Our Savior Lutheran Church - Muscatine, Iowa, USA

Making Friends of God with Unrighteous Wealth

The Ninth Sunday after Holy Trinity

August 18-19, 2019

Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Victor Hugo may have had the parable of the unjust steward in mind, when he wrote the famous candlestick scene with the bishop and Jean-Valjean.  The main character of Victor Hugo’s famous book had just been released from prison and was unable to find work or a place to stay.   

When he was finally invited to eat and then spend the night with the kindly old bishop.  Early in the morning full of bitterness Jean stole silver plates and utensils as he left the house.  He was caught by the police that same morning and brought him back to the bishop. The bishop pretended that he gave Jean the silver as a gift.  And on top of that the bishop gave him a pair of matching silver candlesticks which he had not stolen to add to the gift.  

It is quite a picture of mercy.  And that by the way of the word miserable.  It means in need of mercy. That is what we mean when we confess that we are poor miserable sinners.  We need mercy.

In any case in the novel this event re-birthed Jean Valjean and drives the whole story.  

The parable of the unjust steward portrays a similar surprise.  It is not unlike giving silver candlesticks to a thief who has already stolen plates and silverware.  The steward or manager in our translation had stolen from the rich man. He had wasted his property. When called to give an account he stole even more. Using bribes to win friends.  

We expect the rich man to be outraged.  To be infuriated and frustrated. We expect that justice would require this man who wasted property and then stole more.  Instead, the rich man commends the thief for stealing.

This is not a parable to show us how much God is like us.  God is not like us.   

The fruit of the parables is in the distinction, in the surprise, how God is not like us.

This is not the way we behave.  Justice wants those who steal to pay it back.  It doesn’t commend them for it. But here is how God is different than us.  God wants to give His kingdom away. However it was that the steward was wasting the rich man’s property it was rectified when the rich man’s debtors were forgiven the debt, not when they paid it back.  Here is the point: God wants to give His goods away to those who sought to steal from Him. He wants as sons and daughters the very people who murdered His beloved Son. And He wants to bestow His kingdom upon rebels who plotted against Him.  We are not worthy of such mysteries and joys but God bestows this Good News upon us in His Holy Word.  

Our Lord interprets this parable when He says “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into eternal blessings.  This is the key. For who can receive you into an eternal dwelling?  

Only God.

Therefore our Lord tells you to make a friend for yourself of God through unrighteous mammon and wealth that you might be received into eternity.  What unrighteous wealth could you use to bribe God? Stolen wealth. Only that which belongs to another. Which is not yours by right. That which you cannot buy or earn so it must be stolen.  The innocent die for the guilty. That injustice is the very foundation of the kingdom and of creation.

And this is the shocking character of grace.  God wants to give away His goods to the very people who stole from Him.  To the very people who murdered His beloved Son. And He wants to bestow His kingdom on rebels guilty of treason who plotted against Him.  The father forsakes the son in order to have you. He declares that the guilty are innocent. And he accepts payment from the son for your debt.

Then He goes so far as to say you were never guilty.  And He has even more to give. More than you tried to steal.  He adds candlesticks to plates and spoons. It is not “write down 80 when you owe 100.”  It is not even “write down 0.” He takes the pad and He adds a credit. You end up with more than you sought to steal.  You are not less in debt or even with God but you are actually rewarded for trying to steal from Him. He pays more than justice demands; our cups overflow.

And that is the unrighteous wealth.  The stolen wealth that makes God a friend of sinners.  It is the blood of Jesus Christ from the cross and the chalice that welcomes sinners into eternal dwellings as God’s own friends when this creation fails.  

Our Lord also says that we are to be faithful with unrighteous wealth.  That is we are to be faithful in thievery. To be faithful in this thievery is to recognize that the blood of Jesus Christ is desirable to want it to honor it to love it and to keep on taking it.  

The blood of Jesus Christ.  His death and resurrection. His innocent, substitutionary suffering is the currency of heaven which is given in perfect generosity to thieving sinners who receive even more than what they sought to steal. 

