The Nativity of our Lord
Christmas Day
December 25, 2010
Proclaim the Good News:
God Has Kept His Promise!
Isaiah 52:7-10
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
Did you do any jumping this morning? Did anyone jump on you?
Why the jumping? Because of the excitement. Why the excitement? Because of the presents.
Presents are great. Toys, tools, music, games, clothes, and more. But the older you get, the less jumping you do as Christmas. Part of that comes from knowing that these superb presents won't last long. Even the ones that last won't make you jump for joy next year.
Enjoy your presents. Say thank you. Write thank yous. Be thankful and show it to the givers of these superb presents.
A long time ago Isaiah jumped up and down (so to speak) about a present he never even got to open. The present was Jesus. Instead of waiting one month to get his present, Isaiah spent his whole life waiting for Him. Instead of waiting one year to get Him, Isaiah's countrymen spent hundreds of years waiting for Him.
But to wise and faithful Isaiah and his countrymen, the present of Jesus was already certain. He was coming down to earth to live for us and to present Himself as a blood sacrifice for all sin of all mankind.
This was His promise to Isaiah, even though he died before Jesus was born. So many Jews had lived and died, waiting for the Present to arrive. Abraham, Aaron, Abner, Amos, and more. So the joy of the anonymous shepherds was the joy of someone who is opening a long-expected present.
Isaiah captures this joy in words.
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
9 Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
Do some jumping and bursting and singing. It's okay. Who cares about what other think? Or just sing. Sing at home. Take a hymnal or two home with you today. We got plenty. And sing with your family. Sing carols and hymns as you enjoy your Present.
"From heav'n above to earth I come
To bear good news to ev'ry home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
Whereof I now will say and sing:
"To you this night is born a Child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little Child of lowly birth
Shall be the joy of all the earth.
"This is the Christ, our God most high,
Who hears your sad and bitter cry;
He will Himself your Savior be
From all your sins to set you free.
Jesus is our Present. Jump for joy, little lambs. Sing your hearts out, you sheep of God's holy flock. Bear this good news to your home this Christmas!
Amen.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Third Sunday in Advent
Third Sunday in Advent
December 12, 2010
The Holy Highway
Isaiah 35
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
You don't have to be a perfect driver to drive on our roads. Pass a few tests, pay some money, and you're good to go.
Could it work any other way? Wouldn't it make more sense to thoroughly scrutinize each and every driver? And by scrutinize I mean having someone shadow you for one month every year. Some would talk to your family and friends about how you drive. They'd put a device on your car to monitor speed.
Would this help? Would this make our highways and roads safer? Probably. Would you like these rules to be put into effect? Absolutely not, because no one would be able to drive.
A government official who follows you around for a month is going to observe enough mistakes to keep you off the road. Your family and friends—assuming they tell the truth—are going to give up embarrassing or dangerous anecdotes about your driving. Your speed monitor is going to catch you speeding and beep your transgression over to the DOT.
But as it is now, both good drivers and bad drivers travel on the same roads and highways. It isn't perfect. It was the same in the olden days when everyone walked.
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:30-32)
This is the beginning and middle of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told it to make it clear that everyone is our neighbor. But it also reminds us that our journey as believers is not easy. Sometimes we are the guy who gets attacked and gets left in the ditch. Sometimes we are the robbers who beat other people up with our words, instead of our fists. And a lot of the time we are the priest and the Levite—we are indifferent to the needs of our neighbors.
There are a lot of bad people on life's highway. Sometimes they look bad and sometimes they're good-looking. But whether they are ugly or attractive, many are going to the same place. Jesus said: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” (Matthew 7:13)
But not you. Why? Because our Good Samaritan gives us the credit for all the good things He has done. Consider Isaiah's prediction about the Savior.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
These are the same words and more that Jesus used to prove to John that He was the Savior.
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. (Matthew 11:5)
Jesus is who He says He is. His virgin birth, His many miracles, His perfect life, and His innocent suffering, death, and resurrection prove that He is Emmanuel—God with us.
And He is with us now, and not just one month out of every year. He is with us all the time. This fact should terrify us because He knows all our dirty secrets. But instead, because He has forgiven us, His presence comforts us and encourages us to avoid evil in our lives.
And because of the holiness that Jesus has given to us, we now look forward to His Holy Highway.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it... But only the redeemed will walk there.
(Isaiah 35:8,9)
In heaven our days of traveling through the dangers of life will be over. Just like the heavenly mansions and the holy city and new heavens and earth, God made this holy highway for His holy people. Just for you.
Amen.
December 12, 2010
The Holy Highway
Isaiah 35
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
You don't have to be a perfect driver to drive on our roads. Pass a few tests, pay some money, and you're good to go.
Could it work any other way? Wouldn't it make more sense to thoroughly scrutinize each and every driver? And by scrutinize I mean having someone shadow you for one month every year. Some would talk to your family and friends about how you drive. They'd put a device on your car to monitor speed.
Would this help? Would this make our highways and roads safer? Probably. Would you like these rules to be put into effect? Absolutely not, because no one would be able to drive.
A government official who follows you around for a month is going to observe enough mistakes to keep you off the road. Your family and friends—assuming they tell the truth—are going to give up embarrassing or dangerous anecdotes about your driving. Your speed monitor is going to catch you speeding and beep your transgression over to the DOT.
But as it is now, both good drivers and bad drivers travel on the same roads and highways. It isn't perfect. It was the same in the olden days when everyone walked.
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:30-32)
This is the beginning and middle of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told it to make it clear that everyone is our neighbor. But it also reminds us that our journey as believers is not easy. Sometimes we are the guy who gets attacked and gets left in the ditch. Sometimes we are the robbers who beat other people up with our words, instead of our fists. And a lot of the time we are the priest and the Levite—we are indifferent to the needs of our neighbors.
There are a lot of bad people on life's highway. Sometimes they look bad and sometimes they're good-looking. But whether they are ugly or attractive, many are going to the same place. Jesus said: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” (Matthew 7:13)
But not you. Why? Because our Good Samaritan gives us the credit for all the good things He has done. Consider Isaiah's prediction about the Savior.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
These are the same words and more that Jesus used to prove to John that He was the Savior.
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. (Matthew 11:5)
Jesus is who He says He is. His virgin birth, His many miracles, His perfect life, and His innocent suffering, death, and resurrection prove that He is Emmanuel—God with us.
And He is with us now, and not just one month out of every year. He is with us all the time. This fact should terrify us because He knows all our dirty secrets. But instead, because He has forgiven us, His presence comforts us and encourages us to avoid evil in our lives.
And because of the holiness that Jesus has given to us, we now look forward to His Holy Highway.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it... But only the redeemed will walk there.
(Isaiah 35:8,9)
In heaven our days of traveling through the dangers of life will be over. Just like the heavenly mansions and the holy city and new heavens and earth, God made this holy highway for His holy people. Just for you.
Amen.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saints Triumphant
Saints Triumphant
November 14, 2010
Blessed Eternal Sunshine
Revelation 22:1-5
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
Before he died and went home, St. John, writer of the Gospel and several letters in the New Testament, saw some amazing things.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. (Revelation 22:1-2)
This city, which is heaven, points all the way back to the beginning of the world. It points back to the Garden of Eden. Eden had rivers, and the new city has a river, too. One crystal river, flowing with the water of life. This special river points us back to Eden and also to Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman at the well:
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)
Jesus' living water is the very Gospel itself. We use this picture of water because the Gospel does what water does. It washes us clean before God and we drink it and are refreshed. Thousands of believers throughout time from the beginning have been washed clean and have been refreshed with the water of life, which is the Gospel.
In addition to the water of life, there are trees of life. This, too, points back to the beginning. God made two trees in Eden. If you ate from the first one, you'd live forever. If you ate from the second one, you'd separate yourself from God and die.
Our ancient ancestors, Adam and Eve, ate from the second tree. So out of love for His rebellious creatures God driven them out of Eden so that they would not eat from the first tree, the tree of life, at the wrong time.
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
God did them a huge favor because they wouldn't face an eternity on a sinful planet with their sinful selves. Getting back to this tree and many variations on this theme has been a dream of many throughout the years. But the foutain of youth can't heal you; it can only make you live with yourself forever. Why would anyone want to live with themselves forever? What a horrible prospect. It sounds like hell to me.
But our Savior offers us the tree of life with our sins forgiven and ourselves healed. John spoke more of what he saw: the leaves of the tree [of life] are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).
Could you imagine the conflict between nations continuing forever? Trade wars and terrorism and low intensity conflicts and failed peace talks... year after year after year? Again, no, thank you, it sounds terrible.
And thanks to Jesus, this will not happen. Wars will cease, but even better, in heaven believers from Russia and Georgia (the one in Asia), the USA and Iran, Pakistan and India, and all the rest will live together in perfect harmony.
But the very best thing about heaven is that Jesus lives there and we will live there with Him and we won't be under a curse anymore.
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)
The curse that we live under right now is our sin that we inherit from our parents and is a daily fact of our lives. Right now the curse of sin is such reality that we learn how to filter it out, just like we filter out trains at night, jets overhead, and farm odors below. God made us to be adaptable creatures, but when this flexibility is combined with the strench of sin, it makes for a deadly combination. We become comfortable in our smelly ways and in our selfish thoughts.
Sadly it takes a death to snap us back to the truth, especially when it is an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years (Isaiah 65:20).
Death is a harsh reminder that all are sinful, even the very old and the very young, people who couldn't hurt a fly. But we are all sinful and death follows us around down here on earth.
But in heaven the curse of sin will be long gone. Death will never again haunt our steps. Isaiah put it like this: he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed (Isaiah 65:20).
That's his inspired way of saying: you're never going to die. Ever. And for eternity we will talk with Jesus face-to-face. Our eye-closed prayers here will turn into actual eye-to-eye conversations up there. All this will come true because will bear Jesus' name. As Christians here on earth we bear the name of Christ—Christians. This will not change in heaven.
But there will be one big change in the new city.
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
Two pastors I know just took calls to serve congregations in Wasilla and Kenai, up in Alaska. In June the sun will rise at 4:30 in the morning and it will set at 11:30 at night. But in heaven we won't have to depend on the rotation of the earth for light because the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp (Revelation 21:23).
We will be blessed with eternal sunshine. Our dearly departed in the Lord are enjoying this paradise right now. And you will join them for Jesus' sake.
You will drink from the crystal river.
You will eat from the tree of life.
You will bask in eternal sunshine.
And best of all, He will gather us up and we gather around His heavenly throne. And you will see the face of the Lord.
I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:27)
Amen.
November 14, 2010
Blessed Eternal Sunshine
Revelation 22:1-5
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
Before he died and went home, St. John, writer of the Gospel and several letters in the New Testament, saw some amazing things.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. (Revelation 22:1-2)
This city, which is heaven, points all the way back to the beginning of the world. It points back to the Garden of Eden. Eden had rivers, and the new city has a river, too. One crystal river, flowing with the water of life. This special river points us back to Eden and also to Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman at the well:
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)
Jesus' living water is the very Gospel itself. We use this picture of water because the Gospel does what water does. It washes us clean before God and we drink it and are refreshed. Thousands of believers throughout time from the beginning have been washed clean and have been refreshed with the water of life, which is the Gospel.
In addition to the water of life, there are trees of life. This, too, points back to the beginning. God made two trees in Eden. If you ate from the first one, you'd live forever. If you ate from the second one, you'd separate yourself from God and die.
Our ancient ancestors, Adam and Eve, ate from the second tree. So out of love for His rebellious creatures God driven them out of Eden so that they would not eat from the first tree, the tree of life, at the wrong time.
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
God did them a huge favor because they wouldn't face an eternity on a sinful planet with their sinful selves. Getting back to this tree and many variations on this theme has been a dream of many throughout the years. But the foutain of youth can't heal you; it can only make you live with yourself forever. Why would anyone want to live with themselves forever? What a horrible prospect. It sounds like hell to me.
But our Savior offers us the tree of life with our sins forgiven and ourselves healed. John spoke more of what he saw: the leaves of the tree [of life] are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).
Could you imagine the conflict between nations continuing forever? Trade wars and terrorism and low intensity conflicts and failed peace talks... year after year after year? Again, no, thank you, it sounds terrible.
And thanks to Jesus, this will not happen. Wars will cease, but even better, in heaven believers from Russia and Georgia (the one in Asia), the USA and Iran, Pakistan and India, and all the rest will live together in perfect harmony.
But the very best thing about heaven is that Jesus lives there and we will live there with Him and we won't be under a curse anymore.
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)
The curse that we live under right now is our sin that we inherit from our parents and is a daily fact of our lives. Right now the curse of sin is such reality that we learn how to filter it out, just like we filter out trains at night, jets overhead, and farm odors below. God made us to be adaptable creatures, but when this flexibility is combined with the strench of sin, it makes for a deadly combination. We become comfortable in our smelly ways and in our selfish thoughts.
Sadly it takes a death to snap us back to the truth, especially when it is an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years (Isaiah 65:20).
Death is a harsh reminder that all are sinful, even the very old and the very young, people who couldn't hurt a fly. But we are all sinful and death follows us around down here on earth.
But in heaven the curse of sin will be long gone. Death will never again haunt our steps. Isaiah put it like this: he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed (Isaiah 65:20).
That's his inspired way of saying: you're never going to die. Ever. And for eternity we will talk with Jesus face-to-face. Our eye-closed prayers here will turn into actual eye-to-eye conversations up there. All this will come true because will bear Jesus' name. As Christians here on earth we bear the name of Christ—Christians. This will not change in heaven.
But there will be one big change in the new city.
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
Two pastors I know just took calls to serve congregations in Wasilla and Kenai, up in Alaska. In June the sun will rise at 4:30 in the morning and it will set at 11:30 at night. But in heaven we won't have to depend on the rotation of the earth for light because the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp (Revelation 21:23).
We will be blessed with eternal sunshine. Our dearly departed in the Lord are enjoying this paradise right now. And you will join them for Jesus' sake.
You will drink from the crystal river.
You will eat from the tree of life.
You will bask in eternal sunshine.
And best of all, He will gather us up and we gather around His heavenly throne. And you will see the face of the Lord.
I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:27)
Amen.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Festival of the Reformation
Reformation Sunday
at St. Paul's Lutheran Church
October 31, 2010
The Righteous Will Live By Faith
Romans 1:17
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
The two most important events in the last 2,010 years are the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and, coming in at a distant second place, the Reformation. An atheist who's had a pint of good Wittenberg beer has to be honest and admit that these events changed the world. If you really wanted to write a good sci-fi thriller, get into your Way Back Machine or DeLorean and travel to the year 1517 and remove the doors of the Castle Church, so that Martin Luther, the Augustinian friar, can't post his 95 Theses.
But do you really want to know why the Reformation happened? Luther posting the 95 Theses is a good touchstone for the Reformation, just like the Fourth of July is a good reference point for the Revolutionary War. We celebrate these days not because King George threw in the towel or because the pope took off his tiara, but because they have become days that we can point to as a bookmark into history.
So even though the 95 Theses were important, it wasn't Luther's concerns about bribing God with money—indulgences—that God used to spark the Reformation. For years good Catholic folks had been fed up with the false teaching that you could use money to buy forgiveness from the Church. Martin Luther was hardly original in his thinking on that point.
Here's secret of the Reformation. It happened because Luther went head-to-head with the question: “What is God's righteousness?” This is the key question of the Reformation.
For his whole life, Herr Doktor Luther had been taught and he believed that God's righteousness was the Law. He believed that whenever Holy Scriptures talked about God's righteousness—and they talk about it a lot—it meant that you needed to be perfect just like God is perfect (see Matthew 5:48). It was a demand to be holy without assistance in being holy. In fact God's righteousness was a death sentence.
And this freaked him out far more than any haunted house or corn maze. You can walk out of those; you can't just walk away from God's righteousness and what that means. Luther was a smart guy who was honest with himself—he knew he was bad by nature and by deed. His unrighteousness was the haunted house he lived in, day after day, with no escape.
Luther hated himself and hated God for what he thought God was doing to him. He hated the demand to be righteousness like God. Near the end of his life he wrote about his past,
“I hated that word, the righteousness of God... [meaning that] God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner... Though I lived as a monk with reproach, I felt, with the most disturbed conscience imaginable, that I was a sinner before God. I did not love, indeed I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners and secretly I was angry with God.”1
He hated righteousness... until he read Romans 1:17 and read it again and again and again and the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the secret of the Reformation.
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,
just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
When the Bible talks about God's righteousness, it means that God was, is, and always will be righteous and that He demands every human be just like Him. But God's righteousness also means the righteousness that God gives to you in Christ. God's righteousness is the Gospel.
This means that instead of going up to heaven and trying to grab righteousness from God, Christ came down to earth. You can't do a song and dance that will make God like you. But so to speak, Jesus sang and danced for you, in your place. He did this by living up to His own standard of righteousness and then transferring His righteousness to your favor. He transfers His righteousness to your favor through the Sacraments, when He washes away your sin and gives you His holiness in Baptism, Absolution, and Communion.
The secret of the Reformation—that God's righteousness isn't a demand, but a promise—changed everything for Luther. Now instead of trying to earn God's righteousness, he trusted that he already possessed God's righteousness in Christ and through the Sacraments. Instead of gazing at his navel, searching for something good, by faith in Christ he looked to his Savior's cross and to his holy Baptism. These are the concrete events in the world's history and in his own life and yours that changed everything.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood...
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law...
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him. (Romans 3:21-25, 28; 4:4-8)
Now that the secret of the Reformation was no longer a secret, Luther read the rest of Romans and the Psalms and Galatians and indeed the whole Bible with new eyes of faith. And as he read God's Word, he saw the most important event in history with joy and gladness, because it was the day he died to sin and was raised to life in Christ through Baptism. He and you and all believers are righteous and will live by faith!
Praise be to Christ, who is literally our Righteousness!
Amen!
at St. Paul's Lutheran Church
October 31, 2010
The Righteous Will Live By Faith
Romans 1:17
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
The two most important events in the last 2,010 years are the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and, coming in at a distant second place, the Reformation. An atheist who's had a pint of good Wittenberg beer has to be honest and admit that these events changed the world. If you really wanted to write a good sci-fi thriller, get into your Way Back Machine or DeLorean and travel to the year 1517 and remove the doors of the Castle Church, so that Martin Luther, the Augustinian friar, can't post his 95 Theses.
But do you really want to know why the Reformation happened? Luther posting the 95 Theses is a good touchstone for the Reformation, just like the Fourth of July is a good reference point for the Revolutionary War. We celebrate these days not because King George threw in the towel or because the pope took off his tiara, but because they have become days that we can point to as a bookmark into history.
So even though the 95 Theses were important, it wasn't Luther's concerns about bribing God with money—indulgences—that God used to spark the Reformation. For years good Catholic folks had been fed up with the false teaching that you could use money to buy forgiveness from the Church. Martin Luther was hardly original in his thinking on that point.
Here's secret of the Reformation. It happened because Luther went head-to-head with the question: “What is God's righteousness?” This is the key question of the Reformation.
For his whole life, Herr Doktor Luther had been taught and he believed that God's righteousness was the Law. He believed that whenever Holy Scriptures talked about God's righteousness—and they talk about it a lot—it meant that you needed to be perfect just like God is perfect (see Matthew 5:48). It was a demand to be holy without assistance in being holy. In fact God's righteousness was a death sentence.
And this freaked him out far more than any haunted house or corn maze. You can walk out of those; you can't just walk away from God's righteousness and what that means. Luther was a smart guy who was honest with himself—he knew he was bad by nature and by deed. His unrighteousness was the haunted house he lived in, day after day, with no escape.
Luther hated himself and hated God for what he thought God was doing to him. He hated the demand to be righteousness like God. Near the end of his life he wrote about his past,
“I hated that word, the righteousness of God... [meaning that] God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner... Though I lived as a monk with reproach, I felt, with the most disturbed conscience imaginable, that I was a sinner before God. I did not love, indeed I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners and secretly I was angry with God.”1
He hated righteousness... until he read Romans 1:17 and read it again and again and again and the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the secret of the Reformation.
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,
just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
When the Bible talks about God's righteousness, it means that God was, is, and always will be righteous and that He demands every human be just like Him. But God's righteousness also means the righteousness that God gives to you in Christ. God's righteousness is the Gospel.
This means that instead of going up to heaven and trying to grab righteousness from God, Christ came down to earth. You can't do a song and dance that will make God like you. But so to speak, Jesus sang and danced for you, in your place. He did this by living up to His own standard of righteousness and then transferring His righteousness to your favor. He transfers His righteousness to your favor through the Sacraments, when He washes away your sin and gives you His holiness in Baptism, Absolution, and Communion.
The secret of the Reformation—that God's righteousness isn't a demand, but a promise—changed everything for Luther. Now instead of trying to earn God's righteousness, he trusted that he already possessed God's righteousness in Christ and through the Sacraments. Instead of gazing at his navel, searching for something good, by faith in Christ he looked to his Savior's cross and to his holy Baptism. These are the concrete events in the world's history and in his own life and yours that changed everything.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood...
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law...
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him. (Romans 3:21-25, 28; 4:4-8)
Now that the secret of the Reformation was no longer a secret, Luther read the rest of Romans and the Psalms and Galatians and indeed the whole Bible with new eyes of faith. And as he read God's Word, he saw the most important event in history with joy and gladness, because it was the day he died to sin and was raised to life in Christ through Baptism. He and you and all believers are righteous and will live by faith!
Praise be to Christ, who is literally our Righteousness!
Amen!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
10/10/10
Slaves to Righteousness
Romans 6:18
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Dear friends,
As I prepared for the sermon, I went over my notes on sermon text, Romans 6. I found a poem in margin of my notes that I had taken seven years ago. It is the poem Invictus and it ends like this:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus was written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley. This poet is convinced that he's in complete control of his future. This statement is based on personal observation, but concerning the one things that he needed, he was dead wrong. Humans do have ability to pick which crop to grow and who to marry and even sometimes correct injustice from a time. But when it comes to salvation, we are not in control. So the reason I made a note of this poem next to Romans 6:18 in my class notes was because this poem and verse 18 are opposites.
Mr. Henley the poet wrote, “I am the master of my fate.” St. Paul wrote, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). The poet thought that he was in control of his fate. Paul knew the truth. We used to be slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness.
Slaves don't control anything. They are told what to do and when to do it. So slaves hope that they have a good master. But when your master is evil, life's bad.
St. Paul talked about this bad life. He described it from personal experience.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:14-25)
When we were conceived in our mother's womb, we were sold into slavery. And we were slaves to our evil impluses and desires. Our old master was the devil. But it goes deeper. Our sinful nature was our master, too. Like Paul said, he wanted good, but he did evil. There was a civil war going on inside of Paul, but it was a war Paul would have lost on his own.
But see how Paul ends? Not in defeat, but in victory! Who won? Jesus did and so did Paul because of Jesus. Jesus traded places with Paul on the cross. On the cross Jesus took responsibility for Paul by being punished for Paul's wretchedness. But Jesus also happily gave Paul the credit for Jesus' own lifetime of righteousness and perfection and goodness. God now looks at Paul and sees Jesus.
When we were born, we were slaves to sin. When we were baptized, we were born again as slaves to righteousness. Our new master, Jesus Christ, bought us. Dr. Luther said it best.
[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.
All this He did that I should be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He has risen from death and lives and rules eternally. (Luther's Explanation to the Second Article)
We serve Jesus in righteousness. Because Jesus has set us free from our slavery to sin, we are now different kind of slaves. In the upper room on the night Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Jesus said to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is My command: Love each other.” (John 15:14-17)
Slaves to righteousness love to love and love to do good. But the most important thing we share is our Master, who calls Himself our Friend and who died as our Savior. We were slaves to sin, but now we thank our Savior Jesus for our new status as slaves to Him, our righteousness, the One who God sees when He looks at us.
Therefore, I speak to you on behalf of Christ, our many sins have been forgiven and therefore we love much. Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace (cf. Luke 7).
Amen.
10/10/10
Slaves to Righteousness
Romans 6:18
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Dear friends,
As I prepared for the sermon, I went over my notes on sermon text, Romans 6. I found a poem in margin of my notes that I had taken seven years ago. It is the poem Invictus and it ends like this:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus was written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley. This poet is convinced that he's in complete control of his future. This statement is based on personal observation, but concerning the one things that he needed, he was dead wrong. Humans do have ability to pick which crop to grow and who to marry and even sometimes correct injustice from a time. But when it comes to salvation, we are not in control. So the reason I made a note of this poem next to Romans 6:18 in my class notes was because this poem and verse 18 are opposites.
Mr. Henley the poet wrote, “I am the master of my fate.” St. Paul wrote, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). The poet thought that he was in control of his fate. Paul knew the truth. We used to be slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness.
Slaves don't control anything. They are told what to do and when to do it. So slaves hope that they have a good master. But when your master is evil, life's bad.
St. Paul talked about this bad life. He described it from personal experience.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:14-25)
When we were conceived in our mother's womb, we were sold into slavery. And we were slaves to our evil impluses and desires. Our old master was the devil. But it goes deeper. Our sinful nature was our master, too. Like Paul said, he wanted good, but he did evil. There was a civil war going on inside of Paul, but it was a war Paul would have lost on his own.
But see how Paul ends? Not in defeat, but in victory! Who won? Jesus did and so did Paul because of Jesus. Jesus traded places with Paul on the cross. On the cross Jesus took responsibility for Paul by being punished for Paul's wretchedness. But Jesus also happily gave Paul the credit for Jesus' own lifetime of righteousness and perfection and goodness. God now looks at Paul and sees Jesus.
When we were born, we were slaves to sin. When we were baptized, we were born again as slaves to righteousness. Our new master, Jesus Christ, bought us. Dr. Luther said it best.
[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.
All this He did that I should be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He has risen from death and lives and rules eternally. (Luther's Explanation to the Second Article)
We serve Jesus in righteousness. Because Jesus has set us free from our slavery to sin, we are now different kind of slaves. In the upper room on the night Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Jesus said to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is My command: Love each other.” (John 15:14-17)
Slaves to righteousness love to love and love to do good. But the most important thing we share is our Master, who calls Himself our Friend and who died as our Savior. We were slaves to sin, but now we thank our Savior Jesus for our new status as slaves to Him, our righteousness, the One who God sees when He looks at us.
Therefore, I speak to you on behalf of Christ, our many sins have been forgiven and therefore we love much. Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace (cf. Luke 7).
Amen.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 3, 2010
Jesus Brings More of Everything
Revelation 2:8-11
To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Dear friends,
The final book of the Bible is a book that is filled with comfort. Jesus' revelation to St. John is a message of free forgiveness and accomplished victory. We see this victory that was won on the cross when Jesus introduces Himself as the Savior who died and came to life again.
He died and came back to life. He died and came back to life. This is too good to be true, but God does impossible things. So He died and came back to life. This is Jesus talking and when He speaks, we listen.
And this is what Jesus says. He tells you that He knows you, just like He knew each individual believer who lived in Smyrna around AD 90. (Smyrna was a port city on the eastern coast of Turkey. It was the location of an early Christian church.)
Jesus says that He knows your problems, just like He knew the problems in Smyrna. And listen carefully: He doesn't know about your problems; He knows your problems. We often know about the problems of others. And maybe for a moment we feel bad. But Jesus' concern and empathy—feeling the misery of others—isn't a fleeting feeling. He knows our problems, because He has experienced the same problems and suffered from them, too.
Hebrews 2:9, 17, 18 says that Jesus suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone... For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus knows how you suffer. And in this revelation to the church in Smyrna, Jesus knew the suffering that came to them because they were Christians. This kind of suffering is different than the suffering that believers and unbelievers alike endure from disease, calamity, and other people.
Jesus is telling those in Smyrna, “You are standing firm in My hidden glory because I have made you My people. Stand firm until this suffering is over. What waits for you when this is over is My glory made visible in you to all the earth.” Here's how He actually said it: I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!
We are poor and rich at the same time. We look poor to the world. We look poor to our children and friends. We even look poor to ourselves. We look poor to everyone because bad things do happen to us.
The Christians in Smyrna faced evil words, jail time, and violence. Today we face cruel words. Christians face these things because we follow Jesus. We look poor because we are Christians. Our lives are more difficult because we are Christians.
When an unbelieving relative dies, we can't sugarcoat it by pretending that they'll be in heaven. We take this tragedy personally and it hurts. Unbelievers can lie to themselves, but we can't. Knowing the truth can bring more pain into your life. But knowing the truth of Jesus and His cross also bring us peace.
As Jesus' followers we have more of everything: more pain, but also more peace. Just go to the deathbed of a believer and be amazed at the peace they possess and confess in Christ. They know they have a crown. Jesus gave them this crown. It is a crown that proclaims that they are forgiven. This victory wreath on top of their heads shouts that when Jesus died and rose from the dead, they too were connected to this victory in Baptism. Perhaps they remember their confirmation verse: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. What sweet comfort this sentence gives!
Our suffering and pain often threaten to hide our crowns. But in a strange way, they are marks of our Christian faith. When you are agonizing over a sin that you know is too cruel to be forgiven, remember that you are in agony because you take God's Word seriously. John's fellow apostle Peter urged his fellow believers to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11)
When you feel this war in your soul, remember not only the Law, but also the Gospel. Hear the words of Paul in Romans 5 as he rejoices: The law was added so that [sin] might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)
This grace, this crown which He puts on your head, these riches that He pours out on you are gifts from Jesus. He wants you to have them because He knows that since you belong to Him, your life will tougher. You will suffer more. You will experience more pain. So He gives you more comfort, more peace, more joy because He died and came back to life. He died and came back to life.
Amen.
October 3, 2010
Jesus Brings More of Everything
Revelation 2:8-11
To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Dear friends,
The final book of the Bible is a book that is filled with comfort. Jesus' revelation to St. John is a message of free forgiveness and accomplished victory. We see this victory that was won on the cross when Jesus introduces Himself as the Savior who died and came to life again.
He died and came back to life. He died and came back to life. This is too good to be true, but God does impossible things. So He died and came back to life. This is Jesus talking and when He speaks, we listen.
And this is what Jesus says. He tells you that He knows you, just like He knew each individual believer who lived in Smyrna around AD 90. (Smyrna was a port city on the eastern coast of Turkey. It was the location of an early Christian church.)
Jesus says that He knows your problems, just like He knew the problems in Smyrna. And listen carefully: He doesn't know about your problems; He knows your problems. We often know about the problems of others. And maybe for a moment we feel bad. But Jesus' concern and empathy—feeling the misery of others—isn't a fleeting feeling. He knows our problems, because He has experienced the same problems and suffered from them, too.
Hebrews 2:9, 17, 18 says that Jesus suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone... For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus knows how you suffer. And in this revelation to the church in Smyrna, Jesus knew the suffering that came to them because they were Christians. This kind of suffering is different than the suffering that believers and unbelievers alike endure from disease, calamity, and other people.
Jesus is telling those in Smyrna, “You are standing firm in My hidden glory because I have made you My people. Stand firm until this suffering is over. What waits for you when this is over is My glory made visible in you to all the earth.” Here's how He actually said it: I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!
We are poor and rich at the same time. We look poor to the world. We look poor to our children and friends. We even look poor to ourselves. We look poor to everyone because bad things do happen to us.
The Christians in Smyrna faced evil words, jail time, and violence. Today we face cruel words. Christians face these things because we follow Jesus. We look poor because we are Christians. Our lives are more difficult because we are Christians.
When an unbelieving relative dies, we can't sugarcoat it by pretending that they'll be in heaven. We take this tragedy personally and it hurts. Unbelievers can lie to themselves, but we can't. Knowing the truth can bring more pain into your life. But knowing the truth of Jesus and His cross also bring us peace.
As Jesus' followers we have more of everything: more pain, but also more peace. Just go to the deathbed of a believer and be amazed at the peace they possess and confess in Christ. They know they have a crown. Jesus gave them this crown. It is a crown that proclaims that they are forgiven. This victory wreath on top of their heads shouts that when Jesus died and rose from the dead, they too were connected to this victory in Baptism. Perhaps they remember their confirmation verse: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. What sweet comfort this sentence gives!
Our suffering and pain often threaten to hide our crowns. But in a strange way, they are marks of our Christian faith. When you are agonizing over a sin that you know is too cruel to be forgiven, remember that you are in agony because you take God's Word seriously. John's fellow apostle Peter urged his fellow believers to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11)
When you feel this war in your soul, remember not only the Law, but also the Gospel. Hear the words of Paul in Romans 5 as he rejoices: The law was added so that [sin] might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)
This grace, this crown which He puts on your head, these riches that He pours out on you are gifts from Jesus. He wants you to have them because He knows that since you belong to Him, your life will tougher. You will suffer more. You will experience more pain. So He gives you more comfort, more peace, more joy because He died and came back to life. He died and came back to life.
Amen.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 5, 2010
Love Takes Time
Amazed at Christ’s Love—He Calls Me His Child!
1 John 3:1-2
Hosea's life was a picture of unfaithfulness. But not Hosea's unfaithfulness; the unfaithfulness pictured was of his nation—Israel. God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife named Gomer and when she had children, God told Hosea to give them special names.
After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah [Hebrew: “not My loved one”], Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, "Call him Lo-Ammi [Hebrew: “not My people”], for you are not My people, and I am not your God. (Hosea 1:8-9)
Gomer was to Hosea what Israel was to God. Gomer and Israel were both unfaithful. Gomer slept with other men; Israel worshiped themselves and pagan statues and heathen rituals. Hosea's marriage to Gomer was a living and breathing visual aid to remind the Israelites of their unfaithfulness.
However, God still longed to call them His children, but they continued to be unfaithful. They ran away from their true love, just like the selfish son ran away from his father in Jesus' parable (cf. Luke 15).
So even among these damning words of the Law from the Lord—”not My loved one” and “not My people”—we hear words of promise:
"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. (Hosea 1:10-11)
Just like Jesus' parable, the son who had squandered his father's lavish inheritance was welcomed back by that very same father.
We are unfaithful people by nature. We love to run away from Jesus. We are not loving; we are selfish. Our thoughts are constantly on what we can get. Our minds are always frustrated that we don't have as much as we deserve. Our emotions are controlled by the desire to be in control, which is always just outside of our reach.
But Jesus changed all this. He showed us love and how to love. This month we'll learn that love takes time. We sing this truth in our worship and proclaim it in our sermons and study it in our Bible studies.
In order to benefit from this truth, we will need to keep first things first. The first thing is the love that Jesus showed to us. Our love that takes time is the result of Jesus' love and His activity on our behalf. With His death on the cross, He paid the price of sin for all sinners. With your Baptism, He made you His own dear child.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God. (1 John 3:1-2)
Amen.
September 5, 2010
Love Takes Time
Amazed at Christ’s Love—He Calls Me His Child!
1 John 3:1-2
Hosea's life was a picture of unfaithfulness. But not Hosea's unfaithfulness; the unfaithfulness pictured was of his nation—Israel. God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife named Gomer and when she had children, God told Hosea to give them special names.
After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah [Hebrew: “not My loved one”], Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, "Call him Lo-Ammi [Hebrew: “not My people”], for you are not My people, and I am not your God. (Hosea 1:8-9)
Gomer was to Hosea what Israel was to God. Gomer and Israel were both unfaithful. Gomer slept with other men; Israel worshiped themselves and pagan statues and heathen rituals. Hosea's marriage to Gomer was a living and breathing visual aid to remind the Israelites of their unfaithfulness.
However, God still longed to call them His children, but they continued to be unfaithful. They ran away from their true love, just like the selfish son ran away from his father in Jesus' parable (cf. Luke 15).
So even among these damning words of the Law from the Lord—”not My loved one” and “not My people”—we hear words of promise:
"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. (Hosea 1:10-11)
Just like Jesus' parable, the son who had squandered his father's lavish inheritance was welcomed back by that very same father.
We are unfaithful people by nature. We love to run away from Jesus. We are not loving; we are selfish. Our thoughts are constantly on what we can get. Our minds are always frustrated that we don't have as much as we deserve. Our emotions are controlled by the desire to be in control, which is always just outside of our reach.
But Jesus changed all this. He showed us love and how to love. This month we'll learn that love takes time. We sing this truth in our worship and proclaim it in our sermons and study it in our Bible studies.
In order to benefit from this truth, we will need to keep first things first. The first thing is the love that Jesus showed to us. Our love that takes time is the result of Jesus' love and His activity on our behalf. With His death on the cross, He paid the price of sin for all sinners. With your Baptism, He made you His own dear child.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God. (1 John 3:1-2)
Amen.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 29, 2010
Do I Know You?
Luke 13:22-30
22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On a Galilean beach after the first Easter, Peter got a little nosy:
Peter turned and saw that [John] was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." (John 21:20-22)
“What is that to you?” Jesus told Peter to mind his own business. Before Jesus was arrested and crucified in our place, He spent three years traveling and teaching. Often a crowd would gather and listen to Him. Sometimes they'd ask questions.
Some unnamed person in the crowd asked Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" Instead of answering this question, He chose to answer a better question, “Do I know you?” The first question—are only a few going to heaven—is a nosy question that is between those other people and Jesus. The second question—do I know you—is a question that is between you and Jesus. It's the better question.
Does Jesus know you? Jesus answered this most important question with a short story about the owner of a house who shut his doors. (I always pictured this story happening at night.) But there were people outside the house who wanted to get inside. But they couldn't. The doors were shut. So they started shouting and banging on the door.
The owner told them that he wouldn't open the door because he didn't know them. In those days it wasn't safe to open your home to strangers at night. (That's still good advice today.)
But the strangers insisted: “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” We spent time with you. How can you pretend to not know us?!
But the owner was just as persistent: “I don't know you.” The strangers were telling the truth—the owner had spent time with them and had even taught them. But the owner didn't have a bad memory. Nor was he pretending not to know them. The owner was saying that just because they knew his name or spent time with him, did not make them friends. They were strangers. I don't know you.
What is Jesus saying to us with the owner's I-don't-know-you? His point is that there are many who use His name and many who spend time in His churches and in His Word, but He doesn't know them. Jesus quoted His prophet Isaiah (29:13) to describe these strangers who pretend to be His friends, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).
Jesus also said: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:21-23)
There are members who never come to church. There are members who move away and never attend or join the local church. Does this mean they are pretend believers? Since we can't see their hearts, Jesus calls us to study their words and actions.
This is why we visit them or call them if they are far away. We listen to them and then speak about the teachings of the Bible that match their situation. To those who are too ashamed to come to church because they have done something terrible, we preach Jesus' forgiveness and mercy.
But if they are despising God's Word by making work or family or sport a higher priority, out of loving concern we will warn them of their selfishness and urge them to stop their lip service. Jesus said that out of the heart come evil thoughts and words and deeds (Matthew 15:19). When we hear the lip service from those used to eat and drink with us, we must speak out of love.
This isn't being nosy, unless pushing someone out of oncoming traffic is being nosy. (Sure, these days the rescuee might sue you because your saving shove caused them to stub their toe.) This is often the reaction we get from Jesus' lip servants.
But Christ loves them, and so do we. We will do what friends do—help each other to serve Christ above all things with our hearts, minds, souls, and lips.
Cling to the cross that saves you. Our family may desert us. Our friends may run away. You will disappoint yourself. But Christ never fails. His cross, which you received in the visible Gospel of Holy Baptism, will never stop forgiving you, and that is why your salvation is an accomplished fact. Jesus knows you and He always will.
Amen.
August 29, 2010
Do I Know You?
Luke 13:22-30
22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On a Galilean beach after the first Easter, Peter got a little nosy:
Peter turned and saw that [John] was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." (John 21:20-22)
“What is that to you?” Jesus told Peter to mind his own business. Before Jesus was arrested and crucified in our place, He spent three years traveling and teaching. Often a crowd would gather and listen to Him. Sometimes they'd ask questions.
Some unnamed person in the crowd asked Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" Instead of answering this question, He chose to answer a better question, “Do I know you?” The first question—are only a few going to heaven—is a nosy question that is between those other people and Jesus. The second question—do I know you—is a question that is between you and Jesus. It's the better question.
Does Jesus know you? Jesus answered this most important question with a short story about the owner of a house who shut his doors. (I always pictured this story happening at night.) But there were people outside the house who wanted to get inside. But they couldn't. The doors were shut. So they started shouting and banging on the door.
The owner told them that he wouldn't open the door because he didn't know them. In those days it wasn't safe to open your home to strangers at night. (That's still good advice today.)
But the strangers insisted: “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” We spent time with you. How can you pretend to not know us?!
But the owner was just as persistent: “I don't know you.” The strangers were telling the truth—the owner had spent time with them and had even taught them. But the owner didn't have a bad memory. Nor was he pretending not to know them. The owner was saying that just because they knew his name or spent time with him, did not make them friends. They were strangers. I don't know you.
What is Jesus saying to us with the owner's I-don't-know-you? His point is that there are many who use His name and many who spend time in His churches and in His Word, but He doesn't know them. Jesus quoted His prophet Isaiah (29:13) to describe these strangers who pretend to be His friends, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).
Jesus also said: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:21-23)
There are members who never come to church. There are members who move away and never attend or join the local church. Does this mean they are pretend believers? Since we can't see their hearts, Jesus calls us to study their words and actions.
This is why we visit them or call them if they are far away. We listen to them and then speak about the teachings of the Bible that match their situation. To those who are too ashamed to come to church because they have done something terrible, we preach Jesus' forgiveness and mercy.
But if they are despising God's Word by making work or family or sport a higher priority, out of loving concern we will warn them of their selfishness and urge them to stop their lip service. Jesus said that out of the heart come evil thoughts and words and deeds (Matthew 15:19). When we hear the lip service from those used to eat and drink with us, we must speak out of love.
This isn't being nosy, unless pushing someone out of oncoming traffic is being nosy. (Sure, these days the rescuee might sue you because your saving shove caused them to stub their toe.) This is often the reaction we get from Jesus' lip servants.
But Christ loves them, and so do we. We will do what friends do—help each other to serve Christ above all things with our hearts, minds, souls, and lips.
Cling to the cross that saves you. Our family may desert us. Our friends may run away. You will disappoint yourself. But Christ never fails. His cross, which you received in the visible Gospel of Holy Baptism, will never stop forgiving you, and that is why your salvation is an accomplished fact. Jesus knows you and He always will.
Amen.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 22, 2010
Psalm 139:1-5
Is Free Will Real?
Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther, and the other Reformers read Psalm 139 hundreds of times during their lives.
O Lord, You have searched me
and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in—behind and before;
You have laid Your hand upon me.
They studied this psalm and wrestled with the question: “Is free will real?” This is their answer from Holy Scripture: Article 18 of the Defense of the Augsburg Confession.
We do not deny freedom to the human will. The human will has freedom in the choice of works and things that reason understands by itself. To a certain extent reason can display public righteousness or the righteousness of works. It can speak of God, offer to God a certain service by an outward work, and obey public officials and parents. In choosing an outward work, it can hold back the hand from murder, adultery, and theft. Because human nature has been left with reason and judgment about objects subjected to the senses, choice between these things, the liberty and power to produce public righteousness are also left. Scripture calls this the righteousness of the flesh, which the carnal nature (that is, reason) produces by itself, without the Holy Spirit. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 70)
We have free will in matters under the sun, as Solomon might say. You decide who to marry. Where to go to college. How fast to travel in a 45 mph speed zone. Whether to go to church. What to eat for dinner tonight. How many knots in your shoelaces.
All people, whether they trust in Christ or not, possess the free will to make these and a million other decisions under the sun. But even though unbelievers have free will, they often misuse it.
However, the power of lustful desire is such that people more often obey evil inclinations than sound judgment. The devil, who is powerful in the godless... [stirs] up this weak nature to various offenses, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:2 (“in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient”). For these reasons even public righteousness is rare among people. Not even the philosophers, who seem to have hoped for this righteousness, achieved it. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 71)
This world is messed up because our free will keeps choosing selfish things. We choose selfish things because what we refer to as “free will” isn't free at all. Our will is bound to sin and self. Our will is the will of Satan and of the world and of our selves. God recognized this before and after Noah's flood and said: “Every inclination of [man's] heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21). Humans have wills, but they aren't free. Our wills are sinful selfish wills.
But it is false to say whoever performs the works of the commandments without grace does not sin. [False teachers] add further that such works also merit the forgiveness of sins and justification in merely an agreeable way... For without the Holy Spirit, human hearts lack the fear of God. Without trust toward God, they do not believe that they are heard, forgiven, helped, and preserved by God. Therefore, they are godless. For “a diseased tree [cannot] bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). And “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 72)
This means that your works of your sinful will, even though they may look good to the world around us, cannot make God want to spend time with you.
Although we admit that free will has the freedom and power to perform the extreme works of the Law, we do not assign spiritual matters to free will. These are to truly fear God, believe God, be confident and hold that He cares for us, hears us, and forgives us. These are the true works of the First Table, which the heart cannot produce without the Holy Spirit, as Paul says, “The natural person [namely, a person using only natural strength] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14). (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 73)
The first Lutherans explained the failure of working to make God love you. Unbelievers can—in an outward way—honor their parents, not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, and not give false testimony. At best they can avoid going to jail. But their sinful will can do no more than that. Consider your thoughts—if the police had access to your thoughts, how long would you remain out of jail? Unbelievers and their “free will” can never above all things fear, love, and trust in God. They can never properly use His name. They can never take His Word seriously.
People can determine this if they consider what their hearts believe about God’s will, whether they are truly confident God cares for and hears them. Even the saints find keeping this faith difficult (which is not possible in unbelievers). But, as we have said before, it begins when terrified hearts hear the Gospel and receive comfort. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 74)
Here the first Lutherans confess how a believer becomes a believer. It happens against our will. Our will loves sin; our will hates God's ways. But through the Gospel in the Sacraments and in the Word, the Holy Spirit break our stony sinful will into pieces and brings us the comfort of the saving work of Jesus that happened completely outside of us, and thankfully, outside of our supposedly free will.
Their distinction is helpful. Civil righteousness is assigned to free will, and spiritual righteousness is assigned to the governing of the Holy Spirit in the reborn. In this way, outward discipline is kept, because all people should know that God requires this civil righteousness and that, to some extent, we can achieve it. And yet a distinction is shown between human and spiritual righteousness, between philosophical teaching and the teaching of the Holy Spirit. It can be understood why the Holy Spirit is needed. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 75)
Each person has a will. But each person's will is not free to choose good or evil. Anyone who believes that they have a truly free will has bought the snake's oldest lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It is a half-truth. Yes, now we can see the difference between good and evil, but we can't be good enough for God to love us. We know what good is, but we can't be good.
We did not invent this distinction; Scripture clearly teaches it. Augustine also presents it, and recently William of Paris has presented it very well. But those who dream that people can obey God’s Law without the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit is given so that obeying the Law may be considered meritorious, have wickedly hindered the distinction. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 76)
This teaching about free will is all from the Bible. It is a truth that has been preached by all faithful Christians through the centuries, Augustine in the 400s and William in the 1100s. Again they sum up the main point. Anyone can choose to avoid extreme wickedness. But we can't chose to believe in Jesus. We can't chose to be good enough to please God.
Instead Jesus is the superior solution. He gives us His goodness. He sends His Spirit through Word and Sacrament to create and sustain trust in Him. He gives us strength to do good works with which God is pleased.
Yes, you have a free will, but it can only send you to hell. But God's will was to send Christ to suffer hell for you. So yes, God knows your every thought. But instead of fear, this fact bring God's people joy and comfort. He is taking care of us, because that is His will.
Amen.
Book of Concord Source
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul T. McCain. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.
August 22, 2010
Psalm 139:1-5
Is Free Will Real?
Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther, and the other Reformers read Psalm 139 hundreds of times during their lives.
O Lord, You have searched me
and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in—behind and before;
You have laid Your hand upon me.
They studied this psalm and wrestled with the question: “Is free will real?” This is their answer from Holy Scripture: Article 18 of the Defense of the Augsburg Confession.
We do not deny freedom to the human will. The human will has freedom in the choice of works and things that reason understands by itself. To a certain extent reason can display public righteousness or the righteousness of works. It can speak of God, offer to God a certain service by an outward work, and obey public officials and parents. In choosing an outward work, it can hold back the hand from murder, adultery, and theft. Because human nature has been left with reason and judgment about objects subjected to the senses, choice between these things, the liberty and power to produce public righteousness are also left. Scripture calls this the righteousness of the flesh, which the carnal nature (that is, reason) produces by itself, without the Holy Spirit. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 70)
We have free will in matters under the sun, as Solomon might say. You decide who to marry. Where to go to college. How fast to travel in a 45 mph speed zone. Whether to go to church. What to eat for dinner tonight. How many knots in your shoelaces.
All people, whether they trust in Christ or not, possess the free will to make these and a million other decisions under the sun. But even though unbelievers have free will, they often misuse it.
However, the power of lustful desire is such that people more often obey evil inclinations than sound judgment. The devil, who is powerful in the godless... [stirs] up this weak nature to various offenses, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:2 (“in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient”). For these reasons even public righteousness is rare among people. Not even the philosophers, who seem to have hoped for this righteousness, achieved it. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 71)
This world is messed up because our free will keeps choosing selfish things. We choose selfish things because what we refer to as “free will” isn't free at all. Our will is bound to sin and self. Our will is the will of Satan and of the world and of our selves. God recognized this before and after Noah's flood and said: “Every inclination of [man's] heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21). Humans have wills, but they aren't free. Our wills are sinful selfish wills.
But it is false to say whoever performs the works of the commandments without grace does not sin. [False teachers] add further that such works also merit the forgiveness of sins and justification in merely an agreeable way... For without the Holy Spirit, human hearts lack the fear of God. Without trust toward God, they do not believe that they are heard, forgiven, helped, and preserved by God. Therefore, they are godless. For “a diseased tree [cannot] bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). And “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 72)
This means that your works of your sinful will, even though they may look good to the world around us, cannot make God want to spend time with you.
Although we admit that free will has the freedom and power to perform the extreme works of the Law, we do not assign spiritual matters to free will. These are to truly fear God, believe God, be confident and hold that He cares for us, hears us, and forgives us. These are the true works of the First Table, which the heart cannot produce without the Holy Spirit, as Paul says, “The natural person [namely, a person using only natural strength] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14). (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 73)
The first Lutherans explained the failure of working to make God love you. Unbelievers can—in an outward way—honor their parents, not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, and not give false testimony. At best they can avoid going to jail. But their sinful will can do no more than that. Consider your thoughts—if the police had access to your thoughts, how long would you remain out of jail? Unbelievers and their “free will” can never above all things fear, love, and trust in God. They can never properly use His name. They can never take His Word seriously.
People can determine this if they consider what their hearts believe about God’s will, whether they are truly confident God cares for and hears them. Even the saints find keeping this faith difficult (which is not possible in unbelievers). But, as we have said before, it begins when terrified hearts hear the Gospel and receive comfort. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 74)
Here the first Lutherans confess how a believer becomes a believer. It happens against our will. Our will loves sin; our will hates God's ways. But through the Gospel in the Sacraments and in the Word, the Holy Spirit break our stony sinful will into pieces and brings us the comfort of the saving work of Jesus that happened completely outside of us, and thankfully, outside of our supposedly free will.
Their distinction is helpful. Civil righteousness is assigned to free will, and spiritual righteousness is assigned to the governing of the Holy Spirit in the reborn. In this way, outward discipline is kept, because all people should know that God requires this civil righteousness and that, to some extent, we can achieve it. And yet a distinction is shown between human and spiritual righteousness, between philosophical teaching and the teaching of the Holy Spirit. It can be understood why the Holy Spirit is needed. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 75)
Each person has a will. But each person's will is not free to choose good or evil. Anyone who believes that they have a truly free will has bought the snake's oldest lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It is a half-truth. Yes, now we can see the difference between good and evil, but we can't be good enough for God to love us. We know what good is, but we can't be good.
We did not invent this distinction; Scripture clearly teaches it. Augustine also presents it, and recently William of Paris has presented it very well. But those who dream that people can obey God’s Law without the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit is given so that obeying the Law may be considered meritorious, have wickedly hindered the distinction. (Ap XVIII, Paragraph 76)
This teaching about free will is all from the Bible. It is a truth that has been preached by all faithful Christians through the centuries, Augustine in the 400s and William in the 1100s. Again they sum up the main point. Anyone can choose to avoid extreme wickedness. But we can't chose to believe in Jesus. We can't chose to be good enough to please God.
Instead Jesus is the superior solution. He gives us His goodness. He sends His Spirit through Word and Sacrament to create and sustain trust in Him. He gives us strength to do good works with which God is pleased.
Yes, you have a free will, but it can only send you to hell. But God's will was to send Christ to suffer hell for you. So yes, God knows your every thought. But instead of fear, this fact bring God's people joy and comfort. He is taking care of us, because that is His will.
Amen.
Book of Concord Source
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul T. McCain. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
St. Mary, Mother of God
St. Mary, Mother of God
August 15, 2010
Luke 1:46-55
My Soul Magnifies My Savior
Sinners need salvation. And to get salvation, you need a Savior. Mary understood this basic fact. And so she sang:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. (Luke 1:46-47)
Mary was not a perfect person. She was a sinful person from birth. She recognized this truth and was filled with joy when the angel Gabriel told her that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name. (Luke 1:48-49)
You have every right to join the centuries of Christians who remember the blessed Virgin Mary. We call her blessed because God blessed her. Sure, there are some within the Christian church who claim that Mary was perfect and without sin. They have failed to take all of God's Word seriously, and specifically, the sentence before it. Mary called God her Savior and 40 weeks later she would give birth to Jesus. Jesus means savior and He is our Savior from sin.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. (Luke 1:50)
Mary sings of God's mercy and of how it lasts. Speaking for the Lord, the prophet Nathan declared this same joyful fact to King David 1000 years before Mary was born:
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16)
David's kingdom here is God's kingdom and it will endure from generation to generation because Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of David, is David's successor.
The kingdom of God is found among those who follow Jesus. In His kingdom, even the lowliest sinners are made into powerful princes. The Lord made humble David to be king over Israel. And even though she wasn't a queen, humble Mary was chosen to be the King's mother. Jesus is the King who rules forever, even though His mother was a lowly commoner and a lowly sinner. Great is God's mercy!
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:51-53)
See how beautifully Mary sings about God's ways. He makes the last first and the first last. Beware, socialists! You need not apply this verse! God isn't re-distributing wealth; He is paying for the sins of all. He is declaring those whom He has made faithful not guilty of their sins. He makes His faithful people first; those who rewrite His ways are made last.
Many rewrite His ways when they say that Mary was perfect. Or when they claim that Mary never died. But many rewrite God's ways when they reject remembering the blessings God has granted to His saints, like Mary. Hebrews 12:1 reminds us to not forget the history of the kingdom of God: Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
The first Lutherans kept thanking God for the saints, apostles, and martyrs:
[We approve] honoring the saints in three ways. The first is thanksgiving. We should thank God because He has shown examples of mercy, because He wishes to save people, and because He has given teachers and other gifts to the Church. These gifts, since they are the greatest, should be amplified. The saints themselves, who have faithfully used these gifts, should be praised just as Christ praises faithful businessmen (Matthew 25:21, 23). The second service is the strengthening of our faith. When we see Peter’s denial forgiven, we also are encouraged to believe all the more that grace truly superabounds over sin (Romans 5:20). The third honor is the imitation, first of faith, then of the other virtues. Everyone should imitate the saints according to his calling. (Apology XXI, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul T. McCain. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 202)
He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers. (Luke 1:54-55)
Before the Lord God changed Abram's name to Abraham to emphasize that he would be the father of a great nation, He promised him that Jesus was coming to save the world. Mary remembered God's promise.
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)
This promise was cherished by Abraham's family. And it was even repeated by God to Abraham's grandson Jacob (also known as Israel) during Jacob's dream of angels going up and down:
All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. (Genesis 28:14)
Mary knew her Savior. She knew that He was the Promised Savior, promised to lowly sinners like Abraham, Jacob, David, and her. This is why we thank our Savior for choosing Mary, not because she is special or holy in and of herself, but because she is just like us: a sinner whom God has declared a saint.
Dear Jesus, call us like You called Mary. Use us to do Your will and be Your hands here on earth. Make our voices the instruments of songs that declare the loving details of Your atonement for all and our justification by faith in You.
Amen.
August 15, 2010
Luke 1:46-55
My Soul Magnifies My Savior
Sinners need salvation. And to get salvation, you need a Savior. Mary understood this basic fact. And so she sang:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. (Luke 1:46-47)
Mary was not a perfect person. She was a sinful person from birth. She recognized this truth and was filled with joy when the angel Gabriel told her that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name. (Luke 1:48-49)
You have every right to join the centuries of Christians who remember the blessed Virgin Mary. We call her blessed because God blessed her. Sure, there are some within the Christian church who claim that Mary was perfect and without sin. They have failed to take all of God's Word seriously, and specifically, the sentence before it. Mary called God her Savior and 40 weeks later she would give birth to Jesus. Jesus means savior and He is our Savior from sin.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. (Luke 1:50)
Mary sings of God's mercy and of how it lasts. Speaking for the Lord, the prophet Nathan declared this same joyful fact to King David 1000 years before Mary was born:
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16)
David's kingdom here is God's kingdom and it will endure from generation to generation because Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of David, is David's successor.
The kingdom of God is found among those who follow Jesus. In His kingdom, even the lowliest sinners are made into powerful princes. The Lord made humble David to be king over Israel. And even though she wasn't a queen, humble Mary was chosen to be the King's mother. Jesus is the King who rules forever, even though His mother was a lowly commoner and a lowly sinner. Great is God's mercy!
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:51-53)
See how beautifully Mary sings about God's ways. He makes the last first and the first last. Beware, socialists! You need not apply this verse! God isn't re-distributing wealth; He is paying for the sins of all. He is declaring those whom He has made faithful not guilty of their sins. He makes His faithful people first; those who rewrite His ways are made last.
Many rewrite His ways when they say that Mary was perfect. Or when they claim that Mary never died. But many rewrite God's ways when they reject remembering the blessings God has granted to His saints, like Mary. Hebrews 12:1 reminds us to not forget the history of the kingdom of God: Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
The first Lutherans kept thanking God for the saints, apostles, and martyrs:
[We approve] honoring the saints in three ways. The first is thanksgiving. We should thank God because He has shown examples of mercy, because He wishes to save people, and because He has given teachers and other gifts to the Church. These gifts, since they are the greatest, should be amplified. The saints themselves, who have faithfully used these gifts, should be praised just as Christ praises faithful businessmen (Matthew 25:21, 23). The second service is the strengthening of our faith. When we see Peter’s denial forgiven, we also are encouraged to believe all the more that grace truly superabounds over sin (Romans 5:20). The third honor is the imitation, first of faith, then of the other virtues. Everyone should imitate the saints according to his calling. (Apology XXI, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul T. McCain. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 202)
He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers. (Luke 1:54-55)
Before the Lord God changed Abram's name to Abraham to emphasize that he would be the father of a great nation, He promised him that Jesus was coming to save the world. Mary remembered God's promise.
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)
This promise was cherished by Abraham's family. And it was even repeated by God to Abraham's grandson Jacob (also known as Israel) during Jacob's dream of angels going up and down:
All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. (Genesis 28:14)
Mary knew her Savior. She knew that He was the Promised Savior, promised to lowly sinners like Abraham, Jacob, David, and her. This is why we thank our Savior for choosing Mary, not because she is special or holy in and of herself, but because she is just like us: a sinner whom God has declared a saint.
Dear Jesus, call us like You called Mary. Use us to do Your will and be Your hands here on earth. Make our voices the instruments of songs that declare the loving details of Your atonement for all and our justification by faith in You.
Amen.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 8, 2010
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:18-26
Everything Is Meaningless
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Dear children, why do you breathe hard on a cold winter day? To see your breath.
Dear grown-ups, why did you stop... breathing hard on a cold winter day? Because it doesn't last. You see the vapor for a moment and then it's gone. To the young, seeing your breath is an amusing distraction; to grown-ups, seeing your breath means that your car seat is cold.
The idea behind the Hebrew word “meaningless” is a vanishing vapor. So King Solomon—the author of Ecclesiastes—is saying that everything under the sun is like your breath on a cold winter day. It won't last. He says that best you can do is eat and drink and work. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. (Ecclesiastes 2:24)
Food can make you happy, but it doesn't last. You'll eat ten of thousands of meals in your life. You'll remember a few of these meals because they're a holiday tradition—mom's turkey on Thanksgiving. You'll remember a few more because they're special—anniversaries at fancy restaurants, birthday parties at the petting zoo. But when you're hungry again, the memories of turkey and cake won't fill your tummy. Those memories will only increase your feelings of emptiness.
Work can make you happy, if you are blessed to find a career that matches your gifts. But even when you find a job you like, you'll have to retire one day. You'll be too old to work. And the world will view you as useless. Carlos Helu, who runs the Mexican company Telecom and is worth over $53 billion, will have to step down from his position and someone else will take control of his economic empire. His former subordinates won't jump when he calls; the new management will listen politely when he calls them with a suggestion, but after he hangs up, they will ignore his advice. Mr. Helu may share Solomon's sentiment, “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.” (Ecclesiastes 2:18)
Retirement can make you happy. Maybe you never liked any of your jobs and are happy to quit the rat race. You can visit your grand kids or travel to Europe. But then your body wears out and stops you from traveling. And when you are stuck at home or a nursing home, no one travels to visit you. Those who are paid to care for you treat you like a burden. And the sense of emptiness increases.
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work or as Jesus put it, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19)
Solomon, the third king of Israel, understood better than most that every earthly thing—everything under the sun—was meaningless. He was rich and powerful and famous. He could have any woman he desired and he did. He literally had it all. But it was all meaningless. It didn't last.
We aren't rich like Solomon, but we are rich. We have plenty to eat. Even if we don't have jobs, we still have a lot of stuff. While these many things can be amusing distractions, they won't bring lasting happiness.
Everything under the sun is meaningless because it doesn't last.
Once Jesus told someone that what He offers lasts because He doesn't offer things that are under the sun, “Everyone who drinks this [well] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
The water that Jesus offers is Himself. And He lasts. Everything Jesus offers means something because it brings us joy that lasts. And when our lives have meaning, everything under the sun changes.
Our food is a constant reminder of God's goodness. Our table grace will be filled with joy because the food on our table is from our Savior.
Our work becomes an opportunity to work diligently, even when our bosses aren't looking, because we aren't working for ourselves, but to provide for our families' needs and ultimately, to bring honor to our Lord with our faithfulness.
Our retirement won't be empty, because we will be that much closer to the day when our Savior calls us home to joyful delight of heaven. And while the world views us as drains on society, you know that you are a special member of Jesus' family. And while we're waiting to join Him, we wait with quiet expectation and we bring a selfless attitude and Christian words to those around us: family members, paid care takers, other residents in the nursing home.
For us in Christ, even the things under the sun have meaning, because He has given us forgiveness and joy that lasts! Christ's cross isn't a breath on a cold winter day; it is an ocean of love that refreshes us forever. And now we live for Him as Solomon says near the end of Ecclesiastes: “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7)
Amen.
August 8, 2010
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:18-26
Everything Is Meaningless
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Dear children, why do you breathe hard on a cold winter day? To see your breath.
Dear grown-ups, why did you stop... breathing hard on a cold winter day? Because it doesn't last. You see the vapor for a moment and then it's gone. To the young, seeing your breath is an amusing distraction; to grown-ups, seeing your breath means that your car seat is cold.
The idea behind the Hebrew word “meaningless” is a vanishing vapor. So King Solomon—the author of Ecclesiastes—is saying that everything under the sun is like your breath on a cold winter day. It won't last. He says that best you can do is eat and drink and work. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. (Ecclesiastes 2:24)
Food can make you happy, but it doesn't last. You'll eat ten of thousands of meals in your life. You'll remember a few of these meals because they're a holiday tradition—mom's turkey on Thanksgiving. You'll remember a few more because they're special—anniversaries at fancy restaurants, birthday parties at the petting zoo. But when you're hungry again, the memories of turkey and cake won't fill your tummy. Those memories will only increase your feelings of emptiness.
Work can make you happy, if you are blessed to find a career that matches your gifts. But even when you find a job you like, you'll have to retire one day. You'll be too old to work. And the world will view you as useless. Carlos Helu, who runs the Mexican company Telecom and is worth over $53 billion, will have to step down from his position and someone else will take control of his economic empire. His former subordinates won't jump when he calls; the new management will listen politely when he calls them with a suggestion, but after he hangs up, they will ignore his advice. Mr. Helu may share Solomon's sentiment, “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.” (Ecclesiastes 2:18)
Retirement can make you happy. Maybe you never liked any of your jobs and are happy to quit the rat race. You can visit your grand kids or travel to Europe. But then your body wears out and stops you from traveling. And when you are stuck at home or a nursing home, no one travels to visit you. Those who are paid to care for you treat you like a burden. And the sense of emptiness increases.
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work or as Jesus put it, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19)
Solomon, the third king of Israel, understood better than most that every earthly thing—everything under the sun—was meaningless. He was rich and powerful and famous. He could have any woman he desired and he did. He literally had it all. But it was all meaningless. It didn't last.
We aren't rich like Solomon, but we are rich. We have plenty to eat. Even if we don't have jobs, we still have a lot of stuff. While these many things can be amusing distractions, they won't bring lasting happiness.
Everything under the sun is meaningless because it doesn't last.
Once Jesus told someone that what He offers lasts because He doesn't offer things that are under the sun, “Everyone who drinks this [well] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
The water that Jesus offers is Himself. And He lasts. Everything Jesus offers means something because it brings us joy that lasts. And when our lives have meaning, everything under the sun changes.
Our food is a constant reminder of God's goodness. Our table grace will be filled with joy because the food on our table is from our Savior.
Our work becomes an opportunity to work diligently, even when our bosses aren't looking, because we aren't working for ourselves, but to provide for our families' needs and ultimately, to bring honor to our Lord with our faithfulness.
Our retirement won't be empty, because we will be that much closer to the day when our Savior calls us home to joyful delight of heaven. And while the world views us as drains on society, you know that you are a special member of Jesus' family. And while we're waiting to join Him, we wait with quiet expectation and we bring a selfless attitude and Christian words to those around us: family members, paid care takers, other residents in the nursing home.
For us in Christ, even the things under the sun have meaning, because He has given us forgiveness and joy that lasts! Christ's cross isn't a breath on a cold winter day; it is an ocean of love that refreshes us forever. And now we live for Him as Solomon says near the end of Ecclesiastes: “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7)
Amen.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
St. James the Elder, Apostle
St. James the Elder, Apostle
July 25, 2010
Acts 12:1-3
James, a Sinner and a Saint
Today we are going to remember the Apostle James. Whenever we commemorate an Apostle, the central thing to remember is that Jesus took a sinner and declared him to be a saint. So as we learn about James, we will see the meaning of these words:
Where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)
The grace of Jesus overcame the sin of James. In James we see ourselves. Like James, Jesus' grace also overcomes our sin. Praise be to Christ! Amen!
James was one of the first men that Jesus called to be one of His disciples; and he was also the first one killed because of his calling. What happened between his call and his martyrdom?
First of all, we need to note that there were two men named James whom Jesus called to follow Him. The James we remember today was John's brother—John was the writer of the Gospel and of Revelation. And James was the son of Zebedee. (The other James was the son of Alphaeus.) When the Gospels speak of Peter, James, and John, that's the James were talking about. Our James didn't write the New Testament letter of James because he was already in heaven by then.
Some of the future apostles are only mentioned in the lists of disciples, like in Matthew 10. So we don't know much about them personally. But we do know James. Jesus chose him and his brother and Peter to see things that the other nine disciples weren't allowed to see.
When Jesus brought Jairus' little girl back to life, He brought along Peter, James, and John to be eyewitnesses. Same with the Transfiguration—these three men saw Jesus in His glory, as Moses and Elijah stood next to Him. And on the night Jesus was betrayed by another of His disciples, Judas, we read:
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," He said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (Mark 14:32-34)
Just a few verses later we learn that James and the others had fallen asleep. Like Peter, James talked big, but when Jesus asked him to stay awake in the Garden, he couldn't even do that. When Judas brings the armed mob to grab Jesus, James ran away with the rest of the disciples.
Also concerning is that James seemed to think that he and his brother John were better than the other disciples.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. "Teacher," they said, "we want You to do for us whatever we ask."
"What do you want Me to do for you?" He asked.
They replied, "Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory."
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
"We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." (Mark 10:35-40)
James was bold. He made a bold request to sit next to Jesus in heaven; then he answers Jesus' question about drinking His cup with confidence, “We are ready to die for you,” without apparently thinking about what his answer meant. But here's what interesting: Jesus says that James is right, that James will drink the cup He drinks. And this came true about ten years later.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. (Acts 12:1-2)
James ran away from the cross that saved him, Jesus' cross on Golgotha, but through the comfort of the resurrection and the strength of God's Word, James did not run away from Herod's sword. He was not afraid to die for the name of Jesus, his Savior.
Even though James was a sinner, he faced death with the comfort of the forgiveness of his sins. And he knew that this included the time when he ran away from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. And when he was sure that Jesus was dead and doubted the many times when Jesus had predicted His coming back to life.
James also knew that Jesus' forgiveness extended even to his original sin, which is the condition and compulsion to go against everything God wants for us, which he inherited from Zebedee and Salome, his father and mother, which they inherited from their parents all the way back to Adam and Eve, our first parents.
And so we end where we began with Romans 5. Even though James was killed long before these words were penned by Paul, James trusted in the very same promise.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass [Adam's sin] was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [Christ's death on the cross] was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
James knew the righteousness of God, not because of righteousness inside of himself, but by the promise and fulfillment of the Savior's work on his behalf. This is James' salvation; it is ours as well.
Praise Christ for James, a disciple, an apostle, a martyr, and most of all, a forgiven sinner!
Amen.
July 25, 2010
Acts 12:1-3
James, a Sinner and a Saint
Today we are going to remember the Apostle James. Whenever we commemorate an Apostle, the central thing to remember is that Jesus took a sinner and declared him to be a saint. So as we learn about James, we will see the meaning of these words:
Where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)
The grace of Jesus overcame the sin of James. In James we see ourselves. Like James, Jesus' grace also overcomes our sin. Praise be to Christ! Amen!
James was one of the first men that Jesus called to be one of His disciples; and he was also the first one killed because of his calling. What happened between his call and his martyrdom?
First of all, we need to note that there were two men named James whom Jesus called to follow Him. The James we remember today was John's brother—John was the writer of the Gospel and of Revelation. And James was the son of Zebedee. (The other James was the son of Alphaeus.) When the Gospels speak of Peter, James, and John, that's the James were talking about. Our James didn't write the New Testament letter of James because he was already in heaven by then.
Some of the future apostles are only mentioned in the lists of disciples, like in Matthew 10. So we don't know much about them personally. But we do know James. Jesus chose him and his brother and Peter to see things that the other nine disciples weren't allowed to see.
When Jesus brought Jairus' little girl back to life, He brought along Peter, James, and John to be eyewitnesses. Same with the Transfiguration—these three men saw Jesus in His glory, as Moses and Elijah stood next to Him. And on the night Jesus was betrayed by another of His disciples, Judas, we read:
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," He said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (Mark 14:32-34)
Just a few verses later we learn that James and the others had fallen asleep. Like Peter, James talked big, but when Jesus asked him to stay awake in the Garden, he couldn't even do that. When Judas brings the armed mob to grab Jesus, James ran away with the rest of the disciples.
Also concerning is that James seemed to think that he and his brother John were better than the other disciples.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. "Teacher," they said, "we want You to do for us whatever we ask."
"What do you want Me to do for you?" He asked.
They replied, "Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory."
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
"We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." (Mark 10:35-40)
James was bold. He made a bold request to sit next to Jesus in heaven; then he answers Jesus' question about drinking His cup with confidence, “We are ready to die for you,” without apparently thinking about what his answer meant. But here's what interesting: Jesus says that James is right, that James will drink the cup He drinks. And this came true about ten years later.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. (Acts 12:1-2)
James ran away from the cross that saved him, Jesus' cross on Golgotha, but through the comfort of the resurrection and the strength of God's Word, James did not run away from Herod's sword. He was not afraid to die for the name of Jesus, his Savior.
Even though James was a sinner, he faced death with the comfort of the forgiveness of his sins. And he knew that this included the time when he ran away from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. And when he was sure that Jesus was dead and doubted the many times when Jesus had predicted His coming back to life.
James also knew that Jesus' forgiveness extended even to his original sin, which is the condition and compulsion to go against everything God wants for us, which he inherited from Zebedee and Salome, his father and mother, which they inherited from their parents all the way back to Adam and Eve, our first parents.
And so we end where we began with Romans 5. Even though James was killed long before these words were penned by Paul, James trusted in the very same promise.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass [Adam's sin] was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [Christ's death on the cross] was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
James knew the righteousness of God, not because of righteousness inside of himself, but by the promise and fulfillment of the Savior's work on his behalf. This is James' salvation; it is ours as well.
Praise Christ for James, a disciple, an apostle, a martyr, and most of all, a forgiven sinner!
Amen.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 18, 2010
Romans 12:16
Live In Harmony With One Another
How do you live in harmony? And how you do that with other people? Maybe the answer is to be good for goodness' sake?
This attitude works. It gets people to be nice to other people. It gets people to take risks when helping others. Did you hear about the Ohio mailman who saved a drowned man with CPR? And this is the third life he saved while on his route... which he finished on time. We hear this news and it makes us glad. It's great to know that there are people who are eager to help when help is needed.
But we appreciate non-dramatic events and people, too. Our neighbor who shoves our walk in winter or mows our grass in the summer. The neighbor who keeps her yard so neat and clean and full of beautiful flowers. The dog-walker who makes sure his pooch doesn't ruin your sidewalk. Little stuff, sure. But it means a lot to us that there are many who are good for the sake of goodness.
They live in harmony with their neighbors because they want to be treated well as they treat others well. All of this works. It is rational. And as believers we thank our Lord for a community that, for the most part, is peaceful and united and harmonious.
But as believers we strive to live in harmony with one another for a different reason. A reason that is irrational. The world looks at what Jesus did to save us and thinks, “Irrational! That guy was crazy!” The world is correct: sacrificing the holy Son of God to save sinners is... unexpected.
Christ calls us to do unexpected things also.
He wants us to want what is best for our bullies. Pray for your bullies (remember that they come in all shapes and ages and sizes). Be kind to them. Sometimes you might need to defend yourself or someone else from their fists, but don't hit back with your words.
Don't be afraid to spend time with a rich person whom everyone else despises or a poor person whom hygiene isn't up to our standards.
And don't take yourself too seriously. If you don't, you'll much more stress and worry that you'll need to unburden on Jesus. While He'll be glad to do so, He also wants what's best for you.
This is our irrational reason for living in harmony with one another: we want what is best for others. We are able to do this because Jesus has set us loose on this selfish world and the conceited bullies who live here.
Our lives are filled with so much disharmony. Communication problems, money problems, relationship problems—and now try adding other people to the mix. If we handle our lives in the expected way, our lives may smoother than others. We might be well-liked and respected by others. That's good for now.
But as followers of Jesus our attitude will be one that the world will never understand. It will always be irrational and unexpected, just like Jesus. But He gives us the only harmony that will last, even when the world ceases to be.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.
Amen.
July 18, 2010
Romans 12:16
Live In Harmony With One Another
How do you live in harmony? And how you do that with other people? Maybe the answer is to be good for goodness' sake?
This attitude works. It gets people to be nice to other people. It gets people to take risks when helping others. Did you hear about the Ohio mailman who saved a drowned man with CPR? And this is the third life he saved while on his route... which he finished on time. We hear this news and it makes us glad. It's great to know that there are people who are eager to help when help is needed.
But we appreciate non-dramatic events and people, too. Our neighbor who shoves our walk in winter or mows our grass in the summer. The neighbor who keeps her yard so neat and clean and full of beautiful flowers. The dog-walker who makes sure his pooch doesn't ruin your sidewalk. Little stuff, sure. But it means a lot to us that there are many who are good for the sake of goodness.
They live in harmony with their neighbors because they want to be treated well as they treat others well. All of this works. It is rational. And as believers we thank our Lord for a community that, for the most part, is peaceful and united and harmonious.
But as believers we strive to live in harmony with one another for a different reason. A reason that is irrational. The world looks at what Jesus did to save us and thinks, “Irrational! That guy was crazy!” The world is correct: sacrificing the holy Son of God to save sinners is... unexpected.
Christ calls us to do unexpected things also.
He wants us to want what is best for our bullies. Pray for your bullies (remember that they come in all shapes and ages and sizes). Be kind to them. Sometimes you might need to defend yourself or someone else from their fists, but don't hit back with your words.
Don't be afraid to spend time with a rich person whom everyone else despises or a poor person whom hygiene isn't up to our standards.
And don't take yourself too seriously. If you don't, you'll much more stress and worry that you'll need to unburden on Jesus. While He'll be glad to do so, He also wants what's best for you.
This is our irrational reason for living in harmony with one another: we want what is best for others. We are able to do this because Jesus has set us loose on this selfish world and the conceited bullies who live here.
Our lives are filled with so much disharmony. Communication problems, money problems, relationship problems—and now try adding other people to the mix. If we handle our lives in the expected way, our lives may smoother than others. We might be well-liked and respected by others. That's good for now.
But as followers of Jesus our attitude will be one that the world will never understand. It will always be irrational and unexpected, just like Jesus. But He gives us the only harmony that will last, even when the world ceases to be.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.
Amen.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
June 27, 2010
What Does Membership Mean?
Luke 9:23-24
What does membership mean? Strictly speaking, membership in a congregation is not a requirement for salvation. Same goes with attendance at worship, Bible study, or Sunday school. Giving money to your church doesn't get you into heaven, either.
Jesus earns us a spot in heaven with His blood, sweat, and tears. He explained: "[I] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and [I] must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (Luke 9:22).
He did suffer. The Jews rejected Him and demanded that He be crucified. He was killed on a cross. And on the third day He came back to life. This is how He saves us.
You'll note that in His explanation of how He saves us, Jesus never said anything about church membership, attendance, or offerings. But even though these things will never save anybody, they are still important because they require self-denial.
After Jesus feed over 5,000 people with the miracle of bread and fish and just before He showed His glorious appearance to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, He said this: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it." (Luke 9:22-23)
The principle that Jesus is speaking about is self-denial. To be clear, self-denial doesn't mean that you can't have fun. You can, and you should by spending time with friends and family. Have a picnic, go to the Air Show, go and see the third Toy Story—these good things do not violate Jesus' principle of self-denial.
Denying self is something that we do by placing Jesus first in our lives. Luther explains self-denial when explaining the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” What does this mean? “You should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
Self is the part of you that wants to kill you by dragging you away from Jesus, sometimes so slowly we don't ever recognize how far away you are. Self does not care about Jesus' death on the cross. It does not care about Jesus' resurrection from the empty tomb. It does not care about your salvation. It cares about itself.
In the daily decisions that you make, you will struggle with your self. Self always wants you to make choices that lead you away from following Jesus, decisions that do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
For example, going on vacation is a good thing. But if you plan your vacation with no thought of Sunday worship at a local Wisconsin Synod church, you are being lead away from Jesus. (Sure, I'll readily concede that there are some spots in America where there aren't any of our churches for a good long distance.)
What I'm talking about is that many of our selves plan our vacations by assuming we won't go to church. Our selves write off those Sundays as vacation days. Our selves reveal that we consider church to be work, and from time to time, we deserve time off.
Let's talk a small step toward denying self. This year let's include worship on our travel iternary, whether it's a business trip or a vacation. Pick out a WELS or ELS church before you put a hold on your mail. You can even call ahead or email the pastor to let him you are coming. Trust me, when you do that, you'll make his day.
But there are so many ways to follow Christ and deny self when we are here. One of those ways is belonging to a church and being one of its members.
Let's get a few misconceptions about membership off the table. First, membership is not a free ticket to heaven. Membership doesn't mean that you can angry when your pastor asks why you come to church once a year. Membership doesn't mean that you have the right to gossip and complain about you fellow members. Membership doesn't mean that you know everything about the Bible—trust me, you don't, and it's selfish to think that you do.
What does membership mean? It means that you voluntarily remain a part of a family of believers who hold that God comes down to us as a perfect Man who died for our sins. As a member, you are publicly confessing that the Bible is God's Word and that it does not change with time. Your membership also is public statement that you had no part in the decision that brought you into Jesus' family—He did that.
Membership also means that you consistently come to chuch for Bible study and for worship. When you aren't here, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are on vacation and worshiping at a different WELS church. Membership means that if your job forces to work on Sunday, that you let me know and we'll set up alternative ways for you to hear God's Word and receive the Lord's Supper.
Cancer kills you. When the doctors tell you to be at the chemo clinic at such-and-such a time, you're there, whatever it's takes, to get that medicine. If you don't, your doctors, your friends, and your family are going to say something.
Jesus explained to the self-righteous religious experts that He is medicine and that all people need this medicine.
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow Me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:27-32)
We are sinners who have a daily need to feel shame over our selfishness and to trust in Jesus' forgiveness. Jesus is our Medicine. As each week begins, we gather at our “clinic” to confess our sin and to be forgiven by the words of Christ. Staying away from our clinic—church—is a public statement that says that you don't think you are selfish and that you don't need to be forgiven.
If you move away from the Quad Cities, consistent access to your “clinic” where the Medicine of Life is administered isn't possible. Unless you are a college student or serving in the military, membership means that you find a new “clinic” where you can get your Medicine.
It doesn't mean that we are no longer your family. It means that I can't take care of your soul over the phone. I can't mail you the Lord's Supper. I can't baptize your children by email.
There are 18 members of Gethsemane whom I am unable to serve because they live far away. They deserve to be taken care of. That is their God-given right as Christians. They deserve to have a home and a pastor who gives them the Medicine that we all so desparately need. They need a place where they Lord's Supper as often as possible, where they sin is forgiven, where someone will notice if they haven't been to church and will say something to them about the Medicine they need.
When you move, you need to transfer your membership to a nearby WELS or ELS church. You will always be welcome at Gethsemane whenever you visit. I've very much enjoyed meeting many of you already and I can't wait to meet the rest soon.
When you go to college, you probably keep your parents' address. But when you move away permanently, you find a new home and you get mail there. Finding a new church home is just as important, even though self says differently, “This is the perfect time to disappear from church—you're busy, maybe you got kids, you're starting a new life—who has time to be a member of anything, especially church!” What a perfect to deny self and tell it to be silent.
During the next year and more, we'll be helping our permanently moved-away members connect with their new “clinics,” where they can receive Jesus. We're not pushing them out the door; we are pointing them to the Cross and to the clinic for the Medicine. The name of the clinic might be St. Paul's, St. Matthew's, Peace, Jerusalem, Holy Cross, or Good Shepherd. Then we drive our selves, sometimes kicking and screaming, to our clinic for our medicine. Our clinic's name is Gethsemane, but the medicine is the same: Jesus, our Savior who lived and died for us.
Amen.
June 27, 2010
What Does Membership Mean?
Luke 9:23-24
What does membership mean? Strictly speaking, membership in a congregation is not a requirement for salvation. Same goes with attendance at worship, Bible study, or Sunday school. Giving money to your church doesn't get you into heaven, either.
Jesus earns us a spot in heaven with His blood, sweat, and tears. He explained: "[I] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and [I] must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (Luke 9:22).
He did suffer. The Jews rejected Him and demanded that He be crucified. He was killed on a cross. And on the third day He came back to life. This is how He saves us.
You'll note that in His explanation of how He saves us, Jesus never said anything about church membership, attendance, or offerings. But even though these things will never save anybody, they are still important because they require self-denial.
After Jesus feed over 5,000 people with the miracle of bread and fish and just before He showed His glorious appearance to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, He said this: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it." (Luke 9:22-23)
The principle that Jesus is speaking about is self-denial. To be clear, self-denial doesn't mean that you can't have fun. You can, and you should by spending time with friends and family. Have a picnic, go to the Air Show, go and see the third Toy Story—these good things do not violate Jesus' principle of self-denial.
Denying self is something that we do by placing Jesus first in our lives. Luther explains self-denial when explaining the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” What does this mean? “You should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
Self is the part of you that wants to kill you by dragging you away from Jesus, sometimes so slowly we don't ever recognize how far away you are. Self does not care about Jesus' death on the cross. It does not care about Jesus' resurrection from the empty tomb. It does not care about your salvation. It cares about itself.
In the daily decisions that you make, you will struggle with your self. Self always wants you to make choices that lead you away from following Jesus, decisions that do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
For example, going on vacation is a good thing. But if you plan your vacation with no thought of Sunday worship at a local Wisconsin Synod church, you are being lead away from Jesus. (Sure, I'll readily concede that there are some spots in America where there aren't any of our churches for a good long distance.)
What I'm talking about is that many of our selves plan our vacations by assuming we won't go to church. Our selves write off those Sundays as vacation days. Our selves reveal that we consider church to be work, and from time to time, we deserve time off.
Let's talk a small step toward denying self. This year let's include worship on our travel iternary, whether it's a business trip or a vacation. Pick out a WELS or ELS church before you put a hold on your mail. You can even call ahead or email the pastor to let him you are coming. Trust me, when you do that, you'll make his day.
But there are so many ways to follow Christ and deny self when we are here. One of those ways is belonging to a church and being one of its members.
Let's get a few misconceptions about membership off the table. First, membership is not a free ticket to heaven. Membership doesn't mean that you can angry when your pastor asks why you come to church once a year. Membership doesn't mean that you have the right to gossip and complain about you fellow members. Membership doesn't mean that you know everything about the Bible—trust me, you don't, and it's selfish to think that you do.
What does membership mean? It means that you voluntarily remain a part of a family of believers who hold that God comes down to us as a perfect Man who died for our sins. As a member, you are publicly confessing that the Bible is God's Word and that it does not change with time. Your membership also is public statement that you had no part in the decision that brought you into Jesus' family—He did that.
Membership also means that you consistently come to chuch for Bible study and for worship. When you aren't here, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are on vacation and worshiping at a different WELS church. Membership means that if your job forces to work on Sunday, that you let me know and we'll set up alternative ways for you to hear God's Word and receive the Lord's Supper.
Cancer kills you. When the doctors tell you to be at the chemo clinic at such-and-such a time, you're there, whatever it's takes, to get that medicine. If you don't, your doctors, your friends, and your family are going to say something.
Jesus explained to the self-righteous religious experts that He is medicine and that all people need this medicine.
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow Me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:27-32)
We are sinners who have a daily need to feel shame over our selfishness and to trust in Jesus' forgiveness. Jesus is our Medicine. As each week begins, we gather at our “clinic” to confess our sin and to be forgiven by the words of Christ. Staying away from our clinic—church—is a public statement that says that you don't think you are selfish and that you don't need to be forgiven.
If you move away from the Quad Cities, consistent access to your “clinic” where the Medicine of Life is administered isn't possible. Unless you are a college student or serving in the military, membership means that you find a new “clinic” where you can get your Medicine.
It doesn't mean that we are no longer your family. It means that I can't take care of your soul over the phone. I can't mail you the Lord's Supper. I can't baptize your children by email.
There are 18 members of Gethsemane whom I am unable to serve because they live far away. They deserve to be taken care of. That is their God-given right as Christians. They deserve to have a home and a pastor who gives them the Medicine that we all so desparately need. They need a place where they Lord's Supper as often as possible, where they sin is forgiven, where someone will notice if they haven't been to church and will say something to them about the Medicine they need.
When you move, you need to transfer your membership to a nearby WELS or ELS church. You will always be welcome at Gethsemane whenever you visit. I've very much enjoyed meeting many of you already and I can't wait to meet the rest soon.
When you go to college, you probably keep your parents' address. But when you move away permanently, you find a new home and you get mail there. Finding a new church home is just as important, even though self says differently, “This is the perfect time to disappear from church—you're busy, maybe you got kids, you're starting a new life—who has time to be a member of anything, especially church!” What a perfect to deny self and tell it to be silent.
During the next year and more, we'll be helping our permanently moved-away members connect with their new “clinics,” where they can receive Jesus. We're not pushing them out the door; we are pointing them to the Cross and to the clinic for the Medicine. The name of the clinic might be St. Paul's, St. Matthew's, Peace, Jerusalem, Holy Cross, or Good Shepherd. Then we drive our selves, sometimes kicking and screaming, to our clinic for our medicine. Our clinic's name is Gethsemane, but the medicine is the same: Jesus, our Savior who lived and died for us.
Amen.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 20, 2010
Time Doesn't Change God's Promises
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
I want to talk to you today about a trend in Lutheranism. I could say Christianity, but Jesus told us to address the plank in our own eyes first, since this trend is sinful. And it's reached its logical conclusion in many Lutheran churches.
The trend is to claim that over time, God's promises change. Something He said 6,000 years ago or 4,000 years ago or 2,000 years ago may not be as relevant or true today as it used to be back then.
Today we read some of the Apostle Paul's mail. He lists several sins. Today I want to focus on two of those sins because there are many Lutherans who are saying that those sins aren't sins. The first sin is sex outside of marriage. The second sin is homosexuality.
Many Lutherans declare that sex outside of marriage is not sin. Many say that even if you aren't married, it is okay to act like husband and wife. Teenagers having sex? Sure, kids will be kids. A divorced person having sex with another divorced person? That's fine. A widow and widower? Go for it, you old naughty hipters, you!
Many Lutheran pastors don't discipline couples who live together before they are married—they will still give them Communion and they would never dream of excommunicating them. Many pastors refuse to talk about these serious issues from their pulpits. The result is logical: many Lutherans are living with their partners before they are married.
If they don't stop living together, they are putting their souls on the path to hell.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Most Lutherans in the pews would say that drunks are sinners. They'd say the same about slanderers, greedy people, con artists, and thieves.
But the leadership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says that homosexuality is okay. They spin God's promises around and say, “Well, this may have been true in Paul's time. But our society has seen the light. We now know that alternative lifestyles—unmarried households and homosexuals—are okay, as long as the partners are committed to each other. Paul doesn't speak truth to our society any longer. We are relevant and progressive and we adapt to our culture.”
On August 21, 2009, the ELCA issued a press release.
The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted today to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships.
The action came by a vote of 559-451 at the highest legislative body of the 4.6 million member denomination. Earlier the assembly also approved a resolution committing the church to find ways for congregations that choose to do so to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same gender relationships," though the resolution did not use the word "marriage."
The actions here change the church's policy, which previously allowed people who are gay and lesbian into the ordained ministry only if they remained celibate...
Pastor Richard Mahan of the ELCA West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod was among several speakers contending that the proposed changes are contrary to biblical teaching. "I cannot see how the church that I have known for 40 years can condone what God has condemned," Mahan said, "Nowhere does it say in scripture that homosexuality and same sex marriage is acceptable of God."
But others said a greater acceptance of people who are gay and lesbian in the church was consistent with the Bible. Bishop Gary Wollersheim [he has offices in Rockford and Rock Island—on Augustana College's campus. He was just re-elected to a third 6-year term of office a few days ago.] of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod said, "It's a matter of justice, a matter of hospitality, it's what Jesus would have us do." Wollersheim said he had been strongly influenced by meetings with youth at youth leadership events in his synod, a regional unit of the ELCA.
(ELCA NEWS SERVICE, August 21, 2009, “ELCA Assembly Opens Ministry to Partnered Gay and Lesbian Lutherans,” http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx?a=4253, accessed June 19, 2010.)
God says homosexuality is sin. The ELCA leaders, like Bishop Wollersheim, decided that they are their own gods and proclaimed that homosexuality is not sin.
The most telling aspect of this sorry affair isn't that the ELCA leadership decided to change God's Word. The ELCA has been doing that for years, decades even. That isn't news. The most revealing thing is what Bishop Wollersheim said. This so-called Lutheran pastor has the gall to claim that Jesus would be just fine with homosexuality.
“It's what Jesus would have us do,” Bishop Wollershiem says. 559 delegates to last year's ELCA convention gobbled up this lie, hook, line, and sinker. For years and decades their pastors have been telling them that time changes God's promises. What used to be true isn't true today.
This is a seductive lie, because it contains some truth. Our knowledge of God's six-day creation had increased by jumps and hops. Though we tend to overestimate the limitations of our forefathers, it is true that we have collected a great deal of facts about the universe and the atom.
But what God has revealed about Himself hasn't changed. Sin is sin. We must tell our Lutheran friends who are not in our fellowship that the truth doesn't change over time. This is true even when men try to change God's promises.
And this promise of God cannot be changed by men: Jesus washes away our wickedness and loves us. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Consider the life of Mannaseh. He despised the legacy that his father, good King Hezekiah had handed down to him. He worshiped idols. He even sacrificed his sons to a pagan idol.
Yet by God's mercy he repented when he saw that he was abandoned by all human help. He was declared not guilty of his sinfulness and he will be in heaven with his father Hezekiah.
But he almost went to hell because no one stood up to him and told him the truth. Once his father was gone, Mannaseh did as he saw fit. He became his own god.
On this Father's Day remember your faithful father who spoke God's promises to you, even when you were being bad. Most father won't do this, so treasure the ones who do. A good dad calls sin a sin. He teaches you that God's promises don't change over time.
Amen.
June 20, 2010
Time Doesn't Change God's Promises
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
I want to talk to you today about a trend in Lutheranism. I could say Christianity, but Jesus told us to address the plank in our own eyes first, since this trend is sinful. And it's reached its logical conclusion in many Lutheran churches.
The trend is to claim that over time, God's promises change. Something He said 6,000 years ago or 4,000 years ago or 2,000 years ago may not be as relevant or true today as it used to be back then.
Today we read some of the Apostle Paul's mail. He lists several sins. Today I want to focus on two of those sins because there are many Lutherans who are saying that those sins aren't sins. The first sin is sex outside of marriage. The second sin is homosexuality.
Many Lutherans declare that sex outside of marriage is not sin. Many say that even if you aren't married, it is okay to act like husband and wife. Teenagers having sex? Sure, kids will be kids. A divorced person having sex with another divorced person? That's fine. A widow and widower? Go for it, you old naughty hipters, you!
Many Lutheran pastors don't discipline couples who live together before they are married—they will still give them Communion and they would never dream of excommunicating them. Many pastors refuse to talk about these serious issues from their pulpits. The result is logical: many Lutherans are living with their partners before they are married.
If they don't stop living together, they are putting their souls on the path to hell.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Most Lutherans in the pews would say that drunks are sinners. They'd say the same about slanderers, greedy people, con artists, and thieves.
But the leadership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says that homosexuality is okay. They spin God's promises around and say, “Well, this may have been true in Paul's time. But our society has seen the light. We now know that alternative lifestyles—unmarried households and homosexuals—are okay, as long as the partners are committed to each other. Paul doesn't speak truth to our society any longer. We are relevant and progressive and we adapt to our culture.”
On August 21, 2009, the ELCA issued a press release.
The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted today to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships.
The action came by a vote of 559-451 at the highest legislative body of the 4.6 million member denomination. Earlier the assembly also approved a resolution committing the church to find ways for congregations that choose to do so to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same gender relationships," though the resolution did not use the word "marriage."
The actions here change the church's policy, which previously allowed people who are gay and lesbian into the ordained ministry only if they remained celibate...
Pastor Richard Mahan of the ELCA West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod was among several speakers contending that the proposed changes are contrary to biblical teaching. "I cannot see how the church that I have known for 40 years can condone what God has condemned," Mahan said, "Nowhere does it say in scripture that homosexuality and same sex marriage is acceptable of God."
But others said a greater acceptance of people who are gay and lesbian in the church was consistent with the Bible. Bishop Gary Wollersheim [he has offices in Rockford and Rock Island—on Augustana College's campus. He was just re-elected to a third 6-year term of office a few days ago.] of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod said, "It's a matter of justice, a matter of hospitality, it's what Jesus would have us do." Wollersheim said he had been strongly influenced by meetings with youth at youth leadership events in his synod, a regional unit of the ELCA.
(ELCA NEWS SERVICE, August 21, 2009, “ELCA Assembly Opens Ministry to Partnered Gay and Lesbian Lutherans,” http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx?a=4253, accessed June 19, 2010.)
God says homosexuality is sin. The ELCA leaders, like Bishop Wollersheim, decided that they are their own gods and proclaimed that homosexuality is not sin.
The most telling aspect of this sorry affair isn't that the ELCA leadership decided to change God's Word. The ELCA has been doing that for years, decades even. That isn't news. The most revealing thing is what Bishop Wollersheim said. This so-called Lutheran pastor has the gall to claim that Jesus would be just fine with homosexuality.
“It's what Jesus would have us do,” Bishop Wollershiem says. 559 delegates to last year's ELCA convention gobbled up this lie, hook, line, and sinker. For years and decades their pastors have been telling them that time changes God's promises. What used to be true isn't true today.
This is a seductive lie, because it contains some truth. Our knowledge of God's six-day creation had increased by jumps and hops. Though we tend to overestimate the limitations of our forefathers, it is true that we have collected a great deal of facts about the universe and the atom.
But what God has revealed about Himself hasn't changed. Sin is sin. We must tell our Lutheran friends who are not in our fellowship that the truth doesn't change over time. This is true even when men try to change God's promises.
And this promise of God cannot be changed by men: Jesus washes away our wickedness and loves us. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Consider the life of Mannaseh. He despised the legacy that his father, good King Hezekiah had handed down to him. He worshiped idols. He even sacrificed his sons to a pagan idol.
Yet by God's mercy he repented when he saw that he was abandoned by all human help. He was declared not guilty of his sinfulness and he will be in heaven with his father Hezekiah.
But he almost went to hell because no one stood up to him and told him the truth. Once his father was gone, Mannaseh did as he saw fit. He became his own god.
On this Father's Day remember your faithful father who spoke God's promises to you, even when you were being bad. Most father won't do this, so treasure the ones who do. A good dad calls sin a sin. He teaches you that God's promises don't change over time.
Amen.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2010
Can Pain Ever Be Good?
James 1:2-3
Pain is bad. When we hurt ourselves, our bodies will tell us that we are in pain. These pain receptors signal our brain that something bad is happening. Our senses can get us to stop hurting ourselves before the damage becomes permanent.
Hot ashpalt, bare feet. As a kid, I thought that running back to our spot on the beach for my sandals was a waste of time and that I could handle walking on a scorching parking lot. I was wrong. Pain told me to stop after two steps.
My first time playing in Wisconsin snow was awesome. But it was very cold. After a while (and after ignoring my mom's call to come inside), I started to get warm and I thought how wonderful this warm feeling was. That is until I realized later that I had gotten so cold that my pain receptors had shut down and I was experiencing freezing pain. When I went inside, the pain was like your leg falling asleep and then walking up—pins and needles—but much more intense and to your whole body.
I heard a story about a man who had been struck by lightning and who survived, but had lost his sense of sight and temperature. This poor fellow would be out in the snow in shorts and flip-flops, as his feet were bitten by frost. He kept hurting himself, until many of his limbs were permanently damaged.
With pain, we hurt ourselves plenty. Without pain, we would really mess ourselves up. So it makes sense to say that pain is good. It keeps us from really hurting ourselves.
Pain is good for believers, too. With pain, we still are selfish and sin against God and hurt ourselves and others. But if there was no pain or consequences, we would really mess up our lives.
Consider how often we secretly envy the unbelievers, who seem to feel no pain: “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong... From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits... This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.” (Psalm 73:3-5, 7, 12 )
Most unbelievers follow the laws of the land. But they don't care about God's Word. So they spend their lives offending God with their selfish lives. Yet nothing happens to them... until the end of time. Consider Jesus' story about the weeds.
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' " (Matthew 13:24-30)
Imagine, God forbid, that we were unbelievers again, like the man who had been struck with lightning. We start with small sins, and we'd keep pushing the envelope, until we destroy ourselves.
Using your bare hand to touch a hot pan on the stove will result in pain. That's bad. But that pain protected you from spilling boiling water on yourself. That's good. Pain is useful and keeps us from doing bad things that will hurt us.
This is why James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3).
We face trials of many kinds. But the worst trials come when our wicked selves and the devil conspire to use our pain against us. When our grandma dies, it hurts. And we ask, “Why did Jesus let this happen? Doesn't He love me anymore?” The conspirators whisper back, “No, Jesus lied. He doesn't care about you. You are all alone.” They want to turn your grief into a crisis. The devil knows that our pain is a terrible thing to waste. He wants to turn our loss into his gain.
How do we respond to this painful test? We call the devil's words and our doubts what they are: lies that were meant to destroy us. And when your dad dies, it still hurts. But we are ready for the lies that going to come flooding into our thoughts. We persevere because we trust in Jesus' promises. And everytime the devil tries to trick us with his lies, we see right through him and see Jesus' cross, where He died for us.
The longer you live, the more pain you see. As believers, we are blessed that our pain serves a purpose. It gets us ready for our storms of doubt and crises of faith. In the end it gets us ready for our own death.
So, yes, unbelievers seem to have much less pain in their lives. Our lives often seem devoted to pain and tests and trials. But rejoice in your trials and temptations, because pain is good. It opens our eyes to see that we need Jesus and that He is only thing we need. Pain hurts, but Jesus uses it to pull us back to Him.
Amen.
June 6, 2010
Can Pain Ever Be Good?
James 1:2-3
Pain is bad. When we hurt ourselves, our bodies will tell us that we are in pain. These pain receptors signal our brain that something bad is happening. Our senses can get us to stop hurting ourselves before the damage becomes permanent.
Hot ashpalt, bare feet. As a kid, I thought that running back to our spot on the beach for my sandals was a waste of time and that I could handle walking on a scorching parking lot. I was wrong. Pain told me to stop after two steps.
My first time playing in Wisconsin snow was awesome. But it was very cold. After a while (and after ignoring my mom's call to come inside), I started to get warm and I thought how wonderful this warm feeling was. That is until I realized later that I had gotten so cold that my pain receptors had shut down and I was experiencing freezing pain. When I went inside, the pain was like your leg falling asleep and then walking up—pins and needles—but much more intense and to your whole body.
I heard a story about a man who had been struck by lightning and who survived, but had lost his sense of sight and temperature. This poor fellow would be out in the snow in shorts and flip-flops, as his feet were bitten by frost. He kept hurting himself, until many of his limbs were permanently damaged.
With pain, we hurt ourselves plenty. Without pain, we would really mess ourselves up. So it makes sense to say that pain is good. It keeps us from really hurting ourselves.
Pain is good for believers, too. With pain, we still are selfish and sin against God and hurt ourselves and others. But if there was no pain or consequences, we would really mess up our lives.
Consider how often we secretly envy the unbelievers, who seem to feel no pain: “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong... From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits... This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.” (Psalm 73:3-5, 7, 12 )
Most unbelievers follow the laws of the land. But they don't care about God's Word. So they spend their lives offending God with their selfish lives. Yet nothing happens to them... until the end of time. Consider Jesus' story about the weeds.
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' " (Matthew 13:24-30)
Imagine, God forbid, that we were unbelievers again, like the man who had been struck with lightning. We start with small sins, and we'd keep pushing the envelope, until we destroy ourselves.
Using your bare hand to touch a hot pan on the stove will result in pain. That's bad. But that pain protected you from spilling boiling water on yourself. That's good. Pain is useful and keeps us from doing bad things that will hurt us.
This is why James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3).
We face trials of many kinds. But the worst trials come when our wicked selves and the devil conspire to use our pain against us. When our grandma dies, it hurts. And we ask, “Why did Jesus let this happen? Doesn't He love me anymore?” The conspirators whisper back, “No, Jesus lied. He doesn't care about you. You are all alone.” They want to turn your grief into a crisis. The devil knows that our pain is a terrible thing to waste. He wants to turn our loss into his gain.
How do we respond to this painful test? We call the devil's words and our doubts what they are: lies that were meant to destroy us. And when your dad dies, it still hurts. But we are ready for the lies that going to come flooding into our thoughts. We persevere because we trust in Jesus' promises. And everytime the devil tries to trick us with his lies, we see right through him and see Jesus' cross, where He died for us.
The longer you live, the more pain you see. As believers, we are blessed that our pain serves a purpose. It gets us ready for our storms of doubt and crises of faith. In the end it gets us ready for our own death.
So, yes, unbelievers seem to have much less pain in their lives. Our lives often seem devoted to pain and tests and trials. But rejoice in your trials and temptations, because pain is good. It opens our eyes to see that we need Jesus and that He is only thing we need. Pain hurts, but Jesus uses it to pull us back to Him.
Amen.
Trinity Sunday
The Holy Trinity
May 30, 2010
What Is God Like?
Romans 11:33-36
Have you ever trapped a grasshopper in your hands? You peer at the green bug with his alien face and maybe you wonder if he knows anything about you. He's just an insect, but it seems like he knows at least one thing about you—that you could smush him at anytime. So the minute you open your hand, he zooms away.
Grasshoppers know that we can smush them. So they stay away from us. They'll never understand that we are so much more than grasshopper smashers. They'll never understand how we think or how we do things.
In the Old Testament Isaiah wrote this: “[God] sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:22). We are grasshoppers. We are in God's hands, but we know so little about Him. But we do know that He is powerful.
“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26)
Type in “scale of the universe” on Google or YouTube and you can watch any number of videos that detail the massive scale of the universe and its stars. The best wild guesses that we currently have put the number of stars in the universe at about 70 sextillion or 7 with 22 zeros.
Humans can't understand who God is or what He is like, unless He comes down to us and tells us. If you wanted to tell grasshoppers about your name and the things that you like, you would have to become a grasshopper so that you could explain who you are in ways that they could understand.
This is what God did when He sent Jesus into the world. The God who created trillions and and trillions and trillions of stars became a man. He did this so that He could explain who He is and what He does for us. So when someone asks what God is like, Jesus is a great answer.
In Jesus we see the Trinity at work. God the Father sends the Son on His holy mission. God the Son is punished for our sinfulness. God the Holy Spirit communicates Jesus' rescue mission through the Gospel.
Think of it this way: what has caused you to be saved? There are three good answers to this question and they are all from the Bible and they are all correct.
1.You are saved by God's love for you, which set the Gospel into motion.
2.You are saved by Jesus' death for you, which is the climax of the Gospel.
3.You are saved by Baptism, which is the Gospel in visible form.
All three answers are different, but they are all correct. The Father's love set our salvation into motion. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus' death paid for our salvation. We know this from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Spirit proclaims salvation through the Gospel. We know this because Jesus said, “When the Counselor [Holy Spirit] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me” (John 15:26).
What is God like? He loves you. He died for you. He forgives you. This is probably the best way to understand the Trinity, our God who is three Persons in one God. Our language can't properly express how the Trinity works and our minds can't grasp the inner working of the Trinity, but because of our faith in Jesus, we know that our Triune God works for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
May 30, 2010
What Is God Like?
Romans 11:33-36
Have you ever trapped a grasshopper in your hands? You peer at the green bug with his alien face and maybe you wonder if he knows anything about you. He's just an insect, but it seems like he knows at least one thing about you—that you could smush him at anytime. So the minute you open your hand, he zooms away.
Grasshoppers know that we can smush them. So they stay away from us. They'll never understand that we are so much more than grasshopper smashers. They'll never understand how we think or how we do things.
In the Old Testament Isaiah wrote this: “[God] sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:22). We are grasshoppers. We are in God's hands, but we know so little about Him. But we do know that He is powerful.
“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26)
Type in “scale of the universe” on Google or YouTube and you can watch any number of videos that detail the massive scale of the universe and its stars. The best wild guesses that we currently have put the number of stars in the universe at about 70 sextillion or 7 with 22 zeros.
Humans can't understand who God is or what He is like, unless He comes down to us and tells us. If you wanted to tell grasshoppers about your name and the things that you like, you would have to become a grasshopper so that you could explain who you are in ways that they could understand.
This is what God did when He sent Jesus into the world. The God who created trillions and and trillions and trillions of stars became a man. He did this so that He could explain who He is and what He does for us. So when someone asks what God is like, Jesus is a great answer.
In Jesus we see the Trinity at work. God the Father sends the Son on His holy mission. God the Son is punished for our sinfulness. God the Holy Spirit communicates Jesus' rescue mission through the Gospel.
Think of it this way: what has caused you to be saved? There are three good answers to this question and they are all from the Bible and they are all correct.
1.You are saved by God's love for you, which set the Gospel into motion.
2.You are saved by Jesus' death for you, which is the climax of the Gospel.
3.You are saved by Baptism, which is the Gospel in visible form.
All three answers are different, but they are all correct. The Father's love set our salvation into motion. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus' death paid for our salvation. We know this from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Spirit proclaims salvation through the Gospel. We know this because Jesus said, “When the Counselor [Holy Spirit] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me” (John 15:26).
What is God like? He loves you. He died for you. He forgives you. This is probably the best way to understand the Trinity, our God who is three Persons in one God. Our language can't properly express how the Trinity works and our minds can't grasp the inner working of the Trinity, but because of our faith in Jesus, we know that our Triune God works for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
The Day of Pentecost
May 23, 2010
Speaking of Tongues
Acts 2:1-21
The most impressive thing that Peter did on Pentecost was not speaking in a foreign language that he had never learned. It was his sermon.
Peter pointed people from all over the world to Jesus. He pointed them to their Savior's crucifixion and resurrection.
Peter preached: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This Man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. (Acts 2:22-24)
The main miracle of Pentecost wasn't speaking in tongues. It was the Holy Spirit coming to these people and creating trust in Jesus in many of their hearts. The Holy Spirit created trust in their Savior, trust that would save them and sustain them.
And it's important to note how the Holy Spirit came to the gathered audience. He did use the wind didn't create faith. The fire didn't create faith. The marvel of fishermen speaking practically every language known to man didn't create faith. These wonders gathered the audience, but they didn't save anyone.
The Holy Spirit works through things that aren't amazing. On Pentecost He used non-amazing Peter preaching a sermon. Then He used non-amazing water to baptize them. Then He used Jesus' body and blood in, with, and under the non-amazing bread and wine of the Lord's Supper to increase their trust in Jesus and in His promises.
Among most Christians, at least on the surface, the work of Jesus is confessed—He lived, died, and rose from the dead. But among this same group, there are major divisions about what the Holy Spirit does. Many want the Holy Spirit to do amazing things among them; they refuse to trust that He would use non-amazing things.
There are many who say that He used and still uses wind, fire, and tongues to create salvation in Jesus. They pressure their followers to have dramatic spiritual encounters with God. They peer pressure their people to speak in tongues.
The irony is that these groups will cite the Day of Pentecost as proof that speaking in tongues is something that every true Christian needs to do. But the tongues that the apostles and disciples spoken were known languages. The tongues that the Pentecostal groups demand are syllables that mean nothing. And in practice, their churches sounds like the Tower of Babel every Sunday. No one knows what anyone else's tongue speaking means.
Paul talks about speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14: Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church...
So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified... in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:9-12, 15-17, 19)
I've never seen flying tongues of fire. I've never spoken in tongues, except when I stub my big toe. I've never seen powerful wind in an enclosed room. The Day of Pentecost was unique. We can't recreate it. And Paul tells us that we don't need to.
Instead the Holy Spirit uses non-amazing things to do amazing things. He uses the Word that speaks of Jesus. So we speak in tongues that people can understand that Jesus is that He died for all.
Many years after Peter preached for the first Pentecost, he wrote a letter to his friends. We call this letter 1 Peter.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation… Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-5, 8-9)
Peter wrote to this friend in the Greek language, so that they could understand the joy that we share in Jesus Christ. It has been translated into English so that many more can know this joy, too.
Speaking in tongues doesn't make you a Christian. Speaking of Christ—so to speak—does. The wind doesn't make you a Christian; the Word does. The tongues of fire don't make you a Christian; the drops of water connected to the Word do.
Amen.
May 23, 2010
Speaking of Tongues
Acts 2:1-21
The most impressive thing that Peter did on Pentecost was not speaking in a foreign language that he had never learned. It was his sermon.
Peter pointed people from all over the world to Jesus. He pointed them to their Savior's crucifixion and resurrection.
Peter preached: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This Man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. (Acts 2:22-24)
The main miracle of Pentecost wasn't speaking in tongues. It was the Holy Spirit coming to these people and creating trust in Jesus in many of their hearts. The Holy Spirit created trust in their Savior, trust that would save them and sustain them.
And it's important to note how the Holy Spirit came to the gathered audience. He did use the wind didn't create faith. The fire didn't create faith. The marvel of fishermen speaking practically every language known to man didn't create faith. These wonders gathered the audience, but they didn't save anyone.
The Holy Spirit works through things that aren't amazing. On Pentecost He used non-amazing Peter preaching a sermon. Then He used non-amazing water to baptize them. Then He used Jesus' body and blood in, with, and under the non-amazing bread and wine of the Lord's Supper to increase their trust in Jesus and in His promises.
Among most Christians, at least on the surface, the work of Jesus is confessed—He lived, died, and rose from the dead. But among this same group, there are major divisions about what the Holy Spirit does. Many want the Holy Spirit to do amazing things among them; they refuse to trust that He would use non-amazing things.
There are many who say that He used and still uses wind, fire, and tongues to create salvation in Jesus. They pressure their followers to have dramatic spiritual encounters with God. They peer pressure their people to speak in tongues.
The irony is that these groups will cite the Day of Pentecost as proof that speaking in tongues is something that every true Christian needs to do. But the tongues that the apostles and disciples spoken were known languages. The tongues that the Pentecostal groups demand are syllables that mean nothing. And in practice, their churches sounds like the Tower of Babel every Sunday. No one knows what anyone else's tongue speaking means.
Paul talks about speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14: Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church...
So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified... in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:9-12, 15-17, 19)
I've never seen flying tongues of fire. I've never spoken in tongues, except when I stub my big toe. I've never seen powerful wind in an enclosed room. The Day of Pentecost was unique. We can't recreate it. And Paul tells us that we don't need to.
Instead the Holy Spirit uses non-amazing things to do amazing things. He uses the Word that speaks of Jesus. So we speak in tongues that people can understand that Jesus is that He died for all.
Many years after Peter preached for the first Pentecost, he wrote a letter to his friends. We call this letter 1 Peter.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation… Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-5, 8-9)
Peter wrote to this friend in the Greek language, so that they could understand the joy that we share in Jesus Christ. It has been translated into English so that many more can know this joy, too.
Speaking in tongues doesn't make you a Christian. Speaking of Christ—so to speak—does. The wind doesn't make you a Christian; the Word does. The tongues of fire don't make you a Christian; the drops of water connected to the Word do.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)