Fragrant Sacrifices and Offerings

Fragrant Sacrifices and Offerings                              Ephesians 5:2

     As you may have noticed in the worship folder for today, the theme of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League for this year is “Fragrant Offerings and Sacrifices.”  As we celebrate with the LWML this weekend and recognize their service to the church, may this theme text help us to see how we all by faith in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and enabled to be fragrant sacrifices and offerings to the Lord in His Kingdom.

     The letter the Ephesians is one of those letters that was written when Paul was in prison in Rome.  In spite of his own dire circumstances, he writes a word of joyful encouragement to the saints.  Paul was certainly one who could appreciate the difficulties that could be part of a life of faith.  Since his conversion on the road to Damascus, his life had changed dramatically.  In the Epistle lesson a couple of weeks ago, Paul described himself before his conversion.  Recall that he said, “circumcised on the eighth day; of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” 

     But Paul had come to the realization that all the faithful in Christ have come to understand through the power of the Holy Spirit, namely that none of our labor is acceptable to God.  We understand that none of our earthly work is acceptable in God’s sight.  All our works are as filthy rags before God contrary to what many people think about their great achievements.  On our own, of our effort, none of our works rise to the Lord as fragrant offerings or are acceptable to our Father in heaven as pleasing sacrifices.  Our God sees all our work as filthy rags, not one worthy of earning any attention from Him.

     In a sermon on this text by Martin Luther, he said, “This expression Paul takes from the Old Testament.  There the temporal sacrifices are described as being a ‘sweet-smelling savor’ unto God: that is, they are acceptable and well-pleasing to him; but not, as the Jews imagined, because of the value of the work or of the sacrifices in themselves.  For such thought they were chastised by the prophets often enough.  They were acceptable on the ground of the true sacrifice which they foreshadowed and encircled.”  Dr. Luther had a good understanding that none of our works reach God as fragrant sacrifices and offerings.  Those kinds of offerings never did reach the Lord even in the Old Testament.

     He does continue though, “They (Israel’s sacrifices) were acceptable on the ground of the true sacrifice which they foreshowed and encircled.  Paul’s thought is this: The sacrifices of the Old Testament have passed.  Now all sacrifices are powerless but that of Christ himself.; he is the sweet-smelling savor.  This sacrifice is pleasing to God.  He gladly accepts it and would have us be confident it is an acceptable offering in our stead.”

     That means that you are faced with the reality of your fallen condition.  You reminded that you are at the same time righteous and a sinner.  You have the terrible stain of sin on you and at the same time have the wonderful promise of resurrection glory on you through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This wonderful fragrant and gracious sacrifice on your behalf is the one that God receives as a fragrant offering and sacrifice.  This is the ultimate sacrificial offering but there are many others worked by our Lord Jesus in obedience to the Father.

     For example, in the beginning the Holy Spirit came to a virgin named Mary and a Son was born to her and Joseph who is named Jesus.  Prophecy had proclaimed the birth of this Child and angels sang about the birth of this child.  The shepherds and wise men rejoiced at the birth of the Child and our Father received this miraculous birth as a fragrant sacrifice and offering.  This Jesus at eight days old was dedicated back to His Father in the rite of circumcision, a fragrant offering to the Lord.  There was a wedding that was running short of wine and Jesus turned water into the best wine and the Father catches a scent of a fragrant offering.  Do you see what was happening?

     Blind people see, deaf people hear, lame people have the limbs restored, sick people are healed, lepers are cleansed, demons are cast out, mute people speak, the hungry are fed, demon possessed are  delivered, captives are set free, severed ears restored, and if that were not enough, resurrection and life become the new normal.  Our Father receives all these acts as fragrant sacrifices and offerings. All of this led up to the final sacrifice when Jesus’ blood was shed.  The perfect offering is so sweet and fragrant that it has the power to cover and remove the sin of the whole world for all time.

     That is the plan and design of God.  Jesus Christ, the perfect fragrant offering and sacrifice, the Lamb of God, was slain for all.  Not only are their names written in the book of the Lamb and in the heart of the Father but their works of faith, good works prepared beforehand that they would do, rise to throne of our Father as fragrant sacrifices and offerings.    

