LESSON: LUKE 12:13-21

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24

Paul gives a vivid description of what happens when men give way to unbelief (1 Timothy 6:6-10). The man who is solely bent on piling up earthly possessions and becoming rich falls into temptations and snares of the devil. This cannot be seen; it is something spiritual. If we could really see the damage that the devil does in spiritual things in the same degree that we can see the damage he does in bodily matters, we would really have something to preach about. For we have external evidence of how an unbelieving man keeps on scraping earthly property together, doing violence to every man so that he may have no opposition and stand alone in his scraping operations so that finally he may rely on what he has scraped together and say: “Now I have enough.”

What a mean and unfriendly thing this unbelief is! It does no one any good; it is friendly to no one; it considers nothing but its own advantage. It is certainly an accursed thing, this unbelief, refusing to trust God for the sake of our benefit and actually believing that, if we do not adopt all possible methods and procedures for ensuring our bodily welfare, even at the expense of our neighbor’s welfare, we will die of hunger.

SL 11:1306 (4-5)

PRAYER: Lord, You have shown us in very clear precept and example that we should never be greedy and covetous, but contented and generous. Fill our hearts with such trust in Your wonderful care and providence that we overcome all temptations to selfishness and use our blessings to help all in need, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:131-140.

LESSON: LUKE 5:1-11

When they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish, and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. Luke 5:6-7

First of all, let us note here that those who believe in Christ will also have enough for their bodily needs. Christ attends to this matter here in supplying Peter and his partners with such a large number of fish, more than they would ever have dared to hope for.

We see here how Christ is genuinely concerned for the bodily welfare of His disciples. If only there were not so much accursed unbelief! Take the example of St. Peter in this Gospel. Look into his heart, and you will find that he did not reckon with the possibility of catching so many fish. But God intervenes here and brings the fish into the net in greater numbers than any of them had desired.

This example shows us that believers in Christ receive enough for their bodily needs. Unbelievers never have enough of anything. They never experience any real rest and are continually engrossed in the piling up of earthly possessions. This is how they become enmeshed in all kinds of harmful vices.

What Paul writes to Timothy is only too true: “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

SL 11:1304 (2-3)

PRAYER: You have given us the strongest of assurances, heavenly Father, that You will always watch over the needs of all Your children, even the needs of their bodies. Grant us the grace of contentment so that we always receive Your blessings with thanksgiving and with real benefit to ourselves and our neighbor, in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:131-140.

LESSON: MATTHEW 7:1-5

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned.” Luke 6:37

Jesus is speaking here of uncharitable judging and condemnation, forming a good or bad opinion about something that cannot really be seen from the outside but is a judgement that only God can make. It can happen that you see your neighbor sinning on the one day, and God accepts him on the next day. You can also put on a very pious front and blot out all remembrance of your own sins.

Christ has forbidden judging, for there can be no love or unity where such judging and condemning is current among men. To judge or condemn another man is nothing else but having a log in one’s eye such as all hypocrites have in their eyes. Those who have the idea that their piety exceeds that of other men always find something wrong with their brethren. No matter what their brethren do, they find fault with it, but they cannot see their own sins.

If you see nothing but sin in others, without ever noticing the log in your own eye, you are falling under the judgement of God. You, who are so ready to judge and condemn another man, are a greater sinner before God than the worst scoundrel and the worst harlot, of whom God alone knows who is saved or condemned.

All sin that other men commit is as nothing when compared with the sin that you commit with your uncharitable judgement of others.

SL 11:1281 (26)

PRAYER: To you and to no one else, O God, belongs all judgment and condemnation. Keep us always aware of this basic fact whenever we are tempted to judge and condemn our neighbor in defiance of the love that we should always manifest to him, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.

LESSON: MATTHEW 6:1-4

“Do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Luke 6:35

In these words, Jesus outlines a basic Christian principle which involves our earthly property and its use in relieving the needs of our neighbor and helping him. Our earthly property should always be at the disposal of our neighbor. We should lend to our neighbor and give to him where and when he wills it.

These are real commandments and not merely counsels, as has sometimes been suggested. Jesus does not mean here, “He who wants to attain perfection must follow this course.” In an effort to observe this counsel of perfection, men withdrew from the world into monasteries, seeking this perfection. For this reason alone, all monasteries are a devil’s delusion. For no people are greedier and less inclined to break off their wrong practices than those in monasteries.

If one wants to be a Christian, one should be prepared, as Jesus says, to lend “expecting nothing in return.” If we are confronted with a case of need, where there is no possibility of repayment, we should make a free gift and remit all indebtedness, as Nehemiah did (Nehemiah 5:9-12).

God gave you your property, and He can certainly give you more if you continue to trust him. If you are wrongfully deprived of something, do not demand it again for yourself. Let your neighbor step forth on your behalf and help you, so that you do not have to suffer excessively. Your neighbor should help you and protect you against wrong and violence. If you want to be Christians, you must lend and give and even suffer the deprivation of your goods, or your faith will be lacking.

SL 11:1279 (20-21)

PRAYER: You have given us everything, O God. Train us in your ways so that we, too, may learn to give everything for the welfare of our neighbor, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.

LESSON: JAMES 2:14-17

Brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11

Good works should always be a sure sign to me, resembling a seal on a letter, to make me certain that my faith is right. If I feel in my heart that a certain work has flowed from the love in my heart, I can be certain that my faith is as it should be. If I forgive, my forgiveness should assure me that my own faith is a living reality. It guarantees and proves my own faith that God has forgiven me and forgives me daily. But if I do not forgive, I should quickly have to conclude that there is something lacking in my faith.

This was also Abraham’s experience. Works made his own faith known to him. God certainly knew that he had faith, but Abraham also had to know this and prove his faith.

Works are therefore the fruits and proof which freely follow faith. Of what use would it be to me if I had a strong faith but did not know it? It would be like having a chest full of florins and not knowing it. This would be of no use to me. But if someone made this known to me, his service to me would seem like a gift.

So also with faith. If I have faith and do not know it, it is of no use to me. Therefore, it must break forth and become known to me by the works which follow it. Peter urges us to do good works, not that we should thereby be called, but to confirm our call and offer proof of it.

SL 11:1277 (16-17)

PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, endow us with a true, living faith which always proves itself in works of love to our neighbor, for the Savior’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.

LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-2

What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? I Corinthians 4:7

We must always receive before we can give. Before we practice mercy, we must receive mercy from God. We never lay the first stone. The sheep does not seek out the shepherd, but the shepherd the sheep.

See to it, then, that you always keep works in their proper place. You do not obtain anything from God by your works. You obtain all that you receive from God without any merit or worthiness on your part at all, as God says to us in Isaiah, “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me” (Isaiah 65:1). At the end of the same chapter, God says, “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). Before we seek Him, He finds us; before we ask after Him, He already hears us.

This is also what Paul says in the famous section of Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justified him who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26).

Paul explains it all very neatly when he says later on in Romans, “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6).

SL 11:1276 (15)

PRAYER: O God our Father, let us find mercy in Your sight so that we have grace to serve You acceptably with due reverence and godly fear, and further grace not to receive Your undeserved love in vain or to neglect it or fall away from it, but to stir us up to grow up in it and persevere therein, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.

LESSON: HEBREWS 11:17-19

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Someone may wonder how we can reconcile what Jesus teaches in this Gospel with our frequent contention that works count for nothing with God and play no part at all in obtaining a favorable judgement from Him. How does it come to pass that the very opposite seems to be set forth by Christ in this Gospel? Christ says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:36-38).

The gist of all these statements seems to be that we must gain God’s favor for ourselves by means of our works, and that by our works we must win God over so that He is merciful to us and forgives us. We, on the other hand, have always been most emphatic in insisting that it is faith alone that achieves all this.

Note well, then, that St. Paul, with the whole testimony of Scripture oft-repeated on his side, insists on the necessity of faith, that we must have dealings with God through pure faith alone. Hence, you must understand passages like the ones which we have here in our Gospel as teaching that works are the proof and verification of faith. If I have faith, then I must be merciful, refrain from judging and condemning, forgive and give to my neighbor.

SL 11:1275 (13-14)

PRAYER: Grant us your grace, O God, that we may always demonstrate the genuineness of our faith in abundant works of mercy towards our neighbor for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - MONDAY

LESSON: PSALM 89:1-4

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6

Where mercy is not practiced, there is no Christian faith. If your heart is established in faith, so that you know and realize how merciful and good God has proved Himself to be as far as you are concerned, without any merit on your part and absolutely for nothing on His part, when you were still His enemy and a child of eternal damnation—if you really believe all this, you have no other alternative at all but to manifest a similar spirit towards your neighbor. And you do all this out of love for God and for the benefit of your neighbor.

Take care, then, that you make no distinction between friend and foe, between worthy and unworthy. All who have experienced God’s mercy deserved anything but mercy. This will be the case also when we show mercy to others. This is what our Lord Himself wanted to emphasize for us when He said, “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish” (Luke 6:35).

Mercy will be a constant fruit of true Christian faith.

SL 11:1275 (12)

PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, Your mercy and compassion were always freely extended to all who had gone astray. Inflame our hearts with the fire of Your love, that we also may extend our mercy and compassion to all our fellowmen, whether friend or foe. In Your name we ask it. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:97-110.