The Psalmist asks what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits of the Lord to me.  And he answers, “I shall take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. What shall I give to the Lord for all the things He has done to me.  The Psalmist says, I will take more.  

God wants to give away His goods.  He wants sons and daughters declared out of the very people who murdered His very son.  And he wants to bestow His kingdom upon rebels guilty of treason who plotted against Him; in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes understanding, guard and keep you in body and soul through Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Amen.

The catechetical writing is from the Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession IV (II) 62, 64-67

References are linked to www.bookofconcord.org as well as the whole Book of Concord.

62] Christ, in the last chapter of Luke 24:47, commands that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name. For the Gospel convicts all men that they are under sin, that they all are subject to eternal wrath and death, and offers, for Christ's sake, remission of sin and justification, which is received by faith. The preaching of repentance, which accuses us, terrifies consciences with true and grave terrors. [For the preaching of repentance, or this declaration of the Gospel: Amend your lives! Repent! when it truly penetrates the heart, terrifies the conscience, and is no jest, but a great terror, in which the conscience feels its misery and sin, and the wrath of God.] In these, hearts ought again to receive consolation. This happens if they believe the promise of Christ, that for His sake we have remission of sins. This faith, encouraging and consoling in these fears, receives remission of sins, justifies and quickens. For this consolation is a new and spiritual 63] life [a new birth and a new life]. These things are plain and clear, and can be understood by the pious, and have testimonies of the Church [as is to be seen in the conversion of Paul and Augustine]. The adversaries nowhere can say how the Holy Ghost is given. They imagine that the Sacraments confer the Holy Ghost ex opere operato, without a good emotion in the recipient, as though indeed, the gift of the Holy Ghost were an idle matter.

64] But since we speak of such faith as is not an idle thought, but of that which liberates from death and produces a new life in hearts, [which is such a new light, life, and force in the heart as to renew our heart, mind, and spirit, makes new men of us and new creatures,] and is the work of the Holy Ghost; this does not coexist with mortal sin [for how can light and darkness coexist?], but as long as it is present, produces good 65] fruits, as we will say after a while. For concerning the conversion of the wicked, or concerning the mode of regeneration, what can be said that is more simple and more clear? Let them, from so great an array of writers, adduce a single commentary upon the Sententiae that speaks 66] of the mode of regeneration. When they speak of the habit of love, they imagine that men merit it through works, and they do not teach that it is received through the Word, precisely as also the Anabaptists teach at this time. 67] But God cannot be treated with, God cannot be apprehended, except through the Word. Accordingly, justification occurs through the Word, just as Paul says, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise Rom. 10:17: Faith cometh by hearing. And proof can be derived even from this that faith justifies, because, if justification occurs only through the Word, and the Word is apprehended only by faith, it follows that faith justifies. 

Sixth Sunday after Holy Trinity

July 28-29, 2019

of God’s love into something perverse. Anyone who says: “God forgives my sins so my sins don’t matter and I can do what I want” is a blasphemer.

in today’s Gospel. He says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” The Law is not evil, nor is it arbitrary. Its moral code and patterns are good. They embody and express God’s good and gracious will. It was not an accusation when God told Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden. Nor did it damn him. It was simply good. It instructed Adam. It taught him who God was and who he was. The Law is still good even though our fallen flesh hates and chafes against it. The Law has not been abolished and it cannot be abolished. It has, however, been fulfilled and thus in being fulfilled it instructs the Christian more fully than before.

The Law is fulfilled by Our Lord’s active and passive obedience.

He lived according to the Law of Moses. He did not engage in lustful thoughts or envy or drunkenness. He loved his neighbor as Himself and held nothing back. He was good the way that we are evil. For He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary without sin and, though He was sorely tempted throughout His earthly life, and had to live among sin with sinners and with the consequences of other people’s sins, Jesus did not sin. He kept the law.

Even though He was without sin He suffered the full punishment due to sinners. He accepted the punishment meant for others. He fulfilled all of Justice’s demands against us. So He fulfilled the Law by doing everything it said to do and refraining from all that it forbid. He also fulfilled the law by allowing it to do to Him all it should have done to us. In this way, He ended the Law’s accusations against us and won our salvation to give to us as a gift without merit or worthiness in us. God be praised!

