From: "David Petersen (by way of Rev. Eric J. Stefanski, )" To: Subject: HP: Trinity 9 full Sermon Date: Thursday, November 01, 2001 1:02 PM Peperkorn wants us to post by Tuesday. I wasn't ready when I posted on Wednesday. But maybe this will help spark some ideas for those still wrangling with the text or bogged down with parish duties and appease my copyrighted taskmaster. Sorry, Todd, I'll try to be better, but don't hold your breath. On second thought, go ahead and hold your breath and keep it until I reform, really it won't be long :). Dave + + + The 9th Sunday after Trinity August 11, 2001 A+D St. Luke 16:1-13 In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The unjust steward and the children of this world are wiser than the children of light because they recognize how desperate their situation is and go about their business with a single minded zeal for improving it. Consider the children of the light as exemplified by the Epistle. They grew complacent. They forgot how dependent upon God they were. They fell for the devil's seduction and tried to serve two masters, have the best of both worlds. You can't have the pleasures of the flesh and the peace that passes all understanding. All fence-riders, all moderates, all the waffling undecided waiting to see which way the wind will blow belong to the devil, whether they know it or not. The lukewarm are spat out. The Chosen People chose to abandon the One who delivered them out of Pharaoh's slavery. But in their treason they found no peace or joy. They found only the bone crushing, tearing jaws of the wolf that seeks to devour. It is true for us also and it is a warning. You cannot run with the devil, thinking he likes you, for very long. Soon he will destroy you. There is no lasting comfort in brain-cell killing from drugs or alcohol, from the flickering TV screen filled with pornography in the middle of the night, or in the petty gossip that tears down your family and friends. The devil never delivers. Instead he hands us over to embarrassing diseases, awkward failures, shame, and haunting memories. The sirens' alluring song only crashes sailors on the rocks. It never, never leads to their vain and adolescent, lusting fantasies. When will you learn to stop pursuing the things that hurt you? When will you look after yourself with the same zeal as the unjust steward? Creation betrays those who worship her and seek pleasure from her. She gives no real comfort, no hope, no peace, for she wants no worship. She only desires to be liberated on the Day that the sons of God are revealed, freed at last from the prince that so cruelly abuses her and the frustration to which she has been subjected. Turning in on ourselves, seeking our own happiness and pleasure, looking after our reputations and the opinions of fickle men, only leads to despair. Repent. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; But Israel - my people - do not know. My people - the baptized, the confirmed, the members of My churches - they do not consider. God is talking through the prophet about you! What, then, are you to do? With zeal and single-mindedness, like unto the unjust steward's, seek your own good. But unlike him, seek it where it may be found - in the promises declared in God's Word. Live your life, use the mammon entrusted to you, toward the account you will give on the Last Day. For there is an account to be given, an explanation, a running through of the events. And what will you say to the Almighty? Will you point to your deeds, to your sincerity and good intentions? No. You will rejoice and not be afraid. For you will say: "I am Baptized! I belong to Christ. His works are mine. I am clean, pure, and righteous. I have come for my inheritance. For the Innocent Blood of the Son shed by violence has been recklessly poured out for me in compassion to purge me of violence. He has made it so that I might be His own. He has forgiven me, adopted me, rescued me. He has named me. I have no debts, no dishonor, no guilt, no shame, or regret. His Voice has called me here. Christ, begotten before all worlds, is my Bridegroom, my Lover, my Savior. In Him I am your daughter. Though my sins were like scarlet, they are as white as snow. Though they were red like crimson, they are as wool - for the Blood of Christ has not stained them. It has washed them and made me clean. It cries to heaven for my salvation." And while we wait that culminating Day - consumed by its approach and the Hope that is in us - we are generous with the mammon that is not ours. We demonstrate the mercy, the philanthropy of the Creator, by giving away the gifts of creation and by offering forgiveness and salvation in His Name. All things are brought to His service: the arts and architecture, labor, food, literature, all of our life. Everything is pressed into the service of this proclamation, this hope: "God, who sacrificed His Son to make us His children, will not abandon us to this fallen world, to unjust stewards, and the abuse of the devil. Nor will He send us to Hell. He is merciful in Christ. He is faithful unto death. He is coming back to claim His own. We have a Friend in heaven, an Advocate before the Father, who will receive us into everlasting habitations." Everything hinges upon this. There is nothing else. Let us run with our eye on the prize. Let us be as shrewd and focused as the unjust steward who looked after himself. Let us come this Day at His bidding and feast upon that which is truly good, the Risen Lord. His Body and His Blood shall free us from the grasping cords of death that cling to us like cobwebs from a dark passage. We are now liberated to be devoted, to be compulsive, and to be obsessed. Let us be zealous, extreme, and even radical. All this for Christ our Savior, our future, and our reward. He is the account we shall give. In Him, Our Father is well pleased with you. In +Jesus' Name. Amen. Rev'd David H. Petersen Redeemer Lutheran Church Fort Wayne, Indiana + Historic Preaching + The Historic Preaching list is devoted to preaching on the Propers of the Historic Lectionary as found in The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) and Service Book and Hymnal (SBH). Subscribe? Send ANY message to: Unsubscribe? Send ANY message to: Respond? Click 'Reply' or write to For further information about this list, contact the list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski or visit our website: + + + + + +