Can't make it to church, but still want to hear God's Word, below are the recent sermons given during the Worship Hour.

Fifth Sunday in Lent   --   March 25, 2007

“Staying Focused on the Important”   --   Luke 20:9-19

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from His Son the Sacrificial Lamb of God.  Amen.

The text for our sermon is the Gospel of the Day, Luke 20:9-19, which was read a few moments ago.  This is God’s Word.

     During one of the NCAA men’s basketball games last weekend, one of the players, in the final minutes of a very close game made 9 straight free throws.  In another game, a team member missed 4 straight three throws.  In the midst of great pressure and loud, loud noise, one player was able to stay focused on the basketball and the rim of the basket, blocking out the noisy distractions and the pressure of the moment.  In the midst of great pressure and ear-drum damaging noise, the second player was unable to stay focused on shooting free throws, and even though he had a very good season-long average, he missed 4 crucial free throws in a row, contributing significantly to his team’s loss.

    The parable of the wicked vinedressers also speaks of people who did not stay focused on the job God had given to them.  Consequently, they received a severe pronouncement of God’s judgment, particularly on the leaders of Israel, for their rebellion and rejection of God’s grace.  However, our Lord also speaks this parable today to us as members of the new Israel, the holy Christian church --  the “others” mentioned in our text.

    On the one side, the parable of the wicked vinedressers shows God’s judgment upon those who turn their backs on His grace.  This has happened because they have become focused on their own lives and on earthly benefits, rather than on serving the people with whom God has placed them.  Jesus compares God’s chosen people to tenant farmers.  In a gracious covenant relationship, Israel was to bring forth fruit of faith, but instead, it is written in Hosea 10:1,2,  “Israel empties His vine; He brings forth fruit for himself.  According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land they have embellished His sacred pillars.  Their heart is divided; now they are held guilty.”

     God sent spiritual leaders to serve His people, so they would lead lives of contrition and humility, bringing sacrifices as a way of saying thanks for all God has done.  Instead, the people were led to bring sacrifices as a way of currying favor with God so he would bless them in the future.  This was a form of “priming the pump,” as I mentioned on Wednesday evening.  The eyes of the people were not focused in the proper direction.  They were focused on themselves and not on God.  God was not impressed.  In fact, He even said that He didn’t want their sacrifices, as it is written: “to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord.  “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.  I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats” (Isaiah 1:11).  The sacrifice that pleases God is of the heart as it is written in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart  --  these, O God, You will not despise.”

    The tenant farmers sought to keep the fruit and seize the vineyard for themselves, even though the Owner patiently sent servants (prophets) to remind them of his grace and their pending punishment.  However, the tenant farmers, were focused on what they could gain and keep for themselves.  Injustice prevailed.  Shop owners and produce sellers operated with two sets of scales, one for buying and one for selling.  Just guess which scales always weighed the heaviest.  The poor were forced into slavery, even to their blood relatives.  Such was the extent of their focus on self.

     In the ultimate act of love, the Owner sent his Son, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, who was then rejected and killed outside the vineyard.  This is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was rejected by the leaders of the Jews and then crucified outside the city walls of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is heart and core of the vineyard that God has planted and to save that vineyard and its tenant farmers, God has given His most precious possession, His very own Son, and even that was not enough because HE also, was rejected.

    As a result, the Owner of the vineyard would destroy the rebellious tenants and give the vineyard to others.  That now includes us.  We are the “others.”  We are tenants and operators of the vineyard of God.  We are partakers of the blessings of God.  And, yet, we also too often act like wicked vinedressers in our response to God’s gracious dealings with us.  We may reject our Creator’s ownership of us, seeking to lay claim to what really is not ours:  including our time, our talents, and treasures HE has entrusted to us; and the people and the world around us, which we may abuse carelessly or selfishly.  God’s Word tells us that even our body is a temple of the Lord.  It is not ours to abuse and misuse.  It is not ours to try to satisfy in every whim and way.  The children God has given to us, are not for our amusement or pleasure.  They are our responsibility to raise to walk in the path of God’s Word.  We do not belong to ourselves nor do our children, because when Jesus died on the cross, his blood paid the ransom price to buy us back from the devil.  NOW, we belong to Christ!  He is our owner.  He expects fruit from us, a truly contrite heart, humility, honesty, justice, and faithfulness, just to mention some of the fruit.  And, HE has given us His Holy Spirit who fills us with the motivation and desire to produce good fruit.

     We also, at times, reject God’s gracious call through His Word and sacraments.  We reject or ignore the covenant He made with us at our Baptism.  And we ignore worship, the study of Holy Scripture and the Lord’s Supper.  This happens right here at Zion where we will have 240 to 300 in worship on Sunday morning and only about 75 in Bible Class.  Where are the other 200 + - people?  Out getting a cup of coffee and a donut while reading the Sunday newspaper?  At our confirmation, we all vowed to give up everything rather than to fall away from God’s way, and yet, here at Zion, there are nearly 200 of our members who have not been at church since January 1.  The sin-filled tenant farmers are alive and well today, just as they were 2,000 years ago.  It seems that we have failed these people.  We are guilty of doing just what God condemned.  We are guilty of allowing people think to they can come to church only whenever they want to curry favor with God.

     The Good News is that as we view the cross, we also see another side of judgment.  The parable of the wicked vinedressers shows us what God makes possible through his grace in Christ.  The Stone that was rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone.  Jesus refers to his death in the parable, through which he incurred God’s full judgment on our behalf.  To paraphrase II Corinthians 5:21, God made Jesus Christ, who had no sin, to be loaded with sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

     It is written in Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone.”  Jesus quotes the psalmist as he then points to his resurrection and the establishment of the new Israel, His new church on earth.  In this new church, there will be no sacrifices because Christ has given Himself as that once-for-all payment for all our sins.  We no longer make sacrifices.  Instead, we have opportunities to say thanks for all He has done for us.

     Jesus Christ is the keystone of our faith. He gives us new life and fruitful labor in his vineyard, as it is written in the Epistle of the Day.  St. Paul claims to count all earthly things as of no value so that he may enjoy the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.  The new life and fruitful labor that St. Paul experienced is also Christ’s gift to us, as we serve in his vineyard.  Those who by God’s grace believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, are enabled and given the power by Christ to be good vinedressers.  When Christ ascended into heaven, He immediately sent a rich measure of the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith in HIM through the means of grace.  He gives us the power to serve and equips us for productive work in his vineyard through those same means, namely God’s Word and the Sacraments.

     A good vinedresser is the opposite of the tenants in Jesus’ parable.  We are humbly aware of God’s ownership and of his wonderful grace toward us.  We are ready to receive His Word, clinging to His Son in faith, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we bear fruit to the glory of God.  Yes!  There is to be a response on our part to what God has done for us in Christ.  Our response shows our thankfulness for and obedience to the Lord Jesus.

     The parable of the wicked vinedressers is indeed a severe pronouncement of God’s judgment upon those who reject His grace.  However, viewed from the cross, we see how Jesus bore God’s full judgment for us.  He motivates, empowers, and equips us for good and useful service in His vineyard.  He even places us where He wants us to serve.  Thanks be to God!  Through Jesus Christ, we see the other side of judgment and are given the ability to keep our eyes focused on that one thing needful --  His gracious gift of forgiveness of sins.  Amen.