Church Sermon - September 5, 2004

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; Hebrews 12:18-24
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 66:18-23
Sermon Text; Luke 13:22-30

Before I start our sermon, I just want to make sure that all of you know that the Bible makes a distinction between the races of the people of this earth. And, it does it this way. Either you are a Jew, or you are a Gentile. A Jew is someone who is a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Anybody who is not a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a Gentile. So, Germans are Gentiles. Norwegians are Gentiles. Africans are Gentiles. Anyone who is not a Jew is a Gentile.

Given that, we look at Luke, Chapter 13:22-30.

When I was in high school, I went to a school called Shiler Area High School. It was in western Pennsylvania. At that time, Pennsylvania was one of the best states for high school wrestling. Shiler Area High School was considered to be, annually, one of the schools might possibly become state champion high school, for wrestling.

And, I happened to be on the high school wrestling team! I was just a little guy at that time and I wrestled in the 98 pounds weight class. There was a 98 pounder who was also in my weight class. His name was Kenny Nelis. Kenny Nelis was an awesome wrestler. In fact, he was so good that every year it was assumed that he had a very good chance of being state champion (or very close to being state champion), at 98 pounds. And, because Kenny Nelis was so good, I wrestled second string all four years.

As I mentioned, Shiler Area High School was an excellent wrestling high school. The only real rival we had in the Pittsburgh area was a team from North Allegany. North Allegany High School was also considered one of the premier wrestling high schools in the state of Pennsylvania. And, they also had a 98 pounder, who was considered to be one of the best 98 pounders, if not the best, in the whole state of Pennsylvania! And so, the two of the big rivals in western Pennsylvania were my high school, Shiler Area High School, and North Allegany High School.

Throughout the season, Shiler Area had an undefeated record. North Allegany also had an undefeated record! It was coming near the end of the season, and now these two rival high schools were going to wrestle each other. It was really kind of the highlight of the entire year. Everyone was wondering whether little Kenny Nelis would be able to beat the little 98 pounder from North Allegany. It was really becoming an electrically charged season, as we got closer to that date.

The day that Shiler Area High School was to wrestle North Allegany High School, I walked into the doors of the high school. The first person I saw was my wrestling coach, who was an awesome wrestling coach. His name was Mr. Siur. He came up to me and said, "Mark, Kenny Nelis is sick today. He can’t wrestle."

He grabbed me by the shoulders, bent down, and looked into my eyes. He gave me a look that only a coach can give. It was the look, "There is no one else in the whole world that I want to go and wrestle against North Allegany, other than you. You are my man, and you are wrestling tonight, against North Allegany".

I can’t tell you how humbling that was, and how unworthy I felt to go and represent Shiler Area High School in this premier wrestling match, during this really an electrically charged season. And, I can’t tell you how unworthy I felt to put on that Shiler Area wrestling uniform, when I knew there was somebody better than me, who should be out there on the wrestling mat. I can’t tell you how unworthy I felt, to be wrestling one of the greatest wrestlers in the state of Pennsylvania, when I knew there was somebody else who is better than I am, who should be out there. But, I went out there and I gave it my best shot. The match was actually closer than I thought it would be, but I lost. And, for the rest of the match, it was very close. In the end, Shiler Area High School lost by one point, one point. I knew it was because I had lost my match. And if only Kenny would have been there, we would have probably won.

The next day was practice, and the coach gathered us all together. As we sat there, we all ‘knew’ what was coming. We had lost against North Allegany. We were all kind of looking down, with our heads down. And I was hoping he wasn’t going to pick on me.

He said, "Boys, we lost to North Allegany." And then he said, "Bartels, stand up."

So I stood up, with my head down, because I ‘knew’ what was coming.

But then he said, "Boys, when we wrestle, I want you to go out there like Bartels did last night, and I want you to give it your best shot."

And again, I felt totally unworthy to be put up as an example, for all the great wrestlers that were on that team - totally unworthy.

That is a small picture of how you and I should feel, as Gentiles, who have the awesome privilege of being members of the Church of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

When you look at the Old Testament, you learn of a special People of God. That special People of God are the Jewish people, also known as the Israelites, or the Hebrews. God chose them, from all the nations of the earth. He said, "You are my people. You will be called by my name." He called Abraham, and then his son Isaac, and then Jacob. The descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the People of God, the chosen people of God. The Lord said,

"You will be called by my name".

God was called, ‘The God of whom’? The God of Israel. He was identified with His People. They were His People.

He did mighty signs and wonders in front of the whole world, with His People. It was the Children of Israel, God’s People, which He led out of Egypt, with a mighty arm. It was the God of Israel, the God of the Jewish People, who brought the Children of Israel, into the land of Israel, with His mighty arm. The world saw the God of Israel, the God of the Jewish People. God told His people, Israel, that they were to drive out, from before them, the Gentiles. The Gentiles were not to live in their land. And, they were not to intermarry with the Gentiles, because the Gentiles might lead them into false belief with false gods. There were even regulations that the Jews were not to touch the Gentiles, or eat with the Gentiles, because they would become unclean.

The Jews were God’s special, chosen people. In the Old Testament, the Bible passage says, "But thou Bethlehem, Ephrata, though that thou be small among the tribes of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth, who shall redeem my people, my people Israel." The Messiah was coming to His people, to Israel, the People of Israel.

And, when Jesus came, Jesus, by blood, traced His human ancestry to the Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew. He was an Israelite. Those were His People. That was His blood.

And when Jesus grew up, He went fishing with His People, little Jewish boys. He skipped rocks with His People, little Jewish boys. He played tag with His People, little Jewish boys and little girls. He went to their houses, the houses of little Jewish boys and girls. And they came to His house. And when He grew up, His disciples, (all twelve disciples) were His People. They were Jewish people. Jesus came to the House of Israel.

When a Gentile woman came to Jesus one day, because her daughter was demon possessed, and she begged Jesus to heal her daughter, He looked at her and said, "The Son of Man came only for the lost sheep of Israel."

He came for the People of Israel.

She kept pleading after Him, but He said to her, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs."

That is what the Gentiles were called in Israel. They were called dogs.

She responded to Jesus, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Masters table."

She understood that as a Gentile, she didn’t really deserve to have anything from Jesus, and yet she knew He was merciful and kind.

The Bible says that Jesus came to His own, to His People. It says that Jesus came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. He came to His People, His Nation, but His own did not receive Him.

Jesus told two parables that show something very special to us, as Gentile people. One of the parables is about tenants. He said that there was landowner, who rented his land out to some tenants (talking about the Jewish people). He sent one of his servants to gather the rent from the tenants. But, they beat that servant, and then sent him away.

He sent another servant, but they beat him and sent him away. He sent yet another servant. They beat him and killed him.

And so the landowner said, "I know what I will do. I will send my son. Surely they will respect him."

So he sent his son. And, the tenants killed his son. (That was a picture of what Israel did to God’s own Son.)

Then Jesus said, "I tell you. That master will take away that land from those people and give it to someone else."

This was a picture that, by grace, ‘second stringers’, ‘second stringers’, the Gentiles, had been offered the Kingdom of God, because many of the Jewish people forfeited their position in the Kingdom of God.

He told another parable about the great wedding feast. The king’s son was to be married. He sent out invitations to all of his friends. He invited them to come to the wedding banquet.

But, they came up with one excuse after another as to why they could not come. One said, "Well, I just got married and I can’t come." Another said, "Well, I just bought some land, and I can’t come." Yet another one said, "Well, I just bought some oxen, and I can’t come." And so, they didn’t come to the wedding banquet.

As a result of that, (because many had rejected the invitation) the king said to his servants, "Go out all over into the countryside and call in the blind, the crippled, the deaf, and the sick, and invite them all to my wedding banquet."

This was a picture of the Gentiles being invited into the Holy Christian Church.

You know, the Book of Romans says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile." It is only by God’s grace, pure grace alone, that the Kingdom of Heaven is open to you and me, Gentile people, ‘second stringers’ as it were, who have been called up to be part of God’s holy people.

In today’s scripture reading Jesus talks about the Last Day, the end of the world. It is a sad picture, because He says, "When I come back the door is going to be shut." Now He was talking to the Jewish people. He was saying that there are going to be people standing there, beating on the doors, saying, "Sir, open the door for us." "Let us in."

"But He will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’"

And they are going to say, "But Jesus, we once went fishing with you. Remember us?" "We are the ones who played tag with you. Remember us?" "We are the one who ate and drank with you. Remember us?" "You preached in our streets. Remember us?"

"But He will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me.’"

Why? It is not because He doesn’t love His people Israel, but it is because many of them have rejected Him, rather than seeing Jesus as the Savior.

Jesus came.

He bled, and He died.

He shed His blood, and at a great price.

He purchased His people Israel.

He paid for all of their sins.

Their sins are all forgiven.

But, there are many who reject what Jesus has done for them.

The Bible says St. Paul, who was a Jew himself, compares the Jews and us. He says the Jewish people are like a cultured olive tree. Some of the branches have been broken off, because they don’t believe in Jesus, as their Savior. We are wild branches. We have been grafted into the tree, but it is only by grace that the wild branches are even put into the tree.

He warns us that we need to be careful. There are many of the Jewish people who are going to say, on Judgment Day, "But we associated with you, Jesus. We associated with you." And we have to be careful that we don’t take for granted our place in the Christian Church, either.

we should not think that those things on Judgment Day will enable us to say, "But Jesus, we have a fish symbol on the back of our car. We went to the Lutheran Church. We had a picture of you hanging in our living room." That is not what saves.

What saves is when we enter through the narrow door that scripture teaches about today. What saves is trusting that Jesus is our only Savior from sin. That is why every Sunday, here at Holy Cross, we are very careful to make sure that we preach about sin. Now, it is no fun to hear about sin. But, if we don’t hear about our sin, then we will not feel a need for a Savior. And then, we can become complacent in our faith. And so, we preach that we are sinners. We all have gone against God by thought, word, and deed, every day of our lives. And we don’t deserve God’s Kingdom. We deserve to be cast out from Him, for all eternity.

When we preach that Law about sin, what does God the Holy Spirit do through that? He works in our heart repentance. We say, "I do not deserve to be a member of God’s household. I don’t deserve to be a member of God’s Kingdom. I need a Savior. I need somebody to wash away my sins."

Then, we preach the Gospel. We are very careful that we preach the Gospel every Sunday. The Gospel is God’s proclamation to all of us who are unworthy, Jew or Gentile. What does the Bible say? St. Paul said,

"Christ Jesus came into this world

to save sinners."

He says,

"The blood of Jesus Christ

cleanses us from all sin."

He says,

"He is the atoning sacrifice,

not only for our sins (he is talking about the Jews),

but for the sins of the whole world."

We preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed all people, from all their sins. And God, by His grace, by His grace has invited the Gentiles, you and me, into His Kingdom! We are unworthy. We are undeserving. But, we have been called up to ‘first string’, by grace in Jesus, our Savior!

Now, this ought to work in our hearts an attitude of absolute thankfulness!

It ought to give us a real heart for all of the people of this world, first of all for Jesus’ people, the Jews. You know that there are very few times in scripture, where the Bible tells us that Jesus wept. One time that He did weep, was His last trip into Jerusalem, into His city, His people, His house. Before He entered Jerusalem, He stood on a hilltop, looked into Jerusalem, and He wept. The Bible says, "sobbed". He said, "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You who stone the prophets and kill those sent to you. How often I would have gathered you together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not."

Jesus loves His people, and we should, too. We should pray that Jewish people come to faith in Jesus, as their Savior. And, if we have the opportunity to witness, then we should witness to them the glorious message that Jesus came for all people.

We also should have a real heart for the whole world, for all of the Gentiles. The last thing that we want to be is racist. The last thing we want to be is someone who thinks that Jesus came just for white, Anglo-Saxons - just the Germans and the Norwegians. No, He did not. The picture of Heaven is that there will be people from every nation, tribe, people, and language sitting before the throne. And, it is only by grace that you and I have been called into the Kingdom.

Jesus says that He came for all people. He says, "How can they believe, unless they hear? And how can they hear, unless someone preaches to them? And how can they preach, unless they are sent?" We should see it as one of our prime missions as a church, as a people, and as individuals to do everything we can to spread that Gospel message of Jesus, the Savior of Jews and Gentiles, to the whole world.

Thank God that we are members of His Household, by grace!

Amen.

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