The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (observed)

(Audio)

Matthew 18:1-11; Revelation 12:7-12; Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

 

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

“Now there was war in heaven.” Now, there’s a remarkable statement! Do we not typically think of heaven as a serene and peaceful place? And, of course, this statement evokes the question, “When did this war happen?” Well, there is a clear answer to that question if we only consider the passages immediately preceding today’s Epistle: 

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.”

The woman is the Church of all time and all places, the spiritual Mother of all Christians. The child is the LORD’s Anointed, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, conceived and born of woman for the redemption of humankind. And the dragon? Well, that is clear enough. He is the devil, Satan, the old evil foe who means us deadly woe. His desire was to destroy the Christ child. But, since he could not do that, he pursues the Church, and he pours out his furious rage against Her. Thus, when did the war in heaven occur? It occurred in conjunction with Jesus’ death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. That was the moment the promised Seed of the Woman crushed the serpent’s head. In Jesus’ death, Satan’s power was destroyed and he and his fallen angels, his demons, were thrown out of heaven by St. Michael and his holy angelic army. St. Michael was simply the enforcer of the judgment upon Satan that occurred when Jesus died and was raised: Satan is guilty and can no longer accuse mankind before God’s presence.

But, woe to the earth and to the sea! For the devil has come down in great wrath, knowing that his time is short. Satan knows that he has been defeated, but in his hatred for God and in his hatred for you, Christ’s Church, whom God loves so dearly that He gave His only Son as a sacrifice to make you holy, through lies and deceptions Satan strives furiously and ceaselessly to lead you away from faith in Christ and life and salvation. Satan knows that he only has a little time before Christ returns and will send him and his demons to hell forever, therefore he is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking to devour its prey. Though he is defeated, Satan is still dangerous. In some ways he is more dangerous than ever. As a wounded or rabid beast is more dangerous than a healthy one, so is Satan even more dangerous because of his wrath and fury and hatred, knowing that he has nothing left to lose. Moreover, in a culture like ours today, he doesn’t even have to hide or work in stealth, for we have embraced godless wickedness and labeled it freedom, rights, and tolerance. Thus, has it often been said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince us that he doesn’t exist.”

But that is a terrible and deadly mistake. It is in vogue today to dismiss traditional Christianity as unenlightened, superstitious, intolerant, bigoted, and worse. Many people like to think that they can dismiss both Christ and the devil and just live their lives, live and let live, and be a good person. They are dead wrong, and if they do not repent and receive the free gift of forgiveness through faith and trust in Christ Jesus, they will join the devil in hell when Christ returns on the Last Day. There is no neutral ground, no gray area, and no fence straddling: You either belong to God in Christ Jesus, or you belong to the devil. Satan could care less if you acknowledge him, believe in him, or worship him; all he wants is for you to not put your trust in Jesus – then you are his and you are lost. The aftermath of the war continues, even though Satan has been defeated, and countless many, tragically, will become the casualties of a war that has already been won.

But not you baptized into Christ. In Holy Baptism you were literally snatched out of the lion’s jaws and back into your heavenly Father’s arms. Moreover, Jesus says that God’s holy angels watch over and protect His little ones who believe in Him, just as Gabriel was watching over Daniel. Yes, there are guardian angels! Whether or not each of us is assigned one specific angel, I do not know, but the Scriptures clearly teach that God’s holy angels watch over us, defend and protect us. Thus does Martin Luther teach us to pray in the morning and evening, “Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.” However, the LORD’s holy angels are no Precious Moments or Willow House figurines, but they are fierce and mighty warriors deserving of respect and honor and reverent fear, for they are the LORD’s servants, and they always see the face of God. That is why every mortal who beheld an angel in the Scriptures trembled with fear and expected only to die. Truly, we mock God and treat Him with contempt when we trivialize His holy servants.

The war is over. The victory is won. Jesus lives! But, our defeated enemy, in supreme hatred, is still trying to take down as many souls as he possibly can. You must never let down your guard! Jesus’ victory has been given to you in Holy Baptism, but the new life you received that day must be fed, nourished, clothed, and protected, for Satan is even now seeking to steal you back. Therefore, understand this: More than offering praise and thanksgiving to God, the reason you come to the Divine Service every week is to be served by God – to have your sins forgiven anew, to be fed and nourished by His Holy Word, to be strengthened in faith, and to be equipped with the armor of God that you may withstand the assaults of the evil one as you fulfill your vocations in loving service of your neighbor, through which you serve and glorify God in Jesus Christ. This church is not a memorial for saints, but a hospital for sinners. This church is no holy club, but it is a spiritual triage and bootcamp. There must be no confusion whatsoever that Christ is present here with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Anything that obscures that Truth must be removed. Things that support that Truth and cause it to shine forth more clearly should be practiced.

Each and every Sunday Divine Service is an opportunity to return to God in repentance and renew your Baptismal purity and vows. When you confess your sins and receive the Lord’s Absolution, Satan has been exorcised from you once again. “Do you renounce the devil?” “Yes, I renounce him.” “Do you renounce all his works?” Yes, I renounce them.” “Do you renounce all his ways?” “Yes, I renounce them.” “Be gone thou unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit. In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Then the Lord feeds you and strengthens and equips you with His Word. Then He invites you to commune with Him as His holy and pure Bride, His flesh and blood united with yours, His righteousness, innocence, holiness, and Sonship with the Father shared with you as you join your voices with His holy angels and all the saints that have gone before us in the faith singing praise to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the song of heaven that never ends. My brothers and sisters in Christ: This is what it means to be a Christian – to receive His gifts and to share in His life, and then to share that life with others to the glory of His Name. Humble yourselves before the LORD and before your fellow man and keep yourself strong by receiving His gifts. Do not fear the devil, but do not become lukewarm, comfortable, and complacent. The LORD commands His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Trusting in Him, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.

In the Name of our victorious Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

(Audio)

Matthew 9:9-13; Ephesians 4:7-16; Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:11

 

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

Matthew was a tax collector. We all know that. So what? Well, a lot! That Matthew was a tax collector is to say that he was the worst of the worst in first century Jewish culture. Why were tax collectors so bad and so despised and hated by the people? Because they were Jews who collected taxes from their Jewish brothers, sisters, and neighbors for the hated, occupying, imperialistic Romans, that’s why! And, more than that, tax collectors notoriously over-collected and kept the extra for themselves. Today we call that extortion! So, tax collectors were living high-on-the-hog at the expense of their countrymen. They were hated and they were despised and, I suspect you would agree that they earned the reputation they had, and for good reason!

So, why did Jesus choose and call Matthew to be a disciple. Well, truly only the Lord knows! But, we could ask the same question concerning any of the disciples, even the prophets and the patriarchs. Why did Jesus call Peter? Why did God call Isaiah, Elijah, Moses, or Abraham? Why has Jesus called you? To be sure, there was nothing in Matthew that men would account as virtuous or meritorious. Surely even Matthew would confess the same. But, that’s precisely the point Jesus was making. After all, who was looking on when Jesus called Matthew but the self-righteous Pharisees? I can almost imagine our Lord scanning the crowd looking for just the right soul to make the Pharisees squirm and stumble. “Ah! The tax collector! Matthew, come hear my son! Follow me!” And, Matthew got up immediately at the Word of Jesus and followed Him. Then Jesus went with Matthew to his home and He ate a meal with him. And, who was there at Matthew’s house but many other tax collectors and sinners. Well, the Pharisees got the message, and they were furious. They asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And, hearing of this, Jesus made His point more clearly saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

And, so, the answer to the question, “Why Matthew?” is the same as to the questions, “Why Isaiah? Why Elijah? Why Moses and Abraham? Why you?” Jesus means to make the point that tax collectors and sinners are no different than prophets and patriarchs or even you. And Jesus means to make the point to the Pharisees that they also are sin-sick unto death and need the healing of the Great Physician – forgiveness. But, since they will not admit and confess that they are sick, that they are sinners in need of forgiveness, they will not receive healing forgiveness, because they will not receive the Great Physician – they will not receive Jesus.

Matthew held no belief that he had any worth, value, or merit to Jesus. He knew his sinful shortcomings all too well. Indeed, they were on display in the public square for all the world to see. Thus, when the Great Physician called him saying, “Follow me!” Matthew gladly left all that behind. Moreover, Matthew himself had to be stunned, as were the Pharisees, when Jesus came to his own home to dine with him. There, in the midst of Mathew’s sin-filled life, his sin-filled home, filled with his sin-filled friends, Jesus comes to forgive and heal. In fact, Jesus’ dining with the tax collectors and sinners was a demonstration of their justification, that Jesus had made them right with God again. Jesus forgave them and made them clean. Only the unclean can be made clean. Only sinners can be forgiven. Only the sick can be healed. Only the dead can be raised. The truth is that we are all sin-sick unto death – every last Pharisee of us all! – but Jesus has come to heal and to forgive us, and He gives us the meal of His body and blood as a sign of our justification and restoration, and even more, He communes with us, His Bride, flesh and blood in a one-flesh union.

Matthew was empty. He was empty of Himself. Therefore, the Lord saw fit to fill him with His Spirit, His Word, His mercy and His grace. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” In the same way the LORD said to Ezekiel, “Open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Then the LORD gave Ezekiel a scroll of a book and commanded him to eat it and then go and speak to the house of Israel. The Word that was given to Ezekiel was a Word of lamentation and mourning and woe, for it was a Word of Law against the hard foreheads and the stubborn hearts of Israel. Still, this Word was sweet in Ezekiel’s mouth, for the Law of God, just as the Gospel, is sweet and good and righteous and true. But the LORD promised to equip Ezekiel for this work. The LORD said, “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks.” And, the Lord likewise equipped Matthew and all the Apostles; and so does He equip His pastors and preachers today. And so does He equip you who “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Matthew, who had nothing, received everything from the Lord. He was given the Word of the Lord to proclaim in His Gospel which tells the coming of the true King of Israel, and of heaven and earth, who rules in grace, mercy, and righteousness, forgiving the sins of the repentant and terrified and healing their sin-sickness unto death and its ravaging effects upon humanity and all creation. Of King Jesus, the Psalmist writes, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” King Jesus descended from the throne of God to the earth, humbling Himself to be born of a virgin. He was obedient even unto death upon the cross. Being well pleased with His Son, God the Father raised Him from the dead and gave Him the Name that is above every Name – a Name to which every knee must necessarily bow and every tongue confess as Lord and King to the glory of God the Father. Having ascended back to the Father, the first fruits of all who will be raised in Him, He has sent forth His Spirit to equip the saints “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” He has given His Church “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” to proclaim the Word of the LORD in its truth and purity and to faithfully administer the Sacraments our Lord instituted for the benefit of His people until He returns. This Word He gives to you that you may not be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, and by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” This Word He gives to you that you may speak the truth in love and so build up the whole body of Christ in love.

The same love Christ showed to Matthew and the other tax collectors and sinners, to prostitutes, lepers, and the unclean, He shows to you again, and again, and again that you may know His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and peace and share it and show it with those who have not known and who have not heard. “Follow me,” your Lord Jesus says to you. Even now He is present to recline at table with you. Only tax collectors and sinners, liars and cheats, and those who struggle with anger, the unforgiving and the unmerciful, the lustful and the adulterous, the slothful and the gluttonous, and those who are sick need come. This feast is for you. It is the medicine of immortality for your soul, even the Great Physician of body and soul Himself. Our Lord, who is mercy and sacrifice, desires mercy and not sacrifice from you. This means, He does not desire your ritual obedience, but the LORD desires that you show and share His mercy to others. Jesus “came not to call the righteous,” thanks be to God, “but sinners.” Jesus has come to call Matthew, Isaiah, Elijah, Moses, Abraham, and even you. “Follow me,” Jesus says, “And I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Murdered for Speaking the Truth

I wrote this article for my scheduled submission to the local newspaper. They refused to run it saying: "we have decided that this topic is too volatile for us to run now."

 

Waverly Democrat – July 18, 2025: “Pastor’s Pen” Submission

 

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Murdered for Speaking the Truth

The assassination of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in our nation. Charlie held traditional, conservative, Christian values and was remarkably effective in communicating them—persuading many, especially young college students, to examine and even change their beliefs. He was winning converts from radical leftist indoctrination. Many believe this is precisely why he was targeted.

Tragically, and unsurprisingly, many on the far left are celebrating Kirk’s murder. This reveals a sickness deeper than politics. It is hateful, evil, even demonic. And in a twisted irony, those who cheer his death accuse Kirk and his supporters of the very hatred they themselves display. They insist that traditional Christian teaching is itself hateful. They are patently wrong.

To understand why Kirk was targeted, one must understand what he believed. He confessed the timeless truths of Scripture: that God created the universe, the earth, and humankind in two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female; that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, blessed by God to be fruitful and multiply; that every human life is sacred, a gift of God made in His image. He believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man, died for all, and rose again to reconcile humanity to God. Kirk believed this good news must be proclaimed to all and that Christians are called to love one another without affirming practices contrary to God’s will. These convictions are not hateful. They are historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity—once embraced by the vast majority of Americans.

