Luke 18:1-8

‘Then Jesus told his disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray, and not to lose heart.’ v 1

Do you ever lose heart in your life of faith?

Do you ever grow weary in the practice of prayer?

What sorts of things cause this to happen for you?

Perhaps when prayers go seemingly unanswered… 

Perhaps when God seems far away or indifferent…

Perhaps in your day to day life when you feel isolated as a Christian and that no one else around you bothers with God…

Perhaps when you feel the weight of sin and shame and so feel unworthy to pray…

Perhaps when life simply wears you down…

All these and more can tempt us to ‘lose heart’, to give up on the faith, to grow weary in prayer.

And if this is you, when this is you, here’s a word of encouragement from your Lord not to lose heart, but to keep the faith, to keep praying. 

Notice that Jesus assumes we will sometimes feel like this. The temptation to lose heart isn’t a sign we’re not a real Christian or anything like that. It’s almost the opposite. Jesus assumes this will be the experience of his disciples.

That’s why he wants to speak into this experience, to encourage and help you.

His parable does this in two very simple ways: by reminding us who God is, and who we are.

Who God is, and who we are.

Let’s take a closer look at it.

THE PARABLE – JUDGE AND WIDOW

‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people’ v 2.

So in short, this guy is a real piece of work. He’s in a position of significant responsibility where he is supposed to arbitrate justice on God’s behalf, and for the sake of God’s people…

But he doesn’t care about God, to whom he is accountable, or about people, who he is there to help.

He’s interested only in number one. Pure self-interest.

So there’s the judge.

‘In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent”’. v 3

So on the one hand you have the judge in his position of responsibility, power and influence, on the other hand you have the widow,

A picture of the little person in the community, the vulnerable one, the one who is basically in a position of helplessness.

She has no money and resources to use, she’s on her own, she has no one to advocate for her, she has no great status in society or relationship with the judge.

She’s in a desperate and somewhat hopeless situation.

Even in our modern times we may be able to resonate with the situation.

It’s often still the case that the vulnerable, those without the necessary resources, have more trouble getting justice. 

And yet even in this seemingly hopeless situation, eventually the unjust judge does give her justice. 

Why?

Well the judge says, ‘because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, So that she may not wear me out by continually coming’.

The one resource she does have is persistence. Annoying persistence. And the judge is so sick of this he is ready to do anything just to get it off his radar.

And it has the ring of truth doesn’t it?

‘The squeaky wheel gets the grease’, we say. 

You parents know you sometimes give your kids things you shouldn’t because you just want them to leave you alone for a few moment’s peace!

This is the way it is, isn’t it?

This is the parable, fairly straight forward really.

But what does it mean?

What does it teach us?

How does it encourage us to keep praying when we lose heart?

We need to be careful here not to jump to our conclusions from this parable, but rather listen very carefully to how Jesus applies it, because he is most emphatically not saying that God is like this judge, and if you just pester him enough you’ll get what you want.

That is not what Jesus is saying here.

Indeed he wants to encourage us to keep praying always, but the big point is to use this judge and widow as a contrast to us, to remind us that actually God is nothing like this judge, and our relationship to him is far more than this judge to the widow.  

THE APPLICATION – WHO GOD IS, WHO WE ARE

So the parable goes on in verse 6,

‘And the Lord said, “listen to what the unjust judge says”’… (v 6)

In other words, did you hear what this unjust judge said in the parable?

He said that even though he is so crooked and uncaring, he’s going to hear this widow’s request and give her justice.

And so here’s the punchline, ‘Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them’.

So the point isn’t that God is like this grumpy unjust judge and we need to wear him down so he’ll give us what we want. 

The point is that if even this unjust judge, who is completely selfish, who cares nothing for the widow, who has no particular relationship to the widow, if even he will give her justice…

then HOW MUCH MORE, how much more, will your perfectly just and righteous, all loving and compassionate God, who does care for the people he has chosen as his very own, how much more will your God hear your prayers,

and bring justice to you?

That’s the big point of the parable, to remind you of who God is.

It’s very much a parallel from a few chapters earlier in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus said: ‘If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children,

How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’.

So that’s who God is.

But remember I said the parable also reminds us who we are in relation to God.

Who are you?

Well you’re not just another case on the to-do list, you are not an insignificant number to him.

The text speaks of his chosen ones, his elect. In other words, unlike the widow, you do have a special status with God, you do have a particular relationship to him, he has chosen you to be his own,

He has chosen you from before the foundation of the world to be holy and righteous in his sight.   

Your God is not unjust, he is not indifferent, he is not hard to access,

God has chosen you, he loves you, he cares for you, he is with you and ready to hear you, he wants good for you.

And through this Word your Lord wants to remind you of this, and the Holy Spirit wants to drive that truth deeper into your heart and mind. Because as he does you will be encouraged to pray always and not to give up.

WHO WE ARE IN COMMUNITY

But notice something else about ‘who you are’, namely that you’re chosen as part of a community rather than just as an individual. 

Did you notice in the parable it was one widow, but in the application Jesus speaks not about an individual, but of the ‘chosen ones’ plural.

Jesus wants all his disciples together to be praying always.

Notice too this mention of crying out ‘day and night’ which I think points us to this same truth. Because in the Bible praying ‘day and night’ may mean something more like ‘in the morning’ and ‘in the evening’, which goes right back to the morning and evening sacrifices at the Temple,

In other words ‘day and night’ can point us to a regular, ongoing communal rhythm of prayer.

This is what you’re doing here this morning, as you gather in God’s presence and pray, as we pray for the church, the world and all those in need, and as you add your ‘amens’ to the prayers we bring. 

Historically and traditionally the Sunday gathering of the church has flowed into times of morning and evening prayer in the Christian community. That’s not so common in our Lutheran tradition these days. Perhaps all that might be left of this is the Mid-week Lenten services, or a Sunday evening prayer service.

And actually Luther’s rhythm of morning and evening prayer is just another extension of this for the family. 

So perhaps this is encouragement is to be part of a praying community.

This means it doesn’t all rely on you, the individual.

You are part of something bigger.

The prayers of others can carry you along when you’re losing heart, and vice versa.

In fact we often learn to pray by being in the praying community of the church and the family.

Here’s a hymn that prays:

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,

The darkness falls at Thy behest;

To Thee our morning hymns ascended,

Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

(It’s number 549 if you want to look it up.)

In that hymn it pictures the church in one part of the world finishing her prayers and going to sleep, as the church in another part of the world wakes up and continues the vigil of prayer, as the world rolls around. 

It’s a beautiful picture. It’s an encouraging reality, to know that while I sleep the saints of God on the other side of the world continue crying out to God,

And so together as a body we are praying always, according to Jesus’ promise that God will bring us justice quickly.

CONCLUSION – WILL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?

Now, as we begin to draw to a close, it is important to say that the justice God brings may not always look like what we think it should. He promises to bring justice, but not on our terms.

Ultimately it’s always, ‘not my will, but yours be done’.

And it’s also worth remembering that our sense of things happening ‘quickly’ may be very different from God’s.

But after Jesus gave this teaching there was one thing that did happen quickly, and that is that Jesus went to the cross.

Which is ultimately how you know God is faithful to his promises, that he does hear the cries of his people day and night, because it’s at the cross where God has brought justice to you, his people, once and for all.

God has sent his Son to take on himself our unrighteousness, and in exchange to give us his perfect righteousness.

God puts things right for us in Jesus’ death and resurrection,

God brings us justice for Christ’s sake.

So, ‘When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’

Jesus began by saying he was encouraging his disciples to keep on praying and not to lose heart. Now he ends by asking:

Will it happen?

Will his chosen ones give up?

Will they persevere in prayer?

Will faith be found on earth when he comes again?

In light of all we’ve just said, how do we hear this final question?

First, it’s a challenge of sorts, a final word of strong encouragement.

Christ is coming back to judge the world and take his own to be with him.

And he wants, he expects, to find his people waiting in watchful, patient, ongoing prayer.

But then as well, this question can cause us to rejoice.

Because even though so many times in history it has seemed as if people were giving up on God, if Jesus returned today what would he find?

He’d find faith on the earth. He would find faithful praying communities all over the world, even here in our congregation

I don’t about you but I still get a buzz to go to a new place and visit a new congregation, and to find a community of chosen ones crying out to God day and night, a community who hasn’t lost heart, a community of ongoing prayer.

God grant it to us all, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Luke 17:11-19

What’s the best feeling you’ve ever experienced?

Could you endorse those Christians who say that feeling grateful for the gift of life is the best?

It’s wonderful to be thanked for what you’ve done for someone else, even though we don’t do it for acknowledgement.

It’s uplifting to be appreciated and not taken for granted.

It’s sad that many people who help us in our daily lives like doctors and teachers often go unthanked because people feel they’re “just doing their job”. It’s expected of them.

When we really understand the cost of God’s grace to us and appreciate the huge impact it has on our lives, our response can only be gratitude, gratitude that we show every day of our lives. The greatest danger we face as Christians is to take God’s grace for granted. The spiritual life of many Christians is impoverished because they give too little place to verbally giving thanks. It’s been said that our eagerness to give thanks is a barometer of our spiritual health. Doubt often begins the first time we think that expressing thanks to God or a family member or friend is superfluous. Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues; it is the parent of every other virtue.

We all have many more things to be thankful for to God than to complain of. Why, then, isn’t gratitude so much more common than complaint? A computer thesaurus lists only seven alternatives for the verb “to thank”, but 19 possibilities for “to complain”! Humans have many ways of showing grumpiness, but aren’t so skilled at expressing appreciation. Today’s Gospel suggests that giving thanks isn’t as common as it ought to be, and we are the poorer for it. This morning’s account of the grateful Samaritan highlights the fact that often the most unlikely people are the most grateful. Often those who have much less reason to be thankful are the ones who show gratitude; they’re thankful just to be alive, to have a caring family and friends, and food on the table, things that we so often take for granted.

We can’t imagine how wonderful it must have been to be cured of the dreaded disease of leprosy. Why, then, did only one of the ten lepers return to thank Jesus for the gift of healing? A Samaritan would have been the last person expected to go out of his way to thank his Jewish healer. But then, there was no one who cared more for people who others avoided, like the Samaritans, than Jesus.

The ten lepers in this morning’s Gospel had no doubt heard how Jesus had compassion on other outcasts and healed them. Stories about how our Lord Jesus cared for those no one else cared for spread like wildfire. So when these lepers see Jesus in the distance, they saw in Him their only hope for a better future. They cry out from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus, in humility, directs the lepers to the health inspectors of the time, the priests. Jesus puts their faith to the test by asking them to act as if they’ve been already cured. Obedience to Jesus precedes their healing

Now that they are healed, nine of them are all too absorbed in their joy at being healthy again to bother going out of their way to thank their Healer. They’d experienced God’s mercy, but failed to see how amazing and astonishing it is. We need to continually seek God’s mercy as long as we live. There’s no better prayer we can pray every day than “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” God’s mercy is something we can never take for granted, but can only be received with lifelong gratitude. For “the mercies of the Lord are new every day (Lamentations 3:22).” “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).”

We can easily think of reasons why these nine lepers fail to thank Jesus for the mercy He has shown to them. By failing to thank our Lord for His grace and mercy, they miss out on an even greater blessing than the Samaritan alone receives, that is, the assurance that his faith has led to his salvation. The ungrateful nine felt they had more urgent things to do, like businesses to return to, and family and friends to see again. They treasured the gift more than the Giver. Failure to show gratitude means “biting the hand that feeds you.” An outsider, a Samaritan, puts God’s people to shame.

This Samaritan leper is also a “good” Samaritan in the deepest sense of the word. He knows that “It is good to give thanks to the Lord (Psalm 92:1).” He shows his gratitude publicly, not in a temple or synagogue, but to God in the person of His Son Jesus. The Samaritan worships and praises God at the feet of our Lord. He sees Jesus as much more than a miracle-worker. He sees Jesus as God in human form, who is worthy of praise of thanksgiving. He is grateful to the Giver, not just for the gift itself. His gratitude brings the wonderful blessing Jesus initiated to a glorious completion.

Unless we show gratitude as soon as possible, we’re unlikely to show it at all. By immediately returning to show our Lord his gratefulness, the Samaritan receives so much more than he originally asked for. He is made whole, that is, he is saved through his faith. Jesus says to him, “Rise and go, your faith has saved you.”

Gratitude is a celebration of the bond that unites giver and receiver. We taste the goodness of God’s gifts to us twice over when we delight in thanking Him for all that He has given us. Thanking God for all good things, great and small, takes the focus from ourselves and puts it onto God. Anything that takes the focus from ourselves is healthy.

Gratitude deepens our sense of dependence on God for life, protection and love. Gratitude dissipates discontent and increases our contentment with all we have already received from God.

As we grow in gratitude, we will discover God’s blessings in the most unexpected places. We may find that some of the things we thought were liabilities and limitations are really blessings in disguise. Grateful people are perhaps more open to recognising and receiving new and deeper blessings.

In one of the classic graces we pray before meals we say “For what we’re about to receive, may the Lord make us truly grateful.” You see, in the New Testament, God is also thanked for future blessings as well as past and present blessings. Week by week, God blesses us in ways we often don’t see at the time.

In retrospect, we might see how tough times we’ve experienced have become blessings in disguise, as they’ve drawn us closer to God. Gratitude is enhanced rather than diminished by lavishing it on everyday blessings.

We can thank God for everything that’s been going right in our lives.

We can express our gratitude for all the parts of our bodies that are healthy and functioning well.

Thank God that your car brought you safely here to worship this morning and has taken you safely to and from home each day this week.

Thank God for everyone worshipping with you here today.

Thank God for every fellow Christian who has enriched your life in one way or another.

Thank God for everyone who has shown you love in one way or another, and for those who have been grateful to you for the love you’ve shown them.

Jesus interprets acts of thanksgiving as expressions of love for Him. Love and thanks are two sides of the one coin.

There was once a grandmother who said “Thank You, God; thank You, God” at least a hundred times a day. God helps us all to grow in gratitude the longer we’re on this earth. The true test of joy is gratitude. It’s not how much you have that brings you happiness, but how much you’re grateful for what you do have. Gratitude is the shortest, surest way to joy. May God’s grace never stop inspiring gratitude in you.

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above:

then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all His love.

 

Amen.

Luke 16:19-31

What would you do if you unexpectedly received one million dollars? Would you automatically think of giving some of it away to others in greater need than you? On the Sunday TV program Songs of Praise a new definition of a millionaire was suggested as “someone who gives a million dollars away”. Today we thank God for all those around us who have so generously supported the ministry of our Church to the poor and needy. In the Early Church the poor were called “the treasures of the Church” because in helping the poor, Christians were helping Christ Himself who meets us in the poor and needy.

The focus of Jesus’ ministry was on those in greatest need of His help. Jesus deeply and warmly loved those on the edge of society or those who were looked down on with disdain – the weak, the sick, the disabled and outcasts. Jesus reminds John the Baptist that His mission was to bring good news to the poor. By this, Jesus also includes those suffering from spiritual poverty, of which there are so many here in our own community. In today’s parable, Jesus focuses on the needs of poor people like Lazarus.

Children and grown-ups like hearing this parable. In this story it seems that for a moment, the curtain is drawn aside and we get a tiny glimpse of the hereafter, of heaven and hell. The other thing that pleases a child’s imagination and perhaps many adults, is to see how this rich guy, who had it so “good” in this life, gets what’s coming to him in the next life, while poor Lazarus, who had such a hell of a life on earth, at last receives the joy and consolation of heaven.

