The Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The melodies are linked in the hymn title.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Jesus Taught His Disciples
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
In Our Prayers
- Andrea, whose eyes will need careful, patient help.
- Carl Roper, who is being treated for more occurrences.
- Christina Jackson, being treated for infection.
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten is doing well and appreciates your prayers.
- Our country's leaders as justice is served to the criminals and traitors. Over 60,000 indictments.
KJV 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast bountifully given us Thy blessing and our daily bread: We beseech Thee, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts that we willingly share Thy blessed gifts with our needy brethren; that we may be found faithful stewards of Thy gifts, and abide in Thy grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Thy judgment, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Sermon, Luke 16:1-9, The Unrighteous Steward
This is the most debated parable of all, and the most perplexing. First we should consider that the best lessons from Jesus arise from those teachings that escape us the first time, even the first 20 times, the ones very few of the experts can grasp. Sometimes they are called "hard sayings of Jesus" and therefore are avoided. But the longer they are studied, phrase by phrase, the more we gain from them. The Holy Spirit is stingy with words, so the words of the Bible are extremely valuable, especially down to those details which are often overlooked.
For practice, simply begin with the opening. This is a parable taught to the disciples, not to large or small crowds. The second frame reference is verses 9. Our Greek students will notice something unusual in this one verse conclusion about the lesson to the disciples.
Luke 16:9 καγω υμιν λεγω ποιησατε εαυτοις φιλους εκ του μαμωνα της αδικιας
Most of the teachings of Jesus use the pronoun in the verb (lego) which is sufficient for clarity. But this begins with and-I myself, which serves a double purpose. And is punctuation - the story is over, here is the lesson. I myself means - this is My lesson to you, the disciples, and it is exceptionally important.
Consider this - is this parable difficult or do we make it difficult by running back and forth between 12 interpretations of it? Is the Word of God clear and plain - or is it so difficult and challenging that we need a hierarchy to declare the truth for us?
The difficult passages are that way because so much sand has been thrown in our eyes by inventive, creative dunces. Apart from that, they serve as a way to challenge us to read more Scripture, to pay attention to its clear teaching. No passage contradicts another, so if we cannot discover meaning at one point, we can find out how another passage explains it better for us. Every verse is part of one unified Truth.
Jesus Taught His Disciples
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Many sayings of Jesus are plain and simple to grasp, but others require more thought and consideration. Stories have a framework, and a parable is a short story with a definite major point and sometimes additional points. There is a beginning and an ending. Some parables are explained by Jesus and others are not. So our best chance at understanding this debated parable is to see how Jesus Himself explained it.
Major overlooked phrase - And He said to His disciples - so obvious and so easy to pass by without thinking. This parable is aimed at the disciples only. That does not mean - only for the bishops (district presidents), cardinals (parachurch businesses) and pope (synod presidents). No, if it was so important for the disciples, we should give it special consideration and keep the lesson vivid in our minds. Jesus and Paul made some lessons paradoxical in order to make us study them and learn them better.
This time around should be better and clearer for us, which is why we have the same lessons year after year.
There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
The wording tells us this is a parable, a short story. There are no names, no places, but key characters. One is a rich man who owns and sells large quantities of farm produce. Another is his manager (steward) who handles this complicated business. Someone told on the steward, revealing he was not doing his job honestly.
We should not overlook this term "steward," which transliterates to "economist" (house-law), and therefore manager. Paul called himself a steward of the mysteries of God - a manager, not the owner, of the Spirit revealed truths of God's revelation. 1 Corinthians 4:1ff.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
At this point, the rich man believed the charges and fired the manager. The steward's last work was to gather the the accounting books and hand them over to the owner.
There was no debate, no trial. The manager was guilty.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
This Hamlet-like soliloquy is a bit funny. Two options were bad - he was an accountant, not a laborer who would dig in the hot sun. He was too ashamed to beg. Another option had to be considered.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
This verse gives us a key point and some word-play in Greek. He was getting booted from his house-law in Greek, so he had a plan for the customers to welcome him into their houses.
"Receive" has the meaning of welcome and is used for believing, receiving Christ. The obstinate reject Christ. Those converted by the Gospel welcome Christ into their lives.
5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
This is the crux of the parable, but not actually the lesson. Small children think - "This steward is a crooked. He is going to be punished." Like any good story, this has a plot twist.
It reminds me of a way business gets a quick and easy cash flow - by a clearance sale. Sure, the products are worth so much retail, but the storage of those items will cost some money and not pay any bills. Mark them as CLEARANCE! and they will be gone in a flash. I saw a huge pile of 50 pound bags of dogfood in the aisle at one store half-price. I asked, "Who wants them?" They were gone in hours.
But of course no one gave the steward permission to discount the money owed to the rich man.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
This is where the parable gets its title, and a title will always change perception of the story. For example, what does "The Gift of the Magi" suggest to people, even though it involved a husband and wife giving up what they thought was precious, nullifying the gift of the other? (She sold her hair to buy a chain for his watch; he sold his watch to buy combs for her hair.) The title suggests Christmas and selfless giving to another.
But is this about the unjust steward? The "for" explanation begins the explanation of the parable with an observation. The unbelievers are more active, clever, and unrelenting in clinging to their material things than the believers (children of light) are in staying with the Faith.
Since the rich man is also called the lord, we see him as representing God. But does God commend greedy dishonesty? That is where the parable turns itself around. The way it is stated makes us wonder, but my version would not have -
My simpler version - And God wondered why the unbelievers work so hard at keeping the things that never last, but the Christians are lax and careless about the forgiveness of sin, salvation, and everlasting life - the treasures of the Gospel. If only the believers loved the Gospel as much as the steward loved his comforts on a rich man's estate!
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
26. But it is especially before God an unrighteous mammon because man does not serve his neighbor with it; for where my neighbor is in need and I do not help him when I have the means to do so, I unjustly keep what is his, as I am indebted to give to him according to the law of nature: “Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them.” Matthew 7:12. And Christ says in Matthew 5:42: “Give to him that asketh thee.” And John in his first Epistle,1 John 3:17: “But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?” And few see this unrighteousness in mammon because it is spiritual, and is found also in those possessions which are obtained by the fairest means, which deceive them that they think they do no one any harm, because they do no coarse outward injustice, by robbing, stealing and usury.
27. In the third place it has been a matter of very great concern to many to know who the unjust steward is whom Christ so highly recommends? This, in short, is the simple answer: Christ does not commend unto us the steward on account of his unrighteousness, but on account of his wisdom and his shrewdness, that with all his unrighteousness, he so wisely helps himself. As though I would urge some one to watch, pray and study, and would say: Look here, murderers and thieves wake at night to rob and steal, why then do you not wake to pray and study? By this I do not praise murderers and thieves for their crimes, but for their wisdom and foresight, that they so wisely obtain the goods of unrighteousness.
27. In the third place it has been a matter of very great concern to many to know who the unjust steward is whom Christ so highly recommends? This, in short, is the simple answer: Christ does not commend unto us the steward on account of his unrighteousness, but on account of his wisdom and his shrewdness, that with all his unrighteousness, he so wisely helps himself. As though I would urge some one to watch, pray and study, and would say: Look here, murderers and thieves wake at night to rob and steal, why then do you not wake to pray and study? By this I do not praise murderers and thieves for their crimes, but for their wisdom and foresight, that they so wisely obtain the goods of unrighteousness.
Since the mammon of unrighteousness is such a strange term, it needs explanation. Mammon means worldly goods, and they come everyday life, working, getting paid, so they are not the spiritual treasures of the Faith.
The Church of Rome tried to elevate poverty and make all the monks beg for a living. This feigned poverty as a sign of holiness only led to debauchery and laziness. The system made people feel obligated to the good works (and saving benefits) of providing for these monks.
So Jesus charged His disciples with being as diligent and trusting in God as the unrighteous manager was in keeping a comfortable living. One is for eternal life, and the other is for this life alone.
Luther trusted the efficacy of the Word. He did not seek an organization or a bishop's hat and staff. He did not hide what he taught but passed it over to the printers and translators who established fortunes from his books. His work spread the Gospel - and that was clever for a man with almost nothing, no power except the word, and no elevated title.
Strangely, many congregations view their worth in terms of a full calendar, a full mammon treasury, etc. The richest denominations believe the least, and wealthy clergy climb into marble pulpits to tell people the Gospel reading really did not mean that. It was symbolic, poetic. They need to make the world a better place.
Increasing the spread of the Word is the primary work of the Church, strengthening faith and creating faith in the Gospel of forgiveness. As I told my OT class, faith does not just come from hearing, but from hearing the Report of Isaiah 53, that Jesus' love is shown in His atoning death on the cross. The victory over sin is faith in Him.
