Each week, members of Living Water Lutheran Church do Kindness Outreaches. Through them, the love of Christ is shared in practical ways with our neighbors.
We give quarters for carts to shoppers at Aldi...
Hot chocolate to people picking out their Christmas trees...
Doggie treats to people out walking their dogs...
Cold water and other cold drinks to families at parks for soccer games.
When asked why we do this, we tell people things like, "God loves you, no strings attached."
Or, "We're sharing God's love in a practical way."
Today, on a chilly Autumn morning, we gave away hot chocolate.
It's clear we're beginning to get a reputation in the community.
"Are you the Lutherans?" one man asked. When we said, "Yes," another said, "You gave me a cold Coke a few weeks ago. I love the Lutherans!"
Someone else asked, "Can I give you a donation?" "No," answered one of our Living Water disciples, "we're just sharing God's love." When pressed about doing something in response to the gift, our member said, "Just pray for us." "I can do that!" the person said.
The Bible tells us that while you and I were still dead in our sin, Jesus Christ died for us, giving His innocent life to take the death sentence for sin that you and I deserve, then rising from the dead to give eternity to sinners like me and you.
The Bible tells us: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
And Jesus Himself says: "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die." (John 11:25-26)
Life with God is a gift He freely gives through Jesus Christ. There's nothing you need to do or possibly could do to earn it or merit it. It's a gift He gives that calls us to repent--that is, turn from sin and death--and trust in what He has already done for us through His death and resurrection.
It's a privilege to share God and His grace with others, alongside the people of Living Water Lutheran Church.
[Below, you can find live stream video of both of yesterday's worship services with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. Also below is the prepared text of the message shared during the services. God bless your week with faith in Christ and the certainty of Christ's presence with you now and of the eternal life with God He has secured for you through His death and resurrection.]
In one of his sermons on today’s gospel lesson, Matthew 20:1-1-16, Martin Luther said, “This [lesson] is intricate, and very difficult for the young and the simple…” But it’s not just the young in faith or the simple in thought who find the parable that Jesus tells us today difficult. In fact, I doubt that Jesus ever said anything more offensive to good church-going folks than what He says to us today. Let’s set the scene. Just before this parable in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells a rich man confident of his place in the kingdom of God that, because he relies on his wealth and his good works for salvation, he must sell all that he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Him. The rich man walks away sad, knowing that he will be damned in eternity because of his unwillingness to let go of his favorite god. money, and his favorite sin, covetousness. The disciples think, like many people falsely think today, that wealth is a sign of God’s favor. They ask Jesus if a rich person can’t enter God’s kingdom, who can? Jesus tells them that anything is possible with God; anyone who turns from their idols and sins and turns instead to Him for forgiveness and new life can have life with God. Then Jesus tells them that in the kingdom of God, unlike the kingdoms of this world, “many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Matthew 19:30) Maybe in response to the troubled looks He sees around Him, Jesus then tells today’s parable. You know it well. At the beginning of the workday, about 6:00 in the morning, a landowner goes out, presumably to the town square, and agrees to pay a group of men a denarius, the going rate for a day on the job, to work in his vineyard. This is the only time in the parable when Jesus mentions the landowner making any agreement on the rate of pay. There’s apparently a lot of work to do because, Jesus says, the man goes out at 9:00 AM, at noon, at 3:00 PM, and, finally, at 5:00 PM, the final hour of the work day, promising only that he will pay “whatever is right,” (Matthew 20:4) literally, whatever is just, correct, or righteous, to the late-hires. At 6:00 PM, when the workday is over, the owner has the foreman call the last men hired, the ones who have worked an hour or less, to receive their pay. They’re given a denarius. The anticipation undoubtedly must be rising among the first-hired. If the latecomers are getting a denarius from the pleased landowner, how much more might they be able to expect? But anticipation turns to anger as all the workers hired at different times of the day are given the exact same pay, a single denarius. “These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ [the first-hires in Jesus’ story say], “and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.” (Matthew 20:12) But the landowner says: “Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:13-15) At my first parish, a man approached me after worship when I preached on this text and told me, “I’ve always hated that parable.” “It isn’t fair,” he went on, “Is Jesus saying that someone who’s led a sinful life and shows up at church in their old age, all repentant and confessing faith in Jesus, is going to get the same reward as me? I’ve always believed. I’ve always given offerings. I’ve always helped when the church needed help.” I was a young pastor and a bit afraid of offending this man I loved. But I silently prayed, then told him, “Yes, that’s exactly what Jesus is saying. In His Kingdom, all believers are equal.” You see, friends, the old sinner who repents and trusts that Jesus died and rose for them is equal to all of you in the kingdom of God, no matter how long you’ve believed or how many good things you’ve done. So, is the newly baptized baby. So is the believer who has never been able to put much in the offering plate. So is the believer who’s disabled. The reason for this is simple: The God we know in Jesus Christ is NOT fair. Instead, He is righteous. In His kingdom, God doesn’t do the fair thing; He does the right thing, the good thing, the loving thing, the compassionate thing. He gives the reward of eternal life not on the bases of what we do or how long we’ve been doing it, but on the bases of the grace He bears for all who, by the power of the Gospel Word about the crucified and risen Jesus, daily turn from sin and death and instead, turn in trust to Jesus for forgiveness and new and everlasting life. Jesus tells us this parable in order to show us the difference between life in “the kingdoms” of this world–be it, the organizational structure of a congregation, a place of work, or a government–and life in His kingdom. As long as we live in this world, there will be inequalities. It doesn’t matter whether as a people, we adopt the motto, “All people are created equal.” The simple fact of the matter is that in this fallen world, there are and will always be inequalities.” Some people will be wealthier than others, some more powerful than others, some smarter than others, and some, even, more spiritually gifted than others. But, as Luther points out, “...in the kingdom of Christ it is otherwise; there is no distinction there among believers; they are all alike, whether they be kings, princes, governors, masters or servants. All have the same Baptism, Gospel, Faith, Sacrament, the same Christ and God. They all attend divine worship in perfect equality; the servant, the mechanic and the peasant hear the same Word as the mightiest lord. The Baptism [by which] I was baptized belongs to every other child, whether rich or poor. Magdalene and the [thief] on the cross have the same faith which St. Peter and St. Paul had; yea, the [same] faith which you or I have, if we are Christians. All sinners, if converted, have the same God and Christ whom John the Baptist had. There is no difference here, though one may by far excel the other in his station in life, in his calling, or in his talents.” If you and I are intent on nudging our ways past others in the kingdom of God, we will be disappointed. God does not bless and life with God does not come, to those with sharp elbows and unrepentant hearts, only to those who are like the repentant tax collector in another of Jesus’ parables. Jesus says the repentant man “stood a distance” from the altar of the temple out of trembling fear of God’s goodness and holiness, and “beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner..” (Luke 18:13) There is good news, friends! God has had mercy on us sinners. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) And whoever and whatever sinner who heeds His invitation to life in His eternal vineyard–all who repent and believe in Him–will, on the last day, after Jesus has returned to the earth and raised the dead, receive the same reward: life with God that never ends! And, in the meantime, just like Saint Paul, writing to the Philippian Christians, from a prison cell, his crime being his faith in Jesus and his proclamation of the forgiveness of sins and new and everlasting for all who repent and believe in Jesus, we know that God is with us even now. It’s hard to understand God. Hard to understand why He loves us, why He hasn’t given up on us, why He forgives us no matter how many times we come back to Him in repentant faith. But thank God that He is Who He is. God is not fair; He’s only right and righteous and good. Because the God you know in Jesus is good, you can also live each day knowing that “it is by [His] grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) No one can boast, no matter how hard or how long God allows us to work in His vineyard on this earth. But all who turn to Jesus can rejoice, for the grace He gives us freely in Jesus. No matter our circumstances in this life. No matter our position. Friends, each day, you can claim the inheritance of your baptism and trust Jesus to be with you now AND to give you your eternal reward. Amen
[Below you'll find the text of the message shared during worship services with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio today, as well as live stream videos of both services. Have a good week!]
