Sermon -- 13th Sunday after Pentecost (August 22, 2021)

PROVERBS 9:1-6

WISDOM SUMMONS US TO THE FEAST THAT SAVES.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Quiz question: If you know that Jesus Christ died on a cross and rose from the dead on the third day, does this save you?  I am sure that your answer is a quick and emphatic, “Yes!”  You might be surprised to learn that you are wrong.  Knowledge of these facts does not save you.  The devil knows all these things are true, too.  There are many people who went to church as children, but then stopped and for years have had no interest in the Bible.  They still know that Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead; they just don’t care anymore.  Mere knowledge of these facts does not save.  We are saved by faith, that is, by trusting in the promises attached to these facts.  It is a difference in saying, “Jesus died on a cross,” and “Jesus died on a cross to pay for my sins and to gain eternal life for me.”  This is why Wisdom calls out to people.  Wisdom does not say, “Here is some interesting trivia.”  Rather, Wisdom summons you to consume God’s word and to be consumed by it.  Wisdom summons you to the feast that saves. 

     Wisdom has done everything to present this feast to you.  Wisdom built the house and fortified it with seven pillars.  Wisdom has prepared the feast.  The meat has been slaughtered and roasted.  The wine has been poured.  The table has been set.  The banquet is ready.  Then Wisdom sends messengers to the heights of the city so that everyone can hear the invitation.  The feast is a gracious gift.  No one is handed a bill.  No one is asked to provide extra food.  No one is told that the house is too full.  The feast is prepared for all, and all are summoned to go to it.

     In Proverbs “Wisdom” is personified.  Wisdom in the flesh is Jesus.  He has done all the work to save you.  It is he who was slaughtered for the sins of the world and roasted in God’s wrath on the cross.  Whatever sins you have done—the sins that haunt you or the sins that you can’t even recall—all sins have been laid upon Jesus.  He has paid for all of them.  You are not told to bring something extra.  No one is told their sins are too much or that the kingdom of God is too full.  But to benefit from Jesus’ saving work, you must feast upon Christ, that is, believe in him for salvation.  There is no other way for sins to be forgiven.  There is no other name that saves.

     Wisdom summons us to the feast that saves.  “She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here’” (Proverbs 9:3,4)!  It is not a one-time invitation.  It is always needed because we are always sinners.  We always need the Bread of Life to live.  The Bread of Life is Jesus, and it is given when Jesus is at work to save.  It is given to us through God’s word.  It is also given tangibly in Holy Communion.  There, we ingest the body and blood of Christ which have taken away our sins and which have overcome the grave.  This feasting is essential to the Christian faith.  Therefore, wisdom summons us the feast that saves.

     In the US Civil War, Union soldiers who were captured in battle were taken to prisons.  A notoriously bad prison was in Andersonville, Georgia.  Due to lack of food and proper medical treatment, these soldiers became malnourished.  Their bodies were emaciated.  If you saw their photographs, you would not say, “Okay, they are getting enough to keep them alive.  They should be fine.”  Rather, we would say, “They need to eat.  Their bodies need nourishment if they will ever be strong, active, and productive again.”  It is the same with your faith.  If it is not being fed, it will starve to death.  I don’t know how quickly that happens, but who would want to flirt with that?  Almost dead is never a good condition. 

     Wisdom summons us to the feast that saves.  The Bread of Life keeps our faith alive.  We feast on it as the word is preached and as Holy Communion is given.  This is how God comes to us to save us.  This is what makes us wise for salvation.  This is how the Lord keeps our faith living and active.  This is what brings comfort throughout this life and confidence for the life to come.  Therefore, wisdom continues to summon us to the feast that saves.

     Wisdom summons us for more.  “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:6).  “Simple ways” refer to how easily we can be swayed away from God’s word by socially accepted attitudes and the deceptive arguments that support them.  Wisdom continues to summon us because we live in a world that entices us away from God’s word.  The devil seeks to deceive you.  And when the devil lies, most of what he says is true.  The devil wants to make his lies sound like they agree with God’s word.  This is how he leads people astray.  And the world has adopted his tactics.  The world has learned how to argue that an evil is actually good.

