God’s Gift of True Doctrine in Christ (Reformation 2011)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, California
Reformation Sunday (October 30, 2011)
John 8:31-36 and Romans 3:21-26

TITLE: “God’s Gift of True Doctrine in Christ”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for the Festival of the Reformation is from John chapter 8, with focus on the words, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

What is the point of the Reformation? You will find this day many views of the Reformation celebrated throughout the land, and yet many will look at today and miss the point entirely. Let’s examine a few ways that people misunderstand and misapply the Reformation. We can call them myths of the Reformation:

The Reformation frees us to get back to the Bible. Well that certainly sounds very pious, and it kind of resonates with our American ears. We like freedom talk, after all. We like to hear about how our nation has freed the Iraqis from slavery. We like hear about lost freedoms being restored. But that isn’t the point of the Reformation. For freedom to get back to the Bible for many, especially in Luther’s day, simply meant to believe whatever false teaching and silly notion that anyone had about the Bible. Luther couldn’t have cared less about freedom, at least not in the sense of do anything you want.

Here’s another one. The Reformation is a day for us to celebrate our heritage as Lutherans. That certainly is what often happens on Reformation. It kind of serves as a cultural heritage day, where we remember whatever each person thinks it means to be Lutheran, sing some good old favorites, and then go home feeling like we’ve really showed those Roman Catholics a thing or two. But this certainly cannot be what was behind the Reformation. Luther never intended to cause controversy; he simply wanted to talk about Jesus and what is the Gospel. It was the persecution of the truth that really forced catholic churches to become known as “Lutheran” churches.

Then we have my favorite: The Reformation is the birth of the Lutheran Church. Well, Lutherans certainly may easily become self-righteous, and the view that the Lutheran Church is the container of everyone who is going to heaven would be the height of arrogance on our part. Yet we often act as if this is the case, by being callous toward other churches, not caring about them and what they teach, and especially by refusing to point out when they (or we) have departed from the teachings of the Bible. We even confess every Sunday: I believe in one, holy, Christian and apostolic church. There is only one church, not many. That one church is hidden just as faith is hidden, and yet it is revealed wherever God’s Word is preached in its truth and purity and the Sacraments are administered as Christ instituted them. So we rejoice wherever the Word is preached and the Sacraments given out, even if the flow of the Gospel is but a trickle, God has done great things through such small works.

So what, dear friends, is the point of the Lutheran Reformation? The point of the Reformation is that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. The point of the Reformation is that Jesus came to earth as one of us. He walked among us. He healed our diseases and forgave our sins. And He died on the cross, paying the penalty for your unbelief and sin. And in His resurrection from the dead, life and hope sprang up throughout the whole world.

This message, this doctrine of the Gospel, is the central point of Bible. This is what the Augsburg Confession says is the “article on which the church stands or falls.” Notice, though, that this is a doctrine, a teaching. Doctrine is what it’s all about. That’s right. Doctrine. That has to be one of the most unpopular words you could find. When you hear the word doctrine, it sounds old fashioned, out dated, and authoritarian. A word like doctrine brings to mind old men in rooms coming up with ways and rules to make being a Christian harder. But this is not true.

Doctrine, you see, is just another way to say teaching. The heart of the Reformation, more than anything else, was about teaching or doctrine. What doctrine? It had to do with the doctrine of who Jesus is and what he does for me. In the bible, you see, there is only one doctrine, not many. We read in the book of Acts, for example, how they describe the life of the early church: And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42 NKJV).

What Luther, by God’s grace, came to understand is that the Scriptures are a seamless whole, one garment woven throughout. All of the Scriptures teach of Christ. You may remember that after Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to two disciples on the way to Emmaus. When they didn’t recognize him, and didn’t get the story of His death and resurrection, St. Luke records for us, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).

This one garment of the Bible is Christ, but not just kind of a cute, generic Jesus that you would find in a Wal-mart book. Every doctrine, every teaching of the Bible is intimately connected with who Jesus is, and what he does for us by dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. What this means is that when we learn about Baptism, we are learning about the forgiveness of sins. When I learn about the Lord’s Supper, even such hard to connect doctrines as closed communion, I am learning about the forgiveness of sins. The end of the world, creation, the work of the Holy Spirit, every teaching from the Bible is connected to God’s work of forgiving your sins and bringing you into heaven to be with him forever. For there is only one doctrine, and it is all about Christ for us.

