1. Corinthians 9,24-27. Septuagesima

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Corinthians 9,24-27 1016

Septuagesimä (3. Sonntag vor der Passionszeit)  020  

Timothy, St. Paul’s disciple, Bishop of Ephesus, Martyr in Ephesus 80 W

24. Januar 2016 

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who through Your Holy Word has called us into Your vineyard: Send, we beseech You, Your Holy Spirit into our hearts, so that we may labor faithfully in Your vineyard, shun sin and all offense, obediently keep Your Word and do Your will, and put our whole and only trust in Your grace, which You have bestowed upon us so plenteously through Your Son Jesus Christ, so that we may obtain eternal salvation through Him.  Amen. (Veit Dietrich for the Septuagesima Sunday)  

2. Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain the prize. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

3. In today’s parable Jesus teaches that the practical wisdom of this temporal world does not apply to the Divine wisdom of the heavenly world. Jesus proclaims the gospel in this parable: we do not merit any extra reward from God based on how long we have worked in His kingdom. Whether you are a long-time Christian or a death-bed convert, eternal life and salvation are received purely by God’s grace and mercy as His gift to us, and this gift is only given through His Son Jesus Christ, whom we receive through faith. In the reign of heaven: the last are first and the first are last; everyone is equal in regards to salvation. This parable teaches us that grace is undeserved.  

4. And yet, at first glance, it seems that this grace is rather unfair. Should not those who have worked the longest and believed all their lives get something extra for their faithful dedication? And in this parable, some of the ones who labored all day do find the graciousness and liberality of God to be unfair. Our sinful perspective clashes with Jesus’ way of doing things. No one is truly equal on this temporal earth. Some have more talent than others. Some are brighter or wealthier than others. Some are well compensated for their vocation, while others are not. There is a vast disparity between salaries and time spent working in every vocation. This is the way it is in the business world of vocations, and it is usually beneficial for the economy to have different levels of wage compensation based on experience, education, promotion and competition. But as Jesus cautions with today’s parable, the way things work well in this temporal world is not the way they work in the heavenly world. „God operates backward of the way we calculate“ (Nagel 63), and praise God that He operates this way! 

5. For we sinful human beings try to force God into doing things the way we want them to be done. We are always tempted to put God in a box, and we become uptight when God doesn’t remain in the boundaries we have imposed upon Him. We are quite content with the deistic notion of God the Celestial Clockmaker. This is the view that God created the world with such meticulous precision that after He was finished He just sat back and lets creation run like a well-crafted mechanical watch. God has His boundary way up in heaven, we have our boundary down on the earth and God should stay up there ... unless there is something really important that needs His attention. This also fits well with the old-fashioned American Protestant ethic: God helps those who help themselves. God has given us all we need to believe in Him and we can work out our own salvation and earn more of His rewards by hard work in His kingdom. 

6. This mindset is nothing new. The Pharisees argued with Jesus: we Jews have been the chosen people for thousands of years and therefore we should receive something extra in the heavenly reign compared to these late-believing Gentiles. The apostles also had this same mindset: we were the first of the disciples, therefore we should be afforded greater rewards in the heavenly reign than the rank and file disciples. Even in their own apostolic band, the apostles repeated ranked themselves in positions of importance for every one of them desired the coveted seats next to Jesus when He took up His throne. We even rationalize: life-long believers certainly deserve a little more gratuity, right Jesus?  

7. Christ our Lord, however, remains steadfast, for from Adam until the last day: all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. Whether one became a Christian as a baptized infant or was converted on his or her deathbed, all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. Whether one is a prince or a pauper, a pope or a parishioner, all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive the same wage. The last will be first, and the first will be last; everyone receives the same wage: eternal life in the reign of heaven.  

8. In the parable, the vineyard owner is very, very gracious with His wealth. This parable teaches us that: „God treats all those who are in the reign of heaven the same; owning to God’s grace, there is no distinction on the Last Day“ (Gibbs 988). „Everything is in the hands of the Lord and from the hands of the Lord. Here are no reservations, qualifications, or demands but discipleship, faith, being given happy generous gifts beyond calculation“ (Nagel 64). „Remarkably, all those who have left anything behind for the sake of Jesus’ name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. In light of this promise, all comparing now must be put aside. For this is how it is in the reign of God. The last will be first, and the first will be last“ (Gibbs 993). Everyone is equal in the heavenly reign; everyone receives the same gracious gift of eternal life. And yet, even more, for Jesus promises that in His heavenly reign we will recoup one hundredfold what we suffered as loss in this temporal life! The gift of eternal life and the rich blessings that await us in Jesus’ presence are incomparable to all the wealth on this terrestrial earth. Do not despair. Be of good cheer. Remain steadfast in the faith that clings to Jesus alone for salvation and forgiveness. For the gift of eternal life by God’s grace is a treasure that surpasses all others. „God has His own way with each one of us. He is the Lord; we are given to by Him who is bountiful beyond deserving or calculation“ (Nagel 66). Indeed, everlasting life in heaven is like a pearl of great value, that when finding it, one would sell everything just to obtain it (Matthew 13,45-46). Jesus sees us as a pearl of great value and gave up His very life to ensure we would be redeemed back to God the Father. The eternal life He gives is beyond all comparison of earthly wealth, wages and reward, for what God gives equally to all who believe is a gift of such magnitude and graciousness that it will easily meet our meager expectations and have plenty left over for us to enjoy for all eternity in His Glorious Presence.  Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the First who became Last, help us to understand the way of Your heavenly reign so that we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness but because of Your great mercy, for in You alone do we find the heart of our Heavenly Father who is loving, giving and gracious, in abundance, to us His dear children.   Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Matthew 11:2 – 20:34. Copyright © 2010 Concordia Publishing House.
Nagel, Norman. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. Frederick W. Baue, Ed. Copyright © 2004 Concordia Publishing House.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.