     Consider the arguments for abortion.  People don’t talk about a baby who grows in a mother’s womb.  Everyone knows that murder is wrong.  So now it is about women’s health care and her individual freedom.  Only a scoundrel would be against women’s health care or deny her freedom.  And just like that, the murder of unborn babies becomes good.  This is how God’s people are deceived into defending the abortion of babies. 

     Another example is demonstrated by the mantra, “Love is love.”  Well, who could argue with that?  What else could love be?  The mantra, however, is used to defend perversion.  To pervert is to use something apart from or opposed to its intended use.  God established marriage.  He gets to define what it is and how it is observed.  God’s word is clear that marriage is the joining together of one man and one woman for life.  The word of God also includes this instruction: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4).  So, sexual intimacy is good within the bond of marriage.  Everything outside of it is a perversion of God’s institution.

     When God’s people hear his words, they respond, “This is the word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.”  Even if it convicts you, you know that God’s word is right.  The world despises these things.  It mocks God’s word and those who hold to it.  It insists that, in the end, there is no such thing as perversion.  Again, people invoke freedom—that they are free to act however they want.  The world, however, does not give you the freedom to uphold God’s word.  The world chants its mantra, “Love is love,” convinced that saying it loud enough, often enough, and by enough people means God’s word can be shouted down and ignored.  Even Christians are swept up by it.

     Wisdom summons you so that you will not turn from a true faith to a perverted one.  The devil is good at using even God’s word to deceive God’s people.  Consider what Jesus said in John 5.  “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).  This makes sense to most people, that those who have done good will be saved.  Therefore, many people produce a resume of works they have done and a list of references who will tell them that they are good people.  Chances are, you’ve made similar assessments of yourself.  I don’t think you can live a long life without wondering what kind of difference you have made in the world.  Naturally, you want to be able to recall good things you have done, and you hope that you will be remembered for them.  You hope that God will remember them, too.  As sensible as this sounds, where does it put your focus?  On yourself.  Where do you put your confidence for heaven?  On your works.

     Now, the devil can leave you there, convincing you to trust that you are good enough for God.   But if you demand to be judged on your own merits, citing only good deeds and ignoring your sins, you will be lost because “there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).  The devil is more likely to question what good you’ve done.  You will wonder if it was enough and begin to fear that it is not.  Then he will remind you of your sins, and you will become convinced that there is no hope for you at all.  You will recognize yourself for the sinner you are, but since you are focused on yourself, you will find no Savior, no comfort, and no hope.

     This is why Jesus declared, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).  Jesus is your Savior and your hope.  He takes away your sins so you are not condemned by them.  He credits you with his innocence.  So, God not only calls you good; he declares you blameless.  Only Jesus delivers this salvation.  Only Jesus grants eternal life.  Therefore, Jesus summons you not merely to know facts about his life, but to believe in him, to cling to his word, and to feast on all the benefits he has won for you.

     Wisdom summons you to the feast that saves.  You need to hear wisdom’s words again and again.  The world will always promote corrupt ways.  They expect you to march with them.  The devil will always deceive.  His lies are slick.  If you want to stand firm, your faith needs to be fed.  If you want to remain on the path of righteousness, you need the proper insight.  Therefore, wisdom summons us all: “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:6).

     Jesus does not just plop us onto the path of righteousness and leave us there.  He calls us to walk in the way of insight.  He speaks to us in the Scriptures so that we will not be led astray by a seductive voice.  He instructs us so that we will always know what God declares to be good and what God forbids as evil.  He encourages us so that we do not grow weary in doing his will.  He feeds us and keeps us nourished so that we remain strong, active, and productive.  We offer numbers Bible Classes to aid you in the feeding of your faith and for enlightenment in God’s wisdom.  By being regularly fed, you will recognize that there are great blessings for walking in the way of insight.  For, you spare yourself many griefs by living according to God’s word.  And when we struggle, stumble, or fail, the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.

     Wisdom summons us to a feast that saves.  Our Lord has prepared the banquet.  He presents his blessings free of charge.  He gives himself for our salvation—given into death to pay for our sins, given in the word to declare his salvation, given at the altar for the forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus gives us the wisdom to pass through this life, and Jesus makes us wise for salvation for the life to come.

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