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Luther for the Busy Man
Hosted by Martin Luther · EN
Luther for the Busy Man is a new project brought to you by the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary, in cooperation with Ambassador Publications, the publishing arm of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. Listen to daily meditations by Martin Luther himself, following the church calendar and read to you by Dave Ryerson.
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Week of Trinity III - Monday
2d ago00:03:26Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY III - MONDAYLESSON: ROMANS 5:15-17The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him … the Pharisees and the scribes murmured. Luke 15:1-2In our Gospel, two groups are set before us as an example and for our instruction. First of all, there are the Pharisees and hypocrites. These people were regarded as models of perfection in respect to all kinds of piety and godliness. They were immersed in holiness over their ears. Secondly, there are the open sinners and tax collectors. These people were immersed in sin over their ears. For this reason, they were despised by the hypocritical “saints” and regarded as unworthy of all fellowship with them.Christ comes in between these two groups and delivers a judgement. He points out to these “saints” that they must yield themselves in service to the “sinners,” load up the “sinners” and carry them on their shoulders and take thought how to help them out of their sins with their righteousness and piety. The “saints” do not want to accept this role. But this is truly the proper procedure here and what must be done.The correct Christian procedure is to fall down and become completely linked with the “sinner,” no matter how deeply he is immersed in the mire of sin. This sin you must take upon yourself and wallow your way out of the mire with it, treating it just as if it were your own sin. Reproach and chastisement are necessary, and the whole matter must be treated in all earnestness. You must never despise a sinner but love him with all your heart. If you are proud and despise a sinner, there is no hope for you; you stand utterly condemned.SL 11:1236 (6-7)PRAYER: Fill our hearts at all times with Your grace and love, Lord Jesus, that with You we may love all sinners and lead them in faith to the victory over sin which You have achieved by Your suffering and death on the cross and now offer to sinners in Your Gospel, for Your mercy and truth’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, 4:57-66.
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Week of Trinity III - Sunday
3d ago00:03:56Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY III - SUNDAYLESSON: LUKE 15:1-10The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2It is not at all unusual for religious people to assume a very self-righteous attitude over against those whom they regard as “sinners,” to turn up their noses at those who are not as holy as they themselves are, and to despise and shun them. This is always the way of human reason; it cannot be otherwise. Self-righteous men are always close to hypocrisy and cannot help despising those who are not like themselves. Their own life counts for everything with them. They blow themselves up and cannot bring themselves to show any consideration at all for “sinners.” They know nothing at all about becoming servants of other men and never realize that their own piety should be of service to other men. They are also very proud and hard and do not understand how to manifest love to others. Confronted with a case of need, they are quite likely to argue as follows: “This bumpkin is not even worthy to undo my shoes; how can I be expected to show him my love?”This is often where God comes in to play His part. He allows this proud spirit to take a heavy fall and to receive a sound rebuff. A marriage may break up and, at times, something even more terrible can happen, so that in the end this proud spirit is forced to lash out against himself, saying, “Keep quiet and get a grip on yourself, brother; you are no more than the material out of which this ‘bumpkin’s’ trousers are made.” In this way, he comes to realize that we are all the one cake and that one donkey does not have to become another donkey’s pack animal. We are all born from the same flesh. SL 11:1236 (5)PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, You have taught us that the greatest of all is the servant of all and that the humble shall be exalted. Preserve within us a simple, humble heart and faith, ever ready to serve all men, 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, 4:57-66.
