In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Without a doubt, the number one reason that people give for why they’re not a Christian or why they don’t go to Church anywhere, is because the Church is just full of a bunch of hypocrites. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve heard a variation of that statement before, and I bet you have too. Sometimes, in the past, and I admit this was true for myself, I thought that the right response to give to those people was something like, “we’re all hypocrites, but that’s what being a Christian or going to church is for.” Now, I understand what’s trying to be communicated when we say those sorts of things, but in this morning’s sermon, I’m going to make the argument that that isn’t quite getting it right. There’s something a little bit off there that isn’t really biblical. Is it true that all Christians are actually hypocrites and that we should gladly and willing accept that title as valid?

First, I just want you to consider what Jesus says about what makes a person a real hypocrite in our Gospel lesson today from Luke chapter 6. This is the famous “judge not” part of the Bible, which, as you know, has to be one of the most misunderstood and misapplied texts in all of Scripture. But at the end of that passage, Christ tells us a short little parable, that helps clarify what He means. He says, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, [there’s the word] first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

So, here Christ teaches us that a true hypocrite isn’t just someone who sins, but someone who casts judgment on another person’s sin before or without acknowledging and repenting of their own. The issue is not simply with showing other people that what they’re doing is wrong and telling them that they need to stop. It’s with doing that to others apart from doing it to yourself first. You got to do both! As Jesus says, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

Well, is that what we Christian do, or not? Do we admit our own sins and live daily lives of repentance over them, or don’t we? Are we sorry for the things that we do against God’s law, and do we want to be forgiven for them? If the answer to any those questions is “no,” then we actually are hypocrites, and the words of Christ condemn us. But if the answer is “yes,” meaning that we do mourn our sins and we do want to do better, then it isn’t being hypocritical at all to ask others to do the same along with us. 

I can’t tell you how important it is to understand this distinction when we are trying to communicate with those that have been sucked into the so called “Pride Movement.” This last month the LGBTQ stuff has been all over the place. What’s the difference between us and them? The difference isn’t that they sin and we don’t, or that they need forgivness and we don’t. The difference is, or at least it’s supposed to be, that we’re sorry for our sins and they’re not. We don’t celebrate our sins. We fight against them. Is that what they do? The literal name of the movement is “pride.” It’s about being proud of doing things that the Bible says are wrong. Are you proud of the sinful things that you sometimes do in your life? Are you happy when you get angry at your spouse and children and treat them unkindly? Do you think that it’s good when you lust after someone you aren’t married too, or covet things that don’t belong to you? Are you of the opinion, that it’s the God pleasing thing to do to skip church, dishonor those in authority, and talk behind people’s backs? Would you walk in a parade that promotes those sorts of things, and do you consider them to be the essence of who you are, and part of your God given identity? 

I should hope not. Because if you do, then you are hypocrite, and the Bible says you’re going to go to hell. If you’re not sorry for your sins, and you don’t want the forgiveness that comes from Jesus for them, then the Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell in your heart, and in your current spiritual condition, you won’t be saved.

Now, I think we need to admit that sometimes when people say that the reason why they don’t go to church because it’s just full of a bunch of hypocrites, they might have a legitimate point. Doesn’t Jesus tell us elsewhere that there are weeds mixed in together with the wheat, and goats among the true sheep? It’s entirely possible that they’ve met someone before who goes to church on Sundays, and outwardly attach him or herself to the means of grace, but also lives a completely different life outside of the sanctuary, and embraces all kinds of sinful things without repentance.

For example, sometimes you do run into people who are vehemently opposed to things like homosexuality, but totally okay with watching pornography and dirty movies, living together before marriage, or getting an unbiblical divorce. Sometimes there are people who want to be known as Christians that actually are total jerks who don’t forgive others, hold grudges, and constantly act as if everyone sins but them. They shake their heads when they see a trans person on TV, but then they go right back to their own pet sin, as if theirs aren’t really that big of deal. 

