In Nomine Iesu

Pastor Thomas L. Rank
Trinity 20
October 12, 2003

Text: Matthew 13:44-50 (ELH Second Series Gospel)
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 "which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 "and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

THESE ARE YOUR WORDS, HEAVENLY FATHER, SANCTIFY US BY YOUR TRUTH, YOUR WORD IS TRUTH. AMEN.

Dear fellowed redeemed in Christ,

This morning we celebrate the mission work of the Christian Church. We understand mission work to be the spread of the Gospel, the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ alone, the Son of God and Son of Mary. We confess this truth in the words of the Apostles’ Creed when we say: He "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, the third day He arose again from the dead." And we explain these words by saying: "[He] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death." This message is one of comfort to us, it provides us the consolation we need as we deal with our sin, our shame; it gives us the very life and death of Jesus as a guarantee for the taking away of our sins. Because we know of the great comfort given by the Gospel of Jesus Christ we want others to hear and believe this good news, too. We also know what Jesus means when He says: "The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." There is an eternal death, a judgment of condemnation for those who deny and reject Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. This is another reason we support mission work, we do not want others to be condemned, but to live eternally in heaven.

We are united with a small group of Christians in this world known as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. We are about 22,000 people scattered over the United States. Alone we can not do too much. We are not a big group who gather here. We do not have hundreds of thousands of dollars to give each and every year to spread the word of God. But together our small congregations are able to put together larger amounts of money to support missionaries who go to far off lands, to people we do not know, and preach the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name to people who have not heard of Him. This is mission work. This is something that is good for us to do, something that is important, something that shows we take seriously and understand the gravity of sin and the need for salvation not only for ourselves but for all people.

Right now God is using our Evangelical Lutheran Synod to bring His saving word to dying souls in Peru and Chile, in the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Latvia. God uses money from farms and businesses here in Iowa and Minnesota to bring a great and eternal blessing to parts of the world most of us have never seen and will never see.

Just recently we had our Fall Circuit meeting at Center, a small church in the middle of corn and bean country in north central Iowa. We were not a big gathering, but we gathered around the teaching of God’s Word, we sang hymns to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we collected money. That money was sent to a small country on the Baltic Sea, and adjacent to Russia; we sent it to the Lutheran church in Latvia. It is easy to take such a thing for granted. But consider what happened in order for us to do that. We had people from all over Iowa gather here. From Williamsburg, Indianola, Saude and Jerico, Thornton, Forest City and Thompson, Northwood and Lake Mills, Albert Lea and Emmons, Leland and Scarville. These are not towns that show up on many maps of the world. These are not towns that are significant in the history of the world. Yet God uses these areas near and dear to us to cause His word to be preached half way around the world, where people speak a language we’ve never even heard. The curse of Babel’s confusion of languages is overcome by the Pentecost blessings of Word and Sacrament through power of the Holy Spirit.

But do you know how this all starts? It starts with you and your hearing and believing the Word of God in this place, at this time. If you do not hear the Word of God, if you do not learn of your sin, confess, and believe the Gospel, what interest will you have in spreading that word to others? If the Gospel is not a great treasure, if it is not the pearl of great price, if the forgiveness of sins is of little value for you personally, that will affect greatly your desire not only to hear that word yourself, but to help others to hear it, too.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is "like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." This is someone who understands the value of the treasure and is willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it. This is not about trying to earn heaven by buying it, but it is about commitment, about growing in our knowledge of the vital significance of the need to learn our sin and to hear of the forgiveness achieved by Jesus through His death on the cross and spread out by Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the preaching of the Gospel. If the kingdom of heaven, and the promises of salvation and eternal life, are not a treasure for you, if they are no pearl of great price for you, if you are not willing to commit to this, to support it with your very lives, then of course the fact that others do not know of this treasure will certainly not greatly concern you. When the Gospel is not crucial for you and your struggle with life and death, with sin, then the salvation of others will hardly matter to you either. If your eternal life is not a big deal to you, the eternal destiny of others will not disturb you either.

That is why this work begins and continues only as we hear and treasure the message of the kingdom of God: the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ.

There are many today who do not consider mission work important because they believe that any and every religion is OK, as long as you are sincere. For them, the Christian Church does not have an exclusive treasure or the pearl of great price. Instead, they think that there are many different and equally valuable treasures and pearls. Find one you like and stick with it, and you’ll be just fine when angels come with the dragnet. Our Lord Jesus teaches us differently. He teaches that only by faith in Him are we given salvation and eternal life. "The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away."

There are not many different paths to heaven. There are not many different ways of salvation. God has provided His Son, and Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Mission work brings the Gospel to people in other countries, in far away places, with names of towns that sound strange to us: Santiago, Ano Nuevo, Riga, Ternopil, Pilsen. But it is also about that Gospel going to our country, to places near to us, with names that are familar: Florida and Illinois, Cedar Rapids, and even Lake Mills, Leland, Emmons, Kiester, Scarville. These are places where we don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars. But we do still need you. Do you realize that every Sunday morning you are making a confession of your faith to all your neighbors. You are telling them what your treasure is, what the pearl of great price is. Don’t think your neighbors don’t notice. Of course they do. And you don’t have to say a word for them to learn what you believe is most important, most near and dear to your heart. We should not be surprised if others are not interested in joining our church when we ourselves can hardly speak about without being embarrassed (maybe we don’t like some of our teachings here, not much chance of us inviting others then, is there?), or when we can’t say nice things about the people or pastor of our own congregation, or when we do not consider hearing God’s regularly as something we are committed to do. I don’t say this because of anything I’ve heard about you, but I say it because I know these things can and do happen, and we should all learn from that.

In many ways, mission work here is harder for us than far away mission work. The people in Latvia can’t watch us and hear us. They can’t see our lives, how we deal with others, where we are on Sundays; all they see is our gifts, and they are grateful for them. But mission work here means more than financial commitment. It means growing in lives that reflect the love of Christ, and this is hard, for now our sins are seen to be the obstacles to faith and love that they truly are; obstacles not only for us, but for those around us.

On the other hand, this is exactly how God wants us to learn and grow. We are never going to be the sin-free people in our communities. We are never going to be the ones whose lives are perfect and without trial or struggle or weakness. It is not if such things happen to us, but when. And then what do we do? We demonstrate our Christian faith by confessing and admitting our sins, and receiving our Lord’s forgiveness through regular attendance at God’s house, and through the great banquet of Lord’s Supper. We give honor and glory to God when others can see how much we, too, depend on the very Gospel that we want them to hear and believe.

God has brought a great treasure to us. By His grace we hear and receive the forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the good news for you, given to you. May God help us all to grow to see how this pearl of great price impacts and blesses our lives, and the lives God has put around us in the form of families, friends, community, and even those far away. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria