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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

What Does It Mean To Be Humble?

8/30/2022

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Picture
James Tissot, "The Pharisee and the Publican," 1886-94. Public Domain.
Trinity 11 
Luke 18:9-14 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
August 28, 2022 
 
    “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Few statements so succinctly articulate the Christian religion as well as this. But what does it mean to exalt oneself? And what does it mean to be humble? To exalt oneself means to lift yourself up high. To humble yourself means to bring yourself low. Well, Jesus isn’t talking about riding on the elevator. What does he mean by this? Jesus tells this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. That is what it means to exalt yourself, to lift yourself up high. To exalt yourself means that you trust in yourself to be righteous before God. You think your works are good enough. You think God ought to be impressed with you and that you deserve to go to heaven. That is what it means to exalt yourself. And it is no surprise that those who exalt themselves treat others with contempt, meaning, they hate others and look down upon them. They elevate themselves by imagining that others are far beneath them.  

​To humble yourself then means that you do not trust in yourself to be righteous before God, rather, like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable, the humble confess to be sinners
, which is the opposite of righteous. Yet, we must learn a bit more about what it means to be humble. It is only the humble who will be saved. And there are many forms of false humility. 
 


One of the cognates of the word humble is humiliation. When I ask my confirmation students what it means to be humiliated, they always say, “to be embarrassed.” And it is true, to be embarrassed does feel like you are being brought low. That is why we use the word humiliated when describing being embarrassed. But to be humble in the Christian sense does not simply mean to be embarrassed over your sin. Indeed, you should be embarrassed over your sin. We should have shame. That is one of the faults that God found with his people in Jeremiah 8, the prophet writes, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.” So, we should not forget how to blush. We should certainly be ashamed of our sin. Yet, shame is not enough. We must acknowledge our shame before God. Too often when people are embarrassed over their sin, they refuse to acknowledge it. They deny that they’ve sinned, because they’re too embarrassed. It is as Psalm 32 goes, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” So, to be humble, we must not only be embarrassed over our sins, but we must acknowledge them to the Lord, and ask for forgiveness.  

Next, to be humble does not mean to continue in sin as if good works don’t matter. Often, people will
say, “Oh, yeah, I’m a sinner.”, or “I’m not a good person.”, but they don’t actually show any repentance. They call themselves sinners as if despairing that they could be anything else. Or worse, people who call themselves sinners will criticize good works like those listed by the Pharisee. The Pharisee was not justified, but not because the things he listed were bad things! It’s evil to steal or extort money. The Pharisee was right about that. It is evil to lie and treat people unjustly. The Pharisee was right about that. It is not good to commit adultery or to fornicate. The Pharisee was right about that. Fasting is good for bodily preparation. It teaches your body that it is not in control of your soul. The Pharisee is not wrong to fast. 
 


The Pharisee tithed, that is, he gave a tenth of everything he got to the LORD. That certainly isn’t a bad thing.
If every Christian tithed, we would be able to build more churches and establish more missions. We learned at our last district convention about how many Lutheran schools have closed over the past few decades, so that Lutheran parents have little choice but to send their children to public schools where atheistic evolution is taught as fact, where God is not the center of history, where the Ten Commandments and prayers are never heard, and where Jesus’ Gospel is silenced. If every Christian tithed, perhaps we’d still have some of these Lutheran schools to strengthen our children in the faith. And even now, when church attendance is much lower than it has been in decades past, many congregations are still chugging along on account of the tithes of the few faithful who are left. Our children and grandchildren may yet have churches to attend after we’re gone because of those who tithe. Thank God for tithing Christians. But it is not tithing that makes you a Christian or justifies you before God! Of course, you should tithe! If it was commanded of Israel, how much more should we freely give, who have been set free from the commands of the Law and have been granted eternal life? 
 


And of course
, you should discipline your bodies and not be gluttons and drunks. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And of course, you shouldn’t commit adultery or fornicate. Why would you even think of such a thing. And of course, you shouldn’t be unjust or an extortioner. What are you thinking to brag to God about such things. What do you want, a cookie? The Pharisee foolishly exalts himself before God for doing what he should be doing anyway. Rather, Jesus teaches, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)
 


The Pharisee was mistaken, because no one will be justified before God by works of the Law (Galatians 2:
16; Romans 3:20). While the Pharisee took care to list his own good works, he forgot that God looks upon the heart and sees in secret. Scripture says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Eccl. 7:20) If the Pharisee sought to see through God’s eyes and not through his own, then he would have recognized that he was as bad of a sinner as that tax-collector. But we don’t need to tear down good works to prove that. A humble spirit lifts up good works; it doesn’t tear them down. However, a humble spirit does not trust in its own good works. 
 


To be humble does not mean that you doubt God’s Word or your own salvation. To be humble means that you do not trust in yourself. It means that you do not boast in yourself. But it does not mean that you do not boast at all. Scripture says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:17) Often times Christians think that they should not make a firm stand on God’s Word, because they don’t want to appear arrogant or prideful. But it is not arrogant to stand on God’s Word. God forbid you to waver on God’s Word. The Lord says through the Prophet Jeremiah, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:24) 


This means that you should not doubt your own salvation. You should not be afraid to confess that God has forgiven you, that you are God’s own child, and that you will go to heaven. You are not being humble if you deny these things, rather, if you deny the Gospel, you are exalting yourself above God. It is not being humble to doubt that Baptism saves. God declares that Baptism saves you. It is not being humble to doubt that the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s true body and blood. Jesus clearly tells you that they are. It is not being humble to suggest that maybe you need to do some good works in order to be saved. That is denying what Scripture clearly teaches, that we are saved by grace apart from works of the Law. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-28) It is false humility to doubt and waver on God’s Word. That is not humbling yourself, but looking down on God’s Word. 
 

This also means that to be humble means to seek to learn God’s Word. If you are humble, you stand firmly on God’s promises. That does not mean that you claim that you already know enough. To be humble means that you acknowledge that you are still a sinner, who has a lot to learn. The Proverb says, “The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” (15:33) So, to be humble means that you recognize that you must be taught to keep yourself on the right path and to stay clear of Satan. The humble are not content in being simple and ignorant. The humble desire to learn.  


To be humble means to trust in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When the tax collector prayed, he beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” Yet, interestingly, the word he used for be merciful is not the word commonly used to ask for mercy. The word used by the tax collector means, “Be propitiated to me.” To propitiate means to take away wrath. We know the word from 1 John 2, “Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world.” The tax collector and Pharisee are standing in the temple praying during the time of the sacrifice. There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. And the shedding of blood in the sacrifice points to the shedding of blood of Christ Jesus, the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. So, what the tax collector is praying is, “God, forgive me for the sake of the atoning death of your Son.”  


When we ask God to forgive us, we are not throwing a Hail Mary, hoping that perhaps God will be in a good mood. No, we hinge our hope on Christ Jesus alone, who suffered and died for all our sins. This is why the humble are confident. The humble do not trust in themselves that they are anything, but they trust in another, namely, Jesus Christ to make them righteous with his own blood.  


Christ Jesus has taken our sins away. The Father is satisfied with the sacrifice of his Son. To be humble means to trust in Christ’s righteousness to save you and not your own righteousness. And that gives you confidence that you truly are righteous before God.  


The tax collector was a real sinner. He betrayed his family and countrymen. He cheated people out of money and used the power of the government to bully people to obey him. Yet, Jesus declares to us that he went home justified. That means God was at peace with him. God saw him as a sinless saint. It means that he was saved and lifted up high to his heavenly home. You are a real sinner. To be humble means to admit that. You’ve committed real sins for which you should be ashamed. You can’t point to anyone worse. You can’t blame anyone else but yourself. You deserve to go to hell. Yet, what does Jesus say? He who humbles himself, confesses his sins, trusting in the atoning sacrifice of Christ goes down to his house justified. God forgives even your sins. Trusting in the blood of Christ, you are exalted by God to live with him forever. Amen.  
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The Things that Make for Peace

8/24/2022

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Trinity 10 
Luke 19:41-48 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
August 21, 2022 
 
Less than a week before Jesus is betrayed into the hands of wicked men, beaten, flogged, spit upon, and finally crucified to death, he entered into Jerusalem with crowds shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” Yet, as Jesus approached Jerusalem on a donkey, he burst into tears, weeping. Was he weeping over his impending torture and death by crucifixion, which he had so many times predicted to his disciples and knew was nigh? No. Jesus did not weep for himself, but for this city, which had rejected him.  


Jesus told how her enemies would lay siege to her walls, hem her in, and finally dash her down to the ground with her children within her. And the prophecy of Jesus came true and in the summer of 70 AD after a long siege, Jerusalem was destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of Jews are reported to have died either by starvation, disease, or violence. The destruction of Jerusalem shocked the world because of its great violence and loss of life. Yet, most shocking is the fact that Jerusalem was God’s city. God chose Jerusalem and no other city for his temple to dwell. Yet, even the temple was laid to ruin. And all this, because Jerusalem, who’s name bears the name of peace, salem, did not know the things that make for peace.  


God chose Jerusalem. God promised to be in his temple. Jesus himself called the temple his Father’s house (Luke 2:49). The people of Jerusalem were God’s chosen people. And yet, God destroyed them, the city, and the temple by means of pagan brutes. Jesus noticeably cries. He doesn’t want Jerusalem to be destroyed. Yet, do not misconstrue Jesus’ weeping with reluctance to act. God does not desire the death of the wicked, but he certainly will carryout just punishment on the wicked. And so, we learn that Jesus’ declaration that they did not know the things that make for peace is not merely a message for the people of Jerusalem two-thousand years ago, but these words are written for us upon whom the end of the age has come. We must know the things that make for peace. God threatens severe punishment on those who reject the peace he offers. In this sermon, we will learn how peace is gained, given, and gotten.  


Peace is gained in no other way than through the incarnation of Jesus’ Christ, his obedient life, and his innocent suffering and death for our sins. When the angels announced the birth of Jesus, they sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) God became man to gain peace for us, because no mere human can give his life to ransom another (Psalm 49:7). Jesus, the Son of God, lived as the one true human peacemaker, obeying God’s law perfectly. And after he suffered and died for all the sins he did not commit, Jesus returned victorious from the grave and said to his disciples, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19).  


The peace Jesus came to gain he came to gain for everyone. All people are by nature at enmity with God, because of their sin. All have fallen short of God’s glory. All have rebelled and made themselves God’s enemies. Yet, God in his love, while we were still enemies, sent Christ to die for our sins. Scripture tells us that Jesus’ blood makes propitiation, that is, his blood takes away God’s wrath, not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross gained a universal atonement, that means, it paid for the sins of the whole world. And Jesus’ resurrection from the dead declared a universal justification, that is, God forgives the sins of the whole world for Christ’s sake.  


This peace between God and man was gained by Christ alone. You have not done anything to earn your forgiveness and peace with God. Christ Jesus won it of his own accord. This peace with God is a free gift, which grants eternal salvation to all who believe. Yet this gained peace does you no good unless it is given to you. This peace is given through the Word alone. St. Paul writes, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? … So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14, 17) 


This peace is also given through the Sacraments, not because the Sacraments are some powerful things outside of the Word, but because the Sacraments are made Sacraments by the Word of God alone. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of Christ Jesus, which grants forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to all who believe it, because this is what Jesus’ Word promises in his words of institution. That is why after the consecration, the pastor holds the bread and wine, which is the body and blood of Christ, and says, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” In the Sacrament, by the power of God’s Word, Christ visits his people and grants them peace, just as he did with his disciples after his resurrection.  


So, there is no other way for God’s peace to be given to you except through the Word and Sacraments. If you reject God’s Word and Sacraments, then you reject God’s peace. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27) Jesus says, “If you abide in my words, you are my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31). In his second Epistle, St. Peter writes, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2) Well, how do we receive this knowledge of God whereby peace it multiplied to us, except through his Word?  


This is why refusing to hear the Word of God is such a wicked and terrible thing. It puts you in jeopardy of eternal condemnation. Jerusalem was destroyed twice for refusing the peace given to her through the Word of God. The people rather listened to false prophets and teachers, who told them what they wanted to hear. They refused to repent. They refused to humble themselves. They did whatever their hearts led them to do. And so, they lost their Savior. Jesus is only a Savior to sinners. He comes to bring peace only to those who repent of their sins. But if you deny your sins or cling to them without repenting, then you are rejecting Christ as your Savior and giver of peace.  


God gives this peace to everyone. This word of peace is intended to be preached to the entire world. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 28, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” and in Mark 16, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”, and in Luke 24, “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem.”  

This is why Jesus grieves with bitter tears. As he purchases salvation for everyone, so he offers salvation to everyone. But not all who are offered salvation receive it. This does not mean that Christ does not want them to be saved. He weeps for them. This does not mean that Christ did not gain for them God’s peace. He suffered for them. St. Peter again writes in his second Epistle that false teachers would “even deny the Master who bought them.” (2 Peter 2:1). They were bought! Their peace was gained for them! Their peace was given to them! Yet, they would not receive it. They rejected it.  


And so, we cannot neglect the third part of this sermon. How is peace gotten. Peace is gained by the obedience of Christ Jesus and his suffering and death for our sins. This peace was gained for everyone. This peace is given through the proclamation of the Gospel. This peace is intended to be given to all peoples in every nation. This peace is gotten through faith alone. St. Paul writes, “We hold that one is justified by faith, apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:28). And again, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)  


That we receive this peace through faith means that we do not obtain it with our own works. This peace was gained by Christ alone. This peace is given by God alone freely to all who will receive it. And faith alone gets this peace. Now, some reason that since this peace of God is gained for everyone, and since God intends to give this peace to everyone, that the getting of this peace through faith is our work. God does his part by gaining and giving, and we do our part by getting. But this is not true. We are incapable of getting what God gives unless God enables us to get it. Faith itself is a gift from God. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, “No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”  


By nature, we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2). It is impossible for us to please God. We cannot even believe in God or the peace he has gained and given unless the Holy Spirit grants us new birth. This is why we confess in our catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified, and kept me in the true faith.”  



Yet, if God gained peace for everyone and he gives peace to everyone, but only those whom he grants faith get it, then does God not really want to save all people? No. That’s not what God says. God desires to save all people. Only those whom he gives faith get salvation. You cannot blame God for your unbelief. You can’t accuse Jesus of having insincere tears. It’s a mystery why some are saved and not others. Everyone who is saved is saved by grace. Everyone who is not saved can only blame himself. We must humble ourselves and recognize that there are some things we just don’t understand. Rather, we focus on what God does reveal to us.  


God reveals how he has gained our peace through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. God reveals that we can only be given this peace through his Word in the preached message and in the Sacraments. And God reveals in his Word that only faith gets this peace. The peace of God is gained, given, and gotten by grace alone, that is, according to God’s underserved love for us without any merit or worthiness in us.  

That our salvation is by grace does not mean that we can ignore God’s Word and continue in sin, because it’s all up to God. God has revealed that his peace is given only through his Word. And this peace was gained by Christ’s suffering and death alone. So, we must not resist the work of the Holy Spirit and cause anguish to our Lord, who bought us with his blood. Rather, we should gladly hear the promises of Christ, trust in them, and let his Word shape us to live lives pleasing to him. We should trust not only that Jesus’ suffering and death has the power to forgive our sins, but that his Word has the power to create faith, which gets this peace. Now, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.  
 
