Sermon for 23 October 2011, Proper 25A

The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

Matthew 22:34-36

The Greatest Commandment

LSB Proper [25] A, 23 October 2011

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

When will the Pharisees tire of trying to trip up Jesus with their questions? Last week it was, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Jesus answered, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And we also marvel at His wisdom. That divine wisdom is shown again in our text, another portion of Matthew Chapter 22.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Wow. That makes these two commandments sound important!

We’re used to hearing about Ten Commandments, not two. The Synodical Explanation of Luther’s Small Catechism makes the connection. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” the great and first commandment, summarizes the First Table of the Law, Commandments One through Three. Having no other gods, not taking His name in vain, and remembering the Sabbath day by keeping it holy are how God’s people love Him with heart, soul, and mind.

Do people show God love when they call the true God by the name of a false god or try to combine the two? Do some Christians show love of God when they call Him by names He has not given in the word such as, “Our Father-Mother who art in heaven”? Do we show love of God when we ignore the Lord’s Word and Gifts in His house on His day, or only go reluctantly? Do we show love of God if we refuse to “walk together” in unity with His Word as any Biblical Synod should? Do we show love of God if we are reluctant to give or serve as He has need of us? Do we love God if we doubt His promises?

No, of course not. And we have a problem. The Law of God as the full Ten Commandments or summarized into two great commandments is a mirror that shows us what we don’t want to see: how we have failed to keep the commandments by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

The same goes for the second Great Commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This summarizes the whole of the Second Tablet, commandments Four through Ten, covering everything from obedience to parents, murder, and sexual immorality, to theft, lying, and coveting. If we truly loved our neighbor, we would love and honor them, help them in any way possible, and put the best construction on anything. What happens instead? We are hammered by the law because of our sinful actions and our failure to do the good God desires. Disrespect. Disobedience. Name-calling. Failing to be generous to those less fortunate than ourselves. Allowing filth to enter our homes. Little white lies. Gossip. Lust for who or what we don’t have. All of us should be squirming by now. The law will not allow any of us to remain comfortable in sin.

Why do we feel this way? What goes so horribly wrong? One word. One word summarizes all of the Ten Commandments, both of Jesus’ Great Commandments: love.

And you thought love was a good thing! You’re not completely wrong. Even hearing the word “love” is a command to every listener. Commands are law. And the law is a mirror that shows how we fail daily by thought, word, deed, and by what we leave undone. Where have you failed in the past? “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

So, then, this beautiful text from 1 Corinthians 13 is only law? No. God is love, but only in Christ Jesus. Now listen again in the light of Christ’s love for you.

Jesus is patient and kind; Jesus does not envy or boast; He is not arrogant or rude. He does not insist on His own way, because He followed His Father’s way; Jesus is not irritable or resentful; Jesus does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. He is truth. Jesus bears all things, including your sin and that of the whole world, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, even the cross and grave. Jesus never ends. He is the eternal Son of God begotten of His Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, who died and was raised for you and for your salvation. All because of God’s love. God’s love for you in Jesus never ends.

If it were up to each of us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and love our neighbor as ourselves, what would that mean for the Law and the Prophets? We fail. You remember what goes on inside of you when the Law beats you up. We need Someone who can fulfill the Ten Commandments summarized in Jesus’ Great Commandments. And that person is Jesus. His work, His love for God and neighbor is just what you need. Jesus as Savior, loving God first and loving each one of you as His neighbor fulfills the Law and the Prophets, the whole of Old Testament prophecy. The Hebrew Scriptures truly make sense only in Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah of old.

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

CPR: The point Jesus is making with His question cannot be grasped without an understanding of His application of Psalm 110:1. The hearer is confronted, rapid fire, with five persons: Jesus (first), recounting the words of (second) David, inspired by (third) the Spirit, recounting the words of (fourth) “the Lord” to (fifth) his “Lord.” Think of a TV reporter standing before the camera, giving a report of statements made by people in the news. In Psalm 110:1, the reporter is David. He’s reporting what God the Father, (the Lord) said to the Messiah (my Lord). The Holy Spirit, by the way, is the news chief back at the office who dispatched the reporter, and Jesus, who is the Messiah the Father was talking about, we see in Matthew 22 discussing the report with viewers who watched it when it aired.

We have a great example of love in action in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Yet, we are different people and have different vocations. Jesus’ vocation was Messiah. Day to day, we are given to love God and show love for neighbor in our congregations, homes, workplaces, schools, and communities. This isn’t rocket science. Christianity is pretty simple. You are a sinner. Jesus died for sinners. You are also a saint in Christ. Love your neighbor as yourself according to your vocations. Confess your sins. Regularly receive God’s forgiveness. Invite someone to come with you.

We are right to be amazed at the wisdom in Jesus’ answers. In another way, we should not be surprised. Jesus simply shows His knowledge of the liturgy of the synagogue. The service began with the confession of faith from Deuteronomy 6 which said, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might…”

These words would be complemented by Jesus’ quotation of Leviticus 19: “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

The creed in the Synagogue liturgy was followed by a prayer of intercession, three readings, a sermon, and the blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Lutherans pray on Sunday mornings the way we do because we follow the pattern of the historic western Divine Service. The Divine Service is patterned after the way of Jewish prayer in the synagogues at the time of Christ plus the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ remodeling of the ancient Jewish Passover meal.

Ad Fontes: In the Christian Divine Service, the background of the worship of the synagogue ought not to be overlooked. We have the confession of faith; we have the intercessory prayer; we have the reading of the Scriptures, and we have the blessing. We have more, however, much more: we have the Sacrament of the altar, and bound together with it the ceremonial liturgy. We have Holy Baptism as well and the hymn of the Church, which lastly stands in the tradition of the Psalter. The Psalms were already the spiritual songs of the Old Testament congregation.

Nagel: Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God.

Saying back to him what he has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is his name, which he put upon us with the water of our Baptism. We are his. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where his name is, there is he. Before him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words he has used to make himself known to us.

The rhythm of our worship is from him to us, and then from us back to him. He gives his gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build on another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition.

How best to do this we may learn from his Word and from the way his Word has prompted his worship throughout the centuries. We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day--the living heritage and something new. (Lutheran Worship, p. 6 Nagel)

The Greatest Commandment is Love. We love God with heart, soul and mind, when we receive His good gifts. You are a sinner. Jesus died for sinners. You are also a saint in Christ. Love your neighbor as yourself according to your vocations. Confess your sins. Regularly receive God’s forgiveness. The Lord’s blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition. Jesus the Messiah’s love for God and for you fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Amen.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Memorial Sermon for Velma Miles

The Rev. Paul J Cain

Matthew 10:28-33

Fear Not

Memorial Sermon for Velma Miles

Saturday of Pentecost 19, 29 October 2011

Immanuel Lutheran Church/Kane Funeral Home, Sheridan, WY

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

“Do not fear,” says our Lord. Later in today’s Gospel text He says, “Fear not.” These are words of comfort we hear elsewhere in Scripture.

The Christmas angels say “Fear not” to shepherds watching their flocks by night. In Old Testament times the Lord comforts both Abraham and Isaac with these words on separate occasions. We hear them from God speaking through Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. And our Lord Jesus speaks them Himself in Revelation Chapter One.

There are many things to fear in life. One of them is death or fearing the loss of a loved one, a mother, to death.

Mere months before her own death, a dear aunt told me, “I may fear dying, but I need not fear death.” Such is the confidence of faith. Velma Miles shared this confession of hope and trust in Christ her Lord.

Velma was confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church at its former Park street location in 1938. She and her fellow students of Luther’s Small Catechism made up a class of eight. These were days when services and classes were held both in German and in English.

Usually, memory work and teaching begin with the First Commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. You shall have no other gods. Then the question is asked: “What does this mean?” or the German: “Was ist das?” “What is this?” The answer? We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

“Fear not” is spoken by the Lord and His servants to put an end to the “being afraid” kind of fear. The Lord and Dr. Luther call us to the “reverent awe” kind of fear, repentant faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus says: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Our old evil foe is not in charge of outer darkness. He is a prisoner there in the place where there is gnashing of teeth. The Lord is the one in charge. There are worse things than death. Hell is one of them.

The Lord cares for us. He loves us in Christ. He loved all of us so that He sent His only Son to be born, live, serve, teach, and suffer and die in our place. And to rise to life again so that we would rise again. And be with Him in Heaven.

Jesus continues: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

“Do not fear,” says our Lord. Later He also says, “Fear not.” The Lord and Dr. Luther call us to the “reverent awe” kind of fear, repentant faith in Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him before God and man. Velma did this.

Velma remained a Christian all her life. She heard the proclamation of Christ’s birth given by those Christmas angels. She heard other angels proclaim, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said” (Matthew 28). And she was received back at Immanuel as a sister in Christ by affirmation of faith in 2000.

We now look forward to the Resurrection of the dead on the Last Day, Judgment Day, the day no one can predict but Our Father in Heaven. He alone knows the day and the hour. On that day, our bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our souls. We will be whole again. And better yet, we will be healed, renewed, and perfected, having glorious bodies like Jesus’ own on Easter morn.

In her earthly life, Velma loved her farm and her time at home. She loved her children dearly. And she had a special appreciation for all of God’s creatures, especially dogs, and most recently her dog Bridget.

Velma’s faith in Christ yearned for the day when death would be no more and she would have back her departed loved ones who died in the Christian faith. Such is our hope in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body—all because of Christ.

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges Christ before men,He also will acknowledge before our Father who is in heaven. Our Lord acknowledges His servant, Velma. He also promises to acknowledge you. Amen.

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

Sermon for 16 October 2011, Proper 24A

The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

Matthew 22:15-22

God and Caesar

LSB Proper [24] A, 16 October 2011

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The American saying is: “In polite company one shouldn’t discuss politics or religion.” Why? Discussion of either topic will likely lead to disagreement. Americans don’t like conflict. Today’s sermon title is “God and Caesar.” This morning we will discuss both politics and religion on the basis of a question asked of our Lord Jesus: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

The Pharisees were out to trap Jesus in his words. If His answer came down on God’s side, they would turn him over to the government. If Jesus’ answer would have only affirmed the Roman government, the people would have turned on Him to the delight of the Pharisees. Jesus didn’t give either of the anticipated answers, A or B. Jesus gave answer C, something unexpected. “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

At Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, as well as Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, theological studies are divided into four departments. Exegetical theology deals with learning how to read the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. Systematic theology deals with the Bible topic by topic. Historical theology shows how the church preserved the Biblical text and true Biblical theology throughout history. It also showed how heresy misused, misinterpreted, and twisted the Word of God and how the Church responded. Practical theology teaches a seminarian how to apply the other three areas in preaching, teaching, leading worship, and pastoral care.

This morning’s sermon is both a topical sermon on God and Caesar, as well as an exercise in historical theology. How have Jesus’ words from our Gospel reading influenced Western Civilization?

Dr. Alvin Schmidt, in his book The Great Divide, shows the influence of our Gospel text from the time of the Roman Caesars to the American Founding Fathers:

Does the concept of separation of church and state reflect a Christian influence? When one listens to the secular media today, especially in the United States, the impression is given that the separation of church and state is a phenomenon totally divorced from any Christian influence. This does not reflect the facts of history. Here the words of Bernard Lewis, an expert in Islamic studies, are instructive. In speaking about the separation of church and state vis-à-vis Islam’s concept of the state and religion, he said: “The notion of the church and state as distinct institutions, each with its laws, hierarchy, and jurisdiction, is characteristically Christian with its origins in Christian scripture and history. It is alien to Islam.”

Contrary to the current faulty perception, there is considerable evidence that the separation of church and state has substantial Christian roots harking back to the response Jesus gave to the Pharisees. They tried to entrap him by asking whether it was lawful to give tax money to the Roman Caesar, whom they despised. Jesus asked them to show a Roman coin. “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” he asked. “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus responded: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are to Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”.

Three hundred years after Jesus made this statement, Hosius, bishop of Cordoba, Spain, from 353-356, reprimanded [the Roman emperor] (Emperor Constantius II for meddling in ecclesiastical [church] matters by trying to condemn Athanasius for opposing (the Arian) heresy. So Hosius said: “Intrude not yourself into ecclesiastical affairs … God has put into your hands the [secular] kingdom; to us [bishops] He has entrusted the affairs of His Church.” In support of his reprimand, he cited the example set by Jesus that was discussed above.

During their first 300 years of bloody persecutions, the early Christians neither sought nor expected the government to support them in their religious activities. Their religious activities where divorced from any ties to the government of Rome. They differed remarkably from the pagan Romans for whom religious activities were linked to a particular city or the state. The Latin word religare (from which we get the word religion) meant that there was a bond between the Roman people and the state. The Christian idea of “an association of people bound together by a religious allegiance with its own traditions and beliefs, its own history, and its own way for life independent on a particular city or nation was foreign to the ancients.”

The fact that Christian religious practices were not linked to a city or state was one of the things that irritated Celsus, a second-century pagan critic of Christianity. He saw Christians as separatists or sectarians. But after Constantine the Great legalized Christianity in 313 and soon involved himself in many of the church’s affairs, the separation of church and state among Christians slowly began to blur, and for more than a thousand years after Constantine the church and state were often intertwined.

When Bishop Hosius chided the emperor, it was the government that was attempting to make ecclesiastical decisions. But by the early Middle Ages the situation had reversed itself. Now the church increasingly intruded in the affairs of secular government. This fusion of church and state, for example, was one of the things that angered Martin Luther in the 16^th century. He especially criticized the pope for involving himself in secular government, which he saw as a violation of what he called the concept of two kingdoms (realms). It was the church’s task solely to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This he called the spiritual kingdom or realm. The government’s task was to keep peace and order in society by restraining and punishing the unlawful. This he called the worldly kingdom or realm. The secular government could only compel people to behave outwardly; it could never make a person’s heart spiritually righteous. Only the preaching of the Christian gospel (an activity of the spiritual realm) could do that. In the spiritual realm the Christian operates as a disciple of Christ; in the secular realm he functions as a citizen of his country. Although the two realms are separate, the Christian as an individual is active in both because God is active in both. In the spiritual realm he is active in proclaiming the gospel, whereas in the secular kingdom he supports government’s use of the law and sword without injecting elements of the gospel. In order to buttress his concept of the two realms (kingdoms), Luther cites Jesus’ statement about giving to Caesar what is his and to God what belongs to him. Briefly put, the two realms (church and state) have separate functions and are not to be merged or commingled.

When America’s Founding Fathers in 1791 wrote the First Amendment to the Constitution—“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”—they not only intended to provide freedom of religion for the individual, but in effect also said the two realms or kingdoms, to use Luther’s terminology, were to be kept separate even though the words “separation of church and state” are not in the First Amendment.

The words “separation of church and state” (which in many years have become a national preoccupation with many secular Americans) are the result of an inference made from a letter Thomas Jefferson sent to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association on January 1, 1802. In that letter he used the phrase “building a wall of separation between church and state.” When he used these words, he had no intention of curtailing religious practices. Neither he nor the drafters of the First Amendment had even the remotest thought of outlawing governmental support for religion. He, like Luther, merely wanted to keep the government from making religious decisions or the church from making governmental decisions. This is evident from some of the acts he performed when he was president of the United States. For instance, he used federal money to build churches and establish missions for the purpose of bringing the gospel to American Indians. In short, “What the federal government was prohibited from doing, in Jefferson’s view, was prescribing a particular set of religious rites or promoting a particular sect [denomination] at the expense of the others.” Jefferson also sent a treaty to the Congress that provided a “Catholic church building” for the Kaskaskia Indians in 1803. Not that this was after his “wall of separation” letter in Connecticut.

