Matthew 18:21-35; Philippians 1:3-11; Micah 6:6-8
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit.
“With what shall I come
before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him
with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my
firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
You see, the Prophet Micah gets it. The answer to all his rhetorical questions
is an unequivocal “No! Nothing!” All that the LORD requires of you is that you
do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. What does this mean?
This means, don’t try to
offer the LORD anything. It’s all already His anyway. Truly, it’s not even
thanks and praise that pleases Him, but the thing that pleases the LORD is when
you sacrifice of yourself and give to others on account of His sacrifice and
love for you. Then you confess the LORD to be God and yourself to be the
recipient of His gracious gifts. Then you confess that you fear, love, and
trust the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts themselves, when you willingly
and freely give them away. Likewise, don’t try to offer anything to the LORD
for your sin. You don’t have enough to pay, even if you could, not even your
body, soul, and life. Rather, let Him forgive you in His love, mercy, and grace,
and then live with Him and walk humbly with Him, always aware that you don’t deserve
it or merit it, but that you have your life because God is love and He loves
you.
You see, it’s impossible
for you to be shorted or cheated, particularly with the LORD’s spiritual gifts,
but, truly, with anything at all. Everything is His: Your body and soul, eyes,
ears, and all your members, your reason and all your senses; clothing and
shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and
all that you have; everything that you need to support your body and life. And
this is especially true with the LORD’s spiritual gifts: grace, mercy, love,
peace, kindness, gentleness, charity, self-control, and forgiveness. These are the
selfless gifts given to you by your selfless God for you to selflessly share
and give away to others as you selflessly received them. When you give of these
gifts you lose nothing at all, for you are giving of the LORD’s gifts that you
yourself have freely received. More than that, you show mercy with the LORD’s
mercy, grace with the LORD’s grace, love with the LORD’s love, and forgiveness
with the LORD’s forgiveness. Moreover still, you have this promise: With the
measure you use will it be measured back to you; a good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, filled to overflowing will be poured into your lap. It’s grace
upon grace without limit.
That’s what the servant in
Jesus’ parable received. The master forgave him his enormous debt because he
pitied him – period. The master had compassion on his servant and he released
him, he forgave him. The servant was a debtor and nothing to offer to the
Master, just like you before the LORD, but the master had pity on him and
showed him mercy, just as the LORD has done for you, and he forgave his servant
who could not pay him back, just as the LORD forgives sinners like you who are
indebted to Him with your life and your soul and have nothing with which to pay
Him back for your trespasses – the LORD has pity for you, He loves you and He
shows you mercy; more than that, He showers you with His grace and forgives you
completely, even paying the debt you owe Himself, in the innocent shed blood of
His Son, Jesus Christ.
However, the gifts that the
LORD gives you are living gifts; they are gifts that literally give life, the
LORD’s life. That means, the LORD’s gifts do not remain stagnant and lifeless,
but they change you and they make you fruitful. When the LORD blesses you with
His gifts of life, love, and forgiveness, you will not remain the same. As our
Lord Jesus teaches, “I am the vine and you are the branches; remain in me, and I
will remain in you, and you will bear much fruit.” That means that you
must give of the LORD’s gifts, love with the LORD’s love, and forgive with the
LORD’s forgiveness. Not “must” in the sense of works that merit forgiveness,
but of works that are the fruit of forgiveness.
The forgiven servant in
Jesus’ parable failed to produce the fruits of forgiveness. He took the gift of
his master’s forgiveness, but he refused to forgive another who was indebted to
himself. He received the seed, but the seed did not produce fruit. There was
nothing wrong with the seed, the problem was the soil. The servant’s heart was
hard; the soil of his heart was fruitless. The master was angry and he had his
pitiless and merciless servant thrown in jail. Jesus concludes His parable with
the warning, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do
not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Does that sound harsh? It
is harsh. Jesus pulls no punches with the Law of God. He expects there to be
fruit: Those who have been loved are expected to love. Those who have been
given to are expected to give. Those who have been forgiven are expected to
forgive. Remember, Jesus told this parable in response to Peter’s question,
“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him: As many as
seven times?” Jesus means to teach you, “Don’t ask such a question.” You simply
forgive because you are forgiven. You simply forgive with Jesus’ forgiveness.
You bear the fruit of forgiveness because you are a branch connected to the
True Vine, Jesus. Bearing fruit is not an option, neither is it something that
has a limit. Moreover, you are never out anything, for the forgiveness you give
to others is the LORD’s forgiveness. The same is true with anything that you
give or show to another. If you are receiving, then you will be giving. This is
what James means when he writes, “Faith without works is dead” and “Show me
your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” However,
the works are always, and only, fruit. An apple tree produces apples because it
is an apple tree. A grapevine produces grapes because it is a grapevine.
Still, you must resist the
temptation – and that is precisely what it is, a temptation – to attempt to
name and quantify your works or the works of another. One of our Synod’s
theologians, Norman Nagel, has written: “‘Good works do not have a name,' said
Martin Luther. The moment we honor good works with a name, they are no longer
good works, that is, they are no longer done in faith. They are no longer
within and from the giving hands of the Lord. They are slipping towards
becoming a basis for boasting and making demands.” All good works are the
LORD’s, thus there is no place for boasting. All good works are the LORD’s,
thus He alone, not you, or I, or anyone else, is the measure of the
fruitfulness of His branches. “What does the LORD require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Nothing.
There is nothing additional that the LORD requires of you through faith in
Christ Jesus who has done all things well.
Thus, St. Paul exhorts you
saying, “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it
to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” St. Paul’s prayer for you is “that
your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that
you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of
Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.”
The LORD who created you to
be fruitful and multiply has redeemed you and forgiven you that you may be
fruitful once again, bearing His fruit of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness,
giving His life to others to the glory of His Name. He who has begun this good
work in you in Holy Baptism and faith is, even now, bringing it to completion.
You are a fruitful branch, and a work in progress. But, the harvest is coming,
the day of Jesus Christ, when you will be complete in Him. Until then, you have
the fruits of the True Vine Jesus Christ – His Word and Absolution, Baptism,
and Supper – through which He fills you to overflowing with His gifts, that you
may freely give to others without counting the cost. Go, and be fruitful.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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