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The Law in Service to the Gospel

8/27/2024

Trinity 13
Luke 10:23-37
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
August 25, 2024

We Lutherans have been raised and catechized to understand the distinction between the Law and the Gospel. The Law commands works, while the Gospel offers God’s grace for Christ’s sake to be received through faith. The Law convicts you of sin, while the Gospel forgives your sins. The Law condemns you for not doing the works it demands. The Gospel saves you from being condemned by forgiving your sins against the Law for the sake of Christ, who died for your sins. We normally think of the Law coming first, because it needs to convict us of our sin, so that we repent, before we can receive the Gospel, which offers forgiveness of sins to those who repent. However, God did not give us the Law first, but rather the Gospel. The Gospel precedes the Law. St. Paul tells us that the Law was added because of transgressions. In other words, the purpose of the Law is to serve the Gospel. The Law behaves as a mirror and reveals to us our sin. As the mirror, the Law proves that only the Gospel saves. As St. Paul writes, the Law imprisons everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. So, it becomes clear that God added the commandments of the Law, not to show us an alternate route to salvation, but to hem us in as sinners, so that we would recognize that the only way to salvation is through the Gospel.
This is where that lawyer made a mistake. He asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” He treated the Law as if it were contrary to the Promise and as if one could gain life by being righteous under the Law. He voided the promise given to Abraham by asking how he could earn the inheritance, which God promised to Abraham as a gift to be received through faith before the Law had ever been given. Yet, Jesus shows the lawyer’s folly by asking him what the Law says? The man answers correctly, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus responds, “Do this and you will live.” But how can the man be sure that he has done the commandment? How can he be sure that he has fulfilled the commandment well enough to inherit eternal life? Already the Law is convicting him, so he tries to justify himself by narrowing the Law. “Who is my neighbor?” he asks. He doesn’t ask this because he loves his neighbor, but because he wants to make the commandment easier for himself to keep. So, Jesus tells Him a story, which places the Law in its proper place, in service to the Gospel.
A man leaves Jerusalem to go down to Jericho. Jerusalem is the city of God. It represents the Holy Christian Church, where God’s Word is proclaimed and where people worship God in spirit and truth. Jericho represents the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life. The man abandoned God’s Word and pursued the riches of life, that is, he followed his natural sinful impulses. On the way, he gets jumped by bandits, who beat him, strip him, and leave him half dead. These bandits represent Satan and his devils, who lure us into sin, shame, and condemnation. That poor man lying on the side of the road, beaten up, begging for life, is the lawyer trying to justify himself under the law. He sees the priest and the Levite come by. The priest and the Levite represent the commandments of the Law, as they served the temple and all things religious under the Law of Moses. But the priest and the Levite don’t help. They just walk on by. It is ironic, because when the lawyer asked, “And who is my neighbor?” he was really asking, “And whom must I help and not just walk on by?” The lawyer wanted to do as the priest and the Levite to whomever was not his neighbor! But he learns here that it is the Law, which does that to him. The Law does not help him in his sin! The Law simply tells him to stop being a sinner, do what is right! Like the priest and the Levite, the Law simply walks on by him without helping, leaving him naked, cold, and half dead.
And that, dear brothers and sisters, is the first way the Law serves the Gospel. Because when you find yourself helpless, when you realize that your works cannot save you and that you need someone else to save you, then you are ready to receive the Gospel. Then, when your sins have increased in your mind and become a burden too great for your conscience to bear, do you long for someone else to come and rescue you. And that someone is the Good Samaritan.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For 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.” You too are blessed along with the disciples when you see that Jesus is the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan finds the man half dead, and he helps him. So, Jesus finds us dead in our sins, and He makes us alive again. The Good Samaritan is the man’s enemy, as Samaritans are sworn enemies of the Jews, yet he helps him anyway. So, Christ died for us while we were still enemies with God. The Good Samaritan bore the man on his own animal. So, Christ bore our sins and took them away. He pours oil and wine. The alcohol in wine stings as it kills the germs. So, Christ’s preaching stings when He convicts us of our sin. Yet, he pours on the soothing oil of the Gospel, a