Luther for the Busy Man

Week of Trinity XV - Friday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - FRIDAYLESSON: LUKE 12:13-21“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15How does it come about that the Gospel and St. Paul single out greed and call it idolatry? They do not do this in the case of other gross sins like impurity, harlotry, evil lusts and thoughts, unchastity, and many other vices opposed to God. It is a very great disgrace that gold should be our god whom we serve, in whom we trust and on whom we rely. This god of gold cannot preserve us or save us; he cannot stand or walk, hear or see; he has no power or might, neither consolation nor help.What help to the emperor are his great treasures and riches when the hour comes that he must die? Money is a disgraceful, hateful, and powerless god who cannot help you even with one of your little sores and cannot even protect himself. There he lies in his box and must be waited on. Indeed, one must pay attention to him as something powerless, impotent, and weak. The master who possesses him must take precautions day and night that a thief does not steal him. This powerless god cannot help himself or anyone else. What a god this is, a dead god who cannot give the slightest help, a god deserving of our loathing, and yet a costly god! He lets himself be waited on in the most magnificent manner, to be guarded with great chests and castles. His master must always be dancing attendance on him, taking care that he is not destroyed by fire or any other calamity. If this treasure or god consists of rich clothing or fabrics, he must also become an object of special care and guarded against the tiniest of worms and moths who might so easily spoil him and eat him up. What a shocking and accursed thing is unbelief!SL 11:1617 (10-12)PRAYER: You have warned us against the sin of covetousness, heavenly Father, because it is a sin that can so easily take complete possession and control of our hearts and lives. Keep this idolatry out of our lives by instilling in us the ideals of true Christian service, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:102-117.

Week of Trinity XV - Thursday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - THURSDAYLESSON: PSALM 49:16-20“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44The world cannot hide its unbelief in its gross public sins. I can plainly see that it has more love for a florin than it has for Christ and all His apostles. Even if the latter were all present and preached in person, it would not change the world’s attitude so much.I, too, can hear the Gospel proclaimed daily, but it does not necessarily benefit me daily. But it can also happen, after I have heard the Gospel for a whole year, that the Holy Spirit visits me with a favorable hour. If I obtain such an hour, I do not merely obtain five hundred florins; the riches of the whole world is mine. What would I not have if I had the Gospel? I would receive God, who is the maker of silver and gold and everything that is on this earth. For I have received a Spirit of such a kind that through Him I know that I will be preserved forever. This is far more than having a church full of florins.See whether our heart is not a rogue full of wickedness and unbelief! If I were a real Christian, I would say, “At the hour when the Gospel comes, a hundred thousand florins, to be sure infinitely more, come to me.” When I have this treasure, I have everything in heaven and on earth. But to this treasure one must devote one’s whole service; one cannot serve God and mammon. Either you must love God and hate money, or you must hate God and love money. This is how matters stand and not otherwise.SL 11:1616 (8)PRAYER: O God, guard and defend us especially against the idolatry of loving earthly things, wealth, happiness, success, and honor, more than we love You and the blessings of Your Gospel. Give us the Holy Spirit of truth and understanding that we may always treasure the blessings which You have conferred on us in Your Gospel, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:102-117.

Week of Trinity XV - Wednesday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV -  WEDNESDAYLESSON: COLOSSIANS 3:5-11Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:5Where are these people who love God and have no hankering at all after money and property? Take a close look at the whole world, including the Christians, to see whether they despise money and property. To hear the Gospel and to live according to it requires some effort and serious attention. We have the Gospel, God be praised; no one can deny that. But what is our response to it? Our one concern is to hear it and learn it and nothing more comes of it. We allow ourselves to be persuaded that it is enough for us to know it; we never bother ourselves with actually doing it. What does cause grave concern is if anyone leaves a florin or two, or it may be only a cent or two, on the windowsill or somewhere else in a room unguarded. This could cause concern and even fear that the money might be stolen. But it does not concern the same people very much to be without the Gospel for a whole year or so. And such fellows want to be classed as evangelicals!Here we see what and who such people really are. If we were true Christians, we would despise earthly property and become really concerned about the Gospel. We would also live by it and prove this by our deeds. We see too little of such Christians. We must hear the judgement of the Gospel (Matthew 6:24-24) that we despise God and hate His Word for the sake of earthly riches and blessings. What a fine reputation that is! We should be ashamed in the very depths of our heart. We are really in a bad way.SL 11:1615 (6-7)PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive us our many sins of omission when it comes to really putting Your Word and Gospel into practice. Enlighten us by Your Holy Spirit that the Gospel becomes our greatest treasure, bestowing upon us the power to live as Your true children, through Christ our Lord. Amen.Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:102-117. 

Week of Trinity XV - Tuesday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - TUESDAYLESSON: PSALM 37:1-11“Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24You will find very few people who do not sin against this Gospel (Matthew 6:24-34). The Lord pronounces a very strict judgement here, and it is alarming to hear Him make this judgement which might very well apply to us. No one likes admitting it. No one is very pleased to hear someone telling us that we hate and despise God and are, in fact, His enemies. Almost all of us, on being asked if we loved God and were attached to Him would reply, “Yes, I love Him.” But this Gospel seems to suggest that we all hate God and despise Him in our love of mammon and our attachment to it.God certainly puts up with such a mixed state of affairs in regard to our service of Himself. He bides His time with much patience. But when He deems it fitting, He can also intervene in a very drastic manner sooner than we expect it. He who loves his money and property and clings to it with strong attachment must hate God; it cannot be otherwise. Jesus places two alternatives alongside of each other here which are mutually hostile and concludes: if you love one of these two and become attached to it, you must hate the other one and despise it.Therefore, no matter how pleasantly one lives here on this earth, clinging to one’s property, in such a case there must be hatred of God; it cannot possibly be otherwise. Contrariwise, he who is not attached to money and property in this way loves God. This is certain.SL 11:1615 (5)PRAYER: Lord, give us, in all the days of our earthly pilgrimage, a proper understanding and appreciation of the most important priorities in our life of service in Your kingdom. Let us never become slaves of mammon but ever remain Your true servants, in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:102-117.

Week of Trinity XV - Monday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV -MONDAYLESSON: MATTHEW 15:1-9“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24The man who wants to serve two masters will always find himself in a relationship to one of them which is not service in any sense at all. Matters must always take a course like the one described by the Lord in this week’s Gospel (Matthew 6:24-34). You can force a servant to do something to which he is opposed and which annoys him. But no one can compel him to do it gladly or from his heart. Perhaps he will do it as long as his master is present, but as soon as his master leaves, he also hurries away and does not really make a good job of things.It is the Lord’s will that our service should flow from love and be done willingly. If this is not the case, it is not real service. No one is pleased with what we do unwillingly. This is quite natural, and we have experience of this daily. Now, if it commonly applies among all ranks and situations among men that no one can serve two masters, it will apply much more to our service of God.Our service of God can never be a divided service. We must serve Him alone, and our service must come from the heart. That is why our Lord states quite categorically, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” God cannot suffer us to have another master besides Him. He is a jealous God, as He Himself declares, and cannot tolerate us serving Him and His enemy. “You must be Mine alone,” He says, “Or not at all.”SL 11:1614 (3-4)PRAYER: O Lord, our God, You leave us in no doubt at all with Your “either ... or” instructions about the kind of service which alone can please You. Take our hearts into Your keeping and purify them with Your Holy Spirit, so that we always serve You with our whole hearts, for Your name’s sake. Amen.Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:102-117.