America’s Founding Fathers, including Jefferson, wanted the nation to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The latter is currently being promoted by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and its anti-Christian allies. In order to achieve freedom from religion, secularists have been using the state, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, to “free” the people from religion. Outlawing (Christmas crèches) [nativity scenes], banning prayers in public schools, and removing the Ten Commandments from tax-supported buildings are three present-day American examples. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees he only indicated that the two realms were separate, not that Caesar (the government) and religion were in conflict or that religion or God had to be jettisoned from public life.

So, returning to the question asked earlier, does the doctrine of separation of church and state reflect the influence of Christianity? The answer is a definite yes, especially in light of the American experience. The American Founding Fathers—all well-read individuals—were familiar with the teachings of Jesus Christ. They knew about Jesus’ statement about Caesar and God, about the church-state conflicts in history, and about the monopoly state churches had in Europe. Moreover, as is well known, they were also conversant with John Locke’s writings, which reflected much Christian thinking. In light of Locke’s scholarly bent, it is quite likely that he also was familiar with Luther’s doctrine of the two realms [kingdoms]. This latter point is not mere speculation, for in A Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke wrote: “All power of civil government relates only to men’s civil interests, is confined to the care of things of this world, and hath nothing to do with the world to come.” These words sound remarkably similar to Luther’s two-realms doctrine. So it is quite plausible that the Founding Fathers, via this Luther-like statement by Locke, together with Christ’s Caesar-and-God teaching, imported this Christian understanding of the separation of church and state as they hammered out the First Amendment’s freedom-of-religion clause. (202-207)

“…Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Most of us would rather not. J Still, we comply, both because of Jesus’ teaching and the threat of punishment. No one wants to be audited by the IRS or hauled away by the FBI. J 

It is said that it is impolite to speak about politics or religion. That is tragic. If by politics you mean looking out for the common good and caring for your fellow man here in time, why wouldn’t we want to discuss that? And if we feel pressured to keep silent about the most important message in all of eternity—the good news of the complete forgiveness of sins in Jesus alone—then that is even more heartbreaking. Are we really that afraid? Is it rude to speak about politics when abuse and poverty and human suffering are then allowed to go on? Would we rather be polite and not speak about Jesus’ forgiveness, while so many are going straight to hell?

We should not miss the point of Jesus’ words. The question was asked of Him in order to silence Him one way or another. Christians around the world face a similar threat. The voice of the Church and of individual Christians deserves to be heard in the public square, as Christians serve as public officials, and as Christians live God’s Word at the ballot box.

At the same time, we cannot forget to give to God what belongs to Him. We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. We should call upon Him in any trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. We should hold His Word sacred and gladly hear and learn it. We should honor our parents and other authorities, serve and obey them, love and cherish them. We should help and support our neighbor in every physical need. We should lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife should love and honor each other. We should help our neighbor to improve and protect his possessions and income. We should defend our neighbor, speak well of him and explain everything in the kindest way. We should help and be of service to our neighbor in keeping his inheritance and house and urge our neighbor’s spouse, workers, and animals to stay and do their duty.

Most importantly we are to believe in the One God has sent, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords who sits at the right hand of God and will come on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead. We are given to render unto Caesar as Jesus said in our text and as St. Paul affirms in Romans 13, yet we are to obey God rather than men when the two come in conflict, as Acts 5 teaches.

Christians live under God as He rules both kingdoms, secular government and the Church. Government gives us security from external threats and also roads, mail, and other infrastructure so that we as Christians can live peaceable lives where we can be gathered by the Lord to receive His gifts and tell others the Good News about Jesus without interference. Your loving Lord cares for you as a dear father when the civil government properly serves in an extension of the fourth commandment’s work of father and mother. And, the same Lord makes you citizens of heaven by Baptism, forgiveness, and Holy Communion, the meal that is a foretaste of the feast to come in the kingdom of Christ which has no end.  Amen.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for 09 October 2011, Proper 23A