balm to heal our consciences. The Good Samaritan brings the man to an inn and pays for him to be cared for until he returns. And so, Christ places us into the fold of His Christian Church, and provides us with stewards (1 Cor. 4:1) to feed us and care for us out of Christ’s own expense. Baptism, the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord’s Supper, which is Christ’s body and blood, these things which offer us new birth, forgiveness, and strengthening of faith, these don’t cost the minister anything to give. They were procured by Christ Himself with His own blood and death for us. And so, the innkeeper does not spend his own money to care for the man, but he spends the Good Samaritan’s money. Finally, the Good Samaritan promises that he will return. And so, our Lord Jesus promises to return for us. Our eternal welfare is His concern. So, we wait with great hope for His return, as the innkeeper cares for us from Jesus’ purse.
Yet, the Good Samaritan does not serve only to demonstrate how Christ saves us from the curse of the Law. The Good Samaritan also shows us another way the Law serves the Gospel. The Good Samaritan is our example of how we love God and our neighbor. Jesus said, “Go, and do likewise.” Go and live like the Good Samaritan. Be a neighbor like he was. Show mercy like he did. In other words, imitate Christ! St. Paul exhorts us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) That word for tenderhearted is related to the word Jesus used to say the Good Samaritan had compassion. As the Good Samaritan had compassion on him who fell among the robbers, so we should have compassion on one another. As Christ had compassion on us, so that He poured Himself out like wax for our sake, so we should be tenderhearted, kind, and forgiving to one another.
The Apostle John tells us that one cannot love God and hate his brother and if someone has the world’s goods, but sees his brother in need, yet does not help him, the love of God cannot abide in him (1 John 4:20; 3:17). Yet He also writes that we love, because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). What is John teaching us with these words? He is teaching us that when we love our brother, we show forth the love of Christ! He is teaching what Jesus taught, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!” (John 13:35) And this is another way the Law serves the Gospel. It serves the Gospel by glorifying Christ!
The Law cannot undo the Promise. God would not give a Law that would nullify His own Promise. So, the Law must serve the Gospel, not nullify it. You have already heard that the Law serves the Gospel by showing you your sin, so that you know that only the Gospel can save you. Yet, now through the example of the Good Samaritan, you learn how the Law serves the Gospel by glorifying Christ, who is the heart of the Gospel. The Law glorifies Christ by teaching you to walk by Christ’s example. As a Christian, you do not try to earn your salvation by following Christ’s example. You follow Christ’s example, because He has earned your salvation and you love Him for it.
Martin Luther teaches that promise we make in the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” is a comforting sign. How is it comforting to promise to forgive others? Because whenever you forgive others, you are confessing that Christ has forgiven you. And when you are kind, tenderhearted, and merciful, you are confessing that Christ has been kind, tenderhearted, and merciful to you.
The example of the Good Samaritan is beautiful. He does not try to limit how much he must love or whom he must love. He loves. He didn’t beat up the poor man and leave him half dead. Yet, neither did the priest and Levite, who nevertheless, failed to love the man. The Good Samaritan not only refrained from hurting and harming his neighbor’s body, but he helped and supported him in every physical need. He truly treated his neighbor as himself and did unto him as he would have wanted to be done to himself. This is more beautiful love than you will find in any fairytale written by man.
And so, Christ bids us to follow this beautiful example of love, not to justify ourselves, but to glorify Him, so that others may see the love of Christ and draw near to Him. Go and do likewise is Law. Yet, when it is viewed in service to the Gospel, it is not a burdensome command. Rather, it is the constant joyous pursuit of the Christian. You will not perfect this task in this lifetime. You will fail to love perfectly and will need your Good Samaritan to come and lift you out of the ditch, tend your wounds, and care for you. Yet, your faith in Christ compels you to begin and continue this task for His glory.
Through Baptism, you died with Christ, so that you might live with Him in glory. So, through faith in Christ put to death what is earthly in you, that is, what belongs to Jericho, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, and put on your new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of Christ (Col. 3:5-10). Through Christ’s tender care for you in Baptism, the preaching of His Word, and the Sacrament of His body and blood, He is transforming you to be like Him. In the resurrection, you will reach this perfection. But until then, Christ bids us to begin imitating Him for His glory. Amen.