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Making Friends with Unrighteous Mammon

8/15/2022

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Picture
Marinus van Reymerswaele, "Parable of the Unjust Steward," 1540, Public Domain.
Trinity 9 
Luke 16:1-13 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church  
August 14, 2022 
 
 
In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus tells us a story of a no good, double tongued, self-serving cheat. And he tells us to be more like him. How can this be? Certainly, Jesus isn’t serious! He is serious, and you should pay attention to this lesson. No, Jesus is not telling us to be no good, double tongued, self-serving or to cheat anyone. But he is calling us to be shrewd, that is, wise and understanding, and to put our shrewdness to work.  


The steward in our lesson was accused of wasting his master’s possessions. And against this charge he could give no defense. So, he quickly used the short time he had left at his job to secure himself accommodations for when his master threw him out. So, he called up his master’s debtors and had them rewrite the books with less debt. The steward, who still had charge over all the records, was able to sign off on this in his master’s name. That means that if the master were to later dispute the amount owed, he’d appear stingy and double tongued. And so, this steward secured for himself friends and housing as well as the praise from his master for his wise dealings.  


But, how can you, a Christian, imitate this cheat? How are you like him in any way? You are like him in more ways than you think. First, the man is a steward. A steward is one who manages his master’s possessions, meaning, he doesn’t deal with his own property, but the property of another. That describes you and me. We are all simply stewards of what we have. Everything we have we have received from our heavenly Father, our Good Master. And every earthly possession we have will pass away. We won’t own it forever. Either our stuff will break or be spent, or we’ll die and leave it to someone else. So, we’re all stewards. We’re the temporary managers of all that we have, whether that is money, possessions, or time.  


Secondly, this steward has been accused of wasting his master’s possessions. Well, if everything you have in life, both tangible and intangible, your money, your possessions, your talent, your intelligence, your time, are given to you on loan from God, would you say that you have managed them all well? Or could you be accused of wasting your Master’s possessions?  


One of the greatest time-wasters in our present age is the smartphone. It’s supposed to be a timesaver, but it often has the opposite effect. There’s a way to check your phone to see how much time you spend on it, and how much time you spend on each of the apps. Many are embarrassed at how much time they waste watching videos, playing stupid games, and other mindless activities. Yet, what if there were a way for you to see how much time you spend on every activity in life, and how much money, and how much stress you spend. If you could see a pie chart, which broke down how many hours you spent at every activity, what you spent your money on, what you stressed over and talked about, would you be embarrassed? How much time have you spent in God’s Word and prayer? How much time have you spent helping others? And how much time have you spent serving your own pleasures? The same can be asked about your money, talents, and thoughts. If we’re honest with ourselves, we must confess that we have joined the unrighteous steward in wasting our master’s possessions.  


So, how should we imitate this unrighteous steward? Well, he made friends with what he had while he had it. Now, this certainly does not mean that we should cheat our employers or steal. But we should be diligent with what we have. Jesus says, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And 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.” Unbelievers are more shrewd than us believers. Unbelievers are wiser in their dealings with each other. Unbelievers serve their false god more diligently than we serve the true God! 


What Jesus is getting at is that you cannot serve two masters. You cannot worship both God and mammon. Now, our ESV translation of the Bible translates it money, but the word is actually mammon. Mammon means more than just money. It means earthly possessions. Luther explains it as anything beyond what you absolutely need. And most of us can admit that we have more than we actually need of a lot of things. Now, nowhere does Jesus say that you should not have mammon. Rather, he says you must not worship it. You can either worship mammon, or you can worship God. You can’t do both.  


The unrighteous steward in our Gospel lesson worshipped mammon. And he worshipped mammon more diligently than most Christians worship Christ. That’s the lesson. It should not be so. Rather, you should worship Christ as diligently as the mammon worshiper worships mammon.  


What you worship betrays who your God is. To worship means to serve. So, do you use your mammon to serve the kingdom of God, or do you serve your mammon? That’s where the pie chart would be helpful. You can find out what your false gods are by what you spend your time, talents, and money, and thoughts on. You can discover what your false gods are by what offends you. Are you offended when God’s Word is blasphemed, or when your feelings are hurt? Well, then there’s your false god. It is not wrong to have money, time, friends, family, intelligence, and talents. These are all given to you by God. It is wrong to worship them, to serve them at the expense of God’s kingdom and your own faith in Christ.  


The unrighteous steward made temporary friends with his master’s wealth. Christ calls us to make eternal friends with our Master’s wealth. Here we remember the words of Jesus, “Whoever offers even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple, will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42) And so, we see our brothers and sisters in Christ in need, so we help them. A pastor falls ill with a debilitating disease, and Christians pitch in to provide for his wife and children. We see that people on the other side of the world are in need of the Gospel, so we should fund missionaries, so that they can focus on preaching the Gospel instead of raising funds. It’s more important that there are Lutheran Churches for your children and grandchildren to attend after you’re gone than it is that they get a nice inheritance. Unbelievers work hard to control the education of our children, so that many have apostatized, in part because of their unchristian education, so it is important for us to fund Christian education for the next generation.    


And we’ve all benefited from such friends. Every one of us has worshipped in a church, we did not build and were taught by pastors we did not train, because Christians before us put their mammon to work for the sake of the kingdom. God has more time, money, and talents than anyone. He is the possessor of the entire earth. Yet, he has placed his earthly possessions into the hands of stewards, who he intends to work for his kingdom. Now, you can’t control what the rich and famous do with their deposit. But you can control what you do with yours.  


Why wasn’t the unrighteous steward afraid to play so fast and loose with his master’s property, decreasing the debt of his debtors? Because he knew that he had a generous master, who would not go back on his word. Well, don’t you have a generous Master? Does it not please the Lord for you to be generous with what is his? It certainly does. This is why we forgive those who sin against us. We’re not going to run out of forgiveness. This is why we should not fear to help out others. We aren’t left poorer when we care for those in need. And this is why we should not fear to support the mission of the church on earth. Christ promises that if you seek first the Kingdom of God, all these things will be added unto you.  


The unrighteous steward was concerned with his temporal dwelling. Likewise, you need money to put a roof over your head. But Jesus tells us not to worry about such things. Our heavenly Father will care for us. Rather, he tells us to be concerned with the eternal dwelling. Our Lord Jesus went to prepare such an eternal dwelling for us. And he acquired it for us not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and innocent sufferings and death. Jesus shed his blood to take your sins away. He purchased your eternal home in heaven, so that you can receive it freely as a gift through faith.  


This means that your eternal home is secure. You can’t earn it. You can’t purchase it. But if you believe that Christ has won it for you, then you desire it more than the riches of this world. The only thing that can lose this eternal dwelling is unbelief, idolatry. So, when Jesus tells us to make friends with unrighteous mammon, he is not telling us to earn our way into our eternal dwellings. He is telling us to live as if we believe that Christ has won for us our eternal dwellings with his precious blood. He is telling us to live as if we believe that Jesus is our God, who joined our human race to rescue us from sin, death, and hell, and that he succeeded. He is telling us to live as if Jesus and the eternal dwelling he has secured for us are worth losing house and home, wife and children, land and job for, and to believe that God will gladly give and preserve all these things for us for Christ’s sake.  

St. John writes, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”
(1 John 5:1) Those who will welcome us into the eternal dwellings are those who have been born of God. And so, we should love them. And we should do for them what love requires. 
 


Mammon worshipers serve mammon diligently, because they are confident that money will keep them secure. So, mammon turns them into slaves until it ultimately fails them. Christians serve Christ diligently, because they are confident that Jesus will keep them secure. And Jesus does. He never fails us. The hymnist Paul Gerhardt writes, “What is all this life possesses? But a hand full of sand/That the heart distresses. Noble gifts that pall me never Christ, our Lord, Will accord/To his saints forever.” Such confidence we should have in Christ, who has promised us his heavenly kingdom for our eternal home. When we believe this, a cheerful, generous, and busy spirit arises in us, to work shrewdly for that kingdom. Amen.   
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A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit

8/9/2022

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Picture
Trinity 8 
Matthew 7:15-23 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
August 7, 2022 
 
 Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets, who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. A false prophet is a false teacher, someone who teaches errors and falsehoods about God and his Gospel. Now most people these days don’t think we should be worried about false doctrine and errors in the church, just so long as everyone loves Jesus, that’s all that matters. This is called Gospel-reductionism. Yet, Jesus warns us that many will call upon him claiming to have done many great things in his name, but he will deny ever knowing them. And Jesus describes false teachers as ravenous wolves. You know what happens when a ravenous wolf gets into a sheep pen, right?  


So, we must not assume that false doctrine is nothing to worry about. False doctrine scatters the sheep. That’s why we have so many different denominations and sects teaching contrary messages, while all claiming to be Christian. Satan has scattered the sheep with his false teaching. And false doctrine kills. Many have lost their faith in Christ, because they were taught to rely on their own works instead of the merits of Christ, or they were taught that they did not need to repent of their sins. Denying that Baptism forgives sins and grants new birth, even to infants, robs Christians of the comfort of their Baptism and drives them to search in themselves for rebirth instead of trusting in the words of Jesus. Denying that the Lord’s Supper is Jesus’ true body and blood robs Christians of the certainty of the forgiveness of sins given in the Sacrament and places doubt that Jesus our Redeemer can be with us at all in this world. The denial that the Bible is the true Word of God takes away any confidence in Jesus’ words, that they are Jesus’ words at all. There are many different false teachings, but they all separate us from Christ and the salvation he has won for us. 


Jesus tells us that false prophets come to us in sheep’s clothing, meaning that we will not recognize them by their outward appearance. They will look like good guys. But remember what God told Samuel when he anointed David to be king, “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) So then, how can we recognize these false prophets? Jesus tells us, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” The fruits of false prophets are their teachings. If they teach contrary to the words of Jesus, then they are false prophets and you should mark and avoid them.  


But how can you recognize good fruit from bad fruit? There are so many different teachers saying so many different things, isn’t it like drawing a straw and hoping you picked the right one? Besides, God says that the LORD does not see as man sees. How can we possibly see correctly?  


The answer is that you must be born again. That means that God must create faith in your heart, so that you believe in Christ Jesus as your Savior in order for you to recognize good fruit from bad fruit, pure doctrine from false teaching. St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Thess. 2:13) How did the Thessalonians recognize that Paul’s words were the word of God? Because they were believers. God had created faith in their hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so they recognized that the words of St. Paul were none other that the words of Jesus, God’s Word.  


This is why Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27) Jesus’ sheep recognize Jesus’ voice, because they have been born again by the Spirit of God and have faith in the Gospel. It is the word of Jesus which caused them to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the word of Jesus which revealed to them the salvation Jesus won for them on the cross. And so, they recognize the true teaching of Jesus like a sheep recognizes its shepherd’s voice and a child its mother’s voice.  


It is impossible for an unbeliever to distinguish between false teaching and true teaching. This is why Christians should never look to the unbelieving world for guidance in determining what is pure doctrine and what is false doctrine. The unbelieving world can mock us and ridicule us and it does not matter at all. They cannot recognize the truth until they have been born again by the Spirit of Christ. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (vss. 14-16) So, only Christians can pass judgment on the teaching and preaching of a pastor. Only those who have been given the mind of Christ can judge between true and false doctrine.  


Now, this does not mean that if you are a Christian, then you can simply follow your heart and you’ll always know what is true. Quite the opposite. As a Christian, you don’t follow your heart, you follow Jesus. Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) And Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount, which is where our Gospel Lesson is taken from, by saying, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24) Christians can recognize false teaching, because they listen to and believe Jesus’ true teaching. This is what King David teaches us in Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither…”  


This is why it is important for Christians to regularly go to church, listen to and learn from the sermon, attend Bible study, and do devotions at home with their Bible and Catechism. If you are familiar with the teachings of Jesus, you will mark and avoid those teachers, who would lead you into sin, self-righteousness, denying the benefits of your Baptism, and other horrible things.  


Jesus declares, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” Now, when speaking of false prophets and true ministers of the word, fruit refers to their teaching. Yet, fruit has a broader meaning as well, referring to the works of unbelievers and the works of believers. Scripture says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” While the works of the flesh, which are bad fruit, are “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Galatians 5:22-23 and 19-21) A Christian is made a good tree through faith in Christ and then produces good fruit. An unbeliever is by nature a bad tree and produces evil fruit. Jesus warns, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” That is a warning of hell for all who continue in unbelief producing bad fruit.  


A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. But don’t I bear bad fruit? Doesn’t that mean that I am not a good tree? Also, Scripture says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9) But don’t I sin? Does this mean that I am not born of God?  


Now false teachers will answer this in one of two ways. Either they will say that the evil you think you do is not a sin and God is not bothered by it, as they have done with fornication and homosexuality, which have burdened the consciences of sinners for millennia. This is clearly wrong, because Scripture tells us what are the works of the flesh, which if a person does them, he will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:10). Or, they will say that you are not a Christian until you have removed every sin from your life and that Christians no longer sin. This also is clearly wrong. Scripture says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9) The teaching that Christians no longer sin leads people either into self-righteousness and legalism or into despair and always away from faith in Christ’s atoning death.  


The correct answer is that the new man born after the image of Christ does not sin. You have been made a good tree. Good trees cannot produce bad fruit. They can only produce good fruit. That means that God is pleased with the works of his Christians, whether it is as simple as going to church, saying prayers, going to school or work, or going to sleep at night. But Christians still sin! God certainly is not pleased with my sin, is he? Certainly not! Yet, God passes over our sins for Christ’s sake, forgiving our trespasses. And, Christians do not continue in sin without repenting.  


St. Paul says on the one hand, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”, (Galatians 2:19) and on the other hand he says, “Now if I do what I do not want it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20) In other words, we serve Christ in our reborn state, and we fight against the sin of our old Adam. This is why St. Paul writes in our Epistle lesson, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) According to your Baptism into Christ, you are a good tree, born of good seed. Yet, your old Adam still hangs around until you shed this mortal body. And so, you still sin. But that sin is not you. It must not be you. And to keep it from becoming you, you must kill it frequently. You must repent of your sins daily. So that God does not cut you down, because of your rotten fruit, you must cut down your old Adam every time you sin. To live the Christian life means to prune yourself of evil branches frequently by repenting of your sins.  


You are not a good tree because you produce good fruit. You produce good fruit, because you are a good tree. And you become a good tree in no other way than through faith in Christ Jesus. It is Christ who died for your sins. It is Christ who forgives you and has given you his Holy Spirit, so that you are born again into a new person. And as a new person, you put to death the deeds of the old sinful flesh. When sexual immorality, greed, anger, pride, arrogance, hatred, and every other rotten fruit of the flesh rises up from you, that is simply a branch of the old Adam that needs to be lopped off. Repent. Ask God for forgiveness for the sake of Christ’s shed blood. And continue to live as a child of God. And living under that promise of Christ’s forgiveness and salvation, you can be confident that God will never cast you away. Amen.  
 
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 
    You can listen to sermons in podcast format at 
    [email protected]. 

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