But by focussing on that aspect of the story, we’re missing its central point. The real point of the story is not so much about the rich man or about Lazarus, but rather about what Abraham says to the rich man about his five brothers still at home on earth and their need to hear God’s Word. The sin of the rich man isn’t that he was rich but that he was indifferent. It’s not bad to be rich, nor is it a sign of goodness to be poor. But it’s wrong when a person is so wrapped up in his possessions and affluent lifestyle and is so thoroughly selfish that he is totally indifferent to the needy person placed at his gate. The rich man’s terrible sin isn’t that he never helped Lazarus, but that he did nothing at all, feasting while Lazarus died at his gate. In the time of Jesus, affluent people used bread as we use serviettes – to wipe their fingers. Hungry Lazarus would gladly have fed on such scraps, but the rich guy pretends not to notice Lazarus’s desperate need for food.

What’s more, he pretends not to notice God, His Maker and the Giver of all the gifts he enjoys. These two realities go together – if you love God, you will love your neighbour and have a special compassion for a neighbour in need. At the other end of the scale, indifference to your needy neighbour is a reflection of your

indifference to God. God’s Word says to you, “Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20).”

 Let’s focus on being different now. Lazarus certainly was a different person in the next life. In contrast to the rich guy in our parable who is unnamed, Lazarus has a name. His name is a very important clue for understanding this story, because his name means “God is my helper.” His name shows that despite all his poverty and misery, he has put his trust in God. He believed God is his Helper. And when he dies, what he has always believed comes true. In heaven he discovers the joy of being with the God in whom he trusted.

The rich man is certainly a different person in the next life. For him it is a “riches to rags” story. In the next life he finds himself in hell. What is hell? To be separated from God. And what is heaven? To be with God. In this life the rich man separated himself from God; in the next life, the separation from God becomes absolute. So now he’s a radically different person – no more enjoying the comforts of this life, but enduring the discomforts of hell. Another thing is different about him in the next life. For the first time he thinks of someone other than himself. He is concerned about his five brothers left on earth and asks Abraham to send someone from the dead, lest they also come to the place of torment.

He thinks that there’s only one thing that will change his brothers on earth and make them different, that is if someone comes from the dead to warn them and then they will believe. “Not so”, Abraham tells him. “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And if they won’t listen to them, that is, if they won’t hear God’s Word for them, then they won’t listen even if someone comes to them from the dead.

Although this is only a story told to us by Jesus, nevertheless what He said actually happened. There was a brother who did come back from the dead, and would you know, his name was Lazarus! Remember how Jesus raised Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus from the dead. And what happened after Jesus raised Lazarus? Those who already believed, believed all the more. But those who didn’t believe immediately began plotting to assassinate Jesus. There were times like the feeding of the five thousand when people saw the miraculous things Jesus did and still didn’t believe in Him. Seeing is not necessarily believing.  Rather, faith in Jesus gives us super-sight. Jesus says to Martha at the death of her brother Lazarus, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40)” Faith enables us to see God at work in our lives and around us, things those without faith cannot see.

So who are we in this story? We’re the ones still alive. We are the five brothers. And like them we have Moses and the prophets. In fact, we have even more, because not only do we have Moses and the prophets in the Old Testament, we also have the Gospels and the Epistles, the New Testament of our merciful Saviour Jesus Christ. We have the life-giving good news of His grace that can make us different, and can make us dare to live differently. What an incomparable blessing that is. It’s all about the Word who took on human flesh and lives among us, full of grace and truth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ became poorer and more wretched than Lazarus was so that by His poverty we could become rich in the things that matter eternally. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you, through His poverty, might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).”

After His birth, where Jesus lay in a borrowed manger in a lowly stable, He was rejected, scoured, despised, tortured and crucified for us. Jesus gave up everything for us and our eternal benefit and blessing. After Jesus rose from the dead He became Lord of heaven and earth and the real owner of everything on this earth. He now says to you and to me: “Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands – all that you can hold (Luke 6:38).” Or as the prayer of St. Francis puts it, “For it is in giving that we receive” the joy of knowing that we are blessing others with what God has given us. Jesus says to you “Blessed are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice (Luke 11:28).”

It’s not hard to put ourselves in the rich man’s place and imagine what he might think, looking at Lazarus, all covered in loathsome sores: ‘But if the doctors cannot do a thing for him, what am I expected to do? He is as poor as the stray dogs themselves. But surely it is not my fault that he is poor. I never robbed him or stole from him. God knows the streets are full of beggars. There are plenty of others as badly off as he is. But what can one man do about it? They would have to bankrupt the government to make any noticeable difference. If one lone beggar finds his way to my door, does that give him more claim on me than the others have? I have let him live exclusively, for weeks and months, on the discarded scraps from my table. Surely that is something I am doing for him. What more can I do?’

When we suffer from donation-fatigue like that, we need to pray to Jesus, “Thank You for loving me so much more than I could ever deserve. Through Your Word and sacraments, continually fill me with a love that overflows into the lives of others.” 

People who love each other want to be together and hear each other speak. When we love our Lord, we want to be where He is with us in a very special way, that is, in the Lord’s Supper, where He gives Himself to us in an awesome act of love. He does this to continue making us more and more like Him. More and more we will become eager to love others with Christ’s life-transforming, life-renewing love.

We give to God because God promises to multiply with His blessing whatever we give, whether to Him or our needy neighbour. “God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).”

For souls redeemed, for sins forgiven, for means of grace and hopes of heaven,

To you, O Lord, what can be given? You give us all.

We lose what on ourselves we spend; we have as treasure without end

Whatever, Lord, to You we lend – You give us all.

Amen.

Luke 16:1-13

The guest speaker at a pastors’ conference handed out a paper containing ten statements for the pastors to think about during the course of the conference.  He called them ‘The Ten Deadly Delusions’ because they were statements that at first glance seemed to be true, but each contained a dangerous or misleading idea or attitude. 

Three of them related specifically to the parable that is before us today.  Let’s see if you can see what is wrong or misleading in each statement.

1. “God wants us to give him a percentage of what he has first given us. If only people would practice tithing!”
2. “God has blessed this country with many wonderful things to enjoy.”
3. “This country offers many opportunities for people to achieve success for themselves.”

In the light of Jesus’ parable of the shrewd manager let us consider a response to these three so-called ‘delusions’.

To the first ‘delusion’ we must ask: How can we give God what really belongs to him anyway?  Don’t the things we use in this world still belong to God? The Old Testament practice of making tithes and offerings was given, not as an end in itself, but so that people would not forget that God is the owner and giver of all things.  We cannot begin to assume that we own or deserve any of the things we have.  Think about the manager in Jesus’ parable.  He had nothing of his own.  His job was on loan to him only for as long as the rich man saw fit.  His employment was totally in the hands of his master.  He had been living in a house provided by his master, eating food and wearing clothes provided by his master or bought with his master’s wages.  Now, when accused of wasting the master’s possessions and left to consider his future without a job, the reality began to hit home.  He really owned nothing at all. Without his Master he was completely unable to provide for himself.

Isn’t that true for us also?  Apart from our Master’s goodness we have nothing.  The one who owns all things graciously loans some of them to us. We confess in the explanation to the first part of the creed that everything we have from God is ‘purely out of his Fatherly and Divine goodness and mercy, though we do not deserve it.’  Our life itself is on loan from God. Every day of our time on this earth is entirely in God’s hands.  Our food, clothing, money, talents are ours only as long as our Master loans them to us.  Apart from his goodness to us we have nothing and are incapable of providing for ourselves.  The Scripture says: We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out if it (1 Tim 6:7).  When God speaks of his ‘giving’ to us or our ‘giving’ to him we must always see it in this context.  The Psalmist says: The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (psalm 24:1).

Like the rich man in Jesus parable, the Master owns everything.  In reality we cannot give ‘a percentage’ back to him because it’s all his anyway – 100% of it.  In our tithes and offerings we honour God’s generous loan by returning the first percentage to its rightful owner.

Like the manager or steward in Jesus’ parable we are simply managers of what our Master owns.  When God created the Adam and Eve he gave them ‘dominion’ or ‘management’ over the things he had made, not ‘ownership’. That is why we have traditionally used the word ‘stewardship’ in relation to our management of time, talents and treasures, rather the word ‘giving’ – because giving presumes that we own these things – and we don’t!  As God’s ‘stewards’, we are simply employed to ‘manage’ and distribute what belongs to our Master. 

Jesus’ parable leads us to look at the second ‘deadly delusion’: “God has blessed this country with many wonderful things to enjoy.”  To that statement we must then respond: We are certainly blessed by what God generously loans to us, not just to enjoy for ourselves but to use to his glory and in the service of others.  Think again of the manager in Jesus’ parable. He knew he owned nothing but he also knew something else; he had his master’s goods at his disposal.  So he used his remaining time, his talents as manager, and the goods that belonged to his master to serve others and to secure his own future. 

Jesus makes no bones about the fact that what the manager did was dishonest, but he does commend him for his shrewd or clever use of what was placed under his care.  Jesus’ point is that if non-believers can be so clever in their use of worldly goods then we should ‘take a leaf out of their book’ when it comes to our management of what we have on loan from God.  Jesus is by no means promoting dishonesty; he is talking about the wise use of our Master’s time, talents and treasures while we have them at our disposal.

Like this manager we have all been given notice that our time on this earth is limited and that we must give an account of our management.  We know that we can’t take anything with us into the next life, so the challenge is to use what we have to wisely to serve others and prepare ourselves for life in the eternal dwellings. 

The questions we must ask are: How can we wisely invest our time, our talents and our treasures to ensure our own eternal life and that of our family remains secure?  How can we use what we own to make friends for God; people who will also be our friends in the eternal dwellings?  How can we use the Master’s goods that are now at our disposal to serve those who live in hardship or oppression?

Nowhere in the Scriptures are we called to accumulate things for our own enjoyment.  Instead we are called to manage, use and distribute them wisely for the glory of God and the good of others.  ‘We live in a world where 6% of the people receive half the income, 50% are constantly hungry, 60% live in shanty-towns, and 70% are illiterate’.  There is even a greater percentage who are Biblically illiterate and spiritually hungry and who know nothing about the eternal dwellings.

Now we can also see what is wrong with the third ‘delusion’: “This country offers many opportunities for people to achieve success for themselves.”  While that statement is true in one sense, we must ask: Is material success what we’re really here for?  God reminds us that real success is not determined by the size of our house, our land, our possessions or our retirement nest-egg, the type of car we drive, the type of clothes we wear, or who our friends are, but by whether we are God’s friends.   Real success is not about accumulating riches but seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness. 

Both the master in the parable and Jesus himself commended the shrewd manager because he looked to the life beyond.  While still in his tenure as manager he prepared for life beyond his job.  He used his limited time and his master’s possessions to make friends for himself so that when he had nothing left they might welcome him into their homes.  Jesus encourages us to use our remaining time and all the talents and treasures at our disposal to make friends with God – to make sure we are reconciled to him.  If we are friends with God through faith in Jesus we know we will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.  We know that real success is finally achieved the very day we are called to leave all our worldly possessions behind.

We don’t have to accumulate riches here because, in our friendship with God through Jesus, we have everything we need. We are already rich.  In fact, Jesus warns that when the things of this world become the object of our loyalty, at that point we become spiritually and eternally poor.  We simply cannot serve two masters.

So let’s re-word those three ‘deadly delusions’ into three ‘living truths.’

1. “God wants us to acknowledge that we own nothing and that everything we are and have is graciously on loan to us. If only people would manage and distribute God’s gifts wisely!”
2. “God has provided the people of this country with many wonderful things, not to live comfortably but usefully for God and for others.”
3. “Life in this world offers many opportunities for people to prepare ourselves and others for the life in ‘eternal dwellings’.”

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Text: Luke 15:1-10

¹Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to Jesus to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were murmuring and saying “This man receives sinners and eats with them!” ³And Jesus told them this parable, saying ⁴“What one of you having a hundred sheep and having lost one of them, does not leave behind the ninety-nine in the desert and pursues after the one being lost, until he finds it? ⁵And finding it, he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And coming to the house he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them ‘Rejoice with me! For I found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷I say to you that in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than the ninety-nine righteous who have no need to repent. ⁸Or what woman, having ten coins, if she has lost one, does not light a candle and sweeps the house and carefully seeks until she has found it.” ⁹And having found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying ‘Rejoice with me, because I found the coin which I lost.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

There are ‘Lost and Found’ departments everywhere―in shopping centres, hotels, public transport offices and schools―where people can go and claim that which is valuable to them they have lost. I remember when I was in primary school the lost and found department was a giant cardboard box with piles of shirts, shorts and jumpers to sort through, which I did once, hoping to find my lost drinker.

A drinker is not so bad but when we lose something that is valuable or necessary to us, and we still can’t find it after turning the house upside down, then we know the feelings of frustration, desperation and perhaps even despair: it might be our keys, a wedding ring, that critical part to a tool or toy, our watch, our wallet, an earring, important documents…

There’s a sense of that in today’s Gospel reading where Jesus tells a parable which we tend to refer to as the ‘lost coin’. Jesus says: “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” Speaking of turning the house upside down, here is this poor woman searching frantically for her lost coin―not just a lost coin, but one of ten coins. The ten coins probably represents this woman’s life savings. One of them would therefore be incredibly significant amount of money―who of us wouldn’t be worried if we had lost a tenth of our life savings! And without the social security services in those days, a tenth of this woman’s life savings was all the more important! So she lights a candle and sweeps the house hoping to brush it out of the cracks and hear it tinkle on the floor, so that it can be heard and seen and found.

This parable is of course searching for something far more important that money. Jesus’ parables use earthly realities to show us how God works in his grace. The initial audience of Jesus’ parable are the Pharisees who grumble about Jesus welcoming sinners into his presence. They think that if Jesus were really God, he would not make himself ritually unclean by associating with them. But the Pharisees have not understood. Everybody is in need of God’s grace!

That’s precisely what God says in today’s Psalm:

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
³ All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

 They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.

In our natural condition humanity is so darkened by sin and in fact dead in sin, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, that rather than seeking out the one true God, the human race has all turned from God, become corrupt, and are not capable of even making a choice to believe in Jesus. Jesus says in John’s Gospel “you did not choose me, but I chose you”. There is not even one in the entire human race that is able to do good―sure, people do good works, but this is speaking of living each day with God.

Today’s Psalm says: “God is present in the company of the righteous”. This is the sticking point for the Pharisees in the Gospel reading. It is why they grumbled that Jesus welcomed sinners and had table fellowship with them. They reckoned that if Jesus were really God, he wouldn’t―and shouldn’t―be in the company of sinners. They, the Pharisees, were the righteous ones (or so they thought).

Herein is the problem and Jesus’ own issue with the Pharisees. It was not that they revered the Law. After all, God’s law is holy and righteous and good and he does want all people to keep it—and to keep it perfectly—even as we promise that we will strive daily to lead a holy life just as Christ has made us holy. The issue is that they were self righteous; they revered their own efforts at trying to keep the Law according to their interpretation of it and they failed to see nobody is able to perfectly keep God’s Law. They established thousands of man-made rules for how to live out that interpretation in daily life. In the process they obscured God’s own commandments, and they rejected his saving help in Jesus as the Christ, and made them look to themself as being somehow able to earn righteousness before God. The parable of the lost sheep brings this out―Jesus in effect is saying that the Pharisees, the shepherds of Israel, have lost their sheep through leading them astray with false teaching, and yoking them with the crushing burden of trying to earn righteousness before God, for as James says in James 2:10: “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” So the Pharisees had set themselves up with a burden impossible to bear. They had failed to realise that everybody―including them―needs God’s grace. It is actually those who recognise that they are unrighteous and helpless to help themselves and see their only hope in Jesus’ good works who are the very ones in a right relationship with God.

