Tag Archives: Law

Silenced – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:34-46

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, 
“Sit at my right hand, 
until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Arrogance was behind that question, “What is the great commandment in the Law?” We know this was arrogant because the lawyer is asking this question in order to test Jesus. This text is at the end of a conversation Jesus has been having with the religious leaders. If you look back to the beginning in Mt. 22:15, you’ll see that the religious leaders are trying to entangle Jesus in His words. The Pharisees had debated which command was the greatest for centuries, but they couldn’t come up with an answer because picking one would imply that something God commanded isn’t important. Or, at least, not as important. And, of course, that can’t be true. Every word that comes from the mouth of God matters because He is the One whose powerful voice spoke all things into existence.

Imagine a student who is studying to be a heart surgeon. I don’t actually know how heart surgeons are trained, but I see them getting something similar to a recipe. It’s got a list of all utensils and ingredients needed followed by instructions on how to use them. Imagine a student seeing that recipe. Step 1: Scrub up. Step 2: Make the incision. Step 3: Find this artery. And so on, going through the whole process. If one of those students asked which step is the most important, how would the instructor reply? I imagine the instructor saying, “They’re all important! Do everything correctly – from scrubbing up to closing. You have to get it all exactly right. Don’t leave anything out, or you’ll kill your patient!”

Basically, that is what Jesus says here. Everything God has commanded is important. All the Commands are good, right, and true. That’s what Jesus communicates when He summarizes God’s Law as, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself”(Mt. 22:37-39). Everything command of God is important, and everything He requires falls into two categories of either loving God or loving neighbor. In Ro. 13:10, the Law is summarized even further, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”

But sadly, this summary the Law is twisted. The devil has used countless false teachers say that the word ‘love’ is God’s only command. And when they do that, those false teachers utterly corrupt love. Yes, the command to love summarizesGod’s Law, but it doesn’t replace God’s commands. Today, to combat that devilish twisting, I want to make six points about God’s Law. I’ve done this before, but it’s been seven years since I last did it. So, it’s worth reviewing again.

First, while the command to love summarizes the Law, the word ‘love’ doesn’t replace the Law. We sinners will do all sorts of things that go against what God has commanded in the name of love. But you don’t get to steal food from a store because you love your children and want to feed them. Instead, loving your children requires you to keep the Command against stealing by getting a job to buy food for them. Committing adultery is not suddenly ok just because you love someone. That leads to the second point.

Second, the Law defines how to love your neighbor. There’s a 4th Command love that honors parents. There’s an 8th Command love that does not bear false witness and tells the truth. In each Command, God is telling us, “Here is how you love Me and love your neighbor.”

The third point about the Law is closely related to that. While the Law shapes how you love your neighbor, the needs of your neighbor also shape your love for them. The 7th Command about stealing will take one shape if you are an employee. It looks like working hard, not wasting time, and doing good work. But if you own a business, the 7th Command takes a different shape. It means that you are generous and pay a fair wage that rewards the work and skills of your employees. Same with the 4th Command to honor parents. When you are a child, honoring parents means obeying them. When you’re an adult, honoring parents means respecting them.

Fourth, you show love for God by showing love for your neighbor. 1 Jn. 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” If you want to demonstrate love for God, you do that by loving your neighbor, according to the commandments and according to your neighbor’s need.

And with this fourth point we see that there is an order to your love. You are to love the people God has placed closest to you first, then love everyone else. 1 Tim. 5:8 says that a person needs to provide for all his relatives, but especially the members of his household. And Gal. 6:10 says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” So, it is loving to give to the Feed My Starving Children offerings, but it is not loving for you to put your entire paycheck in there and not be able to feed your family or to let your brothers and sisters in Christ go hungry while you feed people you haven’t met.

Fifth, and this is the most important one: The Law always accuses. There’s no time in your life where you can say that you have kept God’s Law perfectly. As long as you have a pulse, you can’t check off the boxes to love God and your neighbor because you still have strength. Those boxes are always on your to-do list. And you and I are sinners and always fall short when it comes to the command to love. So, the life of a Christian is always filled with repentance and receiving the forgiveness that comes only through Christ.

Finally, the sixth point: Even though the Law always shows you that you are a sinner, don’t fall into the temptation of giving up in your attempt to keep God’s Law. Christian, even though you are going to fail to love perfectly, you need to strive to do it. Pray for strength and wisdom. Pray that God would open your eyes and ears to your neighbors’ needs. Then, be God’s hands and feet to meet those needs.

Changing gears and getting back to Mt. 22. We know that the Law is not the only word God has spoken to you. God also speaks His comforting words of Gospel. After Jesus summarized the Law, He turns the tables. Now, He has a question for the religious leaders about the Gospel. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”To their credit, these Pharisees know their Bible. They know that in 2 Sam. 7, God promised that the Christ would come through King David’s lineage, and He would reign as King forever and ever.

But Jesus wants to draw them further into the Gospel and into a further knowledge of the identity of the Christ by asking, “If the Christ is David’s son, how can David also call him, ‘Lord’?” (Ps. 110:1). The Pharisees can’t figure out this riddle because they figured the Christ was going to be a man who would set things right and save them. They didn’t understand that the Christ would be fully God and fully Man. But Jesus wasn’t trying to trick them. There He was, the Christ, standing right before them. The God-Man and Messiah, talking with them, calling them to Himself. Sadly, their only response was silent ignorance.

Dear saints, this question from Jesus silences you too, but in a very different way. You aren’t silenced into the shame of the Pharisees; instead, you are silenced in a holy wonder. Your silence is an awe that realizes that, to save you from the condemnation of the Law, God has located Himself in the body of Jesus. Because of Jesus’ birth, part of God’s nature is that He now has a human body. He took on that body so He could suffer for you, shed His blood for you, die for you, rise again for you, and rule as King until all your enemies are placed under His nail-scarred feet. Your Christ, your Savior, and your God has united Himself to you.

Lucy, today, we rejoice with you that you are Baptized. You are now clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27) and joined to Him in His death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-4). Remain in Him. Lucy and all you Baptized saints, we will never fully understand the unity that we have with God because of our Baptism. And yet, we, in silent wonder, can bask in the glory that God Himself has loved us in this way.

God came to you. He took on your flesh. He lived a perfect life and died an atoning death. Now, He is risen and rules as the Lord of all creation. Your Savior from sin is David’s Son and David’s Lord. He is your Lord and King, and yet He is your brother Who now invites you to His royal banquet to receive His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of all your sin and failure to love God and neighbor. Come and receive Him. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Moved Up – Sermon on Luke 14:1-11 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 14:1-11

1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things. 

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Everyone is religious. Everyone has a belief in what is good and right and true as opposed to what is evil and wrong and false. And in the end, there aren’t hundreds of religions. There are only two. One is true. The other is false. And we can put a title on each of these religions: the true religion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the false religion of the law.

The true religion of the Gospel is faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6). This true religion believes that God is merciful. It believes that we are made right with Him because of the cross. It believes God is gracious and forgives us despite our sin against His good and holy Law. The false religion of the law wrongly imagines that we have to reconcile ourselves to God by our own works and efforts. Even though the false, pagan religions of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. – those all serve false gods instead of the true God. But they all operate in the same manner and under the same premise. And that premise boils down to this: You need to work yourself out of the messes of this world.

In this Gospel reading, it’s that false religion of the law that Jesus is attacking because that is the religion these Pharisees. They have placed the full weight of their trust in the idea that they can make themselves right with God and the world. But their religion is weaker than a house of cards.

Before we continue, one thing needs to be crystal clear. The Pharisee heresy isn’t exclusive to Pharisees. It’s a heresy that’s in all of us. It’s our default operating system because of our sinful nature. Normally, when we think about our sinful nature, we think of it as the part of us that drives and moves us toward sinful actions. And that is true, our sinful nature certainly does that. But it does more than just that. Our sinful nature also invents our own standards, morals, and commandments that are simpler than God’s standard of total, complete perfection.

This is why the Pharisees invented and added all their extra laws to God’s Commands. For example, the Pharisees took the 3rdCommandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and because they believed in their false religion of the law, they figured, “Let’s really get after keeping the Sabbath holy to make God happy with us.” So, they added all sorts of extra rules and regulations. They decided you could only walk 2,000 cubits (or about two-thirds of a mile) on the Sabbath because walking further than that would be considered the work of travel. In a futile effort to please God, Pharisees debated if it was ok to walk in the rain on the Sabbath because if you got rain on your clothes and went inside, that could be considered the work of delivering water. I don’t know anyone who drinks water from rain-soaked clothes. I wonder why they didn’t consider walking in rain on the Sabbath the work of doing laundry.

But they would also come up with all sorts of ways to get around their additional Sabbath laws. So, with the 2,000 cubit limitation on walking, they decided that, if you considered the whole town your home, then you could walk as far as you wanted so long as you stayed in town. They decided that if you walked in the rain on the Sabbath, you could just take off your clothes before you entered your house and leave them outside because then you weren’t delivering water. Can you imagine that? “Honey, I’m home.”

Now, we can laugh at how ridiculous this is because – it is. But we do the same sorts of things. Christ is clear that, when we get angry, it is the same as murder (Mt. 5:21-22). But rather than repent of our anger and receive God’s forgiveness, we do all sorts of mental gymnastics to try to justify our breaking of the 5th Command. But the Pharisee inside each of us also does something even worse. When our conscience still bothers us because of our sin, when it isn’t quieted by our mental justification of that sin, we recruit. We recruit and gather others around us. We tell them about whatever it was that made us angry – usually, in a way to make our anger seem right and just. We do that because we want others to confirm and affirm our sin. But it doesn’t matter if you could get the entire world to agree with you. God doesn’t care about the consensus you build, no matter how large it is. If God says it’s sinful, it’s sinful. Period. End of story.

Now, all of that was to build to this point: Dear saints, God’s view of what is right or wrong, what is good or bad, and what is holy or evil – that’s the only opinion that matters. That is what Jesus is getting at in this text – especially with the parable He tells in v. 8-11.

This parable isn’t like any other parable that Jesus tells. In fact, it is so unique that it won’t appear in most lists of Jesus’ parables that you can find. But Luke clearly calls it a parable in v. 7, so a parable it is. I would guess that the confusion about it being a parable stems from the fact that, at face value, it’s an etiquette lesson of how to be a good guest at a wedding feast. Basically, don’t automatically sit yourself in a place of honor because the host might see someone who is more important than you. Then, the host is going to tell you to sit somewhere else and give the more important person the seat of honor. If that happens, you’ll end up sitting somewhere obscure because all the other good seats are taken. Instead, Jesus says to sit in a low, undesirable place so the host can honor you saying, “Hey, friend. You deserve better. I’m going to move you up here.”

Again, this is just good, wise advice. But this advice is also a parable because there is a deeper theological truth here. Discovering that truth hinges on one thing. In this “etiquette parable” whose opinion matters? The host’s. Only the host’s. It doesn’t matter if everyone else at the wedding feast thought you were the most important person there. If the host tells you another guest gets the seat of honor, it’s his feast. So, the other guy gets it.

Here’s the point. Don’t move yourself up. Instead, be moved up by God. In that parable, the host is God Himself. His opinion of you and your honor – that’s the only thing that matters. So, there are times where you have to tell the little Pharisee inside of you to shut up and stop trying to clamor for honor and recognition and accolades. The opinions of others (and even your own opinions), they don’t matter (1 Co. 4:3-5). And Jesus, the Son of God, clearly tells you what He finds honorable and shameful in the last verse of this reading. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 14:11).

If you are trying to exalt yourself and be impressive by your self-chosen good works, it isn’t going to go well for you. God is going to come into the banquet hall and say to you, “No. You don’t get to sit here.” And where will that leave you? Ultimately, it’ll leave you outside and in the darkness (Mt. 22:13). Instead, sit in the lowest seat, and don’t worry if others ask, “What are you doing there? Why are you putting up with that lowly, humiliating spot?” Don’t worry about being in positions that others think are shameful. God the Host is going to come Himself and say, “Friend, why are sitting way down here? Move up higher.”

One of the things Jesus is doing with this parable is He’s giving you God’s perspective on your simple, normal, everyday callings and vocations and works. Don’t ever forget that God is the One who has put you in those vocations and given you those works. Even if they don’t look flashy or impressive to the world, they are exactly the places where God has put you and given you holy work to do. If you stop and think about it, what higher seat is there than the seat God gives you?

To understand this better, imagine two people. The first is a devout monk who has abandoned the world to live a life of holiness. He takes a vow to get up every night at 2 AM and pray for three hours. Every night, this monk deprives himself of sleep; goes into a chapel to burn incense; lies face-down on a stone floor; and earnestly prays. The second person is a mom. At 2 AM, she gets woken up by the cries of her newborn because he’s sick with a stuffed, runny nose and has a full, stinky diaper. Exhausted, she stumbles around the room. She gets her hands into the snot and poop. She cleans and comforts and feeds the child. And she spends hours to finally rock him back to sleep.

Both of them are getting up at 2 AM. Both are doing work instead of sleeping. But which one is more holy, exalted, and honorable – the monk who chose to take that vow? Or the mom who received her child from God Himself? Of course it’s the mom.

Think of Paul in today’s Epistle reading (Eph. 4:1-6). In v. 1, he wrote, “I therefore, a prisoner…” I mean how low can you get? Paul is there in prison – rats running across his feet, muck oozing down the walls, mold in the air. And Paul writes, “I a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Paul recognized that, even in prison, he’s the Lord’s prisoner. It wasn’t Caesar or a king or a governor. God put him there. And if God, his loving heavenly Father, put him there, what better or more honorable place could there be?

Dear saints, the religion of the Gospel is the only thing that moves you up. You don’t need all the Pharisaical nonsense that vainly tries to get God to clap for you and give you accolades. One, it’s not going to work. And two, God has already given you important, holy works to do. Those works are pleasing to Him; those works show your love for Him by showing love for your neighbor. 

So, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. And you’ve been called God’s friend. God’s saints. God’s holy ones. God’s children. The work God gives you is worthy and holy. So, do that work with all your might.

Dear saints, you have the true religion which is faith that God is the One who moves you up. Not yourself. Not ever yourself. You are moved up, exalted, and honored by the holy and righteous God who calls you, “Friend.” And He calls you, “Friend,” solely because of what Christ has done on the cross for you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Enoughness – Sermon on 2 Corinthians 3:4-11 for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

2 Corinthians 3:4-11

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Imagine that you received an invitation to a banquet. You get yourself ready and put on your best suit or dress. You drive to the location and enter the building to find that this banquet is a lot fancier and way more formal than you realized. The crystal chandeliers and candles cast a golden light over an exquisitely decorated room. The tables are set with fine china and crystal flutes. You look at all the other guests and discover that they are wearing either designer tuxedos with cufflinks and cummerbunds or sparkling gowns and jewelry. There you are sticking out like a pigeon in a peacock parade.

You try to mingle with the glittering guests, but they mostly ignore you. The only acknowledgement you get are cold smiles and people saying, “Oh, I love your outfit,” as they turn away laughing and asking each other, “Who’s that guy?” You pull out the invitation, and, sure enough, it’s got your name and address. But you’ve had it. It must have been a mistake. So, you start looking for an exit, one that will allow you to avoid as many people as possible.

As you’re leaving, the host of the gala approaches and calls you out by name saying, “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve got all sorts of people I want to introduce you to.” You try to explain that you should probably leave because you don’t fit in. You point out that you aren’t as polished as everyone else there and mention how the crowd has already rejected and made fun of you. But the host simply says, “You aren’t here to be fancy. You’re here because I invited you. My choice is enough to make you belong. Just stick with me.” The rest of the evening, he takes you around the room showing you off, bragging about you, and highlighting how important you are to him. He seats you next to himself at the head table. The rest of the evening, your confidence grows. Now, you are treated with respect and honor by everyone else – not because you’ve won them over. Your importance is rooted in the host’s attitude toward you, and his opinion carries a weight that no one can challenge. It is enough.

Dear saints, such is the confidence you have through Christ toward God.

In this text, Paul is defending his office of being an apostle. There were some false teachers in the congregation at Corinth who were saying that Paul didn’t have the authority to say anything in the church. They questioned the sufficiency of Paul’s preaching. They were saying that Paul’s preaching of God’s grace through Christ was not enough. That’s why he says that God had made him sufficient to be a minister of the ‘new covenant’ of the Gospel that points people to Jesus as the Messiah (2 Cor. 3:6). And that’s why Paul goes on in v. 7-11 of this text to compare his ministry of the Gospel to Moses’ ministry under the old covenant.

Now, this would be a really good text to preach at an ordination service as a man is called by God to be a pastor. All pastors, myself included, need to recognize that when they preach, they aren’t doing it by their own authority but by the authority that God has given (1 Pet. 4:11). When God puts a pastor into a congregation, he is there to deliver God’s gifts to God’s purchased and redeemed people.

Pastors are called to speak two different words to their congregations. First, pastors are to preach ‘the letter that kills’ also called here ‘the ministry of condemnation.’ In other words, pastors are to preach the Law. And second, pastors are to preach ‘the ministry of righteousness,’ the Gospel. God sends pastors to declare that people are sinners so they can be pointed to repentance and faith in Christ. That’s the main point of this passage. But what Paul says here can be applied to other callings and vocations as well.

Dear saints, you have been called out of the darkness of your sin into God’s kingdom. You are called to be God’s hands and feet to the people around you so you can render service to them. And you can have confidence as you serve and carry out those vocations. You are not sufficient on your own. God Himself has made you sufficient. In this text, the word translated ‘sufficient’ means enough.

There are all sorts of places we might look to build confidence and find our enoughness, but there is only one legitimate source of confidence. Any other source will lead to bad outcomes. The most common place we look is inside ourselves – our abilities, our eloquence, our strengths or skills. There are certainly productive, able people who are successful at many things. The problem is that when those moments of success come and we think it’s because we’re sufficient in ourselves, pride sneaks in. We start comparing ourselves to others and look down on them. We get puffed up, and when that happens, we’re setting ourselves up for a big fall. Even when you are successful and humble, the devil will attempt to draw your attention back to yourself and your humility, and again, pride sprouts up.

If you to think that you are strong and capable on our own, you will start to think that you can handle the challenges in life by yourself. When that happens, you’ll quickly find that your own strengths and abilities fade and fail. And when you fail, it’s easy to fall into despair.  The devil wants you to be constantly looking at yourself because there you’ll see that your strength and ability isn’t enough to do all that God has called you to do. Any setback or misstep can be used by the demons to paralyze you.

But when God is the source of your confidence, and He is, then, you lack in nothing. Look at the sheer holiness and privilege of your callings – spouses, parents, children, teachers, friends. When you first recognize the massive, holy responsibilities that God has given you, you realize that these things are beyond you. And you aren’t adequate to carry those vocations out. You can’t claim anything – any ability, any strength, any eloquence, any skill – as coming from you. But God Himself has given you everything. He has won and purchased you by giving His Son, Jesus to die on the cross as your Savior. Everything you are, everything you have, every calling and responsibility has been given to you as a gift. And what God has given you is enough.

As citizens of God’s kingdom, recognize that God has given you more than enough, more you can imagine. He has given His gifts in full measure, pressed those gifts down into you to make room for more and His gifts are always running over (Lk. 6:38).

The same Holy Spirit who blew through the upper room at Pentecost now fills you with everything you need to carry out the tasks entrusted to you. The Holy Spirit who abides in and with you is like that host at the gala. He accompanies you and makes you worthy to be in His kingdom. Anyone who questions that worthiness insults Him directly and isn’t worth listening to. God Himself has made you sufficient and enough. 

By His calling, His redeeming, His grace, His sanctifying, He has made you enough. And that is enough. Dear saints, your enoughness is from God, and from God alone. So, go; boldly carry out the tasks that He has given you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Telos (Why We Exist) – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 for Midweek Lent 5

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 111:10, 73:24-26, 19:14; Ecclesiastes 12:1-14; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; and John 6:28-29.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Throughout your life you will have different goals at different times. When you return home from the grocery store, your goal is to bring all the groceries into the house. And even that goal gets subdivided. You have to get everything that needs to go in the refrigerator or freezer or cupboards in their proper places. At work, you have different goals. You have to finish that task, talk to that client, meet that deadline. In school, your goal might be to finish that assignment, read that chapter, and study for the test or quiz. After you eat, the goal is to put all the leftovers away, do the dishes, and tidy up.

When I started this Lenten series, I had a goal of introducing you to Ecclesiastes and the Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom contained in it. The goal was never to exhaust and cover everything there is to learn from the book. Now that we’re in our final week of it, I’ve done the best I could to give you a taste. The thing about goals on this side of eternity is that there’s always more to do – more things to be completed, more tasks to be done, more goals to reach.

Hopefully through this series, you’ve seen some of the ways that God delivers joy – both in your work and in your leisure. This life is fleeting. It’s like a breath – not ‘vain,’ as it’s often translated. Life like a breath. It’s here one moment and gone the next, and you can’t put the various moments of life in your pocket only to deal with them when you decide. So, take the moments God gives you to work and let your goal be to do what God gives you to do. Take the moments God gives you leisure and let your goal be to enjoy His blessings.

Tonight, we come to the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about “the end of the matter” (Ecc. 12:13). He says, “Everything has been heard,” and this is the conclusion, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is (lit.) the all of man” [sic.].

The Greek translation of that phrase, “the end of the matter,” uses a word that is really useful (and that I would like to popularize). The word is ‘telos.’ It’s the final thing Jesus says on the cross when He cries out, “It is finished”(Jn. 19:30). The word ‘telos’ simply means ‘the end, the purpose, or the goal.’ An Olympic athlete’s telos would be to win a gold medal. To reach or attain that telos, that athlete is going to work really, really hard. They’re going to train hard, eat right, get enough rest, and all the other things that an athlete needs to do to reach that telos of winning a gold medal.

Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon described all the different ways he tried to find joy, the ways he tried to find pleasure, the ways he tried to find fulfillment, but those things did not give him joy because simply squeezing pleasure out of life isn’t why God created him or you. Accumulating pleasure isn’t the telos of mankind. Instead, the end goal, the purpose of life, the reason you exist, your telos is 1) to fear God and 2) to keep, guard, or observe His commandments. Without that, you are not what God intended you to be. You might have some fleeting, pleasurable experiences along the way, but those pleasures won’t last because they can’t, not without the fear of God.

Now, when the Bible talks about ‘fearing God,’ it is often a synonym for faith, for rightly believing and trusting in God. A right fear of God is to believe that what God has said is good and right and true. To fear God is to believe that God is the One who will judge us for what we have done. To fear God is to believe that God is working on us to make us what He wants us to be.

But we sinners didn’t want that. Instead of fearing and believing God, we chose our own way. We decided to rebel against Him. We decided to try to be more than God’s creatures. We tried to be like God. In that sinful idolatry, we broke God’s good creation. The good news is that God did not leave us in that brokenness. Instead, He sent Jesus to be our Redeemer and atone for the sin of the world. God gave His only begotten Son to bring us back into harmony with Him and with creation. And the Holy Spirit now uses God’s Word to make us holy. He continues to shape us into Christ’s image. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us on the way to our telos, to be God’s creatures. In other words, He brings us back into alignment with what God had intended for us from the beginning of creation.

Your telos is that God wants you to receive from His hand all the blessings that He gives to you and to receive those things with a good, right, clean conscience. That’s the summary of the book of Ecclesiastes and, ultimately, all of Scripture.

Look at our Gospel reading (Jn. 6:28-29) again. The crowd who had eaten their fill of the five loaves and two fish asks Jesus, “What must we do to be doing (or ‘working’) the works of God?” They want to know the things that God requires of them so that they can do those things and please God. But Jesus’ answer isn’t a long list of things for them to do. Instead, it’s singular. Jesus says that there is only one work of God. That one work of God is to believe in Jesus whom He has sent (Jn. 6:29). And that work is something that God does.

Faith is God’s gift. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So, when Solomon says here that the telos of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments, he is saying nothing more than what Jesus says. To be doing the work that God wants us to do is to believe in Jesus, and receive what God gives us. We hear from God’s Word, and we believe as the Holy Spirit works faith within us. This, and only this, makes us right with God and with God’s creation. 1 John 3:23 says, “This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us.”

Dear saints, your telos, your goal, your purpose is nothing more than to 1) believe in Christ and 2) to open your hands to receive everything else God gives you.

The only way to reach your telos and be rightly ordered is to believe and trust that Jesus has redeemed you. Next week, Holy Week, we will hear how He has paid the price for all of your sins. You will hear how He can rightly and justly remove you sins from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Only Jesus can make you righteous before God. And Jesus then sends you back into the world so you can live righteous in relation to the rest of creation as you order your life according to God’s will as it is expressed in the Ten Commandments.

Through faith in God’s goodness, fully and freely given to you in Jesus, you reach your telos. Through faith in Christ, you are exactly what God intended you to be, rightly oriented toward your Creator and toward the rest of His creation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fruit – Sermon on Galatians 5:16-24 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Galatians 5:16–24

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture uses many different metaphors when it comes to salvation and being a Christian. There are the optical metaphors of darkness vs. light (Is. 9:2; Jn. 1:5, 3:19; 1 Pet. 2:9) and blindness vs. seeing (Is. 35:5, 42:7; Act. 26:18). There are the medical metaphors of death vs. life (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13) and heart of stone vs. a heart of flesh (Ezk. 11:19, 36:26). Scripture uses familial metaphors of adoption (Ro. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5), being a son (Mt. 6:8-9; Lk. 15:11f) and child (1 Jn. 3:1-2). There is the metaphor of sheep and shepherd (Ps. 23; Ezk. 34-35; Jn. 10:1-18). There are many, many more, but today, we get the botanical metaphor of fruit.

The thing about fruit is that plants don’t produce fruit for themselves. The main function of a plant’s fruit is so it can reproduce. The fruit provides water and protection for the seeds of the plant. God also designed fruit to be tasty so it would be eaten, and the seed(s) in the plant is spread to produce other plants.

When this text contrasts the flesh and the Spirit, it talks about the ‘works’ of the flesh and the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit. Notice how the works of the flesh are all directed inwardly. These works are self-interested and self-serving. Paul lists 15 “works of the flesh.” The first 3 – sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality – all have to do with carnal, bodily appetites or a desire for the flesh to assert itself over others. The next 2 – idolatry and sorcery – are sins against God, trying to put the self in place of God. The next 8 – enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, and envy – are all things that separate individuals by prioritizing the self over another. And the final 2 – drunkenness and orgies – are sins of excess. Then, when Paul adds, “and things like these,” he admits that this list isn’t all the works of the flesh. He could have added more.

And Paul says all these works of the flesh are “evident.” You can see them. They are apparent, clear, plain, and obvious. It is certainly easy to see all these things in our world and in our culture. But do you suppose that Paul gives us this list so we can point out other people’s faults? No. If they’re evident, they don’t need to be pointed out. They’re out there for everyone to see. Instead, Paul wants us to see how these things are present in each of us. They are in and of our flesh. And by ‘flesh’ he doesn’t mean our skin, muscles, tissue, tendons, and bones. By ‘flesh’ here, Paul is saying that these things come from the poisonous root of our heart.

If we sinners were an apple tree, every apple we produced would be infected with disease, blight, and worms; it would be rotting, and withering. If you saw a tree like that, you wouldn’t think the problem was the individual apples. You’d know something was wrong with the tree. It has a disease that infects every branch and goes deep down to the roots. That tree needs to be torn down. In other words, we all need to repent.

There is a penalty for these works of the flesh. You don’t need to wonder if you deserve eternity in hell. You can know that you do. Scripture is crystal clear, “Those who (lit.) are doing such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21b).

God be praised, there is a solution, a fix. Christ Jesus has come to deliver you from these works of the flesh. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). Christian, God has removed your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh (Ezk. 11:19, 36:26). He has put a new spirit within you. He has given you the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit produces fruit.

These nine different qualities are called ‘fruit.’ Notice that the word ‘fruit’ is singular. It’s not many fruits like the 15 works of the flesh. But these 9 fruit (sic.) of the Spirit belong together; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This fruit all grows on the same tree – out of you. And remember that fruit needs time to grow. It isn’t like you can manufacture this fruit artificially or mechanically. No. It needs to be planted, pruned, watered, and nourished (1 Co. 3:6-7).

Remember that the works of the flesh are evident, plain, visible. The same thing isn’t said about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t see this fruit, continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will nourish all these things in you. The Holy Spirit will cause that fruit to grow, bloom, ripen, and spread. So, let’s just go through each of these 9 fruit individually. 

Love: This is the chief characteristic of how God is disposed toward you, believer. Scripture explicitly says that nothing can separate you from God’s love for you (Ro. 8:35, 38-39). The Spirit takes God’s love and pours it into your heart (Ro. 5:5). This love of God isn’t just warm, nice feelings; it is action evidenced by Jesus’ sacrificial love for you as He gave His life on the cross. That love of God is given to you so you can give it to others.

Joy: God’s love provides you a sure confidence about the future (Ro. 5:11). Whatever circumstances come your way, you know that you will be in eternal bliss. So, the darkness and pain of this world will cease. That brings joy as well as…

Peace: Your relationship with God is no longer filled with strife. Christ has ended your hostility toward God. You have God’s peace that surpasses understanding (Php. 4:7), and then, you can be at peace with others as well.

Patience: Because you have God’s love which gives joy and peace, you can be patient. Even though the world throws all sorts of chaotic things at you, you can patiently endure it (Ro. 8:25). And beyond that you have…

Kindness: Kindness is the active, merciful goodness that mirrors God’s kindness. You grow to forgive others as God has forgiven you (Eph. 4:32).

Goodness: The word here can also mean ‘generosity.’ Because God has infinite resources, you know that you will receive all good things from Him (Ro. 8:32). This frees you to be God’s conduit to generously give your good things to others.

Faithfulness: Again, God proves His faithfulness to you as He died for you on the cross. He is faithful to keep you from tests and temptations that are beyond your strength (1 Cor. 10:13). This creates a faithfulness in you toward others.

Gentleness: This is an interesting one. Gentleness means that you don’t get excessively angry when things are out of step with how God created the world. There are times when you will need to say hard things to others, things that cause them grief. But you say those hard things in a gentle way which produces repentance. Paul talks about this quite a bit in 2 Cor. 7:8-13. To be gentle requires the final aspect of the Spirit’s fruit…

Self-control: The Holy Spirit leads you to resist your own passions through self-control.

These nine fruit (sic.) of the Holy Spirit are under no compulsion or requirement. Unlike the works of the flesh that exclude sinners from the kingdom of God, these fruits aren’t how you earn entrance to God’s kingdom. Instead, as the Spirit has begun to create these things in you, He will bring all of it to completion (Php. 1:6).

How will the Holy Spirit cultivate this fruit? Jesus has the answer. In John 15:1-5, Jesus says, “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are pruned,” (the ESV says ‘clean’ but it’s the same word Jesus just used). “Already you are pruned because of the Word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Dear saints, the Spirit will use Christ’s Word and create this fruit in you. Abide, remain steadfast in that Word, and this fruit will be produced. Again, if you don’t see things in your life, know that God continues to work on you, and that fruit will be there for the benefit of others. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Completed – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 5:17–26

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This Gospel reading today is all Law. These verses begin a long section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is, basically, giving a long commentary on the Ten Commandments which runs all the way to the end of chapter 5 – thirty-two verses worth of our Lord’s teaching on the Ten Commandments. Now, God’s Law, which is succinctly given to us in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17), does a couple different things.[1] Let me just briefly tell you what they are before we focus in on one.

First and foremost, God’s Law shows us how creation works. It reveals what is good in this life. In other words, the Commandments teach you how to be happy and how to live in perfect harmony with God, harmony with your neighbor, and harmony with the rest of creation. Because God’s Law does this, you can think of it as a ‘curb,’ and keep that term in your mind because we’re going to come back to it in just a bit.

Second, because the Commandments teach us how creation works, they also show us where we are living in a way that is contrary to how creation works. The Law shows us how we have violated God’s will, how we have offended Him, and have earned His wrath because of our sin. In other words, the Law accuses us. It stands there like a perfect, clear mirror showing us what we really look like, and it isn’t a pretty picture.

As far as your salvation is concerned, this is the most important thing the Law does. It accuses you and exposes the fact that you are not what you are created to be. So, when you see yourself in the mirror of God’s Law, run to Him in repentance seeking His mercy which He freely gives to you for the sake of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Again, as far as your salvation is concerned, this is the most important thing God’s Law does. But! Make sure you notice that the Law is only a mirror because of that first function, the ‘curb,’ which again simply shows us how God has ordered creation.

So, back to the ‘curb.’ Unless you have really poor spatial awareness, you probably don’t think about curbs very often. Maybe, you hit the curb when you’re driving your spouse’s vehicle that has a longer or wider wheelbase than you are used to, but that curb just bumps you back onto the street keeping you off the sidewalk and lawns. Typically, if you hit a curb when you’re driving, it’s no big deal. It just means you’ll need to get your tires realigned a bit sooner.

But know that there are different kinds of curbs. If you’re driving on I-29 or Hwy. 2, there aren’t what we normally call curbs, but there are those rumble strips that shake the car and make a loud noise to keep you from straying off the road. You might hit those rumble strips periodically on a curve or when the wind is blowing exceptionally hard. But there are still other curbs. If you’re driving on the freeways in the Cities, the curb might be a thick, four-foot concrete wall to keep the traffic traveling in opposite directions from colliding. Those, you avoid, and, hopefully, you’ve never hit or scraped one of them because it’ll do extensive damage to your car. Rumble strips, normal neighborhood curbs, and concrete barriers are all types of “curbs” that keep vehicles where they should be – on the road and away from danger.

Now, take that idea of those different types of curbs to God’s Law and the Ten Commandments. We might hear the 5th Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” and think of the curb of the 5th Command as the thick, four-foot concrete barrier. It’s big, but it’s also quite easy to avoid running into it. You can always see it and know that hitting it would cause significant damage. Because the 5th Command is so big and impending, you easily avoid it. But just because you’ve never physically murdered someone, don’t think that you’re righteous according to the 5th Command.

Here, in this Gospel text, Jesus says that the 5th Command is also a regular curb. Christ says, “Don’t relax on this command because everyone who is angry with his brother is also guilty of murder” (Mt. 5:22a). Jesus shows that the 5th Command isn’t just a concrete barrier to keep us from physically murdering someone, it’s also a curb that keeps us from being angry toward our neighbor. Again, when you’re driving your vehicle, you might bump a curb a couple times a week or once a month. But just because you don’t think much about your anger toward others doesn’t mean that God doesn’t notice. Even nudging the curb of anger toward your neighbor makes you liable to judgment and earns you an eternity in hell.

Think back to Genesis 4. Before Cain murdered Abel, God asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” (Gen. 4:6). Even though God hadn’t yet given the command, “Thou shalt not kill,” God was warning Cain there with the 5th Command because Cain was angry. But Cain blew right over the curb of anger that God had constructed and smashed into the concrete barrier of murder.

Jesus goes even further and tells us about the 5th Command rumble strips. Calling someone a fool is the same as murder (Mt. 5:22b). And Jesus still isn’t done. Christ teaches us that the 5th Command demands that if we remember that someone has something against us that we must go to them and try to reconcile, or we are violating the 5th Command (Mt. 5:23-24).

When it comes to keeping the 5th Command, it’s not enough for you to not physically murder someone or never be angry. It’s not even enough for you to never call someone a fool. You also need to seek reconciliation with others who are angry against you. Otherwise, you have 5th Commandment blood on your hands. Jesus is teaching here that you’ve run into all kinds of 5th Commandment curbs. You do it every day. And because of that, you are guilty before God and liable to His eternal judgment.

Jesus, who was the One who spoke the Ten Commandments, clearly spells out what they mean. You could say that He is giving us the “fine print” of the Commands explaining the full, complete picture of what they demand. But don’t misunderstand that either. It isn’t as though the Ten Commandments weren’t enough. They are enough. Imagine you told your teenage kid to clean the kitchen, and all he does is wipe down the exposed counters and leaves a pile of dishes by the sink. (To be clear, this is not an example from my household. My kids know better.) You come into the kitchen and see all the greasy, grimy pots and pans. You’d rightly get after him and say, “I told you to clean the kitchen. Get back in there.”

Here, when Jesus teaches us the “fine print” of the Ten Commandments, we are left with no excuse for hitting any of the curbs of any of the Commandments. Christ says, “Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. You need a righteousness that exceeds the goodest [sic.], most moral person you know of, or you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:19-20). And when Jesus talks about the “least command,” He is not saying that the Ten Commandments have a ranking where some are more important and some less. No! Christ is saying that the tiniest infraction of any of the Commandments, even refusing to reconcile with someone who is angry with you, makes you unrighteous and means that you are outside the kingdom of heaven. In other words, we’re all in deep, deep trouble. Repent.

Repent and know that Jesus completes and fulfills the Commands in another way than just explaining them more fully. Jesus also keeps all the Commands, all of God’s Law, perfectly and completely – for you. Every aspect of every command was perfectly obeyed by Jesus. And His obedience is yours through faith in Him.

Think of it this way: God is going to grade you on one test, and that is the test of keeping His Law, and you need to get a perfect score, 100%, never hitting any curb – ever, or you will spend eternity in hell. Even with an open book, the best, most righteous person is going to bomb that test. Maybe get a score in the teens or something. But also know God has told you that you can use a partner to take the test. Through faith, Jesus is your Partner for this final exam, and He answers every demand of the Law perfectly. Through faith in Him, His full, complete righteousness is yours. 

And now, He invites you to receive that righteousness as He gives you His righteous Body to eat, and His holy, cleansing, forgiving Blood to drink. So, come to His table and receive His perfect righteousness. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] The Formula and Epitome of Concord Art. VI. both talk about the three uses of the Law – 1) curb, 2) mirror, and 3) guide. This sermon is written with the understanding that the 2nd and 3rd uses of the Law are both subsets of the 1st. So, I’m not denying the 3rduse of the Law in any way. Instead, it is a clear extension of the 1st use as is the 2nd.

Depend – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 22:34–46

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord, 
“Sit at my right hand, 
until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This Gospel reading takes place on Holy Tuesday. In other words, it is just a few days before Jesus will be crucified, and what we heard is Jesus’ last public teaching until He preaches the seven last words from the cross. The Pharisees and Sadducees are asking our Lord three questions to try to entangle Him in His words (Mt. 22:15). They want Jesus to say something they can use against Him and kill Him. The first two questions they asked were about paying taxes and the resurrection. But Jesus answers both questions so skillfully that they can’t find a way to accuse Him.

Our text begins with their third and final trick question that comes from a sleezy lawyer. “Teacher, what is the great commandment in the Law?” It seems as though the intent of this question is to get Jesus to put one of the Commandments above the others, and when He does that, they will say that He teaches that the other nine aren’t as important. But they end up looking like fools. It was Jesus’ finger that carved those words into the stone tablets and His voice that spoke them on Mt. Sinai. Jesus is the Author of the Commandments, and they are all important.

So, Jesus answers the question, “The great Commandment is this: love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “All the Commandments matter. All of them are the greatest. They all demand that you love God and love your neighbor. All the Commandments depend on these two.” Jesus is clear here, and Scripture is clear elsewhere that what the Commandments require of us is to love. Love is the fulfilling of the Law (Ro. 13:10b). In every situation, you are to love God and love your neighbor. And it is important to spend some time on this because there is a lot of unnecessary confusion about what love looks like. A pastor friend of mine (Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller) put together a list that helps to define and shape what love looks like. And this list is biblical and, I think, very helpful.

First, love is shaped by the Ten Commandments. Love does not mean that there are no other Commandments. No, the Commandments define what love is. Love depends on the Commandments. If you are fornicating and committing adultery, you cannot presume to say that it’s ok because, “We love each other.” Adultery is always unloving.