That’s not right. And each one of us should examine ourselves and our own lives to see whether or not that is the case for us. We should listen to the Word of God and judge everything that we see by His standard, and not our own personal one, so that we don’t expose ourselves to the danger that Jesus warns us about in our reading. Remember what Christ says in our text, “With the measure that you measure it will be measured to you.” That means that whatever sins you condemn in the lives of others, God will hold you accountable for those same sins too. And if you’re not sorry for them, and unwilling to put them away, then you’ll end up in the same place as all those other unrepentant sinners that you look down on too.

But the solution to that problem is not to try and lower the bar of God’s Word, and redefine sin differently, so everyone gets a pass for it, which isn’t really possible. The solution is to repent of our sin and look to Christ for forgivness for it. It’s to keep on doing that over and over again, every day of lives, and never act as we don’t need Jesus.

The true Church of Christ, that is, all the real believers, is not made up of a bunch of hypocrites. It’s made up of a bunch of penitent sinners. It consists exclusively of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because they know that they don’t have any of their own. And when we invite someone to join our church, we’re not inviting them to become a hypocrite, we’re inviting them to become a penitent. We’re asking them to do the same thing that we want for ourselves, which is to repent and believe the Gospel. It’s to cast our sins aside and run to Christ for absolution, trusting that He will never turn us away, but always cleanse us, forgive us, and make us new every time.

So, is it right to respond to people who say that they don’t go to church because it’s just full of hypocrites by telling them that “there’s always room for one more?” Not really. That makes it sound like true believers are actually unrepentant of their sins, even though the Bible says that’s impossible. How we should respond to those people instead is first by acknowledging that it’s possible that they have met someone before who identified as a Christian that was a hypocrite, and we’re very sorry for that. Maybe a good approach with those kinds of people would be to ask them what they do for a living. Let’s just say they’re a barber. Well, one time I met a barber who gave me a terrible haircut, so now I don’t go to any barber at all. What do you think the person’s going to say to that? “Hey, that’s not fair, you shouldn’t judge every barber the same way just because you met a bad one once.” That’s true. And you shouldn’t do that for people who identify as Christians either, because even though there are such thing as false Christians, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t genuine ones too.

And the other way to respond to that accusation, of course, which is the more important one, is again, just to explain how you’re sinful too, and that’s why you go to church in the first place. You don’t go to celebrate how you’re better than other people, or celebrate your sin, and get God’s approval for it, you go because you know that you have big old plank in your eye, and the only One who has the power to take it away is Christ. So, if you want to have the peace that passes understanding, which comes from having a clean conscience before God in heaven, then come with me to place where you get it. Come and join me, and the rest of the Body of Christ, in confessing our sins to the Lord, and hearing His absolution. This isn’t the place where we lie. It’s the place where we tell the truth. The truth about ourselves, and how we sin. And the truth about Jesus who died to take all of our sins away. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The parable of the prodigal son from Luke chapter 15 is a great text for us to hear on Father’s Day, because this is a story about a dad and his two boys. Besides giving us a wonderful picture of the gospel, this passage also shows us what it looks like to be a good father. Those two things, of course, go together. You can’t be the kind of dad that your kids need you to be, if you don’t know the love of your Father in heaven. What does it matter what kind of other stuff you give your children, if you can’t even give them the one thing needful?

So, first, this text teaches us the gospel. The gospel is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. It’s the message of God’s underserved mercy and kindness towards us sinners. Even though we deserve His wrath and punishment, God forgives us and receives us back for Jesus’ sake.

This is exactly what we see playing out in the parable. The first son treated his father like absolute garbage. He demanded that his dad give him his inheritance early, which was more or less the same thing as telling him to drop dead. When do you normally inherit something from your parents? Usually, you only get it after they die. So, the one son was basically saying that he would rather his dad be dead, then alive, so that he could have his share of the money. It was an awful thing to say. But that’s what we sinners say to God through our actions every time that we sin. When we disobey His commandments, and go off on our own way instead, we act as if life would be better off without Him. “Just give me what’s mine and let me do what I want with it!” That’s the beginning of every sin.

And yet, where does that attitude always lead us? Well, what happened to the first son in the parable? He thought that things would be better off away from his father’s house, and in almost no time at all, he realized just how wrong he really was. After he squandered away all of his property in reckless living, a famine came upon the land, and he ended up broke and homeless. The situation got so bad that at one point he longed to be fed even with the pods that the pigs ate, but, as our text says, no one gave him anything. 

