Month: August 2025

Psalm 133
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.

Someone has rightly said that nothing good comes from quarrelling and disunity. And ‘When God sets out to do something great, He does so by uniting His people in Word, prayer, and one heart and mind.’ No wonder one of the key requests in Jesus’s high priestly prayer, as recorded in John’s gospel chapter 17, is His plea for ‘unity among those who believe in Him.’

Today’s sermon text, Psalms 133, is a song by David celebrating unity among God’s people. This is a popular song that the children of Israel often used when they gathered for religious festivals and family occasions. The immediate context of this Psalm can be found in 2 Samuel 5:1-3, where the children of Israel gather to anoint David as their king. God called Israel to be a light and blessing to the nations. However, their efforts were ultimately thwarted by internal conflicts and disunity. No one was at peace, and the nation was in trouble because of its disunity. But after many years of conflict and infighting, they finally came to Hebron to end their futile hostilities and to make David their king. David immediately recognized this as a significant ‘God moment,’ and, inspired by the sight of the twelve tribes standing together in unity, the Spirit moved him to write, ‘Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity’ (vs. 1).

David begins this Psalm by using two words to describe unity—it’s good and pleasant. The word ‘good’ here carries a moral and ethical meaning, indicating that unity is morally and ethically right. The word ‘pleasant’ carries the meaning that unity is delightful, something that brings joy to the heart, feels refreshing, renewed, and is beautiful to see.

After establishing that unity is both “Good and Pleasant,” David vividly illustrates how unity embodies these qualities. He employs two metaphors to express this: oil and dew. Unity is excellent and pleasant, like the oil poured on Aaron’s head. Next, unity is good and refreshing, like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. What did David mean by comparing unity to the anointing oil and the dew of Hermon?

The oil used to anoint Aaron and his successors was specially made according to God’s specifications. When poured on Aaron’s head, it spread a sweet fragrance around. This intensely perfumed oil, when poured generously upon Aaron’s head, drove away all foul odours and filled the space with its pleasant scent, delighting everyone. David’s point is that unity is good and pleasant because, like fragrant oil, it creates a delightful space and atmosphere, brings joy and attracts people near and far.

Unity is a valuable blessing and a wonderful experience for Christians. Nothing draws others to Christ more than the fragrance of Christian unity, and nothing repels them more than division and quarrels. Unity in church or family is always a fragrance God uses to draw others to His love and His Word. This idea is reinforced by the second metaphor, where unity is compared to the dew of Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in the Holy Land, located at an elevation of approximately 2,814 meters above sea level. Most of the year, the mountain is covered in dew, creating a breathtaking sight. When David describes unity as being as good and pleasant as the dew of Hermon, he might be thinking about the mountain’s magnificent beauty cloaked in dew. A family or church high in unity is a beautiful and pleasing sight, capturing everyone’s attention and even drawing in unbelievers. Unity smells good, looks good, and captures everyone’s attention.

Secondly, unity is good and pleasant because it is where God’s call is heard, and His mission is blessed and prospered. In the Old Testament, oil is used for anointing priests, kings, and prophets. Anointing with oil sets God’s chosen people apart for specific tasks. From time to time, kings, prophets, and priests whom God called were anointed with oil to fulfill a special mission. Anointing oil marks their calling and ensures they have God’s Holy Spirit to accomplish their given tasks. When David links unity with anointing oil, he means that places of unity are fertile grounds where God’s call can be heard. These are sacred spaces where the Holy Spirit unites people’s hearts around His Word and Sacraments, godly visions emerge, significant steps of faith are taken, and the desire to advance God’s kingdom becomes central to the people’s hearts. However, in places where discord and division prevail, no such vision will be seen; no call from God can be heard.

The places of unity are not only where God’s call is heard, but also where missions, family, and relationships grow, flourish, and become fruitful. In the Old Testament, dew is often linked to fruitfulness and prosperity. God opens the doors of heaven to shower dew on the land and its yields fruit. When he withdraws dew, the drought comes, and people suffer from famine. (Hag 1:10-11, 14:15,1kings 17). Wherever unity exists, our lives and calling prosper and bear fruit a hundredfold. Verse 3 states, There the Lord ordained his blessing. In other words, God commanded the prosperity and blessing to remain in those places of unity. Unity creates fertile ground in families and churches for God’s word to grow, for our callings and vocations to thrive and prosper for His greater glory and for the blessing of all.

Now, at this point, we might ask how we can have this unity. Here, we realize that God does not ask us to create unity in the first place. Unity comes to us from Him. God gives it to us as a Gift. We are only asked to keep and guard it without losing it. This becomes clearer when we understand why David chose Aaron’s anointing to illustrate unity. Perhaps the reason is that Aaron’s high priestly work served as a unifying factor for Israel as a nation. Once a year, Aaron entered the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle with the blood sacrifice to atone for the people’s sins. In the Old Testament, the foundation for the unity of the children of Israel before God and among themselves was based on this blood atonement. Now, Aaron is the foreshadow of Jesus in the Old Testament. The book of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is our high priest, and He offered Himself once and for all as a sacrifice for us. Through His precious blood, He bought us and cleansed us from all sin, so that we may belong to Him. Because of this, we are His. And in Christ, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal 3:28). We all become one in Him through baptism. Beyond our nationalities, cultures, races, ethnicities, classes, castes, languages, and skin colors, we are made one in Christ. Even if we live in Canada, India, Africa, China, Australia, or Europe, what unites us is that we are all baptised into one Lord and belong to Christ. So ‘There is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.’