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The Grace of the Father, Merits of the Son, and Efficacy of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments

8/21/2024

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Trinity 12
Mark 7:31-37
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
August 18, 2024

In this Gospel lesson, Christ reveals that God wants to be gracious to us through His Word and Sacraments, so that we may find comfort and peace in them. However, the church has become divided on the topic of sacraments, how to define a sacrament, and what they do, so that many find no comfort in them. Today, the Roman Catholic Church accepts seven sacraments, which include some traditions of men as well as rites, which do not offer God’s grace and salvation, while many protestants reject the concept of sacraments completely and deny that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper do anything for one’s salvation. The word sacrament means mystery. They are called a mystery, because they give something far greater than what you see. From ancient times, the Church has defined a sacrament as a sacred act, where God joins His Word to a physical element in order to give us grace. So, under the cover of the visible thing, God’s power secretly works salvation. Since Baptism and the Lord’s Supper fit this description (Baptism has Christ’s promise joined to water and the Lord’s Supper has Christ’s promise joined to bread and wine), Lutherans recognize these two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Although teachers in the church throughout her history have disagreed on how many sacraments there are and which rites should be included as sacraments, the church has always unanimously recognized Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Sacraments. Despite what those in the church today may call them, Jesus instituted Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in order to give to us God’s grace, so that we may receive it through faith.
Jesus foreshadows His institution of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in our Gospel lesson by touching the deaf man’s ears, spitting, touching his tongue, and speaking. Jesus joined His Word to a physical visible element, and so He healed the deaf and mute man. Likewise, Jesus joined the promise of forgiveness and salvation to water, bread, and wine when He instituted Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. However, many get upset at this talk about Sacraments. They think that the Sacraments distract from God’s Work and from faith! But the opposite is true. The Sacraments instituted by Christ proclaim God’s Word and demand faith in Christ.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus displayed how God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit works in the Sacraments. Jesus looked up to heaven, demonstrating that all healing comes from the grace of God the Father alone. He sighed deeply from His innermost self. The word for sighed can also be translated, He groaned. This demonstrated that our healing is earned by the merits of God the Son’s passion for our sins on the cross, where His soul was troubled even to death and He gave up His spirit to God the Father when He died. And Jesus spoke, demonstrating the work of the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit works through the Word of Christ (Galatians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Samuel 23:2). So, we see with this proto-sacrament of Christ’s, where He spat and spoke to heal the deafmute, He demonstrated the work of the Holy Trinity to save us by the grace of the Father, the merits of the Son, and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit.
We see this same work in Baptism. Jesus commanded that we be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). St. Paul writes that God saved us, not by works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3), demonstrating that the Father shows us grace in Baptism through the merits of Christ His Son by the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 6 that those who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into His death and resurrection, demonstrating that Baptism does not work independently of the meritorious passion of Christ. And Jesus says that those who are baptized are born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5), as St. Peter also declares that those who are baptized receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). So, in Baptism, we have God’s Word and a physical element water, just as we see in this Gospel’s healing. And in Baptism, we see the grace of God the Father, the merits of God the Son, and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit through the Word, just as we see in this healing of the deafmute.
Likewise, in the Holy Supper we see Christ’s Word and promise joined to physical elements of bread and wine. And in the Lord’s Supper, we see the grace of God the Father, the merits of Christ the Son, and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. When Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, He gave thanks and blessed the bread and wine. He gave thanks to God the Father, who by His grace desired that Christ offer Himself and that He give this meal to His Church for her forgiveness and strengthening of faith. The words of institution clearly proclaim the merits of Christ. “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Only by the merits of Christ, God the Son, by His innocent sufferings and death, may we partake of this Supper. Finally, Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” teaching us that only by the work of the Holy Spirit, who creates faith in our hearts, can we receive this Sacrament worthily. That is what Jesus means when He says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He means do this in faith, which is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Sacraments only offer God’s Grace and the merits of Christ through the Word! Many claim that the Sacraments conflict with Word Alone, but they do not. For without God’s Word, the water is just plain water and no Baptism, and without Christ’s institution, the bread and wine remain only bread and wine and are not Christ’s body and blood, and if Jesus had not spoken, “Ephphatha!” the deafmute would have remained deaf and mute. The Sacraments are not Sacraments without God’s Word. They have no power without God’s Word. We do not believe that the water is some magic potion. We trust in the Word of God spoken with the water. When Naaman, the leprous commander from Syria complained that Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan River, because he thought the rivers of Damascus were better, his servants did not argue with him over the quality of the Jordan River’s water. They said, “Master, was it not a great word that the man of God spoke to you, ‘Wash and be clean!’” (2 Kings 5) When God gives us a Sacrament, He desires us to trust in the Word He attaches to it.
