Sheep and Goats

 

Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats drives home a critical point. Namely, that faith is what really makes a person holy. Your work is for the service of your neighbor.

Faith alone saves. But faith that saves is never alone. Works are necessary. But never arbitrary. Faith is what makes you holy. Works are always done in the interests of the neighbor.

Faith is the hand that reaches up to Christ. Works is the hand that reaches out to help and serve the neighbor in love. You come to a worship service. Then, in service, you support your neighbor.

The difference between the goats and the sheep is not that the sheep were nice and friendly, while the goats were mean and insular. The dividing line is not based on the good work and charity and giving money to foreign missions of the sheep. Or the lack of civic love and welfare on the part of the goats. NO!

What divides them is Faith. And more precisely. It is CHRIST for you, in you, and with you, that sets you on His Right Hand. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 Those who have received Jesus are lambs and sheep. Those who reject Him are goats.

Both sheep and goats forget to realize that it was the Lord. The goats failed to recognize Jesus, while the lambs didn't remember serving Jesus either. How so? The lambs did not look to their own works. They looked to the finished work of Christ their Good Shepherd. They looked only to their Shepherd who alone produces works that are accounted as good.

The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and they follow Him. They are sheep of His fold. Lambs of His flock. Sinners of His own redeeming. The sheep follow their Shepherd wherever He makes them lie down in green pastures and leads them besides still waters. (Psalm 23)

In his Introduction to the book Romans, Luther stated that saving faith is, “a living, creative, active, and powerful thing. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” - "Luther, An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans".

This month of October another harvest will begin. There is also a harvest of souls. Christ has won for you full salvation. All you receive is a gift. No strings attached. You are now free to love and serve your neighbor. Every. Single. Day. You are compelled to do so. You can do no other.  

There is nothing sectarian about Jesus. He does not intend to be limited. He is for the entire world. He died for all humankind. He commissions His disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. He is a universal Savior. He envisions the universe to be one flock under one shepherd. Because Jesus has “other sheep” the church needs its program of evangelism and missions to gather the other sheep into His fold, the church.

Lord God, our shepherd, You gather the lambs of Your flock into the arms of Your mercy and bring them home. Comfort us with the certain hope of the resurrection to everlasting life and a joyful reunion with those we love who have died in the faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Collect for Easter 4, Lutheran Service Book

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Image of the Lost Sheep copyright Ed Riojas, Higher Things

October 3 – Saturday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

Matthew 25:1-13 - Our reading is the inspiration for the hymn, “Rejoice, Rejoice Believers.” The believer rejoices only in Christ. The days are getting shorter, soon the harvest will commence. We pray for the safety of all who work to bring food to our table. We also anticipate a harvest of souls.

This hymn of ten stanzas was written by Laurentius Laurenti. It is his finest hymn and emphasizes our Lord’s Second Advent. The hymn was published in the author’s Evangelica Melodica, 1700, entitled “for the 27th Sunday after Trinity.” The complete hymn—unites the imagery of the parable of the Ten Virgins, Matt. 25:1-13 with that of Rev elation 20—21.

The translation is an altered form of Sarah Findlater’s, which appeared in Hymns from the Land of Luther (by her and her sister, Jane Borthwick), 1854, first series.

Another stanza from the original (Stanza 8) translated by Mrs. Findlater, beautiful for its imagery, reads:

Palms of victory are there;
    There, radiant garments are;
There stands the peaceful harvest,
    Beyond the reach of war.
There, after stormy winter,
    The flowers of earth arise,
And from the grave's long slumber
    Shall meet again our eyes!

As God’s vineyard will be harvested at the end of days so look to Christ the Lord of the harvest, the one in whom the believer rejoices. 

O God, whose almighty power is made known chiefly in showing mercy and pity, grant us the fullness of Your grace that we may be partakers of Your heavenly treasures.[1]

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[1] Collect for Proper 22, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis

Source of the above hymn is from The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal.

 

October 2 – Friday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

Matthew 21:33-46 – God’s people refuse to return God His due. Confidence in one’s own faith will fail. This is another parable of the kingdom. It is an allegorized parable. The vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the religious leaders. The servants are the prophets. The son is Jesus. The murder was the cross. Jesus is saying that time after time God has sought to redeem his people through the prophets, but each effort was in vain. In desperation, He sent His Son whom they crucified. This is in accord with the psalmist who says the rejected stone became the cornerstone. The outcome of it is that the religious leaders of Israel will lose the kingdom, which will be given to those who produce the fruit of righteousness. Because of their rejection of Christ, the Jews lost, but the Gentiles gained the kingdom.

The owner has a right to receive fruit from the tenants. People owe something to God. Time after time God comes for His due until finally He makes the ultimate appeal in His Son, Jesus. Rebellious tenants kill the Son in hope of taking over the vineyard. Here can be seen the patience of God, trying repeatedly to get the tenants to respond; here can also be seen the greed of people.

What sort of tenants are we? It is our duty to be good stewards, faithful tenants, and good renters. We must continue to share this message of the kingdom with all that we meet, and with all that we know.

God’s sign is still out for all to read and see. It says “VINEYARD FOR RENT.” The terms for the vineyard are as generous as they can be.

In His marvelous love God has considered all of the difficulties renters can give Him and yet He allows us to rent this prime ground. How wicked we would be if we would ever spurn His love.

What a privilege it is to be a tenant in God’s vineyard. What an honor it is to bring Him the fruit of faith with joy. My the Lord so move us to be good tenants until that time in which we move out of that rented ground into a new home, one which has been purchased by the same Landlord we are renting form now – Jesus Christ the righteous one.

Collects for Proper 22 – Gracious God, You gave Your Son into the hands of sinful men, who killed Him. Forgive us when we reject Your unfailing love, and grant us the fullness of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one god, now and forever.[1]

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Image The parable of the Vineyard copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

[1] Collect for Proper 22, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis

October 1 – Thursday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

Philippians 3:4b-14 – God’s people strive to be examples worthy of Christ. Confidence in the flesh cannot stand. Forgetting the past, Paul presses on toward the goal of Christ and lives as an example for others. Paul defends himself as a Christian of the first order through the mercies of God. Yet, he does not think he has it “made,” but keeps striving for complete devotion to Christ by becoming one in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ. Because he imitates Christ, he is able to ask his people to imitate him in both faith and life.

Though we are in the world, we belong to the kingdom of heaven. When Christ returns, He will transform our earthly bodies to spiritual bodies.

Paul uses this phrase “I press on” twice in this passage. It must have been important to him in getting across his plan. He is not idly waiting for perfection to come to him. He is not neutral. He is urgent, pursuing, and energetic in getting to his goal. To become like Christ is a process over a lifetime — ever striving to be like Christ in every area of life. At the same time, Paul would say that God was in him pressing on, working in him. A Christian dare not be content with his life. He is ever seeking to improve it.

In the readings for this coming week the theme of a vineyard are apparent. The wild fruit are those who are “enemies of the cross of Christ” and serve as an example of the right kind of fruit Christians produce.

In light of this text, we may reflect on what we value most as individuals and as church communities. Perhaps we tend to value certain inherited qualities or achievements as “gains” that give us value before God.  Take time examining your life and your faith, so that you may count such gains as loss and deepen your reliance upon Jesus Christ.

Visit, O Lord, the homes in which Your people dwell, and keep all harm and danger from them. Grant that we may dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy angels, sharing eternally in Your blessing; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.[1]

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[1] Collect for home and family, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

September 30– Wednesday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

 Isaiah 5:1-7 God’s people receive judgment for evil fruit.  Confidence in violence and bloodshed leads to judgment. In the Old Testament reading, God’s judgment upon His people is shown for their failure to produce proper fruit.

The prophet sings a love song to God regarding God’s vineyard, his people. God is his “beloved.” God loves His people. Proof of this love is that God’s vineyard, His possession, is His people. Out of love, God accepts and owns His people. And look what God has done for His people! He has placed a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug the ground, cleared away the stones, and planted it with the best vines. Then He built a watchtower and a wine vat.

God is love and He deals lovingly with His people: claiming them as His own and providing for them by giving them the best of everything to be fruitful.

