Romans 12:6-16

⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12_2 - Christian Calling

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

How do you know if someone is really a Christian? I mean reeeeally a Christian. Well, according to the ESV’s heading on this text (which the translation we are using), this is it. The ESV adds its own title to v. 9 and following “Marks of the True Christian.”

In fact, do this: Take out one of the pew Bibles and turn to Romans 12. The ESV has this text falling under two headings. The first comes before v. 3 and is “Gifts of Grace” which is used for v. 3-8. I think that is an accurate heading for those verses. But then you get to v. 9 and all the way to the end of the chapter, all of that falls under the heading “Marks of the True Christian.” Those headings are not part of the Scriptures. The translators and editors of the various translations added them. Sometimes, they are fine introductions to what is going to come. But I would encourage you to ignore them more often than not because they influence the way you read the text.

From the heading there before v. 9 and the way the ESV reads here, I counted twenty-two commands/imperatives that follow in the translation. Twenty-two things that Christians are commanded to do if they, at least according to that heading, are true Christians. With that understanding, it would be easy for a sermon on this text to turn into a stern lecture on what you should be doing; how you are not doing it; and how you would be blessed if you actually got around to doing it. But here’s the problem.

First, there is no Gospel in the translation of those verses. And, second, if true Christians have genuine love; abhor evil; hold fast to the good; love with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor; are never slothful in zeal; fervent in spirit; serve the Lord; rejoice in hope, etc. If these are the marks of the true Christian and you take an honest assessment of yourself, how are you doing so far?

Speaking for myself, I would have to conclude that I’m not a true Christian because I’m missing a lot of those marks most of the time. And, when I don’t have those marks but still confess that I am a Christian, I need to find some comfort for myself. So, the easiest thing for me to do is to start comparing myself to others. I look at myself, and then I look at you and you and you. Then, I figure, “Well, at least I’m better than that person at obeying these ‘Christian’ laws.”

You have maybe heard the joke about when Sven and Ole were out walking in the forest and see a bear. Ole bends down and starts tightening his shoelaces, and Sven says, “Ole, you don’t think you can outrun a bear, do you?” And Ole responds, “I don’t have to run faster than the bear, Sven. Angry Bear I just have to run faster than you.” Well, guess what. When the bear of God’s Law is finished eating the guy who is slower to obey than you, it picks up your scent and resumes its pursuit of you because its appetite is never satisfied by eating up sinners.

Lord, have mercy. If our response to our failures and shortcomings is to compare ourselves to others, we are not doing what this text wants to inspire in us. We are not showing brotherly affection. We are not associating with the lowly. Instead, we are being haughty and wise in our own sight. Lord, have mercy. Comparing ourselves to others is not what the Holy Spirit intended when He inspired these words of Scripture. Only Jesus can satisfy the Law’s appetite. And, God be praised, by His death and resurrection He has done exactly that.

In reality, there are only four commands in this text. Three of them are in v. 14: Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. And one at the very end in v. 16: Never be wise in your own sight.

In reality, to be a Christian is not to keep twenty-some commands. Instead, Paul here is holding up a picture of what genuine love looks like (similar to how he does in 1 Cor. 13). Listen to this translation of v. 9-12. “Love is genuine/without hypocrisy, abhorring the evil and clinging to the good. [Genuine love] is showing brotherly affection for one another, in honor leading the way for one another, in zeal not [being] lazy, in the Spirit fervent, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring persecution, holding fast to prayer.”

These verses are, in fact, perfectly describing Christ. Remember, that God is love (1 Jn. 4:8, 16), and that means that Jesus is love embodied. And, yes, as Christians – which means ‘little Christs’ – we should be like Christ. But because we are sinners, we fail to live up to God’s Law. God’s Law always accuses us.

There’s a better way to understand these verses, and to get at that understanding, I’m going to connect this text to our theme for the year – “Sacred.” In Lev. 19:2, God speaks to His people, Israel, and says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” And Peter repeats those words for us Christians in 1 Pet. 1:16. In English, this sounds like a command because of the word ‘shall.’ But in both Hebrew and Greek it isn’t a command/imperative. A better translation for both is, “You will be holy.”

When the original people (both Old and New Testament) heard that, they would hear three things at the same time. First, it is an unfinished action – something like, “You will become holy.” Second, and closely related, it can be a future promise, “You will be holy.” And third, it is a soft command/imperative, “You are called to be holy.”

Yes, God wants our behavior to be consistent with His holiness. God is your heavenly Father, and He wants you to be chips off the old block. But it is also a process that God has begun in your Baptism, and He will be faithful to bring it to completion (Php. 1:6). God will continue to make and shape you after the image of Christ.

Dear saints, the genuine love that is pictured here is what God has called you to be. When you don’t measure up to your sacred calling as Christians, when you don’t have the marks of a true Christian, run in faith to Christ. Romans 8:3-4 says, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the Romans 8_1-4 - Walk according to the Spirit Law weakened by the flesh likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

In the arms of Jesus’ love and mercy, you will find forgiveness for your failure and love despite your lack. Receive what God gives to you. He gives you Jesus. Because He has died and risen again, Jesus delivers the very mercy and forgiveness that you need.

“Are you really a Christian?” Well, do you trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? That is the mark you need. Yes, you fail in your calling. But faith in Christ, and faith alone by grace alone, makes you a genuine child of God. Amen.

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

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

Oct20

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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, Jesus and the religious leaders in the Temple

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.

You’ve maybe heard the acronym about the Bible: “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Sure, it’s cute, but honestly, it’s horrible because it turns God’s holy and precious Word into a manual of what we must do. If the Bible is about what we need to do and not what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, we’re sunk because we simply cannot do what God commands us to do even if we wanted to, which we don’t.

That is why, when you read the Bible (which I encourage you to do), it is extremely helpful to look for two things – Law and Gospel. Look for God’s commands and His promises. Look for the threats and the blessings. Look for the instruction and for the forgiveness of sins. This Gospel text is a great place to practice this and see how both Law and Gospel depend on each other.

The text has two parts. First, the question the Pharisees ask Jesus along with His answer which is Law. Second, the question or riddle that Jesus gives to the Pharisees which is all Gospel. The text takes place on Holy Tuesday, merely three days before Jesus is crucified. And this day, this Tuesday, was the last day of Jesus’ public teaching. After Jesus silences the Pharisees here, His teaching is only directed to the disciples.

In order to trip Jesus up and get Him in trouble, the religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, had asked Him several questions. First, He had been asked by the Pharisees about paying taxes to Caesar. Then, the Sadducees asked Him a question about marriage and the resurrection, and He answers it in a way that dumbfounded the Sadducees. And here, in our text, we get the third question.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

For centuries, the rabbis had been talking, debating, and arguing about this question. They didn’t know how to answer it. But Jesus rattles off an answer quick as you please. If you want a summary of the all Commandments and condense them down into two statements, it is to love God and love your neighbor – on these two commandments depend (or ‘hang’) all the Law and the prophets. If you want, you can boil the Law down even further to one word, love. Paul says in Ro. 13:10, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”

A lot could be said here about the Law, but I’m going to keep it to six simple points.

Holy Spirit open eyes new hearts First, love is a beautiful summary of the Law, but that one word, love, does not replace the Law. Many people will say that since we have these two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor that we don’t need the rest of the Law. But that is false. Just because you think you are motivated by love does not mean that you are doing the right thing. We are so fallen that sometimes we try to pit love against the Commandments. Love is never an excuse to sin or an excuse to overlook sin. Instead, the Commandments define the shape of love, which is the second point about the Law.

Love takes shape according to the Commandments. Love is more than a feeling (thank you Boston). Love gives. Love serves. Love dies – greater love has no one than this, that one lays down his life for his friends (Jn. 15:13). If you want to love your neighbor, here is what it looks like: honor your father and mother; don’t murder; don’t commit adultery; don’t steal; don’t bear false witness; don’t covet. If you want to love God, don’t have other gods, keep His name holy, and keep the Sabbath holy. It doesn’t matter if what you do is motivated by love; if it violates or falls outside of these Commands, it is not love. In fact, we could go further and say that, when your actions fall outside of the Ten Commandments, they are motivated by selfishness and hatred toward both God and neighbor.

Third, love is defined by the Commandments, but it also finds and meets your neighbor’s need. What help and service can you give to your neighbor according to the Commandments? If your neighbor is hungry, feed him. If your neighbor is lonely, hang out with him or visit her. If your neighbor is trapped in sin, exhort them and encourage them to repent and ask God for mercy and forgiveness. If your neighbor is not a Christian and suffering spiritually, invite them to church.

Fourth, we love God by loving our neighbor. This is so important. 1 John 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 your love for God, you do that by loving your neighbor according to the Commandments and your neighbor’s need. And this starts with those closest to you. Love your spouse first because that is the closest neighbor God has given you. Then, love your children, then your brothers and sisters in Christ, then your friends and coworkers, and so on and so forth.

Fifth, the command to love shows us our sin. There is no time in your life that you can say that you have loved God and neighbor enough. According to the Law, all of us are guilty lawbreakers and sinners. We constantly need to hear the Law tell us that we are sinners so that we are always repentant.

Sixth, and finally on the Law, the Law always shows us our sin, but beware of the temptation to not attempt good works because you are going to fail. When Jesus says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48), don’t just throw up your hands thinking, “Well, that’s impossible so I’m not even going to try.” Get after it. Work. Try. Attempt. And, yes, fail. Then pray. Ask God for forgiveness and mercy. Pray for strength to try again. Pray for wisdom to see your neighbor’s need and how to love them knowing that you are dependent on God’s Law to shape your love for Him and your neighbor.

Now, the Gospel. Jesus silences the Pharisees with His answer, but now He is going to ask them a question. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They answer correctly. In 2 Sam. 7, God had promised David to raise up one of David’s sons who would sit on his throne forever. There God promised that David’s offspring would be the Messiah, the one to crush the devil’s head, and the one to deliver God’s people. And the Pharisees know it. But Jesus asks a second question based on Ps. 110:1, which is one of the most quoted Old Testament verses in the New Testament, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

The Pharisees cannot figure out the riddle from Scripture. How can the Messiah be David’s Son and David’s Lord? The Pharisees were unable to answer this because they didn’t believe that the Messiah would be both God and man. They figured the Messiah would be a man who would get things right and save them.

incarnation of Jesus But, Christian, you know the answer. In fact, you have been taught this and have believed it for so long that you hardly think about it too much. But it is the most amazing thing. Jesus is man, born of His mother. And Jesus is God, begotten of His Father before all worlds. Jesus is man so that He can die, and He is God so that His death can be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Because of Christ, the Law has been fulfilled. Yes, it is impossible for you to keep the two great Commandments, but Jesus has done it for you. He has taken on your flesh and blood to deliver you from sin, death, and the devil and give to you everlasting life. This is the Gospel.

Yes, the Law to love God and neighbor is important; on that depend all the Scriptures. But the Gospel is importanter [sic.]. Christian, the Gospel is how and why you will be able to stand before God on the Last Day. Jesus has died for you and put all of your enemies under His feet triumphing over them on the cross (Eph. 1:21-23). On this mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus you depend. Amen.

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

Manage – Sermon on Luke 16:1-13 for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Aug18

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Luke 16:1-13

¹He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ²And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

No getting around it. This parable is one of the most difficult texts in the Gospels and all of Scripture. A lot of pastor friends of mine were joking about how this text is the reason churches have associate pastors and interns so the ‘regular’ pastor can be protected from having to preach on this text. Unfortunately for me – and, maybe, you – I don’t have that luxury. Just so you know. I’m purposefully skipping Jesus’ words in v. 9. I’ve heard a few explanations and interpretations of v. 9 that may be right, but I’m not entirely convinced by any of them. So, I’m not preaching on it.

So, since the parable is already difficult to preach, I’m going to double down. I’ll deal with the parable first, and then I’ll preach about money, stewardship, and tithing. A double-whammy.

First, the parable. A rich man, who owns a lot of land and leases it out to farmers, has a manager who keeps the books, and the manager is a crook. He cooks the books and is swindling his boss, the rich man. When the manager is confronted by his boss, he has no response because he’s been caught red-handed. So, the rich man fires him, but the rich man is also generous. He doesn’t have the guy thrown straight into prison. Instead, the rich man is gracious and lets the manager head back to his office to get the books and turn them in for the last time.

On the way to his office, the manager is worried about his future well-being. He realizes that he’s too weak for manual labor and too proud to beg. But he recognizes that he has a window of opportunity which is only open until he turns in the books. So, the manager secretly calls in his master’s debtors and decreases their debts in order to make friends with them. It is interesting to note that the fifty measures of oil and the twenty measures of wheat are both roughly equal to the same amount of money – about five-hundred denarii (or 500 days’ wages).

H-63 Trinity 9 (Lu 16.1-9) This reduction was, of course, not legally binding. The rich man could have simply said, “Hang on everyone. I fired that guy before he lowered your debt. You still owe the original amount.” But that isn’t the character of the rich man. Instead, the whole town is singing the praises of the rich man because he is so generous. And the rich man isn’t willing to harm his reputation as a merciful guy. So, what does the rich man do in the parable? He tells the fired, scoundrel of a manager, “Dude, you’re shrewd. You knew I’d rather be known as a merciful person rather than hold on to my wealth. And by your shrewdness, you’ve helped yourself.”

That’s the key to understanding the parable. The rich man in Jesus’ parable doesn’t praise the sinfulness of the fired manager. Instead, he praises how shrewd the manager was. The manager put all his eggs in one basket – the basket of the rich man’s generosity and mercy. And it paid off. By betting on the mercy of the rich man, the manager made himself some friends before everything was taken from him.

And notice that Jesus wishes we were more daring with what we have been given. In the last half of v. 8, Jesus says, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”Christian, you have been given mercy, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, eternal hope, eternal joy, eternal peace, eternal love – all things that cannot be taken from you. But you still are careful about sharing those things with others. Repent!

Why are you so careful about sharing God’s love for you with others? Don’t be ashamed! Christian, you have Jesus, and you have the Gospel. You have God’s unfailing, unending love. You have been entrusted with the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Ro. 1:16).

Stop being afraid of losing friends if you share the Gospel with them. God has given you the perfect righteousness and perfect obedience of Christ. Be faithful with what God has given you for your life and salvation. Be willing to give it away. Be faithful in your stewardship of the Gospel. That’s the parable.

Now, we move on to stewardship because, notice what Jesus says (v. 12), “If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”

If you aren’t faithful with the grace you have been freely given in Jesus Christ, why would God trust you with lesser things, things like money? God is right to not trust you with money if you cannot be trusted with the Gospel. This is a shift in gears here, but stick with me.

God often deals with sin and idols by using those sins and idols to be their own punishment. In Daniel, some pagans planned on getting Daniel thrown into the lion’s den and killed for disobeying the king and praying to God. But they are the ones who end up being eaten by the lions (Dan. 6). Or do you remember the book of Esther? The wicked Haman plans on killing faithful, God-fearing Mordecai by hanging him on a pole, but then Haman ends up being executed on that very instrument of death. This happens with unbelievers, but it also happens with believers. David’s sin of lust plagues him the rest of his life after he commits adultery with Bathsheba. The same thing happens with the most common idol in the world – money.

There have been studies on income and happiness, and a correlation has been found about how much you make and how happy you are. The interesting thing is that once you make a certain amount, happiness actually decreases. What do you think the amount is where happiness starts to decrease? It’s probably lower than you think – somewhere around $70,000. If you have little money but think that just a bit more will make you happier, money is your idol, and you will always be discontent with how much you have. But if you idolize money when you have lots of it, you still aren’t happy and spend all your time trying to hold on to it.

Greed Now, Jesus is absolutely clear, “You cannot serve God and money.”It can’t be done. If you trust in money, you do not trust God. So, repent of your love of money.

One of the best ways to protect yourself against idolizing money is to be generous – recklessly generous. Remember, everything you have – your life, your house, your clothes, your food, your finances, your money – everything is a gift from God. As Creator of everything, it all belongs to God.

You are merely a manager, a steward of what God, the Rich Man, has given and entrusted to you. And God is extremely loose and permissive in how much freedom you have in managing what is entrusted to you. God is actually pleased when you use the things that He has given you to manage and you take those things and use them to care for your family. God is even pleased when you enjoy things that might even be considered frivolous – like expensive coffee, or a gourmet steak and lobster dinner. God is pleased to give those things to you especially when you recognize that He is the One who has given it to you.

But God doesn’t want you to hoard everything He has given you to pamper yourself. He wants to use you and your management to provide for others as well. So, ask yourself, “What is the most important thing God wants to provide for others?” Yes, people need food and water and clothing. But the most important thing God wants people to have is the Gospel. The Gospel which provides for others not just in this life but for all eternity.

So, I would encourage you. Take a look at your finances. Yes, look at how you spend your money, but more importantly look at how much you give away – and where are you giving that money. Are you providing for people’s temporal needs by giving to the food shelf, the homeless shelter, etc.? Good. But you should be shrewd enough to give more to provide for people’s eternal needs. First, you should be giving to this congregation to make sure that both you and your brothers and sisters will be fed with the Gospel. Then, you should be giving to missionaries who call people to repentance and faith in Christ. Then, give to those other places as well.

I hope you know that what you give in the offering plate does go out from here too. As a congregation, we tithe 10% of what you give in the offering plate to provide for missionaries, the promotion of the Gospel, and to agencies in our community that provide temporal needs to others in our community.

If all this talk about tithing and money makes you squirm because you realize that you have not been a faithful manager of what God has given you, repent. Repent and amend your ways. And if you hear this and think to yourself, “I’m glad pastor is finally telling other people to give the way that I give.” Or if you’re thinking, “I wish so-and-so was here to hear this.” You repent too because this is law. And the law should always make us squirm. Your bank ledger isn’t what matters when it comes to your salvation.

Cross and Communion The only thing that matters for your salvation is what Christ has done and completed for you upon the cross. Even when you are stingy and fail to be generous with what God has given to you, God was not. He gave what was most valuable to Him for your salvation. God, in His mercy, gave Jesus to die upon the cross for you. Don’t trust in your stewardship of what God has given you. Instead, trust in Christ’s giving of Himself completely for you and for others. Amen.

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

The Council of the Lord – Sermon on Jeremiah 23:16-29 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Aug11

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Jeremiah 23:16-29

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸ For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹ “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

²² But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

²³“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I was talking to a few other pastors about this text and mentioned that I was having a hard time with an introduction for my sermon. One of them suggested that I start by saying, “I had a dream from God the other night…” He was joking of course, but it provided an introduction.

In this text, we heard about a very important theme in the Scriptures, and that is the theme of the council of the Lordor sometimes called the heavenly council. And it is important to differentiate here that this is the council with a ‘c’ which means a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, and make decisions. We are not talking about counsel with an ‘s’ which is giving advice.

Through His faithful prophet Jeremiah, God is warning the people against listening to the false prophets who are not preaching faithfully. If you are following along in our chronological Bible reading plan, you started Jeremiah a few days ago and know about the evil in Jeremiah’s day. If you aren’t following that plan (or aren’t caught up), here’s a brief summary.

Jeremiah was living and preaching to God’s people just before and through the time when the kingdom of Judah fell and was taken captive into Babylon. The kings were sacrificing their sons to pagan gods and abandoning the worship of God. Even though God was sending faithful prophets like Jeremiah and others, the people would not listen. And the kings would kill the faithful prophets who were calling the people to repentance.

The false prophets would tell people who despised the word of God, “Everything will be fine,” and to sinners they would say, “Don’t worry about punishment, God doesn’t mind.” Well, God did mind, and punishment was coming. And yet those false prophets ran and spoke false messages to the people claiming that God had sent them even though they had not stood in the council of the Lord.

Picture it like this – this council of God is like a heavenly throne room or courtroom where important matters are discussed. This picture about the council of God appears all over the Bible.

The council of God began back in creation. In the very beginning, there was a conversation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation of Adam.jpg Out of that conversation came creation, and most importantly, out of that conversation came the creation of humanity. We get to hear that conversation in Gen. 1:26 where the Triune God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” It was so, and it was good – very good.

After Adam and Eve were created, they become part of that heavenly conversation. God would come walking and talking with them in the cool of the day, and they would hear God’s Word and speak back to God. But there was another voice in that conversation – a voice of discord, violence, and evil. Satan, the devil, had been part of that council of God and had rebelled against the Lord. The devil comes to Adam and Eve and speaks to them about faithlessness, evil, and death. From that conversation, Adam and Eve fall.

After the Fall, the topic of discussion in the council of God changes. The council is no longer focused on the creation of mankind. But, thank God that, in His mercy, the conversation doesn’t change to destroying us. Instead, the conversation is now about the redemption and salvation of mankind. The conversation is about the death of Jesus. And Adam and Eve get to hear this when God says to the devil that the Seed of the woman would crush his head (Gen. 3:15).

Now, we can’t hear this council of God with the ears that God has given us, so God sent His faithful prophets to declare what is being discussed in the heavenly council. Amos 3:7 says, “The Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” And from the text here before us, God says of the false prophets, “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and they would have turned the from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds” (Jer. 23:21-22). This was the job of the prophets. Prophets are those who stand in God’s council and bring God’s Words to God’s people. Words of Law and words of Gospel.

When you were growing up, did you ever get sent out of the room so your parents could have a conversation? They might have done this to figure out how to punish you and your siblings for something you had done wrong. Or they might have done this to plan a vacation or get a puppy or some other good. Whatever the reason was, they were having an important conversation that would impact you. But you weren’t invited into the conversation – at least not initially.

But then your parents call you into the conversation. They would tell you what they were talking about and send you to announce it to your siblings. “We’re getting a puppy,” or, “We’re going to Disneyland.” And you get to be their spokesperson and proclaim it. That’s what the all the faithful prophets of Scripture did.

Sometimes, the prophets were to bring news of judgment and destruction. “There won’t be rain,” or, “The Babylonians are going to come and destroy our capitol.” Sometimes, the prophets were to proclaim news of Gospel and deliverance, “A remnant will be saved. God will send a Savior who will bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and with His wounds we will be healed.”

Heavenly Council One of the most amazing things is that God even gives His prophets a seat and a voice in this council. You remember when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham speaks up and gets God to agree to not destroy the cities if ten righteous people are found there (Gen. 18:22-33). Or, when God is going to destroy the Israelites for making the golden calf, Moses speaks up in the council and says, “God, if You go down and destroy them, the Egyptians will say that You only brought them out of slavery to destroy them.” And God relents of the disaster He had said He would bring on the people (Gen. 32:1-14).

This idea of the council of God is important for us to understand the Old Testament, but it even comes into the New Testament. Probably the most important glimpse of the council of God we get in the New Testament is in Luke’s account of the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36). You remember that Peter, James, and John are there. They see Jesus’ face change and His clothes shine like the sun. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and are talking with Him. There is the council of God on earth, and Luke says that they are talking about Jesus’ ‘departure’ (lit.His ‘exodus’) which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

In other words, they were talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection. They were talking about Jesus’ redemption of creation and mankind. When Peter later recalls being at the Transfiguration and overhearing that council of God, he concludes that having the Bible is even better, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed…. No prophecy of Scripture come from someone’s own interpretation or was produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:16-21).

What this means, dear saints, is that when you hear the words of Scripture, you are hearing the council of God. You are hearing God’s call to repent of your sins, and you are hearing about God delivering you from sin, death, and the devil through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is important for us to always remember. God is constantly calling us to repentance and faith through His Word.

Over the last week, there has been a lot of chatter in our country about politics and guns and all sorts of things because of the evil and wickedness in El Paso and Dayton. Those conversations are important and necessary. But there is something you won’t hear in the media, and that is a call to repentance and faith after evil has struck those parts of our country.

In Luke 13:1-5, some people were with Jesus and asked Him what He thought about some Galileans who had been killed by Pilate. The people thought that Jesus should speak out against the leaders in government, but Jesus has a different take. He says, “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”And Jesus mentions another event when the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people. Jesus says the same thing, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Dear saints, according to Jesus and according to the council of God, when you see evil in the world – whether it is the evil acts of the wicked or the evil brokenness of creation – know that God is calling you to repent. He is calling you to repent and trust in His mercy won and given through faith in Christ Jesus.

Council of God Now, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father. Today, your Savior is talking with the Father, your Creator, and with the Holy Spirit, your Sanctifier. And do you know what they are talking about? They are talking about you and the cross. They are talking about how Jesus won your salvation there. How His blood shed there made a place in heaven for you forever. And the Holy Spirit is there, translating your prayers and interceding for you with groanings too deep for words (Ro. 8:26). The Holy Spirit whispers into your ear that you are an adopted child of God and heir with Christ. And you respond by crying, “Abba, Father” (Ro. 8:12-17).

And know that, whenever you hear the Scriptures, God is inviting you into that conversation, into that council where He calls you Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice. This is what the council of God is always about. This is God’s focus and intention, that you turn from your sins and that you trust in His Son, your Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we hear the Scriptures, may we heed God’s council. May we repent of our sins and believe in Christ. Amen.[1]

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

[1] I am thankful for an interview that Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller did with Pr. Warren Graff on the heavenly council for portions of this sermon. https://wolfmueller.co/table-scraps-heavenly-council-with-warren-graff/

Your Savior & the Law – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Jul28

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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. ¹⁸For 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. Jesus Preaches the Sermon on the Mount ¹⁹Therefore 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. ²⁰For 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.’ ²²But 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. ²³So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come 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. ²⁶Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Three weeks ago, we heard the three great parables of Luke 15 – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. And, I hope you remember, the reason Jesus told those parables was that the scribes and Pharisees grumbled when they saw Jesus eating with scoundrels and said, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk. 15:1). Jesus was attracting and associating with shadowy characters and the known sinners of society. So, there in Luke 15, the scribes and Pharisees are thinking that Jesus is either removing the demands of the Commandments or, at least, lowering the bar of what the Law demands. They figure Jesus is some sort of liberal universalist who says that people can live however they want and still get in to heaven. In their minds, Jesus is, by His actions, saying that God doesn’t really care about sin.

Now, we don’t know for sure, but it is very possible that Jesus told the parables in Luke 15 about three years after He preached the words of our text today. Today’s text comes from the Sermon on the Mount which was very early in Jesus’ ministry. I mention this chronology for one reason. This sermon of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, was preached to great crowds that were following Him (Mt. 4:25-5:1). So from the very beginning of His ministry Jesus, your Savior, made it clear that He was not coming to abolish the Law. Those throngs of people heard Jesus very adamantly and very clearly say, “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to do away with them but to fulfill them.” He says that not the littlest part of the Commandments will pass away. He warns against relaxing any of the Commandments or teaching others that the Law is not important. According to your Savior’s clear teaching, the Law stands.

We always need to remember that Jesus’ death on the cross takes away the guilt of the Law, but it does not remove the Law’s requirements. Let me say that again because it is important. Jesus’ death on the cross takes away the guilt of the Law, but it does not remove the requirements of the Law. And we need to remember that the Law always points its finger directly at you and at me.

Jesus goes on in this text and afterward to spell out the requirements of God’s Commands. According to Jesus, the holy Son of God, murder is committed without guns, knives, axes, forceps, vacuums, and syringes. Bloody hands Sure, you aren’t Lady Macbeth yelling at the blood of Duncan to wash off your hands, but you are guilty of murder before God. You have been angry with others. You have called others, “Fool.” You have held grudges. You have refused to ask your neighbor for forgiveness. And Jesus goes on to the other Commandments as well – lust is adultery and fornication, gossip is perjury, etc.

But you say, “Pastor, you can’t be serious to compare my anger to murder, or my lust to actually having an affair, or my gossip to perjury.” Well, your issue is not with me. I’m just the messenger. Your issue is with God’s holy and perfect Law. You can argue the morality of your sinful actions all you want, but those two tablets of stone only point at you and declare, “You are the sinner.”

Repent. Remember, Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”And, honestly, our righteousness doesn’t measure up to the low bar of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You might appear very moral and look good outwardly, but the Law is like an x-ray or MRI that exposes every sinful thought and feeling which is just as damnable as the outward action. Unless you keep the Law perfectly as Jesus did, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Repent, but do not lose heart. There is a righteousness that exceeds the outward, visible righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ who did indeed fulfill the Law for you. And through His death and resurrection, His righteousness now belongs to you.

As our Epistle text (Ro. 6:1-11) said, you have been united by your Baptism to Jesus’ death. In your Baptism, you were buried with Jesus into death. If Christ doesn’t return first, you will most surely die. But do not fear. Just as Jesus’ death didn’t last, neither will yours.Because you have been united to Jesus’ death, you can know without doubt that your death will not last. In Baptism you have died with Christ and been set free from sin. Your body of sin has been brought to nothing, and you are no longer enslaved to sin. Christian, you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

And still in this life you need the Law. You need to hear the accusations of God’s Commandments so that your sin is exposed, and you are left with nowhere to flee except to God for His mercy. And God, in His mercy, freely and fully forgives you for the sake of Jesus. Christian, you are free from the Law; Paul will go on to say that very thing in Romans 7:6.

When it comes to your salvation, the Law has nothing to say to you because the Law is not the way to eternal life and peace with God. But that does not mean your Savior says do not need to listen to the Law any more. I’d like to close with an analogy from a faithful pastor[1] that, I think, is very helpful to express how you relate to the Law as a Christian who is fully saved by Christ’s grace but still has a sinful nature.

Imagine that your heart is like a big mansion with all sorts of rooms, hallways, and secret passages. There are certain rooms where the Law must be allowed and given full access; however, there are other rooms where the Law should never be allowed.

The Law should never be allowed to access into your ‘How do I stand before God?’ room, your ‘Am I good enough to go to heaven?’ room, your ‘Does God love me?’ room, your ‘Does God think I am a good person?’ room, or your ‘assurance of salvation’ room. The Law should never be allowed to enter those rooms because Jesus has made you as good and as righteous and as perfect as He is.

But the Law is like a three-year-old boy who is always trying to get into the rooms where he isn’t allowed. So, you have to lock those doors and childproof those knobs to keep the Law from entering them.

But don’t think that you can deny the Law access into the other rooms of your heart. No, the Law must have full access to those other rooms. The ‘how I parent my children’ room, the ‘how I am at work’ room, the ‘how I treat my spouse’ room, the ‘how I live as a citizen of my city, state, and country’ room, etc. In those rooms, the Law must have full, complete, and even unsupervised access so you are convicted of your sin.

The Law is right when it declares that you have failed your neighbor and sinned. However, that does not, and it never will, determine your standing before God. Jesus does. Your Savior determines your standing before God.

Always remember that you don’t have to make yourself right with God. Christ has done that. Before you ever thought to get things right with God and even before you took your first breath, God loved you and sent Jesus to make you right with Himself. And through faith in Him, you have His perfect, complete righteousness.Amen.

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

[1] Analogy from Pr. Jared Melius that can be found here: http://wolfmueller.co/law-not-go-sermon-preached-pr-jared-melius/.

Where Is Your Sting? – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 for the Resurrection of Our Lord

Apr21

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1 Corinthians 15:51-57

⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Too often we think of death in wrong ways. We think that death is a state or a category or a condition. But v. 55 of that Epistle Lesson says that death is an enemy, a person who can be talked to and, most importantly, an enemy who can be questioned.

Imagine encountering death. When you or someone you love dies and you cross paths with death, you need to only ask death one simple question: “O death, where is your sting?”

Death might try to answer you with a pale, menacing, frightening voice, “My sting is your sin. I sting because you sin. If you didn’t have sin, I would have no sting. But I sting everyone because all have sinned. I am the wages and payment of sin (Ro. 6:23). And I will sting you because your sin is my sting.”

But you can simply respond, “I know all of that, death. I know that my sin has put me under your thumb. I know that the Bible says, ‘The wages of sin is death.’ So, what you say is true. But, death, I didn’t ask you, ‘What is your sting?’ I asked you, ‘Where is your sting?’ So, death, where is it, where is your sting?”

And death might smile and respond, “You simple Christian, have you forgotten how powerful my sting is? It is more powerful than the most poisonous snake or spider or jellyfish. My sting is the most powerful sting imaginable. My sting burns forever because the power of my sting is fueled by the Law. Yes, God’s eternal Law that abides forever, and you have broken that Law over and over.”

But you can look back at death and say, “I know my sin is no small sting. I know my sin is against the God who created me and loves me. I know the penalty of my sin is everlasting death, and I feel it in my conscience. I also know that the Law is not ever going to go away. I know that God’s Commandments are eternal. In fact, the Law was what made me scared of you. Because of the good and righteous Law, I know what you can do to me. I know that your sting is my sin, and I know that the power behind that sting is the Law. But, death, you still have not answered my question. Where is your sting?”

At this point, death is uncomfortable and a little fidgety, but he musters as much gusto as possible and says, “Well, you are face-to-face with me, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am, but the sting of death is not death. The sting of death is sin. So, I ask you again, ‘Death, where is your sting?’”

Finally, death hangs his head. “I have used it, and I have lost it. But I’ll get it back again.”

Jesus Coming out of the Tomb And you can smile in his face, “Yes, death, you used your sting, didn’t you? You should have used your sting on me. The sting would have stuck on me. But you didn’t. Instead, death, you used your sting on my Savior, my God, and my Lord. You used your sting on Jesus, didn’t you? You had Jesus pinned tightly on the cross, and you stuck Him with your stinger and buried it into Him. Death, you were a fool that day. You stung God Himself. You stung Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life (Jn. 11:25). But when you went to the tomb to find your stinger and get it back, Jesus wasn’t there. And guess what, death, Christ has taken my sin as He hung on the cross. And, death, you will not ever get your sting back. Never. That empty tomb means that your sting is lost forever. Death, I don’t fear you any longer.”

And having no other answer, death now turns around and walks away from you.

Dear saints, this is why we celebrate every Easter and every Sunday. Every Sunday, we celebrate what Christ has done in absorbing the sting of death so that death no longer has his sting.

And the day is coming when Christ will return. On that day, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable. The day is coming when your perishable body will put on the imperishable and your mortal body will put on immortality.

Yes, death can and does buzz around now for a while. But death is like a bee that has used its stinger and soon dies.

Dear saints, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Yes, the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So now, Christian, you need have no fear of death. Jesus has conquered the bitter tyrant of death. And He has connected you to that victory. You do not need to fear and watch out for death hiding behind a corner to pounce on you. Instead, Christian, you continue to look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Because Christ is risen, death is overthrown. Christ is risen and life reigns. Christ is risen, and dear saint, you are safely anchored in Christ who has given you the victory, now and forever.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

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

Even Now – Sermon for Ash Wednesday

Mar7

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The texts for this evening were Joel 2:12-19 and Matthew 6:16-21.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In our Old Testament lesson, God called to His people (v. 12-13), “Yet even now, return to me with all your heart with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.”

Let’s break this down. “Yet even now.” Those are such beautiful words of Gospel. “Even now.” After everything you have done and left undone. After failing again and again into the same sin over and over. After refusing again and again to do the good God put you there to do for your neighbor. After you have broken trust, broken relationships, broken the hearts of those you should mend, even now, return to the one, true, holy, God.

But repeatedly in Scripture, God’s holy presence is the last place that sinners want to be. Adam and Eve hid from God’s holy presence after they had sinned and realized their nakedness. Standing in God’s holy presence, Isaiah said, “Woe to me, for I am undone.” Jonah fled from God’s holy presence when God called him to preach to Nineveh. Peter asked the holy Son of God to depart from him because he was a sinful man.

Holiness and sin cannot coexist. Just as light destroys the darkness, the brightness of holiness destroys the darkness of sin. But if we think that our sin has forever separated us from God, we are defying the very words of God in this text, “Yet even now, return to Me,” says your Holy God. This returning is repentance.

Return and repent with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Return and repent because the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Repentance has us saying, “Amen,” to God twice. “Amen” simply means yes, truly, absolutely, correct, right. We say “Amen” when God’s Law tells us that we are guilty of sin, when the Scriptures tell us that we deserve God’s wrath and punishment for our sins now, in this moment, and for all eternity. But repentance doesn’t stop there either.

Repentance says, “Amen,” when God speaks His Gospel over us, when God says that we are forgiven for Christ’s sake. That the suffering and death of Jesus has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west.

The first “Amen” is not easy to say. We don’t like to admit our failures and sins. We don’t like to admit that the wages our sin has earned is the bitterness, sickness, and hardships we face in this life. Instead, we blame others for the burdens we bear.

But the second “Amen” isn’t really any easier than the first. The devil and the world scream at us that the sacrifice of Jesus isn’t really enough. Our own flesh even says, “Well, it can’t be so easy as simply believing in Jesus.” But dear saints, that is when we need to say, “Shut up,” to the devil, the world, and our own flesh.

Just as God means it when He speaks the Law to say that your sins harm you and your neighbor, and more importantly that your sins separate you from Him, God also means it when He says that for the sake of Jesus He has forgiven you and blotted out your sins.

Through this Lenten season, we are going to be considering the Ten Commandments, and this will give us ample reasons to weep, lament, mourn, and rend our hearts because of our sin. However, we will also see the great gifts God is giving to us in each Commandment as well. But most importantly, we will see how Jesus has delivered us and calls us, “Even now, return to Me. Return to Me for I am gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”

Your God has no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. Instead He would have you repent. Say, “Amen,” to His Law and to His Gospel. Amen.

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

Repent, Rejoice, Repeat – Sermon on Romans 13:8-14 for the First Sunday in Advent

Dec2

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Romans 13:8-14

⁸Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Think about the opening words of this text for a moment: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other.”

Beatles All You Need Is Love At first blush, this seems simple enough. Just follow Dave Ramsey’s advice for getting rid of your loans, car payments, and mortgage. Then live your life humming the Beatles, “All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love, love. Love is all you need.”

But before images of a debt-free, hippie-eyed, easy-peasy life fill your brain, realize what this actually means in light of what the Scriptures say love is. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. Love is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way. Love bears all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. And remember, love never ends (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

So, when this text says to owe no one anything except love, it is saying that we owe one another absolutely everything because love fulfills the Law. All the Commandments, every last one of them, can be summed up with one little sentence, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

When you think about what that simple phrase, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other,” really means, those few opening words of our text should accuse and terrify us. To the sinner those words could just as easily be, “Go to hell.” So, sinner, repent.

But Paul doesn’t seem to be throwing down the hammer of the Law here. And, in fact, he isn’t. Paul isn’t writing these words to sinners – at least they aren’t only sinners. Paul is writing these words to sinners who are Christians. So, these words are for you who believe and are walking in the way of righteousness.

Christian, since you are loved unconditionally by Christ, love one another. But how do you do that? How can you love others perfectly as the Law demands? Trying harder, being more resolute, and making promises to do better haven’t worked in the past. And it won’t work in the future. So how can you keep the Law which you have never kept before?

The only way for sinners to keep the Law is to have the Law kept for us. God be praised, this is what Christ has done.

Christ has fulfilled the Law for you. He loved you as Himself. Just as Jesus came riding into Jerusalem to lay down His life on the cross for you, He also came and was born in Bethlehem to lay down His life while holding nothing back from you.

Clothed in Christ So, as our text says, put on Christ. Clothe yourself in Him. Make His life, His obedience, His perfection your coat, your suit, your dress, your shirt, your shorts, your jeans, and your pajamas. How do you do that? Galatians 3:27 says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Dear Colt, today you are Baptized. Today, Christ has connected His Word and promise of forgiveness, life, and salvation to water. So, as that water poured on to you, it didn’t simply clean your head. Instead, God’s promise is that in your Baptism, He covered you with Christ.

Colt, today you are a Christian. So, today you begin the constant life of following Christ and loving your neighbor. And this command to love your neighbor as yourself is a command that you will fail to keep. But when you fail, confess that for the sin that it is, and believe. Believe in Christ’s forgiveness remembering that Scripture declares that you are loved perfectly by Christ. Rejoice in that love. And, go, love your neighbor.

Repent. Rejoice. Repeat. Again and again and again. And this is the case for all of you who have been Baptized.

But you say, “Pastor, I keep sinning. My fallen, sinful desires have gotten in the way. I keep failing to fulfill the command to love. There has to be something more.”

Baptism 2 Well, there is something more, but it isn’t anything different. Repent again. Cast off the works of darkness again. Put on Christ again. Return to the promises God made when made you His child, when you were born again of Water and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5) in your Baptism.

Repent. Rejoice. Repeat. In other words, be a Christian. Amen.

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

From Commandment to Creed – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Sep30

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Matthew 22:34-46

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

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴²saying,“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³He 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?” ⁴⁶And 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 Jesus. Amen.

This Gospel text drops us right into the middle of a conversation that Jesus had in the Temple on the Tuesday of Holy Week with the very people who want to destroy Him. The Pharisees and Sadducees are all trying to trap Jesus and entangle Him in His words. Their purpose is to make either the crowds or the authorities (they don’t care which) turn against Him so they can kill Him and be rid of Him and His preaching.

The first two questions they put to Jesus are about paying taxes and about the resurrection. Both of these questions are designed to take one part of God’s Word and make it contradict another part. And both questions appear to have no good answer. The leaders think that no matter how Jesus answers their question, they will have Him. But they are wrong. Jesus answers both questions leaving them dumbfounded.

Our text begins with the third question. One of the Pharisees, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question, again to test and to trap Jesus in His words.“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” The purpose of this question is to figure out which Commandment Jesus thinks is most important so that they can find a commandment set against it.

But again, this is absolutely foolish because Jesus knows there is no contradiction in the Law. He is the one who wrote the Law.

Jesus answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and prophets.”

Now, it is interesting in Mark’s account of this same event, the same questioning, that Jesus says there’s no other commandment (singular) greater than these (plural). Perfect love of God and perfect love of your neighbor go together. It is one commandment. The two are inseparably tied together. Love for God is demonstrated by love for the neighbor.

1 John 4_20-21 Love God and Neighbor

1 John 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.”And Jesus says in Matthew 25(:40) that the acts of love that you do toward your neighbor you do toward God. “As you did to the least of these, you did also to Me.”In other words, when you love your neighbor, you are loving God.

So, think about that for a moment. When you are helping, supporting, encouraging your spouse, you are serving both God and your spouse. You are loving both God and neighbor. When you feed your kids, when you obey your parents, when you do your homework, you are serving your neighbor and thereby serving God. Telling the truth, living a caste life, returning a lost wallet or purse instead of stealing, being content with what you have instead of coveting – all of these actions are service to God and your neighbor. Whoever is your neighbor, whoever God puts in your life at any given moment, that is the one whom God wants you to love. And when you love that neighbor, whoever it may be, you are loving God.

While that is so very beautiful, if we stop to think about it, this command to love God and neighbor demands everything of us. And we realize how fallen and sinful we are. This command shows us our desperate need for God to come and rescue us.

With His answer, with His preaching of the Law to love both God and neighbor, Jesus cuts down these people who are trying to trap Him, and He cuts you and I down as well because our sin is exposed. We do not love enough. We never have, and we never will.

But notice Jesus doesn’t take the conversation in that direction. He doesn’t ask them, “How are you doing with loving God and your neighbor?” Jesus doesn’t continue to have a conversation about the Law.

Instead, Jesus moves away from questions about the Law to the Creed. The Law is good and important. It shows us the nature and will of God, but the Law always shows us our sin. The Law tells us what we must do, but it always tells us what we have failed to do.

But the Creed shows us how God is toward us. The Creed isn’t about what we must do, it is the Gospel. It is what God has done for us. In the Creed, we confess that God is the Father who created us sent His Son who redeemed us and gives us the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us and makes us holy.

So, Jesus moves away from the Law to the Creed. He asks them, “The Messiah, whose son is he?”And they were right when they say, “David’s son.”God had promised to send David a son who would sit on David’s throne forever (1 Sam. 7). But David also wrote in Psalm 110:1, which is the verse that Jesus quotes, that this Son is also David’s Lord. So, Jesus’ question is, “How can the Messiah, David’s son, also be David’s Lord?”because a father would never call his descendent, “Lord.”

Now stay with me here: The reason Jesus asks this is that He is teaching the Pharisees, the crowds, and you that the Messiah is both God and man.

Because the Messiah is both God and man, He has kept the Law for you. Jesus perfectly loved God and your neighbor for you. And through faith, Jesus declares that what He has done perfectly, you have done as well (2 Cor. 5:21).

