Pastor Chris Brademeyer’s Podcast

The most central distinction we can know as Christians is that between God’s holy Law and His saving Gospel. If we do not know it, we will confuse these two. And if we confuse them, we will lose both of them, most especially, we will lose the Gospel. That is to say, if we do not understand this fundamental difference, we will never know the comfort and peace that comes by knowing the forgiveness of sins nor will we know the depth of our need for forgiveness or God’s will which the Law reveals. C. F. W. Walther, the very first president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, wrote that, “to rightly distinguish Law and Gospel is the most difficult and highest Christian art.” It is fundamental to our Christian understanding and, as such, a matter we must place a good deal of attention toward. 

How would you describe the normal way that people navigate life? That is to say, what is the framework, the worldview, the basic beliefs about themselves and the world that people employ? There are, of course, many answers to a question that is formed this broadly. But, one of the major ingredients in how we Americans at this time navigate identity is what some scholars call expressive individualism. Though the idea goes back to the very first sin, the phrase “expressive individualism” was coined more recently and is still used by scholars to describe a particular way of understanding one’s place in the world.
This way of looking at the world has three major parts. First, people should turn inward to find truth and meaning. Second, this inner truth and meaning must be shown outwardly in order to be authentic. Third, traditional social roles, religious teachings, and cultural norms are all to be treated as secondary to these inner truths. This may take a bit of unpacking.
 Much of the world around us tells us to look inward to find who we are, Scripture counsels us to look to Christ; in Him we find our identity.

Our Lord’s grief should not surprise us, that is, if we know the Scriptures. God does not like when His people are deprived of His truths, His Word, His grace. He does not like when they stray or grow ignorant. He especially does not like when those who have been given the responsibility of overseeing the teaching of His Word and the conduct of His worship instead move on to other things.
  Jesus wept over Jerusalem, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” The truth was hidden. They did not see Christ as He is. They did not acknowledge Him as the eternal Son of the Father. They did not see Him as God of God. They rejected Him as the Prophet of the Most High. They cast aside His rule as their loving King. And what remained for them was destruction.

The parable before us this morning is one of the more difficult parables of our Lord. At first glance, it seems almost as though Jesus is holding up a dishonest man as an example for us to follow. The steward in the parable has wasted his master’s possessions. He has been unfaithful with what has been entrusted to him. When he learns that he is about to be removed from his position, he quickly acts to secure his future by reducing the debts of his master’s debtors. And then Jesus says something surprising: “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” What are we to make of this?

Today the Church observes the Feast of the Visitation. As we heard in the Holy Gospel, this day commemorates the visit of the blessed virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, to St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist. It is a seemingly simple event. A young woman visits her elderly relative. Yet hidden beneath this ordinary meeting is one of the most profound moments in all of Scripture. Here two expectant mothers meet, but more importantly, the unborn Savior comes to the unborn prophet. The Lord visits His people even before He is born.
The Church has long treasured this feast because it teaches us several important truths about our God, about ourselves, and about our salvation.

There is perhaps no word more frequently used in the Church today than the word unity. Nearly everyone says they want it. Church leaders call for it. Congregations long for it. Christians rightly grieve divisions between churches. But before we can pursue unity, we must first ask a much more important question: What is Christian unity?
Our answer cannot come from our feelings, our preferences, or our experiences. It must come from the Word of God. St. Peter helps us address this question: "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind." He does not merely say, "Be united." He says, "Have unity of mind." This is not accidental. It tells us exactly what kind of unity the Lord desires for His Church.

Few passages of Scripture are quoted more often by unbelievers, and even by many Christians, than the simple phrase, “Judge not.” It is held up as though Jesus had forbidden every moral evaluation, every criticism, every act of discernment. The prevailing wisdom of our age says that the highest virtue is to approve of everyone’s choices and to leave all matters of truth and error to personal preference.
But that is not what Jesus is teaching. If Christ truly meant that no one should ever judge another person, then He Himself would be contradicting the rest of Scripture. He commands the Church to rebuke false doctrine. Parents are to discipline their children. Pastors are to exercise the Office of the Keys. Civil authorities are to punish evildoers and praise those who do good. Christians are repeatedly told to test the spirits, to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to admonish brothers caught in sin. Jesus does not end our reading by saying, “Leave the speck in your brother’s eye.” Instead He says, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck.” The goal is still helping your brother. The problem is not judgment itself. The problem is hypocritical judgment.

St. Peter presents a careful balance that we Christians are to maintain. On the one hand, he tells us to be alert, vigilant, and sober. On the other hand, he does not tell us to panic. He does not tell us to despair. He does not tell us to live in terror of the devil, of sin, or of the troubles of this world. There is a great difference between sobriety and fear.
A sober driver recognizes the dangers of the road but continues confidently to his destination. A fearful driver becomes paralyzed, seeing disaster around every corner. Likewise, the Christian acknowledges that temptation is real, that Satan is real, and that suffering is real. Yet the Christian does not cower before them, because Christ is greater than them all.

Jesus’s parable here illustrates a similar point: the master is disregarded. His feast is a momentous event and an important matter. The excuses, which may be valid for a lesser thing, are silly in comparison to the grand feast that he wants to throw. Wives, and oxen, and fields are matters that are not minor, but they are also not pressing in the sort of way that would prevent attendance at the feast of the master. And even more surprising than the lack of interest on the part of the people is the insistence of the master that the party still go on. He does not cancel; he still desires a full house. And, indeed, his house will be filled. 

Our Lord Jesus tells a striking parable this morning. He places before our eyes two men whose earthly circumstances could hardly have been more different. One was rich, clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. The other was poor, covered with sores,  who laid at the rich man's gate, longing for scraps from the table. One was honored by the world. The other was despised.
But when death came, everything was shown to be reversed. The rich man found himself in torment. Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. Through this parable our Lord teaches us about stewardship, faith, heaven, hell, and the true riches that endure forever.