"Real Worship Frees!" Luke 18:9-14

The 11th Sunday After Trinity                                           20-August-2023
Sermon Text: Luke 18:9-14
Sermon Theme: “Real Worship Frees!” by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert.

I.N.R.I. “My House is a House of Prayer!” we heard Jesus shout as He drove the money changers out of the Temple at the end of last Sunday’s Gospel reading. The Second Commandment teaches us God revealed His Name to bless us. The only true God, the Triune God, would have us “call upon” His Name “in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”         From beginning our Creator made mankind to bless us with His Name. All of our body, life, and all of our creation was His gift to us creatures. The Lord God gave Adam the Tree of Life an altar of worship to be in communion with our Creator. To gather to hear Him speak, rejoice in His gifts, ask for what mankind needed, and to be fed God’s indestructible life from fruit of the Tree.
        Sadly, we know the reality of history, our first parents chose to listen to the voice of a fallen angel masquerading as a serpent. Satan stealthily stole God’s living Word from them by doubt....”Has God indeed said....” He enticed them with the lie of self-chosen spirituality and new paths to godlike wisdom and knowledge. He turned them to false worship of helping themselves to what they desired apart from the Creator’s good and gracious will. They had the knowledge of perfect good for they saw their Creator face to face. Satan’s temptation was for them to choose to know evil under the guise of empowerment. Our first parents choose to worship by doing for themselves rather than receiving from our Gracious Creator. Their false worship and communion with evil plunged our world into sin, corruption, and death. False worship imprisoned them in shame and guilt to the prince of the power of the air - the spirit at work in the sons of disobedience.
        We were the walking dead following the false worship of the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, by nature children of wrath. Sons of disobedience we deserved only God’s just wrath and eternal punishment for our sins.
        God is rich in mercy. His love is great. His mercy endures forever. While we were yet sinners He chose to rescue us through the flesh and blood of His only begotten Son. He makes us dead sinners alive by His grace in Christ Jesus. We had no say to our physical life that He blessed us with at the moment of conception in our mother’s womb - it is His gift we receive with thanksgiving. We did not chose our spiritual rebirth as infants in Holy Baptism - it is all His gift we receive praising His grace.
    Today, hear the voice of Jesus calling you from death to life. Learn: “Real Worship Frees!” I. From Sinful Self-Deception.(Lk 18:9-12)
II. From The Despair Of A Crushed Conscience. (Lk 18:13) III. To Live A New Life. (Lk 18:14).
I.   “Luk 18:8 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Last Sunday’s Gospel reading were Jesus’ words and actions on Palm Sunday the beginning of the week of His passion. A week culminating in His sacrifice for all sinners. He poured out His innocent life and holy precious blood upon the cross buying us back from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Today’s Gospel reading takes us back a few weeks as He journeys towards that final Passover.
      Jesus begins this chapter teaching us always to pray not losing heart. He speaks the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. The widow constantly brings her petition to the unfeeling uncaring judge. He doesn’t care about her, but final avengers her so that she doesn’t weary him by her constant pleas. Jesus concludes: Luk 18:6-8 ......"Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
      Saving faith and prayer are intricately linked to one another. Listen: (Lk 18:9) Jesus is speaking to those who had faith in themselves. They had faith in their faith. Faith in their own good works. Men, women, children who were certain that by their own reason and strength that they were ‘good people.’ Worshiping the mirror, bowing to the idolatry of the selfie, in pride they despised others. Others who weren’t as woke, liberated, spiritual, moral, disciplined, hadn’t worked as hard as they had to be “good.”
      Listen. (Lk 18:10) Two men. The Temple. The time of prayer. At nine a.m. and three p.m. every day the priests in Jerusalem would offer up the atoning sin sacrifice. An innocent male lamb without spot or blemish would pour out his blood to wash away sins. His flesh would be roasted to be feast. His spotless fleece to cover the nakedness of mankind’s sin - as the Lord God had clothed our first parents on the day of their rebellion. The day of His promise of the Messiah’s saving sacrifice to crush Satan, sin, and death. The atonement sacrifice fixed the congregation’s eyes on the Lamb of God. He would come born of a woman alone. He would live a spotless life. He would be sacrificed in our place. He alone takes away the sins of the world.
      Look! What do you see in these men? One committed his life to knowing God. By twelve he memorized the first five book of Moses, could sing all 150 Psalms, and was schooled in the wisdom of Proverbs. Living a moral life in the community, every mother wished their son would grow up to be him. Like St. Paul, he could boast of being a Pharisee from the stock of Israel. We’d rejoice to see one like him in our congregation. The other man - a thief and traitor working for a foreign government. He had riches at the expense of those he robbed through excessive taxation. He associated with open sinners, prostitutes, drunkards. We’d draw back and wonder - what right does she have to come into our congregation on a Sunday morning? Beware - God doesn’t judge by outward appearances - He knows your heart.
    Beware of the worship of the Law! (Lk 18:11-12) The Pharisee prays, but it is really only braying about all that he has avoided and done for God. Beware of your inner old pharisee. Yes, we are to fight against our sin. We are not to conform to the world’s standards. We are not to lie, cheat, steal, or adulterate the gift of sex God has given only to husband and wife within their marriage. We are to discipline our bodies not following every prompting of the flesh. Fasting shows us how dependent we are on food and drink. We are to be cheerful givers - returning to God what He has generously gifted us. These are good things, but they are never our works to win the Father’s favor. They are the gift and work of the Holy Spirit in us through Christ Jesus by the Father’s grace alone.
    The false worship of the law fixes your eyes on self. You complain about others as you boast of all you have done. Adam and Eve’s first twin sons come to worship their Creator. Cain’s offering is rejected for it was offered without faith in Christ Jesus - the Promised Messiah. Cain trusted in his own works. The Holy Spirit teaches, 1Jn 3:11-12 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, (12) not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Again He writes, “Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” False worship has faith in its faith, praise for itself, and has no need to ask God for anything - she doesn’t need to come to the Lord’s House to ask for anything - instead she is certain she has lived a good life by her own thinking and doing.
II. False worship appeals to our flesh. The righteousness of the Law makes sense to our thinking, after all the Law remains written upon the human heart even though clouded by sin. False worship of the law will always sell, gather crowds, be loved by this world - it never can save a sinner. It never heals a crushed conscience.

      True worship only receives. (Lk 18:13) The sinner knows he has no right to stand before the holy good. He is poor. He is miserable. His conscience convicts him. Trembling before God’s Holy Law it knows that hell is the only justice he deserves. He has earned the wages of sin - death - and it consumes him.
    Where does the crushed conscience turn? Burdened by sin, it cannot raise its eyes to heaven, instead sorrowfully it beats his own breast. He hasn’t honored God in his heart, body, thoughts, and life - he a is lost and condemned creature. Life comes from outside of himself. The Word of Promise in Jesus is spoken. He is the sacrifice for all my sins, all your sins, all the world sins. Holy Spirit given faith clings to Jesus. He opens our lips to declare His praise. Faith prays, “God be merciful to me the sinner!” “I alone am the sinner standing before Your just judgment!” I pray, “God be propitiated” “Be reconciled to me through the flesh and blood of Your only begotten Son!” “Heal me by His stripes!” Real worship frees us from the despair of a crushed conscience trusting in Jesus alone.
III.   False worship prays only to self, never to Christ for mercy, forgiveness. Real worship frees you to live a new life. Mercy speaks! (Lk 9:14). The sinner goes home declared righteous, reconciled to God the Father by the Holy Spirit through the Son. The tax collector freed from his crushed conscience is freed to live a new life with Christ. Like Zacchaeus life changes for salvation has come to him. He gives of his riches to help the poor. He restores what he has stolen - not to be saved, but because he is saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
      Real worship humbles us before the Crucified. Poor miserable beggars we bow before Him. He speaks - I forgive you all your sins! Now feast on the Tree of Life - My Holy Cross - Take eat, take drink - My Body, My Blood - given and shed for your sins - you are forgiven! Go home in good cheer!” Amen.