Worship: Eyes on Jesus
Luke 14:1-11
October 12, 2025 anno Domini
How do you judge a worship service? What makes it good? Or to use the old church word – what makes it salutary – beneficial for your soul?
Although the text is not about a worship service it does take place on the Sabbath. And it took place on the Sabbath for a reason. The Pharisees wanted to watch what Jesus did on the Sabbath. They were conducting their own Sabbath test to see if this Jesus was the sort of God they could worship. We can learn from the Pharisees, whenever we go to worship, we should keep our eyes on Jesus and watch what He is doing carefully.
All of Christian worship can be distilled down to two distinct and opposing beliefs. You go to worship to praise God – to show how much you love Him. Or you to go to worship to receive gifts from God. Worship is either man’s work for God or God’s work on man.
That’s the test the Pharisees put to Jesus that Sabbath day. They invited Jesus and it seems the seating chart was manipulated so that Jesus ends up next to a sick guy. I’m just going to give this guy a name for the sake of the sermon because it’s easier to call him Bruce than to say “the sick guy.” Bruce has dropsy, which is the old word for retaining fluids. They didn’t have water pills back then so there’s Bruce, short of breath, all puffed up with fluids and miserable, wondering why he even got invited to the Pharisee’s house. You see, there’s something else you need to know about dropsy. It was believed that you got dropsy by being sexually promiscuous. Not only is Bruce not much to look at, but people were disgusted with who he was.
You’ve got a seriously sick seriously sinful guy right next to Jesus. And the Pharisees are watching Him carefully. Why? Because this Jesus guy isn’t like anyone they’ve ever met. He doesn’t teach like they teach. He doesn’t act like they act. He’s eager to forgive sinners. He can’t wait to heal people. He doesn’t mind sitting with the worst people in town. He doesn’t act like anyone from around here and the Pharisee’s can’t stand it – so they put lousy old Bruce right beside him. And they watch. Ready to judge. This Jesus claims to be God, but will He be the kind of God they can put up with? Will He approve of their form of worship on the Sabbath, of showing off their good works to God or will He work on a sick guy?
That’s where the text is when Saint Luke tells us something very interesting – Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” Jesus responded? To what? They didn’t ask him any questions. What was He responding to? He’s responding to their careful observation. They had stared at Jesus too long, too intently, and He caught them – “what are you looking at?” or in the words of the text, “It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
Then Saint Luke writes “they remained silent.” That word means more than silence. It also means “resting” as in Sabbath resting. It’s like Saint Luke is telling us these Pharisee guys want their Sabbath their way and Jesus is messing it up and they don’t know what to do – so they do nothing. Jesus is making them have their Sabbath rest His way.
Then Jesus took Bruce and healed him and sent him away. Jesus just showed the Pharisees what their Sabbath worship should look like, what true worship is. The highest worship is to receive gifts from Jesus, the gifts He gives by His Word. To make sure they get the object lesson He preaches a very brief sermon to them. “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” The answer for each of those men is, “Of course I would help my son or my ox because they are my own.” Of course I would show mercy to those I love. But they can’t say that. They are not going to admit that Jesus is right and they are wrong about the Sabbath.
Finally, Jesus tells a parable that summarizes their messed-up method of worship. The problem is between sight and sound. They’re showing up at the table to be seen, instead of listening to the voice of the Master and Host of the banquet. Thus, also the parable shows the distinctive difference between worship among Christians – some show up to be seen, while other’s wait on the Master’s voice and are pleased with wherever He puts them and whatever He serves them
So, what does this mean for you? It means you should judge worship, not so much by what you see or who you are seen by, but by what you hear. Now, that’s not to say you should close your eyes when you come to the Lord’s house. Perhaps the better wisdom is that when you see something in worship you should ask, “What is that telling me? Does it teach me the truth from God’s Word?”
So, you might look at one of these icons that decorate the walls of Redeemer and ask, – what does that teach me? Take that one over there – it is the least liked of the icons in our building. We’ve got more complaints about it than any of the others. Why? Because it has a skull on it. The icon is entitled “Sin, Law Breaking, Death” You shouldn’t like it because it’s telling you the truth about yourself – you’re just like your mom and dad, Adam and Eve. They listened to the Serpent, ate the fruit, and broke God’s Law, even as you break God’s law in your self-worship. Because of that you are dying. But then if you look at another panel – take this one over here, you see that same serpent. But he’s not on top. He’s on the bottom. He won when he brought sin into the world, but He lost when Christ took away your sin and rose from the dead. That icon is called Christ Victorious. He beat that old Satanic serpent at the cross and empty tomb. Believing in Him you too will receive the crown of eternal life.
You might not be aware of this but you heard something this morning you will hear only in the Lutheran Church. You will not hear these words among any other Christians during worship, “As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You can test it out if you want, but it’s true. It’s what Jesus send His men to do in John 20 – if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. Some Christians won’t say those words they don’t believe forgiveness counts unless you feel it in your heart. Others won’t say the words because they don’t believe you can know for certain you’re forgiven. Lutherans say it because Christ died for the sin of the world and rose again from the dead. He commanded the men He sent to forgive the sins of those repent and to retain the sins of those who don’t.
Here’s your number one problem with worship – you rely on your eyes too much and not your ears. Because your eyes are easily excited and your ears are quickly bored. This past week I learned that lesson for myself. I spend too much time on my phone. In an effort to make my phone less enticing I asked Google how I could make my smart phone dumb. The first suggestion was to use a program that got rid of all the little icons and use words instead. Instead of a little car for my mileage tracking app, now I just have the word car. Instead of a little envelope for my email I now have the word email. And do you know what? My phone instantly became boring. Words are not nearly as exciting as pictures and the seller of your phone knows that. Satan tempted Eve to use her eyes instead of her ears.
God does not care about your excitement. He cares about your life and in His folly, He has chosen His Word to be His instrument to do His Work. It was the Word of Jesus that healed the dropsy guy. It was the Word which condemned the pharisees for their self-worship. It was the Word of the Master in the parable that lifted up the humble and gave them places of honor at the banquet. You can judge worship by listening for God’s Word, for Jesus, for the cross. The most salutary worship is to hear and believe the Word, “I forgive you all your sins.” In the name of Jesus. Amen.