TrueWorshipLuke 18 9 to 14

The 11th Sunday After Trinity                                  16-August-2026
Sermon Text: Luke 18:9-14
Sermon Theme: True Worship! I. It is Found Where The Faithful Gather! (Vs.8-10) II. False Worship Idolizes Self Offering Its Sacrifices! (Vs.11-12) III. True Worship Humbly Receives God’s Mercy Through His Sacrifice! (Vs.13-14) by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

I.N.R.I. “God in His holy habitation.” Two men go up to His altar to pray. One brings God the best of the fruit of the ground, the other offers only the life and blood of an innocent lamb. The Lord accepts only one offering. The other is rejected. Why? The Holy Spirit teaches, Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
      The Lord God sees Cain’s fallen face through the eyes of the family preacher. Adam warns his son to humble himself and repent - warring against sin ready to pounce upon him. Satan seizes the opportunity to destroy God’s gift of family life together. Jesus The Truth warned those seeking to kill Him as He worshiped and preached in the Temple: Joh 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
     Cain follows his gut. Worships his feelings. Marches forth in pride to luring his brother into the field to murder him. Abel’s blood cries out for justice. Cain has broken the fellowship of the first congregation by profane worship. Cursed he walks away from the Church to wander on his own self-chosen way. Still God protects him with his mark as he walks away with his sister wife - from the Church, from his family, from the God who had graciously preserved his life.
     Satan hates all that God created and labeled as very good. In these last days of world history he has progressively destroyed the family through no-fault divorce, the gift of babies through abortion, the gift of manhood and womanhood through the sexual revolution, the gift of old age through euthanasia, the gift of suffering through doctor assisted suicide. The prince of the power of the air leads the walking dead in false worship to carry out the desires of their body and mind. Thumbing their noses at God’s wrath they mock and seek to destroy the Christian Church and her - True Worship! I. It is Found Where The Faithful Gather! (Vs.8-10) II. False Worship Idolizes Self Offering Its Sacrifices! (Vs.11-12) III. True Worship Humbly Receives God’s Mercy Through His Sacrifice! (Vs.13-14)
I.  The Spirit of Absolute Truth speaks through the pen of St. Peter to Christians facing government persecution: 1Pe 5:5-9 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." (6) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (7) casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (9) Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
    Satan stirs up the walking dead to pridefully march in this world fulfilling the lusts of their flesh and mind. Humility is not a virtue taught to younger people and it is seldom modeled by older people. Our old adam is alive and well and raises hell in marriages, homes, churches, and in the state.
     We don’t want to believe the truth that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins walking around in this world following our own self-chosen spirituality. Satan and his demon horde still lead us into temptation to puff us up as rugged individuals away from the local congregation.
     True worship is found in our feelings or experiences. It is found where the congregation gathers together as the body of Christ. Even if only two or three gather. Here we stand against the devil by humble submission to one another. Watching against the devil’s lies with the Sword of the Spirit - God’s Word - Christ’s Doctrine. Resisting the evil one through prayer and confession.
      Jesus calls us to persistent prayer at the beginning of Luke 18 through the parable of the persistent widow - she is heard by the unjust judge because she will not give up her request. Learn from her to never forsake prayer. Hear Jesus’ promise:Luk 18:7-8 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"The weapons we wield against the old evil foe are God’s Word preached to us in the Church and congregational prayer.
      Beware! The devil, the world, our old sinful flesh deceive us and mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. False belief that we are more righteous than others and have no need of every Sunday forgiveness of sins that the Holy Spirit richly pours upon us in Christ’s Church. (Vs.9-10) Many people stop assembling in their local congregation because they trust in themselves. They are certain they are living a good life - at least a better life than those sinners that gather at Emmanuel. At the heart of staying home from church is that we despise others - Satan, sin, the world, and our old adam love to isolate themselves. Wisdom warns, Pro 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.     The two men in Jesus’ parable haven’t fallen that far. They go to the Temple to pray - it is the hour the church gathers for the sacrifice for sins. One of these men is an outstanding religious man - he had memorized the first five books of Moses and the entire book of Psalms by his twelfth birthday. Outwardly he lived a strict moral life keeping God’s Ten Commandments and the 613 others rabbis added. He was a shining light in the congregation at Jerusalem.
       The other man worked for the enemy. In our day we’d say he was a republican among democrats - or a democrat among republicans. No one seems to love IRS agents even when they work for our own government - now imagine a man collecting taxes from you to fund communist China. We’d wonder - what is he doing here? Taking notes to tax me more?
        Point being that these two men - one a saint in the eyes of the world, the other a poor miserable sinner - both go up to the Temple - to the gathering of the faithful - to the Church to pray at the appointed hour. Beware of self-chosen worship. The devil tempts you to forsake gladly going up to the house of the Lord to hear His Word preached and receive the sacrifice that washes your sins away. True worship is found where the faithful gather.
II.  Cain was the first born of our fallen parents. Ancient rabbis and church fathers think that Abel was his twin brother born second. Eve exclaimed, “I have gotten a man The Lord!” seeing her firstborn son. He was named “The Acquired One!” Abel was but “A Breath.” Adam and his wife were also blessed with many daughters before the boys had grown old enough to offer the sacrifice after being catechized by their parents.
      St. John warns us of our Cain - ish hearts raising their ugly head as we gather in God’s House to worship. 1Jn 3:11-14 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, (12) not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. (13) Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. (14) We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Loving our brothers and sisters doesn’t mean being proud of their sin - but caring for them enough to speak the truth of God’s Law to them one on one -that they might be reconciled to our Father through the blood of His Son.
      False worship divides by everyone following their felt needs. (Vs.11-12) The Pharisee had lived a great moral life. He didn’t follow the corrupt culture of his day. He kept his nose clean. He didn’t cheat by being lazy on the job, falsely accuse by jumping on social media to condemn that other political faction, lust after other women by looking at their images and videos flashed on his phone. He was a true patriot - not a lying cheat like that tax collector working for the enemy.
      He practiced spiritual disciplines above and beyond what the ceremonial law required. The only fast in the Old Covenant was on the Day of Atonement. He went above and beyond by fasting twice a week. From sun up to sun down he would not eat or drink to discipline his body and show his faithfulness to God. He gave a 10th of all that he possessed, not only on his net income, but on all he owned. Surely he projected to the world that he trusted in God to provide - but it was all a show - play acting.
     He pretended to be holy and faithful while his heart was far from God. He didn’t know the God who revealed His glory to Moses , Exo 34:6-7 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, (7) keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." He did not take the Holy Spirit’s Word spoken through Isaiah to heart, Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
    He did not plead God’s mercy, but trusted in his own merits. False worship is a worship of the self - we are certain we have done enough to please God. We have kept the law, loved God and our neighbor - God should be of proud of us as we are of ourselves. This man made righteousness cannot save. It is the lie. The temptation of misbelief that the devil, the world and our sinful flesh lead us into the great shame and vice of idolizing our own good works! Repent!
III. It is only the spiritually dead sinners that are made alive by God’s rich mercy in Christ Jesus. It was never your choice - never your decision. Dead are made alive in Christ Jesus - this is baptismal reality. Dead made alive are seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places - the local congregation - here heaven breaks forth upon this earth as the Bread of Heaven feeds us with His flesh and blood through His absolution given, Word preached, water poured, and Supper feasted upon. It is not your own doing - faith is always and only the work of the Holy Spirit in you through the hearing of Christ’s Word in His Church and in your homes.
      True Worship is honest. (Vs13) The tax collector sits in the dark shadows of the Temple. He isn’t sitting in the back of the church so he can leave the fastest. He knows his sin. He knows that he has no standing before the Holy God the Creator of all! He cannot even look up to heaven - shame covers him - seeps from every pore of his guilty sinful flesh. His prayer offers not excuse - it clings to God’s sacrifice. “God, be merciful to me the sinner!” He stands before the judgment seat justly condemned to death and hell. He pleads only God’s mercy - God’s sacrifice of His Son which alone propitiates him to the Lord’s side washing him forgiven with the blood of Jesus.
        He feels nothing. Experiences nothing. Clinging to God’s promise in Jesus he goes home - knowing the truth that sets him free. (Vs.14) God has declared him - “not guilty” - freed from his sin through the cross of Jesus - freed to fight against sin, temptation, to be delivered from evil. His conscience is at peace - humbly he walks home to return to his calling in service to God and his neighbor.
        He will come back the next afternoon to where the faithful gather around the altar of God to receive the sacrifice for his sins. He will again call on God’s mercy. He will again be forgiven and freed to fight against his own sinful flesh. Here is the true ongoing worship in the life of us sinners. Eph 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
    God is in His Holy Habitation - by mercy He forgives, renews, strengthens you to walk a new life in Christ Jesus. Amen.