Kirk’s political views were inseparable from his faith. He ordered his world in this way: God, Family, Nation. He believed government exists chiefly to protect the other two estates—the church and the family—by guarding borders, upholding law, and defending life, liberty, and property. Government is the servant of the family, not the other way around.

He championed freedom: free markets, free speech, freedom of religion, the right to own property, the right to bear arms. He emphasized individual responsibility and believed Western civilization has produced unparalleled human flourishing. He opposed globalism, identity politics, and every form of Marxism. None of this was hate speech—though some hated it.

On college campuses, Kirk welcomed debate. He invited those who disagreed to make their case. He listened, responded with truth, and often did so respectfully and compassionately. Sometimes he persuaded; sometimes he faced hostility. But never did he engage in hate speech. He simply spoke words that some could not bear to hear.

And for that, he was silenced. Not by argument, not by persuasion, but by violence. Charlie Kirk was assassinated because his opponents could not defeat him in the public square. They had to kill him there instead.

But in death, as in life, Charlie Kirk speaks still. His voice echoes louder now, calling America to remember that truth is not hate, and that silencing truth by violence is the surest sign of its power.

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth, Pastor
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 13)

(Audio)

Luke 10:23-37; Galatians 3:15-22; 2 Chronicles 28:8-15

 

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

Three weeks ago, a young woman was murdered on a commuter train in Charlotte, NC. The attacker stabbed her three times in the neck and exited the train. There were witnesses, no fewer than five, right there on the train sitting next to her. Each of them saw what happened. Each of them saw the attacker flee. Each of them saw the poor young woman in distress, dying, and they did nothing. They did absolutely nothing. One by one they exited the train and left the young woman to die alone on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Her name was Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was simply going home from work. She didn’t speak to anyone; she didn’t make eye contact with anyone; she didn’t confront anyone in any way, and yet she was senselessly and violently murdered for reasons, or for no reason, God only knows. I don’t know much about her other than that, but that’s enough. I don’t know what her religion was, if she even had one. I don’t know if she was conservative or liberal, and I don’t care, it doesn’t matter. And notice, I haven’t said anything about the murderer or those witnesses who did absolutely nothing. I’ve said nothing about their race, their nationality, their political affiliation, their religious beliefs, or anything else, because I don’t know, I don’t care, and it doesn’t matter. But I can’t help seeing the similarity between the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the man in our Gospel lesson today, “who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” There were two men who walked by who could have helped him, but they didn’t. And there was another man who walked by who did help. Why did they not help? Why did the other help? Let’s talk about that.

First, why did Jesus tell this story? Well, a law student, that is a student of the Mosaic law, asked Jesus a question seeking to entrap him: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question exposes the fallacy in Jewish thinking concerning the law in the first century: You can’t do anything to inherit, and particularly, eternal life cannot be gained by works but it must be received as a gift of God’s grace through faith. But, since the lawyer asked a law question, Jesus directed him to the law: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That was the correct answer. After all, he was a lawyer, and the Mosaic law doesn’t get more fundamental than that. “Do this, and you will live,” Jesus answered. And now the lawyer had a problem, for he didn’t keep the law perfectly, and he knew it, and that made him feel uncomfortable. So, he thought to himself, if I can make the law more do-able, then I’ll be able to justify myself. He was more concerned with justifying himself than with loving his neighbor. “And who is my neighbor?” he asked Jesus. He wrongly thought that if he could somehow pare down the number of people he had to love then he’d do pretty good. In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, forcing the lawyer to answer his own question, “Who is my neighbor?” Everyone placed before you to extend God’s love to.

The priest came to where the man was. He saw the man, and he passed on by. He was more concerned with his obedience to the letter of the law (as opposed to the spirit of the law), ability to perform his duties at the temple, and his reputation than he was about the dying man who was before him. “After all, he might be a Samaritan. There might be blood. He might be dead. Then I would be unclean. I can’t take the risk.” These reasons are rooted in race, religion, self-interest, and general apathy, likely some of the reasons the other passengers and witnesses on the train failed to act when Iryana Zarutska was murdered. Similarly, the Levite came to where the man was and passed on by, undoubtedly for the very same reasons.

But then a third man approached, and Jesus tells us that he was a Samaritan. Jews viewed the Samaritans as racially and religiously impure "half-breeds" because of their historic intermarriage with Assyrian colonists during the Assyrian conquest in the 8^th century BC. Though both groups believed in God and revered the Torah, they worshipped in different places and were deeply suspicious and prejudiced toward each other. In the context of Jesus’ parable, the Samaritan did not feel the coercion of the Mosaic law quite the way the priest and the Levite likely did. He was already an outcast and unclean in the eyes of the Jews, and he had not duty to perform in the Jerusalem temple. In a very real sense, he was free from the law’s coercion to do it freely and without fear of punishment or loss. So he went directly to the man, poured his own wine upon his wounds, bandaged him up, put him on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and paid for his keep, promising to return and pay any additional expense for the man’s care and shelter.

I hope that you can see that Jesus’ parable isn’t about the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law is love. The priest and the Levite were so concerned about the letter of the law that they completely neglected the spirit of the law, and they did not, they could not show love to their neighbor. Ironically, they didn’t really love the letter of the law either, but they considered it hard and coercive, and they obeyed it reluctantly and with fear. The Samaritan had no fear in helping the dying man. So what if he was a Jew, a Samaritan, or even a Roman? So what if he worshipped in Jerusalem, in Samaria, or even if he worshipped Zeus? Your neighbor is literally everyone, but most especially the one who is before you with a need you have been particularly gifted to give. In other words, you don’t have to go out and find your neighbor, and your neighbor is not chiefly someone in another state or another country, but your neighbor is in your family, your church, your neighborhood, your place of employment, and maybe even on the bench in front of you on a train or a bus.

