Sermon - 24th Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 25:14-30

November 15, 2020

“Making Use of the Gifts”

Last week we heard an end-times parable of Jesus about the 10 virgins, and the theme was “watchfulness”.  Next Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year, we will hear from Jesus about the Sheep and the Goats – and how at the end he will separate believer from unbeliever.  Today’s end-times parable is that of the Talents.  Jesus sets these three one right after another in Matthew’s Gospel, and so we do the same in the church year.  You might read them in summary as follows.  Christ is coming back.  Be watchful.  Make good use of your gifts.  And at the end he will bring you into his fold.

In that context we come to this parable.  A man, a master, a king, is going on a long journey.  But he will surely come back – sometime.  This, of course is Jesus.  And he gives to his servants, before he leaves, talents.  Now here we have to clarify what a talent is.  In Jesus’ day a talent was a large sum of money – like thousands of dollars’ worth.  Not the day’s wage like a denarius, or even the 30 pieces of silver – the price of a slave. A talent was more money than most people would see in their lives.  And for a master to hand it over for safe keeping to his servants while he goes away – without any seeming checks or balances, without any seeming rules or instructions, makes us stop and think.  Who does such a thing?

Jesus, of course.  He’s the master.  He knew he was going away, and yet someday returning.  It’s the whole topic of this chapter.  And so he teaches them as he does with a parable about it.  He is leaving his servants, at least in a sense, though he will return again to settle accounts.  Now the focus shifts to what happens in the meantime.

But before we get to ourselves in the parable, let’s take a moment and consider the character of the Master.  That he would entrust something so valuable to mere servants is itself a striking thing.  But this is Jesus, after all, the giver of good gifts.  And he, along with his Father and the Spirit, graciously gives us all good things.  So what exactly is the talent?

Perhaps the best understanding is that the talent is “all the gifts of God”.  Every good thing.  But certainly not just our money and possessions.  As we sing “All that we have is thine alone, a trust oh Lord, from thee”.

When we speak of Christian Stewardship – which is a common topic for churches in these last Sundays of the church year – we might define stewardship just this way.  That we aren’t owners, but simply managers, trustees of the gifts of God.  He gives us this life and everything in it – on loan – but he will someday settle accounts.  Life will end.  The world will end.  And we want to make sure that we’ve done well with God’s stuff.

But the character of the master is an important point in this parable.  What kind of man is he?  Generous or hard?  Kind to his servants, or harsh?  Well it seems you’d get a different answer from the first two servants than the third.  And so it is with the spiritual reality.  You might say that we see here two different approaches to God himself – a gospel based faith, and a law-based works righteousness. 

The Christian sees God not as harsh and stern but as loving, kind, generous, gracious.  We seem him first as the giver of all good things.  We are thankful for the blessings he’s entrusted to our care.  And this, in turn motivates us to use the gifts for his glory and the benefit of our neighbor.  To invest with confidence, knowing that we rest secure in his good graces, and to do our good works not out of fear, but faith.  This is how it ought to be.

But if you see the master as a hard man, reaping where he did not sow, gathering where he scattered no seed – then perhaps you’re not seeing the seed he has in fact sown!  Perhaps you’re misjudging the character of the master – and seeing him only as a judge and not as a loving provider.  This view of the master can only lead us a place of fear.  And fear does not lend itself to good works, self-sacrifice, and love of neighbor.  For the man in the parable his gift was no good to him or the master – he buried it.  And such a faith that is buried and not exercised is no faith at all – it is dead.  And people bury things that are considered dead. Gifts of God that aren’t used for his good purposes become rather a curse. 

Take money, for example.  A good gift of God.  Something he gives us to use and manage well.  But if we don’t order this part of our lives in faith, we can only fail.  We will never give enough, or be selfless enough, or be able to remain free of greed and covetousness and misuse of money.  The law won’t let us off the hook.  But according to faith – we have great freedom to use the gifts he freely gives us without fear.  We are free to give generously, with a clean conscience, knowing the true character of the giver – and thus reflecting that character in how we manage the gifts.  Free to give to support his work, free to give to help our neighbor in need.