We did not do anything to earn this unity. It is a free but costly gift. Because it is costly, Paul also reminds us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Please do not break it or lose it. The word used here for ‘make an effort’ comes directly from the context of gladiator fights in ancient Rome. Gladiators are trained throughout their lives to fight in front of large audiences. When they do fight, if they lose, it often means death or lifelong severe injuries. So, they use all their energy, skills, and mental strength they have gained to overcome their opponent, win, stay alive, and avoid being killed. The phrase ‘Make every effort’ to maintain the unity spirit means fighting like a gladiator with strength and doing everything possible to preserve peace and unity. Unity here does not just mean the absence of conflicts or fights but also doing everything we can to understand, resolve, forgive, forget, and move forward so that a positive and constructive atmosphere prevails.

Making every effort also involves honestly acknowledging before God that we need Him in our lives and relationships to heal us, forgive us, work within us, and strengthen us. Without Him, we cannot do anything. God’s Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of Unity. He works to maintain unity among us through various means. Worship means God’s service to us. In worship, God comes to us through His word and sacraments. He forgives us, comforts us, nourishes, heals, and strengthens us so that the spirit of unity remains among us.

The unity that God’s gift grants us and asks us to maintain is precious because it is both wonderful and good. As David reminds us, it not only has a pleasant aroma but also appears beautiful. It draws even unbelievers and helps them see Jesus more clearly. Unity provides a rich space and atmosphere for people to hear God’s call, where lives flourish and are blessed. May God, the Holy Spirit, continue to strengthen, comfort, and supply us with everything we need, so that as we all live in fellowship and unity with God, we reflect that reality in our lives together as fellow Christians. Amen.]]>

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Our text begins with the reminder that Jesus is journeying toward Jerusalem, and remember what that means. He’s traveled many times before, but this journey began just after the Transfiguration, and the destination is the cross. He’s not going in a straight line, but this journey is going to end on Calvary as He dies for the sins of the world. He’s going to the cross and God’s judgment to save all who will believe in Him.

And who will that be? Who will be saved? That’s the question from someone along the way: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” It’s a numbers sort of question, but Jesus doesn’t respond with numbers or even a yes or no. Instead, He gives three warnings about the difficulty of salvation.

The first warning is this: the door to salvation is narrow, and it will be a struggle to get through.

The second warning is this: the door is going to shut. It won’t be open forever. Sooner or later, the master of the house is going to rise up and shut the door, and then it will be too late. The time for salvation is limited. There is only so much time for the struggle before the door closes.

The third warning is this: plenty of people who think they are saved will be bitterly disappointed on the Last Day. They’ll be shocked to find themselves on the outside of a closed door. They will say to Jesus, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But He will answer, “Depart from Me, all you workers of evil.”

So there are the three warnings of the text: the door is narrow, and it’s a struggle to get through; time is limited before the door is shut; and many who thought they were saved will find out they are not when it is too late.

Feeling nervous yet? If you hear this only by way of the Law, you should be nervous indeed. If salvation is a struggle and the door is narrow, how do you know when you have struggled enough to wiggle your way through? If time is limited, how do you know that you have enough time to strive and struggle and get through the door? And even if you strive and struggle with all your might, how can you be sure that you’re saved and won’t be cast into outer darkness for eternity? Oh, if you hear these warnings only according to the Law of God, you should be more than nervous. You ought to be terrified.

Yet many preachers will find this as a good way to preach this text. See, we’re rather lazy by nature, and we tend to get rather relaxed with that full-blown Gospel message that Christ has already fully accomplished our salvation. If you want a congregation that’s highly motivated to do good works, as a preacher you’ve got to keep them on their toes, constantly striving to do more in order to be sure they’ve done enough, lived enough of a Christian life. So if that was my aim, then that’s how I’d preach this text to you: I’d say, “Look people, the greatest danger to your faith is complacency. Now that Jesus has died for you, salvation is still going to be a struggle. Frankly, the lives that you’re living right now just aren’t cutting it, and you’d better be working harder if you’re going to get through that narrow door. Do more. Give more. Pray more. Serve more. Keep struggling. Keep striving, because the door is going to close.” That’s how you motivate people to act better—make sure that they’re unsure of their salvation, that they’ve got to do more to be certain.

But that’s a terrible sermon. In fact, that sermon is exactly what Jesus is warning against! The greatest danger to your faith here is not complacency. It’s believing that your salvation comes about because of you, your striving and your struggle.

II. Good News in the Three Warnings

We need to look back and look at the context of Luke 13. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus has just healed a woman with a disabling spirit that has left her hunched over for 18 years—He’s just demonstrated God’s mercy and healing. But the ruler of the synagogue objects—he declares that the miracle is wrong because Jesus has done it on the Sabbath. He’s worked a wonder on the Day of Rest, and thus He’s broken the rules. There’s the tension that pervades Luke 13 and all of Jesus’ ministry: does salvation come because man keeps the rules, or because God comes near and does the miraculous saving?

So when Jesus gives these three warnings in our Gospel lesson, He’s warning against trusting in your own efforts with each one.

“Strive to enter through the narrow door,” He says. “For many, I tell you, will seek to enter it and not be able.” The door to salvation is narrow, because there is only one way to heaven. Jesus is that Door; as He says in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The fact that the door is narrow is in fact a warning, because man naturally believes that there are all sorts of ways to earn salvation—by works, by pilgrimages, by different gods, by doing this or that. When salvation is left to man, he always comes up with an endless list of ways to please God. He proclaims that the way to heaven is wide—and there’s no greater evidence of that today than the lazy statement that all religions lead to heaven. Against all of that, Jesus warns that He is the only Savior. When Jesus declares that the door is narrow, He is declaring that there is a door. He is proclaiming that there is a way to heaven, despite the sinfulness and evil of man. If you’re in a burning building, you don’t complain that there is only one exit — you go through it! Likewise, it’s nonsense when one complains that God is unfair when He provides only one Savior. The truth is that the one Savior has suffered hell and died for all the world. The work is done. Why would God need to provide another Savior, another door, if Christ has done it all?

Yet, many will be unable to enter it. The door is too narrow. Why? Because salvation is a matter of repentance and faith, not your works. By the grace of God, you can go through. But try to bring along a few trophies to show off to God, to say, “This is why I deserve to be here,” and you’ll find they won’t fit through the door. This was a huge problem for those around Jesus during His ministry, because the Pharisees were always teaching that you’re saved because you’ve got enough good works to show off to God. In fact, they were so sure that their works would save them that they saw no need for Jesus—in fact, they believed they had to put Him to death for telling them not to trust in their works, but in Him.

Don’t be deceived: there’s a Pharisee inside of you, too. Your Old Adam likes to put on a nice outfit now and then and persuade you that God loves you because of the good stuff you do—he does this to distract you from the grace that Jesus offers. That’s why you repent whenever you think that you need to impress God with your righteousness for Him to save you.

And that’s why you rejoice—there is a door to heaven, and His name is Jesus. This door is narrow because you don’t need anything but Him and the grace He has won for you on the cross.

We should probably add that the door is so narrow as to admit individuals, not groups. Another big false belief in Jesus’ time among His fellow Jews was the idea that they were automatically going to heaven because they were descendants of Abraham. They didn’t believe in salvation by faith, but salvation by the right ancestry. The same temptation exists today, and plenty find themselves saying nonsensical things like “I am a Christian because my parents are Christians,” or “I must be going to heaven because my name is on a church roster.” This isn’t salvation by faith, but salvation by membership. But again, the door is narrow: it doesn’t admit people in groups. It admits individuals instead; because as soon as you say that you’re saved by belonging to a group, you’re saying that you’re not saved because Christ has died for you. So when you think that salvation is about belonging to this group or that club, you repent for the offense it gives to your Savior who has died for you. And you rejoice, for there is very good news for you in this: it is the news that Jesus has certainly died for you. If Jesus only died for certain groups or families, then what if you didn’t belong to them? What hope would you have? None. But because Christ has died for all, you can be sure that His grace is for you.

So “strive to enter through the narrow door,” says Jesus. Struggle to enter it. Let’s be clear: the struggle isn’t your striving to do good works. The struggle, the ongoing struggle, is repentance. It’s striving against the temptations of your old sinful flesh that want you to trust in yourself. It is, by the grace of God and by the faith that He gives, saying, “I repent of my sin and I trust in Christ alone for my salvation.”

What of the other two warnings? The second one is that time is limited before the master of the house rises and shuts the door. Once the door is closed on the Last Day, it will not open again. Now, the Master of the house is Jesus, who has died and is risen: the door could shut any day. You want to have your ducks in a row, be sure you’re inside. Remember what we said before: if getting through the door is by your work, then that’s a terrifying warning because you can’t be sure you have enough time to do enough good to enter—if that were even possible. But there’s better news for you here: the striving is repentance. Jesus is saying, “Repent before I return in judgment.” If you are repentant and forgiven, then heaven is yours. You don’t have to wonder if you’ve done enough to be ready—instead, you can be certain that you’re forgiven enough right now. If the Lord returns today, heaven is yours because Christ has made it so by forgiving your sins.

The third warning Jesus gives is that many who thought they were saved will find out they are not when it is too late. They will say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets;” but Jesus will respond, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from Me, all you workers of evil!” That’s a serious warning, too—how awful to assume that you are saved, then to be shut out at the end. The context is important to understand the warning: remember that Jesus ate with Pharisees and taught them often. They were in His presence, but they still trusted in their own works, not His grace. Some may have gotten along well with Him, for all we know; but if they didn’t trust in Him, they remained lost. So it is today: one can be in the presence of Jesus for now and still be lost. Jesus is, after all, present here. When you hear His Word, the Word made flesh is present here to give you grace and life and salvation. In your baptism, it is the Word Incarnate in and with the water—it’s Jesus joining you to His death and resurrection. And, of course, in the Lord’s Supper He is the Host, as well as the Meal. You eat and drink in His presence, as He gives you His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Now, one can be a hypocrite in the presence of God, hearing Him teach and eating His Supper but still trusting in his own goodness to get to heaven. There will be many on the Last Day who say, “We ate and drank in Your presence and heard You teach—didn’t our every-Sunday attendance earn a place in heaven?” The answer is no: it’s not your work that gets you there, but the forgiveness that Jesus gives in His means of grace. So you repent when you believe it’s your work of attending, of paying attention, of eating and drinking, or even praying that makes God love you. And instead, you rejoice that the Lord Himself is present to speak and to feed you with forgiveness, life and salvation.

That’s the Good News you find in these three warnings: the door is narrow, but the door is there, and it is only narrow because you need nothing else but Jesus for salvation. The time of salvation is limited, but you’re prepared by grace if the Lord returns today, for He has done everything to accomplish your salvation and there’s nothing left to do. Not everyone who has been in the presence of Jesus, through His means of grace, will enter heaven; but you will, because in those means of grace the Lord gives you eternal life.

What then of good works? Remember the terrible sermon I shared before, preaching that you’d better do more, give more, serve more if you want to be certain of your salvation—using fear to motivate Christians. Such preaching can produce motivated people, but only for a while until the law burns them out. Meanwhile, Lutherans are sometimes accused of being a little quiet and lazy when it comes to good works. So here we go: should you be doing more? Giving more? Helping more? Serving more? Absolutely. Of that you can be sure, because original sin still clings to you and that means you’re selfish by nature. You’d rather have other people bear the load, do the work, increase their offering. Refusal to do such good works will harm your faith—such thanklessness will work to lead you away from God’s promise of salvation that He’s already given to you. And that’s the key: salvation is already yours, won by Christ and given to you freely in His Word and Sacraments. We don’t tell you to do these things so that you might be certain of your salvation—such motivation by fear is not of the Gospel. No, we tell you that you’re set free to do these things because salvation is certainly, already yours. There’s a huge difference between being a slave who has to work hard every day for fear of being fired or severely punished, and a child who serves as part of the household forever. You’re a child, not a slave. The kingdom of heaven is yours, and the good works you do are a sacrifice of thanksgiving for that reality.

You’re a child of God and an heir of heaven because Jesus has saved you. He’s brought you through the narrow door. He’s done everything so that you might be certain of your salvation, even if He should return today, and He visits to be present with you in His means of grace, to continually feed you with grace and salvation. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Jesus doesn’t say yes or no, doesn’t talk in numbers or statistics. He does promise that many will come from all over and be saved, and that you are among them: for you are forgiven for all of your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Word of the Lord from Luke 12: Jesus said, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” This is the Word of the Lord.

I. A Divisive Savior

Dear friends in Christ,

Jesus comes to bring division. Not peace, but division. Many would read this passage and respond, “well, if the Bible is God’s Word, how does this fit in with the message of peace and love and forgiveness? Jesus dividing families against each other? Jesus ending family peace?

That objection makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, when Jesus was born, didn’t the angels proclaim “Peace on earth”? His words here sound terribly out of step with the Gospel. But they are not. What Jesus is talking about is a blessed division because is it not a political division, but a spiritual division.

Consider the world apart from Jesus: Sinful. Unrighteous. Dead. Enslaved to sin. Apart from Christ, there are no exceptions. Before the fall into sin, Adam and Eve were united with God, holy and in His presence; but sin divided them away from God and death divided them away from life. Because of that division, all their descendants now faced God’s judgment. In other words, all were united, together—it’s just that they were united in sin, death and condemnation. Make no mistake, those who are dead in sin are hostile to God. The hostility may be passive or aggressive in nature, but it is there.

Jesus came to save us from sin. That is why He became flesh. That is why He lived a perfectly holy life. That is why He submitted Himself to endure His death on a cross. That is why He rose again three days later and ascended into heaven. All of this was for you and for all the world—to open the gates of heaven once more, that “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus came to restore communion with God, to bring you back into the presence and light of your Creator. However, this grace is—by definition—a gift. He offers it to all by means of His Word, but He forces it upon nobody. Not everyone will hold onto the gift of life He gives: many in their sinfulness will reject it, throw it away. There will be those who repent and those who do not. There will be believers and unbelievers. There will be the living dead and those who live though they have died. That is the division that Jesus brings, that Jesus gives.

It is a blessed division. Apart from Christ, all would be lost. Because of Christ, many are saved. We are rightly troubled at the news of a disaster—a plane crash or a terrorist attack where many are killed. But we also give thanks for those who survive, for those who are divided from the dead by still being alive. We give thanks for the work of medics who save many on the battlefield and the nurses who go to disaster areas: for even though they cannot save all who are injured, they save some. Likewise, we give thanks for this division Jesus brings: we rejoice that while not all are saved, many are—solely by the grace of God.

Furthermore, we rejoice that the Lord doesn’t limit His atoning grace: He does not divide out some and say to the rest, “I desire that the rest of you be divided and lost, separated from Me in hell forever.” He desires all to be saved. He delights in the death of no one. He wants all to be united in Him!. Those who remain divided from Him do so by their own sinful rejection.

That’s the division that Jesus brings. To quote this verse by itself and determine Jesus to be spiteful or mean is completely to miss the point of the verse. In fact, we must read it in the context of the verses which precede it. Jesus says, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” Fire destroys whatever it can burn away. It also purifies what it cannot. Jesus says that He has come to cast fire on the earth. He has come to destroy the power of sin, death, devil and hell. He has come to destroy all that would divide you from the Lord and the life that He has for you. But because you have faith, His fire does not destroy you. It purifies you. It purifies you by removing all of your impurities, all of your sins, all of your unholiness that would divide you from God.

But how does Jesus cast this fire on the earth? It is by His baptism that He must undergo. This is not the one in the Jordan River at the beginning of His ministry, although the two are closely connected. At His baptism in the Jordan, the sinless, pure Son of God took His place among sinners. By His baptism, He declared that He had come to bear all of their sins, all of their impurities, all of their unrighteousness to the cross. On the cross, He would take their place and suffer God’s fire, God’s judgment for sin: that’s the baptism of fire that He speaks about in this text.

See, if you faced God’s fire on your own, it would destroy and purify—but there would be nothing left, because there is nothing pure within you. So Christ has faced that fire in your place, been destroyed in your place, suffered hell in your place before His death and resurrection. Because the fire destroyed Him on the cross, now He purifies you. He divides you away from sin and death, sets you apart as a holy child of God.

So let no one read Jesus’ words that He has come to give division and conclude that He is gleefully causing problems. He is dividing people from death to life at the cost of His own blood, at the price of His own life. Our salvation comes because of His distress.

II. Applications

What does this blessed division mean for you and me? For you as a Christian, the encompassing temptation is this: when division arises, it’s the Gospel that gets the blame.

But it doesn’t make sense to blame the Gospel: picture the aftermath of a shipwreck with survivors flailing around in the water trying to escape drowning. A rescue ship has arrived on scene, with rescuers pulling survivors aboard so that they’re safe: the rescuers are dividing those drowning from death to life. But instead of rejoicing to join those on board ship, imagine some in the water scream that it’s wrong that those on board are different. Imagine them declaring that the rescue ship should be scuttled so that everyone is united in sinking once again.

That’s the position in which the Church finds itself today, and always, in the world. You’re safe aboard the ark of the Church, saved by Christ from death to life. As the Church, we proclaim that there’s plenty of room on board; but the world will declare that Christianity is divisive for proclaiming life in Christ.

“Jesus Christ is Lord” is a statement that divides between those who believe it and those who do not, and there will always be pressure exerted on the Church to change that confession to something like “Jesus is one lord among many.” But that says that every false god is as worthy of honor as Jesus. That leaves everyone without hope, united in hopelessness: everyone’s sinking, and there’s no true Savior to rescue. No, it’s far better to rejoice in the dividing Savior, to declare, “Jesus is the one true Lord and Savior—and He has died to save you, too!”

A worship service creates division. Everyone is invited and all are welcome to attend, but a worship service is designed foremost to feed the people of God. It is the family meal, where the Lord feeds His beloved children. Some will visit a worship service and not like what they hear—I’m not so much speaking of style as I am of content. Without faith, people will not like the Gospel. This creates a division—some believe the Gospel and some do not. Now, a lot of “worship theory” these days says that a worship service is primarily to attract unbelievers who may or may not come, not the family of God in that place; and those who hold this view say that the proclamation of the Gospel should be minimized so as not to offend. Within the past few years, one Lutheran professor even suggested that we edit or omit the Apostles’ Creed so as not to offend any Muslims who might be visiting! But if we take such a view, we are saying that the Gospel is the problem, not the false beliefs that others hold. Then we are saying that we value a superficial peace that says “Christianity isn’t all that different,” from other religions, rather than boldly proclaiming Jesus who seeks to divide them from death. So we do well to examine ourselves: if visitors find us distasteful because we are boorish or unfriendly, that is our problem and a reason for us to repent. But if they do not like the Gospel that they hear, we do not blame Jesus or the message. Instead, we give thanks that they were here to hear that Word, and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work by the Word they have heard to divide them from death to life. And we proclaim to all who will hear that there’s more room aboard the ship, that Jesus will not run out of grace for all who will believe, that He wants to divide them away from eternal death, too.

As long as sinners remain, the division Jesus brings will be apparent. This is an important truth to accept, because many will argue that division is proof that Jesus isn’t there. Many will argue that peace and quiet is the proof of God’s presence. Look at the Old Testament lesson, the time of Jeremiah. God complains about the false prophets whom He hasn’t sent, but who claim to have gone out in His name. And what do the false prophets proclaim? They proclaim that “all is well” when it is not. They say that “no disaster will come upon you” when disaster is going to destroy the city. They proclaim “peace, peace” where there is no peace (cf. Jer 6:14). This is the very sort of peace that Jesus comes to destroy, because it’s a false peace that denies the need for grace. So it’s left to Jeremiah to be the skunk at the tea party, to declare that the sin of the people has divided them from God, that judgment it about to fall with a heavy hand. Now, who does everybody blame for causing division? They blame Jeremiah, for telling the truth. But while he received the blame of man then, he now rests from his labors in heaven.

Do not try to measure the presence of Jesus by how much peace you feel. You know Jesus is present in His Word and Sacraments, no matter what storms surround you. We do well to remember Luther’s observation that a superficial peace may mean that people have departed from the faith so far that the devil sees no need to trouble them anymore. Instead, give thanks that, no matter the storm, you know that for Jesus’ sake you’re not going to drown.

There are two places where this division becomes especially acute and painful. Jesus mentions one explicitly in our text: it is within families where some believe in Christ and some do not. This division may manifest itself in a subtle tension when some leave for church on Sunday and some do not, or an underlying worry for the souls of those who don’t believe; or it may be open warfare when a non-Christian makes moral choices that flatly contradict Scripture. This is a difficult cross for believers to bear, and the temptation will be heavy upon you to blame Jesus for the division, to decide that your loyalty to family is more important than your faith in Christ. If you are in this position, you are in my prayers: and I pray that you would be delivered from the temptation of blaming the Lord. And I give thanks to God that He has divided you to life so that you might His instrument in your own home and among close friends, that you might with love and patience speak His saving Word to them. There may be distress, but God will grant you the grace and faith to be His blessed instrument there.

The other place is within the family of the Church. The “problem” with the Church, of course, is that it is full of sinners; and where you’ve got a group of sinners gathered around the holy things of God, divisions are bound to develop along the way. I’m thankful that, at present, we have no great divisions within this congregation. But when trouble arises, we first want to ask the question: is the disagreement over doctrine or over some other, debatable matter? If it is over a matter of Christian freedom, then we respond by making sure that the strong in faith care for the weak. None of us is to try to get his way, but to look out for everybody else. This love for one another goes a long way in preventing people from being divided from the flock. And where it is a matter of clear, biblical doctrine, we firmly hold fast to it without compromise. We do so because we do not want to be divided from God for the sake of a manmade peace. We want to remain divided from death and united in Christ.

Because Jesus comes to give division. He divides you from death to life, from sin to holiness. Why, the word “sanctify” means “to set apart,” to divide away from that which is common or unholy. By His grace, He has set you apart from sin to righteousness, from death to life, from grave to heaven, from “enslaved to the devil” to “child of God.” He has done so by enduring the cross, that baptism of fire which damned Him so that you might be purified for His sake.

How blessed are you! For Jesus has come to divide you from death, and He does so with these words: you are forgiven for all of yours sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear Friends in Christ:

As Christians, we don’t worship the saints; yet, we can look at those who have gone before us and marvel at what they did—or, better, what the Lord accomplished through them. Today’s epistle gives us a list of saints to ponder.

I. The “Hall of Faith”
We begin with Abel, son of Adam and Eve. Our text tells us that he—a herder of sheep— “offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” Why was it more excellent? Because it was offered by faith: rather than believe that his sacrifice earned God’s favor, Abel offered it because he believed that the Seed of the Woman would be born to save him from sin—thus his sacrifice testified that he was righteous before God, for the sake of Jesus who was to come. Abel suffered for his sacrifice: Cain took him out into the field and killed him. Thus the first shepherd was also the first person to die because of sin, awaiting the Good Shepherd who would be led out of the city and crucified for the sins of the world.

Next in the text is Enoch, the one whom we know the least. Enoch was a righteous man and an ancestor of Jesus. Beyond that, here is what we know: according to Jude 14, he was a prophet who warned of God’s judgment against sinners. Further, we know that Enoch did not see death: rather, says Genesis 5:24, “he walked with God and was not, because God took him.” Enoch did not die. Why? Because of his own righteousness? No—because he lived by faith in Jesus, who would taste death for him, and rise again. Faith is the key ingredient to eternal life here, “for without faith it is impossible to please God.” We’ll expand on that in a little bit.

Next in line is Noah, with whose story you are probably familiar. Noah and his family, eight total, lived as believers in a world that had otherwise rejected God. The Lord warned him that the Flood was coming and promised deliverance through the ark. Noah believed the Lord’s promise and built the ark; and during the decades that this required, he proclaimed God’s Word (2 Peter 2:5) and warned others of impending judgment. They didn’t listen, and so they were swept away. Noah and his family were delivered as heirs of righteousness. “Heirs” is an excellent word here: they did not earn righteousness. They received it by faith for the sake of Jesus, who would endure the flood of His Father’s wrath on the cross, that He might wash their sins away.

Our text next speaks of Abraham, who was “called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.” He had a nice home in Ur, yet he believed the Lord’s promise that he would receive the land of Canaan; so he packed up his household and left all that he knew. The Lord kept his promise, and Abraham dwelt in the Promised Land; unfortunately, nobody else outside of his family believed it. Therefore, while all of Canaan belonged to Abraham, all who lived there viewed him as a stranger and foreigner. (When Sarah died, Abraham had to purchase land for her grave!) Despite all of this, Abraham trusted God’s promise and remained there. He lived by faith in Jesus, who would not be properly received when He came to dwell among His people, but would be the foundation for the City of God, the Church, forever.

With Abraham comes Sarah, childless throughout her life. At ninety years old, she heard God promise her a son—an absolutely laughable idea, since she was far past childbearing. But the Lord promised, Sarah believed, and Isaac was born to her and Abraham. Why? Because Sarah believed the promise by faith—faith in her descendant, the miracle Son who would be born to the virgin Mary, to save her from her sin.

We hear of these five saints, and it’s quite a list. One died for his faith. The next preached against evil and never died. A third built a boat against all common sense and appearances. The fourth left his home for a land that was his, even though no one else recognized it; and with the fifth, he fathered a miracle baby when he and his wife were in their nineties. Why did they do these things? How did they do these things? The text is clear: by faith.

And what else does the text say of these saints? It says that they not only lived by faith, but died in faith. They saw very few of God’s promises fulfilled, but they trusted that God would keep them; therefore, they died believing in what was yet to come. They willingly faced suffering, ridicule, hardship and death in this life because they believed they were just strangers here. They counted their lives and livelihood nothing because they had a different homeland—an eternal, heavenly country.

Thus our text honors them with this epitaph: “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

I, for one, would be honored to have such a statement on my gravestone. And perhaps you find yourself saying, “I wish that I had that sort of faith. I can’t imagine leaving home for a foreign land or building the ark or suffering death for a sacrifice. I know that isn’t me. I’m not like that. I wish I could have faith like them.”

II. Faith for You
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice. You do have faith like them. You have the same faith of Abel and Enoch, Noah and Abraham and Sarah. I give you a few Scripture passages to consider.

First of all there’s Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” What is the gift of God? Faith is—along with grace.

Faith is given to you by God with forgiveness. It is not something earned by works. Faith is a gift—that you believe in Jesus is a gift from God. It has to be this way. If we truly believe the Scriptures that we were born dead in sin, then we couldn’t make ourselves alive. God had to give us life, which He does by giving us forgiveness and faith.

Now, God has given you forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, just as He did for Abel, Enoch and the rest—because like you, they were all born dead in sin. It’s the same Jesus and the same forgiveness. Likewise, He gives you the same faith.

The next verse is I Corinthians 12:3: “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” This teaches us two things. First, the gift of faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. You can’t believe in Jesus without the Holy Spirit working in you. The Holy Spirit and faith in Jesus always go together. You were given both as a gift when you were baptized.

Second, what does faith do? It believes in Jesus. It clings to the Savior and the forgiveness He has won. To have faith is to believe that Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, became flesh and died on the cross for you. You cannot believe in Jesus without faith. By faith, you believe in Him, and so forgiveness is yours.

Now, who died for the sins of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah? Jesus did. In whom did they believe? In Jesus, the Savior who was to come. Their faith held on to Jesus, just like your faith does. Same Jesus, same faith. Thus you have the same faith as these saints.

Therefore, you have the same forgiveness, Savior, salvation and eternal life.

We want to add, however, that the Bible speaks of strong faith and weak faith. Strong faith is better able to resist temptation and accomplish more good works than weak faith. Think of it this way: if you have a heartbeat, you are alive. You’re alive whether your heartbeat is weak or strong—though a strong heartbeat is far better than a weak one. Likewise, you are alive in Christ whether your faith is weak or strong—though a strong faith is far better.

How is your faith strengthened? Romans 10:17 tells you: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” The Holy Spirit gives and strengthens your faith through the Word of God. That’s why you rejoice daily to remember your Baptism, where God gave you faith by water and the Word. That’s why your faith wants to come to church, to hear the Word of God and gather strength. That’s why your faith delights to feast upon the Savior’s body and blood, present in, with and under bread and wine by the Word of God.

In short, faith is a gift given by God, as it was to the saints in our text. Faith clings to Jesus and His forgiveness, as did the saints in our text. Faith comes by hearing the Word—as you and the saints in our text have heard God’s Word.

Therefore, if you believe that faith is something you’ve come up with in order to please God, repent. It is His gift to you for your salvation. To claim it is your doing is to rob God of glory and seize the glory for yourself. If faith is something you do, then it is your work and it is never certain. If faith is God’s gift, then your salvation is sure.

If you believe that faith is all about getting God to do what you want Him to, repent. Faith is about clinging to Jesus and His forgiveness, and faith always prays, “Our Father, thy will be done, not mine.”

Where you have neglected to hear and read God’s Word on a regular basis, or where you have not availed yourself of His Supper, repent. In doing so, you have withheld food from the faith God has given, and so you have weakened that gift. You may believe it has made no difference, but it has. Repent, and rejoice that Christ has died for this sin, too, that you might be forgiven and strengthened in faith once more.

Rejoice! God gives you faith and counts you among His saints for Jesus’ sake. You may not suffer death like Abel because of it, though you will suffer; and God grants you the faith to endure. In the meantime, too, He rejoices in your works, because you are His child for Jesus’ sake; and a good Father always rejoices in His children. You will not avoid death like Enoch unless the Lord first returns, but you have been given the same faith. Therefore, like Enoch God says of you, “I am well pleased with you, because Jesus has taken away all of your sins.” You may not be sent to a faraway land to live as a stranger as was Abraham; but like Abraham, your destination is sure: the New Jerusalem forever, whose foundation is Christ. And like Sarah, by faith you know that the one who promises is faithful, and so you can be sure of your salvation.

Your life may or may not display great acts of obedience like theirs. But of this you can be certain: the same Savior, Jesus, gives you the same forgiveness and faith. Therefore, this is true, too: God is not ashamed to be called your God, and He has prepared a city for you—all for the sake of Jesus. For in Him, you are forgiven for all of your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

Today’s text begins with Jesus speaking to a large crowd, warning them about the pride of the Pharisees and the danger of denying Him and rejecting His salvation. Suddenly someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

We are almost embarrassed by the man and his petition. It simply is not an important enough question to ask. “Lord, thank You for great Your discussion on the eternal consequences and rewards of confessing You, but I need You to go tell my brother to divide our inheritance so that I can get my portion. And do it now.”

But He [Jesus] said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Jesus gives the man a stern refusal. Our Lord’s Incarnation at Bethlehem, Baptism in the Jordan River, Temptation in the Wilderness, and Work among the people was to proclaim, bring about, and fulfill the Good News of eternal life, gracious salvation, and forgiveness of sin. He neither had nor sought the secular office of an arbitrator. His Call was a mission to bring the Good News of God’s love for the world by giving His Only-Begotten Son in the manger and on the cross.

And so, we might expect Jesus to dismiss the man whose mind was occupied with an inheritance of a perishable treasure from this temporary world, or to grab the man by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, or, at the very least, simply to neglect the man’s request. So, in view of the weighty, eternal issues just addressed and the petty, temporary claim on an earthly inheritance, we are somewhat surprised when Jesus speaks to those within His hearing. He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Jesus did not send him away. He answered him. The man and his appeal, as well as the underlying sin of the man, were important enough to answer … important enough for the Holy Spirit to include in the Word of God … important enough for this text to be included in the assigned readings for this day … important enough for you and me to hear and consider its implications and applications.
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

As you no doubt know, often the days of hard-working people do not end until the sun has set. In that mystical time between sunset and night … that evening of life … a hard-worker will get ready for bed and prepare for that little slice of death called sleep. Now if you are like me, when you are in bed and all ready for the unconscious state of mind to commence, your mind is usually fully occupied and you do some thinking about the activities of the day and say a few silent prayers. At such times, thoughts and prayers tend to mingle together as sleep slowly conquers. And at such times, as well as at all times, the Lord God listens in on all thoughts and hears every prayer.

Well, how can we rephrase it? I came across this retelling of the story this week. It goes like this: once upon a time, in the land of cockleburr and Canadian thistle, a rich man had finished his work for the day and had just climbed into bed. Now, he was a rich man … but not because he had gained his wealth by unlawful or shameful means. He didn’t get his fortune by selling drugs, or defrauding, or by gambling, or by thievery. No, indeed, he was an honest, hard-working farmer who woke the rooster up every morning, letting that critter know it was dawn and time to crow. The rich man worked all day and his hard labors showed.

At the end of the day, when the sun had dipped below the horizon, he would say, “Well done!” And it was true, for his farm bore witness to his hard work.

Well, it happened as it usually did, at one bedtime, during the autumn of life … during that mysterious time when all creation is preparing for the coming night, the man began to think as he pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes. “Ah, what a day! Here it is 9:00 pm already.

Hard work has its rewards and I am truly being rewarded for my efforts. What a crop this year! I really don’t think it has been any better. It just keeps coming and coming. The yield per acre is astounding! Why is that? Some would say, ‘Thanks be to God,’ but I know better. Hard work. Oh yes, hard work! My crops give the word ‘harvest’ a new meaning. However, such success does not come without consequences. Now, I have a new problem. Success leads to excess. But I will solve my problem. I just need to do some thinking about it. Let’s see, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'”

And so, the rich man, who had gained his wealth by honest work, was faced with a problem. He chuckled at his great problem, for he loved the trouble that his problem caused. His abundant harvest was his great problem and as he slumbered he thought about its solution, counting his coins as others count sheep. At 10:00pm, in the stillness of the night, something came to him and it was the answer to his great dilemma.

“I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. I have weighed my silver and my gold and found it way more than sufficient to do what I need to have done. I am going to tear down what I have and build new and bigger and greater barns.
Oh, just imagine the amount of harvest my new barns will be able to hold! What an idea and what a solution to the only great problem I have in the my life.”

At the eleventh second of the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour, during that mystical time when one is neither asleep nor awake, the man mused about his abundant crops, his stacks of gold shekels, his new building project, and the great harvest that would be his. In that nether-land between consciousness and unconsciousness, the man smiled and mumbled from his heart of hearts, “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'”

One minute before midnight the rich man was confronted by God. The Lord God Almighty invaded the mind, assaulted the being, and confronted the consciousness of the rich man who harvested bumper crops on the surface skin of this planet and built bigger barns in this world — all to feed his soul. But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

Then the Lord God left him alone … left him completely and totally alone in the darkness of this world’s night. The quietness of dread descended upon the barn-builder’s soul. The rich man was by himself and only had his own thoughts to occupy his mind.

“Fool. God called me a fool. A fool is an unbeliever … one who says there is no god. God called me an unbeliever! I don’t want to be a fool. I’m not a fool. I refuse to be. My hands are shaking and my heart is pounding. I don’t want God to ever call me a fool again. Tomorrow morning, when I wake up, I am going to make some changes in my life. Only now do I really understand that God has given me so much … house, home, fields, cattle, crops, clothing and shoes, meat and drink. How wrong I was. God is my Creator and has made provisions for my re-creation. God has provided for my redemption and I have neglected the Redeemer. When the light of a new day shines, I will be a new man. I repent of my sins. He has provided for both my body and my soul.”

The clock began to strike midnight and the rich man’s mind raced in frantic disarray … all thoughts now accusing and not a one excusing. As the clock of time sounded from the third to the eight chimes, the rich man threw promise after promise to staunch the overwhelming flood pouring down upon him.

“Oh God, I will rush to Your House in the morning and fall down before You, seeking to hear Your Word of forgiveness of all my sins. They are many, and I understand now that there are many more than I ever imagined. I will worship You for You are a God of Law and I respect that, reaping where You do not sow. At first light, I will love my neighbor and give to the poor. I will support Your church. Oh, I am sorrow for what I have done. Look, I will throw down thirty pieces of silver. Make it a thousand! In fact, take it all. Not only a tithe … not only 10%. I will return all of it, a 100% to you. I will help pay for mission work to the nations. Is it a deal, God? Will You be merciful to me then? Here, let me sing, ‘Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee, Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold.’ Did you hear me sing my promise, Lord? When I wake up from this nightmare, You are going to be amazed at what I’m going to do for You, oh God. Will You take back what You said? In the Name of Jesus, please forgive me? God, are You there? Hey, are You listening?”

The rich man heard nothing but the timepiece pounding out the seconds before midnight. The sound
turned from a chiming to the clanking of a death knell … eight, nine, ten.

“Nothing. I hear nothing from You, O God! But wait! What was it He said? Fool! This night your soul will be required of you. Ridiculous. God is love and this is all a nightmare, isn’t it? I will wake up any second, now. Crow, you blasted rooster. Announce the dawning of a new day. Quick, for I heard the sound of the eleventh clank. It is one second before midnight, one second before the end.
Crow, you lazy, slothful rooster and wake me from this horrible nightmare! I mean, I am asleep, aren’t I? I mean, this is all just a bad dream, isn’t it?”

Wow! Just look at the time, dear people. Do you realize that we’re really running out of the allotted time for preaching. In fact, there are only a few minutes left. Let’s see, what needs to be said? Oh yes, it is morning and we are all here. It’s really, really good to be here, isn’t it? Almost makes you want to pray, the morning prayer. If you know it, please pray it with me …

“I thank You, My heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your Hands I commend myself; my body and soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me that the wicked Foe may have no power over me. Amen.”

When Jesus finished speaking this parable about the rich man, He proclaimed the point of the parable. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

To be rich toward God is to be rich in the treasures of God … the ones that He provides us through the Word and Sacraments which are and come from the Incarnate Son of God. This wealth consists of jewel of Holy Baptism, the abundant treasury of forgiveness, complete peace with God, the stockpile of complete pardon, the multi-faceted salvation of the Lord, and the rich Feast of Victory at the Table of the Lord. The church is given the key to heaven and commanded to announce the absolution which grants such a heavenly treasure. Being rich toward God includes the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) and the supplying all of our needs, especially granting us faith to believe such promises of God, and all according to God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Flowing from the grace of God and faith in Christ, the Christian is called to bear fruits of faith. It may mean being a Christian farmer and involve building bigger barns. It does mean supporting the work of the Church in the missions fields of this world, both here locally and away from our area.

The Lord gives us His treasure chest called the Bible and instructs His under-shepherd to command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Well, our time is up. Let me close by saying I hope that the rich blessings of the Lord continue to be yours today. Enjoy the rest of this day and may God grant you a peaceful slumber this night … one free from any sort of nightmares … but especially from, … The Nightmare of a Fool! In the Name of the Father and of the Son an of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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