The priest and the Levite permitted the Mosaic law to keep them from helping, from showing God’s love. We all have laws that we make up for ourselves that keep us from helping those whom the Lord has put before us. And I’m not talking so much about homeless people on the street, some of whom are quite likely shysters, but I’m talking your about elderly parents, your non-religious sibling, a rebellious son our daughter who’s made some bad choices, the Republican or Democrat who lives next door to you that you can’t stand, the homosexual couple across the street, etc. It doesn’t matter. That’s the point. It simply doesn’t matter if you like them or not, if you approve of their behavior or not, if you think them foolish or not, what they believe, the color of their skin, what language they speak: It just doesn’t matter. If they are before you, and you can help, they are your neighbor; help them. You’re not endorsing their bad behavior. You’re not blessing their lifestyle or choices. You’re not voting for their candidate or worshipping their god. You are extending the love, charity, grace, mercy, and forgiveness to them that you yourself have received from your loving, charitable, gracious, merciful, and forgiving God through Jesus Christ. Don’t worry, you won’t run out. God won’t let you.

A wise pastor and professor, John Kleinig, teaches, “No man is your enemy. We all share one and the same enemy.” Our enemy, of course, is Satan. Satan seeks to divide us and for us to view each other as “other,” as enemy, to dehumanize them so that we do not see them as fellow human creatures made by God in his image, people for whom Jesus suffered and died to forgive that they may live with him in his kingdom forever. Don’t hear me wrong; I’m not saying that we are to condone and bless their sinful behavior, whatever it may be. Quite the contrary; if you love them, then your desire for them is to repent and receive forgiveness, so help them with that. But, even if they don’t, still you must love them. And if you can help them, you should. Why? Because the law has been fulfilled by our Good Samaritan Jesus. Jesus suffered and died for the Jew, the Gentile, and for all human beings, regardless of race, religion, political persuasion, sexual identity, or anything else. You have been set free from the law’s coercion and threat. You have been set free from the law by Jesus to truly do it out of love for God and for neighbor without fear, resentment, loss, or any such thing. Do not let race or religion, politics, identity, or anything else keep you from loving your neighbor whom Jesus loved enough to die for along with you, especially those who are near to you, in your family, your church, your neighborhood, or on the seat next to you on the train or bus.

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 12)

(Audio)

Mark 7:31-37; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Isaiah 29:17-24

 

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

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” These words of King David from Psalm 51, the Christian Church has spoken, sung, and chanted in the liturgies of Matins and Vespers since at least the sixth century. For centuries, Christians have prayed these words in the morning and in the evening and so have book-ended their daily lives with the confession that, unless the Lord opens our lips, not to mention our ears and our eyes, they are, and they will remain, utterly closed and unable to sing His praise, to confess His Name, or even to hear His life-giving and faith-creating Word at all. For, apart from the Lord’s gracious action, that is our state: spiritually deaf, dumb, blind, and dead towards God – just like Adam before God breathed His living breath into him; just like the blind man begging by the roadside; just like Lazarus before Jesus’ creative and life-giving Word called him to life; and just like the deaf-mute man in today’s Gospel. However, when the Lord opens our lips, our ears, and our eyes, then we will most certainly praise Him, not only in our direct and intentional prayers and praise, but also in our casual and day to day conversations with our families, with our neighbors, and with our co-workers, just as branches joined to the life-giving vine most certainly produce good fruit.

Yet, opening our ears and our eyes and our lips to speak, sing, and chant His Father’s praise is not all that our Lord does or can do. No. But, by His Word, He makes the lame to walk and lepers to be clean; He makes barren lands and barren wombs to be fruitful even as He once spoke light into the darkness and brought forth everything out of nothing, by the power of His life-giving and creative Word, His Word of life which is life, apart from which is only death. Thus, even now, by His same life-giving and creative Word He opens your ears to hear His Word and He creates faith within you through the preaching of His Word, He raises you from death to life in Holy Baptism, He forgives you and makes you clean through His Holy Absolution, and He feeds and nourishes you, His life communes with you, in the Holy Supper of His body and blood with the promise that He who has begun this good work in you will see it to completion in the Day of the Lord, and Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Therefore, as your mouth has been opened by the Lord to speak and sing His praise, you must not keep it closed and remain silent. For, your Lord has promised that He who confesses Him before men, He will confess before His Father in heaven, but He who denies Him before men, He will deny before His Father in heaven. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is working in you and with you to make of you bubbling spring and a fruitful vine of His prayer and praise, mercy, and compassion. You can no more “tell no one” than could Jesus’ disciples and the crowds after witnessing the healing of the deaf-mute. And yet, you do not, but you remain silent, just like the women at Jesus’ empty tomb, because you are afraid. Like St. Paul, you know what you want to do, but you do not do it, and the things that you do not want to do, that is what you continually find yourself doing, for indeed, your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak.

Therefore, you must not listen to your flesh. You must not obey your flesh. Rather, you must, as Jesus teaches, die to yourself and live to Christ in His righteousness. And, this is the fruit, not of the Law of God, but of the Law of God fulfilled, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because He has done all things well, making even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, He has fulfilled the Law’s demands and has set you free to do it without fear of condemnation, to do it, not to earn salvation, but to do it because you have been saved. Where the Law of God, because of your sin, left you deaf, dumb, blind, and dead, a barren wasteland and a fruitless field, the Gospel has given you a confidence and a sufficiency, not from yourselves, but from God. It is precisely because your righteousness comes from outside of you, not from inside of you, and because your righteousness is found in Jesus’ works, not in your works, that you can be confident and without fear, that you can stand before God and receive His gifts, open your lips and sing His praise, and tell everyone what He has done. Apart from Jesus, your words and your deeds are nothing, even filthy rags, but because of Jesus, in His Holy Spirit, that which once had no glory – your works – has been made to be glorious in His sight.

Jesus did some rather strange things in the healing of the deaf-mute. While His Word was sufficient to open his ears and to loosen his tongue, Jesus also accompanied His Word with symbolic actions: He put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting His touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Was this all for show, to draw attention to Himself? No, not at all, for, indeed, Jesus first took the man aside from the crowd privately. Further, even after healing the man, Jesus told him, His disciples, and the crowds not to tell anyone. No, Jesus never seeks to glorify Himself. But then, what was the purpose of His actions? Truly, it may have been only compassion. Jesus often utilized touch in connection with His Word of forgiveness and healing. However, St. Mark’s use of the specific word “finger” brings to mind the Old Testament usage of “the Finger of God” which Pharaoh’s magicians recognized was at work through Moses and Aaron. Jesus Himself used this figure in St. Luke’s Gospel saying, “But if it is by the Finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Perhaps Jesus placed His fingers into the deaf-mute’s ears to communicate that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Additionally, the use of spit and touching the man’s tongue may have a symbolic connection to Holy Baptism where common water is sanctified by the Word of Jesus’ mouth so that it becomes a lavish washing for the forgiveness of sins and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit. Now, some may say that this is allegorizing, and perhaps it is. However, following these actions, Jesus looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened,” making a clear connection between His actions and the blessing of His Father, that the deaf-mute would know the source of His healing through the Word of Jesus.