The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

St. Matthew 22:1-14

The Wedding Feast Is Ready

Proper 23 A, 09 October 2011

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Consumer Reports publishes a little booklet entitled “How to Clean Practically Everything.” It tells you what solvent to use for a particular stain. Glycerin will remove the stain from a ballpoint pen. Boiling water will remove berry stains. Vinegar will remove crayon. Ammonia will remove bloodstains. Alcohol will remove grass stains. Hydrogen peroxide is good for permanent marker stains. Use bleach on mildew. Lemon juice works well on rust. But the book lists nothing for sin stains. Nothing can wash away the stain of sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Try as they might, those outside of Christianity scrub away at sin in vain. Prayers to an unhearing idol do nothing. Prayers to anybody other than the Lord are useless. Prayers apart from the name of Jesus are to no avail. Shedding your own blood or giving away billions is all meaningless apart from Christ. In order to be at the Wedding Feast of Jesus the Bridegroom and the Bride, His Church, one needs the wedding garment of Christ, His righteousness, as Revelation 7 says, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” That robe is not bought, or earned, or deserved. It’s given to you by Christ, by grace, through faith.

There has been a lot of talk about the end of the world in our Scripture lessons this month. There is much more of that to come, especially as we approach all Saints’ Day and the Sundays at the end of the Church Year in November. The Lord’s Supper is sometimes called “a foretaste of the feast to come.” Matthew 22 gives a picture of this feast to come as Jesus tells His parable:

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 

The trick to understanding a parable is to see the point of contact—and then not push the details too far. What can be understood so far? The King is God the Father. Jesus is His Son. His servants here are not unlike the servants He sent to the vineyard last week, the prophets, apostles, and pastors.

“But they would not come.” Who’s “they?” For those listening to Jesus the first time, it was the faithless descendants of Israel who refused to listen to the Word of God, to attend Synagogue, to make the appointed sacrifices, and have the right heart within.

Today? Here is where it hurts. Today it is our brothers and sisters in Christ who are not with us. There are many of our congregation’s 300 family units missing this morning out of the 800+ baptized members of Immanuel. God has gathered you here today around His Word. And the rest? The text says, “but they would not come.” I warned you that it hurts!

Again he [the King] sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.'  But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 

It is an encouragement to pastors when bulletins from far-flung sister congregations of the LCMS show up on their desks or under their study doors. That means when you traveled, you remembered that the Lord didn’t take a vacation from saving you. You prioritized the time to spend with God’s people and His Word. Keep that up! And feel free to ask for suggestions of where to worship when you travel. I’ll help you by contacting the congregation’s pastor ahead of time.

On the other hand, let’s be honest. Seasons of the year may become an idol to many of us. Summer or Fall come around and attendance may drop for church, Bible Classes, and Sunday School. Why is that? “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.” It’s not as if they hadn’t been told. They were told about the banquet TWICE!

Pastors hear a lot of lame excuses for not being in church. Consider this one: “Sorry, we couldn’t make it. I had to chop wood.” That’s an actual excuse. Why is that funny, you may ask? In one of the original editions of Luther’s Small Catechism, there was a picture, a woodcut, above the Third Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. The picture above the commandment is of people whom the Lord has gathered around Word and Sacrament, listening to the preacher. What’s going on outside? Looking out the church window, you can see a man chopping wood.

Now can you better identify with the King and His frustration, His righteous anger?

The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.  Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.'  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

The text teaches us that there will be a judgment. The kingdom will be judged on the Last Day. That’s the bad news. We have the warning of the counter-example of many Jewish people in the time of Jesus.

Some Jewish people did come into the wedding banquet and gladly wore Jesus’ wedding garment. All of the first Christians were Jewish. All the disciples were Jewish. All of the authors of the New Testament with the possible exception of Dr. Luke were Jewish. Church historians tell us that one million Jews were Christian by the end of the first century. Not every Jewish person rejected the wedding feast.

Even so, as a nation, Israel rejected Jesus. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 

The elders, chief priests, scribes, and teachers of the law along with temple employees and some average people put Jesus to death. And this was under the eye of the Gentile Roman Government. And our sins put Him there, too! Anti-Semitism is therefore just as inappropriate as blaming today’s Italians for the actions of Pontius Pilate.

