Luke 18:1-8

Summary: The Bible is full of stories which give examples of persistent prayer. Jesus also commands us to pray always and not lose heart.

Jesus commands us to pray always and not lose heart. Jesus has a lot to say about prayer. He teaches his disciples to pray the most beloved prayer in Christianity, Lord’s Prayer. He also affirms God’s faithfulness to our prayers.

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.”

Everyone who asks will receive; everyone who searches will find; everyone who knocks will have the door opened for them.

But there are times when it seems like we knock and knock and knock, but the door doesn’t budge. Jesus’ encouragement today is this: keep on knocking. Keep on praying. Just keep knocking at that prayer door, even if you end up with bloody knuckles! God is faithful, and God will respond to our prayers.

Jesus tells an eye-opening story to make his point. The “bad guy” in the story is a judge. This guy seems like he should be the last person on earth to be a judge! He doesn’t value justice at all! He doesn’t have any regard whatsoever for people. And he doesn’t care a whit about God.

But there is a certain widow, and she has a bur under her saddle. She appeals to him for justice. He refuses to listen to her case. He stonewalls and ignores her pleas. But she persists. She continues to pester him.

Finally, he rules on her case. It’s not because he believes in justice; it’s just because he’s sick and tired of her relentless appeals!

She simply wears him down. “Pray like that,” Jesus says!

His point isn’t that God is as heartless and uncaring as this horrible judge. No, God is good!

Jesus says somewhere else, “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 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.”

God is good. All the time. Jesus’ point isn’t that God is like the unjust judge. He’s simply encouraging us to be like this woman. Pray always and never, never lose heart!

We’ve all faced discouragement. There is that persistent, nagging trouble which has wormed its way into the centre of your life. You think on it all day long. And even at night, it’s there when you wake up. Then you mull on it for hours in the dark.

Hello, darkness, my old friend!

I’ve come to talk with you again.

But what about God? Can you share this greatest of your burdens with God?

That might depend on your opinion of God’s receptivity. People can have different views on who they understand God to be. Theologians say that we have different “models of God.”

One model might be to see God as a judge figure. God is continually judging our thoughts and actions. God has a ledger. It has two columns. One column tracks good behaviors and the other tracks bad ones. If this is your model of God, then you probably won’t want to share your deepest concerns with an angry judge.

Another model might see God as a distant creator. God is watching over the entire universe. And with all of the many galaxies, the multitude of creatures, situations of crisis surrounding the world, who am I that God is mindful of me?

But Jesus paints a very different model of God. Jesus bids us to pray always and not lose heart.

The Old Testament is filled with examples of people who prayed with such persistence.

• The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. During that time, they prayed to God for deliverance. They prayed for 400 years!
• Hannah had been childless for years. She wanted nothing more than to be a mother and have a child. Her barrenness weighed greatly on her. She prayed bitter, desperate prayers to God.
• After the Israelites returned from their captivity in Babylon, they considered the Lord’s promise of the Messiah. Israel had no king on the throne, but God’s promise for the Messiah endured. So they kept watch for the Messiah. They prayed for God to send the Messiah. In the beginning of Luke’s gospel, we hear of two old, devout figures. Simeon and Anna are both extremely old. For years they have spent virtually every waking hour in the courts of the Jerusalem temple. They have been waiting and watching for the Messiah.

In Psalm 13, King David gives voice to our agonizing, persistent prayers. He asks, simply, how long? How long must I pray before you answer my prayers? Will you forget me forever? How long must I bear this pain in my soul?

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk voices a prayer similar to David’s. Habakkuk is troubled by the gross injustice going on in Israel. He cries to God:

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

And you will not listen?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

And you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrong-doing

And look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;

Strife and contention arise.

So the law becomes slack

And justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous –

Therefore, judgment comes forth perverted.

Habakkuk’s words echo in the cries of every generation. His words are repeated by everyone who has ever looked upon the injustices playing out in each day and age. How long, O Lord? How long will your law and your justice be despised? How long do your children need to suffer? How long will the poor be trampled?

Habakkuk says that he will keep vigil for God’s response. He describes himself like a watchman posted on the fortified walls surrounding Jerusalem. He remains alert. He’s looking continually for God’s reply.

This is what it is to pray always and not lose heart. We stand vigil. We make our requests known to God, over and over, and we never stop praying.

God’s answer finally comes to Habakkuk:

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

It will surely come, it will not delay.

