Showing posts with label Sermon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sermon. Show all posts
7/3/14
Sermon for Trinity 3
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” It is statements like these that make it so easy to demonize the scribes and Pharisees. We even have a word for it in our modern language. “How could they be so pharisaical?!?” we ask. The dictionary defines that words as “hypocritically self-righteous and condemnatory”. Nobody, of course, wants to be “hypocritically self-righteous and condemnatory”! They are the ultimate theological boogeymen.
It's easy for a pastor to preach about how mean and nasty these folks were, about how they raised their noses at all those “sinners” and demonstrated a number of arrogant haughty attitudes. It certainly would seem to be a lot like the preaching of Jesus. For surely he had a lot of angry things to say about this class of men in Palestine two thousand years ago. The problem is, we don't live in Palestine two thousand years ago. It's not really a sermon at all if it doesn't address the people sitting in the room.
Dead men don't need the hear the Law and Gospel. We do. Like good little Lutherans, we have been well trained to nod our heads and say, “Yes, I am a poor miserable sinner. My righteous deeds are like filthy rags. ” It is a comfortable and familiar thing to say, almost as if “sinner” is a good thing. And so we read or hear the parables and teachings of Jesus and he is yelling at the scribes and pharisees and getting all chummy with tax collectors and sinners and immediately we think, “Ooo, I want to be in the latter group. I want to be a tax collector and sinner!”
Bad guys versus good guys... Pharisees? Bad! Tax collectors and sinners? Good! This is a simple and moralistic way of understanding the Bible... and it's completely wrong. There are not two classes of people; Pharisees versus non-Pharisees, haughty versus humble, boogeyman versus pious believer. In fact, what we have seen most clearly in the Gospel readings the last few weeks is that Jesus makes no distinction between people at all. Jesus is not teaching “Tortoise and the Hare” morality fables. He is teaching about Himself.
He is the only one who is any different from the rest of humanity. The Pharisee and the tax collector are the same. The scribe and the sinner are the same. Only our Lord was without sin. Yes, Pharisees could be “hypocritically self-righteous and condemnatory”...but so could gentiles and Samaritans. Yes, the scribe could be haughty and judgmental... but so could the illiterate prostitute. Yes, the rich men of this world can be greedy money grubbing pigs, but so can the poor. There is no distinction of persons among men except that which we have imagined ourselves. All are simply dust, the grass of the field that withers and crumbles.
That is why the prophet Micah rejoices in God's forgiveness and mercy saying:
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
And now, in the person of Jesus Christ, the God who is like none other has become the man who is like none other. He is the one hope of the world. He the one way. He is Truth and Life. He is the merciful father who joyfully receives the prodigal son later in this chapter. Like rest of Scripture, all the parables are about who Jesus is and what he has done. Today we see that our Lord is the shepherd who left everything to rescue his people. The folks put in charge of caring for the flock failed big time so, as the saying goes, “if you want something done right, do it yourself”. That is what God did. Ezekiel says:
I myself will search for my sheep and look after them…I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness… I will tend them in a good pasture… I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.
This parables talks about how Jesus leave the ninety nine “righteous people who do not need to repent” in order to save the one. This does not mean that the ninety nine were any less lost than the one stray. The phrase “righteous people who do not need to repent” is biblical sarcasm. What it means is that they think they are righteous. It is like when Jesus says that the healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick. Every single human being is still sick; most simply are not aware of it.
We we're all lost, cruising down the road to perdition late at night, humming to the radio without a clue in to the world, until the semi-truck of the Law blazed down upon us in our lane. And so we quickly pull off the one way street and end up in a low rent truck stop in the middle of nowhere. We realize we have no money, the whole place stinks and the phone's broken. Various unsavory characters sleep on the sticky vinyl benches and you notice an old rusty penny jammed into a crevice of cracked linoleum.
Then, by God's grace, you realize “that penny is you.” You are the lost coin. Jesus Christ came down to seek and save... and now he has found. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who surveys a property and discovers a pearl of great price in the field. Then he goes and sells all that he has in order to buy the field and have the pearl. That pearl is you. The church is Jesus' priceless treasure.
And so for every single soul found and brought back into the fold, there is a great party in heaven. Heaven rejoices when Christ seeks and saves the lost… when God brings us to repentance and faith. We join in a lit bit of that celebration today in the Divine Service. We began by recognizing our own sin and unworthiness and then heard about His amazing grace in Jesus Christ... who is a God like you?
Who is a God who empties himself of all glory and honor and crawls around on the floor for hours with a boar-hair brush and a flashlight searching for a penny fallen under the hardwood floor? Who is a God who “welcomes sinners and eats with them”? There is only One, and he has proved it this morning, as he does week after week. For, he comes to you, to you the tax collector and to you the Pharisee. And here, he pours out his own blood and righteousness for all. Forgiven by that blood, bathed in pure water, Jesus sinners doth receive.
This man welcomes Pharisees and eats with them. The man Christ Jesus welcomes you despite all the secret baggage, the angry thoughts and rebellious attitudes you've nurtured during the week. He eats with you, prepares the table, serves you, waits on you hand and foot, despite the fact that you're probably thinking more about lunch.