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Week of Trinity II - Saturday
4d ago00:03:47Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - SATURDAYLESSON: PSALM 84“Compel people to come in!” Luke 14:23We must understand the compulsion referred to here as applying to those who have a despondent and feeble conscience. These people should also be invited to the banquet and compelled to come in. The reference, however, is not to any external compulsion but to an inner, spiritual compulsion.This results when the Law is preached and sin is disclosed and brought to light, so that a man comes to realize what he really is. He is brought under compulsion, compelled to come in, when a vivid knowledge of sin is stirred up in his conscience. As a result of this, he also realizes that he is nothing in God’s sight, that all his works are sinful and even condemnatory. His despondent conscience and tender, terrified heart so overwhelm him that he loses all confidence in himself and can see no help at hand anywhere to provide any comfort at all. In this wretched condition he is finally led to despair.When a man has been brought under compulsion in this way, you should not delay with the invitation to “come in” and help him out of this despondency. This is achieved when you comfort him with the Gospel, telling him how he has been freed from his sins with the words, “Believe in Christ, that He has freed you from your sins and you will be rid of your sins.” This is what is meant in this Gospel by compelling men to come in so that the householder’s home may be filled.SL 11:1214 (12-13)PRAYER: Lord, you have reminded us in a very vivid manner that we are always confronted with a situation of grave urgency respecting our invitation to men to come in and partake of the banquet prepared for them in your kingdom of grace. Grant us wisdom and courage to perform our duties in this area with determination and love, in the name of 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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Friday
5d ago00:02:53Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - FRIDAYLESSON: JOHN 10:14-16“Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’” Luke 14:21The householder’s instruction to his servant to go out quickly “to the streets and lanes of the city” refers to the fact that the Jews proved themselves unworthy of the Gospel and turned away from it. As a result of this, the disciples of Christ turned to the Gentiles. Before His resurrection, Christ instructed His disciples not to turn to the Gentiles or to preach in the cities of the Samaritans. They were too busy themselves only with the sheep of the house of Israel and to pasture them. This they also did.But later, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when the Jews opposed Christ’s Word of salvation and refused to accept it, the apostles told the Jews, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us” (Acts 13:46-47). The apostles then quoted a passage from the prophet Isaiah, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).The same instruction is given by the householder to the servant here in this Gospel: “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame. Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:21, 23).SL 11:1214 (11)PRAYER: O God, in your great mercy and grace you have given us the good news of salvation in your Son Jesus Christ. Fill our hearts with thankfulness so that we may tell abroad the glad tidings which we have received, through the same Jesus 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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Thursday
6d ago00:03:20Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - THURSDAYLESSON: LUKE 14:25-33He called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34-35He who gives up something for the Gospel really loses nothing. Even if you lose your earthly life for Christ’s sake, He will give you another, better life, eternal life, as Christ Himself says: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). If you have to leave child and wife, remember that God can take care of them and be a much better father to them than you have ever been. There is no doubt at all about this. Believe it with all your heart!You have equally great assurance, together with rich promises and encouragement, that He will never fall down on His Word. He will keep His Word, as we shall also discover if we are ready to put our trust in it and to resign ourselves to it. He has given us His Word and promised; what more could we want, or what could we desire that is greater?Is something lacking? Only in our faith. Let no one come to this banquet unless he comes with a thorough-going faith which exalts God above all creatures and loves Him above all else.SL 11:1213 (10)PRAYER: Almighty God, so reign in our heart and soul that Christ may always have dominion there. Grant that we may continue in true faith to confess Him with our tongues and glorify Him by our works with You, O Father, and the blessed Spirit, now and forever. 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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Wednesday
1w ago00:03:16Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - WEDNESDAYLESSON: MATTHEW 9:9-13“But they all alike began to make excuses.” Luke 14:18These words are a comment on Christ’s words reported in Matthew: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38).There are really only very few who are endowed with adequate resignation to accept this invitation. For anyone who would come to this banquet must stake everything on the Gospel—body and property, wife and child, friend and foe. He must give up everything that separates him from the Gospel, no matter how good, correct, and holy it may be.You should not suppose that the men who excuse themselves here were gross sinners or mixed up in unjust activities and action. By no means! They could all present a very good front. It is not at all wrong to buy and carry-on business, to look after oneself well, to take a wife and marry. But we must not become involved in all these matters to such an extent that we cannot forsake them, clinging to them with all our heart. We must be prepared to forsake anything that is opposed to the Gospel. And self-denial will mean a cross.The Gospel is a word of the cross. It will set up stumbling-blocks over which some will certainly falter. We must be prepared to forsake everything rather than cut ourselves off from God’s Word or His love.SL 11:1212 (7-9)PRAYER: Almighty God, whose beloved Son, for our sake, willingly offered himself to endure the cross, its agony and its shame, remove from us all coldness and cowardice of heart and give us courage to take up our allotted task and follow Him, through the same Jesus 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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Tuesday