“If it seems to tarry, wait for it.” The Hebrew slaves waited and watched. Hannah waited and watched. David and Habakkuk both waited and watched. They prayed without ceasing and they didn’t lose heart.

This is how God wishes for us to pray. There is no time limit on prayer. God is eternal. God doesn’t have a set time for you and say, “OK, your time is up. We’re done here now.” No. Jesus urges us to pray always and not lose heart.

There are times – definitely! – when it seems like our prayers go unanswered. But life doesn’t run on a straight path. It bends and curves. It goes up and down.

The ancient Greeks were aware of this, too. That’s why they always built winding roads on the way to their temples. They called it The Meandering Way. If you go to the Parthenon in Athens, the pathway leading up to it is filled with switchbacks.

Life isn’t a straight shot. It takes multiple bends and detours. We just can’t see what’s coming around the bend! To us, it looks as if there’s only a dead end. But God assures us that God hears our prayers. God hears, and God will act. “If it seems to tarry, wait for it; It will surely come, it will not delay.”

Friends, pray always, and don’t lose heart.

­­­­­­­­­Luke 17:3-10

Do you find it easy to say “I am sorry” to someone you’ve hurt? These three powerful words enable us to have smooth relationships with others. “Always apologise more than you think you need to” is advice worth practising as long as you live.

Expressing regret for hurting someone or sinning against them is the first step to healing a damaged relationship with others. The reason many relationships aren’t as good and loving as they could be is because we’ve failed to apologise when we’ve hurt and offended someone. Jesus points out to us in today’s text that love can involve having to apologise seven times in one day, if that’s what’s necessary for domestic harmony or harmony within a church community. This will also involve free and unconditional forgiveness of each other seven times or more in one day if necessary.

Our problem is that we’re quick to excuse ourselves, and we find it easier to criticize the other person rather than forgive them. Love is thrilled to say “sorry” to those whom we’ve hurt.  Where there are no apologies, anger grows and creates in us a desire to hit back.

Jesus’ call to forgive a sister or brother seven times a day if necessary made His disciples only too aware of their inadequate faith. That’s why they pray to Jesus, “Increase our faith”. They’re only too aware that they need the help only our Saviour can give them. By asking Jesus to increase our faith regularly, we are praying that our Lord will enable us to do things for Him that seem to be humanly impossible. He means we should use the faith God has already given us to ask Him for a more effective, life-transforming faith. Faith that grows like a mustard seed is faith that’s said its prayers.

Jesus links faith, prayer and forgiveness inseparably together when He says, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses’ (Mark11:24-25).”

No other act in the universe is as glorious and beautiful as God’s forgiveness of us. No other antidote brings such complete healing and peace as does forgiveness. Nothing in our sinful world bears the imprint of Christ, the Son of God, as surely as does forgiveness.

God forgives you like a mother forgives her child when she kisses the offence into eternal forgetfulness. His forgiveness of you is stronger than all your sins. Forgiveness is His barrier-breaking, future-opening gift to you.

Forgiveness meets our longing to make a fresh start in our relationships with God and each other. God’s forgiveness of you means you can live as His new creation, as if your life has just begun. Forgiveness is God’s most characteristic quality as our heavenly Father. He pleads with each one of us to be forgiven and forget; forget all the past sins of which God has already forgiven you and all the sins other people have committed against you.

The Bible tells us that ultimately all sin is against God and must be confessed to Him. King David confesses to God: “Against You, You alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and blameless when You pass judgement (Psalm 51:4).” Because Jesus has taken the blame for all our sins in place of us, God no longer condemns those who plead for His forgiveness. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).”

We show appreciation of God’s undeserved forgiveness of us by our eagerness to forgive one another.

A young man had a sharp disagreement with another church member. As he’d been a Christian for a longer time than the other person, his pastor asked him to initiate the process of reconciliation. The youth said to his pastor: “He is the one who started all this. I have done nothing wrong. Why should I go to him? He should be the one to make the first move, not me.” Forgiveness involves making the first move. To be a Christian involves forgiving what I think is unforgiveable. We are most like God when we forgive others.

If you cannot forgive others, you break the bridge over which you must pass; for everyone needs to be forgiven. Every Christian needs to be a good forgiver. Nothing stops prayer more than an unforgiving spirit.

To forgive someone is to slice away the wrong from the offender and see her or him in a new light. By living as God’s forgiven and forgiving people, you can make a tremendous difference at home, at work, at sport and at church.