This is what Jesus is talking about in our text when He says: If you continue in my Word, then you are my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the Truth will set you free. It’s all about Jesus. If we cannot see that the whole of the Scriptures is about Christ for us, then we cannot read the Bible at all. Yet if there is a danger to the Lutheran Church today, it is this: we have forgotten this love of doctrine. We have forgotten that learning doctrine connects us to Jesus, strengthens faith, and draws us to His eternal gifts of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Sadly, we have by and large forgotten our first love as Lutherans. We have bought into the lie that doctrine doesn’t matter.

All you have to do is look at our study of God’s Word to see how quickly we have forgotten the point of the Reformation. How many families hear God’s Word together at home, sing the hymns of the faith and pray? How many families are willing to sacrifice time, money and more for Sunday School or to take time to learn the gifts of God? How many neglect Bible class, or have more important things to do even than coming to church regularly to hear the Word of God?

I bring this up on Reformation Day not to make you angry. No one likes self-examination. It is painful and critical and frankly unpleasant. We all dislike it. Yet that, dear friends, is precisely what Martin Luther sought to do when he posted the ninety-five theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg 487 years ago today. Thesis One of the ninety-five theses begin this way:

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

Repentance means turning away from unbelief and turning toward Christ and His mercy toward us for the forgiveness of sins. It means turning away from ourselves and our wants, desires and selfishness, and turning toward God and His mercy in Jesus Christ. It means examination in the light of God’s Law, and recognizing once again that our only hope lies in the mercy of Jesus Christ.

The Church always needs to be reformed. If we cannot see that, then we are like the man who seeks to pull the speck out of his brother’s eye when he cannot see the plank sticking out of his own. God calls us to repentance this Reformation Day, but He also calls us to faith. There, dear friends, lies your hope. God does forgive your sins. All of them, from the greatest to the least. He forgives them all, and He says to you this day: I love you, I forgive you, and I want you to be with me forever in heaven. That is the doctrine. That is the teaching that God gave to Martin Luther so many years ago, and that is the teaching that he longs to deliver to you this day.

Thank God for Martin Luther and the Reformation of the Church. The light of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins continues to shine forth throughout the world. And despite our weaknesses and failings, God is merciful to us. That is the heart of the Reformation. That is what it means to be Lutheran. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

The Law and the Prophets in Me (Pentecost 19A, Matthew 22,34-46)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Rocklin, California

Pentecost 19, October 23, 2011 (revised)

Matthew 22:34-46

TITLE: “The Law and the Prophets in Me”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is from the Gospel lesson, particularly these words, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Questions, questions, questions. The world is full of questions about what is important. How do you prioritize your life? What matters the most to you? Is it how much money you have? Your family? The future? What is it that makes you tick when you get up in the morning. For every day of every life is spent on questions or prioritizing and planning, ordering and organizing.

For the Jews in Jesus’ day, they thought of these questions as well , only they were a little more spiritual about it than you and I often are. They wanted to know what is the “great commandment in the law?” They had laws for everything. What to eat. What to wear. How many steps to take on the Sabbath. How to treat strangers from other lands and strangers from your own town. 613 laws, to be exact. 248 laws for each part of the body, and 365 laws for each day of the year.

Now obviously God is interested in the Law. It is, after all, His Law which He gave to His people on Mount Sinai so many thousands of years ago. They are really quite simple and straight forward:

  • You shall have no other gods.
  • You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
  • Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
  • Honor your father and your mother.
  • You shall not murder.
  • You shall not commit adultery.
  • You shall not steal.
  • You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
  • You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
  • You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

 

That’s it. That’s God’s Law and the full extent of His will for you here on earth, as far as the Law goes. 10 commandments. 82 words in English. But if that isn’t simple and clear enough for you, we can even simplify it further:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

What could be simpler than this? Jesus even goes so far as to say that on these two commandments, or two tables of the Law, hang all the Law and the Prophets. Everything, everything comes down to them. Love God with everything you have and everything you are and love everyone else just as much as you love yourself.

Now we are all legalists by nature, we want to narrow things down to nice and simple rules that will get us into heaven and will make everything clear and perfect and simple. The commandments, of course, are clear and perfect and simple. The problem, though, is that they are impossible. The harder you try, the more you fail. You will find many churches today that are obsessed with the Law and the myth of keeping them just as much as the Jews were in our text. There are churches that make things like smoking or alcohol into the sin against the Holy Ghost. Obesity can be a spiritual catastrophe and the television can become the very tool of the devil Himself.

Now I suppose in one way that this may be true. After all, just about anything that we have or do can be turned on its ear into sin. An innocent brownie can turn into gluttony. Spending time with your family can actually keep you away from church and hearing the Gospel. The more you try the harder you fail.

But Jesus will not be satisfied with this kind of constant running after nothing, as if we are defined by our sins. He says to you this day and every day, You are baptized! Notice what He does with the Pharisees and their endless Law questions. They want Law questions which He answers, but He then gives them a Gospel question: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? Jesus doesn’t want them to spend their every waking moment in fear over their failures and sins, true though they may be. So instead He gives them Himself.

This question about whose Son is He really brings us to how these two commands are what the Law and the Prophets hang upon. For you see, Jesus is the Son of God AND the Son of David. He is the only begotten Son of God, without sin and keeping the Law perfectly in every way. But He is also the Son of David, born of the Virgin Mary, your brother, who knows your every weakness, your every fear, your every failure. He knows that the harder you try the harder you fail. He knows. He’s been there. He’s taken the suffering and the pain for it. He knows.

Jesus comes to you today with a message of freedom and hope. Do not let the sins which so shape and define you bind you up and hold you to the grave! Jesus has come into your flesh to bear your sin and be your Savior. He has freed you from the shackles of fear and death. He has come to say to you, don’t be afraid. I’ve kept the Law for you. God looks at you today in perfect righteousness. He looks at you and says well done, good and faithful servant. It doesn’t have to make sense, and yet in mercy it does. It makes sense because Christ is the giver and the gift.

Don’t believe the lie of Satan, who wants to chain you to your sins. Christ has taken them into His own flesh and blood and paid the price. They are now His sins, not yours. You can’t have them anymore. And in their place He gives you the peace which is beyond all understanding, the peace of knowing that in Christ, all things are now ready, the Law is kept, the promise is yours, and everlasting life is your reward. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Heavenly Citizenship (Pentecost 18A, 2011)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Rocklin, California

Pentecost 18, Proper 23A (October 16, 2011)

Matthew 22:15–21

TITLE: “Heavenly Citizenship”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel lesson just read from Matthew 22, with focus on the words, Render to Caesar that which is Caesars, and to God that which is Gods. We also will examine the important phrase from the Epistle: Our citizenship is in heaven.

Now before we begin the sermon proper, I have to explain something. We are starting sermon studies in confirmation class, and I promised the kids that I would make it really really obvious where the Law and Gospel were in the Sacrament. So if I have an aside to them every so often, that’s why. But on to our text.

Heavenly citizenship. That’s how Paul describes the Christian. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20–21).

But what does this heavenly citizenship entail? What does it really mean for us sons and daughters of Adam, as we live and work and struggle here, now, in the midst of a very earthly life? What does this heavenly citizenship mean to you? Does it change who you are? Does it change your relationship to your neighbor, to those in need around you?

There really are two ways that Christian’s have traditionally looked at this question. One way is to think of it like this: “‘I’m but a stranger here’ means that I am not a part of the world. It means that I can blissfully ignore my neighbor in need, and anyone and anything around me. I am a Christian. I am above such things.”

The problem with this view, of course, is that it is simply not true. Heavenly citizenship doesn’t mean that we write off the earthly as irrelevant or beneath us. If this were true, why did Jesus come to earth at all? Why did God become man if w are really supposed to ignore or belittle the world and everything that is in it? Remember the words of our Creed: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” If we take heavenly citizenship to mean that I don’t have to serve my neighbor, then we are breaking the Ten Commandments. That’s the Law for you students.

A part of what this means is that the Christian Church must have her feet firmly planted here, on earth, in the midst of all of the trials and troubles and difficulties that this life beings about. If we don’t do this, and it is oh so tempting, if we don’t do this, then we risk becoming so heaven oriented that we actually forget we’re on earth! We forget that we are also here to serve our neighbor.

Now the other view of heavenly citizenship is that I can only think of things below, because heaven is just too hard to understand and really get a grip on as a Christian. I know heaven is coming, and I don’t really understand it, so I’m just going to worry about the here and now and not be overly concerned with what’s coming.

In this view, the things of this life actually take on too much importance. We can start to get the idea that we’re God, and that we are the ones who are at work here below ordering everything according to His holy plan. There are many churches the world over that have become so here and now focused, that they lose the connection between taking care of and serving the needs of today and taking care of and serving the needs of the whole person, body, soul and spirit together. Churches that forget about heaven and eternal life in Christ has forgotten the Gospel.

Remember again the words of St. Paul in Colossians chapter three:
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1–4).

So then if we aren’t to be so heavenly focused that we forget we live on earth, and we aren’t to be so earthly focused that we forget our hope is in heaven, how then are we to live as children of God?

We live and serve our neighbor not because we are trying to create heaven on earth. We live and serve our neighbor in love because heaven is our home. Think of it this way. God has given you all things. You are set to inherit eternal life, where you will be changed from this sinful sack of flesh to a new, glorious body, perfect in every way. But even more than that, you will be at peace. You will be at peace with God through the forgiveness of sins. You are at peace with everyone because of what God has won for you. That’s the Gospel.

All of this begins now. We have hints of this all around us, pointers and signs that lead the way to this great mystery. Baptism, preaching, the Lord’s Supper, absolution, all of these and more point to this great and beautiful reality that because God has done all these things for you, you are free to live here, now. You are free to enjoy the gifts that God gives you. Gifts of family and life and the things of this world. But even more than that, you are free to share those gifts with everyone around you.

The Pharisees in our text want to trip Jesus up with this distinction, but our Lord does not stumble or falter. He knows full well that we live in the world but that we are not of the world. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Give the world its due. If taxes, then taxes. If tribute, then tribute. If that means taking care of your neighbor more than seems reasonable to you, then do it anyway. Why? Because you also render to God what is His. And you, dearly baptized, are His. You are His body and soul.

So come, feast on our Lord’s body and blood. Live as citizens of the heavenly kingdom. Give freely because Christ has so freely given to you. Come, eat, live, and give everything of yourself, because God Himself will fill you up more than you can possibly imagine. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.

Two Kinds of Religious People (Pentecost 15, 2011) – Matthew 21:23-27

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel just read from St. Matthew chapter twenty one, with focus on the words of the religious leaders to Jesus, “by what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

There are two kinds of religious people in the world. There are the religious advice givers, and there are the mercy givers.

You know the religious advice givers. There is a Law for everything. And their job is to make sure that YOU know what the laws are. If we could only have the rules clearer, THEN everything would be right in the world. If I can cross the tees and dot the eyes in just the right way and in just the right place, then I will truly be a Christian.

All too often this is what the world sees as Christianity. Christianity is about following the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Christianity is about putting on this mask of righteousness, so it would appear. Christianity is about making sure that we wear the right clothes to church, that our children are behaved just right, and that nobody knows that we hurt, suffer and are broken. Nobody knows that, ever. Christianity in the eyes of the religious advice givers is really about the Law, “do this, and you will live.” I remember years ago watching those words acted out on the 70s TV show, Little House on the Prairie. Some of you remember the quotation, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.”

The problem, of course, is that we cannot keep the Law. We cannot make this fit and work, and so by nature we want to blame someone for how everything is so screwed up. In Ezekiel’s day from our Old Testament, the people wanted to sit in judgment of God, and blame Him for their troubles. When the religious advice givers fair in their works, then they must turn to placing the blame. But they, and we, have no one else to blame but ourselves.

But that living and dying by the Law is not the Christian faith. God is, perhaps more than anything else, a God of love and mercy. Mercy means that God does not give us what we deserve. Mercy means that rather than giving you advice and waiting for you to fail, it means that God knows your need and brokenness. Mercy means that God does not tsk tsk tsk at your problems. It means that God acts. He goes. He sends His Son down into your flesh and blood. We pray in Psalm 147 that the Lord builds up, gathers, heals, binds up the wounds, and that he lifts up the humber. God even counts the very numbers of the stars, and names each one of them!

If God is going to number the stars of the heavens and the sands on the seashore, how much more, O redeemed ones, will He care for you? Today (in the second service) we are blessed to watch God at work in baptising Casey Trester. God has drawn Him in by His Word and Sprit, and is at work even now at forgiving Casey’s sins and making Him a part of this family of faith.

You see, that’s what Jesus does. He sits with sinners and eats with them. He goes from town to town, teaching a message of repentance to the forgiveness of sins. He calls sin a sin, make no mistake about it. But He does this in order to draw us into His loving embrace forever.

This is what made the religious advice givers of Jesus’ day absolutely crazy. Who does He think He is, forgiving sins? Who does He think He is, healing the sick? Who does He think He is? Who gives Him the rigth to do such things? That is what is behind their question, by what authority do you do such things?

Jesus doesn’t tell them the answer. They won’t get it. They reject Him and they reject the forgiveness of sins. They reject Him to the point of having Him crucified to death.

But that is the miracle of our Lord. He is still merciful to you. He still forgives. He still creates life in His name. He is still at work, drawing us into Himself by the power of His Spirit.

This is what it means to be a mercy-giver. I said at the beginning of the sermon that there are two types of religious people. Advice-givers and mercy-givers. The mercy giver doesn’t count the cost. The mercy-giver doesn’t keep track of how much they have cared for their neighbor. St. Paul says in Philippians 2:4 that we are to not only look out for our own interest, but the interests fo others. The mercy-giver does all things without grumbling or questioning. I hate that part. The mercy giver does all things for the sake of His neighbor.

Now I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time finding myself in that description of the mercy-giver. But you are there. Because you are in Christ, you are there. God is at work in you and through you, delivering His gifts to a world broken and lost and in need. It’s not about your performance. It’s about Christ and everything that He gives to you this day.

So let go of all the stress of trying to be the perfect advice-giver. Repent of your sins, trust Christ and live. He is the mercy-giver, for He is the very Mercy of God in flesh for you. You will never measure up in yourself. But you don’t have to, for you are in Christ, and in Christ you have done all things well. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

On the Unfairness of God (Pentecost 14, Matthew 20:1-16)

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Rev. Todd Peperkorn
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, California
Pentecost 14 (Proper 20A)
September 18, 2011
Matthew 20:1-16

Sept18-2011

TITLE: “On the Unfairness of God”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is taken from the Gospel from St. Matthew chapter twenty: “…and the last will be first and the first will be last”.

One of the most basic rules of any playground is that the games must be fair. The rules must be fair. The bases have to be the exact same distance. It must all be exactly fair in every way. The rise of labor unions follows the same basic principle. Everything that happens in the workplace must be fair. There can be no cronysism or playing favorites. If you work for the company, you get what you put in. So many years with such-and-such performance ratings equals this pay. It is a formula. It is simple and clear. Well, at least it’s supposed to be.

So you can imagine what a labor boss would think about today’s parable. The master of the vineyard invites men in to work at all hours of the day. They come in morning, noon, afternon, and right before closing time. They each work as they have been given time and talent to do. And the master of the house pays them all the exact same thing.

You can almost hear the objections of the men who worked since the break of day. “It’s not fair! We should get more than those lazy slobs who only worked an hour! We should get what is coming to us!”

Have you been there? Have you ever felt like others were sliding off easy, while you were doing all the work? We act this way at home and at work, on the playground and in school. Like Cain being jealous of Abel or Leah being jealous of Rachel, it is always oh so easy to look at our lives and to believe that there are others who have it so much easier than us. It isn’t fair. It isn’t right.

Of course, this is true after a fashion. As we muddle around in our measuring, it is easy to find someone who hasn’t had as many sicknesses or heartaches. They haven’t lost their job. They don’t have these health problems. They aren’t married to him.

Our self-righteousness really knows no bounds. Look at what I do for the church! Look at what I do at home for my family! Look at what I do for my work, for my friends, for my school! Look at me, look at me, look at me!

Our Lord, of course, has a different perspective. Isaiah reminds us of this when he says,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

You and I compare and contrast and highlight and figure and schedule and determine the pecking order and measure. God, other the other hand, gives of His generousity. This is why it is so hard for us to figure Him out. He gives when we think He should take, and He takes away when we feel like He should give. How frustrating it is!

The strange thing, though, is that despite God’s generosity, you and I continue to want to live under the Law. We want to measure, because we still believe, somehow, that if we measure ourselves against others, we will come out ahead in the end. Maybe you’ve heard the old joke: when running away from a bear, you don’t have to run faster than the bear; you just have to run faster than the guy next to you.

That is exactly how we want to run our spirituality and faith. I don’t have to be perfect; I just have to be better off than the next guy. I may not be a Mother Theresa, but I am way better than them!

The problem with our natural approach here is that we are using the wrong measuring stick. We want to measure ourselves against each other. But God doesn’t care how you stack up against your neighbor. The measuring stick is the Law. It doesn’t bend. It’s measuring is simple and clear: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it”(James 2:10). St. Paul also reminds us of this when he says, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).

So what is the point our Lord wants to make in this parable? The point is beautifully simple. God gives us our “wages” not on the basis of our merits and labor, but out of His generosity. Give gives from Himself, He does not reward based on our behavior or lack of it. This is why we pray in the collect for the day,

Lord God, heavenly Father, since we cannot stand before You relying on anything we have done, help us trust in Your abiding grace and live according to Your Word…(A78)

Today God gives you His mercy. He rewards you with the fruit from His vineyard, which is Jesus Christ. Our Lord, after all, says “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

God frees you today to live in Him and trust in His mercy. Life your life as free children of God, and serve your neighbor. You do not do this because you must, and certainly not because it is fair. Just the opposite. You do these things because God is generous. He gives you all things. As St. Paul says, *”I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” * (Philippians 4:13)

Live this day as free children of God. Don’t measure yourself against the good deeds of others. In fact, don’t measure yourself at all! Look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Come, eat and drink from the fruit of the sacred vineyard. Come and live in Him.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.