LutheranLectionary.org

Series A – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, September 6, 2020 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint
0:30	matthew the 18th chapter
0:34	at that time the disciples came to Jesus
0:36	saying who
0:38	is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
0:40	and
0:41	calling a child he put him in the midst
0:43	of them and said truly i say to you
0:44	unless you
0:45	turn and become like children you will
0:47	never enter the kingdom of heaven
0:49	whoever humbles himself like this child
0:51	is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
0:53	whoever receives one such child in my
0:55	name receives me
0:57	but whoever causes one of these little
0:59	ones who believe in me to sin
1:01	it would be better for him to have a
1:02	great millstone fastened around his neck
1:05	and to be drowned into the depth of the
1:07	sea woe to the world for temptations to
1:10	sin for it is necessary that temptations
1:12	come
1:13	but woe to the one by whom the
1:14	temptation comes
1:16	and if your hand or your foot causes you
1:18	to sin cut it off
1:19	and throw it away it is better for you
1:21	to enter life crippled or lame
1:23	than with two hands or two feet to be
1:25	thrown into the eternal fire
1:27	and if your eye causes you to sin tear
1:28	it out throw it away
1:30	it’s better for you to enter life with
1:31	one eye than with two eyes and be thrown
1:33	into the hell of fire
1:35	see that you do not despise one of these
1:37	little ones for i tell you that in
1:38	heaven their angels
1:40	always see the face of my father who is
1:42	in heaven
1:43	for the son of man came to save the lost
1:46	so what do you think if a man has a
1:48	hundred sheep and one of them has gone
1:49	astray
1:50	does he not leave the 99 on the
1:52	mountains and go in search
1:54	of the one that went astray and if he
1:56	finds it truly i say to you he rejoices
1:59	over it more than
2:00	over the 99 that never went astray so it
2:03	is not the will of my father who is in
2:05	heaven that one of these little ones
2:06	should perish if your brother sins
2:08	against you go and tell him his fault
2:10	between you and him alone
2:12	if he listens to you you’ve gained your
2:13	brother but if he does not listen
2:16	take one or two others along with you
2:18	that every charge may be established by
2:20	the evidence of two or three witnesses
2:22	if he refuses to listen to them tell it
2:24	to the church if he refuses to listen to
2:26	the church let him beat you as a gentile
2:27	and a tax collector
2:29	truly i say to you whatever you bind on
2:30	earth shall be bound in heaven
2:32	whatever you loose on earth shall be
2:34	loosed in heaven again i say to you if
2:36	two of you agree on earth about
2:38	anything they ask it will be done for
2:40	them by my father in heaven
2:42	for where two or three are gathered in
2:43	my name there i am
2:45	among them this is the gospel of the
2:48	lord
2:50	in the name of Jesus i remember being a
2:54	kid
2:54	there were certain things that annoyed
2:56	me about being a kid and that was as i
2:58	was never really allowed to do what i
2:59	wanted to do but then again the things
3:01	i wanted to do as a kid sometimes we’re
3:03	kind of dangerous i’ll tell you i
3:05	remember
3:05	very distinctly when i was a young lad
3:08	that every time
3:09	my dad would take me to the grocery
3:11	store he had this thing that he would do
3:14	of course grocery stores are a terrible
3:16	place to take kids i don’t know
3:18	why parents are forced to do this
3:21	because
3:21	the checkout line have you ever noticed
3:23	it’s like a gauntlet
3:25	okay all the cheap chinese toys are down
3:27	below
3:28	right at kid level and of course when i
3:31	was about that
3:32	size every time i would see one of those
3:35	cheap
3:35	chinese toys oh look it’s it’s a lone
3:38	ranger
3:39	cap gun made of plastic i wanted one
3:42	so bad dad i want one
3:46	no i’m not going to let you have that
3:48	you don’t need that
3:49	and all right and this is how this went
3:52	but then after checking out these were
3:55	the days before they had the scanners so
3:57	there was no
