Their Angels See the Father's Face

When was the last time you thought about angels—I mean, really thought about them? There are many things that can trigger your imagination when it comes to angels; I’m sure some of you remember the TV series “Touched By An Angel;” or the character of Clarence from the film “It’s A Wonderful Life;” or the many pieces of art that depict one or two children walking through the dark woods with a beautiful angel shielding them. In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus made a fascinating reference to angels. Did you catch it? He said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” The phrase “their angels” makes the ministry of angels personal. Children have angels watching them—Jesus just said so. This is truly some supernatural stuff that He’s talking about.

But why was He talking about it? Jesus mentions the angels at the end of a conversation about human greatness. The conversation begins with a question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” This question had caused quite an argument among Jesus’ disciples. And in truth it is a question that bothers us deeply, spinning off other questions like: Who is successful? Who has more power? Who gets the spotlight? Who gets the credit? Many of us right now might be in a power struggle somewhere in our lives, with these sort of questions at the heart of it.

In his book “Counterfeit Gods,” Timothy Keller has an entire chapter on the idols of power and glory. There he reaches back to the Garden of Eden to say that Adam and Eve were led to resent the limits God had put on their power, and sought to be like God by taking control of their own destiny. Keller writes: “We gave in to this temptation and it is now a part of our nature. Rather than accept our dependence on God, we desperately seek ways to assure ourselves that we still have power over our own lives. But this is an illusion.”

It is an illusion, and eventually, the longing for power will disappoint, as will every idol that you let shape your life. A few years ago, NFL quarterback Tom Brady gave a 60 Minutes interview. At one point, Brady said, “Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? There’s gotta be more than this.” The interviewer then asked, “What’s the answer?” To which Brady replied, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew.”There is something more than the worldly idol of greatness. It begins with becoming like a child.

As a living object lesson, Jesus put a little child right in front of his disciples as an example of true greatness in His Kingdom. What makes the child so great? A child is dependent. A child is in the protective care and control of their parents. A child must trust his parents for everything. The right response of a child to a parent is obedience. The look down to a child is meant to shrink our egos and put us in right alignment with God.

Jesus himself would be totally dependent and obedient to His Father. He leaned on His Father in prayer. He was never far from His Father’s presence, words, or heart. And as he died for the sins of the whole world, even for yours and mine—he whispered a prayer, “Into your hands, Father, I commit my spirit.” You and I are called to trust, that, in grace, He has provided everything necessary for new and eternal life. You can put all your weight on Jesus for everlasting life and for the grace that’s needed for daily living. In fact, there’s no other way to receive God’s gifts than to become like child, to shrink your ego, and let Him give to you.

Now if Jesus has his disciples look down to a child to see what greatness really is, He also has them look up to “their angels.” Jesus is saying, “Don’t be fooled by the size of these little ones. Don’t be fooled by their lowly status. These children have mighty angels behind them, who come from the presence of the Heavenly Father.”

Today is St. Michael and All Angels Day, and on this day in the church year we remember the victory of the archangel Michael and the good angels over Satan and his evil forces, which is recorded in Revelation 12: 7—9 . Satan and his demons were hurled out of heaven, eager to lead the world astray. One thing that tells us is that angels are not just little Cupid-y cherubs floating around with harps, but they serve as warriors of the almighty God. They also serve as messengers, such as Gabriel in Luke 1 carrying news to Mary that she will be the mother of the Christ. We celebrate the work of angels that continues to this day; angels that are sent to guard and protect God’s people as described in Psalm 91; angels that are sent to serve in times of dire need, such as their service to Jesus in times of temptation and in Gethsemane; angels that still intervene in miraculous ways today. Just get a group of Christian people together sometime, and if they’re comfortable enough with each other, ask them if they or someone they know has had an encounter with an angelic being. I’ve had people share some experiences with me that would give you goosebumps, like the WWII veteran who was shielded in combat by a tall man dressed in transparent clothing. It should come as no surprise to us that angels are active—the Bible tells us so—but there is still that surge of excitement when we are reminded of their reality.

