The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday is Proverbs 9:1-10. This passage is a call to pay attention to the wisdom of God (v.1-9), which brings life, and not the seductive folly of this evil, sinful world, which leads only to death, physical and eternal (v.13-18). Wisdom is pictured here as a woman who has built on a solid foundation, prepares a great feast, and sends out her servants to invite people to come to receive true “life,” “insight,” “instruction,” “teaching,” and “increase in learning.” This way of wisdom involves being “reproved” and “corrected” in a “loving” way when one is wrong, so that one can become “still wiser.” It begins with “fear of the Lord,” honor and respect for Him, so that one can grow in “the knowledge of the Holy One” and His true insight; and as we heard last week, by faith in Him, one is counted as righteous in His eyes. (Note also that in passages like Isaiah 25:6-9, eternal life is pictured as a time of great joy and feasting with the Lord, and even now, our worship is pictured as enjoying our Lord’s gifts in learning His Word and receiving His Sacraments, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. This reading also parallels the Gospel lesson we hear today and the message and work of Christ our Savior, “in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” for salvation (Colossians 2:2-3).)

The Psalm is Psalm 34:12-22. David, too, is teaching “the fear of the Lord,” which involves battling our sometimes “evil and deceitful” tongues, and seeking peace and good. The Lord knows our struggles, even as believers, with temptations to evil all around, and our battles with “those who hate the righteous” and our battles with our own sinful nature. Our Lord knows that there are times when we are “broken-hearted” and “crushed in spirit.” “Many are the afflictions” even of those trying to live in a “righteous” way. But “the Lord redeems the life of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” There is forgiveness and hope in our Lord’s love. That is especially clear in our Lord Jesus and His sacrificial love for us in the New Testament. Paul writes, in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” See also how Peter quotes Psalm 34:15-17 in his first letter, 1 Peter 3:10-12. Even if we are “reviled” by others, Peter says, “who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good. But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:13-17).

Go now to one of the Epistle lessons that can be read this Sunday, from 1 John 3:13-18. John says, very bluntly, “Do not be surprised that the world hates you.” That was very true in the ancient world, with Greeks and Romans and many other cultures opposed to Christianity. Remember what was done with Jesus Himself, at the hands of the Romans and Jewish authorities - and that our own sins contributed to His having to die, too, to pay the penalty for them all, as well. John says, “By this we know love, that Jesus laid down His life for us” - and then John says, “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers,” if we were asked to do so. That is a very high standard for love. We are tempted to say that we would love some people that much if we had the courage, but maybe we think that some are not deserving of our love because of what they have said and done. Remember Paul’s words in Romans 5:6ff: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us…. while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” None of us deserved the mercy and sacrifice and forgiveness of Jesus, but He gave it to us anyway. “We were justified by His blood and saved by Him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:6-11). Back in 1 John 3:18, then, John says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk” - though those are important - “let us also love in deed and in truth,” where we can.

The alternative Epistle reading is from Ephesians 2:13-22, where Paul writes about how the sacrifice of Christ has “broken down the dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and non-Jews, the Gentiles. “Now in Christ Jesus, you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace... And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father…. Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone.” Christ died for all, and His love is available to all and is to be shared with all, Jews and Gentiles.

Finally, we come to the Gospel lesson, from Luke 14:15-24. Jesus had been invited to the home of a ruler of the Pharisees, and he noticed how self-centered they were and focused on wealth and power and prestige, and how confident they were, as Pharisees, of “eating bread in the Kingdom of God.” Jesus then told a parable of a man giving a great banquet and inviting many. When the time for the banquet came, though, servants came to tell them, but the people who had been invited “all alike began to make excuses.” They were so wrapped up in their own lives that they could not come. Their business, property, and family concerns were so important that they could not be bothered to fulfill their promise and would not come to the banquet. The master then sent his servants to invite “the poor and crippled and blind and lame” - those who would often be ignored by more important, upper-class people. Still, there was room, and the servants were to go wherever they could, even to unusual places, and compel (strongly encourage) the people they found to come to the banquet, so that the master’s house would be full. Sadly, the master also had to say that none of those originally invited, who then rejected the master and refused to come, would taste of that banquet in the Kingdom of God. Jesus was warning His fellow Jews, as He had in John 6:60ff. and other places, that He was the Savior and His Words were spirit and life, and that through Him and His Words, the Holy Spirit gives life. If Jews continued rejecting Him and His Word of salvation, they would lose out, and His Good News would be shared more and more with non-Jews, the Gentiles, for His saving work was for all people. Thus, the call came to His servants, His followers, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20). God’s saving work in Christ was meant for all. And so we keep hearing the message that “If God so loved us, we ought also to seek to love one another, in deed and in truth.” We want others to know the gift of love we have in Christ, by God’s grace.