3:58	poop poop you know he had to actually
4:00	ring things up the hard way
4:02	but anyway what my dad would do as soon
4:04	as the groceries were done
4:05	being put into back into the cart and we
4:07	were heading back to the car
4:08	he would always make me hold his hand
4:12	and i hated that oh man did i hate that
4:16	my hand my dad’s hand was big it was
4:18	hairy
4:19	and sweaty and it was strong
4:22	and the thing i hated about it is that
4:24	every time we were in the parking lot i
4:26	wanted to kind of take off and do my
4:28	own thing but my dad was wise in holding
4:31	my hand because
4:32	parking lots are a little more dangerous
4:34	than you think it only takes
4:36	you know well you’ll note the kids are
4:37	kind of at a level where
4:39	you know a car can back up and the
4:41	person can legitimately
4:42	behind them and not see little kids so
4:44	we know how dangerous they are
4:45	so we as parents understand this but
4:48	then again
4:49	you know i was hated it when my wife
4:51	would send me to the grocery store with
4:52	all three kids
4:53	oh good night i only have two hands i
4:56	can’t do this it’s like you know
4:58	you you work out the math but the point
5:00	is this as parents we know that
5:02	our jobs are to protect our children
5:05	that’s
5:06	what we do and i’ll tell you this one
5:08	thing i really miss about being a child
5:12	never having to worry about paying the
5:14	bills never having to fill out a tax
5:17	return
5:18	never sweating whether or not i’m going
5:20	to keep my job or lose my job or any
5:22	things like this
5:23	because to be a kid is to be given to
5:27	kids are constantly being cared for
5:30	receiving their whole life is a gift i
5:32	mean i remember the days when
5:34	you know like my biggest concern was
5:36	whether or not there was a new episode
5:38	of h.r puffin stuff
5:40	on television boy am i dating myself
5:42	dating myself anyway
5:43	yeah or was it going to be a re-run yeah
5:46	you get the idea
5:48	so with this kind of in mind you’re
5:50	going to note
5:51	that there’s a theme here in our gospel
5:53	text and this is a multi-faceted text
5:56	and we’re going to work our way through
5:57	it but the theme
5:58	works through it all and it’s the theme
6:01	of becoming like
6:03	children and so our text begins in the
6:05	gospel of matthew
6:07	at that time the disciples came to Jesus
6:09	saying who is the greatest in the
6:10	kingdom of heaven
6:12	what a boneheaded question
6:15	it’s a boneheaded because this is a
6:16	question that assumes
6:18	the ideas and the values that the world
6:22	seeks after prestige honor
6:26	power it’s as if the disciples didn’t
6:29	hear Jesus say to peter get behind me
6:32	satan
6:33	it’s it’s like they they didn’t hear
6:35	this at all it’s like
6:36	maybe it just ricocheted off their
6:38	foreheads like so many things ricochet
6:41	off of mine
6:42	and so they’re still trying to jockey
6:43	for position Jesus is heading to
6:45	jerusalem to bleed and to die for our
6:47	sins
6:48	and these guys are still trying to
6:49	figure out who’s the greatest
6:51	and you can almost see Jesus rolling his
6:53	eyes so he called to him a child and
6:55	this is a little child this is a tyke
6:57	this is this is a toddler put him in the
7:00	midst of them and said truly i say
7:02	to you unless you turn think of turning
7:04	here like repentance it’s not quite the
7:06	same word but the idea here is
7:08	pretty much the same unless you turn in
7:10	your thinking become like children
7:12	you will never enter the kingdom of
7:15	heaven
7:17	child what’s child’s accomplish
7:21	they barely even do chores little ones
7:23	you have to constantly
7:25	that’s kind of the point you guys
7:26	remember the chronicles of barney
7:28	hopefully you’ve read the chronicles of
7:29	narnia
7:30	always always something that was really
7:32	disturbing to me in the final
7:34	book of the chronicles of narnia the the
7:36	last battle
7:37	was that susan susan pevensey
7:40	she didn’t make it to eternal life and
7:43	the reason given by c.s lewis
7:45	is that she grew up
7:50	kind of a weird way of thinking about it