Years ago after worship at one of the churches I’ve served as pastor, a woman asked if she could speak with me briefly. She was a young woman, active in the church. I could tell she was uncomfortable, but trusted me and after a while, got to what she wanted to discuss. “Pastor,” she said, “I’m gay.” I could see what her question was. She wondered what God thought of her. I knew her to be a person of earnest faith who understood the will of God regarding sexual intimacy. She was troubled by her feelings. There was no way I was going to pour heaping coals on her. She needed the Gospel Word of Jesus. I touched her hand and, calling her by name, told her, “God loves you.” I went on to remind her that Jesus died and rose for sinners, whatever sin they may be oriented to commit, and that He calls all of us to repent–to turn our backs on our sins–and believe in Him. I went on to assure her that God stands by those who struggle with their temptations and will always forgive the repentant. We talked for about an hour. She continued to be an active member of our church and I prayed for her regularly. That conversation happened a long time ago. Since then, I’ve lost touch with that woman. So, I don’t know what’s going on in her life these days. But, fellow sinners, this incident and our Gospel lesson for this morning bring to the fore an important question for us all: What does God think of us? In the Gospel lesson, Jesus is in Capernaum, a town on the Sea of Galilee. He’s just come from forgiving the sins, then healing, a paralytic man. He catches sight of a tax collector named Matthew. We know just a few things about Matthew. We know that he was also known as Levi, telling us that he was from the tribe of priests, the Levites, and because of this, that his life has apparently gone off the rails. We know that he was one of the two apostles–John being the other one–to write one of the Gospels that appear in our New Testament. And we know he was a tax collector. You’ve heard me speak often about the tax collectors of that time. They purchased franchises for the privilege of collecting taxes and tolls in a given region from the Romans or the Romans’ agents. Tax collectors like Matthew routinely charged the people in their region way more than the Romans expected to be collected and the Romans ignored their extortion. Tax collectors were dishonest. They were hated. Unlike most of their fellow Jews, they were extremely wealthy. Usually, they were unafraid to flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. Jesus tells Matthew, “‘Follow me,’...[and] Matthew got up and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9) Now, rather than bogging ourselves in questions about why Matthew immediately responded to Jesus and whether Matthew knew Jesus already, I think the more important question to ask is where Jesus led Matthew? We might think that Jesus would lead Matthew off for a time of intense discipleship training. Instead, Jesus seems to lead Matthew to Matthew’s house, where Matthew is going to host a dinner for “many tax collectors and sinners.” (Mathew 9:10)
You see, Jesus doesn’t walk away from sinners. He goes to them. That’s how Jesus is able to call them–it’s how He is able to call you and me–to turn from sin and turn in faith to Him for forgiveness and new life with God. Jesus also doesn’t call His disciples, people like Matthew and you and me, away from sinners. He calls us to them. That’s the only way we can be, in Saint Paul’s phrase, “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), representatives of Jesus Christ in a world under the dominion of sin, death, and darkness. And it’s the only way we can, as Saint Peter puts it, “give the reason for the hope that [we] have” because of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:15) The gospel–the good news–is that, “[w]hile we were still sinners, Christ died for us” and has done everything needed for we sinners to be, despite our sin, the saints of God Who will, on the day Jesus returns, be called from our graves so that we can live with and serve God “in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” (Romans 5:8; The Small Catechism, Article II) Not everyone is happy that Jesus is eating with notorious sinners, of course. The Pharisees, the members of a prominent first-century Jewish sect, are offended. Now, the word pharisee comes to us from both the Hebrew and Aramaic languages and means “one who is separated.” The Pharisees separated themselves from others both because they thought their adherence to God’s Law was greater than that of others and to avoid getting polluted by others’s sins. The Pharisees are self-righteous. They’re also people Jesus called “whitewashed tombs” and “hypocrites.” “Why,” the Pharisees ask some of Jesus’ disciples, “does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11) Jesus hears this question and answers: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) Look, friends, if you think you’re righteous because you’re a good person, Jesus has nothing for you. He has nothing to say to you. But if you know that you are, by nature, inclination, and action, sick with sin, filled with an inborn resistance to love for God or love for others, Jesus has everything for you: forgiveness, eternal life, the assurance of His constant presence by your side! “For I have not come,” Jesus tells us today, “to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13) Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, God revealed through the prophet Isaiah what He would do for sinners who are reached by Him and His grace, in eternity. He announced His intention to host a feast that never ends: “...the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines…he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.” (Isaiah 25:6-8) During dinner at Matthew’s house, Jesus was giving the notorious sinners around Him a foretaste of the heavenly feast that awaits all who, by the power of His Gospel Word, turn from sin and trust in Him. It’s a foretaste of what He does on the cross to save us from sin, condemnation, and death. He does this same thing when He gathers us repentant believers at His table each Sunday to give us His body and blood. Jesus does again what He did at Matthew’s house: He takes our sin into Himself and gives us His righteousness, He erases the power of sin and death over us and makes us whole and new in His grace. So, what does God think of you? For you, “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) That’s what God thinks of you and everyone else born sick with sin. He thinks you are worth the sacrifice of His sinless love to give you life with Him. Friends, today receive, cherish, tastes and see, and hold onto this promise from Jesus, God the Son: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13) And rejoice that He has called you. Amen
Rosie, some of you may know, was a member of Ann’s and my home church in Columbus. She was in worship and Sunday School every week. She was usually very quiet. One Sunday, a seminarian was leading our adult class and asked what commemoration we would add to the annual calendar of the Church. No one spoke for a long while. But then, Rosie raised her hand. “I sometimes I think we should have a ‘Thank God We Live Now Sunday’ because I’m afraid that if I’d lived around Jesus back when He was on the earth, I wouldn’t have believed in Him. I’m glad I live now and can believe in Jesus.” Rosie was an older person. Older people sometimes seem to spend a lot of their time pining for the supposed “good old days.” But here was Rosie suggesting that we should thank God for being alive today because living today makes it easier for us to have saving faith in Jesus than it would have been for those living in first-century Judea. We know, of course, that there were people who saw Jesus’ miracles, including things like walking on the water, restoring the sight of the blind, and raising the dead but still didn’t believe in Him as their Savior and Lord for everlasting life with God. Many saw or heard Jesus doing these things and then called for His execution. Some of these same people celebrated when Jesus drew His last breath on the cross. Even the disciples scattered in fear and disbelief. We know all that, but was Rosie wrong to suggest that, in this age of cynicism and nihilism and unbelief, we have a better chance of having saving faith in Jesus than did the people who saw and heard Jesus? Our gospel lesson for today is John 16:12-22. It’s part of Jesus’ farewell discourse, a time of teaching His disciples before His betrayal and arrest. He’s been talking about the Holy Spirit. In today’s lesson, Jesus tells the disciples: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12) There are two reasons the disciples can’t yet bear the many things Jesus wants and needs to say to the Church. The first is that the disciples don’t yet know that death cannot stop Jesus. They don’t yet see how unique Jesus is, that not even death can thwart His power to forgive our sins or give us new and everlasting life with God. They largely see Jesus as a tool by which “good people,” which is how they think of themselves, will get the good things they want in the world. They don’t see that Jesus hasn’t come into the world to be a genie granting the wishes and demands of those who follow Him. Jesus hasn’t come into the world to make us comfortable in a dying world, but to make it possible for sinners like us, who deserve nothing but condemnation and hell, to be forgiven our sins and have life with God that begins now and is brought to perfection in eternity. The second reason the disciples can’t yet bear the things Jesus wants to teach them is that Jesus hasn’t yet sent the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him This second reason is what Jesus addresses next in our lesson: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Truth.” Jesus tells us that the Spirit will guide us into all the truth. The truth Jesus is speaking of here isn’t an abstraction. It’s not the mere opposite of a lie. Jesus says elsewhere, you know very well, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) What Jesus means is that God, one God in three Persons, of which Jesus is the second, God the Son, is the foundational truth, the cornerstone, on Whom the whole creation is founded. Jesus claims that He is Who Psalm 118:22 was describing when it said, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Jesus also says that it’s the wise person who builds their lives on Him as their Rock. (Matthew 7:24) Because God has given no other name but the name of Jesus by which we can be saved from sin and death, the old hymn nis right when it says that “all other ground is sinking sand.” (Acts 4:12) Our natural impulse is to build our lives on falsehoods, things that won’t last like self-sufficiency, our own presumed goodness, material wealth, good health. But only Jesus, the Truth, can give us life with God that never ends. “Everyone who believes [in the Son of Man, Jesus says, referring to Himself] may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:15) So, Jesus is saying in today’s gospel lesson that after He has died, risen, and ascended, He will send the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus. The Spirit will speak the words and deeds of Jesus to us through the Word and the Sacraments–Holy Baptism and Holy Communion–and lead us to believe in Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit, working through these means, Who makes it possible for us to believe what the first disciples found hard to believe. “I want you to know,” the apostle Paul would write to the Corinthian Christians some three decades after the events in today’s gospel lesson, “that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3) Jesus sends the Spirit then, to first, give us the truth about us: the truth that we fail to love God wholeheartedly and fail to love others with the same passion and commitment with which we love ourselves. And the Spirit also makes it possible for us to believe the gospel, the good news that God loves us and has overcome our sin, death, and darkness through Jesus. Romans 5:8 says: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, He brings faith to those who are drenched in the gospel Word at their Baptism, who stand under that gospel Word, and who, in faith, receive Christ’s body and blood with His words, “This is My body, given for you! This is My blood shed for you.” The Word that comes to us from the Holy Spirit is what enables us to believe, no matter the circumstances of our lives. Because the world is such a dark and death-filled place, we need to hear and receive this Word over and over again, especially in the fellowship of the Church.
The story's told about a pastor newly arrived at a congregation who, on his first Sunday, preached a stirring sermon. People greeted him at the door after worship and said, "Nice sermon, pastor," "Good sermon, pastor." The next Sunday, he preached the same sermon. People filed by after worship with the same words, "Nice sermon, pastor," "Good sermon, pastor." This went on for several weeks. Finally, a perceptive member of the congregation said, "You know, pastor, I can't help noticing a similarity between the sermons you've been preaching." The pastor said, "When I'm sure you've heard it, I'll stop preaching it."
We need to hear the Gospel over and over again, Martin Luther observed, because we forget it all the time. And so, if there's a sameness to the sermons from Sunday to Sunday, there's a reason. Do you remember the children's book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever? In it, some neighborhood kids who had never before had any connection to the Church get involved in a local congregation's annual Christmas play. "What's it about?" one of the kids asks. "Jesus" is the answer. The kid responds, "They can't stop talking about Him here."
We cannot stop talking about Jesus. And so the Word comes to us again and again so that we might believe. “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me,” Jesus then tells the disciples. (John 16:16) Soon, He’ll die on a cross, then He will rise. To the disciples, these words are a riddle. Jesus, being God, knows their thoughts and supposedly secret conversation. He tells the disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20) Friends, this promise is for you too. Today, you don’t see Jesus, Who is seated at God’s right hand. But Jesus still comes to you in those means of grace–Scripture, Baptism, Communion–and in the fellowship of believers. In the Word given to us by the Holy Spirit, given to us personally and directly, Jesus comes to you and helps you to trust that because Jesus has died and risen, you belong to God forever! The Spirit reminds you again today of Jesus’ promise that even when, “you have sorrow now…I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22) One day, by God’s grace through faith in Christ, you will see Jesus face to face and live in His perfect kingdom eternally. Rosie was right. It is a blessing to live today, on this side of Jesus’ cross and resurrection. The Holy Spirit has been unleashed so that you can believe in Jesus and so have eternal life with God. You can thank God for that! Amen