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”. Yes and praise God that he does! This morning we only get a small “foretaste of the feast to come,” but we are assured herein that forever and always we will be welcome guests at the great heavenly celebration with our savior Jesus Christ. For he has sought you. He has found you. He takes you joyfully upon his shoulders and shouts “Rejoice with me…I have found my lost sheep!”
It's easy for a pastor to preach about how mean and nasty these folks were, about how they raised their noses at all those “sinners” and demonstrated a number of arrogant haughty attitudes. It certainly would seem to be a lot like the preaching of Jesus. For surely he had a lot of angry things to say about this class of men in Palestine two thousand years ago. The problem is, we don't live in Palestine two thousand years ago. It's not really a sermon at all if it doesn't address the people sitting in the room.
Dead men don't need the hear the Law and Gospel. We do. Like good little Lutherans, we have been well trained to nod our heads and say, “Yes, I am a poor miserable sinner. My righteous deeds are like filthy rags. ” It is a comfortable and familiar thing to say, almost as if “sinner” is a good thing. And so we read or hear the parables and teachings of Jesus and he is yelling at the scribes and pharisees and getting all chummy with tax collectors and sinners and immediately we think, “Ooo, I want to be in the latter group. I want to be a tax collector and sinner!”
Bad guys versus good guys... Pharisees? Bad! Tax collectors and sinners? Good! This is a simple and moralistic way of understanding the Bible... and it's completely wrong. There are not two classes of people; Pharisees versus non-Pharisees, haughty versus humble, boogeyman versus pious believer. In fact, what we have seen most clearly in the Gospel readings the last few weeks is that Jesus makes no distinction between people at all. Jesus is not teaching “Tortoise and the Hare” morality fables. He is teaching about Himself.
He is the only one who is any different from the rest of humanity. The Pharisee and the tax collector are the same. The scribe and the sinner are the same. Only our Lord was without sin. Yes, Pharisees could be “hypocritically self-righteous and condemnatory”...but so could gentiles and Samaritans. Yes, the scribe could be haughty and judgmental... but so could the illiterate prostitute. Yes, the rich men of this world can be greedy money grubbing pigs, but so can the poor. There is no distinction of persons among men except that which we have imagined ourselves. All are simply dust, the grass of the field that withers and crumbles.
That is why the prophet Micah rejoices in God's forgiveness and mercy saying:
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
And now, in the person of Jesus Christ, the God who is like none other has become the man who is like none other. He is the one hope of the world. He the one way. He is Truth and Life. He is the merciful father who joyfully receives the prodigal son later in this chapter. Like rest of Scripture, all the parables are about who Jesus is and what he has done. Today we see that our Lord is the shepherd who left everything to rescue his people. The folks put in charge of caring for the flock failed big time so, as the saying goes, “if you want something done right, do it yourself”. That is what God did. Ezekiel says:
I myself will search for my sheep and look after them…I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness… I will tend them in a good pasture… I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.
This parables talks about how Jesus leave the ninety nine “righteous people who do not need to repent” in order to save the one. This does not mean that the ninety nine were any less lost than the one stray. The phrase “righteous people who do not need to repent” is biblical sarcasm. What it means is that they think they are righteous. It is like when Jesus says that the healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick. Every single human being is still sick; most simply are not aware of it.
We we're all lost, cruising down the road to perdition late at night, humming to the radio without a clue in to the world, until the semi-truck of the Law blazed down upon us in our lane. And so we quickly pull off the one way street and end up in a low rent truck stop in the middle of nowhere. We realize we have no money, the whole place stinks and the phone's broken. Various unsavory characters sleep on the sticky vinyl benches and you notice an old rusty penny jammed into a crevice of cracked linoleum.
Then, by God's grace, you realize “that penny is you.” You are the lost coin. Jesus Christ came down to seek and save... and now he has found. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who surveys a property and discovers a pearl of great price in the field. Then he goes and sells all that he has in order to buy the field and have the pearl. That pearl is you. The church is Jesus' priceless treasure.
And so for every single soul found and brought back into the fold, there is a great party in heaven. Heaven rejoices when Christ seeks and saves the lost… when God brings us to repentance and faith. We join in a lit bit of that celebration today in the Divine Service. We began by recognizing our own sin and unworthiness and then heard about His amazing grace in Jesus Christ... who is a God like you?
Who is a God who empties himself of all glory and honor and crawls around on the floor for hours with a boar-hair brush and a flashlight searching for a penny fallen under the hardwood floor? Who is a God who “welcomes sinners and eats with them”? There is only One, and he has proved it this morning, as he does week after week. For, he comes to you, to you the tax collector and to you the Pharisee. And here, he pours out his own blood and righteousness for all. Forgiven by that blood, bathed in pure water, Jesus sinners doth receive.
This man welcomes Pharisees and eats with them. The man Christ Jesus welcomes you despite all the secret baggage, the angry thoughts and rebellious attitudes you've nurtured during the week. He eats with you, prepares the table, serves you, waits on you hand and foot, despite the fact that you're probably thinking more about lunch.
