Sermon for The Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 2025

The sad reality is that neither you nor I, however much we may claim otherwise, are as faithful, dedicated, and desiring as we ought to be. Thus, our Lord’s words cut us to the quick: the sons of this world are more shrewd, they care more about the things of this world, than we, as the sons of light—as Christians—care about the things of Christ. Worse, too often, the earthly treasures, which we know moth and rust destroy and which thieves steal, take precedence in our lives over the heavenly treasures of faith, the word of God, and the forgiveness of sins. Well, does Jesus rebuke us, saying, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We cannot serve God and the things, the pleasures, the stuff of this world. They are opposed, for the devil uses the fleeting pleasures and pressures of this life to draw our eyes, ears, and hearts away from Christ. 

We chase after so many things: glory, power, wealth, respect. So many things that keep faith, the word of God, and the forgiveness of sins from being of the highest value and utmost importance. That’s sin for you. And, like the devil, sin and our corrupted nature turn our eyes, ears, and hearts away from God and His will and focus them instead upon our own wants and desires. 

Yet thanks be to God, the Lord Jesus knows how to deal with sin. Indeed, He is shrewd in how He handles it. While we falter and are not as faithful as we should be, He is faithful. Consider: what does Jesus value? What is truly important to Him? It is doing His Father’s will. And the Father’s will is that Jesus, His Son, our Lord, go to the Cross and be crucified in order to save us. And Jesus does so; He does His Father’s will. Jesus fights for us, doing all that is required to ransom us back to the Father. Betrayed? Done. Arrested? Done. Abandoned by friends? Done. Mocked and beaten? Done. Forsaken by His Father in heaven? Done. Put to death, even death on a Cross, as a transgressor? Done. Jesus leaves nothing left undone. He fights sin and the devil, thorn and nail, to win us forgiveness and salvation, for that was the task His Father set before Him, and which He accomplished, once for all, at Calvary.

Readings:

• Old Testament: 2 Samuel 22:26-34

• Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13

• Holy Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

Sermon: