Tenth Sunday after Trinity: Continual Mercy

Unedited transcript below:

Who would have thought like our last, uh, our last service here at this Chapel, and I'm feeling a little underdressed? For the occasion. Yeah, I, uh, I, I, uh, grossly underestimated. How much longer it would take to drive here with the trailer and? The impact that school starting would have on finding a place to put that trailer when I got here so?

So, uh, yeah, I was, uh, I don't. I'm not sure that I'm not confident that where it is is great, but it's good enough. Uh, so, uh, at least, I hope so, uh, so. Uh, but but glad to be here. What a prayer to pray that we pray today.

Um, as we move out of this. We prayed. Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your church. What is it? What a prayer to pray. As we're ready. To move to some place new to ask for continual Mercy to cleanse and defend the church. We've been in this space for a little over four years.

Can you believe that? I mean, God's been so gracious to us for this season. And when we moved in, covid was still quite the thing. In fact? It's almost like four years to go to the day that we had to like. Move back what was going to be our public launch.

We wanted it to be. Coincide with the start of school. I don't know how many of you guys remember that, but I had coveted 19 and I got diagnosed, like two days before we were going to launch, and it was still like kind of a big deal when you got coven 19.

Now, when you got covid-19, everyone's like, whatever? Couple days when that cover thing's done, but at then, everyone like freaked out about it, right, and uh. And so. But we've been here for. Four years. Most of you weren't coming to this church yet. Raise your hand if you were here.

Four years ago, when we moved in when you were, if you were regularly attending the church, look around. Yeah. Uh, look what God's done, right? Yep. And you know about four months ago, we were just given this brand new. You know many times through the years, people from the church were asking about the possibility of a building.

What's the possibility of a building? And I, and I remember, and I've said several times I was saying for years were not likely to come about a building in the traditional way. So, we're going to need to be asking the Lord to do something surprising. Those were kind of my answers.

Um, are we saving for a building? And I would say we're not likely to have it happen in a traditional way. We need to be praying for God to do something surprising. And didn't he? Yeah, I didn't need to do something surprising, right? I mean, what an exciting moment for us.

And we, so the Lord gives us this miracle, and on that, this last Sunday that we're here, we're praying. Oh, Lord, let your continual Mercy cleanse and defend your church. I don't have a long homily today. I, I think the Lord is asking us. As we head into this building really into a new season of church life, and it's actually going to be entirely different.

To remember to pray, Lord, let your continual mercy cleanse. And defend your church. See? This shift in our church life is a completely undeserved gift of Mercy. Sometimes you have preachers like me, try to like. Help categorize terms by putting a big wedge between Mercy and Grace, right? So, and we're trying to give you categories to wrap your head around, and so we'll talk about Mercy being God, not giving us the judgment we deserve and Grace being about God, giving us gifts that we don't deserve, so we'll try to distinguish that in that way.

I think it's important, I mean, if we re read this colic to recognize, like? Of meaning. For you, nerds that, like, wanted to give like a field of meaning chart, even how we use it in English, mercy, and Grace, like, almost completely overlap. So, like we use mercy and Grace almost interchangeably, if it helps you to think through, hey, God doesn't give me what I do deserve, and he does give me what I don't deserve.

That's great. Probably distinguishing the words doesn't help as much as we might think, especially because we just prayed. Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your church. You don't deserve right. Doing what we would say, like, hey, that's Grace. That's a gift. And we need God to continually show us Mercy see.

We will be tempted to forget, and it will happen quickly. Well, forget Decades of faithful waiting. We'll forget! Packing and unpacking boxes. Will forget that we were ever a church without a home and before we know it. If I ask for a show of hands for how many people were here when we moved into that new church building?

Would be outnumbered, just like we were here. This is how, because churches are living organisms and living organisms change, right? And that's just kind of the way it works. And so, before we know it. We'll be outnumbered. Those of us who remember the good old days at the Post Chapel, right, will be outnumbered because the Lord will continue to grow his church, and it will continue to be a an organism that changes, right?

And I think the message for us as we go. Is, you never outgrow the need of God's mercy. You never outgrow the need for God to continually show Mercy to you. Let your continual Mercy cleanse and defend your church. That's what we pray. Continual mercy continue to show Mercy.

Continue to continue to give favor to us. And Jesus reminded his people of God of the need for continual mercy in Our Gospel reading today, right? He explains the continual need for Mercy so that they might continue infidelity, right? He, he kind of starts. This in an astounding way, instead of.

Talking about how few people are getting in, which is what the question that was asked? He blows up their criteria for who gets in and who's out. This question is raised like? Right after? Jesus tells the story of the parable of the Mustard Seed that's smallest of all seed, and then it grows into this huge plant.

That's what he's just said. And the response. That's kind of interesting. It's someone who believes they're on the inside, saying, but yeah, but. The Kingdom's going to be small, though, right? Like, it's not like gonna be this large number of people that get in, right? I know you're talking about it, growing really big, but not like.

Not, like ever, not Roman. Certainly, they're not getting in right. Like, I'm, like, like, we got to make sure it's not getting too big, right? Uh, that there's? And. Isn't the question kind of worthless if you think about it? What a stupid question to spend. But is the number small?

Right? Like some type of decree of the ratio of the saved to the not saved is the saved way smaller. What a weird question to spend our life on. And you know what, and so Cyro of, Alexandria wrote. Now our Lord does not seem to satisfy him, who asked whether there are few that be saved when he declares the way by which a man may become righteous.

To be observed that it was our savior's custom to answer those who asked him, not according. As they might judge right as often as they put him useless questions, but with regard to what might be profitable to his hearers. And what advantage would it have been to his hearers to know whether there should be many or few who would be saved?

But it was more necessary to know the way by which a man may come to Salvation. Purposely, then he says nothing in answer to the idol question. But turns his discourse to a more important subject. Says, hey. That's a dumb question. You know, dumb questions lead to dumb answers, right?

It's like what, what? I tell my kids stupid. Games lead to stupid prizes, right? Dumb questions lead to dumb answers and trying to get a ratio of how many are saved versus how, how many are in, how many are out? That's a dumb question, but and it leads to dumb answers.

But what Jesus does instead, is, he says, this is what it looks like. A child of God? This is what it looks like to be rightly related with God.

When people start to develop a criteria for who gets in and who gets out? They end up coming up with a small list, and it always includes them. You notice that? The smallest, but not too small. They're always in, you know. So, like they, they've narrowed, it narrowed. It narrowed it up, but that's narrow enough, like enough for me to squeeze through, right?

When think when people think of the big sins, right? You guys know this is what we do, right? We, when you like, think of the list. Here's the sins. God really hates. You tend to settle on ones that you don't struggle with. Or that aren't your issues, right? That's just how we do it.

So, we, the the really bad ones are the ones I, I don't commit, right? You never have anyone saying, you know, what God really hates. Is the glutton at the church potluck? No one ever, like no one, ever like settles on that as the one. And it's really the bad one, right?

That's the worst of them, right? No one ever does that? Why? Because we're looking for the ones we don't struggle with, right? We're making the list of the really bad sins, so like the the it like narrowing the number is just a terrible exercise. What Jesus wants God's, what his people, what he wants his people to do, is instead look at their own lies when they're thinking about.

Is it small the number of people who be saved, what they should be doing, is looking at their own lives and asking? Am I being faithful to the Lord? Really fascinating about this, because usually this isn't the case in Parables. Jesus is speaking in second person. And he doesn't let his hearers do it.

A lot of times, he'll say, who is a neighbor to this person, and they'll say the one who showed him Mercy in the parable of the Good Samaritan, or like he does this. But this, he says, you yourselves will be locked out. That's what he says. You'll see others, Abraham, and the others, and you will be locked out talking directly to them.

Second person, right?

And then he says that when they say didn't we eat with you, didn't we drink with you, he'll say, away from me, you evildoers? He quotes Psalm 6:8. So Psalm 6, 8. He's using words that David used as he indicted his enemies. And now, he's responding to those who would be unfaithful to his message now.

And he's using words that David used to describe his enemies and saying, you're, this is my enemies away from me, you evildoers.

We, you and I were called a continual Covenant loyalty. Loyalty to King Jesus. And. And to continue in loyalty to King Jesus. We need God's continual Mercy. We need God to continue to show us Mercy. We need him to continue to show us Mercy Day by day by day so that we may continue to walk in faithfulness.

There's no prayer you can say. There's no right, you can perform. There's no amount of Eucharist you can take part in. There's no baptism, nothing that would bind God's hand so that, like, you can hide a lack of faithfulness to Jesus and he can't see it. You see what I mean, like there's nothing you and I can do.

Other than continuing to walk in Covenant loyalty. To Jesus. And to do that we need God's mercy. Now we can trust him to show us that Mercy. But, but we have to continually. Sense God's mercy. We never outgrow the need for Mercy. You see that language Jesus chose? But listen, you got, you have a priest.

Loves the Eucharist. Very high view of the Eucharist. I make a big deal, the Eucharist, right? But he's saying, didn't we eat with you? Didn't we eat with you at your table, right? Uh, the people that even those that? With Jesus at his table. If they are not loyal to King Jesus.

Will not will be found as enemies of God. On the last day, we have to walk in loyalty to King Jesus. And to do that we need is continual. Mercy let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your church. That's what we asked him today. Continue Mercy. Didn't graduate.

Now, God owes me something, right? We need is continual mercy. To continue to lead and guide his church. In Jesus responds to this by like he provides like he gives his plan for all people. I thought it was kind of interesting, so a lot of times this passage gets cited.

Describe, like, oh, it's actually few the number they get in. Do you see what happens though? Jesus, like, he says. Is, it is the way narrow that leads to eternal life. He's posed that question, right? And Jesus starts by. Telling him, hey, some of you who think you're in may not be in.

The way is narrow enough for that, but then look what he says. People from all over from east and west and North and South are coming into the kingdom. You yourselves are excluded. Look at what it it seems to actually be a no answer. Well, the number of people who are saved be few.

His answer actually seems to be. No, there will be people coming from east and west and north and south all over, and they're coming to dine at the table. They're they're being let into the kingdom. They're coming from all over. Doesn't that seem to be a no answer? Like, don't you think, maybe we've actually read this passage completely wrong, if we said, like, because what he's saying is, if you're focused on, is the number of say, be few.

Think about your own heart in relation to God. Think about whether you're faithful to God, think about whether you're loyal to Jesus, and not about whether or not God's mercy can extend to more people than you can imagine. Let me tell you the wonderful thing about our God, because even as I share with you that we need God's continual Mercy, that shouldn't lead us into, like despair or fear, because let me tell you something about our God.

And you want to know what's really? Cool about the way Jesus responds to this. And some of the things that I even remind myself in my prayers. When I think about how many people don't know our Lord yet? I remind myself in my prayers that the Jewish people were surprised.

By how many people God was ready to show Mercy to? That and the people of God have always been surprised. Have always been surprised by how many people? By how just how wide God's mercy might extend? God's always surprising people. You and I will likely be similarly surprised. Wow, even they can get in.

No way you know, and how, how, why God's mercy extends, how ready he is to show Mercy. So, when we pray, let your continual Mercy cleanse and defend your church. We are praying to a God who loves to show Mercy. We are praying to a God who loves to show Mercy.

He loves it. To Showmers. He's ready to show Mercy. Instead of asking the question, does God only want a few people to be saved? Our question should be asked that we should be asking us. Am I faithful to the Covenant? Am I faithful to God? In for all people.

That all might know him that all might worship Him as Lord. And so. Now, we're getting ready to go before the table of the Lord, right? Um, for one last time. In this space, this space has been great for us. And we're thanking God that the very reason we're invited to the table is because he is a God who loves to show Mercy.

We are the people from the East and the west and the North and the South that are dining at the table. And the only reason we're dining at the table is because God loves to show Mercy if he didn't love to show Mercy. None of us are gonna eat at that table.

But he loves to show Mercy. And as as we head into this new season of church and it's going to be quite different, May our continual prayer be. Let your continual Mercy, O Lord. Friends and defend your church. Oh man.