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The parable isn’t about a meal, not even a wedding feast for the king’s son, if you read St. Matthew’s account. It’s not about a host upset by the bad manners of those who RSVPed and backed out at the last minute. But as much as it’s not about those things, it’s also not about us sitting here confident and smug because we’re in church and all of those heathen are out walking the highway to hell. It does not empower us to look down at those people out there who have rejected Jesus, who have ignored the Holy Spirit’s urging to hear the Word and feast on Christ in His Body and Blood. It’s not about shaking your head at the people lining up for brunch, going for a run, or sleeping in at the lake whose church attendance has dropped off now that summer is officially in full swing. Jesus’ Parable is, however, about what happens to anyone who decides that the things of the flesh are more entertaining, that God will totally understand why you chose material possessions over your faith. He does not, and He will not on the Last Day. This is a reminder that we are called to turn from the material world and its ways and to live in repentance, because we cannot reject God’s gracious invitation without consequence.
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As we enter the second half of the Church Year, our attention shifts. While the first half of the year centers on Jesus Christ and the events of His life, the second half actively engages the topic of sanctification, that is, our growth in the faith. This is always going to be rooted in justification, the blessed truth that we are saved from sin, death, and hell by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is delivered to you through Word and Sacrament and is received by faith as it takes hold of what Jesus did and believes firmly that it was done for you. The faith created by the Holy Spirit naturally wants to do good works. Out of thanksgiving for the life and salvation given by Christ, despite the damnation we deserve, the new man wants to live very intentionally in a way that shuns sin.
Today is all about mysteries. Three Persons in one God. Rebirth, even if you’re old. Belief gives eternal life. God has come to save the world, not condemn it. The Christian faith is full of mysteries. We cannot explain these things and a host of other things, but we say they’re true—a Virgin conceives and bears a Son; God says ‘Let there be’ and fully mature things come into existence; bread and wine deliver the Body and Blood of Christ to countless altars across seven continents, even though the Jesus who comes to us returned to heaven nearly 2,000 years ago; salvation is a gift and nothing we can buy or earn. We affirm as core beliefs things that science and logic cannot verify, and even more than that, things that science and logic say are false. But St. Paul teaches us to embrace mystery. He doesn’t grapple with this, but joyfully exclaims: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”
The Holy Spirit’s role in human life is to cause us to do good works. Whether that good work is confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God or serving our neighbor, none of it happens apart from His intervention in our lives. Apart from Him, we are hopeless and dead. Consider how Dr. Luther taught it in his Small Catechism but put everything in the negative. Without the Holy Spirit we do not have the Gospel, we sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, we have no good gifts, and we have no right belief in Jesus Christ who has won our salvation. Without the Holy Spirit, life is lacking all those things that make it good. Without the Holy Spirit, everything is hopeless. But because we have the Holy Spirit, we are able to rejoice, to have hope in the midst of this world’s sadness, and have comfort in what lies ahead, all because the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus.
We live in a world, in a time that is hostile to the faith. I don’t expect that to be a shocking statement to anyone. Any Christian can look at the world and firmly believe what your grandmother always told you: “It wasn’t this bad when I was your age.” That’s why we prayed “Almighty, everlasting God, make us to always have a devout will toward You and to serve Your Majesty with a pure heart.” There are countless things around us that are trying to pull us away from the faith. That prayer of David we sang in the Introit, “Give me not up to the will of my adversaries” is so important for us today. The opposition faced by Christians isn’t just a problem in Europe or the Middle East, a problem far removed from us. It’s here in America, in Dorr, in your own home. You need the Holy Spirit to keep you steadfast in the faith now more than ever, and that is precisely what God gives to you for the battle.
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