The servant in today’s Gospel reading couldn’t expect any special treatment for simply doing his daily duty. Servants employed in the time of Jesus were grateful for the security of a job and worked for their masters out of a sense of loyalty. In ordinary life in the time of the New Testament, a master never waited on or served a servant.

 As our Master, Jesus, however, did something unique and unheard of before. He came not to be served, but to serve us in amazingly wonderful, down to earth ways. In Holy Communion, Jesus serves us with sacred food in this sacred meal so that we can serve others in all sorts of down to earth ways, like He serves us. Love knows its duty is never done. Love’s only reward is to have the privilege of serving others.

Serving our Saviour Jesus makes our lives full of meaning, because what we do for Him is eternally worthwhile with results seen only in heaven. We serve Jesus, and look forward to that day when in heaven Jesus will come and serve us. “It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes … He will dress Himself to serve, He will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them (Luke 12:37).” What a wonderful honour that will be!

Amen.

Sermon Luke 18:1-8 “Shameless Faith”

And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8 ESV)

There are two shameless characters in this parable.

There is the judge who doesn’t care one bit about God or the people around him. He’s “the judge” and as far as he’s concerned the buck stops with him. He’s his own entity; no one tells him what to do or how to do his job. He believes he’s got absolute power to decide over the cases that come before him. Whether he vindicates or condemns is of no consequence to him.

One might see him as an arrogant character, admiring nothing or no one but himself. And rightly so, as he considers himself totally blameless being the way he is. He felt no shame in who he was, nor was he ashamed in any way of what he did before God or anyone else.

Then there’s the widow. There could be no greater distinction made between two persons or their social status than between the judge who truly believed he was all powerful and the widow who painfully knew she was nothing.

Although this lowly woman was righteous, her righteousness and need for justice was of no concern to the judge. Her righteousness and call to be vindicated wouldn’t have made much of a stir amongst others who prided themselves on righteousness either, especially those who righteously followed all the religious requirements in a Jewish community.

However, the widow, unlike the religious righteous, shamelessly goes before the judge to plead her case over and over again. She fights to preserve the most basic essence of righteousness, a righteousness most took for granted. This was a righteousness of common decency where one could expect right defined from wrong in the most basic distinction and preservation of human life. So in a bid to save what little honour she has, she puts every scrap of basic dignity aside to shamelessly plead her case before the judge

This widow approaches the judge. She has nothing to lose. She has no standing, no greater righteousness to uphold. And so she pursues the judge for this most basic righteousness. But one which will label her a justified widow!

We must notice a difference here between the widow and others who considered themselves righteous. As Jesus relates this parable to his disciples, he teaches them to be shameless like the widow, rather than conceited like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. He wants the disciples to pursue a righteous outside themselves; a fundamental righteousness which gives ultimate justification. But unfortunately this righteousness is lost on most of humanity because we are led to believe in a righteousness that comes from our own actions.

The religious righteous sought to do the right thing, and for the most part they did a very good job, they were very righteous! In fact, Jesus says elsewhere, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 ESV)

But Jesus calls the disciples, like the widow in the parable, to shamelessly do something better. And we who are called to see this difference too, are called to shamelessly do something better.

Jesus tells this parable to his disciples just after he speaks about the coming of the Kingdom of God. He encourages the disciples to not lose hope as they wait. He calls them to a posture of prayer; to approach God with persistence and persevere in prayer; to endure as the widow did before the judge. His call is to lay aside any pride which has grown from a righteousness of doing the right thing, and pursue a righteousness that justifies them before God.

Like the judge in the parable God is shameless. But unlike the unrighteous judge in the parable God is compassionate and merciful; he is shamelessly righteous towards those who trust him enough to cast off their self-righteousness and look to him to be vindicated and set free from their adversary.

So when Jesus returns will he find faith here on earth? Will he find faith amongst us? Do you trust God? Are you prepared to throw off your own righteousness and trust his righteousness? God is calling all of us to come home and be freed from the adversity of sin and death.

God’s will for you, is for you to allow your heart to be softened and daily moulded into truly righteous people; people that possess the life-changing power of God! People that persevere and endure hardship in this life in the known hope of something much better to come. He wants your heart to be transformed, moulded and moved, and made one with his heart.

God calls you to shamelessly lay aside the things of this life and the limited power we possess in ourselves and call on his name in prayer. He calls us to join in with Christ, to participate with him in his work of prayer, just as he does right now before the Father, and as he did while he was here on earth as he walked to the cross.

We are shrewd enough to perform in a way where our actions are righteously dressed in the appropriate churchy garb, but are we shameless enough to cast it off and seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness? Are we prepared to trust God, uphold his actions, what he did for us on our cross? Are we shameless enough to admit it is your cross, and allow him to vindicate us and continue letting him fulfil all righteousness in each one of us?

When Jesus comes will he find you faithfully looking to him, repenting, seeking his righteousness? Will he find faith, like that of the widow, which selflessly shamelessly longs to be in the Father’s eternal presence?

Definitely – yes! Definitely – Amen!

And the righteousness of God which surpasses all human emotion, understanding and righteousness keep our hearts and minds centred on Christ Jesus our Saviour.

Amen.

Text: Luke 17:15-16

When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

Luck is that indefinable and illusive thing that sometimes brings good fortune and sometimes doesn’t. You might say the terrorist who didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb experienced some bad luck. It came back with “Return to Sender” stamped on it.  Forgetting it was the bomb; he opened it.  

Have you said when you were almost run down crossing the street – “Boy, that was a lucky escape,” or comment about someone’s bad luck as one thing after another goes wrong.

Some people however, don’t believe in luck. They say, “You get what you deserve”.  Everything that happens to us is a reward or a punishment for the amount of effort that is put in. If you work hard, invest a lot of time and energy into something, you will get back what you have put into it.    

Have you noted that up to this point I haven’t mentioned God in this sermon? That’s because the belief that we get what we deserve and that good and bad are the result of luck or coincidence, have nothing to do with God. There is no room for God who gives generously and excessively even though we don’t deserve such abundance.  The God of the Bible doesn’t just give to good people or to people who in some way deserve to be treated better, he is gracious and generous to everyone whether they realise it or not.

The biblical concept of our heavenly Father giving us everything that we need, is absent from the thinking of many people these days. There is no thought given to what the Bible says about God being

• the supplier of our daily bread,
• the giver of our abilities,
• the provider of everything that we need to live happy and peaceful lives. 

For many people God doesn’t figure into how we are able to live so well every day.  Rather they say,

• I get it because I deserve it;
• I am well to do because I have earned it;
• I get what I need because I have put in the hard hours working for it.

The Bible looks at things this way.  It sees God right in the middle of everything that happens.  It is stated again and again that

• God put me together inside my mother,
• God has given me my brain, my skills, and made me who I am,
• God is leading me,
• God is protecting me,
• God is supplying me with daily food,
• God heals me,
• God is guiding the rulers,
• God is helping his people,
• God sends the rain and provides the harvest.

In fact, everything is seen as coming from the generous hand of God.  He doesn’t give because people have deserved it, in fact, we see so often that he gives even when people are downright awful. Look how he provided daily food to the whining and faithless people of Israel when travelling to the Promised Land.

The Bible also says that we ought to recognise God’s loving hand even when things aren’t going well for us.  Even though we can’t see it at the time, be assured that God is not handing out what we deserve. Somehow, God will use the present trials to bring us blessing.  Meanwhile in the midst of suffering we know that God is nearby, ready to help and support us until we come through to the other side.

When is the next big anniversary of this church? An anniversary is a great event. We could do a lot of chest beating and back patting and congratulating ourselves what a great job we have done here in this community.  But when you read the history of the Lutheran Church from its early days it has been a struggle and at times the flame almost went out.  We can only say in the end that in spite of the failings of the people, God is at the centre of what has happened here.  God has provided the people, the resources, and the help.  God has been the source of the wisdom, the faith, the commitment, and the right timing and the faithful realised this and gathered week after week to thank God for his leading.  

We heard in the Gospel reading before the story of the ten lepers, who called out to Jesus for help and were healed.  Only one returns. Only one can see that God is somehow involved in his restoration to health and returns to say thank you.  And Jesus makes a point of it.  “There were ten men who were healed.” he says, “Where are the other nine?”  And then Jesus commends the one who came back to say thanks because in expressing his gratitude he was recognising that not only was he healed, but who it was that had healed him.  The ex-leper didn’t know how it all happened, it wasn’t just good luck and it certainly wasn’t what he deserved, but he knew that somehow God had done something marvellous. He put God back into the centre of his thinking.

