What to Wear on October 31st - Sermon for Reformation Day (Observed)

Reformation Day, (Observed) October 29^th, anno + Domini 2023
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches, Custer and Hill City, SD
What to Wear on October 31^st - Matthew 11:12-19

 What will you be wearing on October 31^st?  

   At the seminary in Fort Wayne, they tell the story of a professor who was offended by Halloween.  I mean, at a Lutheran seminary of all places, October 31^st should not be given over to goblins and ghouls and tooth decay.  Rather, it should be a day of reflecting on and celebrating the Reformation.  Kids included.  So convicted, this professor organized an event at the Luther statue that towers over the entrance lane into the campus.  He suggested appropriate costumes for the kids: Bible characters, or monks, nuns, medieval noblemen, historical figures from 16^th century Germany.  He himself went dressed as, wait for it, the great Reformer, Martin Luther. 

   It turned out to be a doubly disappointing deal.  For the kids, it was disappointing because the prof stood in front of the giant Luther statue and lectured about the Reformation.  He didn’t even pass out any candy.  It was disappointing for the professor, because the kids (and their seminary faculty and staff parents) ignored the costume suggestions.  They came as princesses, firefighters, ghosts and monsters.  And, unsurprisingly, they left his event as soon as they were able, to go trick-or-treating.   

   Halloween, celebrated on October 31^st, is an abbreviation of All Hallows Eve, the night before All Hallows Day, that is All Saints Day, November 1^st.  Halloween is kind of an opposite, or anti-holiday, a dark day contrasting the white light of holiness.  There are traditions like Halloween in many different parts of the world, including Christianized places that developed anti-festivals the day before or around All Saints, like El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, in Mexico.  In contrast with the November 1^st celebration of God’s holy people, alive forever in Christ, on Halloween many people celebrate the wicked and the dead.    

   Of course, October 31^st is also Reformation Day, celebrating that day 506 years ago, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany.  He called for a public debate about Church teaching, and this sparked the Reformation.  The Reformation was founded on Luther’s rediscovery and explanation of the pure Gospel of free and full forgiveness for all who believe in Christ.  So, it’s not hard to understand the professor’s frustration.  To spend October 31^st dressed like a monster, or something worse, while going around begging for candy, is to miss out entirely on the Good News of Jesus that was rediscovered during the Reformation.

   But dressing up isn’t all bad.  In fact, it is quite Biblical.  Think of John the Baptist.  He dressed and acted like a prophet of the LORD.  He wore camel skins, lived in the wilderness, ate honey and locusts, and preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  John dressed this way and did these things because he was a prophet, the final forerunning prophet.  John was the new Elijah, chosen and sent by God to prepare the Way for the Messiah, the promised Savior. 

   Jesus also appeared a certain way, like a 1^st Century Jewish rabbi, or teacher.  He preached in the synagogues on Saturday.  Then He spent the rest of His time walking around the countryside, teaching His close followers, and the larger crowds that gathered to hear Him.  I don’t know exactly how rabbis dressed, but they would have needed something to stand out, distinctive clothing or mannerisms, to be recognized.  Jesus played the part, not to pretend anything, but because He is the Master Teacher, the Wise One sent from God, come down to give light and life to all people.   

   But, as Jesus pointed out, the Jewish elite didn’t like the looks of either of them.  Pleased with themselves, they would not mourn with the self-denying John; he was too harsh.  They labeled him a lunatic, demon possessed, for his ascetic lifestyle and his bold preaching, which happened to condemn most especially them, the Jewish elite. 

  Neither would they rejoice with the life-giving Jesus, who was too extravagant with His favor, associating with tax-collectors and sinners.  Jesus did not mimic John by living in the wilderness and eating bugs.  No, even more shocking, He made a habit of talking to, blessing, and even eating and drinking with despised and lowly, sinful people. 

   “What are you wearing on October 31^st?” is a good Christian question.  At Halloween, children and adults enjoy pretending to be something they are not, putting on a costume and play acting in a make-believe role.  This can be good or bad.  But the reality is, all of us are donning outfits and play acting all the time.  We can’t avoid it really; it’s been this way from almost the beginning.  Ever since Adam and Eve tried to take on a new identity, when they tried to be like God.  Sadly, they ended up exposed as sinners, naked before the Holy, Holy, Holy LORD. 