7:52	but that’s kind of the thing
7:54	the cares of the world growing up and
7:56	chasing after the world’s values
7:58	little kids don’t worry about that and
8:01	have you ever noticed
8:03	how excited little kids are to receive
8:06	gifts always love always
8:09	love seeing the excitement on little
8:12	kids faces
8:13	at Christmas time it’s a big
8:17	magical thing for them and so there’s
8:19	something to consider
8:20	here Christ is telling us to become like
8:23	little children to
8:25	be receivers those who can only be given
8:29	to
8:30	who are cared for cared for by whom
8:33	a doting loving heavenly father
8:39	think about it so whoever humbles
8:41	himself like this child is the greatest
8:43	in the kingdom of heaven and this
8:45	challenges
8:46	all of our values when we chase after
8:50	the world’s
8:51	systems and beliefs and then he goes on
8:53	to say then whoever receives one such
8:55	child in my name receives me
8:58	Jesus puts his big stamp of approval not
9:00	only that if you receive a
9:02	you know a type a toddler you can only
9:04	be given to
9:05	in my name oh you’re receiving me and
9:08	what does this tell you about the love
9:09	of Christ
9:10	towards our little ones right
9:14	but whoever causes one of these little
9:15	ones who believe in me to sin it would
9:17	be better for him to have a great
9:18	millstone fastened around his neck
9:21	and be drowned in the depth of the sea
9:24	and you’ll note here there’s a there’s a
9:26	great threat here
9:27	a great threat to those who would cause
9:30	one of these
9:30	little ones to stumble
9:34	and the threat is well the threat that
9:35	you’d give you’d get from a dad
9:37	you mess with my kids you’re going to be
9:40	messing with me
9:41	right so that’s kind of the point but
9:44	who’s the father here
9:45	here it’s god the father and this is
9:48	where we need to consider
9:50	this important thing is that each and
9:52	every one of us
9:53	baptized in the name of the father the
9:56	son and the holy spirit
9:58	we have been adopted in to
10:01	the family god is our heavenly father
10:04	our sins have been forgiven
10:06	and now what does god say about each and
10:09	every one of you
10:11	you are his little ones
10:15	that’s what you are you are one of god’s
10:17	little ones and
10:18	this is his disposition towards you
10:23	anyone messes with my kids it would be
10:26	better for him to have a great millstone
10:27	fasten around his neck
10:29	and to be drowned in the depth of the
10:32	sea
10:35	so you blood-bought sinners forgiven
10:38	absolved bled for died for
10:42	raised from the dead adopted into the
10:43	family
10:45	note here the great love of this
10:48	way of talking about each and every one
10:50	of us that god has for us
10:52	and then to even make the point even
10:54	further
10:56	Jesus goes on to say woe to the world
10:58	for temptations to sin
11:00	for it’s necessary that temptations come
11:01	but woe to the one by whom the
11:03	temptation
11:04	comes there’s going to be a reckoning
11:07	god is going to be
11:08	holding accountable those who would
11:10	cause his little ones
11:11	to sin or to tempt them but then you’re
11:14	going to note that
11:15	always and again it is good biblical
11:18	doctrine and theology to recognize that
11:20	temptations
11:21	not only come from outside of us from
11:24	the world
11:25	or from the devil but also from our own
11:27	sinful flesh
11:29	and so as we listen now here Christ is
11:31	talking about those temptations which
11:33	come
11:34	burbling up from your old sinful adam he
11:36	says if your hand
11:38	or your foot causes you to sin cut it
11:40	off throw it away
11:41	it’s better for you to enter life
11:42	crippled or lame than with two hands or
11:45	two feet and be thrown into the eternal
11:46	fire i always like to point out that
11:48	i’m glad that they don’t name this
11:50	sunday in the liturgical
11:52	calendar the uh the sunday of the holy
11:54	amputations
11:55	it seems a little bit extreme
12:00	you know and afterwards we’ll pull out
12:02	the saw or the chainsaw you know and
12:05	we can practice what we preached no
12:06	that’s not the point here
12:08	the the point is has to do
12:11	with the fact that we mortify
12:14	our sinful flesh and we do not obey its
12:17	passions and we do this by the power of
12:19	the holy spirit
12:20	so Christ is saying if your eye causes
12:21	you to sin tear it out throw it away
12:23	it’s better for you to enter life
12:24	with one eye and two eyes be thrown into
12:27	the hell of fire
12:28	so keep in mind the temptations to sin
12:31	then
12:31	come from outside and from within
12:34	because of our sinful flesh and so we
12:37	are wise to note that
12:39	we as god’s little ones would do well to
12:43	pay attention
12:44	to the woes that Christ speaks here not
12:46	only to the world
12:48	but also to our old adam then Jesus goes
12:52	on to say
12:53	this see that you do not despise one of
12:55	these little ones
12:56	and who are the little ones again that’s
12:58	you that’s me
13:00	do not despise each other so you’re
13:02	gonna know use let’s use the metaphor
13:03	for a minute we’re all adopted little
13:05	ones children of god
13:07	this is most certainly true but have you
13:09	ever noticed that siblings don’t get
13:10	along
13:13	i was terrible to my brother i just
13:16	saying you know
13:17	and we’re going to note here that
13:19	siblings here
13:21	oftentimes may not get along too well
13:24	that seems to happen of course i need to
13:28	kind of put it this way if your
13:30	expectation is that you’re going to come
13:32	to church and that everybody is super
13:34	duper holy and that you’re all just
13:35	going to get along perfectly
13:38	you got another thing coming i don’t
13:40	know take a look around this whole
13:41	church is filled with sinners man
13:44	from the pastor all the way down to the
13:46	youngest person here and
13:48	all of that being said so we are not to
13:50	despise one of the little ones of god
13:52	and that’s each and every one of us
13:54	so don’t be despising and hating on your
13:57	brothers and sisters
13:58	in Christ he says and note what he says
14:01	this for i tell you
14:02	that in heaven their angels always see
14:04	the face of my father who is in heaven
14:07	and this is where this is one of those
14:09	little sentences in scripture
14:11	where we get the idea of guardian angels
14:14	scripture says the angels are
14:15	ministering spirits they minister to the
14:17	saints
14:18	and so here you you can see that the
14:20	little ones of god
14:22	that they have angels who always see the
14:24	face of their father in heaven
14:26	and this is a good thing this is a good
14:28	thing because you’re going to note
14:30	that god hasn’t withheld anything in
14:33	fact he has
14:35	for real dispatched great
14:38	great resources for the purpose
14:41	of protecting each and every one
14:45	of us so each and every one of us
14:48	we have angels who guard over us but
14:51	even more important than that
14:53	we have the very son of god who came to
14:55	earth was born of the virgin mary he
14:57	suffered in our place
14:58	for our salvation so that we could be
15:01	called the children of god
15:03	so then Christ asked this question so
15:05	what do you think if a man has a hundred
15:06	sheep and one of them has gone astray
15:08	does he leave the 99 on the mountains
15:11	and go in search of the one that went
15:13	astray
15:14	now the commentaries i read on this all
15:16	kind of agree that this is not really a
15:18	standard
15:18	practice when it comes to being a
15:20	shepherd
15:22	think of it this way back in the day in
15:24	israel if you’ve
15:26	you’ve read about the the shepherd david
15:28	you know king david
15:30	as he was a shepherd he had to deal with
15:32	lions
15:33	he had to deal with bears the only thing
15:36	missing was
15:37	tigers oh my but you get the idea here
15:40	is that shepherding is
15:41	is one of those things where well i
15:43	don’t know if you notice this about
15:44	sheep
15:45	they’re not as clever as goats they have
15:48	this tendency to
15:49	wander off have you ever looked at a
15:51	shepherd staff you know has like a
15:53	crook a hook in it well that’s kind of
15:55	you got to pull them back you know they
15:57	have this
15:57	tendency to wander and then that
15:59	shepherd staff you know when you have a
16:01	wandering sheep
16:02	usually the first nudges are you take
16:04	the shepherd’s staff and you poke it
16:05	hard into the sheep’s ribs
16:07	to get it back in with the group because
16:09	sheep
16:10	they don’t have any natural defenses
16:13	they don’t have sharp pointy teeth or
16:14	the ability to run quickly they’re just
16:16	basically good for wolf food and
16:18	lion food and bear food and things like
16:21	that
16:22	and so a wandering sheep is a dead duck
16:25	and if you have a sheep that’s wandered
16:26	off
16:28	nine times out of ten that that sheep’s
16:31	done for
16:32	so what do you do as a shepherd you
16:35	count your loss
16:36	you write it off on your taxes that’s
16:38	what you do with lost sheep but here
16:40	Christ
16:41	he’s he’s not like any other shepherd on
16:43	planet earth when he has a sheep that
16:45	has gone astray
16:46	listen to the voice of the devil listen
16:49	to the voice of his own sinful flesh
16:51	listen to the voice of the world what
16:53	does he do he sets out
16:55	he sets out to find it and we hear here
16:59	that
16:59	this shepherd Jesus truly rejoices over
17:03	over the one that he finds and over the
17:05	199 that never
17:07	went astray and then you’re going to
17:08	note these words it is not
17:10	the will of my father who is in heaven
17:13	that one
17:14	of these little ones should perish
17:17	it’s not god’s will that you should
17:18	perish have any of you ever heard
17:20	preaching along the lines of when you
17:22	pray according to the will of god
17:24	scripture says god hears you
17:27	of course when i heard that as a young
17:29	lad oh really god if i pray according to
17:31	the will of
17:32	god i thought i’d roll the dice you know
17:35	go my prayers went something like this
17:37	god if it’s your will
17:39	that i have an aston martin everybody
17:42	needs one of those
17:43	those are needs lord if it’s your will
17:46	that i have
17:47	a vacation home in the south of france
17:49	on the mediterranean lord if it’s your
17:50	will
17:51	i have a private jet you sit there go
17:53	these are kind of empty
17:55	prayers are they not why would god will
17:57	for me to have any of those things
17:59	but have you noticed that there are a
18:01	smattering of a few
18:03	passages in scripture and this is one of
18:05	them
18:06	that tells us explicitly what god’s will
18:09	is
18:10	and note that when we pray according to
18:13	god’s will god hears us so note then
18:15	it is not the will of the father
18:18	in heaven that one of these little ones
18:21	should
18:21	perish it’s not his will
18:27	it’s not his will that you would perish
18:30	so then note
18:31	that being the case oh we can pray for
18:34	people
18:36	and praying knowing that this is god’s
18:37	will
18:39	he hears us we know that it is well that
18:42	these little ones do not perish
18:44	so what do you do then when your brother
18:48	notice the text if your brother sins
18:50	against you remember siblings
18:52	you know we’re all little ones of Christ
18:54	siblings don’t always get along
18:56	so what happens if you’re younger or
18:57	your older brother in Christ
18:59	sins against you what do you do this is
19:01	an example by the way
19:02	of a sheep going astray that’s the
19:05	context
19:06	you ready you go and tell him his fault
19:08	between you and him alone
19:10	brother you know
19:13	you sinned against me you sinned against
19:16	me
19:18	if he listens you’ve gained your brother
19:21	if he doesn’t listen well take one or
19:24	two others
19:25	more siblings maybe take a sister or
19:27	another brother along with you
19:29	so that every charge may be established
19:31	by the evidence of two or three
19:33	witnesses
19:35	if he refuses to listen to them and tell
19:37	it to the whole family tell it to the
19:38	whole church
19:39	and that’s not for the purpose of gossip
19:41	it’s for the whole family all of your
19:43	siblings
19:44	so that they can gather around you and
19:45	say brother repent
19:47	be reconciled and if he refuses even to
19:50	listen to the church let him be to you
