OCT 18, 2009  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes a rather stunning promise to you. Rather than focusing your attention exclusively on the resurrection of all flesh, when you shall receive the inheritance "kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4), Jesus also wants you to think about and rejoice in the great wealth He has given to you here and now. "Truly I say to you," says Jesus, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life".

There are two parts to this sermon. The first part speaks about all that Jesus has taken away from you—or rather, all that you have been required to give up for the sake of following Jesus. The second part heads in the opposite direction and focuses on one of the unimaginably great gifts Jesus has given to you for your everyday life.

Dear Christian friends,

St. Peter speaks FOR YOU when he says to Jesus in this Gospel, "We have left everything and followed You." If you are a Christian, you—like Peter and the other disciples before you—you have indeed left everything and followed Jesus.

What I am saying is this. Are you a Christian? If so, it is impossible for you or for any of these other Christians with you not to have left everything in order to follow Jesus.

That might strike you as odd, especially when you think about your boat, or your house… or your collection of whatever it is you collect… or your family… or your second helping of potatoes. If you are like me (and we’re not all that different), you probably are surrounded by stuff—and piles of it.

Your Christianity has not made you go hungry. For the most part, it has not cost you your possessions or your relationships. In fact, as far as our town and county are concerned, it is still socially acceptable—and maybe even a little bit cool—to be a Christian (even if most of other Christians around you wish you were ELCA).

Despite all that you see and experience, I say to you again: Peter speaks FOR YOU when he says to Jesus in this Gospel, "We have left everything and followed You." If you are a Christian, you—like Peter and the other disciples before you—you have indeed left everything and followed Jesus.

If you did love these people more than you love God, you would be an idolater and no longer be a Christian. Your idolatry ended when Jesus baptized you, thus making Himself your God. That is what you received in your Baptism, along with forgiveness of sins, life and salvation: You received a God whom you can love more than any other. In other words, in your Baptism you left everything to follow Jesus.

Yes, you love your stuff, too. "Clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home" (Small Catechism, First Article)—it’s all really great stuff. But you know it very well: there is not a single thing in your possession you would not throw into the fire at the coming of our Lord.

When your Lord Jesus serves you eternal life in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood, He miraculously sets "your hearts on things above…not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God"

That is why Peter speaks FOR YOU when he says to Jesus in this Gospel, "We have left everything and followed You." You and Peter have the same God. If you are a Christian, you—like Peter and the other disciples before you—you have indeed left everything and followed Jesus. That is your Baptism; that is the power of absolution; that is the power of the preached Word; that is the power of the Altar for you.

Peter began to say to him [Jesus], "See, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands…

Some people foolishly understand these words to mean that, if they sell their RV and give the money to the Church, God will provide them with a bigger, newer RV as a reward. That is NOT what Jesus is saying to you in this Gospel, dear saints!

When Jesus tells you that He will pay you back "a hundredfold now in this time" for everything you have lost by following Him, He is speaking about His blessed Church. He is speaking about your fellow Christians. Jesus is speaking about the new family God your heavenly Father gave to you when He adopted you to be His child in Holy Baptism.

Did you know that you have close brothers and sisters in Siberia, half a world away, who gather with you around the same Gospel purely preached and the same life-giving sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion? In the same way, you also have dear relatives in Canada, in Kenya, in England, Denmark, Venezuela and Paraguay and in many other places throughout the globe.

We do not even need to reach that far. Throw a hymnal and you will hit a relative. Jesus once asked aloud, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" Then He looked around at those who sat with Him and said, "Here are My mother and my brothers" (Mark 3:33-34). You are the Baptized of Christ and you are the family of God. Jesus has given to you those people who are seated in these pews with you.

"Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

What does this promise mean for you?

This promise means that you are not alone, and you do not need to hide your needs or to suffer as though you were alone. Look around and see the family who loves you and who will go to great lengths to care for you in your need.

This promise means that, if you should suffer persecution or rejection on account of Christ, not everyone will turn the back to you or harm you. God assured the lonely Elijah that there were still 7,000 faithful saints in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace".

This promise means that your God is exceedingly great in His gifts, and superabundant in the way that He provides and cares for you.

Not only does He speak to you the forgiveness of your sins;

Not only has He adopted you to be His child;

Not only does He feed and nourish you with the meal of eternal life;

Not only does He give His Church pastors and teachers who treat you with a shepherd’s care;

But your gracious God has also given you each other. Luther called this "the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren" (Smalcald Articles, part III, article IV)—and consolation is a very good word.

"There is no one… who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time."

This promise from Jesus is intended to help you see the great mercy and comforts of your personal here-and-now situation, in addition to the greater time that is to come.

And notice, dear friends, today’s Gospel does not overlook your future either. Here in this Gospel, Jesus gives you plenty of promise and hope for that time as well, for He speaks about your eternal life in the age to come. On that great day, your family and your lands will only increase.

When Jesus promises you eternal life in the age to come, He wants you to know and to trust that you shall without doubt be counted in that "...great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Jesus wants you to remember, that,

Christ is Risen.

AMEN