Grapes and figs and thorns and thistles—these fruits of grace and wrath, holiness and sin: they are marks of right preaching and false teaching. And, so, Jesus says, “Beware of false prophets... You will know them by their fruits.”

I know of a story of a counselor who met with a prostitute who was in dire straits. She was homeless and sick. She could hardly buy food enough to feed her two-year old daughter and herself. With tears and through sobs, she told the counselor that she was renting out her two-year old daughter to her men. She made more money that way than in the “traditional” way. It’s not that the woman wanted to do it, but that she felt that she had to. The counselor could hardly bear to hear any more—he had already heard enough to make him legally liable to report a case of child abuse. He wasn’t sure what he could tell her, but the thought occurred to ask her if she had ever thought about going to a church for help.

When he did ask, the look on the woman’s face was one of consternation. “Church!? Why would I go there? I am already feeling terrible about myself and what I have done. They would only make me feel worse.” Once, a prostitute sought refuge from an angry mob with Jesus. (cf. John 8:2-11) Now, a prostitute dare not find refuge among those who call themselves His disciples.

I know of a story of a missionary who was in Cambodia. He was in a coffee bar where a conversation was struck up, and as they invariably do, he was asked what brought him to Cambodia. He, being a white man of European features, stuck out in Cambodia like a sore thumb. “I’m a Christian on a year-long mission trip.” The conversation took a sour turn after that; the other participants did whatever they could to bring it to a close.

What brought the conversation to a screeching halt? The man called himself a Christian. Now, sure, Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them because it hates Him. (cf. Luke 6:22; John 15:18; et al), but this is a bit different. The people in the coffee bar weren’t necessarily hostile toward the man—they didn’t hate him—they simply wanted nothing more to do with him. He didn’t tell them about their Lord and Savior, didn’t ask to pray with them, didn’t invite them to a church or Bible study. He merely said He was a Christian.

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to [Jesus] to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2) As you heard last week, this is the complaint against Jesus. It comes after Jesus told the parable you heard last week, in which a certain man gave a great supper where the invitees were not present, but outcasts—read, sinners—from inside and outside of the city were in attendance.

So, Jesus tells more parables following the complaint.

• A man has 100 sheep, but one wanders off, so he goes off in search of it, leaving the 99 behind. When he finds it, he throws it over his shoulders and carries it back to the flock. Then, he throws a party with his friends.
• A woman has 10 coins, but she loses one somewhere in the house. She cleans up and turns the house upside down looking for it. It goes without saying, but the other nine are left alone, just fine. When she finds it, she throws a huge party, inviting her friends.

In the same way, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 9 or 99 just persons who have no need of repentance. (cf. Luke 15:3-10)

Why does Jesus eat with sinners and tax collectors? Because Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. (cf. Luke 19:10) Because those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (cf. Luke 5:31) Because, again quoting Rev. Matthew Harrison, “Jesus dwells in the hearts of sinners, so you better be one.” Because they—the sinners, tax collectors, the sick...those who need Jesus—are the people of the lanes of the city and hedges outside of the city. (cf. Luke 14:21, 23) In other words, these are the very people for whom Jesus has come. They are like the 1 lost sheep or 1 lost coin, for which the shepherd and woman, respectively, go searching.

But, what of the 99 or 9?

“Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Prompted by this statement, made by a guest at the dinner thrown by a Pharisee whereat Jesus is also a guest, He teaches a parable about a certain man who gave a great supper and invited many. He had just taught the Pharisees all around the dinner table about table etiquette. Take the lowest available seat and be told to move up, for it is better to be told to move up than to move down. “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (cf. Luke 14:8-11) When you are host, invite those who cannot repay you. for it is of no credit to you to invite someone you then expect to invite you back. “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (cf. Luke 14:12-14) Now, a master is giving a banquet, and the invitees are refusing to come.

The parable, like all the others, is meant to convey the reality of the Kingdom of God in the form of a story. The master, therefore, is the Father who gives a banquet, being, of course, the victory feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end. The servants, then, are the prophets and ministers that God sends to proclaim His message—to give His invitation.

Beyond that, there are three types of people in the parable. The first type would be the invitees. They are the many that the certain man invited to his great supper. The second type would be the people of the streets and lanes of the city who a servant brought in. When these were all gathered at the great supper, there was still room. So, then, the third type would be those from the highways and hedges from outside of the city. The people of the second and third type are similar, but they are not the same, and they are both quite different than the people of the first type.

So, I've been sitting on this month's sermons for a little while, some longer than others, obviously. They have now been posted to the site. You'll find them all listed in the menu bar if you hover over the word "Sermons." These four will be listed there for 30 days from the set posting date, which for the first one, Rogate, is May 1 (so only a few more days).

In the wilderness, as the Hebrews made their way from Egypt to Canaan, the people grumbled against God and Moses. They had grown discouraged in their trek, for they had already spent a long time in the wilderness, away from what they, at that point, thought was a life of comfort, making bricks without straw, working in unbearable conditions, and beaten or killed for their inability to work and meet their quotas. But, compared to where they were in their exodus, they did have some comforts, like better and tastier foods, and at least, again, as they perceived it, had a chance to live. On top of that, they lived in the best part of Egypt, not the barren wilderness they were in. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” (Number 21:5)

There were God’s people, rescued from slavery, being brought into their own land, incapable of trusting in Him who saved them. And to top it all off, they called the bread that He sent them worthless! What’s an almighty and just God to do? Well, point out their sin to them, of course. So, He sent fiery serpents—seraphim, it says in the Hebrew, a word for fiery or venomous ones—into the camp; they bit the people, and many of them died. (cf. Number 21:6)

The people realized the error of their ways. They approached Moses and confessed their sin to him. They asked him for a way to make the death by serpents stop. “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” (Numbers 21:7) This is the work of the Law: it reveals the wrath of God to you; it kills you—when you sin against God, it declares to you that the just punishment for your sin is death. The fiery serpents were the proclamation of God’s wrath against the sin of the Hebrew children in the wilderness.

No one likes going to the dentist—at least, no one that I’ve met. However, there are those times when you must go. There’s a sharp pain when you chew; it’s the tell-tale sign of a cavity. So, you have to go have it filled. You make the appointment, and it just happens that they can get you in that afternoon. The sooner the better, right? Get it over with, right? Still, your anxiety goes through the roof as you arrive at the office, are ushered to the back, and wait in the chair for what feels like hours. Finally, the dentist comes in, and begins the procedure. First, a pinch as you receive an injection of Novocain. Then, your heart rate spikes, especially as you hear the whining of the drill.

But, the cavity is being filled and you know that whatever unpleasantness you’re experiencing now is only temporary. Once all is said and done, at least today, the pain will be gone, both from the procedure and, as is the point of having the cavity filled, when you eat.

“And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.”

After going before His disciples into Galilee (cf. Matthew 26:32; 28:7), and appearing to many, many people, giving them many infallible proofs of His resurrection (cf. Acts 1:3), Jesus leads His disciples through Jerusalem to Bethany to be received into heaven there before them. Christ’s ascension does not happen in Galilee, which served as something of their home base during His three-year ministry, but just outside of Jerusalem. They had been there a mere 40 days previous where they had witnessed His passion, suffering, and death, and where He had risen from the dead.

These “flashbacks” in John 16 have been happening for the last three weeks, today included. At this point in St. John’s Gospel, it’s the day of Jesus’ betrayal into the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes; He celebrated His last supper with His disciples back in chapter 13, and in chapter 18 Judas brings the Temple guard to arrest Him. Between these two events, Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time that He will no longer be with them and His church as He had in the three or so years since His baptism. While He will soon be taken from them to be crucified and die for their sins and the sins of the world and on the third day rise again—events which on a few occasions He had told them would happen—there’s something different about these sayings of Jesus, about His telling the disciples that He is going away.

“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” (John 16:16) “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14) “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:22ff)

In what has been a journey in reverse since Quasimodo Geniti—that is, moving from the resurrection to times before the crucifixion—we’ve moved forward from John 10 to 16. The section that chapter 16 falls in is known as the “Farewell Discourses.” Jesus had celebrated the Last Supper, though John hardly mentions it; he just gives you a little foot washing and A New Commandment. (cf. John 13:34) From then on, Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, for His crucifixion. Today’s text is right in the middle of it all. There, He says, “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”