Israel’s injustice is particularized. The “bloodshed” refers to abusive practices that bleed the poor to death. The “cry” refers to their anguished response. These actions are “wild grapes” (detailed in 5:8, 11-12, 18-24). Notably, these texts link abuse of the neighbor to the neglect of God’s word and deed (see 5:12, 24).

This text may be profitably linked to New Testament texts that use agricultural images. An example: Jesus’ discourse regarding the vine and its branches, with expectations to bear fruit, and removing and burning those who do not (John 15:1-17).

See also the parable of the wicked tenants the Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday (Matthew 21:33-44).

O God, whose almighty power is made known chiefly in showing mercy and pity, grant us the fullness of Your grace that we may be partakers of Your heavenly treasures.[1]

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[1] Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

September 29 – Tuesday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

Psalm 80:7-19 – This week’s Psalm has as the key verse, verse 7. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant He cherished. “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! “ -Isaiah 5:7. After making a lament over the Lord’s severe punishment of His people the Psalmist looks to the Lord who will vindicate His own as He restores and makes His face shine upon them that they might be saved.

This coming week a major theme woven throughout the reading is the point that God’s people constitute a vineyard. The Gospel and Old Testament lessons complement each other in the use of a vineyard as a metaphor for God’s people. In both, the vineyard is at fault; in the Gospel, the tenants refuse to render fruit; in the Old Testament, the fruit is wild.

The image of God as gardener (vinedresser) and the people as the garden or vineyard is found in many places in the Bible, including two of the other lectionary texts for this coming Sunday. Isaiah 5:1-7 (often called “the song of the vineyard”) describes God’s relationship with Israel and Judah. This is reinterpreted in Matthew 21:36-46 (also Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19) in the parable of the wicked tenants in the vineyard.

Repeatedly, the Psalmist calls on God to “restore” and “save” (verses 2, 3, 7, 19) to “turn again” (verse 14) and “give us life” (verse 18). The Psalm opens with a plea to God, the “Shepherd of Israel” (verses 1-3) to restore the people. It names God’s anger as the problem, resulting in the suffering of the people (verses 4-6). There follows a plea for restoration (verses 7).

Prayer for Psalm 80: Lord God, you so tend the vine you planted that now it extends its branches even to the farthest shore. Keep us in your Son as branches on the vine, that rooted firmly in your love, we may testify before the whole world to your great power working everywhere; through Jesus Christ our Lord.[1]

Source:

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[1][1] For All the Saints, A Prayer Book for and by the Church, © 1995 American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY

September 28 – Monday prior to Pentecost 19 (Proper 22)

 

Psalm 118:22-24 - Antiphon, verse 1:“O Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever.” – This is a call to praise the Lord.

This Psalm was originally attributed to the ordination of David as king of Israel. David was the king that was rejected by men, but David instituted a time of peace and prosperity that Israel had not known before. This was a time of celebration, but this Psalm also points to another King that was rejected and has now become the capstone, or the stone that becomes the reference for the rest of the building. Jesus Christ was rejected by men, but now Jesus offers us peace and prosperity in ways that we could never create for ourselves. God has done something marvelous, and in doing so, allows us to say, “This is the day the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”[1]

Psalm 118:22 became one of the passages most frequently quoted by the early Christian teachers to describe the temporary humiliation and subsequent rejection of Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah. Observe how the Apostle Peter used this verse in Acts 4:8-12.

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.'"

David offers a song of thanksgiving for deliverance and victory. The people rejoice over what the Lord has done. Thereafter, the king speaks his final word of praise (see verse 28). We praise and exalt the Lord because He is mighty to save. This is why He is good – His mercy, His steadfast love endures forever.

Prayer for Psalm 118: Lord God, your Son, rejected by the builders, has become the cornerstone of the Church. Shed rays of your glory up your Church, that it may be seen as the gat of salvation open to all nations. Let cries of joy and exultation ring out from its courts to celebrate the wonder of Christ’s resurrection now and forever. [2]

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[1] https://www.thedailybibleverse.org/bible-verse-the-stone-the-builders-rejected-has-become-the-cornerstone-the-lord-has-done-this-and-it-is-marvelous-in-our-eyes

[2] For All the Saints, A Prayer Book for and By the Church © 1995 American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY