Pastor B.J. Froiland
Feast of St. Luke
Luke 10:1-9
October 18, 2009
In the Name of the Father and of the Son X and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” With these words the Lord sends out 72 men to preach against all odds. “Why against all odds?” you say. What happens to lambs in the midst of wolves? They are devoured. But this was the duty of the 72, this was the duty of the apostles, this is the duty of pastors. They are to feed the wolves.
This is the Office of wolf-feeding. The 72 held this Office. Pastors today hold this office. But bear in mind that it’s not 72’s Office, nor Pastor Froiland’s Office, nor Pastor Arnold’s Office, but it belongs exclusively to the Lamb of God; it belongs to Christ himself. Our Lord sends out 72 men and a myriad of men serving in the Office, but He sends only 1 Lamb. Christ is the singular Lamb whom all these bear. He who hears them hears Jesus. He who receives them receives Jesus. He who devours what they bring devours the Lamb who gives them Himself. The Lord sends pastors to carry the Word of the Gospel that carries Him. And these men also will be carried by that Word. The Word of the Gospel will carry all who receive it.
However, the 72 are not to carry with them a moneybag, nor a knapsack, nor sandals, nor guitars, nor drum sets, nor synthesizers, nor empty gimmicks, for these things will only get in the way. These things only obscure the great message that is to be proclaimed and heard. They block the view of the great Savior who is to be seen. The wolves need only the Lamb, only Jesus to be fed to them.
We are to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in this Lamb’s name. Sin is what ruins you; sin takes you and cuts you off from the living. Death that is yours is yours by your sin. Who else is the wolf in the Gospel reading except you? All you must do is ask the person whose reputation you have devoured with your gossiping tongue. All you need to do is ask that family member who you chewed out simply because things weren’t going your way. All you need to do is ask your superior whom you have defamed behind his back. All you must do is ask anyone who has seen you bare your fangs so that you got what you wanted, in the way that you wanted it, when you wanted it. Repentance is called for.
But the message that Christ’s death has been died for you is declared by His wounds. Repentance and faith we preach. Forgiveness of sins we preach. Salvation in Christ is what the Evangelist Luke preached.
The legacy of St. Luke is the life work of his Gospel. Luke’s written account draws you and all the saints of centuries past, present, and future into the very life of Jesus. With shepherds and angels in the darkness of the night you sing, “Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, good-will toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.” As the King of Kings was resting in her womb, you sing with the Virgin Mary, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior; for He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.” Your bound tongue is loosed with Zechariah as you sing, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.” With aging Simeon you await your final joyful rest and sing, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” You are brought into the life of Jesus by the very songs that resounded when He was brought into the world. Your Evangelist St. Luke brings you there in His Gospel.
St. Luke’s Gospel goes into great detail concerning the life of our Lord. He says that the Divine Child grew in age and wisdom and grace before God and man. Now you also grow in wisdom and in grace and in the Word of God. Your Lord accepted the tears and the perfumes of the adulteress Mary Magdalene and forgave her much. The Lord also forgives you much. So let the prodigal sons and daughters hope once more after long sin-filled wanderings. The Lord celebrates your return in this Gospel restoring to you the dignity of son-ship. So return and give thanks like the 1 healed Samaritan leper, for the Good Samaritan bears your load and has paid with His own blood your way into heaven. So much Luke reveals to you in the 3rd Gospel. By his Gospel St. Luke indeed will remain a preacher to all ages.
Luke tells us that the Lord sent the 72 to heal the sick and say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” As for healing the sick, perhaps Luke the physician treated many blind eyes, deaf ears, and lame bodies. And yet, Luke the Evangelist opens the eyes of sinners to see the Savior, the ears of transgressors to hear the preached Word of salvation, and the lame bodies of the condemned to live in faith toward God and love toward the neighbor. Through the 72, “The Lord doth build up Jerusalem; He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” They can heal the ills of the spirit, but what is this Kingdom of God coming near?
The kingdom of God is not a timeless reality, but a reality that comes to you in and through Jesus and His disciples in real time. It is more than a place: the kingdom is salvation for you right now. To say this kingdom is near is to say Christ Himself is present for you. He was present through the 72 by the preaching of the Word with which He endowed them. Christ remains present with you in His Church today through His pastors and the same Word.
That Word, so carefully researched by Luke, is good. That Word, painfully penned and scratched onto papyrus by Luke, is powerful. That Word, delivered and believed by Luke, changes sinners into saints, converts cowards into heroes, creates confidence in the depressed and worried, makes ordinary men into Evangelists, and wolves into sheep. For that Word does not fail. It will not pass away. Through St. Luke, that dear physician and brave Evangelist, God has left unto us that same, mighty Word and revealed salvation. The Kingdom ours remaineth. Blessed be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the wolves. Amen.
The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
XBJFX