But money is just one kind of gift.  Even faith itself is a gift to be managed and exercised for his good purposes.  A gift to be shared, not buried.  A gift to be invested and grown. 

The unbeliever, much like the third man, he doesn’t see God clearly.  He might even criticize a view of God that demands something of us – as if God is an unjust god.  As if it’s unfair of him to expect us to be perfect as he is perfect, to follow his commandments, to avoid and remain free of sin.  And holy can a just God expect me to be free of sin when each of us is born into sin?  Or, the person thinks they ARE a good person, they HAVE done good works, they DO deserve God’s favor, when their talent is covered with dirt and doesn’t impress the master at all.  It’s really not about the talent, then, is it, after all?

But with the faithful, the master isn’t so concerned with the amount of growth, or the talents at all, but with the servant’s faithfulness.  He’s not concerned about the good works, except that they are evidence of faith.  For these servants, like all servants of the master, like you and me too – are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not in any good works of our own.  No amount of generosity or kindness is enough.  No shrewd dealings or careful investment of our resources will avail.  No keeping of the rules, following the commands, fulfilling of the law will cause the master to finally judge us worthy.  Instead, we can only stand before his final judgment cleansed and pardoned by the blood of Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners.

As Jesus turns his eye toward his return in glory, he knows he goes away, and he knows he will return. So he prepares his disciples, and also us.  He encourages us to be faithful, mindful of his gifts and goodness, and to do all that we do out of love and not fear.

And here’s a wonderful promise, too.  The faithful servants will hear these wonderful words:  “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

For the faithful, there awaits joy.  The joy of an eternity with the master.  For the faithful over little, they are set over much.  The best this world has to offer pales in comparison to the glory that is to be revealed.  The wonders of a blessed eternity that Christ is even now preparing in the mansions of heaven.

So be watchful, Christian, yes.  But also be faithful.  Trust the good master who will return to settle his accounts.  Trust his promises to all who are in him.  And you will be commended by him, and invited into the joy of the master.

 

Sermon - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 25:1-13

Amos 5:18-24

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13"The Day of the Lord"

Welcome to the last three Sundays of the church calendar, in which our attention is turned to the last things, the end times, the second coming of Christ and the kingdom to come.  We know that history has an end.  There is a day on God’s calendar – circled in red.  We don’t know when it will be, but he has promised us this sinful, fallen, broken-down world will not go on like this forever. 

Our readings for today each take a different look at that day.  Let’s take a look at each of them for a better picture of just what’s in store on that day, that final day, the Day of the Lord.

But the Day of the Lord can mean not only the Last Day (as in, THE Last Day).  It can also mean the day in which the Lord acts, decisively, in judgment and mercy.  In some sense Good Friday was the Day of the Lord – the day in which Christ acted to secure and guarantee the victory for us all by his cross.  The Day of the Lord, the day in which God acts, might be the day in which he comes again in glory.  It’s similar to the way John the Baptist and Jesus himself speak about the “Kingdom of God” being at hand.  The reign and rule of God is about to happen – God’s about to do something.  So sit up and pay attention!

The Day of the Lord, in this sense, can be different depending on the hearer.  And certainly, also, in a sense, it can mean, for each of us, the day of our death.  The day in which we meet our Maker.  And the Day of the Lord was the same day – but it was certainly experienced as a very different day, but the wise and the foolish virgins in our Gospel reading.  We’ll get there in a just a few moments.

First, let’s take Amos, then.  The prophet Amos was a bearer of bad news during the time of the divided kingdom, a prophet from the south, with a message of doom and gloom for the people of the north. 

Amos comes to disabuse them of a false sense of security.  They were looking forward to a day – a day of deliverance – a day of victory – the Day of the Lord.  Their enemies the Assyrians were looming large, a wicked and brutal empire that threatened destruction.  But they felt quite secure, because, hey – they were doing all the right things.  Outwardly, anyway, their religion was tip-top.  All the right sacrifices.  All the right festivals.  All the important observances.  But there was a problem.  Their heart wasn’t in it.  It was all for show.  They worshipped in vain.  They didn’t truly believe.

We are tempted to the same, aren’t we?  A great church with a brand new organ and reverent ceremonies and no-nonsense liturgical worship.  A beautiful sanctuary and regular services every Sunday.  Outwardly, it might look like we too are doing all the right things.  But then we could look a little closer.  We could peer inside the heart.  Take a look inside your own.

The first table of God’s law accuses us here.  We do have other gods, don’t we, that take the place of the true God.  We let other things take his place in our life.  Maybe it’s money or possessions.  Maybe it’s our own status or our creature comforts.  Maybe it’s even our politics.  Where do we truly place our fear, love, and trust?  And if those other things should be taken away – those false gods ripped from us – what is left for us but despair?

And so Amos says to the Israelites, “oh, you’re looking forward to the Day of the Lord, are you? Well you shouldn’t!  Because it’s not going to turn out the way you think it will!”  You may escape the lion, only to run into the bear.  You may make it out of the frying pan, only to fall into the fire.  You can’t escape God’s judgment.  The wages of sin is death.

And sure enough, the prophet knows best.  History bears out.  The Assyrians do come, and they do destroy, pillage, murder and disperse the Israelites.  The land is laid waste. God’s day of judgment for them could not be avoided, any more than an sinner can avoid the final day of wrath – apart from Christ.

Far better to heed the prophetic word and repent.  Far better to rend our hearts and be disabused of complacency and false comfort.  For then the healing balm of the Gospel is applied.  Then the soothing comfort of Christ’s mercy does its work.  Then the true problem is addressed, the sin is forgiven, and death and despair give way to life and hope.

The Day of the Lord.  We shouldn’t rest in our own merits and look forward to that day with a false sense of security.  Nor should we grow complacent and neglectful of the true worship of repentance and faith in Christ.  We ought not despair of that day as if we are stuck in our sins with no recourse.  But in Christ we can look forward to the day – the final Day of the Lord in joy and hope and peace. 

That’s how Paul describes the end in his letter to the Thessalonians.  Paul gives us words to “encourage one another”.  And boy do they.  He especially teaches us that the Christians who have fallen asleep are not gone forever – but that their death is like a sleep – in that they will awake, arise, and live.  When Christ comes again in glory with the angelic shout and trumpet call of God – the dead in Christ will rise, and we also will be changed.  Our bodies will be glorified and made ready for eternity, ready to meet Christ.  And so we will meet him in the air, and be with him forever.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?  Could it be any more stark a contrast between Amos’ view of the Day of the Lord?  For the ancient Israelites – the Day of the Lord was a death they should dread.  For Christians who receive the comfort of Paul – the Day of the Lord couldn’t be pictured any better!  We get to be with our loved ones who have fallen asleep in Christ.  And even better, we all get to be with Jesus.  Now there is some encouragement.

And Jesus himself both encourages and warns us about that day – with his parable of the 10 virgins.  They are all waiting, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive – and when he does, the party will begin!  They are waiting – but it seems like forever, the hour grows late, and so they fall asleep.  But then he comes – suddenly – and only some are found ready – ready with their oil, ready to go in and join the feast.  The foolish virgins have to go on a wild goose chase for oil, and then never get in to the banquet anyway – the door is shut.  The bridegroom doesn’t know them.  They’re left out, shut out, and so they miss out on all the fun.

Now, we could try and peg every element of this parable down – and some have – to one extent or another.  What does the oil stand for?  Who are the wise and the unwise virgins?  Where do they buy the oil?  (and if oil is faith can you really purchase it?)  Who are the oil-dealers?  And what does it mean that all fell asleep but only some had oil?  Instead of getting bogged down in all the details, this kind of parable is better understood with particular attention to the main point of Jesus:  the greater point which he provides at the end of his story – “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Watchfulness.  A key quality for the wise Christian.  Watching for the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, who has promised to return – but unexpectedly.  Like a thief in the night.  Watching, for he can come at any time, on any day.  Watching and waiting and being prepared for his second advent.

But how do we watch and prepare?  By doing lots of church?  No, that didn’t work for the Old Testament people – at least not in and of itself.  Religious rites and ceremonies themselves are nothing if they are only outward.  The God who desires mercy, not sacrifice is the Bridegroom who comes looking for repentance and faith!  Now there’s the true readiness, watchfulness, preparedness.  Believing in Jesus.  Now there’s a full lamp – that’ll get you to the party.  The Word of God and the Sacraments prepare us, too – they are the means of grace that create faith in us, that faith by which Christ saves us.  Watchfulness, then, means, particular attention to these things- hearing the word, receiving the gifts.  Not only outwardly, but in true faith.

And then, when the Bridegroom comes, he knows you.  Just as the Good Shepherd knows his sheep and his sheep know him.  So the bridegroom will say to the unwise, “depart from here I don’t even know you” and to the wise, the faithful, the watchful – “come on in, join the party”.

Watch and pray, Christian.  Be faithful, Christian.  Avail yourself of the gifts he gives, Christian.  And so be wise, we watchful, and be ready.

In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sermon - All Saints' Day - Matthew 5:1-12

“Blessed Saints”

Matthew 5:1-12

A blessed All Saints Day to you.  This is a very old Christian observance, dating back to at least the 700s AD.  It is marked in different ways by different denominations and in different countries around the world.  But the common theme is the recognition of the saints of God – all the holy people who have gone before us, especially, into glory.  We Lutherans, in particular, take note that saints are not just the most holy Christians, the cream of the crop – but that every Christian is a saint – a sinner and a saint, simultaneously – and we wonder at such a great tension and mystery.

Our readings for today show forth different perspectives on all the saints.  In the book of Revelation, we see several pictures of the saints, and here in chapter 7, the church is pictured in her final glory.  A gathering from every nation, victorious, waving palm branches, singing God’s praise (in a song we echo today), and clothed in white robes washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. We might point out that this is a timeless picture of an eternal reality.  Therefore in that crowd is every Christian, including you. 

Then of course you have 1 John 3.  The All Saints connection there is in John’s description of Christians as beloved children of God.  They are also the ones who are purified in Christ – much like the robes of the multitude in the Revelation reading.  Loved by God are all the saints.  Children of God are all the saints, purified by Christ.

But today let’s focus on the Gospel reading, from Matthew 5.  The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.  The well-loved passage of Christians everywhere – the beatitudes.  Here, the key descriptor of God’s people, the key word that applies to all Christians is:  Blessed.

It may strike us as strange.  For the conditions Jesus describes, at least in some of these verses, we might not think of those sorts of people has having a blessing.  The poor in spirit?  That doesn’t sound so good.  Those who mourn?  Who wants to do that?  The meek?  No, we admire the bold, the brave, the proud.  And hungering and thirsting for something surely means a lack, not a blessing.  And let’s not even bring up those who are persecuted.  That’s more of a curse than a blessing, at least according to our way of thinking.

As for the merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers – well those seem like things that we should be – but things that we don’t always live up to.  These blessings seem more like accusations, standards to meet that remind us of our failures.  Blessed are those – sure – if we could be them.  We’re not as merciful and peace-making as we ought to be.  And we’re surely not pure in heart.

No, at first blush, these beatitudes don’t make sense for a number of reasons.  Jesus seems to be on an entirely different page – disconnected from reality.  The people who are blessed or bless-ed are supposed to be the people who are happy, have everything, the rich and famous, the powerful and the good.  The people we admire, who have it all.  “They’ve been so blessed”.  The super-Christians or the super-happy Christians or the super-successful Christians and what have you.  Not us miserable, wretched, sin-plagues people who have nothing to offer but our own neediness. 

But here is the beauty of his kingdom.  Here is the wonder of his grace.  Here is the true blessing of Jesus, that he doesn’t see it that way. 

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit.  While being poor doesn’t sounds desirable to us, Jesus says spiritual poverty is a blessing.  But he doesn’t mean in and of itself.  Rather, this is the Jesus who came as a physician for the sick, not the healthy.  He came to save sinners, not the righteous.  So if you are rich in spirit, if you have it all (or think you do), then you don’t need Jesus.  But blessed are you if you recognize your poverty and need.  Blessed are you because Christ Jesus comes with blessings for just such beggars. 

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

In a similar way, no one aspires to be a mourner.  Mourning supposes death.  And no one likes to face that.  Not the death of a loved one.  Not my own death either.  But death means sin, the wages and the cause, the horse and the cart.  And only those who bring their sins to Jesus, who mourn their sins, despise their sins, repent of their sins – only those receive his comfort.  If you celebrate your sin, if you embrace it, if you find comfort in your sin – then he has no comfort for you.  But blessed are those who mourn, for no one has better comfort than Jesus.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The meek, not the proud, shall inherit the earth.  It’s the opposite of how we see it now – when arrogant men with huge egos and prideful boldness tend to win the day.  Alpha dogs who don’t let anyone stand in their way and who “get things done!” 

But the meek?  Who are they, even?  They are the humble, the lowly, those who don’t make much of themselves.  Not the Pharisee who prays for all to see but the tax collector who beats his breast and prays hiding in the closet.  The meek shall inherit the earth – the new heaven and new earth will dawn, and the proud will be left outside.  The humble and lowly will enter the eternal kingdom. 

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

We know little, these days, of hunger or thirst.  About the closest we have gotten may have been in the early part of the coronavirus panic this year, when store shelves had a hard time keeping up with demand.  Thanks be to God he spared us from a famine on top of disease. 

But Jesus speaks here of a hunger and thirst for righteousness.  A deep yearning for that which we don’t have and which we desperately need.  If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, that means you admit you don’t have it of yourself.  It means you can only hope to receive it from the one who feeds and gives drink to his people.

Ah, and he satisfies.  He gives us the food and drink of his word – the rich diet of law and gospel that trains and equips us for righteousness.  And just as much – he gives an actual meal of heavenly fare, a feast for the body and soul, the bread and wine that is Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for you – for forgiveness.  What could be better?

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

These next three hold out some ideals for us Christians.  So far the beatitudes have described what we truly lack, if we can only see it.  Now we hear what we ought to do and be, if we could only attain it.  We want to be merciful, but are we?  Rather, do we find ourselves holding out on mercy, looking instead for just desserts?  Wanting the person who wronged us to pay, and pay dearly? 

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Pure in heart.  There’s a standard we’ll never attain on our own.  Jesus says out of the heart come sinful thoughts, desires, and all kinds of evil.  Our hearts are corrupt, not pure.  But we would pray with David, “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  Jesus comes to restore and renew even the heart, the very innermost source of our corruption is cleansed, purified, made holy in him.  It’s as complete as the death and rebirth of our baptism.  It’s as sure as his promise and declaration on the cross, “it is finished”. 
Thus purified by him, we are fit to stand before God, in his presence, to see God.  As Job said, “with my own eyes…” even “after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will stand”

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Again, we would attain to be peacemakers and see ourselves fail.  We can make conflict fairly well.  We can join in the fray with ease.  We can sit on our high horse of pride and let the conflict fester, because I didn’t start it and he or she is in the wrong, and they need to come crawling to me…. But peacemaking is not so easy.

Unless you’re Jesus, who makes peace between us and God.  Who brings a peace which passes all understanding.  Peace not as the world gives, does he give to you.  A peace that is rooted in the gospel, the rest for your soul.  A peace that empowers you to make peace with your brothers and sisters and with all.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now finally, persecution.  Not a very blessed state of being, most of us would say, especially when you find yourself in it.  Not something we aspire to.  But also not something that shows a lack in us.  Rather, according to Jesus, a cause for rejoicing.  What?

Yes, because it puts you in good company.  So they persecuted the prophets before you. Rejoice.  Great is your reward in heaven.  Rejoice.  When they revile you Christian, when they say nasty things about you, Christian, when they speak all kinds of evil against you, Christian – it’s really because of Christ.  It’s for the sake of righteousness – the righteousness that he earned, that he has, and that he gives to you freely as a blessing. 

None of these beatitudes make sense from a worldly point of view.  But in Christ, it all comes together.  We are blessed saints of God in Jesus Christ.  Though we lack our own merit and work, our own good works surely fail to measure up, and though we find ourselves even persecuted and hated…  blessed are we, blessed are you, in Jesus Christ, here and now, and there in eternity.  Blessed, with all the saints in glory, blessed forever and ever amen.  In Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.