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”. Yes and praise God that he does! This morning we only get a small “foretaste of the feast to come,” but we are assured herein that forever and always we will be welcome guests at the great heavenly celebration with our savior Jesus Christ. For he has sought you. He has found you. He takes you joyfully upon his shoulders and shouts “Rejoice with me…I have found my lost sheep!”
+ Amen +
6/21/14
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession Sermon
Today we remember the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. This is one of the primary confessional documents that defines the beliefs of the Lutheran Church. When it was written, there were particularly intense disagreements within the Christian church. Followers of Luther were challenging many basic doctrines of the Papal church. The Holy Roman Emperor was concerned about civil unrest and internal discord, especially due to the threat of attack by Muslim invaders.
And so a large number of theologians and political leaders were brought together at Augsburg to clearly lay out and discuss their respective views. The goal was to foster some degree of political and religious unity. The German fathers of our church were very cooperative in this process. They too longed for civil and military unity in order to stand against what we today know very well as Terrorism. But most importantly, they wanted all to be able to agree about the pure truth of the Gospel. The main disagreement was not political, but doctrinal. The introduction to the Augsburg confession says it has been composed so that:
“...these matters may be settled and brought back to one simple truth and Christian concord, that for the future one pure and true religion may be embraced and maintained by us, that as we all are under one Christ and do battle under Him, so we may be able also to live in unity and concord in the one Christian Church.”
We can understand some of the political apprehensions of the German people some 500 years ago based on our current struggle with militant Islam. But within our very own church body, we also find much doctrinal disunity and strife. In these matters, it is not our American way of life that is in peril; but rather, it is the Word of God. The true Christian church has always been an unwelcome visitor in this sin-enslaved and hostile world. Satan and his minions seek constantly to subvert the word of God and drain the life out of the Body of Christ on earth. Thousands of people die everyday without ever having heard the Gospel. Many Christians very fervently desire to spread the Gospel and bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
It is out of this great and valid tension that many of our current theological struggles are born. For as sinners, it is our natural inclination to gaze within ourselves and ponder, “What can I do about it?” Our default is the wisdom of man. And so there are many who trust in marketing and psychological methods in order to bring more people into the church. They ask, “How can I be effective? How can I bring about success?” The answers are many. Survey the market place in order to determine the desires and “felt-needs” of the community so you can tailor the gospel to their liking. Bring in hip and cool youth ministers to amaze the kids with rock and roll theatrics. Dispose of boring and “churchly” practices such as the liturgy, closed communion, confession and absolution. Doctrine is a tough sell; love is a much easier pill to swallow. Safety in numbers; Let’s all get together, hold hands in unity, and get the job done.
This is nothing new. Throughout the history of the church many new developments have come up in order to increase the size, and of course, the pocketbooks of the Church. In Luther’s day it was the selling of indulgences and masses for the dead. In most cases, the truth of God’s word was brushed aside, compromised, or forgotten altogether. Paul warns us about this almost 2000 years ago writing to Timothy:“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Ti 4:3)
At this point we would all do well to listen carefully to the words of Christ in our Gospel reading for today. He too cares very much that the Church might grow. In fact he says that “this is my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.” He wants numbers. He wants conversions. Our Lord wants us to seek out the lost sheep and bring them into the fold.
But He also says that “no branch can bear fruit by itself.” If we look to our own devices and trust in our own strategies and “movements”, rather than Christ alone, “we can do nothing,” he says. He is the vine and we are the branches. Everything we are and everything we do comes solely and wholly through the Word made flesh. When the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacrament administered according to Christ’s institution, we know He is there building and strengthening his beloved church.
But when we depart from his words and means of grace, all is lost. Slick marketing may kick up the enrollment numbers, but the soul is parched, like a balloon inflated with lies and deceit. Concerning this our Lord strongly admonishes:
“Apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:5)
Man, through his vain conceptions, often seeks to establish a false unity; one based on external adhesion without any true doctrinal concord. One may often hear the trumpet call to agree to disagree and walk together in tolerance of diversity while the word of God is trampled underfoot. Such schemes will soon, in the very truest sense of the word, be ablaze in the fires of hell.
The true Christian unity sought by the reformers, the type constantly exhorted by the apostolic writers, is unity in truth. The proper paradigm is “One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.” Faith in this sense refers to the wholeness of Christian doctrine. It is rooted in Scripture alone, empowered by the Holy Spirit to confess Christ alone. What it means is to “cling to what is good, abhor what is evil.”
So if a teaching is good and biblical and true, the Augsburg Confession commends it. Our forefathers confessed that they were in every way catholic. That means they share the same Faith (capitol F) of all non-heretical Christians from the time of Christ. They certainly did not wish to be “Protestants” breaking away from the Church to form a new sect. They simply laid out what is and always had been pure teaching. They clung to what is good.
Also, in many articles, they included a second section. They rejected what was evil. This is the other side of the confessional coin. They pointed out errors, which had crept into the church, in order to show that these are wrong. Our churches do not accept, for example, the errors of the Muslims, Pelagians, or Anabaptists. They do not have the pure Gospel. We condemn them. Let them be accursed.
