Pastor B.J.
Froiland
9th Sunday after Trinity
Luke 16:1-9
August 9th, 2009
In the Name of the Father and of the Son X and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There was a man who had 3 particular friends. The 1st friend, the man daily treated well. He gave his friend an abundance of food and the finest clothing. He left his 1st friend wanting nothing, with never a lack of anything. The man fulfilled the 1st friend’s every wish. The man treated His 2nd friend well on occasion, by not as well as the 1st friend. With his 3rd friend, the man treated him poorly. He paid little attention to his needs. Even when the 3rd friend begged and pleaded with the man to help and support him, the man usually turned him away empty handed.
Now the same man was sent to court to defend himself before the judge and his accusers. For his defense, naturally the man goes to his 1st friend whom he has treated so well and asks for his support. But, the friend turned him down. Then the man goes and asks for the support of his 2nd friend. The 2nd friend goes to the courthouse with the man, but then the friend turned around and left, leaving the man alone. Finally, as the last resort, the man found it necessary to go to his 3rd friend, the 1 whom he had treated so poorly. The man was ashamed to seek support from this 3rd friend. Yet, beyond all expectation, the 3rd friend not only testified for the man and gave a good report, but paid the fine for all the charges against the man.
Allow me to explain this story more fully. The man’s day at court was the Day of Judgment at the end of the world. The man’s 1st friend is his own body. He daily nourished it, clothed it, and left it never in want. Yet, on the Last Day, his body amounted to nothing and it abandoned him. The 2nd friend was the man’s family, who he treated somewhat well, but not as well as his own body. His family accompanied him to the grave site, but could go no farther, and so they also departed. The third friend can be understood as your Lord Christ, who spoke to the man through His Word and nourished the man with His Sacrament. The man often ignored the voice of the Lord. The man often rejected Him when He came bodily. And when Christ would come to the man through his neighbors begging and pleading, the man often sent him away. Yet, on the Last Day, the Day of Judgment, Christ was the only faithful Friend, his only advocate against accusations. Christ paid the last of his debt and received the punishments of the man’s life lived in selfish love.
Oh, yeah, did I mention the man in the story is you?
Have you not also put yourself first and treated yourself well? Have you not snubbed your neighbors who really needed you? Have you not also ignored the Word and the gifts? Have you treated the sermons of your pastors as an insignificant thing? Have you given of your first fruits to the Lord, or have you simply given Him the left-over’s from your income? Give the first percentage of your wages to the Lord, whatever percentage that may be.
The Lord Christ gave no small percentage for your soul. He bought you “not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious Blood and with His innocent suffering and death that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom.” This Blood and the Word are given by those stewards to whom they have been entrusted. Your pastors are such stewards. Notice the way the Holy Scriptures speak about us: “Servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” And preachers are called those stewards who have “… sown spiritual things among you.” Yet, see the way today’s Gospel speaks of such “stewardship” or “management.” Again the words of Luke’s Gospel: “So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, [the steward] said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write 50.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’” What this steward did was dishonest. Yet, the master commended the steward for shrewdness. Pastor Arnold and I are stewards of the Master’s mysteries. The Master has given us His strict and direct orders to be shrewd. And so I say to you, if you owe 80 measures, take your bill, sit down quickly and write 0. If you owe 100 measures, take your bill, sit down quickly and write 0. Now you are forgiven by that which we have so richly and freely received. I tell you that every last debt has been paid by the suffering and death of the Only Begotten Son of God, Christ Jesus.
In the 5th petition of the Lord’s Prayer you ask your Father in Heaven to forgive your debts. Martin Luther explains, “We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.”
The Lord’s Prayer, and the 5th petition in particular, reminds you of your great need to call upon the Lord and pray, “Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses.” He has forgiven your sins even without (and before) your prayer. The Gospel is yours before you even thought of it. So why pray this petition? The point is for you to recognize and accept the Lord’s forgiveness. For the flesh in which you daily live is of such a nature that it does not trust and believe the Lord. Your flesh is constantly aroused by evil desires, so that you daily sin in word and deed, in acts you commit and acts you omit, in works you do and works you fail to do. Your conscience is restless. You fear God’s wrath and displeasure. You lose the comfort and confidence of the Gospel. It is necessary constantly to turn to the 5th petition of the Lord’s Prayer for comfort that will restore your conscience.
Christ restores your conscience. Dearly Beloved, please do remember your 3rd friend from the story above. When your body fails you and falls apart, know that you have His Body which is always strong, steadfast, and true. Christ’s Body and Blood never falter. When your family can’t be there for you, the Lord will never leave you or forsake you. And on the Last Day, he will give a good testimony of you so that you will be received into His eternal dwelling. Amen.
The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
XBJFX