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First Lesson: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 Responsive Reading: Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17 Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22: 34-46 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Today we are supposed to celebrate the most famous moment in the Lutheran church in Martin Luther supposedly nailing The 95 Theses to the castle door at Wittenberg[1]. In just a few minutes, we will sign Luther’s hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God as a symbol of pride for being members of the church that Luther discovered. As we gather on this Reformation Sunday, it causes to us to reflect upon what was really going on when The 95 Theses were posted. Perhaps more importantly we ask ourselves whether The 95 Theses posted by Luther are event to celebrate or an event to mourn. Before we begin this morning I wish to begin by addressing three misconceptions about The 95 Theses. 1. The 95 Theses started the Lutheran church- I think as we consider Luther’s legacy this morning an important thing worth noting is that Luther never wrote the 95 Theses with any intention of breaking from the Roman Catholic church. Luther addressed the 95 Theses to the local Archbishop Albert of Mainz, within the theses Luther wrote comments concerning what a great job that the Archbishop was doing. The 95 Theses original purpose was to serve as an academic debate on the question of “Whether certain indulgences should be sold?” Indulgences were pieces of paper that one could buy as a way to get out of writing on the chalkboard, saying your Hail Marys or whatever earthly punishment was when you did something wrong. Luther’s main motivation for writing the 95 Theses wasn’t indulgences themselves, but rather one man named John Tetzel, who Luther believed to be misrepresenting Catholic teaching on indulgences. Luther honestly believed that Pope Leo would agree with his critique of John Tetzel. Any Catholic scholar would tell you that Luther’s criticisms of Tetzel misrepresenting Catholic teaching on indulgences were right[2]. In Luther’s later years, he said at the time of posting the 95 Theses that “He would have murdered anyone who denied obedience to the pope[3].” 2. Luther posted the 95 Theses as a good Lutheran- It should said that many of the beliefs that Luther had when he posted the 95 Theses were much closer to modern Catholicism then modern Lutheranism. Luther believed in Purgatory. Luther still prayed to the Virgin Mary and Saints in Heaven. Luther also tended to hold the Roman Catholic position on the Mass or Lord’s Supper. If one is to look back at Luther’s life, you would be struck by the whole hosts of issues on which his positions evolved as his break from the Catholic church became more defined. 3. Luther understood the consequences of his actions- Initially, when Pope Leo X heard about the 95 Theses, he didn’t consider them to be all that significant. For three months after their publication, Leo ignored them. What ended up happening though is that supporters of Luther eventually came in contact with the recently invented printing press. So Luther’s theses began to spread throughout not only Germany but all of Europe. Most of the initial uproar within Germany over the 95 Theses had to do more with grievances regarding the Pope’s heavy-handedness in German politics rather than any agreement with Luther’s statement of belief. What should also be said is that Luther was also tapping into a widely held sentiment in his day that the Catholic church was in need of internal reform. So eventually Pope Leo X decided to call a scholar to respond to Luther’s objections over indulgences.. Luther was not convinced. Luther then met with a papal delegate at the Diet of Augsburg. Luther was asked on what authority could he question the pope? Luther then invoked a story from Galatians the 2nd chapter where the Apostle Paul rebukes the supposed first Pope Peter because he refused to dine with Gentiles[4]. It was at this moment when the central question which would define the Reformation was really raised for the first time whether the church is a human institution capable of error (Luther’s view) or a divine institution (the Roman Catholic view) incapable of error. Perhaps even more important is the question of “What makes a church true?” Whether a church is true because it adheres to the traditional structure of having a Pope or whether a church is true because it possess the Gospel in the form of Word and Sacrament. Luther after several debates and meetings with Roman Catholic officials could not be convinced that his position was in error. Further public stands led to Pope Leo X issuing a Papal Declaration called The Papal Bull[5] calling for people to burn all of Luther’s writings. Luther at this point received sixty days to either recant his beliefs or face death as a heretic. When Luther received The Papal Bull, he burned it in the Town Square all the while being cheered on from adoring Germans in Wittenberg. Luther’s burning of The Papal Bull took place three years after posting the 95 Theses. This event was the beginning of the Lutheran Church as Luther had won quite a bit of support among German Princes and Nobility during this time. What we must always stress is that the Lutheran church formed only after Luther went through great emotional distress at the possibility of being kicked out of the Catholic church. Luther also made pledges to his followers not to divide the Church. Luther never intended to form a new church until he came to believe that the issues of division could not be resolved. So what this tale of the beginning of the Reformation indicates is that Luther was by no means anti-Catholic nor anti-Pope as people would understand the terms. Luther vowed to kiss the Pope’s feet if the Pope would proclaim the Gospel. Luther had every intention of staying within the Catholic church and reforming it from within until circumstances forced him to do otherwise. Even nearly a decade after The Papal Bull was presented as a sign of Luther’s