   And how did the LORD help them out?  Well, first He made a promise, the promise of a Seed who would come from the woman and crush the serpent’s skull.  And then, God made them clothing from animal skins, covering their nakedness and shame, until it could be taken away forever.  Some un-named animal, perhaps a male sheep, gave his life to clothe our first parents.  And so, in Scripture alone began to sound the saving Word.  These first blood-bought animal skins foreshadowed the robes of righteousness, which Isaiah prophesied, clothes that cover sin and save sinners.  Jesus accomplished the sin-covering atonement, and so revealed the righteousness of God, found in Christ alone.  This is the free gift that saves, which is received by faith alone.  It is not necessary for us to earn this gift: then it wouldn’t be a gift.  And thanks be to God for this, because we could never do the works required to earn it.  God rejoices to give salvation to you, without any payment from you.  Clothed in Christ, the Father declares that we are holy, saints of God, by faith in Jesus. 

   But why does believing in Jesus gain you this new outfit, clothing from heaven, robes of righteousness?  Because Jesus wasn’t just the rabbi who most perfectly fulfilled the teacher’s role.  He was not just a physician who most perfectly fulfilled the healer’s role.  He was not just a man who led His people, showing that a truly good king loves and serves His nation.  Jesus of Nazareth was all of that, yes, but even more, He is God, become a man.  Jesus, the all-powerful and ineffable LORD, the eternal Son of the Father, put on human flesh, being born of the Virgin Mary, the One truly Just Man.  The Righteous One.  And this Incarnation miracle was not just a temporary costume change.  Jesus took on our humanity forever, in order to perfect it, to fulfill our calling as the crown of creation by trusting completely in His Father.  Then He sacrificed Himself, so that He could share His perfection, His holiness, His righteousness and goodness, with us.  Because He is forever the perfect Man, we have forever perfection, in Him.        

   What are you wearing on October 31^st? 

   I would prefer that none of us wear costumes that contradict and corrupt who we are in Christ Jesus.  It can be harmless fun to put on a costume and pretend for a while.  But be wise, because harmless fun can turn dark quickly.  You might dress up as Bigfoot.  But pretending to be an ax-wielding murderer or a flesh-eating zombie would be to celebrate violence, and death, which is the enemy.  Maybe you want to go to a Halloween party as a medical professional.  Fine.  But not as a “sexy-nurse”.  This is not what God, who has given you your body, and gave His Son to redeem it, would have you do with your body.  We who have been clothed in Christ are called to keep our garments pure and spotless.  We can and should make wise choices about the personas we adopt, even if only for a night. 

   But we do not keep our robes of righteousness pure and clean.  Even if we swear off Halloween altogether, and spend our October 31^st reading Martin Luther and the Bible he translated, even still, we daily sin much and soil the righteous robes that Jesus has won for us.  Reading Luther, and especially reading the Bible, are wise and wonderful things to do, on October 31^st and every day.  Indeed, the more consistently you hear and read God’s Word, the more easily you will see the sin that remains within you.  Which sounds bad, but truly is a good thing.  God through His Word will always point out where and when you fail to live the holy life He has called you to live.  But do not despair, for along with conviction for sin, the Word also delivers redemption from sin.  Even as the Spirit shows you your sin, He also shows you your Savior.  The Lord is patient with you, bringing you to repentance, in order to restore you with His forgiveness.  All of this to say that each day God in His Word calls you to wash your robes and make them white again, in the blood of the Lamb. 

   Wisdom is justified by her deeds.  Jesus closes our Gospel reading today by switching metaphors; but in this switch, He ties all His teaching together.  How should we understand this?  Do our wise deeds justify us?  No!  This is what the Jewish elite, the Pharisees and Scribes and Rabbis all thought and taught.  This is the same lie that had choked out the God’s truth in the medieval Church, the darkness that God dispelled through Luther’s rediscovery of the pure Gospel. 

   Our deeds, our works are neither wise, nor can they justify us.  If we human beings could justify ourselves, if we could make ourselves right with God, then there was no reason for Jesus to sacrifice Himself on the altar of the Cross. 

   Wisdom is a person, and that person is Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ come down from heaven, the Word of God made flesh.  He is justified by His deeds.  Jesus is justified, shown to be good, righteous and holy before God His Father, through His life of love, the darkness of His death, and the brilliant light of His resurrection.  And the Good News, the Gospel, is this:  His justice, His righteousness, is so great, that He can and does share it with all who see and trust in Him.  By faith, John the Baptist is caught up in the justifying work of Jesus.  And so are you.  Enlightened by Jesus’ glory, justified by His work, you stand innocent and holy before the Father, covered, dressed, in the perfect work of Christ.  Our Teacher, our Savior, has gone before us to the eternal Judge and has secured our “not guilty” verdict. 