Such statements can sounds harsh and unloving. In fact many today in our own Synod are paralyzed in fear of such bold proclamation. But such clear and honest communication of truth is the most loving thing you can do. Is it loving to give your six-year old a cheerful wink and a hearty approval when they ask if they can go smoke dope and play out on the expressway? They may give you a big hug and kiss on the cheek. They may feel swell about having such cool parents. But it is not love.
There is only one hope of the world. Just as there is one Lord, Faith, and Baptism, so is there one pure Gospel. This Gospel tells you, “be not afraid.” Jesus revealed this to us so that our “joy may be complete.” We have joy because we know that Christ has accomplished everything for the salvation of the world and forever continues to build and sustain his church. It is not up to us.
When we talk about “pure Gospel”, it is not a claim of intellectual superiority. It is not a matter of “my doctrine can beat up your doctrine”. It simply means that we preach that Christ alone is the author and perfector of our faith. Not Christ plus decision. Not Christ plus churchly rituals. Not Christ plus works. If preaching, teaching, and confessing may be compared to a TV set showing Jesus to the world, we simply wish to wash the mud off the screen so that they may see nothing but Him.
That is our source of joy. We know that Jesus is the true vine. He is the one thing that brings life, hope and salvation into the world. If we think that the great commission depends on our personal faithful-ness or cash flow, we are doomed to despair. But as Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”
What an amazing comfort! Pure doctrine is not complicated. A kindergartener can figure it out. (I should have said, “It’s so easy a caveman can do it) It is all about Jesus!
He is the one who gives us his word. Remember from our Old Testament reading that the word of God will never return empty, but will always accomplish God’s purpose. From this, we know that we have forgiveness of sins. We are not apprehensively thinking about the future, wondering if things will work out ok, because we know that, “you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Jesus is the one who washes us with pure water and presents us as holy and pure before the seat of judgment. He is the one who feeds his lambs with his body and blood. Yes, we as Christians are involved in his mission. But He is the one who runs the shows. He sets and meets the goals. He alone ensures results. We as his church are called not to be successful or effective, but faithful. That is what confession is all about.
Remember when Peter made his great confession saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”? Our Lord commended him saying that “upon this faithful confession will I build my church and the gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it.” Confessing Christ alone, there is nothing to fear. If God is the one who fights for you, what power does man have to destroy this confession?
We are here today as fountains of living water, as princes in an eternal Kingdom. We were born and are constantly sustained as grapes on a vine. Jesus is that vine. He is physically here with you today. He is here for you. And so He will forever and ever. Here I stand. Amen.
And so a large number of theologians and political leaders were brought together at Augsburg to clearly lay out and discuss their respective views. The goal was to foster some degree of political and religious unity. The German fathers of our church were very cooperative in this process. They too longed for civil and military unity in order to stand against what we today know very well as Terrorism. But most importantly, they wanted all to be able to agree about the pure truth of the Gospel. The main disagreement was not political, but doctrinal. The introduction to the Augsburg confession says it has been composed so that:
“...these matters may be settled and brought back to one simple truth and Christian concord, that for the future one pure and true religion may be embraced and maintained by us, that as we all are under one Christ and do battle under Him, so we may be able also to live in unity and concord in the one Christian Church.”
We can understand some of the political apprehensions of the German people some 500 years ago based on our current struggle with militant Islam. But within our very own church body, we also find much doctrinal disunity and strife. In these matters, it is not our American way of life that is in peril; but rather, it is the Word of God. The true Christian church has always been an unwelcome visitor in this sin-enslaved and hostile world. Satan and his minions seek constantly to subvert the word of God and drain the life out of the Body of Christ on earth. Thousands of people die everyday without ever having heard the Gospel. Many Christians very fervently desire to spread the Gospel and bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
It is out of this great and valid tension that many of our current theological struggles are born. For as sinners, it is our natural inclination to gaze within ourselves and ponder, “What can I do about it?” Our default is the wisdom of man. And so there are many who trust in marketing and psychological methods in order to bring more people into the church. They ask, “How can I be effective? How can I bring about success?” The answers are many. Survey the market place in order to determine the desires and “felt-needs” of the community so you can tailor the gospel to their liking. Bring in hip and cool youth ministers to amaze the kids with rock and roll theatrics. Dispose of boring and “churchly” practices such as the liturgy, closed communion, confession and absolution. Doctrine is a tough sell; love is a much easier pill to swallow. Safety in numbers; Let’s all get together, hold hands in unity, and get the job done.
This is nothing new. Throughout the history of the church many new developments have come up in order to increase the size, and of course, the pocketbooks of the Church. In Luther’s day it was the selling of indulgences and masses for the dead. In most cases, the truth of God’s word was brushed aside, compromised, or forgotten altogether. Paul warns us about this almost 2000 years ago writing to Timothy:“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Ti 4:3)
At this point we would all do well to listen carefully to the words of Christ in our Gospel reading for today. He too cares very much that the Church might grow. In fact he says that “this is my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.” He wants numbers. He wants conversions. Our Lord wants us to seek out the lost sheep and bring them into the fold.
But He also says that “no branch can bear fruit by itself.” If we look to our own devices and trust in our own strategies and “movements”, rather than Christ alone, “we can do nothing,” he says. He is the vine and we are the branches. Everything we are and everything we do comes solely and wholly through the Word made flesh. When the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacrament administered according to Christ’s institution, we know He is there building and strengthening his beloved church.
But when we depart from his words and means of grace, all is lost. Slick marketing may kick up the enrollment numbers, but the soul is parched, like a balloon inflated with lies and deceit. Concerning this our Lord strongly admonishes:
“Apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:5)
Man, through his vain conceptions, often seeks to establish a false unity; one based on external adhesion without any true doctrinal concord. One may often hear the trumpet call to agree to disagree and walk together in tolerance of diversity while the word of God is trampled underfoot. Such schemes will soon, in the very truest sense of the word, be ablaze in the fires of hell.
The true Christian unity sought by the reformers, the type constantly exhorted by the apostolic writers, is unity in truth. The proper paradigm is “One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.” Faith in this sense refers to the wholeness of Christian doctrine. It is rooted in Scripture alone, empowered by the Holy Spirit to confess Christ alone. What it means is to “cling to what is good, abhor what is evil.”
So if a teaching is good and biblical and true, the Augsburg Confession commends it. Our forefathers confessed that they were in every way catholic. That means they share the same Faith (capitol F) of all non-heretical Christians from the time of Christ. They certainly did not wish to be “Protestants” breaking away from the Church to form a new sect. They simply laid out what is and always had been pure teaching. They clung to what is good.
Also, in many articles, they included a second section. They rejected what was evil. This is the other side of the confessional coin. They pointed out errors, which had crept into the church, in order to show that these are wrong. Our churches do not accept, for example, the errors of the Muslims, Pelagians, or Anabaptists. They do not have the pure Gospel. We condemn them. Let them be accursed.
Such statements can sounds harsh and unloving. In fact many today in our own Synod are paralyzed in fear of such bold proclamation. But such clear and honest communication of truth is the most loving thing you can do. Is it loving to give your six-year old a cheerful wink and a hearty approval when they ask if they can go smoke dope and play out on the expressway? They may give you a big hug and kiss on the cheek. They may feel swell about having such cool parents. But it is not love.
There is only one hope of the world. Just as there is one Lord, Faith, and Baptism, so is there one pure Gospel. This Gospel tells you, “be not afraid.” Jesus revealed this to us so that our “joy may be complete.” We have joy because we know that Christ has accomplished everything for the salvation of the world and forever continues to build and sustain his church. It is not up to us.
When we talk about “pure Gospel”, it is not a claim of intellectual superiority. It is not a matter of “my doctrine can beat up your doctrine”. It simply means that we preach that Christ alone is the author and perfector of our faith. Not Christ plus decision. Not Christ plus churchly rituals. Not Christ plus works. If preaching, teaching, and confessing may be compared to a TV set showing Jesus to the world, we simply wish to wash the mud off the screen so that they may see nothing but Him.
That is our source of joy. We know that Jesus is the true vine. He is the one thing that brings life, hope and salvation into the world. If we think that the great commission depends on our personal faithful-ness or cash flow, we are doomed to despair. But as Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”
What an amazing comfort! Pure doctrine is not complicated. A kindergartener can figure it out. (I should have said, “It’s so easy a caveman can do it) It is all about Jesus!
He is the one who gives us his word. Remember from our Old Testament reading that the word of God will never return empty, but will always accomplish God’s purpose. From this, we know that we have forgiveness of sins. We are not apprehensively thinking about the future, wondering if things will work out ok, because we know that, “you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Jesus is the one who washes us with pure water and presents us as holy and pure before the seat of judgment. He is the one who feeds his lambs with his body and blood. Yes, we as Christians are involved in his mission. But He is the one who runs the shows. He sets and meets the goals. He alone ensures results. We as his church are called not to be successful or effective, but faithful. That is what confession is all about.
Remember when Peter made his great confession saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”? Our Lord commended him saying that “upon this faithful confession will I build my church and the gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it.” Confessing Christ alone, there is nothing to fear. If God is the one who fights for you, what power does man have to destroy this confession?
We are here today as fountains of living water, as princes in an eternal Kingdom. We were born and are constantly sustained as grapes on a vine. Jesus is that vine. He is physically here with you today. He is here for you. And so He will forever and ever. Here I stand. Amen.
6/7/14
Pentecost Sermon
Today's Old Testament reading takes us back to the new dawn of civilization, just after the worldwide destruction of the flood in Noah's day. By this time all the ancient kingdoms and wonders of the world would have faded into oblivion, violently crushed by earthquakes and drowned by miles of rushing water. Soon this long lost “antediluvian”, or before the flood, era would provide rich fodder to develop into myth and legend with it's terrible dragons, towering giants, and nine hundred year old men.
But all that was in the past. Noah's descendants had a chance to start fresh, to write their own sagas, to build a new civilization even greater than the lost cities of yore. From Noah came Ham, from Ham came Cush, and Cush fathered Nimrod, a legendary hunter and warlord. Nimrod founded the horribly evil ancient realm of Assyria. Our spiritual forefathers would shudder to even hear the name of that kingdom, which included the hated city of Nineveh and, of course, Babel.