We Christians, that is, Jewish believers in Jesus and Gentile believers together, are the new Israel, the Holy Christian Church, new guests in the wedding hall. And there still is room!

That is the central good news of the Gospel lesson today. Others rejected Jesus and they were rejected. That made room for you. You were invited by the Word, by Holy Baptism. By faith you are in the wedding hall, wearing white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. It can’t get any better than this! You are forgiven! You are free of your sins. You are free of concerns about this life. This world and everything in it will pass away. What happens here is for eternity!

The Lord has your homes and businesses, and your relationships and problems in His hands. Of them you need not worry. “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” Enjoy the banquet of the Lord’s forgiveness.

But there are others among us. This is another difficult part of the text.

"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.  And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

Unthinkable. Someone is at the wedding feast without a wedding garment. In the ancient world, if you came to a wedding without suitable clothing for the occasion, you were provided with them. In this case, someone rejected that gift. Unthinkable! Someone inside has taken off the robe of Christ’s righteousness. “I don’t need it,” he or she may have said. “That Jesus stuff is only for kids. I’m a good enough person. I’m no Hitler or Bin Laden. And I show up quite regular, too.” Don’t let the King hear such words from your lips or your heart. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen.

You may have considered yourself a Christian all your life, even showing up every Easter and Christmas. Has it sunk in that you don’t get to heaven by being good? Or do you play the hypocrite today and tomorrow do whatever feels good to you? Has it sunk in? It hadn’t for the man I’ll tell you about next.

A British periodical once published this provocative letter: Dear Sir: It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church quite regularly for thirty years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else?

For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued…finally ended by this [responding] letter: Dear Sir: I have been married for thirty years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals—mostly my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet…I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death years ago.

There is a lot of profitable work to be done—both for a pastor and for the congregation. Part of a pastor’s time is spent in the Word, preparing sermons, the Divine Service, Bible Studies and the like.

Part of his time is spent out in the community, visiting shut-ins, doing emergency pastoral care, visiting you in your homes. Sometimes his time is occupied caring for the grieving, the hurting, those in crisis. Putting out fires takes a lot of time, as does visiting the households of the congregation. One quickly sees how far off the joke is that pastors only work one hour a week. J

Should it take a crisis to come up for you to invite pastor into your home? Sometimes a pastor may feel uncomfortable just inviting himself over. Please pray for pastors, especially Pastor Rupert, encourage them, and most importantly, don’t be afraid to give your pastor a call when you need him, even just to talk. That’s what I have been called to do here. And the best care I can give is when I preach and teach the Word—all of it—not just the things you like—and administering the sacraments according to Jesus’ instructions.

We see several things clearly in the Gospel lesson the lectionary chose for this Sunday. The parable is about the kingdom and God is the King, Jesus, His Son. Some on the original guest list, some of God’s ancient people, didn’t want to come, didn’t want to RSVP. Don’t be like them. You saw what was dished out to them. That wouldn’t be pleasant. Outer darkness is hell. Literally.

Focus instead upon the Gospel, the Good News that you have been invited to the ultimate wedding reception, the feast of Christ and you, His Bride. Wedding feasts are the best kind of parties. And God’s will be the best ever. Not only that, He’s picking up the tab. He’s given you the wedding garment of forgiveness, the spotless white wool of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—including all of yours.

Others rejected Jesus and they were rejected. That made room for you. You were invited by the Word, by Holy Baptism. By faith, you are in the wedding hall, wearing white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, robes given to you. It can’t get any better than this! You are forgiven! You are free of your sins. You are free of concerns about this life. The Lord has your homes and businesses, your relationships and problems in His hands. Of them you need not worry. “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” Enjoy the banquet of the Lord’s forgiveness.

There is still time for more, for the Judgment hasn’t happened just yet. There is room for more. Invite them. Invite your unbelieving spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, family, neighbors, classmates, and coworkers. You don’t have to knock on doors. Invite the people you already know and love. They know you. They respect you. They might even actually hear what you have to say. [The King] said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.'  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. Wouldn’t that be a nice problem to have? Amen.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.