We put God back into the centre of our lives when we say at the end of hectic week, “Thank you God for helping me through this past week”. 

When we say grace before a meal, we put God back at the centre when we say, “Thank you God for this food”. 

We put God back at the centre when we say, “Thank you for the people you have placed in my life to love me and care for me – my family, my friends, and my church family”. 

When our good health is restored, we put God back in the centre when we thank him.

When the path through life is tough going and we don’t know where it will lead us we put God back into the centre when we look at the cross, are reminded of his love for us and place our future in his hands.

When we are weighed with fear and the trouble that sickness and death bring, we put God at the centre who gives us hope for the future when we thank Him for his love.

In a way, we can say that we see the things, events and people in our lives in a different way to the rest of the world. We see that God in one way or the other is behind everything that happens.

God has been excessively generous to us.  He has been generous for no other reason than to support and promote his work. Whether through a Lutheran World Service Appeal, or the offering plate to support mission work here and overseas, the training of workers for the church, or the work of the local congregation, God has made us rich so that we can richly bless others. 

If, for you, things operate on a “you get what you deserve” principle, then you have no need to say thank you for anything.

If everything is purely luck and you are ready to deal with whatever luck brings, there is no need to say thank you, except “thank my lucky stars!”

However, if you see God as being in everything, generously pouring out his blessings, sometimes in ways that are easy to see, sometimes in ways that are difficult to see, then join with the Samaritan leper who saw himself as totally unworthy of receiving anything from Jesus at all and yet receiving so much. 

He fell at Jesus’ feet and thanked him for the new beginning and the restoration of his life.  But this was more than just a healing of a man’s body.  Jesus said, “Get up and go; your faith has made you well.”  This healing has far wider implications.  This one Samaritan leper saw the deep love of Jesus, the love that would take him to the cross; the leper saw in Jesus the love that saves. 

This encounter with the love of God meant that this leper would never be the same.  He truly was the luckiest man alive. 

With faith in Jesus and trust in his love for us and with Jesus at the centre of our lives then you and I are the luckiest people on this planet.

Amen

­­­­­­­­­Luke 17:3-10

Forgiveness is the Return of Splendour in the World

Do you find it easy to say “I am sorry” to someone you’ve hurt? These three powerful words enable us to have smooth relationships with others. “Always apologise more than you think you need to” is advice worth practising as long as you live.

Expressing regret for hurting someone or sinning against them is the first step to healing a damaged relationship with others. The reason many relationships aren’t as good and loving as they could be is because we’ve failed to apologise when we’ve hurt and offended someone. Jesus points out to us in today’s text that love can involve having to apologise seven times in one day, if that’s what’s necessary for domestic harmony or harmony within a church community. This will also involve free and unconditional forgiveness of each other seven times or more in one day if necessary.

Our problem is that we’re quick to excuse ourselves, and we find it easier to criticize the other person rather than forgive them. Love is thrilled to say “sorry” to those whom we’ve hurt.  Where there are no apologies, anger grows and creates in us a desire to hit back.

Jesus’ call to forgive a sister or brother seven times a day if necessary made His disciples only too aware of their inadequate faith. That’s why they pray to Jesus, “Increase our faith”. They’re only too aware that they need the help only our Saviour can give them. By asking Jesus to increase our faith regularly, we are praying that our Lord will enable us to do things for Him that seem to be humanly impossible. He means we should use the faith God has already given us to ask Him for a more effective, life-transforming faith. Faith that grows like a mustard seed is faith that’s said its prayers.

Jesus links faith, prayer and forgiveness inseparably together when He says, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses’ (Mark11:24-25).”

No other act in the universe is as glorious and beautiful as God’s forgiveness of us. No other antidote brings such complete healing and peace as does forgiveness. Nothing in our sinful world bears the imprint of Christ, the Son of God, as surely as does forgiveness.

God forgives you like a mother forgives her child when she kisses the offence into eternal forgetfulness. His forgiveness of you is stronger than all your sins. Forgiveness is His barrier-breaking, future-opening gift to you.

Forgiveness meets our longing to make a fresh start in our relationships with God and each other. God’s forgiveness of you means you can live as His new creation, as if your life has just begun. Forgiveness is God’s most characteristic quality as our heavenly Father. He pleads with each one of us to be forgiven and forget; forget all the past sins of which God has already forgiven you and all the sins other people have committed against you.

The Bible tells us that ultimately all sin is against God and must be confessed to Him. King David confesses to God: “Against You, You alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and blameless when You pass judgement (Psalm 51:4).” Because Jesus has taken the blame for all our sins in place of us, God no longer condemns those who plead for His forgiveness. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).”

We show appreciation of God’s undeserved forgiveness of us by our eagerness to forgive one another.

A young man had a sharp disagreement with another church member. As he’d been a Christian for a longer time than the other person, his pastor asked him to initiate the process of reconciliation. The youth said to his pastor: “He is the one who started all this. I have done nothing wrong. Why should I go to him? He should be the one to make the first move, not me.” Forgiveness involves making the first move. To be a Christian involves forgiving what I think is unforgiveable. We are most like God when we forgive others.

If you cannot forgive others, you break the bridge over which you must pass; for everyone needs to be forgiven. Every Christian needs to be a good forgiver. Nothing stops prayer more than an unforgiving spirit.

To forgive someone is to slice away the wrong from the offender and see her or him in a new light. By living as God’s forgiven and forgiving people, you can make a tremendous difference at home, at work, at sport and at church.

The servant in today’s Gospel reading couldn’t expect any special treatment for simply doing his daily duty. Servants employed in the time of Jesus were grateful for the security of a job and worked for their masters out of a sense of loyalty. In ordinary life in the time of the New Testament, a master never waited on or served a servant.

 As our Master, Jesus, however, did something unique and unheard of before. He came not to be served, but to serve us in amazingly wonderful, down to earth ways. In Holy Communion, Jesus serves us with sacred food in this sacred meal so that we can serve others in all sorts of down to earth ways, like He serves us. Love knows its duty is never done. Love’s only reward is to have the privilege of serving others.

Serving our Saviour Jesus makes our lives full of meaning, because what we do for Him is eternally worthwhile with results seen only in heaven. We serve Jesus, and look forward to that day when in heaven Jesus will come and serve us. “It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes … He will dress Himself to serve, He will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them (Luke 12:37).” What a wonderful honour that will be!

Amen.

Luke 16:19-31

Deadlines and Second Chances

Most people these days are used to working to deadlines – ‘due dates’ to pay our bills or complete tax returns, Business Activity Statements or school assignments. There are ‘closing dates’ for entering competitions or buying tickets.  Although there can be disadvantages or disappointments if we miss those deadlines, there is usually some sort of second chance or a way around our misfortune.  Even angry football fans that miss out on grand final tickets are still able to watch the game on TV.

There is one thing in life though for which there is a final deadline, after which there is no turning back.  That has to do with whether we accept the gift of God’s grace in Jesus Christ and live for him, or whether we choose instead to live for ourselves, worldly wealth and material possessions.

Jesus talks about that deadline in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  First, we are told about the enormous difference between the material wealth of these two people: There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury.  There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs would come and lick his sores (v.19-21).

Next, Jesus tells us about the enormous difference between the spiritual wealth of these two people.  Lazarus was the one who was spiritually rich and the ‘rich man’ was the one who was spiritually poor.  The evidence of that is what Jesus said about them when it came to the final deadline.  Their roles were reversed at the point of death: The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven.  The rich man died and was buried, and in Hell where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side (v.22, 23). 

The one who enjoyed comfort and pleasure on earth was now in torment and pain because, with all his earthly riches, he had neglected the greatest riches of all – the riches of God’s grace.  The one who endured torment and pain on earth was now enjoying comfort and pleasure because, in all his earthly poverty, he had found the greatest riches of all – his faith in God, and in God’s promises.

Both men had reached the deadline where their eternal fate would be decided forever.  There would be no second chance now, no way around the dilemma.  Their decision was now irreversible.

Suddenly the rich man thought of four things he should have done while on earth.

First, he lifted his eyes up to heaven.  He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus at his side (v. 23).  He focused on the Father’s house above and the comfort, which believers receive there.  He had opportunity to do that during his earthly life, like David who said: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, for he will hide me in his shelter”  (Ps.27: 4,5).  He could have done that instead of focusing on himself, his own wealth and enjoyment.  Now it was too late!

Second the rich man prayed for God’s mercy.  He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me” (v.24a).  He became aware of his real condition before God.  He was not worthy to stand before God on his own.  He was spiritually bankrupt, separated from God forever because of his sin.  He needed God and his mercy.  He could have received God’s mercy and salvation beforehand if only he had realized his own condition and prayed for mercy while he was living life on earth.  Now it was too late!

Third, the rich man began to think of Lazarus.  He called out, “Send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire” (v.24b).  Lazarus had been in pain on earth but the rich man had thought only of himself.  The scraps that Lazarus received were not given; they “fell”.  Now the rich man became aware of the need for compassion – when he was the one who needed it!  Now he noticed Lazarus.  But the gap that he had created between himself and others was as wide and “unbridgeable” as the gap between heaven and hell (v.26).  Abraham reminds him that he once had an opportunity to bridge that gap.  Now it was too late!

Fourth, the rich man had a ‘burning’ desire for evangelism.  The rich man said, “Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my Father’s house, where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain” (v.27, 28).  In his life he had the Word of God, the warnings of Moses and the Prophets and the words of eternal life to share with them then, but he didn’t.  Now it was too late!  One of the greatest torments of Hell will be that people there will suddenly have a ‘burning’ desire to do all those things they should have done on earth, but will not be able to do them.  Christ’s warning is that we have only one lifetime to ‘get it right’ with God.

But isn’t God ‘a God of second chances’?  Doesn’t he want everyone in heaven and no one in hell?  That’s true!  That’s why he sent Jesus as our Saviour.  In Christ, God has provided a second chance for every human being who will receive it.  He has provided a much better alternative to the life that is lived to self and worldly pleasures and possessions.

Through Christ, God has offered us a fresh opportunity to focus on the father’s house above. We know that Jesus’ death has paved the way to the Father’s house for us, and that if we trust in him we need never be worried because, as he assures his faithful people, he has gone to prepare a place for us.  We have ample opportunity to renew that focus now through God’s Word and worship.

Through Christ, God has already bridged the gap that could have separated us from him eternally.  His amazing grace has given us the cross of Jesus as a secure bridge across that gap and Jesus’ resurrection as an assurance of his eternal victory over death and hell for all believers.  Every person has the opportunity to pray the ‘Sinners Prayer’ for mercy and to receive his free gift of eternal life.

Through Christ, God has given us the power and motivation to show love and compassion for others.  Jesus said: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), and  “As much as you have done it to the least of one of these, my brothers, you have done it to me” (Matt. 25:40).

Through Christ, God has given us the hope of having our families share God’s place of eternal happiness instead of the place of eternal pain.  Someone has risen from the dead and come to us to help us turn from our sins.  We have the Word of God – Moses and the Prophets as well as the word of Christ and his Apostles – to share God’s good news with our families and friends.

The fact is that, for us, God is providing the riches of his grace – and his second chance – right now.  What are the priorities in our lives at the moment?  What sort of riches are we really interested in – material or spiritual?  Are there some things we ought to look at changing now, before it is too late for ourselves and our families? 

When it comes to the deadline, when our life is over and we stand before God in judgement, there will be no more second chances.  God has given us our second chance, in Jesus.  Let’s not forget to put our trust in Him alone!  Amen.

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

Luke 16:1-13

The Merciful Master and His Shrewd Manager

What’s been your favourite fairy tale? What was it that grabbed your attention? Were you fascinated to watch the bad guy in action being eventually defeated by the hero of the story? Just as in real life, fairy tales contain bad guys as well as good ones. What fascinates us, I think, is the conflict between good and evil, with the hope that good will triumph.

The stories Jesus tells are not simply nice ones with only nice people in them. Rather, Jesus tells stories true to life with people of questionable character, like we find in real life. Our Lord tells us stories with the kinds of people we hear about each day, in order to grasp our attention. Have you been let down by someone you trusted? It’s a painful experience, isn’t it? Life isn’t always a rose garden. Jesus doesn’t depict life as better or worse than it is. Today’s parable has all the marks of something that really happened.

In the parable which Jesus tells us just before this one, the parable of the Prodigal Son, after wasting his father’s property, his son returns home and throws himself on his father’s mercy, just as in today’s parable the wasteful manager throws himself on his master’s mercy. This morning’s parable is about more than the wasteful use of someone else’s property. Its focus is rather on showing mercy on someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Having hit rock-bottom, the bad manager acts with amazing decisiveness and shrewdness to secure his future. It isn’t his dishonesty that’s commended, but rather, his shrewdness in using whatever opportunity is available to him to secure his future and make friends with those indebted to him. The fact that Jesus shares this parable with us is an act of grace and mercy. It invites us, yes even urges us, to prepare for our eternal future while we still can.

We have an advantage the wasteful manager didn’t have – as those who listen to and treasure Jesus our Saviour, and live in the light of the good news He brings us, our future is assured. Jesus reassures us: “My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28).” The wasteful manager doesn’t reap what he sowed or get what he deserved. Grace, which God freely bestows on us, is God treating us so much better than we could ever deserve! Never forget that!

This parable is all about the amazing mercy of the manager’s merciful master who doesn’t punish or throw his wasteful manager into prison. The manager backs his whole future on his master’s reputation for showing mercy. By sacrificing his own commission, he invests in friendship, realising that to have friends that welcome you and care for you is much more important than being wealthy. He now realises that other people aren’t for our exploitation and personal advancement.

As soon as his master calls him to account, he doesn’t waste time on self-pity or trying to defend his actions. Instead, he maintains a cool head in the crisis and promptly does all he can to secure his future. “I have decided what to do so that when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes (v4).” Already he can see the welcome mats being laid down for him. While he still has the finance books, he will alter the accounts so that both he and his master will be commended by the debtors.

He now invites the debtors to alter in their own hand, the figures on the contracts he has access to, thus lessening their debt. The debtors will now be indebted to him. His shrewd insight is that he sees that the solution to a good future must come from outside. His entire plan is based on the assumption that his master is an honourable person who will respond again with mercy, as he has done in the past. The manager must act in haste in order that the debtors will think that the diminishing of their debts have come from the master’s mercy rather than the manager’s desperation to save his own skin. For the master to now repudiate these alterations would reveal him as mean and hard-hearted. To maintain his good reputation, the master can do nothing but endorse his manager’s actions. His master now commends his manager’s shrewdness, rather than the morality of his actions.

What’s more, Jesus suggests that we, His followers, can learn from worldly men like this manager; how to wisely prepare for our eternal future. Jesus says, “The people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the Light (v8).” This means we’re to love God with our minds as well as our hearts, and use all our intelligence and wisdom to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. We’re to use our brains to reflect on the meaning of life and death, time and eternity. Jesus’ parables are brain-teasers that hold a mirror to ourselves, so that we’re aware if we’re avoiding thinking about life’s most important questions in a flurry of secular activity. The better we understand the deep questions of our Christian faith, the more it will motivate us to grow in love for our Creator and eagerness to help others.

Jesus wants us to be as passionate and enthusiastic about the practice of our faith in God as the non-religious men and women around us are about their sport, their hobbies and entertainment activities. We learn from them about dedication and commitment. The non-religious folk around us often make huge sacrifices to achieve their earthly goals. How much more shouldn’t we do the same for something that will last forever? In the face of all the good things that God has in store for those who love God, there can be no room for a half-hearted faith. Instead of just possessing a faith in God, we want a faith that posses us, hook, line and sinker!

This week, God is giving you another chance, another opportunity to put God first, to love God above all things and discover the great and unexpected blessings that flow from doing so. When Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters; for a servant will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth”, He is stating the First Commandment in different words. Treasure God above everything else because your God treasures you so much more than you could imagine.

This morning’s parable doesn’t threaten; it encourages. Here’s someone without hope who has got himself into an unholy pickle. If he’s so shrewd in dealing with his own interest, how much more reason have you, “the people of the Light”, to draw the consequence of the happy situation into which your Lord Jesus has placed you. Your interests are looked after. Your future is assured. You have the best possible hope.

God isn’t going to sack you! God will not let you down although you may have let God down. Your life is in loving hands and your God surrounds you with His protecting and supporting hands. Since Jesus Christ died for you, that’s assured. Your future is good. How much more reason have you to act and live discovering the joys of God’s life! You don’t have to compete with others anymore. You don’t have to be afraid of dying anymore, for you have God’s life now. Your life is worthwhile now. You needn’t act as if the weight of the whole world is resting on your shoulders. Because of the mercies of the Lord that are new every day, you are worth a great deal more in God’s sight than your non-Christian neighbours and friends could ever have an inkling of.

“Listen! This is the hour to receive God’s favour; today is the day to be saved! (2 Corinthians 6:2)” Don’t delay! Embrace God’s grace and mercy today. For “according to God’s great mercy, we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and to an inheritance that is imperishable (1 Peter 1:3-4).”

We thank God for that. Amen.

Vernon P Kleinig