Here, the people took after their own ancestors of whom the Lord said “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This was their time, a new kingdom was coming, a kingdom of man, such as never was nor never would be... so they thought. The people of Babel, in the plain of Shinar, in what is modern day Iraq, said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
And so, with all the power of the flesh, the strong backs and relentless ambition of mighty men of renown, united by one language and purpose, they started building. Brick by brick, packed-mud and straw developed into massive walls, glorious pagan temples, and one central awe-inspiring tower piercing into the heart of heaven itself.
And then, in an instant, our Lord thwarted the plans of their hearts. Their one language was fractured into hundreds and their unity crumbled. Confusion broke out en masse. Brother rose up against brother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and the streets of Babel ran with blood. Very quickly, each group would gather together those who spoke the same language and scatter themselves across the face of the earth. From that day until now, the history of the world is of nothing but one battle, one treachery, one war after another, fueled by all-consuming hatred.
And now, thousands of year later upon the rubble of a million doomed empires, a new kingdom is once again coming into fruition. This one is built not on to the mortal back of crumbling fickle man, but by the power and strength of God himself. The Holy Ghost, who spoke all things into existence, has been breathed into the mouths of these weak, timid, uneducated disciples and turned them into unstoppable dynamos. This, by the way, is literally the Greek word for “strength”, from which we get “dynamite”.
Filled with this dynamite of God, the apostles began to build upon the solid foundation, the rock of Christ Himself. Each Christian, born from water and the spirit, nourished by the blood of the lamb, would become living stones in God's eternal house. All mud and straw, bricks baked like iron in the desert heat, will eventually crumble into nothingness. All gold, silver, and precious gems will melt into rivers. All the elements will be destroyed in unquenchable fire. But you shall remain.
“Destroy the temple”, Jesus said, “and I will rebuild it in three days.” The crowds and religious leaders scoffed and mocked, but we know that the temple he spoke of was his body. He was built as a tower from heaven, extending all the way into the heart of the earth, God's grace and salvation coming down Jacob's cross-shaped ladder into our midst. The man Christ Jesus, in whom the fullness of God dwells, was melted under the fiery divine wrath in our place and was poured out for our iniquities. He was drop-forged into the belly of the tomb and walked out, by his own power, on the third day, the first-born of a new eternal city of God.
We have all drank from the same spiritual rock. His Spirit flows deeply in our veins as wells of salvation bubbling up unto eternal life. We are Zion, the saints of God, gathered in multitudes around the throne of the Lamb who was slain, casting our crowns before Him and crying out Holy! Holy! Holy! We are the new city to which all the nations will stream, lining up to eat from the tree and drink from the river of life.
Unlike the ambitious heroes of Babel who attempted to make a name for themselves, the name of Christ has been given to us, freely and without charge. From the four corners of the world, out of Africa, out of Siberia, Eastern Europe, Patagonia, the Pacific Isles, Westville, Indiana and every inch of the globe a new people has emerged, speaking with the one-voice of the Gospel. Christ and Him Crucified is the mortar, which binds us all together into a great kingdom, unimaginable to even the legendary giants and hunters of the antediluvian age.
Where two or more are gathered in the name of Christ, He is there knitting us together into this spiritual body. One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism. The day of Pentecost, two thousand years ago, was only a confusion to those looking in from the outside, to the scoffers and religious leaders, writing off the phenomenon as a drunken mass delusion. From the inside, men and women of all languages heard the pure, pristine, beautifully simple good news about who Jesus is and what he has done. In this Word, whether spoken, read, eaten, or dripped across our forehead, we clearly recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Brothers and Sisters, it is our time. While we see the work and power of man crumble all around, while a thousand fall at your left and ten thousand at your right, the kingdom of God continues to prosper and the gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it. Wonders beyond dream, beyond legend, beyond anything we can possibly imagine, are being prepared for you in Christ. One blink of an eye, and all will exposed and revealed. All the glory and honor and power and strength and might and the victory of Jesus Christ are to be shared with you. You, yourself, shall behold it. Your eyes shall see, and not another. Your heart will faint within you.
+ Amen +
But all that was in the past. Noah's descendants had a chance to start fresh, to write their own sagas, to build a new civilization even greater than the lost cities of yore. From Noah came Ham, from Ham came Cush, and Cush fathered Nimrod, a legendary hunter and warlord. Nimrod founded the horribly evil ancient realm of Assyria. Our spiritual forefathers would shudder to even hear the name of that kingdom, which included the hated city of Nineveh and, of course, Babel.
Here, the people took after their own ancestors of whom the Lord said “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This was their time, a new kingdom was coming, a kingdom of man, such as never was nor never would be... so they thought. The people of Babel, in the plain of Shinar, in what is modern day Iraq, said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
And so, with all the power of the flesh, the strong backs and relentless ambition of mighty men of renown, united by one language and purpose, they started building. Brick by brick, packed-mud and straw developed into massive walls, glorious pagan temples, and one central awe-inspiring tower piercing into the heart of heaven itself.
And then, in an instant, our Lord thwarted the plans of their hearts. Their one language was fractured into hundreds and their unity crumbled. Confusion broke out en masse. Brother rose up against brother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and the streets of Babel ran with blood. Very quickly, each group would gather together those who spoke the same language and scatter themselves across the face of the earth. From that day until now, the history of the world is of nothing but one battle, one treachery, one war after another, fueled by all-consuming hatred.