   What are you wearing?  The right answer is the same, whether we think of October 31^st, November 1^st, or any other day between now and that great Day when Jesus will appear again on the clouds, to usher us into the new heavens and new earth.  Every day, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus, we go on our way, dressed in the righteousness of Christ.  To be sure, when we look inside ourselves, when we examine our hearts and minds and actions, we feel like we are just wearing a costume.  But the Holy Spirit constantly calls us to look up, to look outside ourselves.  Look to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who hung naked on the Cross in our place.  Jesus despised the shame and accepted the suffering, in order to win the victory for us, for you.    

   Christians are little Christs, because we are clothed in Him.  God the Father looks at you believers and sees His beloved Son, and so you are also beloved.  And God is not the only one who sees you.  As you live by faith, depending on God’s grace, as you walk humbly with your God, seeking to love others as you have been loved, as you daily repent, and seek the robe-washing forgiveness of the Lamb, others will see you.  Souls who do not yet trust in Christ will see you, and wonder.  Some may ask, and you get to tell them the reason for your hope.  All of us together get to invite them to join us to find the perfect clothing, in Christ Jesus alone, today, on October 31^st, and forever and ever, Amen.  

  

The King Is Coming - Sermon for Lutheran Women in Mission Sunday

Lutheran Women in Mission Sunday
October 22^nd, Year of Our + Lord 2023
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
The King Is Coming!   Matthew 11 and Isaiah 2

   The King is coming!  The King is coming, with salvation in His train, coming to rescue His people by offering Himself as our ransom.  The King is coming, and so the question before us is, of course, how many Hebrew and Greek words should we learn today? 

   Today we especially celebrate the work of our faithful women, in particular the work of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, those purple-clad gals who do so much, locally, nationally and internationally, to enable, support and participate in the extension of God’s Kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel, and the demonstration of love towards our neighbors in need.  Maybe such a focus doesn’t make you long to expand your acquaintance with the Biblical languages.  If so, you are missing out, and you could learn a thing or two from the Dorcas Circle at Our Redeemer. 

   A couple of Mondays ago I led a Bible Study for their monthly meeting.  I passed out Psalm 73 in two translations, the New King James and the English Standard Versions, side by side in two columns.  I wanted to use differences in the two translations to get at significance of the Psalm, to show how their different approaches to various verses help reveal the original Hebrew’s meaning, which can be hard to render in English. 

   I only meant the discussion of differences in translation to be a minor part of our study.  But immediately the questions started coming.  “How can two versions differ so greatly in a given verse?”  “How come the NKJV is so much shorter that the ESV, here and here and here?”  “Why do different translators arrive at such different end products?”  And of course, “Which translation is best for us to use in our personal devotions?”   I went about twenty minutes over my alloted time, barely covered the Psalm, and didn’t begin to respond adequately to all their questions.  Which is great.  And so why not dig into the languages again a bit today, on Lutheran Women in Mission Sunday?  Perhaps expound a bit on the subtle differences between ‘piel,’ ‘pual’ and ‘hithpael’ forms of Hebrew verbs?  Or the distinctions between ‘aorist’ and ‘imperfect’ imperatives in Greek? 

   Or, maybe not.  To be honest, beyond looking up and repeating those terms, I couldn’t really say much more, other than by reading out of a dusty textbook.  I was never great at the details of the grammar of Biblical Hebrew or Greek.  I got by in seminary by knowing vocabulary, by recognizing words, the way kindergartners learn to read.  So maybe we could look at just two words in our readings today.  Lord willing, these two won’t make your eyes glaze over, but rather will open our eyes to see and understand our coming King a bit better.

   Our two words this morning are‘chrestos’ and ‘torah.’   Chrestos comes from the end of our reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel, and means good, kind, or merciful.  Torah comes in our Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah, and means, well, ‘torah.’ 