This, of course, shows us what kind life is really waiting for us apart from God and His Word. God’s law isn’t just a bunch a bunch of arbitrary rules, it protects us from doing dumb things that bring us harm. Sin might feel good in the moment, but that feeling never lasts forever. Eventually it fades away, and all we’re left with is pain, suffering, guilt, and sorrow.

When the first son finally came to his senses, and realized just how terrible of a person he’d been, he made a plan to go back his father’s house. Part of that plan was actually right. The son had every intention of apologizing to his dad and admitting what he done wrong. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” That’s what the son planned to say to his dad when he made it back home. And lots of people get to a very similar place in their spiritual journey too. They realize that they’ve made an absolute mess of their life through their sin, and that there’s no one to blame for it but themselves. But then they do exactly what the son did in our reading, and go on to assume that they have to do something on their own in order to make it right again. What else did the son plan to say to his father when he got back home? He wasn’t just going to admit that he’d done something wrong, and ask for forgivness, he was going to ask his dad to treat him like one of the hired servants instead. The son hoped that his dad would be merciful to him, but he wasn’t sure of how far that mercy would go. That’s how a lot of people think about God. They hope He’ll forgive them, but they’re not really sure. They hope He’ll take them back, but just to be safe, they think the need to cut a deal with Him to increase their chances. 

And yet, what did the father do in the story? While his son was still a long way off, he took off running for his boy, and threw his arms around him and embraced him. He didn’t even let his son make it to the end of his pre-planned speech, but cut him off in the middle of it, and told the servants to go and get the best robe, the family ring, and sandals for his feet. The father completely restored his child, and treated him as one of his sons again, even though he didn’t even deserve to be a slave.

That’s the kind of love that God the Father has for each and every one of you. You sin against Him with your thoughts, words, and deeds. You dismiss His law and ignore His commandments. You do the things that you want to do without any regard for anyone but yourself. And you make a mess of your life. There’s no one to blame but you, and you can’t do anything to fix it on your own. But what does your Heavenly Father do for you anyway? When you repent, He receives you back as His beloved child. Purely by His grace and mercy, and not your own merit, He forgives you your sins. He washes you clean in your Baptism. He covers you with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. He gives you a place at His table and restores to you all the privileges of a true son or daughter. 

God’s love for us sinners is such a profound and extraordinary thing that no human being can fully comprehend it. In fact, it’s so outrageous to our fallen senses that many people flat out reject it. That’s what the older brother did in the story. He resented his father’s love and didn’t think it was right. He thought that what his dad was doing was irresponsible and unfair. “How could you let this son of yours back into the house again after he devoured it with prostitutes? Why on earth would you ever want him back?” The older brother didn’t realize how much he had benefited from his father’s grace too, so he didn’t appreciate it when someone else got it either.

At the beginning of the story, it was the first son who didn’t want to be at his dad house, but at the end of the story it was the second one. He wouldn’t go into the home and join the party because he thought that being there was something that you had to earn, and only he had earned it. In that way, he represents all those who trust in their own works for salvation and consider themselves to be righteous on their own. They miss out on eternal life too, not because they choose to live in their sin, but because they don’t think that they have any sins that need forgiving. They don’t understand that the only way to be in God’s house at all is by grace, and that grace is by nature something that you don’t deserve.

And yet, just like the father in the story, God pleads with them to come to the Feast too. “Son, you are always with me,” the dad said, “and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He wants that for hardened sinners who have chosen a life of sin, and He wants that for self-righteous sinners who don’t think that they sin at all. Nothing makes God happier than when someone repents and comes back home. He is always waiting to forgive them, restore them, and welcome them back in.

The parable of the prodigal son doesn’t just give us wonderful picture of the gospel, it also shows us what it looks like to be a good dad. The most important thing that any dad can do is teach his kids the Word of God. It’s not just his job to make sure that they know how to tie a neck tie or throw a baseball, his main responsibility is to bring them up in the instruction and fear of the Lord.