banishment, the Protestant Reformers put together the chief teaching document of their faith in The Augsburg Confession they wrote it in such a way that it highlighted their areas of agreement with the Catholic church as a means of seeking to foster an eventual reconciliation. Luther’s burning of The Papal Bull would set the stage for a long period of religious warfare between the catholic power of Spain against a loose confederation of Swiss and German states. Warfare would not end until the resolution of the Thirty Years War, more than a century after Luther’s death. What then should we say on this day about the division that remains between Lutherans and Catholics? I think one of the great misunderstandings that exist in the Church today is the relationship between Lutherans and Catholics. We have a lot of commonalities. We both recognize each other as Christian. Both churches recognize each other’s Baptisms as valid. Lutheranism and Catholicism are not in direct opposition to each other, but in many ways similar branches of the same tree of Christianity. For example, both churches are liturgical churches that confess the historic creeds of the faith (Apostles, Nicene, and Athansain). We both make common use of such things as stained glass, organs, candles, robes, and banners for the means of edifying the believer. The greatest theological unity that exists between Lutherans and Roman Catholics is that we’re both sacramental churches. We both believe that God gives us new life and forgives sin through Baptism. We both believe that God sustains and strengthens our faith through the Lord’s Supper. We do not exclude Catholics from Communion for this reason. We both believe that Confession is sacramental whether done in public or private and a true treasure of the church. Lutherans and Roman Catholics are in agreement on plenty of other issues such as the End Times, the Trinity, and the development of scripture. The Churches have grown even more together in recent years as the Second Vatican Council adopted Luther’s ideas about the need for worship to be in the language of the people. In fact in the year 1976, Joseph Ratzinger who is best known as the former Pope Benedict XVI expressed the possibility that the chief teaching document of the Lutheran Reformation in the Augsburg Confession could one day be accepted as a universal statement of faith. There are plenty of Lutheran pastors today who hold out hope for a reunion with the Roman Catholic Church to occur sometime in the future. We must be honest though plenty of areas of division still remain on this day with the Roman church. We disagree regarding the role of the Bishop of Rome or Pope this is a complicated historical question which led to the first prominent church split in the Great Schism of 1054 between the Orthodox East and Catholic West. We disagree on the question of what happens to believers in the period between one’s death and resurrection. We disagree regarding the role of Saints mediating in our daily lives. We disagree regarding the question of whether Women can serve in ministry. Ultimately the true issues lie with the matter of salvation. Everything boils down to the question of “What is the Gospel?” While we both believe in salvation by grace, what this means is still a matter of dispute. Today’s epistle reading from Romans 3 gets to the very heart of the scriptures. What this passage reminds us of is the power that sin maintains over us all. Sin is so deeply rooted in the human psyche that we cannot control it. Sin’s depth is why it is too easy for any of us to misunderstand the Gospel. We inevitability think God has done his part, now we need to do ours. We come face to face all too often with the truth that even our best works can be a cause of sin. Too often good can cause us to fall away from the truth about ourselves that we are ultimately sinners. In the words of Mark Tranvick “When Luther first studied the Bible it became for him a great puzzle as to why Christ should have to die. After all, sin is punished by death (Romans 6:23) but Christ was not guilty of sin. When he came to see that Christ himself actually became a sinner (compare 2 Corinthians 5:21) the mystery dissolved[6].” If there was any other way to salvation than Jesus wouldn’t have hung on a cross. We celebrate Reformation Sunday 2014 with mixed emotions. Rest assured that we do grieve. We grieve that so many have sought to bring Christianity beyond Luther’s very modest initial goals in posting the 95 Theses. After Luther church group after church group would rise up claiming to have re-discovered New Testament Christianity. The Reformed would soon rise up in Switzerland, the Radical Reformers in Germany, decades later the Baptists in England, a couple centuries later would spring up John Wesley’s Methodists. Almost four hundred years after Luther, Pentecostalism rose up in America claiming to have rediscovered the “Holy Spirit” and quickly became a world-wide phenomenon. Luther’s modest initial goals resulted in a widespread schism throughout all of Christendom. Soon every man, woman, and child would claim to be the arbiter of religious truth. Peter Leithert writes “Renouncing Rome’s one Pope, Protestantism has created thousands[7].” This is not something to celebrate. We do celebrate on this day; we don’t celebrate necessarily Luther himself. Luther would have been the first person to admit that he shouldn’t have a church named after him, nor even followed. What we instead celebrate is the central conviction of all of Luther’s action that no matter how futile our situation in this day may be, God set out to solve the problem in Christ Jesus. We celebrate that salvation is determined by God’s action, never our own. We celebrate that our eternal life is not dependent on any institution or even ourselves; we celebrate rather that the promises of salvation belong to Christ Jesus alone. The ultimate legacy of the Reformation is that humans are broken and will remain divided until Christ returns to settle it all out. Our great hope for today is that God saves us outside of us, in spite of us, God saves us on a Cross against every human instinct for moral improvement. God doesn’t save a pure church; God rather saves an imperfect church. Amen [1] It’s somewhat debated whether Luther actually nailed The 95 Theses to the castle door. The evidence of this is a letter from Phillip Melanchton where he mentions it. Melancthon though doesn’t describe the event till after Luther’s death. Heiko Obermann makes the cast that posting academic disputations was common practice. So in conclusion, it’s probable that Luther did nail the theses to the castle door, yet possibly a legend also. The Outlaw Monk wrote a really good article on October 24,2013 on this subject. [2] The Wikipedia Article on Johann Tetzel has an excellent explaination from German Catholic Historian Ludwig von Pastor on this matter. [3] Luther wrote this in a preface to The 95 Theses shortly before his death. This is taken from the Christian-History.Com article on Martin Luther. [4] Galatians 2:11-14 [5] This Papal Bull is techincally called The Exsurge Domine in Latin. A Papal Bull is a letter or declaration made by the Pope (Bishop of Rome). Hundreds of Papal Bulls have been issued throughout the history of the office. For the sake of brevity and clarity, I just refer to Luther’s notice of excommunication as The Papal Bull. [6] Tranvick, Mark. “Commentary of Romans 3:19-28”. Working Preacher.com. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul, MN. 28.Oct.2012. Web. Oct.21.2014 [7] Poteet, Mike. “Reformation Sunday: A Day To Celebrate?” Ministry Matters. 20.Oct.2014. Web. Oct.20.2014 First Lesson: Exodus 33: 12-23 Responsive Reading: Psalm 99 Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22: 15-22 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I want to tell you the story this morning of a church. It’s the story of one of the first churches. The reason I want to tell you about this church is because it had a lot of members that were asking similar questions to people in our church. The church was located in a town called Thessalonica. I suppose I should begin by telling you a bit about Thessalonica. Thessalonica was and is one of the most important cities in the country of Greece. Thessalonica was the primary port city in all of Northern Greece. Thessalonica was a vitally important city because it was the city where the great road of its day connected Rome with all the people north of the Aegean Sea. Thessalonica was the city at the crossroads of east and west, north and south. Because of this a man named Paul wanted to start a church in Thessalonica. Paul had been traveling around planting churches left and right (Rome, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, and Thessalonica). What Paul along with his right-hand men Silas and Timothy were going around Thessalonica claiming was that a man named Jesus had risen from the dead nearly twenty years before. Jesus would then promise salvation and eternal life to all his followers. Paul had spent about three weeks in Thessalonica converting both reaching both the previously religious and non-religious alike[1]. One of the interesting things that happened during Paul’s preaching is women were especially drawn to this new Christian church. Paul had looked at women’s role quite a bit differently. A woman named Dorcas was one of the earliest Christian disciples[2]. Priscilla and Aquilla were missionaries in converting a man named Apollos[3]. Chloe was the owner of a house in Corinth where the church met[4]. Paul would later say “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus[5].". Women, in fact, made up the majority of Paul’s congregations. Another interesting thing about the early Christians is that they insisted on their marriages being one wife to one husband. The early Christians were no longer going to treat women as property or possessions, but rather as complimentary parts of the family unit. Paul had made quite a few enemies during his brief stay in Thessalonica. Members of the local synagogue were especially upset as they had been losing members to this new Christian church. Paul had felt such strong heat for his actions that he needed to sneak out of the city in the middle of the night for his safety. Paul would then journey a little over three-hundred miles to Athens to work with another church down there[6]. With none of the church’s first leaders in Paul, Silas, or Timothy around a leadership vacuum emerged within the Thessalonian church. A man by the name of Jason took the reins[7]. Jason was a relatively new Christian himself, so he had to try his best to lead the Thessalonian community. While the Thessalonians were eager to embrace the faith, they had a lot of unanswered questions. Jason did not know how to answer their questions. The Thessalonians had recently experienced a rash of funerals amongst their initial members. The problem with all these funerals though is the members didn’t know how to interpret them. Many within the Thessalonian church believed that Christians would not undergo death. They believed that Jesus would return within their lifetime to establish his kingdom on earth. Many of the Thessalonians believed that the afterlife would only be available to those who lived to see Christ’s return. Jason not knowing where to turn to try to alleviate the Thessalonians fears got word back to Paul of the problems. Paul decides to write a letter to the Thessalonian church to be read by Jason in response to their questions. Paul had never written a letter like this to a church before. Within a few hundred years, thirteen of Paul’s letters to either various churches or individuals such as Timothy, Titus or Philemon would make up a good portion of the Christian’s holiest book[8]. Over a thousand years later, Paul’s letter would be broken up into five separate chapters[9]. Paul begins by establishing the personal warmth and affinity that he feels for the people of Thessalonica. Towards the end of the letter, Paul begins to get into the meat of the issues. Paul’s letter said to the following. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,[d] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep[10].” Paul wanted the Thessalonians to think of death as a form of sleep. Referring to death as a form of sleep was a very biblical idea[11]. Death was referred to as sleep over fifty times in the Old Testament. A short while before this at the time of one of Jesus’ greatest miracles in the raising of Lazarus, Jesus describes Lazarus as not being dead but rather asleep[12]. Paul didn’t say these words to give the Thessalonians any definitive answers about what their loved ones’ existence would look like between their death and their resurrection. Paul rather uses the word “sleep” to remind the Thessalonians that upon Christ’s return that the body of their loved ones would rise as casually as one awakens within the morning. Paul uses the term “sleep” to remind the Thessalonians that even as they lay their loved ones in the ground, this will not be the last that they see of them. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord[13]. Paul wanted to remind the Thessalonians how Christ’s return would exactly look. The dead will rise from the grave first. At this point, those that are living will get caught up or “raptured” to meet The Lord within the air. The key words that Paul speaks has to do with assuring the Thessalonians that they have no reason whatsoever to mourn the death of their fellow Christians. Paul’s words about the rapture would get misinterpreted in later years. All sorts of ideas started spreading such as Christ would return secretly to whisk away the true believers before great hardship came upon the Earth for seven years. I think the key thing to know about Paul’s letter is that he wished to let the Thessalonians know nothing that wasn’t clearly told elsewhere within the scriptures. Instead, the Greek verb for rapture literally means “meet”. What rapture literally means is believers will meet Jesus in the clouds then journey with him all the way to the earth. Paul never meant to describe an event where Christians just randomly vanish off the face of the earth[14]. Paul had heard about some words that Jesus had spoken during his ministry regarding the end of the world. Jesus would talk about the last days comparing it to the time of Noah. Jesus promises that it is at the end that all evil be swept away, whereas God’s chosen ones just like Noah’s family would be left behind to be with the Lord[15]. When Paul was talking about the Rapture, he was describing an event that took place on the last day rather than before the last day. When Paul mentions the Rapture, he wished to let the Thessalonians know about the promises of God’s grace. Paul wanted them to look towards the last days of not only their loved ones’ lives but time itself guided by a fear of God. Paul wished instead to give them an assurance of God’s promise given to them on the cross. Jesus Christ was indeed coming soon, and his Kingdom would have no end. The Thessalonian church was not out of the woods yet though after receiving Paul’s letter. Within a few months, a popular rumor would emerge that Jesus had already returned in secret. The rumor was so widespread that Paul had to write another letter in response to it. Paul assured the people of Thessalonica once again that Christ’s return would not occur in secret. Paul then reminds the Thessalonians not to focus so much on the actual date of Christ’s return or the day of their loved one’s eventual resurrection. Paul believed that this day will come down the pike as unpredictably as the Thief arrives during the night[16]. Paul knew the Thessalonians were probably going to endure some tough days coming up. Paul didn’t want them though to obsess about any specific details regarding the end. Paul instead wished for them to go forth guided by a promise that Christ promises salvation unto them even as the world around them may crumble down. The story you heard today is the story of Paul’s First and Second Letter to the Thessalonians. Amen [1] Acts 17:1-9 [2] Acts 9:36-43 [3] Acts 18:18-28 [4] 1st Corinthians 1:11 [5] Galatians 3:28 [6] Paul’s journeys after Thessolonica to both Berea and Athens are detailed in Acts 17:10-21 [7] Jason is mentioned as influential in the Thessolonian church in Acts 17:1-9 [8] My mentor Dr. Joe Burgess recommended to me a book by Canadian scholar Lee Micheal McDonald entitled The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority published by Baker in 2007 [9] Chapters were added into the Bible with the Wycliffe Translation of 1382. Verses were added by the Geneva translation in 1560 then confirmed within the pages of the King James Bible. [10] 1 Thessolonians 4:13-15 [11] Intresting commentary by Dr. Richard P. Bucher at the website for Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lexington, Kentucky (LCMS). Dr. Bucher’s article is entitled “Where Does the Soul Go After Death? (Paradise or Soul Sleep?) [12] John 11:11 [13] 1 Thessolonians 4:16-17 [14] Great comment on this issue by Rick Mason made on May, 31, 2011 for an article written by The Lutheran entitled “The Rapture: Does it Square with Lutheran Theology?” [15] Matthew 24:36-44 [16] 1 Thessolonians 5:2 First Lesson: Exodus 32: 1-14 Responsive Reading: Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-13 Second Lesson: Philippians 4: 1-9 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22: 1-14 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”-Matthew 22:13-14 The next two weeks during services will consist of a very brief sermon series in preparation for the Afterlife Conference to take place at New Life Lutheran in Duluth on Saturday October 25th. I invite you all to attend. The background of the Afterlife Conference is as I have been in the ministry for over a half-decade now the most basic question of every Sunday morning worshipper that I ever encounter is “What happens when I die?” Similar themed questions pop up along with this big question such as: “What will my reunion with family members look like?” “What happens to us both before and after Christ’s final resurrection?” These are the most basic and ultimately important questions of the Christian faith. With these things in mind, I want to talk this morning about one of the most confusing questions that we attempt to answer in relation to the nature of a loving God and Hell? What I want to talk about today is how we should think about Hell as Christians. Let me begin with a common misconception about Hell, it’s one of the greatest misunderstandings of the entire Christian Faith. One of the great misconceptions of Hell is that Satan is the ruler of Hell. This idea is not a Biblical idea but rather comes from a very popular book in the 17th century called Paradise Lost. Milton begins Paradise Lost by describing a scene where Satan and other Fallen Angels awaken after enduring defeat in the War in Heaven[1]. Paradise Lost describes Hell as the living place of Satan and his minions. Milton’s ideas about Hell seem to influence nearly every popular portrayal of Hell ever since from Disney’s Fantasia to the video game Mortal Kombat to Gary Larson’s The Far Side cartoons to the popular TV show South Park. The problem with Milton’s ideas is they don’t mesh with the scriptural ideas of Hell. For example, the Book of 2nd Peter describes Fallen Angels as not dwelling in Hell, but rather being cast down into Hell where they are thrown into chains and tossed into prison[2]. Revelation 20 deals with the theme of Satan’s role in Hell. Revelation 20 mentions perhaps the most famous image of Hell in the Lake of Fire. Although the interesting thing about Revelation 20 is that describes Satan not tormenting people within the Lake of Fire, but rather Satan’s final destination being the Lake of Fire upon Christ’s Second Coming[3]. The great misunderstanding about Satan has to deal with the extent of his power. Scripture never describes Satan as maintaining any degree of power within Hell. Satan and his minions' only real power exists here on Earth through their ability to make sin attractive and beautiful. The ultimate reality of Satan is that he maintains no power in either Heaven or Hell in either the face of death or the power of the Gospel. So with this misunderstanding of Hell cleared up, we should now move on towards how Christians should understand Hell. Occasionally, you will run across Christians who seem to delight in the list and types of people that will burn in Hell. As we consider Hell this morning, the first thing that I should say is that Christians should be uncomfortable with the idea of Hell. Writer C. Michael Patton describes it best when he says “I have often said that the doctrine of hell is simply the most disturbing doctrine thing known to man. If I could get rid of one of my beliefs, this would be it. Hands down[4].” For as we consider the famous images of Hell from eternal fire, bottomless pits, and the great weeping and gnashing of teeth, these images remind us of the great pain that is caused by a separation from God for all eternity. The eternality of it all is probably the scariest part about considering Hell. Some church groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists try to deal with this scary notion by holding to the idea that instead of Hell, unbelievers merely cease to exist after the Second Coming. Yet one would have to deny the clear words of Jesus to not hold to the belief of Hell’s eternity for the unbeliever: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”- Matthew 25:46 As we consider Hell on this day, we have a few things to remember. The first thing to consider is the nature of God. “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”-1 Timothy 2:3-4 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”- 2 Peter 3:9 For as we begin a discussion about Hell what we must remember is that our God’s desire is that all people shall come to salvation that no man, woman, or child shall end up cast into Hell. To inform our discussion about Hell let us consider a parable for this morning in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet from Matthew 22. It’s a parable that deals with our themes for this morning of Heaven, Hell, and unbelief. Our parable for this morning is another one of Matthew’s parables that Jesus tells during the last week of his’ life. Jesus is telling this parable to the religious authorities of his day, within this parable; he is seeking to confront their misunderstandings about salvation coming to the whole world. The parable about the nature of God as told about a benevolent king. The King has a Son who is about to get married. The King begins by sending out invitations. The first people that the King invites are the type of people you would expect a king to invite: the powerful, the beautiful, the popular, the winners, the rich and the famous. The King desires that this be a wedding feast beyond what the human mind could ever begin to imagine. The King sends his servants to invite all the Big Shots personally throughout the land. The Big Shots’ reaction though is not what the King expected; the Big Shots just didn’t seem to care. Now most people would get mad at such blatant disrespect being displayed towards them. Many of us know people who always get on our nerves, by never being able to make time for the most important events in life. How often do we hear other people say that they will only forgive, after someone repents for how they wronged them? The King’s attitude is different though; he did not take personal offense like most other people would, instead the King decides to send his servants again to re-extend the invitation. The Big Shots though were annoyed by the King’s persistent offers at this point, so their attitude towards from one of indifference to one of vengeance as they kill the King’s servants. The King was not going to let this behavior though spoil his good time, so the King decides to pursue a different tact. The King is going to send his servants out instead to invite anyone they could find. This scene probably produces some people that you wouldn’t expect to see at a royal wedding. The servants invite outcasts, losers, failures, and the servants even dared to invite those who could not afford a decent shirt to wear to the wedding. The King looked over this moteliest crew of guests and just didn’t care. The King was going to see to it that this crew would look like a million bucks before the night was over. Some people didn’t want to come to the party; this was a failure on their part rather than the king. Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding that we have of hell is best-summed up by Robert Farar Capon. Hell is not the place for sinners; Hell is rather the place for people who can’t believe in the seemingly absurd terms of God’s grace[5]. The people that can’t believe that Christ’s cross is enough, so they instead desire to pursue their paths to God. Hell is the place for those who can’t come to terms with the power of the Gospel to raise the dead. When I was in high school, My Dad invited me to attend an event put on by the Chisago Lakes Chamber of Commerce where the keynote speaker was former Minnesota Viking and broadcaster Joe Senser. The thing to know about my Dad is he is very rarely on time for anything. A while back when staying at the parsonage right next door, he couldn’t even make church on time. So my Dad and I were late to hear Joe Senser speak, by the time we got there only two seats sit empty in the room. Both seats were in the presence of the honored guest Joe Senser. People would rather sit by those they knew and felt comfortable then encounter someone whose experiences were so foreign to their everyday existence. I was embarrassed to go sit down by the honored guest after showing up late, yet my Dad has no shame. He marched us over there as being as worthy to sit there as anybody else. Whatever people in this room think of Joe Senser due to his wife Amy’s legal troubles, what I remember is one of the greatest meals of my life. Joe Senser told story after story along with quite a few jokes in my presence because others did not want to encounter someone on unfamiliar terms. As we think about Hell this morning. Consider the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. In the 19th Century, C.F.W Walther, who was one of the founders of the Missouri Synod, wrote a book called The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel. Walther’s book dealt with the idea that there are only two words that a Christian can speak to another Christian. They can either speak a word of judgment or a word of forgiveness. What we need to remember is who needs to hear the following words. Whenever Jesus spoke words of judgment, it was too the religious crowd like the Pharisees who thought they had a leg-up when it came to the Kingdom of God, yet it is often the religious who can’t come to terms with the nature of belief. Whereas within the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, we hear a word of grace, a word that those who one might not expect to see will be the ones who got invited to the Wedding Banquet purely according to the King’s terms. The key thing to remember about every one of Jesus’ parables is that winners often turn into losers with losers turning into winners[6]. Jesus is all about extending grace to those who down on their luck, and those who are uncertain that the grace of God could be true! Jesus tells these people this parable to let them know that this grace extends to you. So how should we understand Hell and how a loving God could allow such a place to exist? I think what we must remember is that God’s ways are often hidden from us. What we remember this morning is the following truths: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son[7]. God does not wish for one person to fall into Hell. God’s love is why he sent his son. We take comfort in the fact that God revolts at the idea of Hell as much as anybody in this room. The only difference in this case is that God’s control is such that he can do something about his disgust. We remember that Christ’s death was about rescuing people from Hell, so that the Resurrection of God becomes a promise to all who believe. What we must remember about Hell this morning is that God is not to blame. C.S. Lewis describes Hell best when he says “All that are in hell choose it.” “All God does in the end with people is give them what they most want[8].” We cannot put the blame for God on Hell any more than we can put the blame on the firefighter for seeking to put out a fire that someone else started. Hell is a reality of human sin that separates from God. God is the not cause of hell; God is rather the solution to Hell as evidenced by his resurrection. Amen [1] Revelation 12:7-13 describes this War in Heaven. The difference between the Biblical description though and Paradise Lost is that the time frame for the event. Paradise Lost describes the War in Heaven as occurring before the Fall of Man. The Book of Revelation though is centered on the future event of Christ’s Second Coming. The War in Heaven occurs at the end of time, rather than the beginning. [2] 2 Peter 2:4 [3] Revelation 20:10 [4] C. Micheal Patton. “A Word About Hell”. Credo House Blog. 17. May.2010. Web. Oct.9.2014 [5] Capon, Robert Farar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Eerdman’s Publishing. Grand Rapids, MI. 2002. Print. Pg.464. [6] This is a common statement by Capon throughout his previously mentioned book. [7] John 3:16 [8] Lewis makes these statements in his work The Great Divorce. First Lesson: Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Responsive Reading: Psalm 19 Second Lesson: Philippians 3: 4-14 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 21: 33-46 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Pastor Steve Molin tells the tale of a Crazy Old Fool[1]. This man was not crazy for the reasons we often think of people being crazy. The Crazy Old Fool was a very successful businessman. He specialized in building fine homes in an upscale suburb. People would praise his work as a craftsman and businessman far and wide. The reason people thought of this man of as crazy was because of how he treated others. He had a reputation for paying the most generous wages to his workers of any building employer in the area. The Crazy Old Fool was also charitable to nearly everyone he encountered. He would constantly give his wealth to others who had done nothing to deserve it. He gave away tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to people even those who seemed out to scheme and con him, yet the Crazy Old Fool just didn’t care. People would snicker behind the Crazy Old Fool’s back but give him the respect he was due when they met him face to face. The Crazy Old Fool had become an old man; he desired to spend his winters down in Florida, so he approached his top building superintendent and told him he was retiring[2]. Before the Crazy Old Fool retired, he had one more request for his Superintendent. The Crazy Old Fool said “I want you to build me a home, let it be the finest home this company has ever built. Do not even think of sparing any expense, any dollars you need are yours, use the finest materials, employ the most gifted tradesmen, and build me a masterpiece before I come in the spring[3]” The next day, the Superintendent set out to build this home, but not exactly to orders. If the Crazy Old Fool was retiring, this meant that the Superintendent was going to lose his job. The Superintendent knew that he was never going to find another job as good as the one he was about to lose. The Superintendent like many people when faced with an uncertain future had developed a nasty cynicism about it. So in spite of the Crazy Old Fool having been the best boss this Superintendent could ever dream to have, this Superintendent was going to use this home project to pad his savings account. The Superintendent vowed this would be his last opportunity to avoid the poor house[4]. Inferior concrete blocks would set the foundation of the home, but the Superintendent would charge the Crazy Old Fool for premium blocks, and the Superintendent pocketed the difference. When it came to hiring workers, the Superintendent hired the cheapest carpenters, plumbers, landscapers, roofers, and electricians he could find. The Superintendent then charged the Crazy Old Fool wages that would be paid to master craftsman, so he could keep further padding his bank account[5]. The Superintendent then outfitted the house with cheap appliances, and lighting, insufficient isolation, inferior carpet, and drafty windows. When spring came, the home was finally finished. The house looked spectacular; it was the best looking home in the neighborhood. The Superintendent’s scam had worked to perfection; he was now hundreds of thousands of dollars richer. When the Crazy Old Fool returned home, he was thrilled as he saw the house. At this time, the Superintendent handed the Crazy Old Fool the keys to the house that he had built[6]. But what the Crazy Old Fool did next was unthinkable. It was the kind of stunt that you would expect a Crazy Old Fool to do. As soon as the Crazy Old Fool receives the keys, he turns to the Superintendent, the one who had scammed him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the one who had blatantly disobeyed him[7]. The Crazy Old Fool proceeds to shock the building superintendent as he says “I want to give you a gift for all that you have done over the years.” It was at this moment that the Superintendent was handed the keys to a brand new home[8]. Today’s Gospel comes to us from the 21st Chapter of Matthew[9]. It’s a Gospel Lesson that picks up right where up last week’s Gospel in the Parable of the Two Sons left off[10]. Our lesson further highlights the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees that was raging during the last week of Jesus’ life. This conflict was nothing new; in fact, four whole chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (21-24) contain thirteen straight parables or incidents that deal with conflict between Jesus and the religious Pharisees. These incidents include Jesus flipping tables and money-changers out of the temple as Jesus denounces the religious leaders by declaring “You have made my house a den of robbers[11].” Jesus offends the Pharisees in last week’s Gospel when he proclaims “Tax Collectors and Prostitutes would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before you (the Pharisees)[12]”. Later Jesus denounces the Pharisees as a brood of vipers and hypocrites who would never escape God’s judgment[13]. At the center of all these arguments between Jesus and the Pharisees was the question of “What do you consider the point of the scriptures to be?” The Pharisees thought like plenty of people who sit in American churches Sunday after Sunday. The Pharisees looked at the Old Testament Scriptures where they see “law after law” “rule after rule”, so the Pharisees thought this was the means by which God interacts with his people. So the Pharisees did their best to follow, and they were inevitability disappointed and disassociated with those who failed to do the same. In Today’s parable, Jesus is seeking to point how the Pharisees need to understand the scriptures in a new way. To do this Jesus tells the story of the Owner of a vineyard. The Owner had outfitted the vineyard with everything it could need a winepress, a fence, and a watchtower[14]. This Vineyard Owner was like the Crazy Old Fool that I was talking about earlier as he was the epitome of generous. The crazy Vineyard Owner had rented out some land to his tenants. A tale such as this would have made sense to the Pharisees since Palestine was under Roman control in these days, so most landowners lived thousands of miles away. Vineyard owners would only occasionally visit their land because of this. Here’s where this story gets all crazy, the Vineyard Owner sends a representative to collect the rent[15]. The Renters were annoyed by this request as they figured they were the ones doing all the work, so they deserved to keep money and the land as their own. So as the Owner’s Representatives come to collect the rent, the Tenants beat him up and throw him off the land. How does the Land Owner respond to such unruly tenants? He does something crazy. He doesn’t do what most normal Land Owners would do in hiring mercenaries or calling upon the Roman Army to drive these hooligans from the land. The Land Owner instead chooses to send another one of his servants to collect the rent[16], only for this servant to be stoned and thrown off the land. Surely at this point, the Land Owner will lose hope that his tenants will change their ways. The Owner’s patience has to be no more. Nope, he sends a third representative to collect the rent. Only to see his tenants kill this representative. So at this point these tenants had beaten, robbed, and killed every messenger the Land Owner had sent their way. The Land Owner’s patience surely had run out by this point. But no, the Land Owner attempts his craziest stunt yet as a way of collecting the rent. He sends his own son to do it, yet as the Owner’s Son came to the land to collect the rent[17]. The Tenants could still only think of themselves, so they kill the Owner’s Son[18]. To understand this parable remember that it serves as an allegory. The Land Owner is God; The Vineyard is the people of Israel, the Tenants are the Pharisees and the Jewish Religious Leadership, the Landowner’s Servants are the Prophets of Israel, and the Son is Jesus. For what the aim of the parable is how the Pharisees missed the point of God’s interaction with his people throughout the Old Testament. Let me cite a few prominent examples: Noah drank too much[19], yet God saw to it that Noah built an Ark to rescue humanity from death and destruction. Jacob lied and tricked his elderly Father into receiving an inheritance[20] yet God saw to it that Jacob was one of the fathers of his chosen people. Joseph was an annoying little brat with such a big mouth his brothers wished never to see him again[21], yet he saved the people of Israel and Egypt from a great famine. Moses was a murderer[22], yet God saw to it that he set the nation of Israel free from the bondage of Egyptian slavery. Gideon was afraid[23] and doubted God’s promises; God saw to it that he was able to bring down an army of 30,000 men just by blowing a trumpet. Rahab was a prostitute[24]; Samson was a womanizer[25], King David an adulterer[26], Jonah ran from God at every opportunity[27], yet God saw to it that he would not abandon them from his plan of salvation. Throughout the Old Testament, it is not just great prophets like Elijah who speak to God’s grace, how God’s grace is instead is made known through the lives of normal, flawed people. The point of the Old Testament wasn’t just rules and regulations that people inevitability fail to keep like the Pharisees thought it to be. Instead, the point of the Old Testament was rather how God keeps pursuing the people of Israel in spite of their sin, idol worship, and unbelief. How no one (and I mean no one) is outside the possibility of God’s grace and to prove this God sent his own son. The parable for today is meant to drive home the point of how necessary God’s Grace is in even the lives of the self-proclaimed pious and good. My former Preaching Professor David Lose describes this parable best when he says: “So where does the bright idea come from to send his son, his heir, alone, to treat with these bloodthirsty hooligans? It's absolutely crazy. Who would do such a thing? No one...except maybe a crazy landlord so desperate to be in relationship with these tenants that he will do anything, risk anything, to reach out of them. This landowner acts more like a desperate parent, willing to do or say or try anything to reach out to a beloved and wayward child than he does a businessman. It's crazy, the kind of crazy that comes from being in love.[28]” What this parable does is showcase to us the desperate, crazy love of God. God does not offer this love merely once, or twice, but God gives his love a million times or more to all who receive it. For like the tale of the Crazy Old Fool there are no limits to God’s generosity even as much as we try to take advantage of it. We can leave today with a simplistic understanding of this parable that Jesus thought the Pharisees were bad and judgmental; this is a partial point but misses the bigger point. The thing about every other person in the Tenant's situation is they would do what they did. They would blame the messenger as a way to avoid the truth about ourselves. German theologian Helmut Thicke describes the parables of Jesus best when he said we will never understand the parables until we see ourselves staring in them[29]. We are the Wicked Tenants, We are the failed disciples, we will never pray like we should, we will never study the scriptures like we should; we will never be generous towards the world around us like we should. We give every good reason for the Land Owner to give up on us, yet He doesn’t. He gives us chance after chance. The Land Owner even gave his son’s life to save ours. The reality of Christian living is we will never pay the rent. We will never show the gratitude towards God we should; we fail to embrace the blessings that he gives. Yet our Crazy Old Fool of a God keeps giving us the keys to his kingdom through his own Son. [1] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46”. Lectionary.org. 2008. Web. Oct.3.2014 [2] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [3] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [4] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [5] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [6] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [7] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [8] Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46” [9] Matthew 21:33-46 [10] Matthew 21:23-32 [11] Matthew 21:13 [12] Matthew 21:31 [13] Matthew 23:33 [14] Matthew 21:33 [15] Matthew 21:34 [16] Matthew 21:36 [17] Matthew 21:37 [18] Matthew 21:38 [19] Genesis 9 [20] Genesis 27 [21] Genesis 37 [22] Exodus 2:11-15 [23] Judges 6 [24] Joshua 2 [25] Judges 16 [26] 2 Samuel 11 [27] The Book of Jonah [28] Lose, David. “Crazy Love (a.k.a Preaching Matthew Against Matthew). Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul, MN. 25.Sept.2011. Web. Oct.3.2014 [29] Taken from Molin, Pastor Steven. “Speaking of Us: A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46”. |
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