 Jesus is saying that God’s little ones, the ones who depend on Him for all things, have a greatness beyond what the eye can see. They have angels on their side. Yet even the angels’ awesome powers are dwarfed by the splendor of the Father’s face.  Jesus trumps our desire for power by pointing us to a child. Jesus trumps our desire for glory by pointing us to angels and to God the Father.

The world will teach you that getting power and glory for yourself is what matters. But these are harsh false gods that demand far more than they give. What’s more, hunger for power and self-glorification must be abandoned if we want to have a place in the kingdom of God.

Jesus, on the other hand teaches you that a childlike dependence on God is what matters. We are to let the ego shrink. We are to drop the “God owes me” attitude. We are to let God give to us what only He can give: complete forgiveness of sins; status as a son or daughter of the King; the protection of His angel guard. We are to obey Him, trusting that our Father knows what is best for us, and, more than that, all of his creative power stands ready to help and defend us. Your angels see the Father, and the Father sees you. You have nothing to fear.


Portions adapted from a sermon by Dean Nadasdy in Concordia Pulpit Resources

God and Money

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16: 13

Pastor Brown was going about his Monday morning routine when the phone rang. It was loyal church member, Agatha Longtimer. The conversation began pleasantly enough, with Pastor asking Agatha about the green bean casserole she had brought to the last potluck.
“Could my wife get the recipe for that?” he asked.
“Oh, that was just something I threw together at the last minute,” Agatha said.
“I sure liked it,” Pastor said.
“Well, thank you.” The line was quiet for a few moments. “Pastor, I wanted to ask you something.”
Pastor Brown took a deep breath and said, “OK.”
Agatha continued, “I was confused by the gospel lesson yesterday. You know, that one about that manager. It sounded to me like Jesus said it was okay for him to be dishonest.”
“Well, I can see that,” the Pastor said. “It is kind of an unusual story. But the point of the whole thing is not so much that it’s OK to be dishonest, but that we ought to be wise with our money.”
“Hmm,” said Agatha. “But that manager didn’t tell the truth! Is that any example to follow?”
“No, of course not,” said Pastor Brown. “Jesus’ point is that the manager was smart, in that he used money to make friends, since he had just gotten fired. Those friends might come in handy, now that he was unemployed. Even his former boss had to agree that was a shrewd move.”
“OK,” said Agatha, not sounding all that convinced.
“But remember how Jesus wrapped up the story?” the pastor asked. “He said, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves.” He also said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” This whole discussion is really about how we use our money.”
Agatha said, “Well, I know Christ ends up saying, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
“Exactly,” said Pastor Brown, “and I think Jesus is asking some hard hitting questions of us. Are we wise in how we use our finances for the sake of God’s kingdom? Do we use our money to “gain friends,” so that the good news of Jesus is heard? Do we even think of using our money that way? I think Jesus might have some serious issues with the way his modern disciples are using money.”
There was silence on the line for a few seconds. Then Agatha spoke.
“Pastor, why didn’t you preach on this reading yesterday?”
Now it was Pastor Brown’s turn to be quiet. Finally he said, ‘Well, Agatha, you know no one wants to hear another stewardship sermon. It turns people off. Did I tell you the story about my cousin? He and his wife were church-shopping, and the first church they went to, it was Stewardship Sunday, and the sermon was all about what you ought to give to the church. So they decided to try a different church the next Sunday, and guess what? It was Stewardship Sunday there too, and they quickly got the impression: the church just wants our money. So now they don’t go anywhere.” Pastor Brown paused. “I guess I do tend to shy away from talking about money from the pulpit,” he said. “I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, like I’m some kind of televangelist or something.”
“Oh, no one’s going to think THAT,” Agatha said. Pastor Brown wasn’t quite sure how to take her comment. She continued, “I think people need to hear it. If the Bible has something to say about money, tell us what it says! Why should we pretend it’s not part of our life with God?”
“You’re right, Agatha, in fact, did you know that if you total up all the quotes of Jesus from the gospels, do you know what he talks about the most in his teachings?”
“Let me guess, Pastor. Money.”
“Bingo. No pun intended. He talks about the proper use of money. Over and over Jesus says that how we use money is a direct reflection of our faith. He also points out that money and possessions, the stuff that we love so much, can quickly become a god of its own, like in yesterday’s reading, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
“That’s true,” said Agatha. “Just look at all the foreclosures happening—little mansions sitting empty because people thought they had to have the biggest and best. Where are they now?”
“I know,” said Pastor. “But we have to be careful, in thinking that the problem is all out there. We have to ask ourselves if we’re being wise in our spending for the sake of the gospel. I mean, think of all the creature comforts we enjoy. Do you have cable?”
“Ah, satellite, actually,” Agatha said.
“Oh, good for you!” Pastor Brown thought, “Wow! Sounds nice,” but didn’t say it. “What package do you get, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Oh the premium, but I don’t know why. There’s never anything good on anyway.”
“Well, since that’s the case, have you ever though about dropping down a tier? Think of the money you’d save in a year’s time. And think of what you could do with that money for the sake of the gospel! I’m sure there’s some mission organization that you know about that could really use it. Or what if you dropped just one magazine subscription, and used that money to help fund a student’s tuition in a Christian school?”
“This may sound strange, Pastor, but I never thought of that before.”
“Well those are just couple ideas, and they don’t even really get at the heart of faithful giving.”
“What do you mean, Pastor?”
“I mean, we should not be giving God our leftovers. I just heard a presentation on the prophet Malachi that got right at the heart of giving. You know, back then, God expected his people to bring the very best as offerings. He expected them to bring the best and healthiest animals. But do you know what they were bringing? Blind, diseased, and crippled goats. The leftovers. What do you think God thought of that?”
“I can’t imagine he appreciated that very much,” Agatha said.
“You’re right,” said Pastor Brown. “But we’ve all done it, at one time or another. We bring God our blind goat and keep the healthy one for ourselves. We give God the leftovers and act as if we’ve done Him a favor. I confess I’ve done it myself.”
Another pause, and Agatha then said, quietly, “So have I, Pastor.” She took a deep breath. “But times are tough for a lot of people.”
“Believe me, I know that’s true, Agatha. But here’s the thing: in Malachi and elsewhere, God says, “Test me. Try it. Give me your best, and just see if your needs are not met.” It’s almost like he’s saying, “I dare you to try to outgive me.” Wait, here’s the verse, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
“Pastor Brown let those words hang in the air.
“That takes a lot of faith,” Agatha said.
“It does,” the pastor said, “but it’s more about thankfulness.”
“By the way, Pastor, what about the tithe? Are we bound to that?”
“I’d ask a different question, actually. Are we limited by ten percent? The answer to both questions is no. St. Paul wrote that we are free to give what we think is appropriate, after giving honest consideration to what Jesus has given us by his passion, death on the cross, and resurrection.”
“Well, when I think of it that way, I want to give him everything!” Agatha said.
“Now you’re onto something,” Pastor Brown said.
“But there are practical considerations…”Agatha replied.
“I know there are,” the pastor said. “God’s not asking you to bankrupt yourself. Just remember the great sacrifice he made for you and respond by giving what you think is right. Test him and see what happens when you give freely. Try it out and see if you lack anything when you give generously back to the Lord.”
Agatha was silent. Pastor Brown could hear the smile in her voice when she finally said, “I still think you should have preached about this yesterday.”
“Don’t worry, Agatha. You’ve helped me to see that I should, and I will, very soon. Now about that casserole recipe…”

