Sermon Audio: Matthew 13:44-52, July 30, 2017

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 30, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Matthew 13:44.-52. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Matthew 13:44-52, July 30, 2017

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the 13th chapter:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     The last few weeks, we have been talking about the idea of the judgment that is to come.  An interesting note, if you were paying attention, you would have seen that the Lord tarried, the Lord waited until the time was right to begin the coming of the end.  He waited, and looked forward to the time which was to come, asking that His listeners would prepare themselves.

     However, in today’s reading of the Gospel, the time of waiting is done; the day of judgment is now here.  And Jesus describes that judgment in a few ways.  The first way is that a treasure is discovered and stored away until it can be bought outright.  The second way is that a treasure is discovered after looking for it diligently.  The third way is that the good are separated from the bad.  So, we’ll look at these three ways for ourselves this morning.

Sermon Audio: Matthew 13:24-30, 26-43, July 23, 2017

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 23, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Matthew 13:24-30, 26-43. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Matthew 13:24-30, 26-43, July 23, 2017

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the 13th chapter:

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn”’”
…
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     Here again our Lord tells His followers a parable tied into the idea of planting and sowing and harvest.  It’s appropriate, isn’t it, that Christ uses the idea of harvest to describe what He shall do at the end of this earth?

     I mean, harvest time always comes after a long season of growing and tending and caring for the crops.  If a farmer were to harvest his corn crop in July, well, it would never be knee-high, and it certainly wouldn’t be very good corn, if there was any corn at all.  Instead, the farmer has to care for his corn all through it’s growing season, and then, when the time is right, when everything is ready, when it’s done growing and it is ready to accomplish its purpose, he goes out and reaps his crop.

     So it is with our Lord.  He, at the end of all time, will pluck His harvest from the ground.  But, see how long He waits for this?  And do you see the tender care He brings?  No?  Perhaps it doesn’t seem right that the Lord would allow the weeds to grow among His crop.

Sermon Audio: Matthew 13:1-9,18-23, July 16, 2017

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 16, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Matthew 13:1-9,18-23, July 16, 2017

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from the Gospel of Matthew, the 13th chapter:

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
…
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     Rarely do we have an opportunity like we do here, where Jesus explains His parable in such detail.  He leaves no room for interpretation in the parable; the meaning is clear and concise.

     So, why is it then that so many people take this parable the wrong way?  Jesus is so clear, so transparent, that there shouldn’t be any reason as to why we get this wrong.  But we do.  Haven’t you heard people exhort you to be the good soil?  Haven’t you heard people tell you to make sure you’re bearing fruit like the good soil does?  Haven’t you heard people tell you to make sure that you’re not the bad soil or the path?

     I mean, don’t get me wrong.  If you’re hearing the Word of God, the Word of the Kingdom, and you’re purposely rejecting it, then you are making yourself to be bad soil in some way.  You are.  You can absolutely move down like that.  And we kind of do this all the time, right?

Sermon Audio: Matthew 11:25-30, July 9, 2017

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 9, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Matthew 11:25-30. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Matthew 11:25-30, July 9, 2017

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the 11th chapter:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,
     You know, these words of Jesus in the Gospel sound so nice.  And they are.  Except that Jesus, in the preceding verses, is talking about the destruction of cities and people, comparing them to Sodom, and telling them that the judgment of God is isn’t going to be going so well for them.  And for these words, Jesus then declares His thanks to His Father for hiding these things from the wise.

     You see, the reality is that God does hide things.  It’s true.  I mean, look at the parables of Jesus.  So many people think that the parables are ways that Jesus takes the things of heaven and relates them to the people so that they can understand.  But, that’s not true.  Jesus Himself tells us that He speaks in parables to confuse people, to not let them know what He’s saying.  Yet, for those who have faith, the meaning of the parables are revealed.

Sermon Audio: Matthew 10:34-42, July 2, 2017

A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on July 2, 2017 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on Matthew 10:24-42. The text of this sermon may be found by clicking this link and you may play the audio of the sermon here.

Sermon Text: Matthew 10:34-42, July 2, 2017

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the tenth chapter:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” 

Thus far the text.

My dear friends in Christ,

     This passage today goes along with last week’s lesson: that the world will be against you because it is against Christ.  Do not take Christ’s words lightly here.  Division will occur.

     About this text, I’ve heard it said this way: “Oh, well, Christ doesn’t really mean that He came to bring a sword.  It’s just some kind of symbolic act.”  Or: “We don’t really know what Christ means here, but it can’t mean the plain meaning.”  Or: “Christ is the gift of peace, certainly He doesn’t want to split up families.”

     But, the thing is, He does.  Please don’t take the words of Christ lightly here.  He means what He says.  But, I think we have the wrong focus on the words, which changes what He wants us to hear.  With the wrong focus, we can ask that if Jesus is the Prince of Peace, if His Church is to be the place where the entire world could find true respite, if His first words to the Apostles after His resurrection were, “Peace to you,” then how could Christ come to bring a sword?  How does a man of peace use some sort of violence?