Do You Want What He Has to Give?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever been to a “white elephant” gift exchange? You know, where people bring wrapped gifts, generally of relatively low value, that they proceed to exchange, usually via some some sort of lottery or raffle. Of course, part of the fun of a white elephant exchange is to find amusing things to give to your friends. I remember, as a child, tagging along with my mother to our church's LWML Christmas party, where the ladies would always come up with odd or amusing things to exchange, often items re-gifted from other sources. One time, one prize that floated around was a plush cat, limp and flat, with almost no stuffing, and a tag that said “roadkill”. Such items, and such exchanges are amusing for a moment, but they hold no lasting blessing or value.

Or perhaps you have received a well-intentioned gift from a loved one, for which you struggled to show gratitude as you thought, “What in the world am I going to do with this?” It may have been obvious that the person genuinely meant well, and wished to give you something that would be of value and maybe have meaning, but had neither for you.

How often do we receive gifts that we would rather not accept? Or, perhaps more common, how often do we receive gifts but fail to realize the source and worth of them?

Good Housekeeping?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Imagine for a moment two houses. The first house, when you go in for a visit, is immaculately clean. I mean not just tidy and well-kept, but museum-quality spotless. The kind of place where dust would not dare to fall. This house is beautiful, practically sparkling. The kind of place they put in Good Housekeeping magazines and in ads for maid services. So, you enter this house, and how do you feel? Probably, you feel uncomfortable. It is so clean and neat that you are afraid to touch anything or to sit too heavily on the furniture. Your host asks you in, and you see a beautiful, Martha Stewart-quality banquet set, and you know that the host and hostess have worked all day on it. However, you sit down to table, and you feel like eyes are watching your every move. Conversation is polite, but formal.

Now, imagine another house. This house is quite a bit less formal and fancy than the other. It is smaller in size, but more filled with furniture, toys, and decorations. This house is picked up, but certainly would not win a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Your host here asks you in, and you settle into a large, well-used sofa in front of an impressive home entertainment center. A dog runs around at your feet. When you arrive, they send out for pizza, then settle in for honest, friendly conversation, while kids play in the other room. How do you feel in this house? Probably much more at home than in the first house. This house, while much less clean and tidy, feels like more of a home, like the people here actually live here, rather than just maintain the space.

This contrast in hospitality is a bit like the difference between Martha and Mary in today's gospel lesson. St. Luke records, “And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving.” We see a snapshot of two sisters with very different responses to Jesus' visit.

Martha was the one to welcome Jesus into their home, according to Luke. But she was distracted – literally, dragged off – by the duties of preparing the house and probably a meal for Jesus. She was very anxious to make things just right. Now, this is not in itself a bad thing. Martha was better than the Samaritans who had refused to entertain the Lord at all. She willingly invited Him in, and was preparing a meal for Him. She was doing what was expected of a good hostess. Her hospitality would have been commended by her peers.

On the other hand, we have no mention of whether Mary welcomed Jesus into the home, or how she reacted to His arrival. But she sat down at His feet and listened continuously to His teaching. She was so enrapt by His teaching that she could not tear herself away to help Martha prepare the meal. She was dumping all her responsibility on her sister. So who had the right reaction?

Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was so wrapped up in “doing the right thing” that she failed to recognize why she was doing what she was doing. Yes, her hospitality was commendable, on the surface, but she failed to realize that the better work was to listen to Jesus' words. She was so busy serving her Lord, that she neglected the gifts He came to give.

On the other hand, Mary chose the better portion. She recognized the wonderful gifts that Jesus has to give, and she sat at His feet and received all that He had to give to her. And in so doing, she demonstrated a lively and robust faith in Jesus and His Word.

“Faith is the divine service (latreia) that receives the benefits offered by God. The righteousness of the Law is the divine service (latreia) that offers to God our merits. God wants to be worshipped through faith so that we receive from Him those things He promises and offers.” (Ap IV.49 Reader's Edition).

Now, what are those things which our Lord promises and offers? He offers to us none other than Himself. Jesus offers to us His life, sacrificed upon the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He has taken upon Himself the sins of the whole world, of every man, woman, and child who ever was, is, or will be. Upon the cross, Jesus completed the joyous exchange of all our sin and death for all His righteousness and life. He died so that our death might be destroyed. He rose so that we too might rise in His new life. He offers to us the Word that says to each guilty and condemned heart “You are declared not guilty for My sake. Your sins are no more.” He promises to us that we have the Holy Spirit now, enlivening us for love toward God and service to our neighbor. He promises us that on the Last Day, He will call us by name into the Holy City, to forever worship around the throne of God and the Lamb.

So what happens when you hear Jesus' Word being spoken to you? Jesus says in Luke 8, “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.” You have this greatest treasure and promise – the message of the forgiveness of your sins and life with God in heaven. Listen to the Word of God and receive His Gifts, and you will not cease to have abundantly all that is His to give. As St. Paul instructs, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Faith is the highest and best worship of God.