    Torah is a Hebrew word a bit like the New Testament word Gospel.  Gospel most simply means ‘good news.’  Through the centuries, however, it has taken on various meanings.  Today, it can refer a style of music, or be used to indicate something is really true, as in “that’s the gospel truth!”   Biblically, Gospel can refer to any of the first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, or to the overall teaching of Christ.  Or, Gospel can narrowly refer to the Good News that, despite our sinfulness, God in Christ has achieved our salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

   Similarly, ‘torah’ means the teaching, or the instruction of God.  It is also used to refer to the Books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the first 5 books of the Old Testament.  Unfortunately, in our English Bibles, most often ‘torah’ is translated with ‘law.’  There are a number of reasons for this that we won’t get into, since I promised to only talk about two words. 

   And the Torah of God certainly does contain the law.  As in the 10 Commandments found in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and all the other rules, regulations and commands of the LORD, recorded by Moses.  But translating ‘torah’ with ‘law’ loses the best part.  Moses didn’t just preach the Law, he also proclaimed God’s promise and plan to save sinners.  The law of God is good and right; but it leaves us without hope, because we cannot fulfill it.  But the Torah of God includes the Gospel, the good news of God’s gift of salvation. 

   We might do better to translate ‘torah’ with ‘law and gospel,’ but that would be cumbersome.  Perhaps ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’ would be better, but those words are very generic, and lose touch with the Biblical content of ‘torah.’  So, as many Hebrew scholars encourage, in our Isaiah 2 passage, I left the Hebrew ‘torah’ as simply ‘torah.’

   I think this is especially helpful today, when our theme is the “The King is Coming.’ Isaiah declares the Torah goes out from Zion, and the Word goes out from Jerusalem.  Then Isaiah declares this Torah, this Word, is a person, a man with authority, sent from God, who will judge between the nations and end all the fighting that plagues the human race.  Mankind’s weapons, swords and spears made for killing, will be re-purposed, beaten into plows and pruning hooks, for cultivating food.  This man who is the ‘Torah’ and the ‘Word,’ is the reason that the nations are attracted to God’s holy mountain.  He is the resident in the House of the Lord, and He gives light, a light that enables us to walk together in Way of God.  

    Putting all of Scripture together, like from St. John’s prologue where we learn the Word who is God became flesh and dwelt among us, to give light and life to men, we realize that Isaiah is teaching us that the message of Moses, the Torah of God, is more than rules and teaching.  The Torah is the Son of God Himself, made to be a man, our flesh and blood Savior.  He is the coming King who both fulfills the ‘torah’ of God, and is the Torah, God’s total message of warning and redemption, of law and gospel, of salvation for sinners, fulfilled and revealed in the man, Jesus.  Jesus of Nazareth is the ‘torah’ in the flesh, and that news is very good. 

   Good, as in ‘chrestos.’   Just as I replaced ‘law’ with ‘torah’ in our Isaiah 2 reading,
I also changed one word from the ESV translation of our Gospel.  And maybe you heard it.  At the end of our Gospel, Jesus proclaims:  “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is good, and my burden is light.”  “My yoke is good?”  Is that how you remember that verse?  How is it usually rendered?  “My yoke is easy.”  This is where our second word ‘chrestos’ comes in.  Jesus says my yoke is ‘chrestos.’  And almost every translation goes with something like ‘easy.’ 

   But here’s the thing: in every other case where the word ‘chrestos’ is used in the New Testament, it is translated with ‘’good’ or ‘kind’  or ‘merciful.’  Only in Matthew 11:30 is ‘chrestos’ translated ‘easy.’  I suspect ‘easy’ is chosen by translators to match the next adjective, the ‘light burden.’  Translators at least since Jerome, translating the Bible into Latin in the 4^th and 5^th centuries, have said Jesus yoke is ‘easy.’  Now, I’m not saying I know better than all those other translators through the centuries.  I could be wrong,  and ‘easy’ may be the best translation.  But ‘good’ is certainly also a correct translation, and I think it opens up a lot of meaning. 

   Because, what kind of yoke would we ever think of as ‘easy?’  This is not an egg
yoke, by the way.  Rather this yoke refers to a heavy wooden bar that goes over the neck of a beast of burden, to which ropes are tied, so that the beast can pull something.  Like oxen or draft horses pulling a cart or a plow.  So, what is the “yoke” of which Jesus speaks?  I cannot hear this verse without thinking of our Lord bearing His cross up Calvary Hill, to be stretched out upon it, nailed in place, as He bore the burden of the sins of the whole world.  “Take my yoke upon you” is very similar to Jesus saying, many times, “take up your cross and follow me.” 

   And so, as we wrestle with how best to translate “my yoke is chrestos,” let me ask you:  Was Jesus’ yoke, His burden, His central task, ‘easy?’  Was His yoke ‘easy’ or was it, while being the most difficult thing ever accomplished, also the very highest ‘good’?   And, as a follower of Jesus, is bearing His yoke, bearing the crosses He brings into your life, is this task ‘easy,’ or is it ‘good’? 

   Christian husbands, when your calling is to suffer, even unto death, for the good of your wife, as Christ did for His bride, the Church, is this ‘easy’?  I dare say not, but it is definitely good.  Mothers, you must suffer in order to bring new life, a new soul, into this world.  Is this God-given task easy?  Is it good?  It is most definitely good, but, as I have been told and have observed, it is certainly not easy. 

   Believers in Jesus, you are plagued by the same diseases that threaten and kill all people, but we are called to bear them as Christians.  Sickness is given us to bind us closer to God, and even to use our physical suffering as an opportunity to show forth and share our faith in Christ.  Is this easy?  No, but it is definitely good, a good witness to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to proclaim His Good News to those around you who do not yet trust in Him. 

   Christians, when the world, including your friends and neighbors, make living as a Christian and confessing God’s truth difficult, is this easy?  Sometimes it is just smirks and snide remarks.  Sometimes it is direct insult, or mocking.  Sometimes it becomes real persecution, a threat to your relationships, your job, your livelihood, or even, to your life.  Is confessing your faith in Christ easy?  Is it good?  Yes, it is wonderful!

   Bearing the yoke of Jesus is good.  It is not always easy.  But it is, in the end, always a light burden, when you dare to shoulder it.  Not light because it is easy, but light because of the One who bears it with you.  Your King has come, and He is still coming to you, day by day.  When you heed His call to take up His yoke, you are never alone.  Your yoke, dear Christian, is never a single yoke, for you to bear by yourself.  The yoke Christ calls you to bear is always double, because He is always there, right beside you.  He yoked Himself to you in your Baptism, and He will not leave you.  You bear yokes alongside the Torah of God become a man, and He does all the heavy lifting. 

   And so, whether you are a member of the LWML or not, you can rejoice to know the King, who has come, who has borne your burden and lifted all the weight of sin and guilt and death from your shoulders.  Your King is with you, always, until the end of the age, when He will come visibly, to lead you and all His people in that final triumphant procession into the glory of His Father. 

   This is the reason for our hope, the fount of goodness and mercy which leads us to care for our neighbors, and most especially to share the Torah, to share the Word of the Lord, with everyone we can.  For our King has borne the burden of all sinners, and wills to share His good yoke with all people. 

   How good it is to know the Torah, and to be yoked to Him, today, and forever and ever, Amen.            

Come to the Wedding Feast - Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
October 15^th, A+D 2023
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Come to the Wedding Feast! – Matthew 22:1-14

Come one, come all, come to the Wedding Feast of the Beloved Son of the King! 

   What’s that you say, you have nothing to wear?   You feel you cannot come, that you are not worthy, because you have no garment fit to wear to the King’s wedding feast?  No worries, the Father of the Groom knows you.  He knows you and your wardrobe better than you know yourself.  And so, with His invitation to the Wedding Feast, He provides your wedding garment.  So, come, come to the feast and rejoice! 

   Our Lord used many parables to proclaim the coming of His new kingdom, I think because they are vivid and memorable, treasured human activities that God can use to help us understand and believe in His divine act of salvation.  Planting and growing and harvesting wheat.  Fishing.  Building a house upon sand or rock.  And as we just heard, a wedding feast, a joyous family celebration following the beginning of a new, no holding back, all-in-for-love relationship. 

   Now, God’s Kingdom and His plan for your salvation do not work exactly like a normal farm, or a fishing boat operation.  The Church of God is not literally a building. And the wedding of Christ and His Church is unique, not like any earthly marriage.  But all that is good and joyful and true in a wedding feast and a marriage is used by the Holy Spirit to help us understand the depth and height and length of the love of God for His Church. 

   It is challenging for us when God mixes and stretches His metaphors.  Throughout the Bible, God uses human activities and institutions to describe His relationship to His Church.  But He never allows Himself to be bound by earthly rules or realities.  The Lord expresses truths that go beyond earthly limitations, for our good. 

   For example, the entirety of all Christians, taken together, is called, in the singular, the Bride of Christ, the one for whom He laid down His life, in order to present her pure and spotless before His Father. 

   At the same time, each individual Christian is invited to come and dine at the wedding feast, to don with great joy the garment provided by the Father, and join in the party, celebrating the wedding of the Son, along with all the other invited guests.  How can it be that we are collectively the Bride, and yet individually we are also invited guests, called to enter into the wedding feast with joy? 

   Don’t try too hard to figure it out.  Rather, ponder both sides of God’s salvation-as-marriage metaphor to understand just how great the Good News of Jesus truly is. 

 

   Christ desires to win His Bride, and so in love He comes and does more than we can fully grasp to win her hand in marriage.  Even though she had repeatedly rejected Him, He still lay down His life, taking all her sins, that is, all our sins, taking them upon Himself, in order to win her hand.  The dowry paid, the victory won, the joyful banquet prepared, now the Father calls out to all humanity:  Come one, come all, come to the Wedding Feast of the Beloved Son of the King! 

    But some prefer their busy-ness and worldly things more than the free invitation.  They scorn it, rejecting the message.  Some abuse and even kill the Father’s messengers.  They come to regret their mistake. 

    Nevertheless, the Father will have His banquet hall filled.  So He sends His messengers to call out to one and all, regardless of their worthiness, the evil and the good, even providing them with the wedding clothes they need to attend the feast.

    To all those who rightly understand the filthy rags of their sinfulness and their need for a Savior, the Lord reveals the depth of His love.  Because it’s true: You are not worthy.  You have nothing fit to wear to God’s wedding feast.  And for precisely this reason, the Father of the Groom, who knows you better than you know yourself, sent His Son to weave a robe of righteousness for you, woven from the Body and Blood of Jesus, broken and poured out for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins. 

    Implicit in the invitation to the Wedding Feast of Jesus Christ is the truth that the Groom, sitting at the head table at the right hand of the Father, proudly bears scars in His Body, scars that proclaim your unworthiness is forgotten, it is washed away.  Christ’s robe of righteousness has been given to you in your Baptism.  His holiness covers you.  Believe this good news, and come rejoicing to the feast the Father has prepared! 

    There are two unpleasant interruptions of our happy parable.  First, neither God nor we can take any pleasure in the destruction of those invited guests who scorned the Father’s invitation.  Their condemnation is just, they knowingly and openly rejected the invitation.  But it is sad and grim, nonetheless.   Protect us from foolishly rejecting your invitation, dear Father in heaven.  Harder still perhaps is what happens at the end of the parable.  A guest is found by the Father, a guest who has entered into the banquet, but without the wedding garment he had been given.  That’s a no-go.  He is cast out from the bright wedding hall, into the outer darkness, to suffer for his unworthiness.    

     Why?  If the Father desires all to come to the feast, why does He throw this man out? 

    Because the wedding garment the King gives to each guest is absolutely necessary.  The wedding garment is necessary, for you, and for me, and for any other sinner, necessary for us to sit at the wedding feast, that is, to enter into God’s kingdom.  Because on our own, in the clothes of our own deeds, we are unworthy sinners.  The wedding garment is, as we have already observed, the very righteousness and holiness of Christ, which is granted to you by faith in the invitation, faith in the promise of Christ, that, even though we all are sinners, who sin and deserve the eternal condemnation of God, in Jesus we have perfect forgiveness and eternal life. 

    To try to enter into God’s kingdom, into the wedding feast, without wearing the garment Christ provides is to try to enter based on our own righteousness, our own holiness.  Which is impossible, because we have neither.  But, God in His grace and mercy has provided the way, the way of Christ and His blood bought righteousness, which He shares with all who hear and believe His Word.  Repenting of our sins and resting in the grace of Christ, our seat at the eternal wedding feast is assured.  But if we try to claim our own right to enter, if we try to weave our own wedding garments, we have nothing to say.  If we should reject the Father’s mercy, we would damn ourselves. 

    The eternally fateful error of the guest who tried to come in his own filthy rags is the fundamental error that Christians most often fall into.  Self-righteousness is the error we must all be constantly vigilant against.  As you clearly stated in your call to me to be your pastor, I have the responsibility and privilege of declaring the truth of Christ, of announcing the free invitation to the wedding feast, to all who will listen.  I do this as the public minister of this congregation.  And every Christian is also called to be ready to declare this truth, the reason for our hope, to anyone they meet in their daily lives.  So, through our words, and prayers, yours and mine together, we look forward to welcoming many people to the Wedding Banquet.  The Church calls all people to repent of trusting in dead human works, and to trust instead in the free gift of the Bride Groom, Jesus Christ. 

    And so, what joy we have today.  For the heavenly wedding banquet is not some far off event, to which we can only look forward.  No, the Eternal Feast has begun, and we have access to it every time we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins. 

    The same Christ who will host us at the heavenly banquet is also present
here, feeding us week after week.  At the Lord´s Table, as humble as it may seem to our eyes, we truly receive a foretaste of the feast to come, and divine strength for our remaining pilgrimage on this earth. 

    In the age to come, our banqueting will be in the visible presence of God, fantastic beyond our dreams, and without pause.  Oh, how we long for that promised vision to become sight!  And yet we also rejoice today, for in each Supper, eternity breaks into our time and space, to wash us clean of all our sins, again, preparing and preserving us for the eternal wedding feast of the Son, Jesus Christ. 

    So, every chance you get, come.  Come one, come all, come to the Wedding Feast of the Beloved Son of the King.  Come confessing your sins, and eat and drink forgiveness, rejoicing in your beautiful wedding garments, woven for you by Jesus, Amen. 

This Is the Day! Sermon for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 8^th, Year of Our + Lord 2023
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
This Is the Day!  Psalm 118, Philippians 3:4-14, Matthew 21:33-46

   “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

    Wait a minute, that’s just how the sermon started last Sunday.  And, despite the cheery sound of that verse, things took a humble turn.  Humility, not rejoicing, was what we talked about.  Or better said, we talked about humility first, and then how Christian humility leads to rejoicing. 

   “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  This verse, Psalm 118:24, has been on my mind a lot lately.  I’m not sure if we still have it, but for years, through many moves, Shelee kept a window cling of Ps. 118:24.  It looks like stain glass, but it’s soft plastic, or latex, or something, so it sticks to glass.  There’s a rainbow, I think, and the verse: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”   At our last home in Spain, it adorned the window in our kitchen, which has been its usual location through our many moves.  As far as I know, we don’t have it up right now.   

   I really like that window cling, because of the verse.  Each day is a gift from God, given to us for our joy and celebration.  This a Christian truth.  We know God the Father, and we belong to Him, and He provides for us, day by day.  As we recited a few minutes ago, this is how Martin Luther explains the 1^st Article of the Creed.  God is our Creator and Sustainer and Provider, every good thing comes from Him, freely, from His merciful heart.  And so it is most certainly true that I should always thank and praise, serve and obey Him.  Easy-peasy.  You always feel that way, right? 

   Many days are wonderful, but not all of them.  On Wednesday afternoons, the young faces piling out of the van and into Our Redeemer for CSC² are usually full of smiles and happiness.  But not always.  Some days, even their young hearts are weighed down.  At the other end of life’s chronology, plenty of the members of Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer have remarked that the golden years aren’t so golden.  Unless of course you’re referring to all the gold you have to pay your doctors and the pharmacy.  Life is good, except when it isn’t.  At any age, sometimes the not-so-great days can pile up, and make the verse “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” a little hard to take. 

   Last week I used this verse as pivot, to talk about humility.  This week, we’ll dig into Psalm 118 itself, to see what more the Lord means to teach us with this verse.  What kind of day is this day, which the Lord declares is worthy of our rejoicing?  Can we figure out if God is referring to some specific day?     

   Would you believe that the marvelous day God has made for rejoicing is the day the wicked tenants murdered the lord of the vineyard’s son?  Or, probably better said, that day, combined with the third day, when the Son was raised victorious from the dead.  The Son’s Resurrection Day can never be separated from the day of His death.  Without the once-for-all death that preceded it, the Empty Tomb has no good meaning for anyone except Jesus.  But combined with the death of the Son, the Resurrection means everything, for you, and for me, and for all people. 

   Listen again to verses 22 through 24 of Psalm 118, which served as the heart of our Introit, our entrance Psalm, this morning.   

The stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

   This is a great and difficult mystery.  The rejection of the Stone is a work of the Lord, along with it’s elevation to the head of the corner.  The Crucifixion of our Lord, even as it is terrible, is also marvelous, wonderful in our eyes, the eyes of faith.  Jesus’ interpretation of this Psalm as the explanation of the terrible parable of the wicked tenants makes this connection inescapable, as does the context of this conversation and the events which followed soon after. 

   I wonder how the people of Israel understood Psalm 118:24 down through centuries.  As they sang it in the Temple, the Synagogue, and while they went about their days, did they ask who or what exactly was this stone rejected by the builders?  And what is the structure for which the rejected stone became the head of the corner, the cornerstone that holds it all together? 

   That Psalm 118 was seen as a messianic psalm, a song about the promised coming Savior, is evidenced by the Palm Sunday crowds shouting the next verses from it while Jesus rode the donkey’s colt into the city.  From verses 25 and 26 the crowds cried out to Jesus:  Hosanna!  That is, “Save us, we pray, O Lord! ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.” 

   The crowds believed John the Baptist and Jesus were at minimum Godly prophets.  On Palm Sunday they went further and praised the Nazarene as the promised Messiah, the Christ come to save and rule forever on King David’s throne.  Jesus in His teaching to the Chief Priests and Elders affirms this association.   He is the Son, sent by the Lord to receive the harvest of souls that the Father desires.  But by the parable, Jesus prophesies His elevation, His vindication, in surprising, frightening terms.  As the Lord of the Vineyard’s Son was killed by the tenants the Lord had left in charge, so also Jesus would be killed by the Elders, Priests and Pharisees, delivered to death through false accusations presented to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. 

  And yet, this is the day that the Lord has made.  So let us rejoice and be glad in it!  Every day is now a day for rejoicing, because the frightening death of the Son and the glory of His Resurrection create a new reality.  And we live in this new reality every day. 

   There are many troubling things happening in the world today, from Ukraine to Israel to San Francisco, to the halls of our schools and the homes of our communities.  Our ubiquitous screens bring all of it before our eyes, instantly, and constantly, if we let them.  But your reality is not determined by today’s bad news, nor by the fraying and decaying of our society.  I’m not suggesting these things aren’t important.  I’m not saying we don’t need to recognize the times and repent of the many ways we go along with the debauchery.  God’s people are to live in this world as long as the Lord wills, but we are not to be of this world. 

   We are called to be holy, set apart, to stand out by the message we carry, the Gospel message that gives life.  It is certainly true for me, and I suspect also for each one of you, that we would benefit from more of God’s Word in our ears, and less of the world’s distractions and temptations.  God’s Word will lead us to pray, and to serve our neighbors, and to remember who we are in Christ.      

   I’m not saying that the world is not in trouble, that the days are not dark in many ways.  What I am saying is that nothing can change the fact that your ‘today,’ Christian, is always defined by the events of those three special days almost 2,000 years ago.  The Stone has been rejected, and has been elevated to the head of the corner.  That Stone is Jesus Christ, and the building He holds together is His Church, the Temple of living stones that the Spirit builds by the washing of Water and the Word. 

   This day, the New Day of the Crucified and Resurrected Christ, is what shaped the Apostle Paul’s radical perspective.   Paul’s past as a Jewish scholar and zealot was impressive.  In his present circumstance, as a persecuted and imprisoned missionary for this strange new sect called the Christian Church, Paul might well have been tempted to long for his prior days as a Pharisee of Pharisees.  But no, they are garbage to him, worthless. 

   From prison, Paul declares:  “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  

   If Paul’s ‘today’ was a good day, a day when he could teach and preach and enjoy the fellowship of his Christian brothers and sisters, then Paul rejoiced in the salvation he received as a free gift from Jesus.  If Paul’s ‘day’ was full of rejection and suffering for the Gospel, he still rejoiced, because this rejection was also a sign that Paul was connected to Jesus.  Every day was an opportunity to hear and rejoice again in the gift of Christ’s righteousness, which gives forgiveness and salvation to every sinner who hears and believes.   

   What was true for Paul is also true for you.  This day, and every day, is the day that the Lord has made for you, the day of your salvation.  So without question we should rejoice and be glad in it!  Because you have already won.  Your future and your today are both secure in the nail-scarred hands of the Christ. 

   In one sense, we only celebrate Good Friday and Easter once every year.  In another sense, every Sunday that we gather here we return to Calvary, and the resurrected Jesus comes to us with His peace.  And so we cry out, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”  And, in between Sundays, every day that you wake up and remember that you are a child of God, this day is also a celebration of the Cross and Empty Tomb.  Every day is truly the day the Lord has made, the day of Jesus Christ.  Rest and rejoice in His victory, for you, Amen.