The sheep in the first parable offers no service to the shepherd and in no way earns or deserves its rescue. Jesus tells these parables to teach the Pharisees that they are among the lost. Like the coin in the parable, a lifeless object which doesn’t even know it is lost, so too are the Pharisees, for they trust in their own works to earn God’s forgiveness and favour.

Yet the central message of the parables does not lie in that which is lost but the ones who are searching. [I thought this was a most appropriate picture for God’s ‘Lost and found’ department, and it is precisely what Jesus would have us see as central to these two stories]. The woman and the shepherd are the central and active figures. They search for what is lost because it belongs to them, and they search until it is found. These characters represent Jesus―he is the Messiah who comes to seek and save the lost sheep of Israel. He is to be seen as the woman, lighting the lamp, sweeping the house carefully. Each parable highlights God’s grace in searching for the lost and his joy at restoring sinners back to him. Jesus never actually called these parables ‘The parable of the lost sheep’ or ‘The parable of the lost coin’―they’re names that scholars and commentators have given them over the years.

I wonder if they would be better called: “The parable of the searching God” because they are about God in Christ searching out lost sinners in his gracious and extravagant love. He sent his Son into the world and to the Cross to seek and save the lost, to pay the price to buy us back by taking our sinfulness upon himself and ransoming us with his own blood, that we would be his own, alone, forever. All this is a reality for you in your baptism. It was in your baptism that the God who searches for and finds the lost found you even when you didn’t know you were lost. It was there that he washed you, forgave you and united you with Christ and his own death and resurrection so that you may belong to him as his alone. It was there he gave you his Spirit to make you spiritually alive; to daily die to sin and rise with him to newness of life and see with the eyes of Jesus and love others with his heart. It was there that heaven was filled with the resounding noise of the angels rejoicing over you. It was Jesus who was lost for a time; abandoned and forsaken by his Father on the Cross so that you wouldn’t be lost to God.

There are still many who are lost who Jesus would have his church reach out to. Joined to Christ we are called to share in his mission as his holy priesthood, and made new in him in baptism, we are able to follow, albeit imperfectly. Through his word, the Spirit he gave us at Baptism continues to battle with our old spirit, the spirit of the Pharisees in which we think we’re really not that bad, not like those other people. He calls us not to wait for people to come back to church, but he calls us to be the church and follow him as his search party. When Jesus visibly walked this earth in his ministry, he did not wait for people to show up at the synagogue―it was often in his daily interactions with people in everyday settings that he taught them and showed them his love and grace. When Jesus ate with sinners, he didn’t just give them food on a plate. He gave them time in his day, he sat with them, he had conversation with them; he affirmed that they were important, he attended to their needs with his care. And that’s what we have all been called to as Christ’s church—not for the prospect of boosting our attendance figures and balance sheets, but simply because they are people who are lost and can’t find their way back home and they matter to him, so much so that he stretched his arms out on the Cross for them too.

It is a challenge―one that usually makes us feel uncomfortable. But we don’t have to search high and low to know who we should be engaging with―they are usually right before us. The lost are not necessarily always those who are the socially undesirable or trapped in terrible sin. There are the respectable lost, the law abiding citizens lost, the educated lost, the lost who contribute to society. They are our next door neighbours, the people in the supermarket queue, those we mix with in work and leisure. And after we’ve got to know them, and listen to them, we see that they are really not much different to us. They have the same needs, the same fears, the same longing for peace and hope. And they might even say: “There’s no way God would want a sinner like me”. That’s when we can say: “Let me tell you a story. There was once a shepherd who searched for one of his sheep. And when he found him he carried him home, and there was rejoicing in heaven…”

And as you retell that story, remember this is how joyful God and the company of angels in heaven is for you, for it was Christ who searched for and found you, and carried you safely home to God, rejoicing all the way. Amen.

Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.   The Psalmist David prayed with the words:     ‘O LORD, we lift up our soul to you;  in you we trust, O God, our precious Father. Show us your ways, O LORD, teach us your paths; guide us in your truth, for you are God our Saviour, and our hope is in you all day long.’ ^{(Psalm 25:1–5 NIV84)}

Let’s join with David in prayer: O God our loving Father, we are privileged to share our worship of You. By your Holy Spirit, in word and sacrament, be present in our worship and guide our time together that we may choose life in your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, express the joy of our salvation, and grow into the people you want us to be. Gracious Father, hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Lord,  Amen.

In the Gospel today, Jesus warns that a choice to let God’s Holy Spirit guide our lives to become disciples is not to be taken casually.  He relates two embarrassments that were evident around him in Jerusalem and the surrounds.  

When Jesus spoke of an unfinished tower, the listeners of Jesus would have recognised

 the aqueduct Pilate began to build that was never completed, and became an embarrassment for the Roman Governor’s reign.  Jewish history relates that the cost of that aqueduct became a burden the city could not meet.

And when Jesus spoke about the uncertain warfare of a king, the listeners of Jesus would have recognised the often short-sighted military operations of the Zealots as they attempted to throw off Roman oppression.  They could never muster the support or strength to make even a dent.

Jesus holds both examples up to public ridicule.  Examples of not being able or willing to finish that which was begun. But my question today is: why are we hearing these parables of failure to persevere?  I believe the answer is that Jesus knew the challenge ahead for his apostles, disciples, and even casual followers, alike. 

Jesus knows that even in Australia, as Christians we too will face opportunities and responsibilities that will witness our choices and our  perseverance. 

Those times when we choose to follow Christ Jesus.  And those times we allow the distractions of family, friends, work, or social responsibilities tempt us to set aside what God has started in us.   That is the message for all of us, especially the fathers among us whom we are celebrating today.

Faith in Jesus Christ brings us into the arena of a work begun.  Jesus sets the hard word before the huge crowd following him.  He says, “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” 

As believers, we discover that in the final analysis, all we really have is our stubborn will.  Our soul already belongs to Christ Jesus.  Our heart is the home for God’s Holy Spirit.  Our mind remains the battle ground.  I’m not sure who said it, but the old quote, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop” seems to apply here.

As Scripture encourages us, when we submit our will to God, we will never be embarrassed or ridiculed in his eyes. But not so in the eyes of the world around us.   When we set our passion on living for Jesus Christ, we will truly be disciples. But it won’t always be easy.   When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are well on the way to becoming the beautiful people that God wants us to be.  And that is the encouragement for living our faith.

At every stage in our development as disciples of our Saviour, and complete human beings, we are pushed and pulled, tried and tested, turned every which way but loose.  But not so much by the gentle and strong Spirit of our Creator.  All this happens to us as we live and grow in the broken world in which we exist. 

But our wondrous Father has an ultimate plan for us.  By his Son’s sacrifice, we have faith that will make all the difference.  By his grace and mercy, his Holy Spirit guards us from the tensions that try to destroy in us all that is so valuable to him, but considered worthless by the world.  If we choose life of faith.    

In the Epistle today, Paul wrote to his friend Philemon, who was well on the way to becoming the beautiful person that God wanted him to be.  Paul writes, ‘I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.  I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.  Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.’ 

Even though Philemon was becoming the person that God wanted him to be, there was still a challenge.    All through our lives, there will be challenges to face.  Challenges to our faith, to our sensibilities, to our life as Christians.  Challenges that call us to choose to yield our will to God our Father, as Christ Jesus encourages us.

You see, Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, did a runner.  He ended up in Rome, where Paul was held in chains.  It is possible that Onesimus was in chains there beside Paul, awaiting the fate of a returned slave. But we can’t be clear about that.  We can’t even be clear that Onesimus received the gift of faith before or while in chains beside Paul.  What we can be clear about is that Onesimus embraced the grace offered by God and the faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Faith that is the beginning of a new relationship with God, and  is the fulfilment  of our salvation for all of us.

This letter is Paul’s encouragement for Philemon to receive Onesimus back, not as a rebellious and obstinate slave, but as a dear brother.  A fellow child of God, and believer in Jesus the Savour of us all.  Faith that makes Onesimus useful. 

Paul writes, ‘Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.  I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.’

I’m told that Onesimus, in Greek, means useful.  From Jewish history, there is evidence that Philemon followed the advice and  encouragement of Paul.  That he received Onesimus back with Christian love and charity.  Some scholars believe this Onesimus is Onesimus the Bishop of Ephesis, praised in a letter to the second-century church from Ignatius of Antioch.  It is believed that the position of Onesimus preserved Paul’s letter to Philemon in the cannon of the New Testament. And we have it to share today.

I suspect that we can discover aspects of our own journey in the life of Onesimus.  At times, rebelling against God, and running away from the reality of Jesus Christ.  Encountering a Saviour who says to our Father God, just like Paul writes to Philemon, ‘If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.’  And then Christ Jesus paid our debt for us.

We journey through life with faith in our Saviour who took our every wrong and sin when He was sacrificed on the cross.  We, who were once useless, have been made useful, in our baptism.  We, who were once rebellious, have been made obedient, as we receive the words of the Holy Bible.   We who were once blinded to the light of Jesus Christ, have been made to see the reality of the Gospel in the Lord’s Supper.  We who have ventured off on our own, have been received into the loving arms of our Father God in his mercy, by his grace, through his Son.

Like Onesimus, we can give thanks to a loving, forgiving, and accepting Father who will not turn his children away, ridicule them, or discard them.  And God encourages every person to live the example of our wondrous Saviour Jesus Christ.

We are God’s chosen people.  We have been gathered around Jesus and set apart from the world to be His disciples.  Jesus calls all of us his beloved brothers and sisters. Compassionate Mothers and Fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, uncles and aunts.

We are encouraged to enter the challenge to choose Christian living every new moment of our lives, with serious reflection.  But knowing that we will  make mistakes in our sinful humanity.  Be encouraged that Jesus is making us into the people He wants us to be.  The Holy Spirit is moulding us into the character and nature of a disciple.  Giving us the freedom to choose to love the Lord Jesus Christ our God and Saviour with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.   And then likewise to love our neighbor as ourselves.

In everything we choose, may the grace and peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the calm assurance of salvation in our living Lord, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. dave Thompson.
Port Macquarie.

The Text: Luke 14:1,7-14

Have you ever been involved in planning a wedding? If you have, you would not doubt understand the challenge of sorting out the seating plan. This would have to be one of the most delicate tasks! Who do you seat where? Will this person and that person be okay on the same table? Will this uncle and that cousin be upset by their place? And so on. Together with working out the guest list itself, the seating plan is often the cause of many arguments and sleepless nights!’

Which are the two issues Jesus addresses today, although not deciding where others sit, but deciding where you sit. Which seats to take, and which people to invite, these are Jesus’ two main points of teaching in this text.

But let’s be clear, Jesus’ purpose is not simply to teach the table manners and etiquette of this world, but to teach us about the etiquette of the kingdom of God, to teach us the table manners of the heavenly banquet.

Today we’ll look at this text in three sections: 

First is the word to the invited guests – which focuses on humility.

Second is the word to the inviter, the host – which focuses on hospitality.

And third is to consider the one who speaks these words, Jesus himself.

So first is the word to the invited guests, calling for humility with an eye to God.  

Jesus is at a meal with the religious leaders on the Sabbath, and there was something he saw there which presented a teaching moment.

What he saw, was that at this meal ‘the guests chose the places of honour’.

 So imagine a table, a host and his seat, and certain seats are more distinguished than others, and there’s a bit of maneuvering to get to these seats.

Now this was evidently a favorite past time with the religious leaders, and something Jesus saw as a very serious problem.

Because earlier in this Gospel he had already denounced them for something similar, saying ‘Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces…’ (Luke 11:43)

Then later on in the Gospel he’s going to say it again,

‘Beware of the Scribes… who love the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at feasts…’ (Luke 20:46).

This is a recurring theme of Jesus, something very important.

So on this occasion Jesus uses what he sees as a springboard for a parable.

The parable is of being invited to a wedding banquet.

But at this wedding, the bride and groom don’t arrange place seatings like I said before, but the tables and seats are open, and yet there’s an expectation that people will arrange themselves into the socially appropriate order.

 And in this situation Jesus gives what would seem some fairly common-sense advice, seemingly built on that wisdom we heard from Proverbs 25 today.

He says in that situation don’t take the best seat, because imagine how embarrassing it will be if you need to get moved down.

Have you ever tried to sneak into better seats at the movies or the football or cricket and been asked to move?

It’s terrible, or so I’ve heard!

You pretend you’re all confused and this sort of thing to try and cover it up!

So Jesus says, take a low seat, so that the host can move you up when he comes,

and then you’ll receive real honour, rather than shame.

Have you reflected on how much we still think where we sit when we enter a room?

You know what it’s like, we walk in to some function, we scan around, where should I sit?

And we think, well I’d rather not find myself sitting with that person, oh and I don’t want to get left sitting by myself, oh and if I wait to see where that person sits maybe I can get a seat near them?

We do this sort of thing don’t we?

Jesus has hit on something deep within us here. As the religious leaders jostle for the best seats at the table, and as we recognize this same impulse in us, Jesus doesn’t just see bad manners, he sees the symptom of a spiritual problem.

 The problem is that we think our status, our honour, all depends on us and what we can do to bring it about.

We have this desire to be honoured, to have a certain status in this world

And we worry it’s not going to happen for us, that we’re going to be left behind, and so we want to take matters into our own hands and make sure we get ourselves up to where we need to be?

But Jesus would have us do the opposite, to humble ourselves, to take the lower place.

But notice the incredible end to the parable. Jesus doesn’t finish just by talking about earthly meals, but he speaks expansively showing he’s talking about life in his kingdom.

‘For all who exalt themselves, will be humbled,

And those who humble themselves will be exalted’.

Who’s doing the humbling and exalting here? It’s God.

You could say,

‘All who exalt themselves, God will humble,

All who humble themselves, God will exalt.’

This is very important to see Jesus’ promise attached to his command.

 Jesus doesn’t say, just take the lowly places and be content with that, just humble yourselves and stay down there.

He doesn’t say that.

He doesn’t so much eradicate our desire to be honoured and exalted,

but he redirects it, from human beings to God.

He says I know you want to be honoured, I know you desire a certain status,

but don’t seek it from human beings and don’t try and get it by your own strength,

trust that God will do it for you.

God will move you up higher,

God will exalt you,

God will honour you,

Perhaps even in this life, but especially when it comes to the eternal life with God in never-ending glory.  

One of the reasons Jesus teaches us this is that we naturally look at others and where our place is, then we hear the call to be humble, and before you know it instead of looking around at others and our place we begin to look only at our own humility.

But Jesus encourages us to be humble, but all the while looking to God.

So that’s the first word to those invited.

Next Jesus speaks to the inviter, the host, and the focus here is hospitality,

Again with an eye to God.

When Jesus was speaking to those invited about clamouring for seats and that sort of things, I wonder if the host was feeling a bit relieved because he seemed to be off the hook.

He was pretty much the only one there who the parable wasn’t directly aimed at. But then Jesus turns to him and shows how the same problem can present itself from that end too.

Here it’s not about where you sit when invited, it’s about who you invite in the first place. So he says,

‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.’ 

¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

So what Jesus is speaking to here is how social interactions and invitations to meals can work as a sort of ‘social currency’ if you like.

I have the right people to a party at my place, they invite me in return, and I get to be seen at the right sort of parties at the right sort of people’s places.

I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

Jesus can evidently see this is what his host was doing with this meal, and he encourages him, and us, in another way.

Instead, invite the outcasts, invite those who won’t normally be invited, invite those who you may even have to go and pick up because they can’t get there themselves.

Invite those who, humanly speaking, have nothing to trade with in this social currency.

Now I don’t think Jesus is forbidding ever having family and friends for meals,

but he doesn’t want it to only ever be that.

Let’s think, is there someone on your street, who have never been asked over for a cup of coffee?