And now, thousands of year later upon the rubble of a million doomed empires, a new kingdom is once again coming into fruition. This one is built not on to the mortal back of crumbling fickle man, but by the power and strength of God himself. The Holy Ghost, who spoke all things into existence, has been breathed into the mouths of these weak, timid, uneducated disciples and turned them into unstoppable dynamos. This, by the way, is literally the Greek word for “strength”, from which we get “dynamite”.
Filled with this dynamite of God, the apostles began to build upon the solid foundation, the rock of Christ Himself. Each Christian, born from water and the spirit, nourished by the blood of the lamb, would become living stones in God's eternal house. All mud and straw, bricks baked like iron in the desert heat, will eventually crumble into nothingness. All gold, silver, and precious gems will melt into rivers. All the elements will be destroyed in unquenchable fire. But you shall remain.
“Destroy the temple”, Jesus said, “and I will rebuild it in three days.” The crowds and religious leaders scoffed and mocked, but we know that the temple he spoke of was his body. He was built as a tower from heaven, extending all the way into the heart of the earth, God's grace and salvation coming down Jacob's cross-shaped ladder into our midst. The man Christ Jesus, in whom the fullness of God dwells, was melted under the fiery divine wrath in our place and was poured out for our iniquities. He was drop-forged into the belly of the tomb and walked out, by his own power, on the third day, the first-born of a new eternal city of God.
We have all drank from the same spiritual rock. His Spirit flows deeply in our veins as wells of salvation bubbling up unto eternal life. We are Zion, the saints of God, gathered in multitudes around the throne of the Lamb who was slain, casting our crowns before Him and crying out Holy! Holy! Holy! We are the new city to which all the nations will stream, lining up to eat from the tree and drink from the river of life.
Unlike the ambitious heroes of Babel who attempted to make a name for themselves, the name of Christ has been given to us, freely and without charge. From the four corners of the world, out of Africa, out of Siberia, Eastern Europe, Patagonia, the Pacific Isles, Westville, Indiana and every inch of the globe a new people has emerged, speaking with the one-voice of the Gospel. Christ and Him Crucified is the mortar, which binds us all together into a great kingdom, unimaginable to even the legendary giants and hunters of the antediluvian age.
Where two or more are gathered in the name of Christ, He is there knitting us together into this spiritual body. One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism. The day of Pentecost, two thousand years ago, was only a confusion to those looking in from the outside, to the scoffers and religious leaders, writing off the phenomenon as a drunken mass delusion. From the inside, men and women of all languages heard the pure, pristine, beautifully simple good news about who Jesus is and what he has done. In this Word, whether spoken, read, eaten, or dripped across our forehead, we clearly recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Brothers and Sisters, it is our time. While we see the work and power of man crumble all around, while a thousand fall at your left and ten thousand at your right, the kingdom of God continues to prosper and the gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it. Wonders beyond dream, beyond legend, beyond anything we can possibly imagine, are being prepared for you in Christ. One blink of an eye, and all will exposed and revealed. All the glory and honor and power and strength and might and the victory of Jesus Christ are to be shared with you. You, yourself, shall behold it. Your eyes shall see, and not another. Your heart will faint within you.
+ Amen +
1/24/14
Epiphany 3 Matthew 8:1-13
The text for today reveals to us the account of Jesus doing two healings. One is for a paralytic and the other for a man with leprosy. All of the miraculous healings throughout the Gospels serve to underline the purpose for which Christ came. They show that he has come to deliver us from the curse of sin, from frailty and from death. Christ cures blindness, deafness, lameness and, of course, paralysis and leprosy.
All of these show the reality of the curse of sin, but perhaps none so graphically as does leprosy. Common in the ancient world, and even remaining in some regions today, the word leprosy describes several terrible diseases of the skin. God’s original plan for mankind was for all his creation to live in perfect health and wholeness. It was our fall into sin that brought all measure of infirmity into the world. Since that time, all man has inherited the curse of sin from their parents. Along with this comes propensity to develop all sorts of diseases.
Isaiah, in the very opening of his great book of prophecy, uses leprosy to describe our human condition. We have rebelled against our master, he says. We have provoked the Holy One to anger and soour whole head is sick. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness. Our wounds have not been closed or bound up, or soothed by ointment. We are covered with wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Yes, putrefying. In some cases of leprosy, parts of the body actually die off and begin to rot. They necrotize. It is sad but true.
Even if some of us can boast physical health at the moment, sin still lurks within us soon to thrash us to the grave. Only some develop leprosy of the skin, but all are infected with leprosy of the soul. Jesus condemns those who believe they have rights to the Kingdom based on their descendancy from Abraham. They look for salvation by the keeping of the law, as children of promise. But in truth they deny the faith of Abraham, and remain as bastards and rebels.
We too today can fall into this trap if we expect to woo and impress God by our moral qualities. If we think that it is because of our faithfulness and our Christian living that God has blessed us, we are like those cast into outer darkness. Jesus praises the great faith of the Centurion. But this is not because of some internal “faith-power” from within him, one that wells up in the heart. Similarly, when Jesus praised Peter for the great confession of faith, You are the Christ the Son of the Living God, our Lord makes it clear that this confession comes not from man, but was given from above.