     It is important that you understand that when you, in obedience to the Great Commission in Matthew 28, “in your going, make disciples,” in other words, share the Gospel with someone in need of encouragement, the Father receives that as a fragrant sacrifice and offering.  When you, baptized, redeemed, Spirit-filled, consecrated brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly those who contribute your pennies, nickels, dimes quarters and dollars in the interest of missions, Our Father receives every single sacrificial mite as a fragrant sacrifice and offering.  When we all in faithful obedience, study the Word of God to show ourselves approved, when we dwell together in unity, when we faithfully hold the confession of the church in this perverse generation, when we speak faith, when we love one another, fragrant sacrifices and offerings rise up to our merciful, holy and gracious God and Father.

     Every act of obedience, every work of the saints of God, every act of faith, every word spoken in faith rises up to the Father as a sweet-smelling, sacrificial offering.  We have the awesome privilege of bringing joy to the heart of our heavenly Father by those acts of sacrificial love.  But that’s not all.  St. Paul says in Romans 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  It’s not just the things that you do in faith that are that fragrant sacrifice and offering.  St. Paul talks about your body.  In other words, your whole self is that fragrant sacrifice and offering to God.  All that you are, all that you say, all that you do in faith in response to God’s great love rises to God as a sweet smelling offering of love.  This gives new meaning to our life in the Lord.  It eliminates the idea that I can switch on my religious life one day and switch it off when it is not convenient.  It also makes clear to me that what I do in my everyday life can also be a fragrant sacrifice and offering when it is done in faith and gives glory to God.  When I am serving the good of others in my job, taking care of the needs of my family and friends, or serving in the church, I am offering my whole self to the Lord as a fragrant sacrifice and offering.

     With that understanding, as saints of God, let us strive with all our Spirit-filled faith to infuse the heavens with fragrant sacrifices and offerings by not simply doing, but by being those sacrifices and offerings that rise up to our loving God and Father.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

Adapted from the Sermon for LWML Sunday

October 19, 2014

     

A People Producing Fruit

A People Producing Fruit

Matthew 21:33-46

    If you want to make people feel really uncomfortable, let them know, in a round-about way, that you know something that they did wrong.  The worse the offense, the more uncomfortable they will feel.  You confront them in such a way that you don’t exactly come out and accuse them, you let them feel the heat as they draw the conclusion that their little secret is out of the bag.  That’s what Jesus did in the Gospel lesson for today.  Among the people listening to Him in the temple area were the chief priests and elders of the people who were challenging His authority.  He responded to them by telling them a parable that, in the end, confronted them with the reality that they and their ancestors had been acting on their own human nature and not obeying the will of God.  As you heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus told the parable about the master who planted a vineyard and then leased the land to tenants who were then supposed to take care of the grapes and hand over the fruit when it was harvested.  In their greed, they killed the servants who were sent by the master until finally the master sent his own son and the wicked tenants killed the son.  He concluded by asking a question.  “What will he do to those tenants?”

The obvious answer was that the master would put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.  This is where the religious leaders of the people began to feel the heat.  They began to realize that they were the wicked tenants in the parable.  They were the ones who killed the servants, who were actually the prophets who called people to repentance and obedience.  They would be the ones who would take the responsibility for the death of the Son in just a few days.  They really felt the pressure of guilt when Jesus came right out and said that the Kingdom would be taken away from them and given to a people producing fruit. 

     Sadly, the reaction of the religious leaders was not repentance for their sins.  When they realized that this parable was really a condemnation of their idea of what it meant to be religious and how they were actually rejecting God’s mercy when they were rejecting Him as the Messiah, their reaction was not one of humble submission to God’s grace and a confession of their sins.  It was actually the opposite.  They were so entrenched in their ways that began to plot a way in which they could have Jesus arrested.  As they discussed their intentions, they also realized that the people would not support them because too many of them saw Jesus as a true prophet sent from God.  They would have to wait for another time.  Later in the week, their plan would come together when Judas conspired with them to arrest Jesus at night when there wouldn’t be as many people around. 

