In the Name of Jesus
2. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 047
Cornelius, captain, Acts 10
3. Juli 2011
1. O Heavenly Father, You are a consuming fire, punishing to the third and fourth generations of those who hate You. Many times we forget that You are a jealous God who brokers no rivals. And yet we live in a fallen world that does nothing but raise up other gods above You. We also in our sinful hearts strive to place ourselves above You. The results of such pride have had devastating results in our world and in our lives. Thankfully You also tell us that You are a gracious God who shows loving kindness to the thousandth generation of those who believe in You (Exodus 20,5-6). You have shown Your mercy to us through Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and in Him we freely receive eternal life and salvation. Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to Luke where the holy evangelist writes: 15When one of those who reclined at table with Jesus heard these things, he said to Him: „Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the reign of God!“ 16But Jesus said to him: „A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Lord, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’“ This is our text.
3. A certain man, quite probably a Pharisee, rightly says to Jesus: „Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the reign of God!“ The Holy Scriptures portray salvation and eternal life with the image of a grand banquet from Abraham sharing a meal with Yahweh and two angels to Jesus at table with Pharisees and other notables in the Jewish religious community.
4. While the man rightly acknowledges the blessedness of the reign of God, Jesus immediately teaches in His parable that there are many who will not enjoy this blessed banquet. The invitation first went out to well-respected Jews such as the Pharisees, scribes, and other respected people in Judaism. But what happened? These upstanding Jews rejected Yahweh’s invitation. They had excuses. There are labor issues, property issues, and family issues. These keep many of the invited guests away. Could they not put off their duties until the next day? Surely Yahweh’s banquet merits some priority in their lives? Jesus tells those around him, that no, it does not. He was speaking this to the Pharisees. They had been invited by John the Baptizer and Jesus to the Heavenly Father’s great banquet of salvation, but these very Pharisees and other proud Jews have rejected both John and Jesus.
5. Yahweh is angry at their response, but He is not deterred: He proceeds to invite others to His heavenly banquet. The call goes out to the outcasts in Jewish society and then to the Gentiles. Many in these two despised groups gladly receive the invitation. Our Heavenly Father’s banquet hall will be filled to capacity, and its guests will be the wicked sinners, the sick, the poor, and the very nations of this earth. The Holy Scriptures tell that all the nations will draw unto Yahweh’s presence and worship Him (Micah 4,2). Jesus and the Apostles invited and gathered in those Jews who were outcasts and the Gentile nations who were pagans. Such are those who will inherit the reign of God; they are blessed while the first invitees are barred.
6. There is nothing new under the sun. Look around and see. Christians today act just like the proud Pharisees in Jesus’ day. They presume that they are saved. Yahweh’s invitation goes out that each week there is a great banquet on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. Many Christians, however, prioritize other issues as more important than the Lord Jesus Christ. Excuses are given as to why they cannot attend God’s feast on Sunday morning: I’m tired. I live too far away. I have family obligations. I have other things to do. Do you presume that Yahweh will always let you in? You forget that the Holy Spirit goes out among the nations and gathers them in while you stay away. Unless you repent and receive the invitation with joy you will lose your place at the banquet; your seat will be given to someone else.
7. „One should never despise the servant, whom we hear, and look for another, but the Word is spoken: „Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts!““ (Löhe 368 § 8). The Lord Jesus Christ has invited you to the great banquet of eternal life in heaven. Each Sunday He calls you to enjoy the appetizers of this banquet by offering you His Word and twice a month He offers the appetizers to you in the Holy Sacrament. Christ Jesus is loving and gracious, freely giving you the holy absolution in His Word and the Lord’s Supper.
8. Beloved in the Lord, it is our intention to receive the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which He strengthens our faith by giving us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Therefore, it is proper that we diligently examine ourselves, as St. Paul urges us to do, for this Holy Sacrament has been instituted for the special comfort of those who are troubled because of their sin and who humbly confess their sins, fear God’s wrath, and hunger and thirst for righteousness.
9. But this morning when we examined our hearts and consciences with the Corporate Confession of Sins in the 3. setting of the Divine Service, we found nothing in us but sin and death, from which we are incapable of delivering ourselves. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ has had mercy on us and has established the Pastoral Office to absolve all your sins. For your benefit Jesus became man so that He might fulfill for you the whole will and law of God and, to deliver you, took upon Himself your sin and the punishment you deserve.
10. So that you may more confidently believe this and be strengthened in the faith and in holy living, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples and said: „Take, eat; this is My Body, which is given for you“. It is as if He said: „I became man, and all that I do and suffer is for your good. As a pledge of this, I give you My Body under the Bread to eat“.
11. In the same way also He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: „Drink of it, all of you; this Cup is the new testament in My Blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins“. Again, it is as if He said: „I have had mercy on you by taking into Myself all your iniquities. I give Myself into death, shedding My blood to obtain grace and forgiveness of sins, and to comfort and establish the new testament, which gives forgiveness and everlasting salvation. As a pledge of this, I give you My True Blood under the Wine to drink“.
12. Therefore, whoever eats this Bread and drinks this Cup, confidently believing this word and promise of Christ, dwells in Christ and Christ in him and has eternal life. For these words „Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,“ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given to you through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: „forgiveness of sins“. You should also do this in remembrance of Him, showing His death—that He was delivered for your offenses and raised for your justification. Giving Him your most heartfelt thanks, you take up your cross and follow Him and, according to His commandment, love and serve one another as He has loved and served you. For we, the Church, are all one bread and one body, even as we are all partakers of this one Bread and drink from the one Cup.
13. For just as the one Cup is filled with wine of many grapes and one Bread made from countless grains, so also you, being many, are one body in Christ. Because of Him, you love and serve one another, not only in word, but in deed and in truth.
14. May the Almighty and Merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, accomplish this in you and me. You have been invited by Christ Jesus Himself to His Heavenly Father’s glorious banquet of eternal life. This Lord’s Supper of Christ’s Body under the bread and His Blood under the wine are a foretaste of that heavenly feast to come. Do not excuse yourself from Christ’s invitation and Supper, but receive His invitation with joy and thanksgiving for He has established and instituted this Supper for your blessing. The Supper has been set; join me in receiving it for your salvation and forgiveness. Amen.
15. Let us pray. We love You, O Lord, for You are our Rock, our Fortress and our Deliverer. Rescue us from our sinfulness and the law’s condemnation, so that we lean upon You, our Strength, and trust in You to redeem with Your loving-kindness expressed in the crucified Christ. Amen.
One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Evangelien-Postille für die Sonn- und Festage des Kirchenjahres. Copyright © 1859 Samuel Gottlieb Liesching. A sermon preached on Luke 14,16-24 for The 2nd Sunday after Trinity. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011. 
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