The Law was never arbitrary. Jesus did not jump through hoops for us. He kept the Law. The Law is God’s will for our lives. The active obedience of Jesus Christ was not only substitutionary. It is also an example. Fulfilling the Law shows Christians how to live and how to die. He not only resists temptation in our place and tells us to resist temptation but He also shows us how to resist temptation. He inspires us to fight harder because we love Him as sons love their Father and we want to be like Him. He shows us how to live, what is good, what love looks like.

He gave Himself as an example that you might rejoice and grow up in Him. Imagine the little boy who sees his father chopping wood and wants to be like him. Does the boy feel guilty that when he tries he does not do as good of a job as his father? No. He basks in his father’s attention and is eager for the day when he will be like him.

The Law is of interest to weak Christians and strong Christians, to the theologically immature, and to the theologically sophisticated. You can’t be a Christian and despise God’s Law. Having been fulfilled and embodied in Jesus Christ, the Law is more eternal, more substantial than ever. It does not pass away and to love Jesus is to love His Law.

He shows us how to live by faith, to trust in God’s goodness in the midst of evil, how to make a good confession, even, really, how to be a Christian, because He shows us how to die as He dies for us. He shows us not just how to resist temptation and keep the Law but also how to live in a world that is full of sin and sorrow and injustice.  Allowing the Law to do to Him what it should have done to us He makes the Law more real, more solid and lasting than it was before.

Now, in Christ, the innocent Man crucified, the Law has flesh and bones and is everlasting. Jesus is the very opposite of the man of lawlessness. Jesus is the Law in the Flesh, obedient to His Father in perfect joy.

For the sake of those who are in danger of despair, whose sins weigh heavy on them, who are disappointed in the messiness and pain of their lives, caused by their sins and the sins of others,

Jesus is quick and glad to forgive. Jesus receives and eats with sinners. The Law has been fulfilled in Jesus for you. Your sins are not too big or too shocking or too old. His grace is for you.

And because of those who are in danger of taking His mercy for granted, for the sake of those who might be deluded by delays and think their sins are insignificant or even honorable,

No one knows when his last hour will come. You do not know and you should fear God’s wrath and the possibility that the last day would come in the midst of your sin. You should repent and not become arrogant in hope as though it were a right. Even as we should not give in to despair but should trust in Christ’s fulfillment and promises, so also we should believe that Jesus has not come to abolish the Law.

“There is no one to accuse you, nor do I condemn you.” She was thereby secure in the past. Her sins were not counted against her. She was not condemned. Neither are you. Jesus loves you. Your past is forgiven. But then Jesus said to her: “Go and sin no more.” His law is not a recommendation or suggestion. Sin not only angers God. It also places the soul in peril. To you He says: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Sin is never trivial. Repent. Set your heart and mind once more to be free of sin, to amend your life, to bear fruits of repentance. And rest in the pardon bestowed constantly through the Word of God, prayer, and the Holy Sacraments. The crucified and risen Lord is every bit as serious in His promises and grace as He is in His holy Law.

and basking in his father’s attention, who knows that his father loves him. 

Fifth Sunday after Holy Trinity

Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

That cause great fear. One has always been horror films of any kind.  The kind when someone just jumps out and you just watching knowing that it is just a tv show or movie you still jump out of your skin.  I am one of those guys. I’ve never liked horror.  

But then there are other things that scare me.  One is a certain person who likes to knock on my door every once in a while and see me jump out of my chair.  That is not as scary as horror

And then there are other things that cause me fear.  They don’t cause me to jump up. But it is just looking at the Lord’s church.  And I think it is a shared fear. That we see the church in it’s current state.  The church in general. And it seems to be shrinking. It seems to be not a popular.  It seems to almost be passing out of our culture. This causes anxiety. Anxiety itself is a type of fear.  So we are afraid.

Jesus says to not be afraid.

That is also a phrase that doesn’t really work on me.  When someone tells me to stop being afraid, I can’t do it.  Maybe it works for you. But when someone tells me to stop feeling a certain way, I am not able to just stop feeling what I’m feel.

