Pentecost 17A

17th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.

"Excuse me," Governor Herter said, "do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?" "Sorry," the woman told him. "I'm supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person." "But I'm starved," the governor said. "Sorry," the woman said again. "Only one to a customer." Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. "Do you know who I am?" he said. "I am the governor of this state." "Do you know who I am?" the woman said. "I'm the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister." (from Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, pp. 5-6.)

Authority can be such a fickle thing. Just when you think you’re someone with some level of authority, you end up getting served a healthy portion of humble pie. Maybe you’ve heard this little bit of wisdom: if you think you’re someone important, try ordering someone else’s dog around. Funny how quickly that authority can disappear, isn’t it?

But we don’t like to be told that we’re not in charge, do we? We don’t like to be told that we have to follow someone else’s orders. Why? Because that means someone else is forcing their will on us. I’m sure that’s a huge part of the reason that there is so much conflict around the mask mandates. Imposed will is the enemy of free will. And free will is what freedom means for us as Americans. We are a country founded on freedom, freedom that we fought to have, and freedom that we have fought to keep, and fought to help others to gain. We value our freedom dearly, and rightly so.

However, the American understanding of freedom is not something we can find in the Bible. And let me be the first to say: that’s a hard pill for me to swallow. I am one of the many who fought for those freedoms. And God has something else to tell me about my life - not as an American, but as a Christian…because that is more important.

In a very short time, we will recite a prayer together in which we will say the familiar words: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In the good Lutheran tradition, we ask “what does this mean?”

Luther has this to say in his Large Catechism: Therefore, there is just as much need in this case as in every other case to pray without ceasing: “Thy will be done, dear Father, and not the will of the devil or of our enemies, nor of those who would persecute and suppress thy holy Word or prevent thy kingdom from coming; and grant that whatever we must suffer on its account, we may patiently bear and overcome, so that our poor flesh may not yield or fall away through weakness or indolence.”

Observe that in these three petitions interests which concern God himself have been very simply expressed, yet we have prayed in our own behalf. What we pray for concerns only ourselves when we ask that what otherwise must be done without us may also be done in us. As God’s name must be hallowed and his kingdom must come even without our prayer, so must his will be done and prevail even though the devil and all his host storm and rage furiously against it in their attempt utterly to exterminate the Gospel. But for our own sake we must pray that his will may be done among us without hindrance, in spite of their fury, so that they may accomplish nothing and we may remain steadfast in the face of all violence and persecution, submitting to the will of God. (Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 429.

This is just a small portion of Luther’s explanation, but it says a great deal. We are praying that we want God’s Will and no one else’s to be done. That, brothers and sisters, includes our own will. We are asking for God’s Will to be done, even above our own. We want God’s Will to prevail because God’s is genuinely and objectively good…and that’s something we can’t always say about our own will. And did you hear those last 6 words: “submitting to the will of God.” That’s us. That’s what we are saying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer - we are submitting to the Will of God. We are submitting to His authority. We are letting His authority tell us what to do. We are willingly giving up our free will, so that His Good Will would instead take over. THAT is what we are praying.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul addresses in chapter 2 what happened in that church when its people began to act in selfish ways, seeking their own agendas, and serving their own wills rather than God’s will…when people have their own points of view but are unwilling to listen to or yield to the points of view of others. Paul is telling this church that as Christians, instead of being selfish, self-centered, self-focused, we are to be HUMBLE.

“3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (ESV, Php 2:3–4.)

This is what humility is; it is submission. It is voluntarily giving up our own free will and submitting to God’s Will. Listening to Him, and in doing so, listening also to others. And if it isn’t clear, when Paul says this, he isn’t saying this for individuals - he means it for the whole community. Can you imagine an entire community of people humbling themselves, listening to each other, and together discerning God’s Will for their community?

Bonhoeffer talks about this in his book Life Together, in describing the Christ-centered nature of Christian community:

Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this.… We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.

What does this mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time and united for eternity.

Stephen E. Fowl, Philippians, The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005), 79.

Here’s a question: what was Mr. Miller’s first name? You know, the man who signed over this property, so that our predecessors could have a church on this land? Does anyone remember? More importantly, is it his church? No, it’s not. I’m the pastor, is it my church? Is it YOUR church? You, the people sitting in the pews, who have been here for generations of your family? Here’s my answer: it’s my church in that this is where my membership is, this is where I serve. It’s mine in terms of service and participation. But in terms of ownership, no. It’s Christ’s church. What did I say at the beginning of worship? “As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ and by HIS authority...” This church belongs to Christ. He is our authority.

And rightfully so. He has earned it. He paid for it with his own body and precious blood, given and shed to pay for our sins. He bought all of us. We are his. So it should not be so hard to submit to him, should it? Well, it is. We all know it is. It’s incredibly hard, because we want to be our own authority.

We always have…all the way back to the first man and woman. They were so easily duped with the promise of having their own authority. The only rule they had, from the only authority in their lives, and they were tempted to break it in a matter of moments. “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (ESV, Gen 3:5.) And they - man and woman - assumed their own authority to break God’s Law, and they did what they wanted.

We don’t want to submit to authority. That’s our sinful nature. That’s what we fight and struggle with all the time. We want to be in charge of our own lives. We want to be in control. We want to have the freedom to do what we want, and not what others tell us to do.

What God tells us is that His Will is ultimately better for us than our own will. He knows what’s best for us in the long run. We don’t always know that. Here’s the important part: God ALWAYS uses His authority for our good. Think about that. He ALWAYS uses His authority for our ultimate good. The Law does that. His Commandments, His instruction…always for our good. Maybe we don’t think of it like that, but it’s true.

So, church, in this time of chaos and violence and conflict in our country, how are we to submit to God’s will? How do we do that? We begin in humility. We start not on our feet, but on our knees, praying that God would guide us. Praying that He would show us what He wants us to do. Our country is so divided right now, we can’t even talk to each other. There is genuine evil out there, wreaking havoc and destruction. People are being killed just for wearing a hat in support of a particular political candidate. This is absolutely evil, and it’s growing. We must find a way to stand against the evil, the violence, the hate. These things are not Christian.

So what do we do? We submit to God’s will. Listen to Paul again:

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life.

Our God humbled himself for all of us. We, too, can humble ourselves…and look not only to our own interests, but also to the interest of others. And in our humility, in our submission, God *will* work in us, for our own good and the good of others. And that, brothers and sisters, is how we will shine as lights in the world.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.