the feast.

You entered into the Kingdom of Heaven; the reign of heaven, when you were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.  You are in the Kingdom of Heaven right now washed clean in the waters of baptism, forgiven by Jesus’ words of absolution; fed with the very Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion which is a foretaste of the feast to come.  You are in the Kingdom of Heaven and you are on your way to the eternal banquet.  You know the truth.  You know Jesus is the way.  You know Jesus is the door.  You know Jesus, on the cross, for you, has paid the price to ransom you from sin, death and the devil.  You are on your way to the eternal banquet.

But there are many dangers on the way to the feast.

The busyness of life and the deceitfulness of wealth can choke out the great Good News that you have been invited to the feast.  Far too many get so busy with all the other things of life that that just don’t have time to gather together to hear God’s Word and partake of the foretaste of the feast to come.

Some are so hardened in their own understanding that they do not want to listen to the King’s servants.  Pastors warn people about ongoing sinful situations, but too often folks just ignore the pastor’s warnings and remain in their ongoing sin.

Are you too busy for Jesus?  Do you have too many other things to do?  Are your sins too precious?  Beware that you do not refuse the call of Jesus to love your neighbor; the call to speak the truth in love that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  You have been invited to the great wedding feast of the Lamb, come to the banquet through the front door.

In our Gospel reading, the King has thrown a wedding feast for his son and there is a man at the wedding who does not have on wedding clothes.  The king comes to the man and asks, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”  Despite the king’s friendly approach, the man remains silent.  He has no explanation.  He does not apologize.  He does not ask for mercy.  Everyone was invited, the good and the bad, but this man is not prepared for the wedding.  He does not know the Groom.  He remains silent.  He did not enter into the banquet through the front door.  He must have snuck in another way.  But there is no other way.  And the man is bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness.

We want to believe there is another way into the Kingdom of God.  We want to believe there is a back door, a secret door, but there is not.  These are just lies we tell ourselves.  There will be no sneaking into the heavenly feast, no breaking in, no way to bust down the doors to the banquet with military or political force.  There is only one way to eternal life with God and that is through Jesus Christ and His life, death and resurrection.  It is through Jesus alone.

This is humbling.  It is not about you.  It is about Jesus for you.  You are a natural born sinner who needs Jesus.  You cannot do it yourself.  You do not prepare the Feast, but you are an invited guest.  The Lord of hosts is the one who prepares the feast of rich food and well-aged wine.  The Lord is the one who prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies.  The Lord is the one who anoints your head and chooses you to be His own.  The Lord is the one who fills your cup to overflowing with love, goodness, mercy and forgiveness.

The King has invited you to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom.  Come to the feast.  Live your life as a guest at the wedding feast of the King.  Speaking the truth in love that Jesus is the only way.  Speaking the truth in the face of opposition.  Speaking the hard truth that Jesus is the only way because that is Jesus’ truth.

On November 10, 2013 in the city of Speyer, Germany, in the Memorial Church of the Reformation, a Muslim Imam was invited to take part in an interfaith prayer service for peace.  The Imam began his call to prayer shouting Allahu Akbar!  Which means Allah is greater; greater, they mean, than the Christian God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  At this call a German Christian woman named Heidi Mund could not contain her anger at this false teaching in a Christian Church dedicated to Martin Luther and the Reformation.  She rose up with a German flag that proclaimed Jesus Christ is Lord and shouted the same.  Jesus Christus ist Herr!  Jesus Christ is Lord.  She proclaimed, “Here I stand, I can do no other!”  “Save the church of Martin Luther.”  This brave German woman stood up to false teaching.

You know the truth.  There is only one way into the banquet and that is through Jesus.  The King has invited you to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom.  Come to the feast.  Amen.

Pentecost 17 2017, Proper 21
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
October 1, 2017
Psalm 25:1-10, Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Philippians 2:1-4, 14-18, Matthew 21:23-27

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Betty owns a small business that sells and installs high end blinds, draperies and area rugs.  She has built the business from just herself in a spare bedroom to having her own showroom and 10 employees.  Betty has been out of town on a sales call and returns to her showroom at 4 PM on a Friday to find her 10 employees and others having a party with catered hors d’oeuvres and an open bar.  Betty runs a pretty tight ship and she doesn’t know anything about this party, so what is her first question?

“Who authorized this?”

Jed is an 8-year-old boy sitting playing video games in the family room and his mother calls to him and says, “please turn off the game and help set the table for dinner.”  Jed ignores his mother so she goes into the family room and repeats her instructions.  Jed looks at his mother and screams, “No!  I don’t have to listen to you!”  What is the problem here?  Jed is directly defying his mother’s authority and that cannot stand.  Jed may not be able to sit for a little while.

Anyone who has been on a sports team or in the military knows about authority.  You do what the coach or the sergeant or the officer says to do.  You obey without question.  When I was briefly in the Navy going to Officer Candidate School to be a Navy pilot much of the training revolved around learning to follow orders without question.  If you are taking off from an aircraft carrier and they tell you to eject you eject immediately; if you pause to ask why you will likely be dead before you finish the question.

When someone has authority you are supposed to obey them.  But that is not so much the way we operate currently.  Something changed in our nation especially in the 1960s and 70s.  There was a movement to question authority; to not trust anyone over 30.

Now, living in a democratic republic, there is need for healthy skepticism of our leaders and we need to hold them to account.  But there is great danger in always questioning authority.  There is eternal danger in questioning God’s authority.

That is exactly what the scribes and elders are doing to Jesus in our Gospel reading today; they are questioning God’s authority.  The day before, Jesus entered into Jerusalem in a grand procession down the Mount of Olives and then he went to the temple where He drove out all who sold or bought in the temple.  As outsiders came into Jerusalem they needed to change money and they needed to buy animals for sacrifice.  The temple had been turned into a stockyard and there was a bit of a hustle going on.  The people needed to bring animals for sacrifice that would meet the temple standards.  The Jewish leaders determined whether or not an animal met standards.  Eventually instead of bringing their own animals, people would buy a pre-certified animal for sacrifice from the Jewish leaders who would take a cut of the sale price and make extra on changing money.  Because they are in charge, the Jewish leaders set up a nice side business.

But whose temple is it?  It is God’s house, but the Jewish leaders think they are in charge and can do whatever they like.  Then Jesus shows up.  Jesus comes to the temple and overturns the moneychanger’s tables and the chairs of the ones who sold pigeons.  Jesus tells the Jewish leaders, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.”

The Jewish leaders must be quite puzzled by Jesus’ actions and teaching.  Who is this guy from Galilee?  Who do you think you are telling us what to do?  We don’t have to listen to you; we run this place.  We are in charge.  This is our temple.  But Jesus doesn’t listen to them and cleanses the temple.

As Jesus comes back to the temple the next day the chief priest and the elders confront Him in regards to His authority.

Matthew 21:23 (ESV) ²³ … “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”^[1]

Basically, “Who do you think you are?”

The question is, “Who is Jesus?”  In our world today we face the same question, “Who is Jesus?  Who is Jesus to tell me what to do?”  Who is Jesus and does Jesus have authority?

The Jewish leaders try to trap Jesus into either denying His authority or outright claiming to be God which would be, in their eyes, a blasphemy worthy of death.  They are trying to trap Jesus in His words, but they don’t know who they are dealing with.  Jesus gives it right back to them and questions them about John the Baptist’s authority to baptize; is it from heaven or from men.

The Jewish leaders sense Jesus’ trap for them and refuse to answer and so Jesus refuses to answer.  The Jewish leaders think they speak for God because they are the temple leaders and yet here they are speaking to God in flesh and disregarding what He is saying.  They have some authority in the Temple but instead of using it to help the people they use their authority to profit off of the people by selling animals and changing money.  The Jewish leaders appear to be holy and say they believe in God, but then reject God when He comes in the flesh.  The tax collectors and prostitutes don’t appear to be very holy but they know they are not worthy and they need a savior and that savior is Jesus of Nazareth; Immanuel; God with us.

Jesus has come to fulfill Old Testament prophecy as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus comes with authority.  All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to Jesus.  Jesus has demonstrated his authority.  Jesus has authority over the laws of nature.  The wind obeys him; He can turn water into wine.  Jesus has authority over sickness and heals people.  Jesus has authority over blindness and restores sight.  Jesus has authority over demons and drives them out.  Jesus has authority over death itself and raises people from the dead.  Jesus has authority to forgive sins and this is what He came to do.  Jesus has authority to lay down His life and authority to take it up again.  Jesus has the authority to be the sacrificial Lamb of God and pay the price for the sins of the world.

Jesus has authority because of who He is; He is God in flesh.  Jesus is God with us.

Jesus has authority, but you are in danger of falling into the same trap as the Jewish leaders.  You can start to think that you know what is the right thing to do and you don’t have to listen to Jesus.

You try to take authority away from Jesus by pretending that you have some authority to forgive your own sins; that you can do something to work off your sins.  In our study of the Reformation we learned that in the Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate the Greek word for repentance was translated as “do penance”.  Because of this the Roman Catholic Church taught that very thing.  Instead of repent; turn away from sin and turn back to God, they taught that you must do penance, do acts to pay for your sin.

But you do not have authority to pay for your own sins.  This doing penance eventually morphed into gaining an indulgence by going on a crusade to then being able to buy an indulgence that would get you an exemption from doing penance.  The church leaders found a way to profit off of forgiveness.  But buying an indulgence or doing penance does not earn forgiveness.  You can’t earn forgiveness; it must be granted to you by the one who has authority.

Only Jesus has that authority.  And what a wonderful thing that Jesus exercises that authority to forgive you.  Jesus has the authority to forgive sins which He gives to the Church who calls a pastor who declares forgiveness on behalf of the Church.  Jesus pours out forgiveness in His words, “I forgive you all your sins”, in the waters of baptism and in His Body and Blood in Holy Communion.  Jesus has authority, but too often you want to challenge Jesus’ authority.

You challenge Jesus’ authority when you disobey His teachings.  When you decide that one of Jesus’ laws doesn’t apply to you, you are declaring that Jesus does not have authority over you.  But Jesus has authority.  You are to follow all His laws.  Jesus’ teachings are not a buffet where you get to pick which ones you like and which ones you don’t.  Jesus’ teachings are like eating dinner at my mother’s table when I was growing up.  You eat what you are served whether you like it or not.  I remember to this day having ridiculously heated battles of the will with my mother over having to eat what I was served.  I remember a couple were over stuffed manicotti and stewed zucchini.  Looking back it would have been easier to be more like my siblings and just listen to my mother and obey, but I was not known for doing things the right way or the easy way.  I wanted to take authority away from my mother.

That is so much how we are nowadays.  Listening and obeying is so contrary to the way we want to live life today.  But with Jesus’ authority we are called on to listen and obey even if Jesus’ teaching is not something that we like; even when it is difficult.

When you find yourself engaged in some activity that you wonder, “Is this sinful?”, ask yourself, “Who authorized this?  Am I pursuing God’s will, or am I obeying the devil, the world, or my own sinful flesh?  Repent.  Turn from sin and turn back to God.

Who is Jesus?  He is God in flesh.  He is God with us.  Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is your Lord.  Does Jesus have authority?  Yes.  Jesus has authority to forgive your sins.  Jesus’ words cleanse you from all sin.  Jesus has authority to raise you from the dead.  On the last day Jesus will descend from heaven and the dead in Christ will be raised to new life.  Jesus has authority.  Jesus is Lord.  Amen.

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Pentecost 15 2017, Proper 19
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
September 17, 2017
Psalm 103:1-12; Genesis 50:15-21, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

When I graduated from Valparaiso University in 1988 I had $5,000 in student loan debt which seemed like a lot of money.  I got that paid off in time to go to seminary and accumulate another $20,000 in debt.  It took 12 years or so to get that paid off.  I thought that was a lot of money, but not compared to others.  A number of years ago there was a student in the Miami Lutheran Student Fellowship and Bible study who told me that he was graduating with $90,000 in student loan debt; and he wasn’t going into a highly paid field.

$90,000.  If you could get a job making $20 an hour how long would it take to pay off $90,000?  562.5 days of working 8 hour shifts.  A little over two years and that is if you did not have to pay taxes or interest or pay for anything out of your paycheck to live.  562.5 days of work.

Having a large debt is tough.  It is always hanging over your head; eating up so much of your paycheck.  Debt is hard.

How big is your debt to God?  For every sin that you have ever committed, how much is that to work off?  When you think about the many times you have disobeyed your parents.  The many times you have lost your temper.  The many times you said hurtful, hateful things to someone.  The many times have you lied, cheated, stolen.  The many times have you given in to the ways of the world rather than following God’s law.  The many times have you said, “I know the Bible says it is wrong, but….”

God requires perfect obedience and you cannot deliver that.  I cannot deliver that.  We have inherited sin from our parents all the way back to our first parents, Adam and Eve.  And so sin comes naturally to us and each sin builds a debt with God.  How big is that debt?  How long would you have to work in order to pay off that debt?  How big is your pile of sin?  You built it, one sin at a time.  Every lustful thought, word or deed.  Every time you gossip about others.  Every boast about yourself.  Every time you do what you shouldn’t do or don’t do what you should do.  Every time you act selfishly.

You are natural born sinner.  If you committed let’s say, conservatively, 50 sins a day that would be 350 sins a week, 18,200 sins a years, if you live to be 85 that is 1,547,000 sins.  If each sin were packaged in a one cubic foot box and you stacked them on top of each other you would have a stack that reached almost 300 miles in the air to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere.  That is a big pile of sin.    Each box labeled with your misdeeds; your sins; your dishonor.  You stand there looking up at that huge pile of sin with guilt and shame and sorrow.  If you tried to work off your sins, forever wouldn’t be enough time.

This is the situation of the servant in Jesus’ parable today.  He owes 10,000 talents.  One talent is worth 20 years labor for a worker.  This servant owes 10,000 Talents.  That is over 60,000,000 day’s wages.  It is an unpayable debt.  Like your debt to God for your sin.

The master seeks to collect the debt or at least get some of his money back by selling the man and his family and all his possessions.  The servant, faced with this terrible fate, begs the master for mercy and out of pity the master has mercy on him and cancels that whole debt.  What a weight lifted off the servant!  The great burden of the unpayable debt has been eliminated.

How amazing would it be for someone to cancel all your debt, or for that student to have a $90,000 loan taken away?  How wonderful it must be to have an unpayable debt forgiven.  What incredible joy the servant must feel.

And yet the joy is short lived.  That servant goes to a fellow servant who owes him 100 days wages and demands payment.  The other servant begs for mercy but the first servant shows no mercy even though he had just received great mercy.  The first servant has the second thrown into prison until he can pay the debt.

The master hears about this situation and condemns the unmerciful servant.  “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”  In anger, the master delivers the unmerciful servant to the jailers until he should pay all his debt; which we know he can never pay.

Jesus’ last line in this parable is one of the harshest of the entire Bible.  “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

As a follower of Jesus you are called on to let go of the anger and forgive those who sin against you.

As a follower of Jesus you have been forgiven all of your sins.  Instead of a gigantic pile of sin, your sins have been cleared away.  Your unpayable debt of sin has been paid by the suffering and death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, on the cross for you.  That giant pile of sin has been washed away in the waters of Holy Baptism.  It is washed away by hearing Jesus’ words, “I forgive you all your sins.”  Jesus feeds you with His body and blood in Holy Communion bringing forgiveness, life and salvation.  The Lord pours out forgiveness on you in a stream of living water that flows into you from God and out of you as you love and forgive others who sin against you.  As a forgiven follower of Jesus you are called to freely forgive others.

Forgiveness is tough.  When someone hurts you your immediate reaction is to hurt them back a bit more than they hurt you.  When someone sins against you, it is natural to get angry and, too often, you want to hold onto that anger and use it as a tool or a weapon.  As a follower of Jesus you are called on to let go of the anger and forgive those who sin against you.

Forgiveness is tough.

What does it mean to forgive?  Often times when someone apologizes for something we reply, “It’s okay.”  But when someone sins against you it is not okay.  Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did was okay.  Forgiveness does not mean that you won’t need to make some  at times to keep safe.

Forgiving someone means that you no longer hold the offense against them.  Forgiving means you will not bring up the offense in future arguments.  Forgiving means you are not going to seek to get even with that person.  Forgiving means letting go of the anger.  You may still feel the hurt for a while, but you can let go of the anger.  Forgiving means letting God take vengeance.  Romans 12:19 (ESV) ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”^[1]

Forgiveness is tough.  Forgiveness can be the hardest thing you ever have to do.  Jesus knows this.  Forgiving you is the hardest thing Jesus ever did.  Paying for your sins with His suffering and death on the cross was the hardest thing Jesus ever had to do.  Jesus gives you the strength to forgive even when it is hard.  If you had to forgive out of your own store of love and goodness it would soon run dry.  But you do not forgive out of your own store of goodness.  You forgive out of the overflowing abundance of the forgiveness poured out on you by the Lord Jesus.

Forgiveness is living water that flows and needs to flow.  It flows into your life from Jesus and it flows out of your life to others and that way it is always fresh.  If you get hardened in your sin and turn your back on Christ and stop receiving the forgiveness of Jesus you run out of forgiveness to give to others.  If you refuse to forgive others and forgiveness does not flow out of your life that stops the forgiveness flowing in because there is no room and it grows old and stagnant.

Forgiveness is living water that must flow.  It flows in; it flows out.  You cannot just hold onto to God’s forgiveness and not let any out to those who sin against you.

As a follower of Jesus you are called to forgive from your heart.  But forgiveness can be very hard.  There is great evil in the world and when that evil is directed toward you, or worse, one of your loved ones, it can be nearly impossible to forgive.  So when you find yourself saying I won’t forgive or I can’t forgive, look to Jesus on the cross for you and confess that sin of unforgiveness and receive the refreshing shower of God’s forgiveness in Jesus.  Pray for the one whom you cannot forgive.  Pray for the strength to forgive with the forgiveness flowing from Jesus.  Do not look for the strength to forgive from within yourself, look to Jesus and how much He has forgiven you.  Ponder how much God has forgiven you and let that forgiveness flow to others even when you are still hurt.

The pile of sin in your life was an incredible debt that you could not pay, but that sin is gone; it has been washed away.  Jesus has paid the price for your sin and taken your sin away.  When God the Father looks at you He does not see a pile of sin, but rather a perfect, holy, sinless child of God washed clean in the blood of Jesus.  Live in that love and forgiveness.

Amen.

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Pentecost 14 2017, Proper 18
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
September 10, 2017
Psalm 32:1-7, Ezekiel 33:7-9, Romans 13:1-10, Matthew 18:1-20

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Here we are on the first Sunday of the 2017-18 NFL football season.  It is a wonderful day as the Bengals and Browns are both undeafeated (and the Patriots are in last place).  So, speaking of football, who is the greatest Bengals player of all times?  Boomer Esiason, Ken Anderson, Anthony Munoz?  Who is the greatest NFL player of all times?  Walter Peyton, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown?  Who is the greatest?  I’m sure we could generate a lot of conversation on that topic…I would contribute very little as I would be partial to John Riggins, Joe Theisman and the like.

Who is the greatest basketball player?  Jordan, Lebron, Curry?

What about baseball?  Hockey?  Soccer?  Who is the greatest?

Boxing that’s a no-brainer; he told us repeatedly.

Who is the greatest?  Who is the most powerful, the strongest, the fastest, the most talented?

Who is the greatest at your school?  Who is the greatest at your place of work?  Who is the greatest here at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School?  Matt Franke the President?  Dan Heitger the head elder?  The principal?  The pastor?  The organist?  The one who volunteers the most?  The one who gives the most offering?  Who is the greatest?  We so easily fall into the trap of determining who is the greatest by the world’s standards of greatness.  Power, strength, speed, talent, wealth, and independence, these are the world’s measures of greatness; just like the disciples.

Matthew 18:1-4 (ESV) ¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.^[1]

The world measures greatness by power, strength, speed, talent, wealth and independence.  Jesus measures greatness by humility, weakness, neediness, vulnerability, dependence.  The one who is greatest is the one who becomes like a child.  Children know they are needy and dependent.  The greatest one at Immanuel is the one who struggles mightily with sin and knows he cannot do in on his own.  The greatest at Immanuel is one who knows she needs Jesus.  The greatest at Immanuel is the one who knows he is dependent on Jesus alone.

Children know they are dependent.  Children know they are needy.  Children also know how to receive gifts.  The older we get the harder it is to receive.

Picture this; it is December 24^th at 11:30 AM.  You are hard at work in your cubicle trying to tie up a couple of loose ends before you get to leave at noon for early closing on Christmas Eve.  You hang up the phone and look up and there is Randy; the guy from down the hall in accounting.  Randy is a great guy but he is doing something awful.  He is holding a wonderful-looking plate of homemade Christmas Candies arranged beautifully around an expensive scented candle.  “Merry Christmas!” he says.  This is awful.  Why?  Because you didn’t get Randy anything and now there is no time to get him anything and if you tried to get him something it would just be so obvious you hadn’t planned to get him anything.  If he gives you a gift, now you are obligated to give him something.  You kind of get mad at Randy for being so insensitive to your need to be independent.

When you are a child you look forward to your birthday and Christmas because you get to receive gifts from your parents and grandparents and others.  When a child receives a gift they just receive it and enjoy it without feeling like they owe the giver anything in return except a thank you.

Like a child needs her parents, you need God.  You need God to give you the gift of forgiveness even though you have nothing to give God in return.

Grown-ups have trouble with acknowledging that we are indeed dependent.  We want to be independent and not have to rely on anyone.  There is a movement to be off the grid and not even use electricity.  One of the worst things about getting sick or injured is becoming dependent on others to help you do what you used to do for yourself.

You want to pretend we are independent, but you are dependent.  Like a child needs her parents, you need God.  You need God to give you the gift of forgiveness even though you have nothing to give God in return.  You need Jesus’ forgiveness even though the only thing you have to give to God is your stinking, rancid pile of sin.  It is hard to admit that pile of sin is yours.

It is hard to admit that you are by nature sinful and unclean.  It is hard to admit that you sin in your thoughts, words and deeds.  It is hard to admit that you are in bondage to sin and cannot free yourself.  You want to believe that you are good enough.  You want to believe that you may not be perfect, but you’re not such a bad person.  You want to believe that you are good with God because you do enough good stuff to outweigh the bad stuff.  You want to believe that you are good enough, but that is not true.

You are a sinner who needs Jesus.  You need Jesus on the cross for you.  You need Jesus to suffer and die for you.  You are a sinner who must struggle daily and mightily against sin in your own life.  There is such temptation from the devil, the world and your own sinful nature to experiment with sin, indulge in sin, immerse yourself in sin.  Two or three gathered in Jesus’ name have power against sin.  Two or three gathered outside of Jesus’ name far too often promote sin.  You get with others in person or online and you are pushed toward sin.  Kids get together at sleep overs and push each other toward sin.  The whole purpose of game of truth or dare is to get you to say things you shouldn’t say or do things you shouldn’t do.  There is a lot of peer pressure to give in to sin.  To drink too much, to use filthy language, to go with the boys to a “gentlemen’s” club where women are turned into objects.  There is great pressure to just go with the flow and adopt the world’s sexual ethic rather than God’s plan of husband and wife in a lifelong marriage.  There is pressure to give up on gathering together on Sunday morning so you can do something more entertaining or sleep off your overindulgence from the night before or just have a day off.  There is great pressure on you to cheat; to lie; to gossip; to hate.  And so you must daily battle sin in your life so that it does not take root and grow.

And be super on guard against causing others to sin.  Matthew 18:6 (ESV) ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. ^[2]

When you get caught up in a sin it is very tempting to want to share that sin with others and bring them into it.  Misery and naughtiness both love company.  When we learn a new sin we are so tempted to teach others.  Someone else taught you that sin, and you taught it to others.  Far too often people gather together for evil rather than good.  Do not be one of them.  Do not bring sin to others.  Battle sin in your own life while it is still just a thought so it does not spill over into words and deeds.  Do not share sin.  Do not teach sin.  Do not cause one of Jesus’ little ones to sin.  That is from the devil.  Be diligent in your life to reduce sin in the world and not to increase it.  Be especially careful around new believers and hurting believers and those who struggle.  Be careful around the little ones in the literal and the figurative sense.

The battle against sin is difficult and painful.  It hurts to fight sin; it hurts to give up a sin.  Jesus knows this.  But avoiding pain is no excuse.  Jesus teaches:  Matthew 18:8-9 (ESV) ⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. ^[3]

Jesus is using hyperbole here.  He is exaggerating to make a point.  Nowhere in scripture do we see anyone getting their hands cut off or eyes gouged out to fight sin.  But He is a deadly serious in the call to battle sin in your life.  When sin becomes a regular part of your life it is painful to remove it.  But it is better for you to feel the pain of removing a sin than to be thrown into the hell of fire.  You are not called to disfigure yourself, but you are called to cut sin out of your life; no matter how painful that will be.

Sin is dangerous; sin leads you to hell.  Sin can lead your brothers and sisters in Christ away from God and onto the road to hell.  As a member of this congregation it is your duty and my duty to warn each other about sin consistently and patiently so that sin does not gain a foothold in our congregation.

This congregation does not exist to increase sin in the world, but to forgive sin.  This congregation; the church and the school together is here to pour out the forgiveness of sins won for you by Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  This congregation exists to forgive sins and reduce the sin in the world.  So we battle sin and division in our midst so the devil does not get a foothold to tear us apart.  This is a congregation for sinners, but it is not a congregation for sin.

Who is the greatest here at Immanuel?  The one who knows she needs Jesus.  The one who knows he is dependent on God.  The one who knows that the battle against sin is not going well.  The one who feels the guilt and shame of their sin.  Know that you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven when you know you are a poor, weak, lowly sinner who needs Jesus.  Indeed, you need Jesus, and Jesus is here for you.

Amen.

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[2]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[3]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Pentecost 13, 2017
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
September 3, 2017
Jeremiah 15:15-21, Psalm 26, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:21-28

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

We live in interesting times where it seems the freedom to speak is under attack as people would like to silence anyone who disagrees with them.  Lots of folks want to eliminate any words or symbols or ideas that offend them.  It seems we are less and less capable of civil conversations with people with whom we disagree.  I try to remain civil in my online and offline discussions, but I know I often fail.

I get upset by some of the stuff other people post on Facebook, and there are people who are deeply offended by some of the stuff I post online.  When someone is deeply offended I think that means that I am supposed to back off, quit posting and probably change my position.  They are done discussing or arguing.  They are offended and so they want me and my ideas to get out of the way.

In our Gospel reading today we find Jesus doing this very thing.  He says that he is offended and wants the offensive person to get out of the way.

Jesus begins to tell His disciples what is going to happen; Matthew 16:21 (ESV)  ²¹ … that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.^[1]

Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Peter must have grand ideas in mind, of Jesus, the Christ going to Jerusalem to become king; to wear royal robes and be crowned and move into the palace to reign on the throne of David with all His disciples close by living a life a ease and luxury.

Peter thinks that with Jesus things will be easy.  With the Christ things will be nice.

But that is not what Jesus says is going to happen.  Jesus says that when He gets to Jerusalem He will be rejected and He will suffer and He will be killed and He will rise again from the dead.

Ironically, Jesus will get to be in the Governor’s headquarters and wear royal robes and a crown.  Jesus will get a throne.  At the Roman Praetorium in Jerusalem the soldiers strip Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him to make fun of Him saying, “Hail, king of the Jews.”  They crown him with thorns.  Jesus does reign, not from the throne of David, but in the pain and humiliation on the cross.  Jesus tells Peter that the work of the Christ involves suffering and death.  Peter says no.  Peter says this is not going to happen; not on his watch.  “Far be it from you, Lord.  This shall never happen to you.”  Peter is going to stand in the way of Jesus going to the cross.

And Jesus moves Peter out of the way.  Matthew 16:23 (ESV) ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” ^[2]

You are a hindrance.  In Greek a skandalon.  An offense.  A stumbling block.  Jesus is offended by what Peter said because what Peter said is a direct attack on Jesus’ mission.  And so Jesus wastes no time in getting Peter and his ideas out of the way.  “Get behind me, Satan.”  Get out of the way.  You cannot stop what needs to be done.  Nothing will stop Jesus from going to the cross to do what He came to do…for you.

Life for Jesus is not always easy.  Life for the Christ is not always nice.

That is a mistake so many make about Christianity.  Somehow, somewhere we get the idea that if we are followers of Jesus everything is going to be easy; everything will be nice.  Far too many believe the lie that if you are a Christian you are never going to have a bad day.