Do not be afraid for His church.  For what the Lord is doing is that He is calling people to His church.  In my fear, I will tend to forget that. Maybe you do to. Because there are popular ways to build up the Lord’s church.  But they are not linked here to our church.

One way, a very popular way, if we are going to build the church from the ground up is to find people are like minded.  People who like worshiping the way we like to worship. People who love Jesus they way we love Jesus. If we are all like-minded and we are all thinking and feeling the same thing then there is great unity in the church and people want to join that because people want to people.  So we could build a church by finding like-minded people to gather together.

But, what happens when one person in the group is not like-minded.  When there emotions are not identical to ours. Then the unity begins to break apart.  It’s one of the problems of building up the church by finding like-minded people.

There is another popular way to build up the church.  To give it a secure foundation. If we can just agree to a few teachings of Jesus.  If we can just agree that Jesus is God - that is a good thing. If we can just agree that the Bible is God’s Word - that is a good thing.  We will add in a few others. As long as we hold to a few doctrines, then people will flock into the church and the church will grow.

There is a third popular way to build up the church.  That is to agree to disagree. That we are all so different.  Different denominations. Different doctrines. Different minds.  Different feelings. We are all so different. We will say that is ok as long as we say we are Christians.  We will gather as Christians. Regardless of different teachings. Regardless of different feelings. It is a popular way to build up a church with a common foundation.

But all three of these have something missing.  They don’t speak precisely of what Jesus is doing.  They don’t speak of Jesus alone being the Lord of His church.  They don’t speak of Jesus creating His church by calling people to Himself.

Our text for today, is all on Jesus.  And when Jesus does His work, first people are flocking to Him.  He is doing miracles. He is speaking. And He is speaking strangely from the point of view from all the other religions in the worldly.  Different teachings. Different feelings. He is not saying we should agree to disagree. But He speaks and people are gathered around Him.

What is Jesus saying in His sermon?  The text skips over the words. It says He got into the boat.  And He taught them. And when He was finished then He spoke to those fishermen.  Put out your net. And they caught fish like they never caught fish before.

What was Jesus saying?  He was saying the same things that are recorded in the Old Testament.  He was speaking of Himself as being the Lord of Moses. Speaking of Himself as the Lord of all those Old Testament sacrifices.  Speaking of all those Old Testament prophecies that are fulfilled in Him. Jesus witness of Himself as being God. And Jesus spoke all things that the Father commanded Him to teach.

And then Jesus confirmed all these things by the miraculous catch of fish.

What was the reaction to the work of Jesus, the work of God in that location according to this Bible text?  Simon-Peter, who has been listening very closely to all of this. Simon-Peter who let down his net even though he knew that catching anything is next to impossible.  He catches so many fish. Peter falls on his knees before Jesus and says, “Depart from me, a sinner.”

Then Peter’s response is fear.  For what Jesus speaks He does. What Jesus promises He gives.  And now Peter is terrified. After Jesus does His work Peter recognizes his sin.  Before this God, there is nothing Peter can do or give. His emotions are disordered before Jesus.  Peter is not like Jesus. Peter holds to a few teachings of Jesus but not all. Peter is struck by God Law.  Peter is struck by how far he has fallen short by all the things Jesus said. Jesus does not agree that it is ok for sinners to disagree with His Father.  Peter is struck by his sin. He falls to his knees in terror.

This is not awe and respect at this point.  This is knee-knocking terror. Lord, depart from me.

That is our reaction to one of Jesus’ teachings.  We react in fear and terror. Like a horror movie.  It is almost like Jesus jumps out at Peter and scares him so bad that Peter falls down in terror.  This is too scary.

But as Jesus does, even when He sends His angels to speak to His people, Jesus begins with His response with a very different teaching than one that makes people afraid.  It is a completely different teaching. It is the Gospel.

Jesus says, Do not be afraid.  From now on you will be catching men.

Jesus shows you that you should be afraid in all of His law teaching of the Law.  His Father’s requirements. He shows you how far you how far you have fallen from the Father.  He shows you that you should be terrified. We even confessed at the beginning of this service that we deserve temporal and eternal punishment.  That should give us knee-knocking fear even as we say it.

All your falleness.  All your sin. All your unbelief in which you deserve punishment.  Do not be afraid because Jesus does not hold it against you.

Why?  Because going to the cross, Jesus receives the temporal and eternal punishment that you deserve.  Jesus dies in that punishment.

Jesus rises and says that your death and punishment is paid.  

Now, do not be afraid to come to Jesus and receive the forgiveness of your sins.  Do not be afraid to receive Jesus’ life. Jesus’ righteousness.

Death cannot break down the kingdom of God.  Not anymore. Now that Jesus is risen from the dead.

We should be afraid of our sins.

But we should cling to Jesus who does not hold those sins against you eternally.

Jesus has baptized you by washing away your sins.  Don’t you know that you have been baptized into Jesus’ death.  Jesus does not hold your sins against you to those of you who believe; in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes understanding, protect and preserve you in Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Amen.

Greetings in the strong name of Jesus,

So glad you are visiting Our Savior Lutheran Church in Musctine, IA.

Here is the audio of both the sermon and service held on July 14, 2019. We are a member congregation of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). The sermon is by our Pastor - the Rev. Jeffrey Pautz.

You are invited to connect with here.

Like and Follow us on Facebook Page here.

You may also listen to our sermons on Apple Podcast (formerly I-Tunes) here.

Again, thank you for visiting and hope you come back soon.

The Lord bless you and keep you in the name of Jesus.

Third Sunday after Holy Trinity

July 7-8, 2019

Luke 15:1-10

It’s an iconic picture.  Jesus carrying His lamb over His shoulders.  The mother sheep walking at His side looking up at Jesus.  Jesus smiling.

Today, Jesus is telling a string of parables.  Jesus finds lost sheep. Jesus finds lost souls.

I have lost many things in my life.  And so have you.

For example, I have lost a child at a county fair.  Turn around and gone. Search a little bit nothing. Panic.  Search a little more. Nothing. Then they are there again. Thanks be to God.  

Another example.  As many of you know, last year I lost my mom.  A bruise turned into a blood clot which turned into a massive stroke all within one week.  Many of you have experienced the lost loved ones, too.

But neither of those losses compare to how I lost my soul.

It started before I was confirmed.  I sat down with the pastor. He asked me why I wanted to be confirmed and what I planned to do as a confirmed member of the church.

Well I wanted to be confirmed because I believe in Jesus.  Ok.

What would I like to do after confirmation?  I wanted to know what my friends churches taught.  Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, UCC, and more. The friends I had?  Had no idea what they believed. Ok.

But it wasn’t ok.  The pastor, eventually, got really mad.  He chewed me out. Those other churches were pathways away from God.  It really hurt to be yelled at by a pastor. The wound was pretty deep.

As time passed, I became angry.

A few years later I was confirmed.  But I sat there thinking that I really don’t believe this stuff.  I was beginning to see Jesus as an angry guy. That made two of us.

Entering college, I just wasn’t all that interested in Jesus or church.  But, I still had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. To address that I took a risk.  I silently declared myself an atheist. I celebrated Christmas with my family but silently thought it a joke.  I went to an Easter service with my mom but silently laughed that anyone could rise from the dead.  

I couldn’t articulate it back then.  But in hindsight, over the course of a few years, I had lost my soul.  

What does today’s Gospel lesson have to say about this?

Jesus is anxious to find anyone who has lost their soul.  He makes this clear in today’s parable of the lost sheep. The parable comes about because Jesus is mingling with the pastors of His day.  Those pastors are grumbling against Jesus. They are upset the Jesus receives sinners and willingly eats with them. 

So Jesus tells them a parable saying,

 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, 

if he has lost one of them, 

does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and 

go after the one that is lost, 

until he finds it? 

The implied answer is that any shepherd of sheep would search for a lost sheep.  Jesus is saying that any pastor of souls would search for a lost soul. Which is a weighty command.