19:52	as a gentile
19:53	and a tax collector again this is in the
19:55	context of Christ going after
19:57	airing sheep but let me ask you this
20:01	question
20:02	so if at the very end you end up having
20:04	to put him out
20:05	of the house how did Jesus treat
20:08	gentiles and tax collectors
20:12	with love and kindness preaching the
20:16	gospel to them
20:17	and calling them to repent now
20:20	they don’t get to live in the house and
20:21	have the privileges of being in the
20:23	house
20:24	and being put out of the house you want
20:26	them to come back in
20:27	that’s the point and so you continue to
20:30	love them and to preach the gospel to
20:31	them so that they can be reconciled and
20:33	forgiven to god
20:35	as well as you so truly Jesus says i say
20:37	to you
20:38	whatever you bind on earth shall be
20:40	bound in heaven and again this is
20:42	referring to the office of the keys this
20:43	authority that the church has to forgive
20:46	sins and of course it’s not the church
20:48	doing it it’s Christ who’s given them
20:50	that authority
20:51	and he’s the one doing the forgiving and
20:53	so if two of you agree on earth about
20:55	anything they ask it will be done for
20:57	them by my father in heaven where two or
20:59	three are gathered in my name there i am
21:01	among them
21:02	and it’s nice to know that we are not
21:05	left alone that Christ himself promises
21:07	his very presence
21:09	so brothers and sisters what are we to
21:11	do in light of a text
21:13	like this because this tells us how to
21:15	treat each other but more importantly
21:17	it tells us of the great love that god
21:19	has for us so then note then
21:23	Christ has bought you
21:26	you and i were all born children of the
21:29	devil
21:30	what Christ says to people who don’t
21:32	believe in him you are of your father
21:33	the devil
21:34	but we were originally created in the
21:36	image of god and because of god’s great
21:38	mercy and compassion for us who’ve gone
21:40	astray
21:40	he sent his son who bled and died for
21:43	all of your
21:44	sins and because of this being
21:46	reconciled now
21:48	to god the father god the son god the
21:50	holy spirit
21:51	we are to be reconciled to each other to
21:55	love each other
21:56	to lovingly call each other to repent
21:59	and as we will hear next week to forgive
22:02	each other
22:03	when they repent i love how these texts
22:05	kind of all flow together
22:06	in this these past few weeks last week
22:09	we heard again
22:09	about the temptations to sin the
22:11	suffering that we all have to go through
22:13	the temptations that come from satan
22:15	from the world from our sinful flesh
22:17	and the danger in which we walk all the
22:19	way through our
22:20	sojourning here as we take up our cross
22:23	and if we follow
22:24	Christ to our death
22:28	and now we hear that we are to
22:31	be kind to one another and understand
22:33	that as brothers when we call each other
22:34	to repent
22:35	that that is a that is a picture of
22:37	Christ going after airing sheep
22:40	and then when our brothers sin against
22:42	us and they
22:44	repent and ask for our forgiveness well
22:47	next week we’re going to find out
22:48	what the limits are of that should we
22:51	put limits on how many times we forgive
22:53	somebody
22:54	my wife sometimes thinks that that might
22:56	be a good idea because i keep screwing
22:57	up the same ways over and over and over
23:00	again
23:03	but you get the idea you get the idea so
23:05	all of that will
23:06	work together so brothers and sisters
23:10	i assure you you who believe you are the
23:12	little ones of Christ
23:14	bled for died for so let us repent of
23:17	all the different ways in which we
23:19	haven’t been children we’ve grown up in
23:20	our thinking
23:21	separated ourselves from god chaste
23:23	after the values of the world
23:25	or even after our own sinful passions
23:27	and let us
23:28	turn and be like children who
23:32	well very simply trust
23:35	that our god loves us and sent his son
23:38	to bleed and to die for us
23:40	in the name of Jesus amen

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