Are there people in our own congregation, who may have never been invited to someone’s house for a meal?

Jesus encourages us, to think about our social interactions very differently here.

In the first part of Jesus teaching, the guests look for status by getting the right seats. In this part the host looks for status by having the right guests there, and so getting invited back to be a honoured guest himself by people who know how to return a favour.

But notice again the surprise, that Jesus doesn’t forbid this desire to be repaid.

Instead again, he redirects it to God. He says, 

‘for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

So Jesus answer to our problem, is not to say you should just invite the poor and know that that is good enough in itself, that’s what we may expect him to say.

But instead he calls us again to do these things with an eye to God, knowing that he will repay you.

So that when the people you invite show up late, they don’t bring that nice bottle of wine, or when they don’t bring anything at all, when they don’t make great conversation, when they leave mud on the carpet, when they overstay their welcome, and you think why on earth did we do this?

Jesus says no don’t worry about that, know that the repayment is not in this life,

God will repay you in the resurrection, in the heavenly banquet that never ends.

Now I know we can get a bit nervous when we hear this talk of repayment in the resurrection, because we treasure the truth that we are only ever saved by grace.

But one way to help us think about it is just to consider human family life. If my child does something kind for another child who doesn’t have many friends, because she knows I’ll be pleased, is that a bad thing? I don’t think so, it’s actually a beautiful thing.

Not only that, but if she’s the worse off for doing this kindness, I will be delighted to make it up to her and more.

Something like this happens with God our Father. 

So we’ve considered those two main parts of Jesus’ teaching today,

His word to the invited guests,

His word to the host,

now to finish off let’s consider the one who give the teaching.

Where does Jesus fit in here?

Well, as if so often the case, Jesus fulfils his own teaching.

Jesus teaches here on humility.

And this is the same Jesus who said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart…’ Matt 11:28.

Jesus, the teacher of humility, is himself the only true humble one.

This is the same Jesus St Paul writes about in Philippians saying,

he ‘humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him’. 

Jesus was entitled to the place of greatest honour in all the universe, yet took the place of ultimate shame, he humbled himself for you, he died for you, even died on a cross, for you.

And as he humbled himself, God exalted him.

In his resurrection and ascension God exalted him, so that as you are in him, you too may be exalted to the right hand of God, to take your seat in the heavenly places.

Jesus calls to humility, and he fulfils his own teaching by being humble unto death.  

Jesus also instructs here on hospitality, on inviting and welcoming the outcasts.

And again, he fulfils his own teaching.

Because this is the same Jesus who ate and drank with sinners, who called to himself those who could not repay him.

And Jesus has welcomed you, Jesus has called you, Jesus has become your host at his banquet, even though there is nothing with which you could ever repay him.

As you repent and turn away from your sins, you humble yourself, and as you believe in Jesus,

In him you are exalted,

in him you are blessed,

in him you are righteous,

in him you have your resurrection, 

in him and because of him, you will have your reward.

The one who gives this teaching today on humility and hospitality,

ultimately fulfils his own teaching.

So if you’re ever involved in planning a wedding, ‘watch out for the seating plan’, be prepared for some challenges over the guest list.

But more importantly let every meal you are invited to or consider inviting others to, remind you of Jesus’ teaching, not just on earthly table manners and etiquette in this life, but what life is like in his kingdom.

That humility and hospitality are marks of those who live in his kingdom, that we do not need to be concerned about gaining status in this world, by gaining status through our own strength and social maneuvering, for in Jesus God will exalt you, in Jesus God repays you, so in all the earthly banquets, live with an eye to the heavenly banquet to which you are called.

Today you are invited to a foretaste of that feast to come.

Amen.

The Text: Luke 13:10-17

 Jesus today attempts a miracle healing.

Sadly the healing was not successful. You may be surprised to hear that because we see a woman who had been bent over for 18 years released from her condition.

But when we look closer we will see that that may not have been the target of Jesus’ healing.

This woman had been suffering for 18 years. She had not asked for healing and yet Jesus calls her over.

In fact Luke doesn’t even call it a healing but a release from a spirit that had kept her bent over.

The true healing that Jesus seems to be initiating is with the synagogue leader who has been bound not by a physical but a spiritual sickness.

The synagogue leader was teaching what he had learnt about the Sabbath Law to the people in the synagogue.

“There are six days to do work – come on one of those to be healed and not on the Sabbath”.

There are 6 days that this woman could have been healed but Jesus chose the Sabbath because he knew that the religious leader had forgotten his duty to care for those in need.

Jesus’ healing revealed the true state of the synagogue leader’s heart in that instead of rejoicing that this woman is now free from this crippling disease he instead referred to the letter of the law which to him took precedence over her wellbeing.

This message is a challenge to us to see if we may have neglected the care of others among us because we have been side-tracked by other things.

Each Sunday, all sorts of burdens are carried into our churches.

Some, like the bent-over woman’s condition, are more visible than others. But others have pain that is not so obvious or perhaps someone else will deal with it.

The difference between the bent over woman and the leader of the synagogue was that the woman went away healed while the synagogue leader still had his sick heart that needed healing.

It is similar to the Pharisee and the tax collector, with the righteous law-abiding Pharisee going away without being made right before God despite all his obedience to the law while the sinful tax collector, with all his disobedience, went away right before God.

This healing was a problem for the synagogue ruler because of when it happened.

Come back tomorrow when it’s alright for healings to be performed.

Wait a little longer.

After all, what is one extra day in an 18 year long suffering?

For Jesus, it is one day too long – for the woman and for the synagogue ruler.

The tension here is between two faithful Jewish men – Jesus and the synagogue ruler – who are struggling with each other concerning what it means to be faithful to God.

Both men believe they are keeping the true meaning of the Sabbath.

The story portrays Jesus as keeping the Sabbath because he sees it differently, and because he has a different sense of timing.

The time for God’s grace and healing is now, not later.

Often when we think of Pharisees and other religious leaders in the New Testament times we think of them in negative terms.

Judgmental, close-minded, harsh, moralistic, religious fanatics.

If we were to ask the general public today it would probably show that many see Christians in the same way.

The religious leaders were trying to be faithful to God and the commandments.

Somehow the people thought that the way to please God was through religious obedience, worship services, impressive buildings, long prayers and fasting, focusing their attention on the law, right down to every technical detail.

All this, even though God often told them that what mattered most is what’s in our hearts, and how we treat one another, and especially how we treat those in our midst who are most vulnerable: that’s the teaching behind the Good Samaritan: (Luke 10:25-37). The priest and Levite ignored the needs of their hurt brother in order to remain ritually clean for their temple duties.

So while religiously they were right – in their love of neighbour they were wrong.

These religious leaders focused on God and how they might serve God better but couldn’t see the suffering of their community.

They didn’t always get it right, but they were sincerely trying.

They sound a lot like us.

As Christians certainly we want to serve God and show our love and devotion to him.

But do we let our devotion sometimes get in the way that we don’t notice that God places in our midst those who also need our love and devotion?

But as we read the Old Testament we see that God was demanding in strict obedience to the Law of Moses with threats of being put to death for disobedience.

What has changed?

The change is that God sent his son Jesus to fulfil the law that we couldn’t fulfil under the old covenant and introduce a new covenant.

The writer to the Hebrews today compares the Old and the New Covenant.

The characteristics under the Old Covenant of Moses included:

The mountain that couldn’t be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a storm, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

But with Jesus there is a New Covenant brought in.

A new mountain – Mount Zion – the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, with innumerable angels in festal gathering.

Which covenant are you living under?

It is very easy to slip back into the Old Covenant which put the Law first ahead of the needs of people and further burdened them – there are 6 days to work – come back on one of those days to receive God’s grace.

That doesn’t mean the law isn’t important but Jesus interpreted the true meaning of the law in loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbour as ourselves.

The religious leader, in his eagerness to show his love to God, like the priest and Levite on their way to the temple, neglected to love their neighbour.