God will let you have a bad day.  God will allow you to suffer.  God will allow you to struggle.  Ask anyone you know in East Texas.

In a book about atheism I read once the author related the story of how he lost his faith because he spent a day job hunting in Las Vegas.  It was a hot day and he walked a long, long way and he was turned down by every place he visited and at the end of the day he was hot, tired, thirsty, frustrated and rejected.  He was having a very bad day and because of this he decided that there is no God because God would never let him have a day as bad as that one.  Because God would never let him feel as bad as he felt that evening.  This story was being offered as evidence that there is no God because God would not let you have a bad day.

That is a lie.  God will let you have a bad day.  God will allow you to suffer.  God will allow you to struggle.  Ask anyone you know in East Texas.  You want to believe that with Jesus things will be easy.  You want to believe that with the Christ things will be nice.  Because, like Peter, you have in mind the things of man rather than the things of God.  You get caught up in the here and now whereas God has a much greater vision for you.  He not only provides for you in the here and now, but He has saved you for all eternity.  He has marked you in Holy Baptism.  He feeds you with His Body and Blood.  He pours out forgiveness in His Words of absolution.  You are a redeemed child of God now and for all eternity.  And still, life is hard.  You will have to do hard things.  And God knows this.  The Bible addresses how you should deal with the struggles and difficulties and evil in the world.

The world is full of evil and evil can be very attractive, especially when you are having a bad day.  When things are going badly and you are tired and frustrated the devil knows this is a time when you are vulnerable to dabbling in evil.  Greed, lust, anger, sloth, pride, envy, gluttony.  The devil wants you to dabble in evil because then you can start to love evil and if you love evil the devil’s task of keeping you away from God is so much easier.  Do not love evil.  Do not dabble in evil.  And that is hard.  Life is hard.  You have desires that you cannot act on because those desires are contrary to God’s will.  Life is a struggle.  This is why St. Paul writes to the Christians in Rome.  Romans 12:9-13 (ESV) ⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.^[3]

With Jesus life is not always easy, but life is eternal.  With the Christ, life is not always nice, but it is never-ending.  The things of the world that we think are so important are so often just temporary distractions from the true joy of eternal life with God.  Life is hard; life is a struggle, but you live it knowing you are loved forever by the Creator God himself.  You are loved and forgiven and in the love and forgiveness of God the Father through Jesus Christ you live in love and forgiveness and service each day with the people in your life.  You battle evil.  You hate evil.  You repent of the evil in your life.  You cling to good.  Cling to the cross of Christ.

In this world full of evil Paul instructs how to live with all people; friends and enemies.

Romans 12:14-18 (ESV) ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.^[4]

When you get offended by someone’s words or actions do not repay evil for evil.  Bless those who persecute you.  That is a hard teaching.  Don’t get angry and aggressive with those you find offensive but rather bless those you disagree with.  Bless those who are out to get you.  Bless those who seek to do you harm.

I challenge you to do this.  When you find yourself disagreeing with someone else; in person or on social media; no matter how serious or trivial the disagreement, bless them.  “God bless you.”  When someone writes a nasty reply on Facebook, respond, “God bless you.”

You are not called on to defend God’s honor or your own honor.  God can take care of Himself and God will take care of you.  Paul writes, Romans 1-2:19-21 (ESV) ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ^[5]

Jesus told Peter to get out of His way because Peter was an offense; a stumbling block; trying to stop Jesus from His mission.  Jesus has now accomplished His mission to die for your sins on the cross and be raised from the dead.

You still battle evil in your life and in the world around you, but do not battle evil with evil.  Battle it with good.  In humility and gentleness you battle evil.  With love and blessings you battle evil.  You battle evil by feeding your enemy and giving him something to drink.

Recently on NPR[6] there was a story of a black blues musician named Daryl Davis who has a collection of 200 Ku Klux Klan robes.  Davis collected the robes from Klansman whom he befriended and then they realized that their hate was misguided.  Davis overcomes the evil of the KKK with love and friendship.

Jesus did not let anything stand in the way of Him going to the cross for you.  He did not battle evil with evil.  He used love and good to overcome hate and evil.  Love and good overcomes hate and evil.  Amen

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[2]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[3]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[4]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[5]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[6] http://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544861933/how-one-man-convinced-200-ku-klux-klan-members-to-give-up-their-robes*

Pentecost 12 2017, Proper 16
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
August 27, 2017
Psalm 138:1-8, Isaiah 51:1-8, Romans 11:33-12:8, Matthew 16:13-20

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Who is Jesus?

This has been a vexing question for 2,000 years.  Who is Jesus?  This has been a source great disagreement and confusion since that first Christmas in Bethlehem.  Who is Jesus?  This is the chief question for all eternity.  Who is Jesus?  This is the most important question for you.  The answer to this question makes all the difference.

Who is Jesus?  The answer to this question divides people.

Jehovah’s Witness say Jesus is the Archangel Michael.

Mormons see Jesus as someone who worked His way up to godhood.^[1]

Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet.

Some modern Jews believe Jesus was a Jewish teacher others only hear the name only in association with persecution.

Most adherents to the New Age Movement believe that Jesus was a great enlightened teacher who realized that He was God, just like you can realize you are God.

Hindus believe that Jesus was one of many great and holy men. Many Hindus believe that Jesus was a good teacher and perhaps one of their 330 million avatars. An avatar is an incarnation of the impersonal, supreme being that Hindus believe fills the universe.

Buddhists believe that Jesus was an enlightened man. Do they believe He was God? No.^[2]

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?  This is the most important question for you.  The answer to this question makes all the difference.

“Matthew 16:13 (ESV) ¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”^[3]

Matthew 16:14 (ESV) ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^[4]

People heard about Jesus, but they thought that Jesus is just a prophet; or just a great teacher; or just an enlightened man.  This is not much different from what a lot of folks say about Jesus today.  But who is Jesus?

Matthew 16:15 (ESV) ¹⁵ [Jesus] said to [the disciples], “But who do you say that I am?”^[5]

Who is Jesus?  Peter steps up with an answer speaking for the 12 disciples.  Matthew 16:16 (ESV) ¹⁶ … “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”^[6]

Who is Jesus?  Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Let’s say it together.  Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus is not just a prophet.  He is not just a great teacher.  He is not just an enlightened man.  Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew title Messiah.  It means the anointed one; the chosen one.  Now Peter and the disciples don’t yet know all of what it means to be the Christ.  But they know that it means Jesus will do Christ work.  They know He will do the work of the anointed one of God.  But they do not fully understand.  When Jesus next tells them that He is going to be killed and rise again Peter refuses to accept this and rebukes Jesus.

How can suffering and dying be a part of the work of the Christ, the Son of the Living God?  When you think about Jesus being God in flesh it sounds like such a glorious thing; and it is, but God’s glory is not man’s glory.  Jesus glory is seen on the cross as He does the work He has been anointed to do.  Jesus takes into His flesh and blood the penalty for your sins so He can put into your flesh and blood His perfection and holiness.  Indeed, God’s ways are not your ways.

Jesus commends Peter for His confession of faith.  Matthew 16:17 (ESV) ¹⁷ …“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.^[7]

This is not something Peter has worked out on his own with his own intellect.  This knowledge about who Jesus is; this faith in Jesus; is from God the Father.  Faith in Jesus is not a flesh and blood thing that you work out yourself by studying all the world religions and picking the one that makes sense.  Faith doesn’t come from you.  Faith in God comes from God through the Holy Spirit; through baptism; through the Word of God.  We should never boast about our faith because whatever faith we have is a gift from God.  We boast only in the cross of Christ.  Faith in Christ is beyond our flesh and blood existence and understanding.  Faith in Christ is from God.  Because Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus tells Peter and the disciples the significance of this confession.  Matthew 16:18 (ESV) ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.^[8]

Jesus gives Simon the name Peter, Petros and on the rock, Petra, of his confession Jesus will build His church.  Jesus does not build the church on Peter.  Peter, like you and me, is a flawed, sinful person.  Jesus builds His church on the foundation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  We sing about Christ the Rock.  “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord.  On Christ, the solid Rock I stand.  Built on the Rock the church shall stand.”  Christ is the foundation of the Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  There will be tough times.  The devil and all His angels will continue to attack the Church.  There will be attacks from within and without.  There will be false teachers; false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing.  There will always be those trying to move the Church away from the foundation of Christ.  They can try.  They will cause great trouble, they will lead many astray, but they will not prevail.  The true Church of Jesus Christ will stand because it is built on the foundation of Jesus and Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And knowing this you are secure in Christ; you are safe in Christ, you do not need to be afraid of sin.  You do not need to be afraid to boldly confront the sin in your own life.  You do not need to be afraid to admit it; confess it; repent of it.  You do not need to be afraid to confess it out loud to the pastor if needed.  You do not need to be afraid to go to other sinful people with the great Good News of total forgiveness in the blood of Jesus.  Jesus’ forgiveness is for all people; even the most hardened sinner; even for you.  The devil loves to use your sin against you to accuse you but you do not need to be in terror of the devil.  You do not need to be afraid of sin, death and the devil because Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and you are baptized into Christ.  Jesus has made a promise to you in your baptism that you are His for all eternity.

Secret sins so much want to become your master, but you belong to Jesus.  You are in Christ, so remember that the sin that you keep buried in the deepest, darkest place in your soul does not own you.  You do not belong to sin; you belong to Jesus.  Your heart is full of the bedrock of sin inherited from Adam and yet you are part of Jesus’ church built on the rock of Christ.  Your faith does not come from your own flesh and blood but from God.  And yet God does not ignore your flesh and blood.  Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  You have been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection with water poured over your head.  You are fed with the very Body and Blood of Jesus which becomes part of you.

You have the Word of God coming into your ears and eyes.  You are a redeemed child of God and you dwell in the unknowable wisdom and mercy of God.  Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) ¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[9]

You can feel the forces of the world trying to shape and mold you so that you fit the ways of the world; pressuring you so that you give up on Jesus being the Christ and you look to the world for guidance.  They want you to build your house on the shifting sands of the worlds ever changing opinions.  The world desperately wants to control you.  Resist!  You do not belong to the world.  In daily prayer and devotion offer your flesh and blood as a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus as you live in love and service to others.  Live in the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and do not conform your ways to the world’s ways, but rather be transformed by the will of God.  Do not let sin reign in your life.  Do what God wants you to do in all the various parts of your life because you know the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”  Let’s say it together, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Amen.

[1] http://www.equip.org/perspectives/what-is-the-difference-between-the-mormon-jesus-and-the-jesus-of-the-bible/

[2] http://creationtoday.org/atheists-discuss-did-jesus-exist/

[3]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[4]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[5]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[6]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[7]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[8]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[9]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

Pentecost 11 2017, Proper 15
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
August 20, 2017
Psalm 67:1-7, Isaiah 56:6-8, Romans 11:1-2, 13-15, 28-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermons online:
Text:                            pastorjud.org
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Big family feasts are wonderful with all the great food prepared and set out on the table.  When you gather with the family for Thanksgiving dinner, where do you get to sit?  Do you get to sit at the big people’s table?  Or do you have to sit at the little people’s table; you know that card table set up off to the side where you get to eat next to your cousins’ three little ones and there is no wine?  What would you think if you arrived at dinner and they told you that you don’t even get to sit at the little people’s table, but you need to sit under the table and you could have whatever crumbs fall on the floor?  That would be worse than being at the little people’s table.  Now there is someone who is pretty excited to sit under the table at Thanksgiving dinner; especially beneath the chair of anyone under the age of 4 or so.  Who is that?  Who is excited about staying under the table waiting for the crumbs to fall?  Daisy, the family’s little wirehaired terrier.  The dog is kept busy cleaning up the crumbs and scraps that fall to the floor throughout the feast.  And that is a good place for the dog to be.  I hear that some dogs think they probably deserve it, but they do not get a seat at the table.  The dog’s place is under the table.  So, if you were told you need to sit under the table, how insulting would that be?  That would be treating you like a dog.