The first way that that happens is by teaching your kids the law. A good dad doesn’t make excuses for his children’s sin, he helps them see it for what it is. The dad in the parable never said that his first son didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t defend his bad behavior or explain it away as just a natural part of growing up. He said that the boy was lost. He called him dead. That’s what God’s Word says about our sin, and so that’s what we need to teach our kids to believe about it too. Sin isn’t just a couple of mistakes that we make here and there, it’s a total corruption of our nature that completely separates us from God and leaves us eternally damned. There no such thing as a sin that doesn’t matter or a commandment that you can willingly break that won’t destroy you spiritually. You don’t play around with sinful stuff, and act like its no big deal, you repent of it, and run away from it. You do every day of your life, and never pretend, like the older brother did, that you don’t have any sins that need forgiving.

And secondly, and most importantly, a good dad teaches his kids the gospel. The father in the parable showed his son that forgivness isn’t something that you earn, it’s something that you receive. He did that by giving it to his boy even though he didn’t deserve it. Fathers teach their kids the gospel not just when they forgive them for the sins they commit against them, but also when they explain to them how all of our sins have already been forgiven in Jesus. Before we ever deserved it, before we could do anything to pay Him back, yes, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

The Bible tells us that fathers are the head of the household. Being the head of the house isn’t about getting everything that you want and bullying your wife and kids. It’s about imitating our Father in heaven. Its about making our homes places where the Word of God is preached and taught so that everyone that lives there can hear it. It’s about taking you kids to church, doing home devotions, praying with them before bed, and telling them over and over again about the forgivness that comes from Jesus. That’s what the gospel is all about it. And that’s what it means to be a good dad too. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The problem with statement “blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God,” which is what a certain man cried out to Jesus in our Gospel lesson today, wasn’t so much with what he said, but when he said it. The man was literally reclining at table with Jesus. He was sharing a meal with the Incarnate Lord Himself. And yet, instead of basking in that moment, and realizing the great treasure that was right in front of his face, the man talked about how wonderful things would be later on. It was sort of like if a new husband spent his entire wedding night talking to his wife about what they would do for their ten-year anniversary. It’s your wedding night, for goodness’ sake! How about you focus on that, first?

But this interaction from our text reveals to us a very common misconception that a lot of people have about heaven. Lots of times people think about “heaven” purely in terms of something that happens later on. Heaven isn’t a “right now” thing, in their mind, it’s a thing that you get in the future. You live your life here on earth, and if you live it in the right kind of way, then maybe, just maybe, you’ll be good enough to go to heaven when you die. Now, there are a lot of different problems with that line of thinking, but besides the obvious works righteousness, there’s also the error of not realizing that we have access to heaven here and now already through the means of grace.

What even is heaven according to the Bible? Heaven isn’t some location far away in the clouds, it’s fellowship with God and all of His saints. It’s Communion with the Lord and those who belong to Him. One of the most common ways that the Holy Spirit describes heaven for us in the Bible is as banquet, or a great feast, that never comes to end. As Jesus says in Matthew chapter 8, “Many will come from the east and the west to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” And as Saint John tells us in the book of Revelation, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” But the question is, when does the marriage supper of the Lamb really start? When does heaven truly begin? 

Well, what does Jesus tell us in the parable today from Luke chapter 14? He says, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.” The man in the parable clearly is supposed to represent God. The servant is meant to represent God’s messengers who go into the world to proclaim the Gospel. But the message of the Gospel, that your sins are forgiven, and that you’ve been invited back into fellowship with your Creator, isn’t just for a future date. It’s for right now. 

In fact, it happens every single time that we gather together around God’s Word and Sacraments in Church. It happens there because that’s where God promised to be. What do we sing every Sunday in Church that we use Divine Service setting one? For at least a couple of you, I know it’s your favorite hymn. We sing the canticle, “This is the Feast.” And what feast are we talking about? Are we talking about something that’s going to happen later on? No. We’re singing about something that happening right now. This is the Feast. Church is the Feast. What we are doing in the Divine Service is heaven on earth. We’re participating in fellowship with God and all of His saints. We are dining at table, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we eat the Lord’s Body and Drink His Blood, we have communion with the One who suffered and died for our sins.

So, what are people really skipping when they skip Church? They aren’t just skipping a speech from some guy in fancy clothes, or a time to say “hi” to their friends. They’re skipping heaven. And the danger with skipping heaven now, is that you might miss out on it later on. The invitation only lasts for so long. Yes, God has invited us to receive forgiveness, life, and salvation, through His Word and Sacraments, but what happens to those who neglect them? What happens to those who put other things in front of them? As Jesus says at the end of our reading, “None of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” 

This is a stern warning to us from God’s Word about the dangers skipping Church. Don’t do it. And ff you have done it before, then repent of it, and don’t do it again. Because if you keep doing it without remorse, you put yourself at risk of falling away from the faith. People tend not to lose their faith overnight, and they almost never think they’ve lost it when you ask them.  But one skipped service leads to another, which leads to a month, which leads to two months, which leads to a year, and before you know it you forgot how to say the Apostle’s Creed and what to do at the Communion rail. 

There are lots of different reason why people don’t come to Church. Jesus gives us a couple of the most common ones in our text today. First, there are the guys who say that they can’t come because they’re busy. One of them just bought a field and the other one bought a couple of oxen. This represents those who put things like work, or as they might say “making a living,” before regularly coming to God’s house to receive His gifts. They act as if having a job and paying your bills is more important than getting your sins forgiven and being spiritually fed. Sometimes people who skip church for that reason will make the excuse that Sunday is there only day to sleep in. I heard from another pastor this week, though, that he always tells those people to sleep in on Monday. Just call your boss and tell him that you’re tired and you need to take a break. Obviously, the people always get flabbergasted by that because they know they would get fired. But what the pastor was trying to reveal to them was what their hearts truly valued. They couldn’t even image not getting paid. But they could imagine not getting God’s Word and Sacraments. So, which one of those things did they really care about more? What did they actually think was real? 

The other popular excuse that people sometimes make for why they can’t come to church is because they have other obligations and commitments. This is like the man in the parable who said he couldn’t go to the feast because he just got married. First off, how come you and your wife can’t just go the Feast together? Why does something like marriage, or any other good thing in this life, have to be used against God’s Word instead of to support it? That’s not how it’s supposed to work. Either way, what does God’s Word teach us even about our family if we are to be one of Christ’s disciples? Just two verses after our text today, Jesus says this: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters; yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Now, certainly Jesus doesn’t mean that we should wish evil on those people, and hate them in that way, but that we should love Him and His Word so much more than anything else that to the world it looks like hatred.

Is a father loving Jesus and His Word more than his kids when he lets them skip church to go play sports? Is a wife loving Jesus and his Word more than her husband when she makes excuse for why he’s never there on Sunday’s?  Is a congregation loving Jesus and His Word more than its members when they let people to stay on the roles for years and years and years and defend their absence no matter what, even if they have no good reason for not being in the sanctuary? We know the answer to those questions.

Christ never promised us that being his disciple would be easy. But he did say that it would be worth it. It’s worth it because of what God gives us. Even if no one else wants to come to the Feast, we still know what’s there for us at it, and we need to make it clear to other people what they’re missing out on. Jesus is there. And He is there to bless us, forgive us, and strengthen us to eternal life. He’s there to give us a taste of heaven now, so that when the fulness of it arrives, we won’t miss out.

Yes, there are lots of things that can keep someone from wanting to come to church. But when we know what we get in church and who church is for, that ought to change our perspective about it. What did the master of the feast say about those who had been invited to the banquet? He said, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” And after that had been done and there was still room, he said, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compelled people to come in, that my house may be filled.” God wants His house to be filled. He wants each and every person in this world to receive the forgiveness of their sins and enter into His eternal Kingdom. He wants everyone to be saved. Even those who have neglected His invitation in the past, He invites them to come back anyway.  And when we see ourselves in those poor, crippled, lame, and blind people from out text, when we recognize the miserable state of our sinful condition, and the great mercy of God who offers us a place with Him regardless, that alone is what compels us to come in. It’s what keeps us coming back to church again and again and again, and never skipping if it’s left up to our choice.

We go to church not just because of God’s command. We go because of His promise. We go because of what we get there. What we get in church is something that we could never have on our own. We get the forgiveness of our sins. We don’t just get a place in heaven. We get heaven itself.  And that’s why we never give it up for anything else. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.