The Most Needed Thing

The Most Needed Thing 

Luke 10:38-42

     The Gospel lesson for today presents to us one the most important lessons that Jesus taught about the Christian life.  It teaches a lesson to every to every Christian but it especially speaks to those who consider themselves very active Christians.  It is very tempting in our busy world to equate Godliness with busyness.  This is not to say that doing good for others is not important.  The lesson here is that hearing God’s Word is most important and serving will naturally follow from that.  Being too busy can not be used an excuse to neglect the study of God’s Word.

     The sermon hymn for today is actually a meditation on the text from Luke 10.  This hymn, as we have it in our hymnal, is actually a shortened version of a ten-verse hymn by Johann Schroeder.  I’d like to have us go back over that hymn and use it as the outline for our thoughts on what Jesus said about the one thing that is needed.  Please open the hymnal again to hymn 536.  As we look more carefully at each verse may the words touch your heart and help you to see how Jesus teaches what is really necessary for your Christian walk.

     The first verse expresses Jesus’ words and identifies the “one thing” as a treasure.  The key to our understanding of this “one thing” is to know that it comes from a heavenly source.  You need to see it as a spiritual blessing.  The point of this little incident in Jesus’ life is to help us to see the distinction between earthly things and heavenly things.  Observers of our times have found that there is a great desire on the part of people today to have some kind of spiritual dimension to their lives.  For some people that can mean anything that takes your mind beyond the normal everyday experiences of life.  For some it is found in meditation on a single thought, much like the eastern religions.  To others it is found in a quiet place where you can forget the stresses of the day.  This they call a spiritual experience.  The problem with those ideas of spirituality is that they provide no lasting benefit. 

     On the other hand, the treasure that Jesus brings is lasting.  The hymn writer points out that, though these other things may bring pleasure, they can become a yoke that presses hard, that burdens us with doubt.  The heart is still left with worry and is still striving for lasting happiness.  What people are really looking for is an escape from their present world with all of its expectations.  In a way, that could be another way of referring to the Law and its requirements.  When the Law becomes a burden, we too are looking for a way to escape from that burden of guilt and the law with all of its expectations and requirements.  That escape will never be found in worldly spirituality.  The only real rescue from sin, guilt and the power of the law is found in Jesus.  Because He took our place on the cross and died as the punishment for our sins, the burden has been lifted.  We are set free.  We can find true peace and joy because we have been united with God through Jesus, our joy and our rest.  Jesus and His Word are the one thing needed.  With the hymn writer, we pray that the Lord would bless us with the one thing necessary.

     In verse two the writer brings in Mary.  She becomes our model for true devotion.  Even though she aroused the anger of her sister because she wasn’t helping out with the many preparations that were being made for Jesus and His friends, she was commended by Jesus for having chosen the one thing that was necessary.  Her sister Martha was worried and upset about many things when only one thing was really needed.  As Jesus commended Mary, He was warning Martha and all the other Marthas, both men and women, who would later hear about what happened that day in Bethany.

     The remaining verses become a prayer of the faithful regarding the proper understanding of the one thing necessary in our lives.  In verse three we pray that we will be able to live our lives according the teaching and example of Jesus.  He, after all, is the embodiment of all wisdom.  In the first chapter of his Gospel, the Apostle John called Jesus the Word.  That means that Jesus is the revelation of God’s truth.  In him we find all that is God-pleasing.  We pray that we may learn from Jesus all humility and simplicity.  What a blessing it will be for your life if you can learn to live in humility and simplicity.  What a change that would be from a life that only follows the desires of your human nature.  Imagine a life that would be free from the pressure to always be first, to always have more than everyone else, that always has to have your own way.  A life of humility and simplicity learns from Jesus that there is only one thing needed.  That one thing is found in hearing, believing, trusting, and following Jesus. When you do, you have the assurance that you have found heavenly wisdom.    

     In verse four the writer gets to the heart of the Gospel that has power to make all this possible in your life.  You come with nothing to offer for your salvation.  It is only through the blood of Jesus that you can stand before the throne of God and claim a place in His kingdom.  By the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, sin, death and the devil were defeated and your salvation was won.  You have been given the robe of righteousness that has been made white in the blood of Jesus.  You can live now in the confidence that because Christ lives, you shall live with Him in glory.  It is that wonderful Gospel message that puts all spirituality into perspective.  All earthly imaginations of reaching fulfillment through your own righteous thoughts, your own tireless activity, your own wishes for escaping the world and its demands, are exposed as false.  Only in Jesus and His sacrifice for you in love do you find the one thing that is needed. 

     The last verse then brings the prayer to a conclusion.  You have recognized that the one thing needed is found in Jesus your Savior.  In Him you find the strength and the guidance to live out your life in joyful response to His love.  You know that He will be with you to protect and defend you from sin, death and the power of the devil. He will strengthen you for your pilgrimage through life with His loving forgiveness.  Everything else in this world is a loss compared to the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

     A significant request in that last verse is that the Lord would search my heart and my behavior in order to root out all hypocrisy.  It is good to ask the Lord to do this because most of the time you are not able to recognize your own hypocrisy.  You are so good at convincing yourself that your attitudes are right that you often can not see the real truth.  That is why you need to admit in the confession of sins that you have sinned in thought, word and deed, by what you have done and by what you have left undone.  It is often those sins of thought and the things that you have left undone that you don’t even consider to be sin.  What a blessing it is then to know that your Savior sees into your heart and knows your hidden sins.  The greater blessing is to know that He also loves you and assures you that He died for those sins and all your sins.

     That forgiveness of sins that is yours through Christ is what brings you back to the one thing that is needed.  By the power of the Holy Spirit working in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, you believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone for reconciliation with God.  You are motivated to seek His wisdom and discover His will in His Word.  You can devote yourself to Him in all that you do.  You can serve Him with your whole heart always remembering to keep your priorities straight.  That may mean that you are still busy with many things but not too busy to hear the voice of Jesus which is still the one thing necessary as you live out your life in response to His love.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

July 21, 2013

It's Harvest Time

It’s Harvest Time

Colossians 1:1-14

     Life can be filled with embarrassing moments.  I don’t need to tell you about all of the embarrassing things that can happen.  You know what they are because you have probably experienced them in your life.  There is one kind of embarrassing moment that I would like to talk about because I think that it plays a role in the response to our Epistle lesson for today.  Can you think of a time when someone complimented you for something that was well done and you realized that you had nothing to do with whatever it was they were talking about.  Maybe it was the potato salad that was brought to a dinner.  Someone came up to you and said how wonderful it tasted and you received the compliment graciously, knowing full well that, in fact, the folks at the deli counter at the grocery store did a great job with the potato salad.  All you did was take it out of the plastic container and put it in a nice glass bowl.  Did you own up to your little deception or did you just let them go on thinking that you had the magic touch in the kitchen?

     As Paul wrote to the Colossians, he began his letter with the typical greetings.  He was quite complimentary as he mentioned their faith and the love they have for the saints because of the hope laid up for them in heaven.  He praised them for the way the Gospel is bearing fruit and increasing among them since they day they heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.  A letter like this would be read to the gathered assembly of believers as they came together for their weekly worship on the Lord’s Day.  Imagine the excitement when they heard that a letter from Paul had been received and was going to be read that day.  As the leader began to read the letter, the people certainly would be on the edge of their seats as they heard his greeting.  As was the custom, he began by identifying himself along with Timothy, his coworker, as the sender.  Their hearts would be warmed as he addressed them as “the saints and faithful brothers in Colossae.”  As he often did in his letters, Paul mentions how he thanks God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he prays for them ever since he heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. 

     Here is where things start to get interesting.  He writes that he has heard about the bearing of fruit through the proclamation of the Gospel in the whole world but especially among them since the day that they heard it and understood it.  Unless this group of believers in Colossae was different from most groups of believers, there were, no doubt, many in the group who honestly had to admit that they really hadn’t done anything to proclaim the gospel in their community.  The leaders, of course, did and a few of them may have been active in sharing their faith but most of them probably just went about their business and came to the worship each week.  They may have felt a bit embarrassed by the praise that was being heaped on them for the great harvest of the fruit of the Gospel that was happening among them. 

     Paul added another line to his statement by saying that all this was happening since the day they heard the Gospel and understood the grace of God in truth.  There, I believe, lies the big difference between those who simply hear the Word and those who take it to heart and respond in a way that bears fruit and increases the harvest.  That is probably why Paul continued on the way he did by explaining just what happens when the Holy Spirit works in the heart of someone who has heard the message of the Gospel and causes them to respond in a way that demonstrates an understanding of the grace of God that has been given.  He prays that they may be filled with the knowledge  of God’s will and that they walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of the Lord. 

     The reason that Paul prays so fervently for them is that he knows what a difficult thing it is to grow in good works and increase in the knowledge of the Lord as we live in this evil and corrupt world of ours.  The devil is on the prowl seeking to influence us to do just the opposite.  It takes a real understanding of the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to fight against the temptation to either ignore the Word altogether or simply hear it and let it have no influence on the way you live your life.

     You might think that I’m reading a lot more into this text than I should be but the truth is that human nature has not changed a lot since the early days of the Christian Church.  There were probably people in that assembly at Colossae who wished they could hide under the chairs when Paul’s letter was read because they knew that their everyday lives had not changed all that much.  They were not the ones responsible for the harvest and increase in the church.  They knew that they didn’t really have a good understanding of the grace of God.  Perhaps they had gotten caught up in this new religion and didn’t really know what it was all about.  Until they did, there was not going to be much of a difference in their lives.  There would be little fruit bearing.  There would be little growth in the knowledge of the Lord and their daily walk was far from a manner worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him. 

     I feel fairly confident that this was happening in the church at Colossae because it happens all the time today in every one of us.  You are all tempted to take a very casual attitude toward the work of the church and when you give in to that temptation, there is very little fruit bearing going on in your life.  There is very little growth in the knowledge of the Lord with all wisdom and understanding.  You feel unprepared to share your faith and as a result you keep it to yourself and let someone else do what should be the joyful task of all believers who have heard the Gospel of Jesus and who understand the grace of God. 

     Paul’s prayer for the Colossian Christians helps us to see the remedy for this spiritual dilemma.  In verse 11, he says, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.”  Later he adds in verse 13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  There is the key to our understanding of the Gospel.  By the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, you have been delivered from the power of the devil and you have been transferred to His Kingdom.  The price was paid to set you free from the power of sin, death and the devil and your sins have been forgiven, especially those sins of apathy and doubt.  He gives you the understanding of His grace through the power of the Spirit working in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacrament.  When you truly understand this you see how lost you would be apart from the deliverance that you have in Christ.  That understanding also fills your heart with the kind of thankfulness and joy that makes a difference in your life.

     That is the power that the Holy Spirit brings into your life that makes it possible for you to resist the temptation to just continue on with your life as if nothing had ever happened to bring about your salvation.  That is the power that makes it possible for you to bear the fruit of good works, to gather a harvest for the Lord.  That is the power that makes it possible for you to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing the knowledge of God. 

     With that power in your life you can respond when the call goes out that it is harvest time.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
July 14, 2013