Second, love is shaped by our vocation or our station in life. Everyone has several vocations, so I’ll use myself as an example here. Some of my vocations are husband, father, pastor, a child of my parents, a friend, etc. In each of those vocations, I am called to love. But what that love looks like depends on those different vocations. For example, part of my love as a father includes providing for my family. So, I earn a living so my wife can go and buy socks for our kids. As a pastor, my love looks different. It looks like faithfully preaching and teaching God’s Word to you, the flock that God has entrusted into my care. My vocation as a pastor does not require me to buy socks for all of you. Pastors are not called to provide socks for their congregations. But that, then, leads us to the third thing that shapes our love.

Our love is also shaped by the needs of our neighbor. If one of you, who aren’t part of my family, needs socks and can’t get them for yourself, my love for you would be to give you socks. Even if the only reason I know you and your need socks is that I’m your pastor, I’m not giving you socks because I’m your pastor. I’m giving you socks because I am your brother in Christ. And if I needed socks, I would want one of you to give me socks if you have the means and resources to provide them. In that instance, I’m loving you as I would love myself. (I think this is the most I’ve ever used the word ‘socks’ in a sermon, but I’m done now.)

That leads us to the fourth thing that shapes our love which is the gifts God has given us. God gives us stuff, skills, and talents so we can use them to love and serve our neighbor. If God has made you successful and given you a lot of money, use those resources to love your neighbor. If God has given you the talent of being good at cooking, you love your neighbor by cooking. If God has given you good mind for math, you can love your neighbor as an engineer or an accountant. The beautiful thing about this one is that the gifts God gives you can help you love your neighbor across different vocations. A person who is good at math can be a good accountant. He can earn a good living and provide for his family and, at the same time, love and serve his clients who need someone to keep their books.

Just briefly here, our neighbor’s need might mean that we have to love our neighbor in a way that we aren’t gifted. Imagine a meteor hit the church during this service. We don’t have an ER doctor here, but we do have an optometrist, a medical student, nurses, and EMTs who are gifted in knowing how the body works and how to heal. They should be the ones who go to the people who are most injured and help them. And if more people are injured, those of us who aren’t gifted in that way are called to do the best we can even though that kind of love is usually reserved for doctors and nurses. Our neighbor’s need trumps how we are gifted. Especially in an emergency, we love and serve others based on their needs rather than our love depending on our gifts. And when the ambulances get here, we who don’t know as much about first aid should step aside and let the professionals use their gifts to serve the people in need.

So, the first four things that shape our love are: 1) the Ten Commandments; 2) our vocation; 3) our neighbor’s need; and 4) our gifts. All of that is fairly obvious and reasonable. But there is another thing that shapes our love, and this last one is one that our culture fights against (for several reasons). But this one is also important to consider. The fifth thing that shapes our love is our neighbor’s sin, and this is where things can get tricky and difficult. But this is also where Jesus’ summary of the Ten Commandments – love God with everything and love your neighbor as yourself – is helpful. And God gives you wisdom to help navigate this.

Imagine you know someone who is addicted to fentanyl, your calling is still crystal clear: you are called to love that person. But now what is that love going to look like? Is it loving to just step aside and let them keep killing themselves by using that fentanyl? No, it isn’t. Their sin against themselves might even mean that you need to break one of the Commandments in order to love them. You might need to steal their fentanyl even though stealing is sin and a violation against the 7th Commandment.

Now, please recognize that the Ten Commandments are still the primary thing that shapes and defines our love. But because of your neighbor’s sin, you break the 7th Commandment about stealing in order for you to keep the 5th Commandment which calls you to do your neighbor no bodily harm, but help and defend him in every need. This is why knowing the Commandments is so important. And, again, your vocation still plays into this too. You aren’t called to travel to San Francisco, Seattle, or Portland and steal fentanyl from all the addicts in those places.

Our neighbor’s sin can hinder the ways we love them. Parents, when your children are breaking the 4thCommandment and not obeying you, your love for them looks like disciplining them; it isn’t what you want to do, but you are called to do it (Pro. 22:15; 23:13; Heb. 12:11). If you have abusive parents, you are still called to keep the 4th Commandment and honor them, but their sin could mean you have to disobey them if they demand you do something contrary to God’s Word. If your cousin, Stacy, is getting married, your love normally looks like going to her wedding and celebrating with her. But if she is breaking the 6th Commandment by trying to be married to another woman, your love for her means not going to the wedding because that would embolden her in her sin against the 6th Commandment. Yes, this is hard and difficult. Yes, this is uncomfortable. Yes, it is even confusing. You are always called to love, but sin can put constraints on love.

And that brings us to the second part of our text which is the question Jesus asks the people who are trying to trip Him up. Jesus turns the discussion to the identity of the Messiah. The Savior is David’s Ancestor and also David’s Lord. The way this is possible is that Jesus is the fully Divine, eternal Son of God and fully human. Christ is God and Man.

Your Savior’s love for you was fully shaped by the Ten Commandments, which Jesus kept perfectly. His vocation was to be the Messiah and shed His blood and bear the punishment for the sins of all humanity because that was our need. He was gifted with everything necessary to be the Savior. And He navigated our sin in such a way that He perfectly loved God by loving us and bearing our sin to the cross. Now, He is risen and lives and reigns on the throne of all creation for eternity. 

Your eternal life totally depends upon what Jesus, the Son of God and Son of David, has done. God be praised that He has done all things well (Mk. 7:37). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Unveiled – Sermon on Exodus 34:29-35; Matthew 17:1-9; and 2 Peter 1:16-21 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Exodus 34:29-35; Matthew 17:1-9; & 2 Peter 1:16-21

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This is a glorious text, but even more glorious is that the beloved Son of God would give His life for you on the cross. Because Jesus has died for you, you, dear saints, will also shine like the sun (Mt. 13:43). To make that point, we’re going to consider all three of our Scripture readings and two other passages, 2 Cor. 3:4-18 and Mt. 13:43. A figure skater or a competitive diver will do a routine with a high degree of difficulty to get a higher score. Hopefully, my execution of the sermon will be good enough that the payoff will be worth it in the end.

A person’s face can tell you a lot. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about the mouth part of a person’s face – of course, the mouth can tell you a lot too. I’m talking about a person’s facial demeanor. Someone could be talking to you in a normal tone, but if you watch their face, you can tell if they are sad or happy, discouraged or excited, heartbroken or twitterpated. Sometimes you just enter a room, and a family member will ask, “What’s wrong?” or, “Why are you so happy?” Your word hole doesn’t have to be operating for your face to say a lot.

Between our Old Testament and Gospel readings today (Ex. 34:29-35 & Mt. 17:1-9), we heard about two different shining faces – Moses’ and Jesus’. And those two shining faces produced two very different responses.

Right before our OT text, Scripture says that Moses had been on Mt. Sinai for forty days and forty nights, and during that time he neither ate bread nor drank water (Ex. 34:28). How Moses survived that, I don’t know. Somehow, God miraculously kept Moses going. After being on a mountain for forty days and nights with nothing to eat or drink, you would expect Moses’ face to be weathered, worn, and weary. But when he arrives back in the camp, Moses’ face was shining because he had been talking with God. This made the people so afraid that they wouldn’t even approach Moses. Now, Moses admits here (because he wrote Exodus) that he had no idea that his face was shining. And this gives us a glimpse into what Moses must have seen and heard during those forty days and nights. Being in God’s presence and talking directly to God was so grand and glorious that the glory Moses saw continued to radiate from his face. And Moses was so used to being in that glory that he didn’t realize his face was shining.

In 2 Cor. 3:4-18, Paul contemplates on this. I would encourage you to read that passage later today, and you might want to turn there because we’re going to come back to it. In 2 Cor. 3:4-18, Paul says that the Law came with such splendor and glory that people were afraid to come near because of Moses’ shining face. Paul goes on to say how much more glorious is the ministry of the Gospel, and we see that glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Jesus goes up a high mountain with Peter, James, and John and is transfigured. His clothes become white as light. Moses and Elijah appear and are talking with Jesus. And Jesus’ face shone like the sun. Now, Scripture doesn’t give us the total lumens of Moses’ face compared to Jesus’ face. It is interesting to note that the Greek translation of our Old Testament text uses a word that means ‘glow’ to refer Moses’ face while Matthew here uses the word λάμπω (lampō) which means ‘shine’ to refer to Jesus’ face. So, Moses’ face glowed with a radiant, reflected glory, but Jesus’ face shines like the sun with its own glory.

We do know that Moses’ face was bright enough that people could see it and were afraid, but a thin veil was enough to calm their fears. But here Jesus’ face shines like the sun, and I’m pretty sure a little veil wasn’t going to do much to dim that shining. Despite the brightness and glory, notice that Peter, James, and John don’t ask Jesus to veil His face. Instead, the reaction is completely different. Peter says, “Lord, it is good that we are here. In fact, let’s stay here. I’ll make three tents – one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But while Peter is still speaking, the bright cloud of God’s glory overshadowed them, and God the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” This terrifies the three disciples, but Jesus came and touched them saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”

In our Epistle text (2 Pet. 1:16-21), Peter reflects on the Transfiguration about thirty years later. There, Peter says that the Transfiguration does show Jesus’ glory, but even more so, it unveils the glory of the Bible. Peter says that it is better for you to have the Scriptures than for you to have witnessed the Transfiguration because every verse of the Scriptures unveils God’s great love for you. The shining face of Jesus points us to the bright lamp of the Scriptures that shines in a dark place. But what is this dark place?

Your initial thought is probably that the lamp of the Scriptures shines in the darkness of this world. The Bible certainly does talk about the world being full of darkness and sin. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God’s Word does enlighten this dark world so that we don’t stumble or go the wrong way. But here Peter is talking about a different dark place. He says to pay careful attention to the Scriptures as “a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises” – and catch this – “the morning star rises in your hearts.”

You see, it’s not just the world and things outside of you that are a dark place. Your heart also has a darkness that needs the light of God’s Word. Peter doesn’t use the normal word for ‘dark’ here. The word Peter uses means, “foul and repulsive from a lack of care; neglected and filthy.” Here is the picture: Our sinful hearts are a filthy, murky, dark place. And we do well to pay attention to the Word of God shining in the dirty, neglected, dark place of our heart. When we pay attention to them, the lamp of the Scriptures shines in the darkness of our heart and pierces through the filth inside us. And the Gospel also changes us.

Even though you weren’t a witness to Jesus’ Transfiguration (lit. His ‘metamorphosis’), you have something better. Back to 2 Cor. 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transfigured (same word used for Jesus’ transfiguration though the ESV translates it as ‘transformed’) we are being transfigured into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Even now, already in this life, Christian, you are being transfigured into the same glory that Jesus had on the mountain. God brings about that transfiguration through His Word. By God’s gracious working through His Word, you are slowly being transfigured and metamorphosized into Jesus’ glory.

God has promised that you are being transfigured. And the picture of Jesus on the mountain today is what you are heading toward by the grace of God. In Mt. 13:43, Jesus says that you who are righteous through faith in Him will shine like the sun, just like Jesus did.

So that you could shine like the sun and be like Him, Jesus went down from the mount of Transfiguration. He descended from that glorious peak, so He could ascend another mountain, Mt. Calvary, where He laid down His life for Peter, for Moses and Elijah, and for you. He did this because He loves you and wants you to be transfigured and share in His unveiled glory. Lord Jesus, come soon and bring us to that glory. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Door – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Matthew 25:1-13

1 [Jesus says,] “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

One year ago, I preached on this text. After that service, we decorated the sanctuary for the Advent and Christmas season just like we will today. The following Sunday, Lindsay, Siobhan, and Stephanie came up to do our Advent candle lighting. After they did the readings and prayer, Lindsay went to light the first candle. The wick held the flame for a fraction of a second then went out because… there was no oil in that candle. And the wick would not hold a flame.

I bring that up for two reasons: First, whoever brings out the Advent candles today, please check the oil levels so we don’t repeat that this year. The second reason I bring that up is that this parable can seem so trivial. Last year, we were perfectly capable of having our worship service without that candle being lit. We didn’t need its light or the heat created by it. We just moved on. Not having oil seems like such a minor thing. In the parable, five girls are unable to light lamps because they didn’t have oil. Did all ten virgins need to have lit lamps? Was it really that important?

Apparently, yes. In the parable, not having oil to keep a lamp lit makes the difference between being in the feast and being left out. In fact, according to Jesus, having oil makes a person wise, while not having oil makes a person a moron. That’s literally the word Jesus uses; the word translated ‘foolish’ in our text is the Greek word μωρός where we get our word ‘moron.’

Now, we don’t know enough about wedding customs in Jesus’ day to know why it was so important for all the ten virgins to have enough oil to keep a lamp lit. The groom didn’t need those lamps to be able to see his way into the marriage feast. He had already made his way through the town to get to the location. All we know is that once the groom arrives, the lamp must be lit.

Jesus teaches that there will be a final cut off point. There is a moment when your status of being in or out will not and can not change. While the five morons are off trying to buy oil from the sellers – and remember this is at midnight, so those sellers would have closed up their shops and had probably gone to bed hours earlier – while the five morons are off on their futile errand, the groom arrives. The feast starts. The door is shut. And that door will not open again. Those who aren’t ready will be left outside forever.

The coming of the groom made a division. Those who were prepared poured oil in their lamps and went into the wedding feast with him. But the morons start scrambling around trying to find oil, and when they return, they find they are out in the darkness where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the last words they hear from their Savior, the groom, are, “I don’t know you.”

Let’s consider a few things about that door that gives entrance to the wise and excludes the morons.

First, notice that when the groom arrives, those who were ready go through that door immediately (v. 10). When Jesus returns, you won’t have to do any convincing or proving of yourself. You won’t have to go somewhere to be purified. Your worthiness to enter is established. There is nothing left for you to do. Christian, your entrance is immediate. If you die today, you will be escorted by the angels directly into Jesus’ presence where your soul will await the resurrection. And if Jesus comes before you die, you will go straight into the banquet of the eternal wedding feast.

That brings me to the second thought about the door. Remember what is behind that door. It’s a wedding feast. Wedding feasts are fun. At your wedding feast, you had family, friends, classmates, and coworkers – a bunch of people who are special and important to you – they all were in the same room mingling, eating, laughing, dancing, and celebrating with you. Your wedding reception was filled with people who will probably never be in the same room again – at least not in this life. Your cousin from Nebraska, your college roommate from California, and your boss will never be in the same room again, but at your wedding feast, they all enjoyed each other’s company. Now imagine that laughter, joy, and merriment times infinity.

The third thought about this door is that it gets shut. Normally, we think about this as a horrifying thing, and for the unbeliever it is. Absolutely, it is. For those outside there will be no entering once the door is shut. But you, Christian, are not left outside. You are inside. How do you suppose Noah and his family felt about God shutting the door and closing them in the ark as the rains came down and the floods went up? They would have felt safe and secure. It’s the same for you. When God shuts that door, He will close out any bit of danger or evil so that it will never touch you.

Finally, the door being shut means that you, Christian, will be forever with Jesus. In the parable, how many entered into the wedding feast? It wasn’t just the five wise virgins. There are six. The bridegroom is inside with them, with the five wise virgins. The groom doesn’t say, “Go on in.” No, they go in with him. It’s so obvious, but don’t miss that.

Dear saints, now is the time to fill your flasks with oil! You do not know how much you will need. The five morons knew they needed oil all along. As soon as the cry went out, that was their only focus, but it was too late. Everyone knows they need oil. Get it now. Why, why would you ever think you have enough oil? 

The oil isn’t expensive – in fact it’s free! But you don’t have eternity to get the oil. There is a deadline, and you do not know when that deadline will come. Don’t procrastinate. Receive the gift of faith through the ways God has promised to give it. Go ahead and hoard it. Why would you become complacent and think you don’t need more of God’s Word, God’s mercy, God’s grace, and God’s Sacraments? 

Jesus is coming. The Bridegroom said He would return to take you to where He is. But you do not know when. Today feels like a lot like yesterday, and yesterday felt like the day before. And because Jesus didn’t come yesterday or the day before, it can be easy to think that Christ is not coming today. Don’t become a moron, repent! It is easy to fall asleep. It is easy to get distracted with many things and think the time to get oil will last forever. But it won’t.

Yes, this parable is a warning. Yes, it is a call to endure and persevere because being left outside would be horrific. But. But at the same time let’s all take a deep breath and laugh because we are waiting for a party where there is gladness, peace, and joy.