After verbally sparring with the Pharisees and Scribes who came from Jerusalem, Jesus retreats for a bit to the area of Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean coast northwest of the Sea of Galilee.  This is Gentile territory; not many Jews around.  Maybe Jesus will have a break from the crowds for a time.  Then a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus.  The Canaanite’s are the arch-enemies of the Jews and have been for centuries.  The Israelites were supposed to kill all of the Canaanites because of their horrible pagan worship practices which included child sacrifice.  But the Israelites did not follow through and the despised Canaanites are still around.  And now one of them comes to Jesus.

Jesus has just discussed with the Jewish leaders and His disciples about being clean and unclean and how it isn’t what goes in your mouth that makes you unclean, but what comes out of the mouth makes you unclean because that proceeds from the heart.  Matthew 15:17-20 (ESV) ¹⁷ Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” ^[1]

They were just talking about clean and unclean and now this unclean Canaanite woman approaches Jesus, Matthew 15:22 (ESV) ²² … “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”^[2]

How strange.  This pagan, arch-enemy of the Jews calls Jesus, “Lord, Son of David.”  The pious Jewish religious leaders from Jerusalem attack Jesus; this Canaanite woman calls Him by a royal title.  She speaks like a disciple and calls Jesus, “Lord.”  She speaks like a believing Israelite and calls Jesus, “Son of David.”  The Pharisees say Jesus is working with Beelzebub, the Canaanite god Baal, in order to cast out demons.  This Canaanite woman knows Jesus has authority over demons all on His own.

And Jesus ignores her.

But the woman does not give up.  She knows who Jesus is.  She keeps on crying out after Jesus and the disciples.  She persists to the point of being so annoying the disciples just want Jesus to give her what she wants so she will go away.

But Jesus says to her Matthew 15:24 (ESV)  ²⁴ … “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”^[3]

How strange.  This does not sound like the Jesus we want to hear from.  First He ignores the woman, and then He tells her to go away because she is not Jewish.

But the woman persists.  She knows who Jesus is.  She comes and kneels before Jesus and begs, “Lord, help me.”

Jesus rebuffs her again, Matthew 15:26 (ESV) ²⁶ … “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”^[4]

The woman agrees with Jesus.  She is not worthy.  It would not be right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.  But when the children eat the bread the dogs get to eat also.

Ouch!  Jesus calls this woman a dog.  He has come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and this woman is a Canaanite.  She is not worthy to receive anything from Jesus.

And the woman agrees.  The woman agrees with Jesus.  She is not worthy.  It would not be right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.  But when the children eat the bread the dogs get to eat also.  The dogs get the crumbs that fall on the floor.  She does not deserve a place at the table, but she is happy to take a place under the table with the dogs waiting for a crumb.

Matthew 15:27 (ESV) ²⁷ … “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”^[5]  That is how the ESV translates it.  “Yet even the dogs,” as if the woman is disagreeing with Jesus, but that isn’t what the word means.  This is a little three letter word in Greek, gar.  It means “because” or “for”.  Nowhere else is it translated as “yet” or “but”.  A better translation is, “Yes, Lord, because even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

This Canaanite woman does not want a seat at the table.  She only wants to eat the crumbs.  Because she knows who Jesus is.  She knows how amazing and incredible and powerful Jesus is and so she knows that crumbs will be more than enough.  She knows that Jesus is God in flesh and just a crumb from His table is more than she can ever imagine.

She does not try to assert her rights.  She does not make demands on Jesus.  She approaches Jesus empty-handed, knowing that she is owed nothing, and she asks for help.  Matthew 5:3 (ESV) ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^[6]

What an amazing picture of us and God.  We too, for the most part, are not children of Israel.  My people come from Northern Europe.  As far as I know we are not descendants of Abraham and Sarah.  We are not God’s chosen people and yet we can come to Jesus with nothing to offer and eat the leftovers of the banquet which are in such abundance it is more than we could ever need.  Jesus supplies in abundance as we see with the leftovers at the feeding of the 5,000.  And, even more incredibly, not only do we eat the leftovers, but Jesus then grafts us into tree of Israel.  In baptism you are adopted as a child of God and a son of Abraham and his promise.  You become the new Israel, a wild olive branch grafted into the cultivated olive tree.  You are the new Israel, but don’t forget the old Israel.  Remember, Romans 11:18 (ESV) ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.^[7]

What amazing grace.  You, a Gentile sinner, are grafted into Israel.  You, a sinner, comes to Jesus on your knees and are forgiven all their sins.  And not with just a little forgiveness, but with forgiveness in great abundance.  You are forgiven all your sins through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Not because of how great you are, but because of how great Jesus is.

Jesus commends the Canaanite woman and heals her daughter.  Matthew 15:28 (ESV) ²⁸ …Jesus answer[s] her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. ^[8]

This woman who should be an enemy of the Jews.  This woman who is an outsider with no standing.  This woman who has no right to come to Jesus.  This woman trusts Jesus because she knows who Jesus is.

She trusts not because of who she is, but because of who Jesus is.  Our default mode is to try to find goodness and merit in ourselves, but all the goodness and merit we need is with Jesus.  You know who Jesus is and you know that even a crumb from Jesus’ table is a banquet beyond all imagination.  And Jesus doesn’t feed you with crumbs; He feeds you with His very body and blood.

Amen.

[1]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[2]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[3]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[4]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[5]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[6]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[7]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

[8]  The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001