Come, sit at Jesus' feet. Come, hear Jesus' voice as He tenderly speaks to you. Come, receive Jesus' gifts as He seeks to give you all good things. Come, ye faithful, raise the strain Of triumphant gladness!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Ryan McDermott

St. Peter Lutheran Church

Elma, IA

Proper 11C – 18 July 2010

Who Really Needs Mercy?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we hear about the lawyer who wanted to test Jesus. He stood up and questioned Jesus about what a person must do to inherit eternal life. So Jesus asked the lawyer a seemingly simple question: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” A good question to pose to a lawyer – what does the Law say?

Of course, the lawyer knows exactly what the Law says, and he rattles it off almost without thinking, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That is the right answer, the classic textbook distillation of the whole Law of Moses, found in Deuteronomy, chapter 6. The lawyer knew this is the way to eternal life, and so did Jesus. But as Jesus would show, this is not the end of the matter.

Jesus tells the young lawyer, “Do this, and you will live.” Here is the raw rub – who of us actually does this? Who can really say that he loves the Lord God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loves his neighbor as himself? Seeking to justify himself in the word of the Law, the lawyer had trapped himself in his own words, just as we do when we attempt to justify our own lives.

Just look at your own life. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Oh, sure, it is easy to say yes when your neighbor is nice and respectable. It is easy to say yes when your neighbor is like you, at least enough to stay in your comfort zone. It is easy to say yes when your neighbor is doing relatively well and leaves you alone unless you need him.

But what about those who are not like you? What about the abused child in the home down the block? What about the nephew with the drinking problem? What about the wife whose husband cheats on her? Do you love these people as much as yourself?

What about the poor and starving children in places like Nigeria or Guatemala? What about the homeless orphans left alone by the quake in Haiti? What about the children stranded in refugee camps in Asia? Do you love these as much as yourself?

What about the physically or mentally disabled? What about the deaf and the blind? What about the unborn at risk from their own mothers? What about those tortured in the confines of their own minds? Do you love these as much as yourself?

We all know the answer to these questions. No matter what we might do, the answer will always be a resounding “No”. I can never do enough for others to balance out my inborn selfishness. You can never give enough to balance out what you hang onto, in your heart and in your bank account. And all this selfishness is but a symptom of the fact that neither you nor I is even capable of loving God wholly and perfectly, as the Law demands.

But the lawyer in our gospel account wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” To this, Jesus replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was beaten by robbers and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite passed by on the other side of the road, not even condescending to touch him or even send help. But a Samaritan saw him and nursed his wounds, bound him up, took him to an inn, and made provision for his convalescence. Now where are you in this story?

You are the man beaten and battered, robbed and left for dead. The forces of sin and Satan have torn you end from end and left you for dead. Satan wants nothing more than to see you dead in your sins and trespasses. And by all accounts, you ought to have been left for dead. There was nothing in you or me that would endear God to us.

And this is where the great miracle of Jesus' work takes place. He entered our broken, dying human sphere and took all our failings and frailties upon Himself, and took them to the cross. Upon the cross, Jesus received the punishment from the Father for all that we have failed to love and to do. In His death, Jesus showed His glory. In His resurrection, He displays for all the overwhelming triumph wrought by the love of God over the forces of sin, death, and Satan. The love of God was powerfully displayed for the unlovable.

And here and now, Jesus comes along your road and picks you up out of your misery and despair. He gives you forgiveness, life, and salvation. He breathes His life-giving Spirit upon you and gives you His very life. He picks you up out of the ditch and binds up your wounds. He pours oil on your head and cleans your wounds with His holy waters of Baptism. He pours the wine of His precious blood into your mouth to cleanse and purify you and give you strength. He bears you out of the valley of the shadow of death and into the safety of His holy ark, the Church, where he lays up provisions for you to be fed and nursed to health. He leaves His Word to strengthen you and His Holy Sacraments to feed and nourish you. And he promises to give you everything you lack when He comes back again. When He returns on the Last Day, He will call you to Himself to join in the feast that shall never end – the marriage feast of the Bridegroom in His kingdom forever and ever.

So, do you love God with your whole being? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Now the answer is a joyful, resounding “Yes!” You truly love God because His love has been poured out for you and poured into you. And that love of God bubbles up and overflows throughout your life, so that you cannot help but show love and mercy to your neighbor. And like a light shining on a hill, your neighbor sees the love and mercy of God in your face and in the works of your hands.

Let us recall that in our midst

Dwells Christ, His only Son;

As members of His body joined

We are in Him made one.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Ryan McDermott

St. Peter Lutheran Church

Elma, IA

11 July 2010

Peace be to This House!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'” In our gospel lesson, Jesus gives this instruction. But what is peace?

We hear a lot about peace in the media and from various cultural sources. There was the “peace and love” ideal of the last century, which meant doing whatever I want, as long as I don't infringe on your right to do whatever you want. So-called “peace and love” caused many illegitimate children, and infected many with disease and drug addictions. In the name of peace, people marched in the streets and burned things. In the name of peace, how many were killed in Asia? Is this peace?