Septuagesima
Dear friends in Christ. Today we leave the glory of the Epiphany season—the season in which we saw Jesus reveal all of His divine glory and majesty—and enter the short, 3 Sunday season of pre-Lent. Today has the Latin name Septuagesima, which means that there are about 70 days until Easter. In this short season coming before Lent we prepare and strengthen ourselves for the rigors of the upcoming Lenten penitence.
Both today’s Gospel and Epistle mention the struggle that we face as Christians. In the Epistle, St. Paul compares the Christian’s life to that of running a race: Do you not know that when runners compete in the stadium, they all run, but only one receives the prize? Run like that—to win. We live our lives with the one goal in mind—to live our lives in the holy Christian faith and to complete our lives/ die in that faith in Christ. That is the one thing vital. And then St. Paul goes on to make another sports comparison: There is no pummeling of the air in the way I box. Instead I hit my body hard and make it my slave so that, after preaching to others, I myself will not be rejected. The point? We keep fighting against sin and the temptation to sin so that we do not return to a life of sin and so drive the Holy Spirit and faith from us.
Today’s Gospel also gives us a hint at the difficulty of the life of faith, but from a different angle. ‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ Notice how life in the kingdom/ the Church/ being part of Jesus’ kingdom is described: burden of the day and the scorching heat. So Lent, which we will soon enter, with its rigors of the Lenten fast and the special time of examination and repentance remind us that the Christian life is not all fun and games; but rather it is a serious matter.
But why do runners run the race? Why do boxers box? To win the prize—in St. Paul’s day, a wreath! Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable victor’s wreath, but we do it for an imperishable one. Why do the workers endure the burden of the day and the scorching heat? –For the wage at the end of the day. They each received a denarius, that is, a day’s wage. They look ahead to the end/ the goal. That’s what Christians are called to do as well—to look ahead to heaven and its blessedness, even in the midst of the struggles of faith, in the trials we endure, in what we suffer for being a Christian.
God doesn’t do the believing for us. He gives us the gift of faith and we believe; and we fight to remain in the faith against the onslaughts of the devil and his allies to try to drive us from the faith. The Christian life is a struggle—that’s what Lent drives home to us and what this Sunday prepares us for.
And in the parable of today’s Gospel, Jesus so clearly reminds us that although we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, struggle and strive to remain in the faith and fight against sin and temptation, that although we, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, do the work and endure the burden of the day and the scorching heat, and even persecutions, we don’t earn heaven and salvation by it. Instead it is all by His grace: I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you. That’s grace and grace is offensive—we naturally think that we do something to earn God’s favor and salvation. So, yes, we strive for the crown of eternal life. But let not our good works, our disciplines, our sufferings on account of the faith breed self-righteousness in us; instead, let us become all the more humble in our faith and life and may we gladly bear all things rejoicing in the Lord’s grace toward us.
So, if the Christian life is one of constant exercis[ing] self-control in all things, of endur[ing] the burden of the day and the scorching heat; if that’s what it means to be called into Jesus’ kingdom—struggle—what is the point? Why would we want it? But there’s another side to it. Our life as Christians is a life of repentance and struggle—and a struggle which does not earn us heaven—but it is also a life of blessedness. So both are true for the Christian—struggle and blessedness.
It is precisely this blessedness that the Lord tells us about through St. Isaiah in today’s text. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. Here is the blessedness that we Christians, we repentant sinners enjoy!
The imagery the Lord uses goes back to the words of St. Moses to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. The people would enjoy great blessing if they would remain faithful to the Lord and His word and will; but if they would turn away from the Lord and reject Him and His word and will, they would be greatly cursed. And one of those curses was [Dt. 28.30]: you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. But what does the Lord promise in our text? They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The point? –The curse of the law is taken away. That’s why Jesus came—to take away the curse of the law. That’s what we sang this past Christmas about Jesus’ coming [TLH #87, 3]: He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found. The blessedness of repentance/ the blessedness of life that we as Christians enjoy is the full and free forgiveness of our sins. Where there is the sorrow over sin and faith, faith grabs ahold of Jesus’ forgiveness and righteousness. The glorious fact is that Jesus came and took on Himself the curse of our sin—the sin of all people—and suffered on the cross the wrath of God. Jesus was cursed for us. And the blessedness of repentance is, that the faith of repentance recognizes that and clings to Jesus and His works, clings to Jesus as my Savior from sin and the curse of sin. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
What futility there is in a life of the one who rejects Jesus! To be sure, things may seem to be going well for them. They may seem and actually be happy. They may seem to be content and fulfilled according to any and all outward standards the world has. They may be healthy, wealthy and wise. But what—by rejecting Jesus and His work, they are still under the curse. Because they reject the One who was cursed for them, they will have to endure for themselves the curse for their sins—damnation in hell for all eternity. The many years without repentance and faith only increases their condemnation. What will be the end of all their joy and work? May that not be any of us in the end! Instead, let us live lives of repentance—recognizing our sin, being full of sorrow and regret for our sin and in faith receiving Jesus and His forgiveness for that sin. That’s simply called being a Christian; that’s simply life in Jesus’ kingdom, His Church.
Does this mean that as Christians receiving Jesus holiness and forgiveness that we will be healthy, wealthy and wise—everything going well outwardly for us? Absolutely not! Our lives will often still be full of trial and struggle—and perhaps even more so because the devil has us in his sights to destroy our faith. But notice what the Lord says in our text: They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Notice: building homes/ planting and maintaining vineyards, that’s work; we labor to do all those things. But we enjoy the fruits of our labor. In other words, we see all our work, all that we do in our calling, even our struggles and trials, our sicknesses and hurts, in a whole different light/ perspective. In faith, we know Jesus has Himself become the curse and removed from us the curse of sin and its punishments from us and so now we will have the fullness of all heavenly goods in eternal life/ in heaven. That means that now—come what may—we can live in and enjoy undisturbed happiness; we can enjoy the blessings of the Lord in a quiet and peaceable life. Even as we fight against sin; even as we endure the attacks of the devil; even as we suffer—yes we will mourn and tire and hurt—but we have joy in the midst of it all because in the end heaven and eternal life with the holy Triune God, the angels and saints will not be taken away from us. Jesus has come and for us undone the curse!
2. We Christians have true blessedness. Our lives and works as Christians are both fruitful and solid. Our work is not in vain. For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Our Lord’s dear Christian/ the repentant are compared to a tree. A tree is solid and a fruit tree, for example, is fruitful. Yes, we may be rocked; our lives may be filled with upset and trial; but holding to Jesus and His work we are solid. The psalmist describes the Christian/ the one who holds to and ponders the Lord and His word this way [Ps. 1.3]: He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Our lives as Christians, as we live them in repentance and to the Lord, have meaning and purpose. The Lord is with us blessing all that we do. Even if it looks meagre or a failure according to world’s standards, it’s not. Somehow/ someway the Lord is using us and working through us. In fact, He is leading us and strengthening us by His word and sacrament so that living in faith, we live our lives to His glory.
All our work and our struggles—also our work and struggles to fight sin and temptation/ our struggle to live a life of repentance and to remain in the faith—are not in vain, even if it is not outwardly observed, even if we don’t ourselves notice it but notice more our sin. We, dear Christian, have the Holy Spirit in us. Where He is in us, He is never not bring forth fruit in us!
Our work—our fight against sin, our exercis[ing] self-control in all things, our endur[ing] the burden of the day and the scorching heat—is not a burden; it is a light labor and as the Lord tells us in our text: They shall not labor in vain. The simple fact is that as Christians, as those who have repented of our sin, who live lives trusting in Jesus for forgiveness and look forward to the glorious eternity in heaven, we delight in the Lord’s will/ His holy Law. We want to do the will of our God and Savior. St. John tells us very plainly [1 John 5.3]: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. And why not? Not only do we love the Lord but we have His Holy Spirit in us. The Lord Himself in us enlightens and encourages us to live a life of good works—even in the midst of our own suffering and struggles. St. Paul tells us [Ph 1.6; 2.13]: Be confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; and it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Yes, we do the good work; we delight in it, but it is the Lord who works together with the new self/ the Christian in us and leads us into it. He inspires the holy desires and He gives us the opportunities. Yes, this side of eternity, because we are still sinners, our good works will not be perfect but any sin connected with them is forgiven and in grace our Lord takes delight in the good works we do and rewards them.
So, dear Christian, Jesus has called us into His kingdom. As His dear Christians both things are true of us: our lives as Christians is a struggle to remain in the faith; and our lives as Christians is a life of blessedness. This blessedness gives joy, meaning and fruitfulness to our lives and in out struggles. In the Lord our work is not in vain. INJ