Sermon for Trinity 18. The Scripture readings are Deuteronomy 10:12-21; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; and Matthew 22:34-46.

The God of gods and Lord of lords is your God. He has chosen you. He could have chosen anyone, but He chose you. He has not chosen you because you were bigger, stronger, smarter, more obedient, or more faithful than others. He has not chosen you because of anything you have said, done, or thought. You, dear saints, are, according to 1 Pet. 2:9, His chosen people, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, and a people for His own possession. You are these things because the LORD God of heaven and earth has chosen you and set His heart in love on you. He is your God because He has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. And the LORD your God has done all of this because of what Jesus has done for you.

Jesus, your Savior, lived a perfect life. He was perfectly obedient to God. He took all your sin to the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) where God poured out all His wrath and punishment upon your sin. Now, not one bit of that wrath is left for you. Jesus paid it all, and He paid it all for you. Your sin had left a crimson stain, but Jesus has now washed you white as snow. Jesus has restored you to your proper place both your place before God and your place in creation.

When this text lays out all the things that the LORD your God requires of you, it is nothing more than a call for you to be like Him and follow after His image. In other words, it is a call for you to be the steward He has created you to be.

You, as God’s creature, are still a steward of God’s creation. Even though you daily and regularly fail in this role, it is still yours. Even though your hands turn over to reach out and take what is not yours, Jesus has come to redeem you and forgive you for all your sins. On the cross, your debt was paid. The empty tomb on Easter is the receipt (Ro. 4:25).

Dear saints, the gifts, offerings, and tithes you give to God are turned back to you as gifts from the LORD your God (Dt. 14:22-26). Those gifts bless you as you come here and receive God’s mercy, and they also bless your neighbor who also needs to receive that mercy and love.