When you and I sigh, it is usually because of a sense of exasperation, futility, hopelessness, or despair. That is because we are sinners. We know that our best efforts fail and are soiled by our sin, and we daily suffer the effects of other sinners directly and indirectly. But this is not why Jesus sighs. When Jesus sighs He breathes in our curse and He breathes out our cure, the blessing of His Word, the impartation of His Spirit, which gives life. For looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed and said, “It is finished.” He breathed His last and handed over His Spirit. He gave His life into death so that you will live. He took the curse into Himself, your sin into Himself, He suffered in your place, died in your stead and was raised from death, out of the tomb so that you who trust in Him are forgiven your sins, rescued from death, have eternal salvation. And now He gives you His Body and His Blood. He gives you Himself, the embodiment of His Father’s Word, to make it embodied in yours, taking away your sin and giving you His righteousness, His holiness, His purity, His life. Indeed, He does all things well. And in Him, so do you.

Pray that the Father will continue to open your ears and to loosen your tongues by the Holy Spirit delivered through His proclaimed Word again and again. And do not remain silent, but sing His praise in word and deed; tell everyone what He has done! For, you were deaf, and now you hear; you were blind, and now you see; you were mute, and now your lips have been opened, your tongue has been loosed; you were dead, but now you are alive in Christ. For you, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Therefore, die to yourself and live to Christ by laying down your life for your brother and sister, for your neighbor, for the Lord. Your sufficiency is not in yourself, but in the Lord. It is not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The Law indeed was, and is, glorious, therefore, how much more glorious will be ministry of the Spirit be?

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christian Funeral for Larry Lee Kueker

(Audio)

John 14:1-6; Romans 8:31-39; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 

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

Our reading from Ecclesiastes is likely well known to those born in the 1970s or earlier due to the popular song inspired by it, “To Everything There Is A Season (Turn, Turn, Turn).” However, even among those who know the song well, I imagine the version they know best is from the American folk-rock group The Byrds, which was released in 1965. Fewer, I suspect, will know the original version written by Pete Seeger in 1959, released in 1962. The song speaks of God’s divine providence in prescribing to all human life and human actions an ordered time and purpose: “A time to be born; a time to die; a time to plant; a time to reap; a time to kill; a time to heal; a time to laugh; a time to weep. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Dear Rae Jean, Scott, Suzanne, and Amy, beloved grandchildren, family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, you are likely to experience several of these feelings and emotions today and for time to come as we commend our brother Larry Kueker to His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we give thanks to the Lord for Larry, his faith and life, and the blessing he was to you and to so many, all to the glory of the Lord.

Eighty-one years is a long life to be sure. But is it long enough? Yesterday afternoon I met with two parishioners, both in their late ‘90s, who have had enough of time and are ready to go to heaven to be with Jesus. Just a few weeks ago I officiated a funeral and burial for an unborn child of only six weeks old. As they say, time is relative. What seems a long time to one is too little time for another. But all things happen according to the Lord’s time and purpose. We all know that the past few years weren’t the best or the easiest for Larry health wise. He had trouble with his heart, trouble with his foot, mobility issues, and he just couldn’t do many of the things he enjoyed doing, and that weighed heavy on him. I don’t really know how Larry felt about all that, if he was getting tired and maybe ready to go? Perhaps some of you know. It certainly wouldn’t be an atypical feeling for someone to have. But the truth is that our lives are in the hands of our Lord who made us and redeemed us. We do not come into our lives, nor do we leave them, by our own choosing. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Throughout Larry’s eighty-one years, however, there was much time for life, and love, and for embracing and laughter. Larry liked to work with his hands, to build things, and to solve problems. He loved building things for his grandkids, like a doll gymnastics bar and a free library for the neighborhood. He fabricated a plow to put on the front end of a toy tractor. He loved to teach his children and grandchildren how to work with their hands, how to build things, and fix things, and do things for themselves. After seeing Larry’s Garage at the visitation Tuesday afternoon, I have to believe that Larry learned much of these qualities from his father and passed them on to you. Along the way, Larry was teaching, quietly, often with no words at all, teaching by example, how to love, how to work hard, how to persevere, how to care about others, and how to live with faith. He made you feel like you could do anything you put your mind to. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Larry worked hard. He was the provider for the family. He wanted his family to have what they needed, and they did. He loved to watch the kids’ and grandkids’ ballgames, and he made sure you got to church on Sunday. You hurried up if he was honking the horn in the driveway. Larry liked to be to church on time, and that meant early. Again, he led by example and made sure that his children had a right relationship with their Lord. Larry also enjoyed bowling and playing pool, cards, and even that most complicated of card games, Schafskopf. Larry and Rae Jean enjoyed the water, and the family learned to fish, swim, water ski, and to enjoy the outdoors. He loved cars, especially his convertible Impala, and enjoyed the Waverly Car Cruise. He loved his tractors. He loved his shop and woodworking. He built the little paper and pencil holders you see on the pew in front of you. Larry served the church as a trustee, helping to care for the church property and grounds. He put a lift in his house for David, digging a hole in the basement and through the upstairs floor. He built Amy’s house! Just days before he died Larry was on his tractor with the forks out lifting and moving large pieces of a tree that came down in recent storms. Larry was a Jack-of-All-Trades and a positive influence on so many. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

The thing about time is that you and I are bound in it, but God is not. For us, we have a beginning, and then we’re on a timeline that goes only one way; you can’t go back, you can only go forward, and, eventually, inescapably, we die. But that’s not all there is to our story. God is outside of time; he sees all time at the same time. That’s what it means to be eternal. He knew Larry before there was a Larry, before there was a heaven or earth, and he knew Larry’s days and deeds before there were any of them. More than that, God prepared a way of salvation for Larry, and for you, and for us all, before the foundation of the world. The Son of God became flesh and suffered and died for Larry, and for you and me, and for all the world, and rose again having destroyed death. Therefore, “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in his Son Jesus. In the Father’s house there are many rooms, and Jesus has gone before you to prepare a place for you there.” The Lord has called Larry home to where his sheep may safely graze. One day he will call you there as well. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

One more thing I’d like to share with you: Blessed are those who die in the Lord, for they are with him. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we hear these words of the liturgy, “Therefore, with angels, archangels, and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify your glorious name….” “All the company of heaven” now includes Larry. When you miss your loved ones who have died in the Lord and you want to be near them, you might go to the cemetery where their body has been laid to rest. Better still, come to church and to the Lord’s Supper, for where Jesus is present with his body and blood, there also present are the angels and archangels and the company of heaven, those we love who have died in the Lord. In the Divine Service, heaven literally comes down to earth, and we, bound in time, can join in praising the Lord with those outside of time in eternity. See you next Sunday. Larry won’t be honking for you because he's already there. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle

(Audio)

John 1:43-51; 2 Corinthians 4:7-10; Proverbs 3:1-8

 

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

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. But that wasn’t because he didn’t think that they would believe, rather, it was because he believed very strongly that they would believe and repent. He knew that the Word of God had that kind of power, to create everything out of nothing, to bring light out of darkness, life out of death, faith out of unbelief. No, he believed very strongly that the people of Nineveh would believe the Word of God. They would repent. They would be saved. And Jonah thought to himself, “That just isn’t right.”

Nineveh was the capital and the greatest city of ancient Assyria. The Ninevites were wicked and cruel. They were powerful enemies of God and of God’s people Israel. If any city and people deserved God’s wrath and judgment, so thought Jonah, it was the Ninevites. But God had commanded His prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and to preach repentance to them that they might repent and be saved from destruction. Jonah didn’t want to go, not because he believed it wouldn’t work, but because he believed that it would. The Ninevites did believe. They did repent. And God did spare them. In fact, Nineveh and its surrounding territories became the cradle of Christianity. Some of the oldest Christian communions and church buildings remain in Nineveh, which today is called by the name of Mosul in the northern part of the country that today is known as Iraq.

While Christians have always been a minority in Iraq, in recent decades they have become an extreme minority. Today the country is 97% Muslim with Christians making up less than 3% of the population. Just a few years ago the jihadist Islamic State and the Levant, commonly referred to as ISIS and ISIL, seized control of a major portion of northern Iraq and began carrying out a systematic purge of Iraq’s Christian population, particularly from the city of Mosul, ancient Nineveh. It is estimated that 25,000 Christians were given the ultimatum to convert to Islam, flee, or die. For those Christians who did not comply with the decree, ISIS warned that, “there is nothing to give them but the sword.” Indeed, graphic photos and videos of Christian executions by rifle, hanging, beheading, and even crucifixion began to fill the walls of social media websites, the pages of many news publications, and the television screens of some national news media. Surely, we have all been tempted to think and feel like Jonah and have no pity or mercy for these modern Ninevites who are persecuting God’s people. Likely we have even hoped and prayed that God would pour down His wrath upon them and extinguish them from the face of the earth. In times like these, however, we must remember, recall, and repeat the words of our LORD: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the LORD,” “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,” and “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ, persecution is a real and even necessary evil, and I say to you that it is good for Christ’s Church. Let me explain. Persecution is real. It’s ALWAYS real, ALWAYS happening in some way, to someone, somewhere. In our comfortable lives and homes, we too easily become complacent and unaware of persecution in the world, in our own nation, in our own towns. The truth is, however, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is often met with hostility and even violence. Our Lord Jesus and His disciples experienced this firsthand and He promises you that the world will hate you because of Him and will consider it good to persecute you. When horrific persecution like what happened in Iraq finally wakes us up, opens our eyes, and gets our attention, thanks be to God! That’s a good thing! ISIS meant this persecution for evil, but God meant it for good.

It is good that you are paying attention. It is good that you are more aware that this fallen world is not your friend, it is not your home. This world’s wisdom is foolishness. This world’s values are not aligned with God’s Word and will. This world’s treasure is fleeting and corrupt, it will not last, it is even now passing away. Yet, there is a treasure that does not fade away, that moth and rust cannot destroy, that thieves cannot break in and steal – the Word of the LORD. Our LORD, His Word, is the one thing that doesn’t change, that endures forever, that will never pass away. It is the only thing that truly matters – “Take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife; let all these be gone, they still have nothing won, the kingdom ours remaineth.” Persecution clears the air, clears the mind, clears the soul so that we can see, once again, that we are not gods, but that the God who created us, who loves us, sustains us still; we exist by the breath of His mouth; our life is His ongoing creative Word.

Blessed with the Wisdom of the LORD, Solomon gives us this Proverb: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” This is GOOD advice. This is advice for life. For, what does “your own understanding” think when you face persecution? That you suffer because God is punishing you? That you suffer because God does not love you? That you suffer because God is not able to help you or because He doesn’t exist at all? This was the counsel Job’s so-called friends gave him when God permitted Satan to persecute and afflict him, taking from him everything of worldly value. All Job was left with was God and His Word, and that was enough. When Job questioned why God permitted this suffering to come upon Him, God’s reply was, “That my righteousness might be revealed.” God’s righteousness is His Word, and His Word made flesh Jesus Christ. Men are counted righteous when they believe and trust in God’s Word, Jesus. Persecution and suffering helps us by stripping away all other things that get between us and God, idols, so that all that is left is God’s Word and our faith in that Word. God is not the author of evil and suffering and persecution, but He uses them for the good of those who love Him, who trust in Him. God alone is the LORD of life and death. Do not fear those who can only harm the body, but fear the one, the LORD, who has authority over body and soul temporally and eternally.

God’s Word, and His Word made flesh Jesus, is our treasure. St. Paul writes that “we have this treasure in jars of clay,” our fragile, weak, and perishing flesh, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” When persecution comes, to Christians on the other side of the globe or to your own home or body, remember that you carry within your own body the death of Jesus, but you also carry the life of Jesus which will be manifested in the resurrection of your body on the day of Your Lord’s return.

When the Lord called St. Bartholomew, whom St. John calls Nathanael, Bartholomew marveled that Jesus knew who he was and all about him though they had never met. This demonstration of our Lord’s omniscience was enough to evoke Bartholomew’s confession, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus redirected Bartholomew’s faith and attention to God’s Word and promise saying, “You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” This allusion to the patriarch Jacob at Bethel also occurred at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John. And, in His atoning death upon the cross, Jesus opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, and on Pentecost He poured out His Spirit upon His Church. Thus, the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection and sealed in the Spirit, cried out as he was dying, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

St. Bartholomew is said to have taken the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Armenia, a country just north of Iraq. In fact, a great majority of the Christians in Iraq are Armenians whose ancestors likely first heard the Word of God from St. Bartholomew. Like Stephen, Bartholomew was martyred. Tradition says that he was flayed alive, meaning that his skin was sliced off of him by knife while he was still alive. Clearly, this kind of brutality is commensurate with the cruel horrors that were inflicted upon Iraq’s Christians not long ago. But, Jesus’ words to Bartholomew, confirmed by St. Stephen, are true for all His Christian people upon their death, “You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending.” Dear Christian, your Lord means for you to understand Him as the ladder, “the way, the truth, and the life” by whom alone you must come unto the Father.

Jesus is the ladder between heaven and earth, between God and man. Jesus is also the gate and the only way to heaven. He is the Word of God made flesh, the treasure we keep in the jars of clay which are our bodies. Let us never fear the breaking of the jar, the loss of our bodies and lives, but only the loss of the treasure, our Lord and His Word. Still, this weak flesh does indeed suffer temptation and waver in faith. Therefore, the best thing that we can do for our brothers and sisters in Christ suffering persecution in Iraq and in other hostile parts of the world is pray for them.

Pray for their safety and protection and for an end to persecution, to be sure, but also pray that the Spirit would strengthen their faith to maintain their confession, even unto death. Pray that they will love the LORD and His Word more than their jars of clay lives. Pray that they will find comfort, peace, and faith to persevere in the unchanging and immovable Word of God, the Word who became flesh and suffered and died for all and was raised again to imperishable and eternal life that can never be taken away. And, pray also for their persecutors, for their enemies. Pray that they may be moved by the Spirit of God through His holy Word and through the faithful confession of those they persecute and destroy to relent from their evil. Pray that the Lord would work through the faithful as He did through Jonah long ago to turn the modern Ninevites to repentance that they too may know forgiveness, life, and salvation through the Lord of life Jesus Christ.

Now, come and receive your Lord’s body and blood for the strengthening of your faith, for forgiveness, life, and salvation. His precious body and His holy blood will preserve, keep, strengthen, and protect you unto life everlasting.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Holy Matrimony of Brianna Rae Higgins & Carson William Rygh

(Audio)

Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-33; Genesis 2:7, 18-24

 

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

Falling in love. Have you ever stopped and taken a moment to consider those words? Falling in love.It’s almost like you tripped over something and, “Presto!” you found yourself with a skinned knee, a sore back, and, unexpectedly, in love! How’d that happen? Was it like an accident, a coincidence, or something else? Of course, what we mean by falling in love is that you weren’t really looking for it or expecting it; it just kind of happened. Kind of the way you Anna and Carson fell in love. You found yourself together in a study abroad experience that hadn’t gone the way you planned. You became friends. And then, “Presto!” you realized that you had fallen in love. That was back in 2023. However, today, August 23, 2025, you realize that there was more to your falling in love than mere accident, coincidence, or chance. You’ve even come to see God’s guiding hand in your coming together, your falling in love, and in the promise and commitment you are about to make to each other this day.

There are no coincidences. The LORD made them male and female. The LORD saw that it was not good that the man should be alone. The LORD made for the man a woman, a wife, and brought her to him. The LORD blessed them that they should be one flesh, be fruitful, and multiply. This is the LORD’s doing. There are no coincidences. Adam didn’t have to go out and find a wife, but the LORD brought husband and wife together, just as the LORD has brought the two of you together.

People today talk about “soul mates.” “You have go out there and find your soul mate.” And so, they peruse the dating circuit for months, sometimes years, looking for, searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right. But you don’t have to go out and find your soul mate. Your soul mate is the one you choose to love, that you commit yourself to care for, that you sacrifice yourself for to preserve and to protect and to care for. Because of your choice, you come to love someone you previously didn’t know, and they come to love you. And love isn’t merely a fleeting emotion accompanied by raging hormones and serotonin levels, but love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not insist on its own way; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but it rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

When we met a few months ago to discuss marriage and to prepare for your marriage today I shared with you a seldom discussed teaching of St. Paul from 1 Corinthians chapter 7: “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” I’m certain that a lot of folks find these words scandalous today. But what is Paul’s meaning? Well, yes, he is speaking of sexuality and sexual relations, exhorting husbands and wives not to withhold themselves sexually from each other, except for an agreed upon period of time for prayer. However, truly there is much more to Paul’s teaching than that. Carson, Anna, your wife, is not only a body. Anna, Carson, your husband, is not only a body. Each of you are a body and a soul, created by God in His image, redeemed in the blood of Jesus Christ His Son for immortality and life with Him forever. I think we all understand that a husband is to care for his wife’s body, her health and well-being, and a wife is to care for her husband’s body, health, and well-being, how much more then is a husband to care for his wife’s soul, and is a wife to care for her husband’s soul? Yes! Carson, you are not just marrying a female human, but you are committing yourself to care for, nurture, protect, and preserve an immortal soul. And the same is true for you Anna. You have each individually been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, and you each individually share in His immortal life. The soul of your wife, the soul of your husband, is as much a precious treasure to be cared for, protected, and preserved as is their body. Each of you is taking on a sacred charge today to care for, nurture, defend, protect, and preserve the other in both body and soul.

Today the LORD is making you a home. I don’t mean that He is building you a house, but the LORD is making you, Anna & Carson, to be a home. Husband & wife, father & mother, and children, should the LORD bless you with them, are the fundamental unit of society, created, instituted, and established, not by man, but by God. The home, the marriage of one man and one woman, and the family are the locale and means through which children are raised in the knowledge and fear of the LORD, civilization and maturation occur, and charity, mercy, forgiveness, and love are learned and cultivated. It is no wonder that Satan attacks marriage and the family, for they are the means through which the LORD causes and sustains stability and order, kindness and charity, peace and love, and all that is good. Yes, Satan will attack your marriage, your family, and your home. The only defense against his attack is the Word of the LORD and His blessed Sacraments. What I mean is that you must make the LORD and His Word and Sacraments a central part of your marriage, your family, and your home if you hope to remain strong against Satan’s attack. Go to church regularly. Pray in the morning and evening and give thanks before meals. Be quick to forgive and do not harbor resentment. Remember your marriage vows, remember your baptism, remember the forgiveness and mercy and love you have received from your LORD in and through Jesus Christ your savior. Jesus is truly the third partner in your marriage. The LORD has brought you together, and the LORD will bless you and make you a blessing. His is the love with which you love each other. Carson & Anna, remember the LORD, give thanks, receive His gifts, and share them with one another and others, and your marriage will be very good.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 9)

(Audio)

Luke 16:1-13; 1 Corinthians 10:6-13; 2 Samuel 22:26-34

 

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

I happened upon an article ranking the seventy-six best board games of all time. The list included classic strategy games like Stratego and Risk, card, dice, and word games like Uno, Yahtzee, and Scrabble, contemporary social games like Trivial Pursuit, Scattergories, and Pictionary, along with monetary, budgeting, and trading games like Payday, Sorry, and Monopoly, the latter of which, notably, came in second only after Chess.

These last three games are notable in that they have made entertaining and fun something that most of us likely feel is dull, mundane, and even torturous, namely budgeting, money management, and finance. The large part of what makes games such as these entertaining and fun is that we are able to manage enormous amounts of money, property, and possessions and attempt to build them into even greater fortunes and to make risky, bold, and, sometimes, foolish, moves with no risk or repercussions at all in our real and actual lives. And, that’s what makes these games great! Because, no matter how much, or how little, you have, we all have to make the best of what we’ve got, for ourselves, and for others. Better to learn good management and stewardship skills early on, when the money is only paper and the job is spinning wheels and rolling dice.

Consider this in relation to Jesus’ parable about the dishonest manager. The manager had been charged by his rich employer of “wasting his possessions” and mismanaging his wealth and he was commanded to “turn in an account of his management,” that is, to bring the accounting books for the master to examine. Notice that the manager made no argument in defense of himself. He knew that the charges were true and that he had no escape. He knew that he would be fired and that no one would hire him. He knew that he would have to live day by day fighting to secure the meanest manual labor or, worse yet, simply begging on the streets, which would not provide him enough to live.

But, that was when the dishonest manager came up with an ingenious, if morally repugnant, plan: He went to each of his master’s debtors and he reduced their bill by as much as fifty percent! His plan was based upon two premises: First, he knew that the debtors would treat him well when he became unemployed, and second, he knew that his master would honor debts he had reduced.

Now, we all want to cry out, “Unfair! Dishonest!” And, rightly so, for, the manager’s plan is a clear violation of the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” Thus, we are all rightly surprised, and perhaps scandalized, when we hear Jesus’ teaching that “the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” This simply would not work in our world. We would not be commended, but we would be arrested, for mismanaging our employers’ money, property, and possessions in this manner. Ah, but therein lies the key: Even when we manage our own money, property, and possessions, we are truly managing those things that belong, not to us, but to God. Moreover, our God will indeed honor the debts that His Son, Jesus, has, not reduced, but, in fact, has paid for us, fulfilled, and satisfied in full by His suffering and death on the cross for you, for me, and for all men of every time and every place.

You see, Jesus knows you. He knows your fallenness. He knows how you love money, property, and possessions and how you trust in them and fear losing them. Jesus knows that you have taken His Father’s good gifts to you and have made them your idols, your gods before and instead of Him. He knows how you, in your sinful corruption, blindly and intentionally worship created things in place of the Creator of all things, even yourself. Therefore, He teaches you, He disciplines you, that you may learn proper stewardship, management of the good things His Father gives you. He doesn’t want you to not use, benefit from, and enjoy His gifts, but He wants you to fear, love, and trust in Him, the Giver, above and before the gifts that He gives. And, one key way that you demonstrate this is by giving His gifts to others.

Jesus taught, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” What this means you already know well enough, for you are well schooled in the worldly ways of spending money to make money, buying low and selling high, and flipping property to make more money. You are indeed very shrewd in these worldly matters, and the world rewards those who excel in this way. However, these things truly belong to your heavenly Father. Therefore, I ask you, in what way is He honored and glorified in your worldly dealings, O sons of light? Do you give back to Him a portion of what He has given to you as a thank offering? Moreover, do you give to others of what He has given to you and win glory and praise, not for yourself, but for God? You see, that is precisely what the dishonest manager did, he assured that his master would be glorified, even as he gave away what belonged, not to him, but to his master.

You see, Jesus does different kinds of things in His parables. Sometimes He wants you to “Go, and do likewise,” as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, but other times He sets up for you a negative example in which, it is not the action that He encourages – in this case, dishonesty in handling the financial affairs of another – but rather the recognition and confession of who your true Master is and of what true riches consist. To illustrate this, Jesus taught, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Jesus would have you learn that there is no righteousness in mammon, that is worldly riches and wealth, and that you cannot gain righteousness through them, whether honestly or dishonestly. However, knowing this, O sons of light, you are liberated from fearing, loving, and trusting in unrighteous mammon to use it in fear, love, and trust in God for the benefit of yourself and your family, and to the benefit of your neighbor, to the glory of God. Jesus would have you see money, property, and possessions as a “little” thing, and He would have you believe and know that you have been entrusted with “true riches,” love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. “One who is faithful in a very little,” Jesus teaches, “is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”

So, what does this all mean? Your Lord Jesus would have you be thankful for the gifts you have received from His Father and use them for your benefit and for the benefit of others, but always to the glory of God. You are to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. For, if you fear losing what you have, then your fear is misplaced and you are serving mammon. And, if you love your wealth and possessions more than you love God or your neighbor, then your love is misplaced and you love mammon and not God and your neighbor whom God loves. And, if you place your trust in material wealth and possessions for life and security and hope for your future, then your love is misplaced and you trust in mammon, not in God. “No servant can serve two masters,” Jesus teaches, “for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Your Master is good, and He keeps His promises. He has done all that was necessary to purchase you for His own, to redeem you, and to make you righteous. You are righteous through His Righteous Steward and Manager, Jesus. Jesus did not merely reduce your debt or even forgive it, but He paid your debt Himself in full, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” He knew that His Father would honor the debts that He had paid in full, and He perfectly feared, loved, and trusted in God alone.

“The master commended the dishonest manager,” not for his dishonesty, but “for his shrewdness.” Shrewdness is akin to wisdom, therefore, what was the wisdom of the dishonest manager? The manager’s wisdom was, as the Proverb teaches, “the fear of the LORD.” Recognizing and confessing that he was caught in his sin and that there was nothing he could do to make himself righteous before his master – that’s the preaching of the Law of God which always shows our sin – he placed his complete fear, love, and trust in the goodness of his master, not in himself, not in money, property, or possessions, and he shared his master’s mercy with his neighbors that his master would be praised, honored, and glorified. In the same way, you, O sons of light, go and do likewise, in the fear of the LORD.

And to forgive, renew, and strengthen you for this service, your Lord Jesus is present with His gifts of grain and wine combined with His powerful, creative, and life-giving Word that you may eat His body and drink His blood and bring His stewardship to your neighbor in need to the glory of His Father. Your debt has not been canceled, but it has been paid in full. You are “free to worship Him without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of your life.” Go in peace. Serve the Lord.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.