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THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST August 31, 2025 Pastor Tom Steers, Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church Brothers & sisters, peace, grace, and mercy be with you through God our Father, and our Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Opening Hymn is: “God Himself Is Present” Lutheran Service Book 907 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkQOHlsv2jo Our Collect Prayer: O Lord of grace and mercy, teach us by Your Holy Spirit to follow the example of Your Son in true humility, that we may withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds avoid ungodly pride; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Readings: Old Testament – Proverbs 25:2-10 Psalm 131 (antiphon v.2) Epistle – Hebrews 13:1-17 Gospel – Luke 14:1-14 Our Hymn of the Day is: “Son of God, Eternal Saviour” Lutheran Service Book 842: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LFe8b2U7wc The Sermon, “Is It Lawful to Heal on the Sabbath?” – What do we learn about God in our Gospel text today? The Sabbath was given to us by the Lord for good reasons, but God doesn’t consider an outward observance more important than saving His most beloved creation – human beings. Christ made that clear when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27) A son, even an ox, who’s fallen into a well on the Sabbath, should be pulled out. If you’ve ever lifted something heavy out of a deep hole, you know how much work it is. In today’s Bible passage, Jesus not only puts the welfare of a seriously ill man above rule-keeping, but even above His own well-being. Jesus will go to the cross because of this sort of thing. He puts the foolish, broken sinner before Himself. God’s kingdom works through unusual mechanisms – contrary to the ways of the world. While the world jockeys for wealth and status, God would have His kingdom people invite the helpless, poor, and outcasts to dinner. Treacherous, murderous Pharisees had undoubtedly brought in the man with dropsy in a plot to trap Jesus. If Christ healed the man, they could charge Jesus with a technical crime – breaking the Sabbath. Out of love, Jesus performs the healing, inviting the hypocrites to challenge Him to judge by God’s standards, not those of deceitful unbelievers. What do we learn about ourselves in this text? The Pharisees are fundamentally out of step with God. Our sinful human nature thinks faith is all about rule-keeping, as if keeping rules satisfies God somehow, and could make us ‘perfect.’ We believe ourselves to be in a position of power – testing God Himself, demanding He prove Himself to us. We might even set up occasions for God to demonstrate to our satisfaction that He even exists. We often major in the minors, concerned about morality, only for morality’s sake, and forgetting that God cares about the human being. We can mistakenly stress keeping the Ten Commandments as a means of ‘personal holiness’, instead of respect and love for God, and His will for us to live in a way that benefits other people Christ died for. When we become ‘Pharisees,’ judging rule keepers, we’re not only out of step with God, we’re at times in direct opposition to Him – we would put ourselves in His place. We’re to preach and teach God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, including the ones dealing with sexual sin and murder, but are never to forget that the Gospel predominates, and is the sweet offering of salvation to repentant sinners who turn to Christ. There are three important elements when you extend today’s Gospel text beyond verse 11 of Luke, Chapter 14. Jesus verbally backhands the Pharisees. They are left speechless. He humiliates them. That hurts. In the paragraph after today’s reading, Jesus speaks of graciousness. He calls us to invite people to our table who can’t pay us back. That grace comes from a place outside ourselves. The source is our Lord & Saviour. When reading any of the three synoptic Gospels, it’s important to notice just where you are in the book. We’re currently in the second half of the Gospel of Luke, and things are getting more than tense. The tension between Jesus and the religious authorities is building. The Pharisees are setting a trap for Christ. Jesus is eating a meal on the Sabbath. He is rightfully seen as a religious figure. A leader of the Pharisees invited Him for dinner, but this is a test, a trial, not a social event. In a sense, Jesus is on the menu. They place a man opposite Him who has a serious disease: dropsy, a disorder we often call edema. It’s the accumulation of fluid that causes swelling, often incapacitating and painful. This disease is very visible; one can’t help but notice it. Before modern medicine, it was incurable and often considered a sign of God’s disfavour. Jesus looks at the suffering man, turns to those who’d set the trap, and sets a trap for them, asking: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” The psalmist was fond of noting that men who set traps for others often fall into it themselves (see Psalm 9:15-16). The Pharisees have laid a none-too-subtle one, and Jesus called them on it. None of them would leave a sheep or calf in a well on the Sabbath. It would die. How can they criticize Christ for simply pulling a human being out of suffering, even on the Sabbath? Jesus has left the Pharisees embarrassed and angry, so He makes matters worse, and tells them a parable insinuating they don’t know basic morality. If you think Jesus is pushing the buttons of these treacherous deceivers, you’re right. He goads these hypocrites, hard enough that they’ll start plotting His death. He wants them to; it is part of God’s plan of salvation. Jesus has a God-appointed date with the cross. Through the actions of one who is both true God and true man, the transgressions of the world have been paid for. Yours and mine. The seriously ill, who are dying of sin, will be saved. Not through ritualistic observance, or any effort of our own. Not by ‘good works,’ piety, chanting of mantras, new age self-worship, or any other demonic lie. But through Jesus Christ, alone. The Saviour of the world has fulfilled His mission. His free gift of salvation is for all who believe. Amen. The Lord’s Prayer – Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. The Benediction – The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Our Closing Hymn: Almighty Father, Bless the Word” Lutheran Service Book 923 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJu3-_3wFYM