There are many shepherds of sheep.  There are many pastors of souls. But there is only One Good Shepherd.  There is only One Good Pastor & Bishop of our souls. His name is Jesus Christ.  And Jesus is anxious to find lost souls.

Jesus is anxious to find you and change the arc of your story.

Maybe you have a skeleton in your closet that you are too ashamed to confess.  I get it.

Maybe you have a secret from your spouse and are convinced no good would come from bringing it into open pasture.  Ok, I get it. You love your spouse so much that you don’t want to bring anymore hurt & pain into the marriage. Got it.

Maybe you have a hidden unbelief in Jesus but come here just because you love your family and they want you to attend.  Ok. Again, I get it.

But it won’t be ok.  Because although you can lose your soul quite easily, you can’t leave your sin and unbelief behind.  One you exchange your soul for unbelief you do not have the strength to believe again. You can’t do anything to get it back.  What is lost is lost.  

A lost sheep does not find its way back to the flock.

A lost coin does not find its way back to the woman of the house.

A prodigal son does not find his way back to his father’s good graces.

And when Jesus has found you, 

He lays you on his shoulders, 

REJOICING!

The Good Shepherd find your sin - and rejoices.  The Good Shepherd takes up your unbelief - and rejoices.  The Good Shepherd is not angry with those who confess their sins and intend to do better.  Who confess their sins to God first and then humbly seeking to make right those they have hurt. Quite the opposite.  Jesus rejoices that He finds your soul and gives you life.. He gives you saving faith and the strength to reconcile with others.

The Good Shepherd speaks tenderly to the lost in a most friendly manner.  Jesus takes you into His care, holds you, and carries you. You who believe in Jesus.  You who intend to do better toward the people around you with the help of Jesus..

Your story of sin and shame is only half your story in Jesus.

The same with your secrets from your spouse and your unbelief before God.

In Jesus you get the better half of your story.  

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who found you by showing what you lost through the proclamation of His law.  You lost your soul. Faith says Amen to that.

But….

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who binds your wounds with His Gospel.  The Good News of Jesus’ death, and resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  For you.

I don’t blame my pastor, all those years ago, for being upset with me.  I’m sure I sugar coated my memories of that moment. That pastor was more concerned about my soul than I was.

I don’t blame my parents, family, friends, or even my enemies for losing my soul.  Jesus says that that is all on me. To Him I answer: Amen.

If you have lost your soul or are in the process of losing your soul, then I urge you to listen again to your Good Shepherd. The One who carries your sin and unbelief to the cross and brings you to His Holy Father.  The One who changes your story of sin and shame into a story sanctified in Jesus. A story worth singing about:

The hymn writer Johann Franck, 1618 to 1677, put the best part of your story into the hymn we just sang.

Listen to the first stanza again:

Lord, to You, I Make Confession, I have sinned and gone astray,

I have multiplied transgression, chosen for myself my way.

Led by You to see my errors, Lord, I tremble at Your terrors.

Faith says, “Amen to that.”

But then listen the last stanza again:

Lord, on You, I cast my burden - sink it in the deepest sea!

Let me know Your gracious pardon, cleanse me from iniquity.

Let Your Spirit leave me never, make me only yours forever.

Saving faith says, “Amen to that.”

Jesus finds you.

Jesus rejoices to bring you home.

But that’s not the end of your story with Jesus,

Jesus calls all His children together.  Even those who are in this sanctuary with you.  And He announces a feast.

Jesus is never content to just rejoice alone.  He gathers His whole church, in heaven and on earth, for a feast.  He celebrates with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.  You are found.  

The angels sing for joy.  Your are found.  

And we your brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven because God found you; in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Great Banquet

Second Sunday after Holy Trinity

June 30 & 31, 2019

Text: Luke 14:16-24 The Great Banquet

Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Growing up where I did in Wisconsin there was a place nearby that always had great banquets.  Big ones. Especially during June, there would be a wedding and everyone would look for it in the newspaper and the people would go to the wedding and but then at the banquet everyone in town was invited.  It was an open banquet meaning all were invited to attend.  

And you know the name of this town.  If you have ever grilled bratwurst you have probably heard the name of Johnsonville Sausage in Johnsonville, Wisconsin.  It is a small town. The Johnsonville Sausage company and the banquet hall is about all that is in the town with the exception of dairy farms all around it.  And everyone looked forward to going to those great banquets.

Our Lord, in this Scripture text in Luke, is speaking of a great banquet.  A banquet that doesn’t have just a few invited to it. This banquet is the Gospel itself.  This banquet is the full proclamation of God’s Word. And invitation sent to the entire world.  Jesus wants all to attend this Great Banquet which is the Gospel.

For God our Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should have eternal life.  That is what God has been doing since Adam & Eve. He threw the Great Gospel Banquet in the Garden of Eden. And even when Adam and Eve uninvited themselves that didn’t stop the Great Banquet.  God still invited them to repent and come again to the Great Banquet.  

The Gospel Banquet was there throughout the Old Testament.  The Lord continued to send prophets proclaim that there is a Great Feast that we are invited to attend even here while we are on earth.  But all people are invited. Turn from your sin and receive this invitation. It is given to the whole world. You are part of the whole world therefore this invitation is also for you.  

Jesus came and fulfilled everything that was needed so that this Gospel Banquet could take place.  He did it. What did He do? He took your sins upon Himself. He died. He rose again. He suffered Hell that was reserved for you.  But Jesus did that for you and raised Himself from the dead so that you might receive a new invitation. Come to Me. Don’t go to hell.  Come to the feast! Come to the Gospel Banquet! You are invited for the sake of Jesus and all He did for you.  

This is why Jesus died.  This is why Jesus rose again.  To invite you to the Gospel Banquet.  There is not one on earth that is not invited!  

That is how great this Banquet is.

Jesus speaks this parable to invite you with His Gospel to repent and come to the feast.   

Come to the Gospel Banquet where God’s Word is read to whoever will hear it.  This whole Divine Service is open to the public. Anyone can come here. 

Come to the Baptismal Font.  The Banquet is taking place there as well. 

The Banquet is taking place here at the pulpit and of course it is taking place at the Lord’s Table as well.  Come and eat. You who have no money, you who have nothing to give, come and receive from the Lord’s Great Banquet.  

Now Jesus tells this parable.  Unfortunately, right out of the gate, as soon as the invitations go out, the first complaint came in.  

Please have me excused.  I bought a field and must go and see it.  Even though this banquet is very great and you are very generous to give it to all of us, I have important things to do.  So, again, please have me excused.

Please have me excused, says another.  I have bought 5 yoke of oxen and I go to examine them.  

These guys are not saying the banquet is bad or anything.  They just have more important things to do.

Finally, please have me excuse.  I have married a wife and just can’t make it. 

The complaints come in.   

We could focus on that because part of the lesson in this text is that even though the invitation goes out to all, not all receive it.  In fact, most do not act on the invitation and receive the Gospel. Jesus knows this.

What we should focus on after the invitations have gone out and are rejected.  How does God respond?

The Father (the Master of the Banquet) sends out more invitations.  Find someone anyone and fill my banquet hall. Go into the streets and alleys. And whoever you find, invite them to come.

The servant says, Master, we have done that but there is still room in the banquet hall.  Your banquet hall is so big it’s hard to fill.  

The Master says, keep going out.  Go farther out. God as far as necessary while inviting all to my banquet until my hall is filled.

That is how much God our Father loves the whole world.  The good and the bad alike. He knew His Son would be killed and yet He still sent Jesus.   Jesus knew He would be rejected and die. He told His disciple three times that He would suffer and be crucified.  As though Jesus said, This is a great invitation for you from My Father and things will go well for you, but it is not going to go well for Me.

Even the disciples said, Oh no, we will make sure things will go well for you.  We won’t let anyone put you to death! Jesus says, Get behind Me, Satan. Jesus also says that in the short term, it will not go well for the disciples either.

The farmer in the field, newlyweds, and new parents have their complaints.

We even have our complaints because we see how difficult it is to invite people to the Gospel.  Sin is a very real thing. It is deeply rooted in all of us. So that even though this great invitation goes out to all people it is sin that plugs our ears.   Turns our head away. Thinks of excuses that it be relieved otherwise it will have to be dealt with. Our old Adam. Our sinful nature. It knows it must die if we listen to the Gospel and receive it.  So our old Adam clings to us so tightly. We hear the invitation but that old Adam just clings on giving excuses so that we choose sin rather than the Savior.  

But the Savior said it is not going to be a problem for you.  

Every morning, you can use can use this baptismal font even at home when you remember the words  that are spoken over you and you can wash off and drown that old Adam in you and rise up to be that new creation in the resurrection of Jesus who invites you again to this Gospel for this particular day.  

We do it again tomorrow.  We wake up and realizing we are still in this fallen world we make the sign of the cross remembering that we are baptized.  We can have a devotion. We can listen to a sermon. We can memorize Bible verses and hymn stanzas. All of this trickles in and the Holy Spirit uses it to disinvite the old Adam but to make you a new creation by inviting you to the Gospel Banquet. 

So, this is how we live our lives.  The Lord continues to see us in this world and He invites us again today.  Come to the Gospel. Tomorrow He is going to say the same thing to you: Come to the Banquet.  All of this is yours and it is not just to make this life good. It is so that you may be alive to the goodness of God our Father both now, in your death, and even in the resurrection and beyond for evermore.  

This is an eternal banquet to which you have been invited.  To which you have been a part of for many years and decades already.  You are continuing to receive all the good things of this banquet; of this Gospel. 

Jesus is the Gospel.  He is the life. He is the giver of all the Father’s gifts and He says: Come to Me.  Even eat My Body and drink My blood for the forgiveness of yours sins; for righteousness; for salvation.

So that you may experience life even now.  The same eternal life that you will have in one hundred years; in one million years; it is the same eternal life but your experience of it will be much greater.  For no eye has seen or ear has heard the fullness of this Great Banquet the Lord has for you; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The peace of God, which passes understanding, protect you and keep you in Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Amen.

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Historical Introduction by B. W. Teigen
Saturday, June 25, 1530, 3:00 p.m., must go down as a red-letter day and hour for every Lutheran.  On that day the Lutheran Church as an identifiable unit in world history was born.  More significantly, a group of theologians and laymen by the grace of God made a Biblically-based confession of what they believed, and were ready to stake their lives on their confession.  The occasion was a public reading before Emperor Charles V of a series of paragraphs on doctrinal points which have come to be known in history as the Augsburg Confession (or the Augustana, its Latin term derived from the Latin name for Augsburg).  The representatives from states and free cities throughout Germany had united in presenting a testimony of divine truth before the Roman Catholic Emperor.  It was a dramatic moment which has captured the imagination of men ever since.  When Luther received the details of the actual presentation, he, in a letter of July 6, 1530, from the fortress Coburg, summed up the event in these words, “I am tremendously pleased to have lived to this moment when Christ, by His staunch confessors, has publicly been proclaimed in such a great assembly by means of this really most beautiful confession. And [so the Word] is fulfilled, ‘I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings.’  What follows will [also] be fulfilled: ‘And will not be put to shame.’ [Psalm 119:46].  For ‘whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven.’  [Matt. 10:32]  This verse which Luther quoted from Psalm 119 became the motto of the first printed edition of the Augsburg Confession in 1531 and has ever since been placed under the full title of the Confession.  –B.W. Teigen

 The Augsburg Confession

- Preface to Emperor Charles V

- The Chief Articles of Faith

- God

- Original Sin

- The Son of God

- Justification

- The Ministry

- New Obedience

- The Church

- What the Church Is

- Baptism

- The Lord's Supper

- Confession

- Repentance

- The Use of the Sacraments

- Ecclesiastical Order

- Ecclesiastical Usages

- Civil Affairs

- Christ's Return to Judgment

- Free Will

- The Cause of Sin

- Good Works

- The Worship of the Saints

- Abuses Corrected

- Both Kinds in the Sacrament

- The Marriage of Priests

- The Mass

- Confession

- Distinction of Foods

- Monastic Vows

- Ecclesiastical Power

- Conclusion