Aside from what is given to us by grace, we are worthless. Apart from me, Jesus says, you are nothing. The centurion in our text was aware of his own sinfulness before a Holy God. He knew that God could not tolerate being in the presence of the damned. When he beheld the perfect righteousness of Jesus, he was shamed by his own internal filth and guilt. I am not worthy that you come under my roof, he says. That would be like a scrubbed down brain surgeon rolling around in a hog-barn before an operation. A bride on her way to the wedding should not stop to suck out a septic tank.
Nonetheless Jesus effectively says to the Centurion, as well as the leper, I am willing. I don’t mind infecting myself. I could, in perfect justice, remain on high in heaven while mankind melts away. But he chooses not to. He could easily bring each and every one of us to a swift death. Instead he chooses to come and bring us life. He is willing to take on human life, that the Son of Man may serve us and give his life as a ransom for many.
The Lord and giver of life first took on life himself. He began this as a baby in a feeding bin. It was necessary that he be like us in every way. His world, like ours, was one of stink and maggots, of flies and decay. All men live in bodies suffering under the leprosy of sin. But his love for man is so great that he took on the same corruptible flesh. He did in no way endeavor to distance himself from the repulsiveness of life in this dying world.
In order to be like us, it was fully necessary for him to take on our frail human nature. For only as a man could he suffer and die truly in our place. It was him instead of us. Though he himself had no sin, he was still exposed to the full curse of sin. He gladly undertook all the sickness and leprosy connected with fallen man.
Thus it is no surprise that Jesus ignores the ceremonial law and social taboos, which strictly forbid touching lepers. Lepers must legally be shunned. But all the same, Jesus gives a gesture of pure tender compassion, reaching out and laying his hand on the decomposing flesh of the poor leper. It was probably gangrenous and as foul smelling as a corpse, but this was a lamb for whom Christ would die. He would cradle him in his arms like a mother with a precious infant. Like a hen gathers her chicks, our Lord laments over Jerusalem, so have I longed to wrap my wings around you, but you were unwilling.
This he says to the same ones who would soon torture and crucify him. So let us take comfort that none of us can rebelled against our Lord more than his grace abounds. All filth and unholiness in man rises as vomitous stink before the throne of the most high. Still he chooses to lower himself into the sewer and take our nature into himself. Touching a leper should disgust a Holy God more than anybody, yet his love is too great.
In love he made himself unclean. He allowed the guilt of all the world’s sin to be gouged onto his forehead. He submitted himself to have his back torn to shreds by shrapnel laden leather cords. Why? So that by his stripes we are healed. He let all punishment be laid upon him that we may be at peace. He was smitten by the Father…saying My God My God, why have you forsaken me?…that he might carry away our sorrows. He took our iniquity onto himself, that his righteousness may be given to us in exchange
In the body of this man Christ Jesus is the hope of the world. His words of law convict fallen man that this world and its pleasures are passing away. All of creation groans in travail as it is being choked by the cancer of sin. Yet into this creation comes God from on high to make all things new. That is his great gospel message. His resurrection from the dead publicly proclaims him to be the first fruit of a new creation, a world where there is no more crying, pain, or death.
This same Jesus was there when time began. With a word, he called all the universe into existence.For he spake, says the psalmist, and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. Now the Son of God is back in the world, recreating his perfect realm and fashioning a new eternal Kingdom, one ransomed soul at a time. Let there be light, he said on the first day. Be cleansed, he says to the leper in our Gospel reading.
In both cases, the words spoken by the Lord of Life bear in themselves the power to perform what they say. If the Son of Man declares you to be clean, you are. If he sets you free, you are free indeed. Each miraculous healing in scripture is a testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ has power over the forces of nature and the hordes of the evil one.
By his perfect life, horrible death, and glorious resurrection, he proclaims victory over sin, death, and the devil. He gives this victory, this new immortal nature, to each of us. United with Christ, we no longer “stink” to God. We are holy children in his sight whose prayers, purified by the Holy Spirit, rise before him as sweet incense.
In the same way, Jesus cleanses the leper… with a word. “Thy strong word,” says a modern Lutheran hymnist, “bespeaks us righteous”. Remember the second person healed in our text today was the servant of the centurion. He was paralyzed and helpless. He wasn’t even there. He did nothing to merit Jesus’ healing. So likewise, recall how powerless and weak is a quivering infant held over the Baptismal font. Through the conduit of a Pastor’s vocal cords, Jesus speaks the words, which make us clean and righteous.
“You are washed,” he says, “covered by my blood.” This is now my child to live beside me forever. “Only speak the word,” cries the Centurion, “and my servant will be healed.” What amazing insight this man has been given! He obviously knew that same Jesus Christ in whose presence we are served today. Jesus is here speaking words of life and deliverance through the pages of Holy Scripture.
All you lepers are cleansed in Baptism. He has forgiven your sins and taken your cursed guilt away from you as far as East is from West. To God, you are innocent, absolved.
+ Amen +
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