     Isn’t it interesting how people react when they find themselves caught in their sin?  Human nature and pride kick in and instead of honestly acknowledging sin, the reaction is to fight back.  We’ve got to stop this guy.  He’s hitting too close to home.  Things haven’t changed from the Biblical times.  When the prophets of the Old Testament called people to repentance, they were often abused and some were put to death.  Even John the Baptist lost his life when he confronted King Herod with his sin.  Now the Father in heaven has sent His own Son to confront sin and call people to repentance and what was the response of the religious leaders of the people?  Let’s have him arrested.  Let us find a way to silence this one who is challenging the good thing we’ve got going here.  It might not be exactly what God wants us to be doing but sure has been profitable for us.  We’ve got to stop this guy.

     People are just the same today though.  In our “feel good” society, no one wants to hear about sin.  No one wants to be called to repentance because that means that I have to admit that I have done something wrong.  “As I see it, I do everything the right way because it works for my advantage and therefore it must be right.  Don’t try to tell me I have sinned!”  When that kind of attitude dominates your thinking, there is no room for repentance.  When there is no room for repentance there is no need for a Savior.  If you see no reason for a Savior, you don’t see why Jesus had to come into the world and it becomes irrelevant.  That should help you to see why so many people in our world today see no use for the church.  God is seen as an on-call servant who is always ready to give you what you want to make your life more comfortable and that’s about it.  That kind of thinking changes God’s place in the parable from the Master to the servant.  The natural progression of that kind of thinking then is that if God doesn’t give me what I want then what good is He.  God becomes irrelevant and of course then the church becomes irrelevant.  People who get caught up in this kind of thinking start to drop out of the church and the result is that purely secular thinking becomes the dominant philosophy in society. 

     What the world needs to hear the most is what the world is trying to avoid.  You need to hear the Law and feel your guilt before you can feel the need for rescue from the punishment that you deserve for your sin.  It is only then that you ready to hear the good news that God loves you even though you don’t deserve it and He showed that love by sending His only Son to be your substitute.   He lived the perfect life that you could not live and then took your punishment to the cross and gave up His life.  He then rose again from the dead to show His victory over sin, death and the power of the devil.  His victory is your victory. 

     God wants to give the kingdom to a people who will produce fruit.  The kingdom was taken from those who were more concerned with building their own kingdom than producing fruit for the kingdom of God.  Just like the purpose of an apple tree is to produce fruit, more apples, so the purpose of the people of the kingdom of God is to produce more people for the kingdom.  We can carry the idea of planting apple trees a little bit farther.  Apple trees grow where apple seeds are planted.  In the same way, the seed must be planted in order for people to come in contact with the Holy Spirit who makes it possible for the seeds to grow.  In the case of the kingdom of God, the seed is the Word of God, either by hearing it or by receiving the power of the Holy Spirit through the blessings of Baptism where the washing with water is connected to the words and promises of God.  The seed is nourished and begins to grow into a plant that eventually will produce fruit. 

       As faithful fruit-bearers in God’s kingdom, it would make sense then to plant seeds.  Many people are surprised when they realize how many times each day you have an opportunity to plant a seed.  A kind word, a simple reference to God’s blessings, a cross placed in a highly visible spot in your home can all be a way in which you can plant a seed.  A greeting card with an appropriate Bible verse can plant a seed.  An unexpected kindness or gift can plant a seed.  Once seeds are planted, they need to be nourished.  An invitation to worship, an invitation to an event with a Christian theme, like our Boar’s Head Christmas Festival, can be a step toward nurturing the seedling that can then grow into a plant.  All along the way, the Holy Spirit continues to work through the sharing of the Word and fruit begins to grow.  The important thing to remember in this process is that fruit-bearing is for the kingdom of God.  It is not like those whom Jesus encountered who were more interested in building their own kingdom.  As good stewards of God’s blessings, you have the privilege of taking a small part in the building of His Kingdom.  You plant the seeds.  You nourish the plants with the Means of Grace and give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to make them grow.  You rejoice with the Church when fruit is produced because God’s Kingdom grows and like the fruit that produces more seed, the Kingdom will continue to grow.     

      Fresh apples are abundant at this time of the year.  Whenever you see one, remember that God has given you the privilege to produce fruit for His Kingdom.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The 17th Sunday after Pentecost