Your Host Will Seat You

Have you ever sat in the wrong seats at a ticketed event, like a sporting event or a play? That can be embarrassing, especially when you think, “Wow, we really got good seats,” and then an usher appears, asking to check your ticket, and then you have to move to seats that are less than ideal. That can be really awkward. A lot of times, those mistakes are unintentional, but they are still embarrassing nonetheless.
What would be worse would be going to a dinner or banquet and, even though you are not the guest of honor, or a member of the wedding party, you decide to sit at the head table. Then the host would have to come over and ask you to move. Everyone would feel uncomfortable. Someone who knows you well enough might ask you, “What were you thinking?”
Jesus describes a similar scenario in today’s Gospel lesson, and he offers what, at first, just seems like good social advice—proper etiquette, if you will. When you show up at a wedding banquet, Jesus says, take a lesser seat, and let the host decide where you belong. Makes sense. You’ll certainly avoid the embarrassing scene of being asked to move. And you just might enjoy the honor of having the host say, “Move up to a better place.”
What I would suggest to you today is that this story is more than just a lesson in manners. If we look closely, we will see Jesus highlighting a fundamental attitude he wants us to have. That attitude is humility.
Humility is a peculiar virtue and is easily misunderstood. The author and performer Garrison Keillor has gotten a lot of mileage out of describing the extreme humility of the people of the Upper Midwest., where folks are brought up to be deeply mistrustful of any compliments, to the point that they don’t believe they have any good qualities at all! But humility is not self-hatred. At the other end of the spectrum are those who are well acquainted with the language of humility, but don’t believe a word of it. When they say, “It was nothing,” they really mean, “I was awesome, wasn’t I?” It turns out, false humility is just pride in disguise.
Now we have named the real enemy: pride. “Where should I sit at the banquet” is really a question of pride. How important do I think I am, really? What do I think I deserve? These are important questions to consider, not just when it comes to choosing a table at the next wedding you go to, but in all of life, including how you relate to God Himself.
Here’s what I mean: we are tempted to seat ourselves at God’s best table based on us; on what we do. We perceive that our kindness toward others, or our link to a church, or our belief that we are really being obedient to God means that we deserve a plum position of some sort. These attempts at self-glorifying seem appropriate, because we are constantly told that hard work will get you moving up the ladder. You deserve good things because you’re a good person. Ok, you’re not always good, but you’re not as bad as the people sitting next to you. Pride plants the idea in my heart that God owes me something. Pride says that what matters most is what I want. But Jesus is saying that if you bring a prideful attitude into His kingdom, the least that’s going to happen is that you’ll end up embarrassed. The reality is that pride is a far more serious threat to faith. Not surprising, then, that pride takes a beating in Holy Scripture.
Listen to these passages that leave no room for pride in the Christian heart: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). “All who rely on works of the law are under a curse (Galatians 3: 10). “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isaiah 64: 6). We cannot barge into God’s banquet and demand a seat based on our best performance. God will not allow it. So where does that leave us? Embarrassed and awkward? Maybe. Recognizing our sin can make us feel that way. But when you confess those sins and own up to them, you are voluntarily taking the lesser seat. When you finally see how helpless sin makes you, you are beginning to understand real humility. And when you come in humility to the feast of God, you will let the host seat you wherever he wants to. That is the great news for you today: barging into his banquet won’t work; but when you come confessing your sin, when you come to the party in humility, the host will be happy not just to welcome you; but to come out and get you and bring you to where you belong.
My son and I once had the experience of waiting in a long line for a store to open. We got in that line about an hour before the store was to open, and even so there were quite few people in front of us. There was no way that we could’ve forced our way in. But with about forty minutes to go, a friend of ours who worked in that store came out, saw us waiting, and said, “Come with me.” We waltzed past those who had been ahead of us in line and right through the front entrance. It was a pretty good feeling. It really is about who you know.
That’s how it works in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We can’t muscle our way in—the truth is we don’t deserve to be there at all. Jesus was made like us in every way so that he could step in for us, be punished on a cross for us, suffer hell instead of us. Jesus became one of us to defeat the devil and to break the power of death by rising to life on Easter. When we approach God’s feast in humility, the crucified and risen Savior actually comes out to get us to bring us in to where he is. He comes out with forgiveness and life, saying, “Friend, move up higher!” Move up higher—be washed in the baptismal water and joined to Jesus. Move up higher—receive forgiveness of your sins and be reconciled to others. Move up higher—hear the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit create a new heart within. Move up higher—eat and drink at the feast of the Lord, where Jesus’ body and blood are offered for pardon and peace. Let’s never forget that all of us are here in the kingdom of God, feasting at His table, for one reason alone: we have a gracious Host. We have a host who comes out to the humble and brings them in.

The Whispered Word

In a book called “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” a roman Emperor is quoted: “I have now reigned above 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen days! O man, place not thy confidence in this present world.”

            You’ve heard it so often that by now it’s cliché—money can’t buy love or happiness. This quote gets at something a little deeper, though…something that we all can relate to…the feeling that our successes in life are fleeting. We barely have time to enjoy the ups before another down time comes..

            Have you ever been involved in a project that took months or years to complete, finished it, celebrated and then wondered what was next? All this time you have been working towards a goal, anticipated it, dreamed of finishing it and then suddenly, it’s done. Maybe it’s finally graduating from school, getting a new job, or finally getting over an illness, and now that we’ve had this victory, we find ourself at a loss. What do I do now? What do I have to look forward to? We celebrated getting it done, but life just seems to move on. Today may even bring new problems that yesterday’s victory won’t change. We may go from feeling great to feeling sad or depressed. Why is it yesterday I felt God was with me, and today I feel alone and adrift?

            The prophet Elijah had these same types of thoughts. Part of what makes the Bible ring so true is how human God’s servants are. The people who did such great things for God were not bulletproof superheroes—on the contrary—they complained, they fought amongst themselves, they try to handle things themselves, they very easily became depressed and discouraged. In other words, they’re just like us. In today’s Old Testament lesson, we find Elijah hiding out in a cave. How he got there is important for us to hear.

Elijah had just experienced an exhilarating victory. Yahweh, the God of Israel, had just proven his absolute power over the false god Baal—a contest that wasn’t even close. You may remember how fire came down from heaven and consumed Elijah’s waterlogged altar. Elijah had been given dramatic proof of God’s reality with all the pyrotechnics that a person could wish for. From a prophetic standpoint, Elijah was crusin’.

The very next day, the pagan queen of Israel promises to put Elijah to death, and Elijah’s knees get weak. In light of what Elijah just experienced, you might expect him to say, “Bring it on. God is on my side.” But instead, the prospect of being a fugitive leads him to say: “I have had enough, Lord, take my life.” Elijah had the advantage of actually seeing fire come down from heaven in the LORD’s name…he had the advantage of being on the winning team…and his fear still got the best of him. Yesterday’s victory seemed like a distant memory. On one hand you might wonder how one of God’s prophets could be so fickle. On the other hand, you and I both know how, because we’re no different.

 Some days the cross and what Jesus did for us gives us so much comfort and help…the next day we may feel nothing. Living in a sinful world and being a sinner can cause us to be dragged down. What’s worse is we feel guilty for not feeling better about things or being able to find the peace we know we should find through Jesus. Yes, we’ve had some victories with God in the past, but today is a new day with its own problems. Like Elijah, our memories are short, and so we run and hide from our problems. We forget how God handled things for us in the past, and so we feel like giving up. Like Elijah, we want the God who sends down fire to burn up our problems, who hands us the victory each and every time. We have crouched in that cave with Elijah more times than we care to admit.

But one thing that God’s servants seem to have in common is a fighting spirit. Despite the circumstances, they still believe that God is in control and has the power to change things, and they confront God with this belief.  Elijah displays this sort of aggressive trust in the Lord, and that’s one of the main things we can learn from him. Elijah doesn’t pull any punches. He lets the Lord know right where he stands. He essentially tells God, “Lord, I’ve been faithful to you and look where it’s gotten me. Yesterday I had this great victory, but today I’m all alone. Where are you for me when I need you?” Now that might seem a little direct, a little too in-your-face for your liking, but I tend to think God understands, and in a way, that kind of prayer honors him. Why? Because it shows that the person praying really feels strongly that God has the ability and power to help. Elijah was upset and running scared, but he still managed to take his problem to God. We can do the exact same thing by talking to God in prayer. You can pour out your heart to God. You can be as direct with Him as you want to be, because he is big enough to handle it. In fact, he may be looking to see if there’s some fight left in your faith.

In any case, he hears and he answers. And notice how he answers Elijah. First a great wind comes, then an earthquake, and then fire. Considering what Elijah had been through, he probably thought he was in deep trouble. Fire, earthquakes, strong winds, these were signs of God’s wrath and judgment. Elijah, knowing his own cowardice, was probably bracing himself for punishment. But Scripture says God was not in those things. Instead, he communicates with Elijah with words, whispered into the prophet’s ear.

There are two things about those whispered words that I find fascinating. The first is that God still loves his servant Elijah and still desires his services. He does not use his power over the elements to crush Elijah, but instead he comes to the depressed prophet quietly and gently, whispering words of instruction and encouragement. There are seven thousand in Israel who have remained faithful to God. Elijah is not as alone as he thinks. The Lord whispers words of restoration to Elijah and urges him to get back in the game.

The second thing worth noting is the contrast between the dramatic display of wind, earthquake, and fire and the whispered word. At one time or another, all of us have probably wished that God would do dramatic things in our lives; that he would get our attention with an unmistakable display of divine power. We have craved seeing the types of things Elijah saw. Yet when it comes to restoring his servant, God does not do it with a roar or a rumble or a flash; he does it in a way that is utterly ordinary. He does it by speaking words. Boy, would we love it if God spoke to us from a glowing cloud and told us exactly what to do—but the truth is, God does speak to his people. He speaks to us from the pages of his Word. He speaks to us when we hear and repeat his Word in worship. God speaks when his people gather to study his Word. The question is, are we listening? Are we really ready to believe that God comes to us and communicates with us in such an ordinary way? That’s what sent Elijah on his way again. That’s what got him out of the cave and down the mountain and back into a life of service—not the blinding, frightening fear of God’s wrath, but words—words whispered by a God who loves us enough to lower his voice and talk to us in a way we can understand.

In our lives as Christians we are going to have highs and lows. We are going to face challenges that cause us to question just about everything we hold to be true. When those times hit, we must not ignore the simple, ordinary words God speaks to us, for those words put us back in touch with the one thing that matters most.

A man in Dundee, Scotland was confined to a bed for forty years, having broken his neck in fall at age fifteen. But his spirit remained unbroken, and his cheer and courage so inspired people that he enjoyed a constant stream of guests. One day a visitor asked him, doesn’t Satan ever tempt you to doubt God?

“Oh yes,” replied the man. “He does try to tempt me. I lie here and see my old schoolmates driving along and Satan whispers, ‘If God is so good, why does he keep you here all these years? Why did he permit your neck to be broken?’

“What do you do when Satan whispers those things?” asked the guest.

“Ah,” the man replied, “I take him to Calvary, show him Christ, and point to those deep wounds and say, ‘You see, he does love me.’ And Satan has no answer to that. He runs away every time.”

 

We will have our down days as Christians—that’s the price of living in a world ruined by sin. We’re constantly battling our old ways, and that can bring us down, too. But we can take comfort in the fact that, like Elijah, we have direct access to God, who not only welcomes our prayers, but answers them in a way that’s best for us. We have a God who speaks and who even now is whispering words of forgiveness and reconciliation and hope in Jesus Christ. Let’s listen to His Words and live.