1w ago00:03:57Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - TUESDAYLESSON: MATTHEW 22:1-14“Come; for all is now ready.” Luke 14:17The message which the servant was to convey to the invited guests to urge them to come to the banquet was: “Come; for all is now ready.” Christ died; He slaughtered sin and death in His death; He rose from the dead; the Holy Spirit was given; in short, everything that belonged to this banquet was prepared. Everything was prepared in such a way that it would cost us nothing. Through Christ, the Father assumed the whole cost so that we might enjoy His blessings without any merit or contribution on our part and become abundantly rich.First of all, He sent out His servant to the Jews to invite men to this banquet. The Jews had received special promises and undertakings from God about this banquet. The law of Moses and all the prophets were set up and appointed to prepare the people of Israel for God, as the angel Gabriel also stated of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah:“He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (Luke 1:15-17).When the Jews had trotted out all their excuses to John the Baptist and the apostles, to a very large extent rejecting Christ, the invitation to come to the banquet was extended to the Gentiles.SL 11:1211 (5-6)PRAYER: Lord, You have made it quite plain in Your all-embracing Gospel invitation that all are welcome in Your kingdom. May we at all times receive this invitation whole-heartedly and treat it in all seriousness for ourselves and others, through Christ our Lord and for the glory of His name. 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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Monday
1w ago00:03:19Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - MONDAYLESSON: ISAIAH 55:1-7“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many; and at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant.” Luke 14:16-17Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast.” Matthew 22:1-3This invitation was sent out in the manner described in this Gospel. The man sent out his servant to invite guests to this great banquet. The Apostles were sent out by Christ into all the world with one and the same message: to invite men to this heavenly banquet with one voice, with one Gospel, with one message.If St. Peter had ever preached at a place where St. Paul had previously preached the Gospel, it would have been one and the same proclamation, the one like the other. It would not have been difficult for the hears to declare, “Peter preaches exactly the same message that we heard from Paul. They agree perfectly; they proclaim one and the same message.”To indicate this basic sameness in the proclamation of the message, the evangelist says here, “At the time for the banquet he sent his servant.” He does not say “servants” or “many servants,” but “servant.”SL 11:1211 (4)PRAYER: We thank and praise You, heavenly Father, for the one, clear message of salvation, which You have given us in Your Gospel of salvation. Strengthen us in such a way that we always cling to this with our whole hearts, for Christ’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, 4:33-38.
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Week of Trinity II - Sunday
1w ago00:02:54Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY II - SUNDAYLESSON: LUKE 14:16-21“A man once gave a great banquet.” Luke 14:16In this Gospel, as well as in the remainder of Holy Scripture, we must make an effort, to the best of our ability, to grasp the true, simple meaning of the text and to rest our heart and conscience on it. Anyone who wants to do battle with the devil must not waver to and fro or totter, but must be sure of his ground, armed with clear and certain Scripture. Otherwise, when the devil gets him on to his fork by means of an unsure understanding, he will toss him to and fro like the wind tosses a dry leaf.In this Gospel we must also obtain a sure understanding so that we may stand our ground. It has nothing at all to do with the Lord’s Supper, as has sometimes been claimed with the assistance of some really hair-splitting exegesis.The sum and substance of this Gospel is that the Gospel has been preached and proclaimed in all the world, but only few accept it. It is called a “banquet” or a supper because the Gospel will be the last, final word and doctrine which will bring this world to a close.This supper, then, is nothing else but a rich, precious meal, which God has made ready by means of the Gospel, through Christ, in which He sets before us great blessings and rich treasures.SL 11:1210 (1-3)PRAYER: Lord, You have set before us great blessings and rich treasures in the banquet prepared for us through Your Son and offered to us in Your Gospel. May we never lose sight of these blessings and treasures but ever regard them as our highest good, 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, 4:33-38.
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The Week of Trinity I - Saturday
2w ago00:03:33Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY I - SATURDAYLESSON: HEBREWS 3:7-15Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them … If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Luke 16:29, 31In this Gospel you see how Abraham refuses to send someone from the dead to teach the living at the request of the rich man. He reminds the rich man that the living have Moses and the prophets to whom they should give heed.In these words, we are also reminded of God’s prohibition against any kind of consultation of the dead on the part of the living (cf. Deuteronomy 18:10-12). It is certainly a devilish apparition when spirits make themselves known to men in response to various invocations, and request men to offer up masses for the dead, to undertake pilgrimages for them and to perform other works. There have also been claims that they have given assurances of success to those who have heeded their instructions.In this way, the devil has misled men into putting their trust in works and drawn them away from faith. He has created the illusion among men that works can perform great wonders. What St. Paul foretold is being fulfilled, that God sends upon those who perish and refuse to love the truth and be saved “a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).Therefore, be well advised and learn that God refuses to make known how the dead fare after this life. Here the only thing that can help us is faith through God’s Word, faith which believes that after this life God receives believers into blessedness and condemns unbelievers. This is made abundantly clear in the Gospel of the rich man and poor Lazarus.SL 11:1207 (31-32)AE 78:65PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, You are with us throughout our life; abide with us also at our death. Grant us not to die eternally but to rise to life everlasting with You and in You, who live and reign in the glory of the eternal Trinity, one God, forevermore. Amen.
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