Here's the sermon delivered yesterday at my parish. Pr. Ron Rock Zion, Beecher, IL
Carefully Watching Jesus Sermon Text Luke 14:1 Sun. & Wed., August 29 & September 1, 2010 Pentecost 14, Proper 17, C Old Testament Reading Proverbs 25:2-10 Epistle Reading Hebrews 13:1-17 Gospel Lesson Luke 14:1-14 Zion Lutheran Church, Beecher, IL Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.] Our sermon is based on the following from todays Gospel reading: One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. (Luke 14:1, ESV) Dear friends in Christ Jesus, In a sense, I feel sorry for them. I really feel sorry for anyone in the public eye. For example, take politicians, or political commentators. In our day and age where nearly everyone has some sort of handheld device that can capture pictures with incredible clarity and digitally record every word that one says politicians and those involved in that endeavor have to watch everything and I mean everything that they say or do! Whether its the President or Rush Limbaugh, theres always someone carefully watching them and theyre just waiting for the person in the public eye to say or do something wrong. Theyre looking for that Ah haa! moment where they can capture evidence against their perceived enemy and then use that picture or sound bite to make them to look bad. For President Obama or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid it might be the internet web site RedState.com whos waiting in the wings. And for former President George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck it could be another internet web site known as the Huffington Post that is likewise always to be found in the background waiting for a stumble to occur and then capture it and exploit it to their advantage! Similarly, in todays Gospel reading, those who intensely dislike Jesus, the Pharisees, are skulking around. Luke tells us theyre lurking and watching Him carefully. (v. 1) Theyre hoping against hope that Jesus will stumble and thereby give them ammunition to discredit Him in front of the people who are beginning to reject their leadership and are becoming disciples of Jesus! They hope that Jesus will say the wrong thing, or get involved in that sort of activity, that they can broadcast far and wide and through that make Him to be anything but the long-awaited Messiah that some folks were saying that He was. And why ? Why would the Pharisees back then and groups today such as RedState.com and the Huffington Post try to get the goods on other people? You know why. We all know why In our arrogance we all so often think that we have a lock on all wisdom That we know all the answers. Or in our desire for power, and to have things go our way rather than engage in a rational, decent discussion on the issues, we resort to name calling or innuendo so as to discredit those with whom we disagree. Or worst of all we pull every trick out of our dirty playbook and attempt to demonize others. And its all done so we can get what we want regardless of the truth regardless of who is hurt regardless of anything! Yeah, those Pharisees were pathetic watching Jesus carefully so they could have things go their way. And and were just the same every one of us. For we all, from time to time, can also be caught red-handed doing those same tricks looking for that moment when we can declare Ah haa! and point an accusing finger at someone else and in the process, attempt to better ourselves and our position at their expense! But did you notice something ? Even while the Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully He He was watching them! Elsewhere, St. John tells us in general why Jesus was watching the Pharisees: But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people for He Himself knew what was in man. (Jn. 2:24-25, ESV) Jesus knew the deceit and duplicity He knew the ulterior motives and intentions of the Pharisees that day and thats why He asked His questions of them. The Pharisees were always looking for a point of Gods Law that they could say that Jesus ignored; but this time He turned the tables on them. He asked them two questions regarding the Law, and as you heard twice over They remained silent (v. 4) they could not reply to these things. (v. 6) Thats the way it is thats the way it always is when sinful man is confronted by the holy, righteous God hes left speechless! He has no answer for himself and his sinful antics. His or her sins stand out like a man wearing a dirty T-shirt and cutoff shorts at a White House State Dinner! You see, in our sinfulness, were always watching out for Number 1 for ourselves. But our dear Lord Jesus even though He knew that Hed be ambushed wherever He would go He came into this world of sin and death to carefully watch out for us! Yeah! Thats right! Jesus came into this world to rescue us so that we might by His grace avoid sin and death and hell! He came to take our sinful, shameful acts of thought, word, and action upon Himself and then undergo their full punishment on the holy cross. I know I know youve heard that so many times in your life. Most of you are well aware of Jesus death on the cross and His resurrection three days later. But again do you really, truly understand the eternal implications of that action? Do you really, truly understand that because of Jesus the gates of heaven are no longer sealed and locked tight for the likes of you and the sin that you all so often willingly embrace? Rather as we said the gates of heaven are open wide open. Jesus calls you to repent and in faith look on His action in your place as your hope of salvation. In love, He carefully watches you and watches out for you so that you might be with Him and He with you forever. Non-believers cringe at the notion of Jesus carefully watching them. Thats because deep down they know that their sins and Gods judgment of that sin still stand against them. But for us Christians, we take great comfort, knowing that Jesus watches every move that we make. For we know that as He watches us, He no longer sees our sin; but rather, He sees His righteousness thats now ours through our God-given faith. He carefully watches over us as we live out our Baptisms. He rejoices when we come to His house to hear His Word of life and receive His Supper. He thrills to see us living our lives in humility not as a show in order to manipulate others and thereby get what we want; but when we imitate His loving action of putting the needs of others before ourselves. Hes pleased when we give of our time, talent, and material treasure so that others might come to know what we know forgiveness of sins every one of them and through that to be at peace with the almighty God, Himself! So many in our world eagerly seek that Ah haa! moment when they think that theyve successfully trapped someone in a tough spot. But our dear Lord Christ came not to trap us, but to free us. May we ever walk in that newness of life with Him both here in time and there in eternity. Thanks be to God! [Amen.] ` ____________________________________________________________ $13/Month Car Insurance? Insurance deal just passed now allows you to get car insurance for $13 http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c7c6c5270f50969e37st06vuc