The Law says, “Honor thy father and mother. Love them as yourself.” And you are left saying, “God, I haven’t done that. I need Your help.” If it weren’t for the Creed, if the Messiah weren’t man, God would have to say, “Well, I’m God. I don’t have a father or mother, so I can’t help you. You have to do that yourself.” But God did become a man. Jesus had a mom and a dad. He did love and honor them perfectly. So, He can and does help you. And you can apply this to each and every one of the Commandments.

But most importantly, when you hear the law and know that you have sinned, you know that you deserve death. You deserve the eternal wrath and judgment of God. So, you pray, “God I’m lost. I deserve only death, could You die for me?” Because God has taken up your nature, God says, “Sure. I already have.”

Communion Cross with Jesus Stop playing games with the Law, there is no contradiction in it. Instead, believe. Believe that Christ has come for you. He has given His life for you. God has purchased you with His own blood (Act. 20:28). He has removed the curse of the Law from you because He has perfectly kept the Law for you. And He gives you His perfection, His righteousness, His holiness.

And, now, He invites you to have your faith strengthened. He invites you to receive His perfect Body and His holy Blood in Bread and Wine. He invites you to come and taste that He is good. Amen.

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

The One Who Shows You Mercy – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Aug26

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Luke 10:23-37

²³Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” ²⁹But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This parable is arguably the most well-known parable Jesus ever told. That being said, it is also one of the most misinterpreted and misused parables. Today, may your eyes and ears be blessed as Jesus tells you what many prophets and kings desired to see and hear but did not. Holy Spirit, open our eyes and unplug our ears to Christ’s mercy.

This lawyer, this guy who knows the Old Testament forwards and backwards, asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a stupid question. You don’t do something to gain an inheritance.

All Scripture shows that God’s people do not inherit eternal life by doing something. As our Epistle Text (Gal. 3:15-22) said, the inheritance of eternal life has always and will always come through the promise of God.

The lawyer knew exactly what he must do to have eternal life. He must do the Law, and his understanding of the Law is correct. Love God perfectly; love your neighbor perfectly. It’s exactly how Jesus sums up the Law elsewhere (Mt. 22:34-40). Jesus tells the lawyer, “Bingo! Do this, and you will live.”But Jesus might just as well have said, “Yup. Go to hell.”

And the lawyer gets it. He is stuck in his own death. The Law has exposed him for the wretched sinner that he is. The Law has left him scared and confused because he doesn’t know the Gospel; it’s completely foreign to him. He wants an out and clamors for a loophole. He asks, “Well, who is my neighbor? Whom should I love?”

But every Sunday school student knows the answer. “Who is my neighbor?” Everyone. “Whom should I love?” Everyone and without fail. But Jesus doesn’t tell the parable to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the parable to change the question to get the answer He wants. The point of the parable is not to teach us to love everyone. Scripture teaches that all over the place but not in this parable.

Instead, Jesus tells the parable because He wants to show the lawyer and you hope. Jesus wants to show you what God mercifully does for you. He wants your eyes to see and your ears to hear the Gospel.

With all that in mind, consider the parable: The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is downhill the whole way. The man in the parable is constantly going down. And as he goes down, he falls among thieves who rob, strip, beat, and leave him for dead.

A priest happens to come across him, but when he sees the poor sap, he moves to the other side of the road. A Levite spots him as well and does the same. They don’t bind up his wounds. They don’t offer to find someone else to help. They don’t even stand a safe distance and speak comforting words to him as he dies. Instead, the two most respected religious people in Jesus’ day are unwilling to give a second look to the wretch in the ditch.

They know God’s Word, but they are able to justify leaving the guy in the mud and blood. “If God allowed this to happen to him, it must have been for a reason.” Or, “He must have been hanging out with the wrong crowd.” Or, “If I help this guy, I’ll be unclean and won’t be able to perform my duties in the Temple and people won’t have their spiritual needs met.” They won’t let this looser distract them from their calling.

This beaten, bloodied man is despised and rejected by his own people who turn their faces from him (Is. 52:14; 53:2-4).

But then comes the hero – the man of the hour. But he is a Samaritan. He’s a looser and outcast just like the man in the ditch. And this looser ministers to his fellow looser.

He goes down into the ditch. He binds up the wounds. He puts ointment, oil, and wine on the lacerations. He hefts the guy onto his own animal, giving up his own comfort. He is delayed and intruded upon. Whatever appointment or meeting he was journeying to doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters is the stripped, bleeding man.

The Samaritan brings the guy to a hotel and watches over him through the night. In the morning, he makes his way to the front desk and books the room indefinitely.

He tells the staff, “Bill everything to my room. That bloodied guy I brought in here last night, whatever he needs Is on my tab. If he needs doctors or nurses, I’ll cover it. If he needs a ride, get an Uber on me. If he consumes the mini bar fifteen times, I’m good for it. I’ll be back to pay for it all.”

The parable completed, Jesus looks at the lawyer and asks, “Who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Again, if this parable is teaching us to love everyone, then Jesus is a bad teacher and is asking the wrong question. “Who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Jesus is setting the lawyer up. Christ is not calling the lawyer to be like the Samaritan. Jesus wants the lawyer to see that he is the man in the ditch. Jesus wants the lawyer to desire the care, compassion, reckless love, and mercy that the Samaritan shows in the parable because that is exactly what Jesus has come to do for him and for you. Jesus is the one who shows mercy.

Christ has come to find you. He has bound up your wounds. Jesus has poured out His healing, life-giving blood for you. Jesus nurses you in your brokenness. He has ascended into heaven and has promised to come back and pay for everything you need.

In order to be saved, you don’t need to be merciful; you need mercy. You don’t need to love your neighbor; you need to be loved. You need to receive the Jesus who has come to give you every last bit of His mercy.

That is what the parable means. Our text ends with Jesus saying, “You, go and do likewise.”And Jesus means that too. What Jesus has poured into you, let it spill out and bless others. Amen.

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

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Tag Archives: Law

Genuine – Sermon on Romans 12:6-16 for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

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

Manage – Sermon on Luke 16:1-13 for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

The Council of the Lord – Sermon on Jeremiah 23:16-29 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Your Savior & the Law – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Where Is Your Sting? – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 for the Resurrection of Our Lord

Even Now – Sermon for Ash Wednesday

Repent, Rejoice, Repeat – Sermon on Romans 13:8-14 for the First Sunday in Advent

From Commandment to Creed – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

The One Who Shows You Mercy – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity