Sermon on Zephaniah 1:12b, 1 Thessalonians 5:9,
and Matthew 25:14-30
St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA
Sunday, November 16, 2008,
27th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A
(word count: 857)

Trillionaire Slaves

We do not give God enough credit. We short-change God.

For instance, many of us come to worship on Sunday but then go about the rest of the week as if God does not really make a difference. We believe luck, fate, superstition, and hard work make a big difference from day to day, but God? Oh, he's good for the occasional miracle and for some spiritual comfort, otherwise God doesn't do much, or so we act.

We fuss over guardian angels, but then we fail to go the extra step and give God the glory. Isn't God the one who sends the angels? The angels know to give God the glory. We short-change God.

Similarly, many people short-change the Church, which comes from God. It's sweet and nice, full of feel-good sentiments and helpful rules but, for the most part, it doesn't really make much of an impact. We treat the Church like a feel-good club that you can join if you want but that you can ignore if you want. It doesn't matter. Go to church, don't go. Whatever works for you. It doesn't matter.

We hear just such an attitude in our first reading, Zephaniah 1. In verse 12, the writer reports that many people are saying, “The LORD will not do good, nor will he do harm.” He's just there, watching us as if we were a TV show. Thousands of people in Zephaniah's time thought that way. “God doesn't do good, doesn't do bad. He's just up there, hanging out, watching the show.” Deism.

The people of Zephaniah will soon learn that they are wrong. God announces that he will squeeze them with wrath. The people of Zephaniah are about to learn that God does make a difference.

Are we, the baptized believers, going to experience the wrath of God if we think that God does not make a difference? No. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 tells us, “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We will receive, not God's wrath, but the jackpot of eternal life. As Luther writes in the Book of Concord, Christ has bought our salvation, not with silver and gold, but with his precious blood. The Redeemer paid the ransom to rescue us from wrath.

However, even though, because of Christ, we will not experience the wrath we hear about in Zephaniah, we are still not to underestimate God's impact on our lives. As in Zephaniah's day, many of us live as if God does not make much of a difference. We short-change God by underestimating him.

So what specifically does God do for us in our lives today? Let us count some of the ways. For starters, Luther tells us in the Book of Concord that the Father gives us life. Are babies being born? That would be the Father's doing. The Father also gives us food, a place to live, a paycheck, clothes, medicine, people who love us. Do you have any of those things? You may not have all that you want or need, but whatever riches you do have are evidence that God is active in your life, making a difference. Let's not short-change God by under-valuing him. Let's praise him by sharing the wealth he gives us.

Luther goes on to tell us in the Book of Concord that the Holy Spirit is with us, active, right here, right now. The Spirit is the one who gives us faith to believe. The Holy Spirit is the engine powering the Church. The Holy Spirit enables us to repent and believe that God will forgive us. This worship service is evidence of God's activity in the world. If it weren't for the Holy Spirit, there would be no worship service, no St. James. The Holy Spirit makes baptism, holy communion, forgiveness of sins, the sermon, and the healing service all possible. Let's not short-change God by under-appreciating him. Let's praise God by sharing the wealth he gives us today.

Best of all, Luther reminds us in the Book of Concord that salvation, eternal life, is because of Jesus Christ. If it weren't for Christ, we'd end up prisoners in hell, penniless, senseless. Because of Christ, we have life. Let's not short-change God. Let's praise God by sharing the wealth.
Like the people in Zephaniah's day, many of us act as if God and his church do not matter much, that God is just up in heaven watching, inactive, that the Church is just a nice club that you can take or leave. The reality is that God, the Trinity, without ceasing deposits riches into our accounts. Every day, the Lord fills our accounts with riches. God is not bankrupt, and neither is the Church. God is giving us riches through our basic needs, through worship, through forgiveness, through eternal life. The Trinity has entrusted us with a fortune, is here, active in your life, right now. Good and trustworthy slaves, we are wealthy. We are God's trillionaire slaves. God makes a difference in your life now.