When Jesus warns about His coming, He doesn’t tell a parable about ten soldiers – five wise who always kept their swords within reach and five morons who couldn’t remember where they set their weapons down. Then, the enemy attacked, and the five morons were utterly defeated. No. It’s the parable of the ten virgins waiting for a party.

Jesus is coming, and we wait for that day with expectation, hope, and joy. And, now, Jesus your Savior comes to you to meet you at this altar to have a feast of forgiveness and mercy. Communion is the closest we will get to the party before Jesus returns. It’s a foretaste of the feast to come.

So, dear saints, come. Your bridegroom is here with you now. Trim your lamps because you have the oil of salvation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Salvation unto Us Has Come – Sermon for Reformation Sunday (Observed) 2022

The Scripture readings for our service today were Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28; and John 8:31-36.

A sheet with Scripture verses that were used to compose the hymn “Salvation unto Us Has Come” can be found here.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

We are all slaves – every one of us. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And here in v. 34, Jesus says, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” And don’t misunderstand the word ‘practice’ there. It is a fine translation, but we might get the wrong idea if we think the word ‘practice’ means someone who does something over and over to get better at it. I don’t think anyone here is actively trying to get better at lying, stealing, cheating, etc. The word Jesus uses here that gets translated as ‘practice’ is simply the word ‘do’ or ‘does.’ We will say that a doctor ‘practices’ medicine because medicine is simply what the doctor does. Literally, Jesus’ statement here could read, “All who do sin are slaves to sin.” And because “all have sinned,” (Ro. 3:23), we all are slaves to sin.

Slaves do not remain in the house. Only sons do. That is why you need Jesus – the eternal Son of God – to set you free. Christ sets you free through His Word because His Word delivers to you everything that He has done and accomplished on the cross. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you are delivered from your slavery, you are freed, you become God’s child, and, as God’s children, you remain in the house forever with Jesus.

Now, that’s a full sermon right there, but we’ve still got some time. So, I want to bring in a guest preacher to teach us the same thing. The name of the preacher is Pastor Paul Speratus. Pastor Speratus wrote the hymn that you have in your Scripture insert. This hymn, “Salvation unto Us Has Come,” ends up being a complete summary of the theology of the Reformation, and since today is Reformation Sunday, we’re going to sing it and let it preach to us. I know some of you will find this boring, but please give me just a minute to set the stage for how this hymn came to be written.

Speratus was a Catholic priest in Salzburg, Austria. You probably know Salzburg because of the movie The Sound of Music. Well, Speratus had read Luther’s writings that came after the 95 Thesis, and Speratus recognized how far the church had wandered from the teaching of the Scriptures. So, Speratus starts preaching Law and Gospel in Salzburg. Luther got condemned for his writings in 1521, but Luther was protected from that sentence of death – basically, by being kidnapped and hidden in a castle where he spends 300 days translating the Bible into German. Well, Speratus also ends up being sentenced to death for heresy in 1523 and was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Like Luther, Speratus gets rescued from execution. But during his time in prison, Speratus writes this hymn.

You might think that sitting in prison and waiting for execution, Speratus would write a hymn about God’s protection and provision. But no. Speratus writes a hymn about the theology of salvation. Speratus wrote this hymn because Luther had just started conducting services in German and called on German-speakers to write hymns that taught the truths of Scripture in the German language so the people would have good songs to use in worship. This hymn is one of those. Apparently, when Luther first heard it, he offered the singer all the money he had in his pocket for the lyrics. And the hymn ended up being included in the first German hymnal which only had eight songs in it. The history lesson on the hymn is now over.

Personally, I love how clearly this hymn teaches what the Bible teaches, and according to Scripture, that is what Christian songs should do (Col. 3:16). The nice thing about this hymn is that Speratus included the Scripture passages he had in mind when he wrote the hymn. Those passages are included on the insert in your bulletin. This hymn would be a good addition to your devotional time. If you don’t have a regular devotional, my suggestion would be to read the passages for the first verse then sing it. The next day sing the first verse, then read the passages for the second verse and sing it. The third day, sing the first two verses, then read the Scriptures for the third and sing it. Do that for ten days adding a new verse each day.

By the time you finish, you will be a great theologian because this hymn so clearly teaches Law, Gospel, and holy living. It clearly teaches how our good works don’t help or save us, which is what the church of Rome was falsely teaching. Instead, faith produces the fruit of good works which are good because they serve our neighbor.

So, we’re going to let the hymn preach to us. Because it’s a long hymn, we won’t sing all ten verses at once. I’ll give your voices a break and make brief comments here and there. Feel free to sing it from the insert, but if you would like to have the music, it is #410 in your hymnal. Let’s start with the first verse.

1. Salvation unto us has come
by God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
they help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.

This verse summarizes everything that will come after it. God, by His free grace and favor given through Jesus, has set you free. Through faith in Jesus, you are a child of God. The last two lines of that verse tell us what Jesus has done. He made the payment for you. He is the one and only Redeemer.

Now, because the hymn was written in German then translated into English, some of the wording is slightly changed from the original to make the poetry work in English. But those last two lines in German say that Jesus, “has done enough for us all. He has become our Mediator.” Jesus has done everything you needed to be saved, and now He sits at God’s right hand interceding for you and governing all things for your good.

Now, the hymn goes on to elaborate what Jesus needed to do. Let’s sing verses 2-3.

2. What God did in His Law demand
and none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on ev’ry hand
for man, the vile offender,
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
and lost is our condition.

3. It was a false, misleading dream
that God His Law had given
That sinners could themselves redeem
and by their works gain heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
that lurks within our nature.

Because of our sinful nature, we don’t even begin to do what God requires of us through the Law. And even though we falsely think that we’re better than others, the Law is a bright mirror that shows our desperately lost and sinful condition. Let’s sing verse 4.

4. From sin our flesh could not abstain,
sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
our guilt was e’er increasing.
None can remove sin’s poisoned dart
Or purify our guileful heart—
so deep is our corruption.

Apart from Jesus, we have no hope of salvation. The poison of sin continues to slowly kill and destroy us. The Law leaves us dead in sin. But that does not mean that we are without hope. We’ll sing verse 5.

5. Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
or we must die despairing,
Christ came and hath God’s anger stilled,
our human nature sharing.
He hath for us the Law obeyed
And thus, the Father’s vengeance stayed
which over us impended.

Jesus has fulfilled the Law for you. He is your substitute. The eternal Son of God took on your flesh to do all this for you. He perfectly obeyed the Law for you. He suffered the punishment your sins deserved. And because of that, God sees Jesus’ perfection when He looks at you, believer. God has no anger left for your sins because Jesus has taken it all. Verse 6.

6. Since Christ hath full atonement made
and brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
and build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed,
for Thou hast paid my ransom.

There is nothing left for you to do to be saved. Everything is done; it is finished (Jn. 19:30). The hymn takes a turn in that verse and addresses God directly. We ask God to apply everything Jesus has done to us. His death is your life. He has fully paid the ransom for your soul. Verses 7-8.

7. Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word cannot be broken;
Thy call rings out, “Come unto Me!”
no falsehood hast Thou spoken.
Baptized into Thy precious name,
My faith cannot be put to shame,
and I shall never perish.

8. The Law reveals the guilt of sin
and makes men conscience-stricken;
The Gospel then doth enter in
the sinful soul to quicken.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ever give,
no comfort and no blessing.

Jesus calls to you, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Trusting in that call, you will never ever be put to shame. Jesus has come so that you have eternal, abundant life. Verse 9.

9. Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone
and rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known.
with love and hope increasing.
Yet faith alone doth justify,
Works serve thy neighbor and supply
the proof that faith is living.

Faith in Jesus is the only thing that saves you, but faith is never alone. Christian, you do good works, but those works never save you. Those works are simply the fruit of the Spirit that serves your neighbor and shows that your faith is alive and well.

Now, the hymn closes with a doxology. We get swept up into the liturgy of heaven and join all the saints who have gone before us by praising God for what He has done for us in Christ. Let’s sing the final verse.

10. All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
to Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God that saved us by His grace—
all glory to His merit!
O Triune God in heaven above,
Who hast revealed Thy saving love,
Thy blessed name be hallowed.

Amen.The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.