St Luke
6.36-42 Trinity 4
St John's Ev LC,
Victor, IA 2013.6.23
In
the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In
today’s Collect we prayed that the “course of this world” would
be so “peaceably ordered by God’s governance” that His Church
would “joyfully serve Him” – and here’s the phrase I'd like
us to concentrate on this morning – “in all godly quietness.”
What
is this “godly quietness” for which we ask? In brief, it is the
peace of heart (the quiet and calm that can rule in our
hearts) even in the midst of the most difficult and trying times. /
As you'll hear in just a bit, this godly quietness is nothing less
than the peace that passes understanding, which guards your heart and
mind in Christ Jesus. In other words / one who has this godly
quietness doesn’t fret and get all worked up, but instead entrusts
him or herself completely into the hands of God. Godly quietness of
heart is one of the fruits of faith, and Joseph (whom we heard about
in the Old Testament Reading) is a great example of this.
Joseph
– all those dreams from his youth, everyone bowing down to him,
honoring him, which was not fulfilled until later in adulthood; not
arrogance, but God had told him that’s how it would be. And
what happened? / Betrayed by his brothers, sold as a slave, an exile
who then is falsely accused and, because he would not compromise a
godly morality and life, he was tossed into jail, and there he was
promptly forgotten by those to whom he did nothing but good.
At
many points along that journey, I wonder if he struggled to hold onto
the promises that God had made so many years earlier. / Did God
really mean them? Why then was He allowing such awful things
to befall Joseph time and time again? But in true worship, which is
“the exercises of faith struggling with despair,” [Tractatus 44]
Joseph held to the promise, and in peace of heart, in godly
quietness, he sought to serve in whatever new position he found
himself.
“Humble
yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due
time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” Think
of how Joseph experienced the truth of those words! Joseph humbled
himself and in godly quietness cast his cares on the Lord, and look
at what happened! That moment came when in a single day he went from
being Pharaoh’s prisoner to being the Prime Minister of Egypt. And
he went on serving, saving the lives of countless Egyptians, and yes,
of his own family, who did indeed come and kneel before him as his
servants, just as God promised.
But
if godly quiet reigned in Joseph’s heart, it was fear that
reigned in the hearts of his brothers who had so mistreated him.
“What if he pays us back?” they wonder when they see that their
father Jacob has died. “What if Joseph decides to get even now?”
/ How little they understood their brother’s heart! And so they
went and pleaded with him for forgiveness one more time.
It
is in response to his brothers' fear that Joseph spoke those
astonishing words: “Do not fear. Am I in the place of God? As for
you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to
bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are
today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”
He spoke out of the godly quiet of his heart. He did not excuse their
wickedness, but invited them to behold the miracle of God: that our
Lord knows how to take the evil and sin we suffer at the hands of
others, and even the things we do ourselves, / and in sheer grace,
our gracious Lord turns it into blessing for us and also for others,
even our little ones.
Joseph,
of course, was a type of our Lord, manifesting and living out just a
portion of the fullness of who Christ Jesus would be. For it is
in Christ
/ that we come to fully know the extent of a heart that has perfect
godly quietness. Jesus' trust in His Father was perfect and
immovable, and so (as we heard from the Gospel reading) Christ urges
us
to be merciful just as Father is merciful. It was His trust in His
Father’s final plan and vindication of Him that led Him to call to
us: “Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you
will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give and it
will be given to you – more than you ask, desire or deserve.”
With these words / Jesus is simply inviting you into His
life, into the life that He
lived. He’s reaching His life out to you, that it might be your
life, too. A life where that godly quietness of heart (a quietness
that trusts the Father’s plan) / also knows / that He is the master
of turning bad to good, and making evil and hatred serve the designs
of His gracious kingdom, a kingdom of holiness and love.
Joseph
only prefigured this kingdom with his life, Jesus came to
bring that kingdom in it's fullness: for our Lord also was betrayed
by his brothers, sold as a slave for 30 pieces of silver,
wrongfully and illegally arrested by the Sanhedrin, and then
condemned to die, despite His innocence, like Joseph, but more
than Joseph, for Joseph didn't plan that for himself, / but Jesus
did, before the foundation of the world, in willing submission to the
Father. And so when it came time to go through with it, He accepted
all this in utter godly quietness of heart, saying “O Father, not
my will, but thine be done.”
But
then, just like with Joseph, a grand reversal took place. Through the
very act of His betrayal, suffering, and death, our New Joseph,
Jesus, was raised from death in an incorruptible and immortal body
not to rule some measly piece of earthly real estate but the whole
universe; and instead of hating us for what we did, He uses it
to forgive us and love us, and He says to us, too: “Do not fear, I
will provide for you and your little ones.”
Joseph
gave his brothers grain. Jesus gives us the living bread of heaven,
His own true body and blood – the body and blood that were on the
cross for us, crying out for our forgiveness there for all the times
that we have shamefully treated one another, betraying each other,
hating each other and wishing each other ill. And His body and blood
still cry out for our forgiveness. They speak into our hearts the
unfathomable truth that despite our wretchedness and sin, we
are the beloved of the Father in His Son and that His will for us is
to share His life, a life that never ends, the life of forgiveness
and mercy, in His Kingdom of grace and love.
That
Holy Meal, to which He invites all of us, comes to us as the
gift of godly quietness. It frees us to live in that
forgiveness ourselves. And like our Lord, there's no need to avenge
ourselves, looking out for ourselves. That is God’s job. Instead:
the joy that Paul exhorts us to in the Epistle: Bless those who
persecute you; bless and do not curse them…. Repay no one evil for
evil, but give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all….
Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God… Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
/
This
is what we are asking for in Collect today: O Lord, grant us to serve
You joyfully in godly quietness, to trust that our lives are governed
by You and that all things are indeed working together to bring us
blessing – especially when we are called to suffer for Your name.
Dearly
beloved, with that prayer on our lips, and through the Holy Meal
making it's way down to our hearts, we are utterly free in Jesus to
love and bless, forgive and give to all who mistreat us, all who hate
and seek our ruin. In Jesus, by the strength of His Spirit, we are
set free to love them and to seek God’s richest blessing on their
lives. Give us, O Lord, this godly quietness of heart to trust in You
at all times and in all places, for You are merciful and You love
Your whole creation, and we Your creatures glorify You, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Amen.
**Much of the content of this sermon was borrowed from Rev William Weedon, LC-MS Director of Worship
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