The religious leader was called a hypocrite because he allowed his members to care for their animals on the Sabbath but ignored the needs of a human being created in the image of God.

Do we sometimes care more about things in the church while ignoring the needs of fellow human beings created in God’s image?

As Christians we have been set the task to value all human life because we know and believe that all human life is created in the image of God.

And when we begin with that foundation that all human life is created in God’s image then everything we do will take that into consideration.

Whether it’s our worship, whether it’s our work, whether it’s our sport, whether it’s our special interests and things we stand up for – caring for human life guides our values and decisions.

It is so easy to let our political agenda or our theological agenda or our personal agenda to guide our values and decisions which doesn’t always take into account the well-being of others.

It comes so natural to tell those squatters to get a job and wait their turn for public housing.

It’s comes so natural to tell those illegal immigrants to go back where you came from and stop jumping the queue.

Issues like these and others can reveal the true state of our hearts despite all our exterior obedience.

It’s so easy to put rules first and people second.

That’s where the synagogue leader got it wrong.

He was guided by his zeal for the commandments of God without considering God’s call to love his neighbour in need.

There are times when our Christian beliefs will be challenged when we are wondering the right decision to make.

But when we act out love for God and our neighbour as Jesus did, then we allow God’s heart to guide us and his grace to forgive us when we might feel that we have broken God’s law for the sake of a neighbour in need.

Jesus saw the Sabbath Day as a day for God to free us from the weight of the world that keeps us bent over rather than a day where we add to that weight by trying to please God.

This lesson invites us to ponder the ways in which our own rules, customs, and habits of what is right and proper have in fact become “Bad News” and burdens on those seeking release.

As Jesus once said – the Sabbath was made for humans – humans were not made for the Sabbath.

So let the Sabbath free you but more importantly use the Sabbath to free others.

 

 Texts: Luke 12:49-51, Hebrews 12:1-4

 All good things must come to an end. This is the way we view much of our lives.

As children we all look forward to birthdays, and Christmas celebrations with family. But when it’s time to go home sadness, tears, and tantrums take over because the fun is finished, and all the good things have come to an end.

We part company with our cousins, and the festivities, to return to the mundane everyday motions of life. The division causes distress, the fun never seems to last. It’s takes so long to arrive and then in a flash it’s over. Mum and dad are the agents of division and the destroyers of delight. It’s at this time children would rather be separated from mum and dad and reunited in celebration with their cousins.

This type of sentiment doesn’t end in childhood. We carry on through life looking to live for the moment, or we reminisce over the past. We long for things to be the way they were. We get distressed about what the future might bring – failing bodies, loss of loved ones, loss of our independence, and finally loss of life. Are you anxious, uneasy, or distressed about what you are becoming over time?

Jesus was anxious too! He was distressed but not in the way we are about the future. Rather Jesus’ distress occurred because of the present, and all the while his hope was in what the end of his ministry on earth would bring.

So, Jesus laments in a way which is different to us, he says, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” (Luke 12:49-51)

Jesus looks forward to finishing what needs to happen. He is torn to the core of his being; he is distressed, until the result is complete. While a quasi-superficial peace exists he is distressed. Until the things we perceive to be good come to an end, there is no peace in Jesus’ heart.

Just like a parent taking distressed kids home after a fun filled day, Jesus knows no peace until God’s children are laid to rest, so we might be rested and refreshed through his rest at the cross and in the grave.

See the problem here is as old as there have been parents and children. There is the constant struggle between those who have age, experience, and wisdom on their side verses the young who lack wisdom but have a whole bundle of energy to burn.

We put recreation before both groups asking, “What is recreation?” and get two very different answers. For some the idea of recreation is to go, go, go! Experiencing action is what recreation is all about! But for others recreation takes on a more subdued event of relaxing, sleeping, and resting the body.

For Jesus recreation is somewhere in between! He was distressed and wanted to go, go, go, but this is so he could get to the place where he was placed in perfect rest, completing his work of recreation.

Now this might seem all a bit confusing to us who live in an age where recreation and holidays have lost their original purpose. And we do well to take the word recreation and stick a hyphen in so we hear recreation as re-creation. Our recreation is a time to be recreated or re-created. So too for holidays! Holidays were once holy-days set apart for a very different purpose than what they’ve become today.

To find the function of holidays and days of recreation, the commandment “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy” is as good a place as any to begin. After all the Sabbath is where God rested when he finished creation, and it’s where we’re re-created as we rest in God’s presence. And if it’s good enough for God to rest, perhaps we can enjoy the work God gives us in creation, and rest in him to be re-created and made holy as he is holy.

In the Old Testament the Sabbath begun at sundown on Friday and finished at sundown on Saturday. The Sabbath was a day to be re-created, and it was done by resting in the hearing of God’s Word. And so recreation and holidays flow on in the same vein. We are called to enjoy our work while we have it, and look forward to the holidays and days of recreation, not to glorify ourselves and neglect his Word, but to learn and hear it through teaching and preaching, regarding it as holy and therefore bringing glory to God.

How mixed up we have become in these things today! We lament and are distressed by the work God gives us and then when times come for us to be re-created and made holy, we choose to busy ourselves to the point of exhaustion and distress.

When we need re-creation and holiness, we are blinded by our desire for recreation and happiness, and the holidays and days of recreation become difficult days of uneasiness — and dis-ease!

Recreation is meant to lessen our dis-ease, yet for many their pursuit of recreational activities has become a disease! In fact, our distress from the unholiness and chaos of our search for fulfilment exposes the greatest disease of humanity – our sinfulness.

So as life seems to ebb away we become more and more like children at the end of a day of celebration. We become distressed over what is passing away, rather than being distressed over the fact we have become addicted to death and transient things around us. We want to stay and play, wearing ourselves out to the point where we’re so delirious we’ve lost all sight of what God truly intends for us.

Jesus says his coming has brought fire to the earth rather than peace. And this fire comes not only to the world but to us as well. There’s a division within us; a struggle between who you once were, and into whom you are being re-created.

The Holy Spirit delivers the fiery Holy Word of God into our hearts and the battle begins. Jesus seeks to conquer our unbelief, restlessness, and idolatry. Our hearts are receiving the will of God, and subsequently the distress of Jesus dwells in us until our baptism is made complete at the day of our resurrection after our earthly death.

But the old nature doesn’t die easily; it fights and assails us because Christ is in us. Our human nature would have us believe life is about selfishness now! That peace comes from me being number one! We would be at peace if conflict didn’t occur in us. But the reality is we are not living but dying, and for those who allow God to re-create them in Jesus Christ, they are being made his new creations. But it causes distress within as it divides sinner from saint. Like Jesus we are looking forward distressed until the fire of Christ’s fiery baptism of blood on the cross finishes its work of refinement in us. Then life will really being and death will be a thing of the past.

Jesus’ work of recreation divides not only the new believer from the old Adam within. Jesus also says it divides families and communities. Our sin separated Jesus from his Heavenly Father’s love on the cross. He experienced the full gamut of God’s wrath as a result of taking our addiction to death on himself, so we might be joined with the Father.

There are no shades of grey at the cross, Jesus was completely cut off from life, and experienced death in all its viciousness. And so the division continues to this day. We wrestle and struggle with those who choose the opposite from us. The question is this: Am I upholding God’s holiness and re-creation won for me in Jesus’ death, where one day I will be living in eternal peace? Or am I choosing to chase re-creation in unholy things, forsaking Christ’s work on the cross? There’s no halfway here! Either there’s surrender to Christ or surrender to eternal death. And between the divisions there will be an impenetrable void, impassable for all eternity.

So the reality for you is not that all good things are coming to an end but the truly good things are yet to come! Until death is a thing of the past, there will be times of distress, but at the second coming of Christ, we look forward to perfection and joy. Therefore, we’re encouraged as God’s children not to resist him but to be encouraged by all those who have gone before us bearing the forgiveness and faith of God. And so we hear…

…since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1-4)

Amen.