This means that you should also listen to the words spoken in and concerning the Sacraments. In remembering your own Baptism, you should remember the promise of Scripture that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16), that when you were baptized, you received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and washed away your sins (Acts 22:16) and were clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27). Remember that when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, so that you might also rise with Him (Rom. 6). And you rise with Him through Baptism not only on the Last Day, but every day. Your Baptism still works in you today through daily contrition and repentance, so that you die every day and rise again to new life in Christ, putting away your sins and living by faith.
When you receive the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, you should discern the body of Christ lest you eat and drink to your own judgment. Yet, you should also live your entire life in preparation for the Sacrament, because the Sacrament of the Altar prepares you for the great banquet in heaven. This also means to daily repent of your sins and to recognize that you have been joined to one body of Christ, the Christian Church. So, live in unity and at peace with one another as Scripture teaches. By preparing yourself to receive the Sacrament of the Altar each Sunday, you are preparing yourself to feast at the heavenly banquet in heaven.
Christ did not institute the Sacraments to distract us from His Word or to give us something in addition to His Word as if His Word is insufficient. No, Christ’s Sacraments drive us deeper into His Word, so that we search it more diligently and trust in Christ more fervently.
Finally, only faith receives the benefits of the Sacraments. Again, there are many who say today that we do not need the Sacraments or that the Sacraments do not save, because faith alone saves. But this comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of both the Sacraments and of faith. Faith is not a good work you do. Faith is trusting in God’s promise. The Sacraments are not a good work you do. The Sacraments are God’s promise joined to physical elements for our sake. Faith alone receives the promise of Christ, which God joined to the Sacrament.
In fact, Christ instituted the Sacraments for the sake of our faith. Jesus’ Word and Promise are certainly not insufficient, but our faith is weak and our nature is frail. We naturally doubt, no matter how often God assures us of His grace and mercy through His Word. So, Christ joined His Word and Promise to physical elements, so that our faith could trust in the promise joined to them that we might have stronger faith and be saved. The Sacraments make the Gospel personal. Christ Jesus made atonement for the sins of the whole world. Baptism, which places water on your head, tells you personally that this atonement, forgiveness, and grace is meant for you. Christ Jesus gave up His body to the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of all sins. When you hear the words of institution and eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord in the Sacrament, Christ communicates to you personally that this is given and shed for you.
When you put your faith in the Sacraments, you are not putting your faith in something outside of Christ and His suffering and death, because faith in the Sacraments is faith in the promise Christ attached to the Sacraments. When you trust in the promise attached to Baptism, you are trusting in God the Father’s grace to save you, in Christ His Son’s merits on the cross to redeem you and wash you with His blood, and in the Holy Spirit’s efficacy to grant you new birth and make you a child of God. Faith in the promise of Baptism is faith in the Holy Trinity. Likewise, faith in the promise of the Lord’s Supper is faith in the Father’s grace to send His Son to die for you, in the Son’s merits on the cross when He gave up His body and shed His blood for you, and in the efficacy of the Holy Spirit to strengthen your faith, so that you may always remember and proclaim Christ’s death.
Apart from God’s grace through His Word, we cannot speak rightly about God or ourselves. We are blind and dumb in our sin until the Holy Spirit awakens us through the merits of Christ. The Sacraments are not a bonus, a good thing you can do without. You need the Sacraments, because you need God’s grace, Christ’s merits, and the Holy Spirit’s work. We are even more needy than the deafmute. Yet, when we receive the Sacraments in faith, clinging to Jesus’ Word and Promise in them, then we learn to hear clearly and to speak rightly. Then we confess with Christ’s Church, He has done all things well! Amen.

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Two Religions

8/17/2024

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Trinity 11
Luke 18:9-14; Genesis 4:1-15
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
August 11, 2024

There are only two religions in the world. There is the religion of grace and the religion of works. The religion of works teaches that a person is justified before God by his works. The religion of grace teaches that a sinner is justified before God freely as a gift through faith in Christ. And these two religions have been opposed to each other from the very beginning. Two brothers, Cain and Abel brought offerings to the LORD. Where did they learn to offer sacrifices to God? Their father Adam taught them. Immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, God spoke to Satan in Adam’s hearing, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heal.” (Genesis 3:15) This was the first proclamation of the Gospel. A descendent of Eve would be born, who would defeat Satan and end his rule over humanity, yet He Himself would be bruised in the process. Then God clothed Adam and his wife in animal skins. By slaughtering an animal and clothing sinful and naked Adam and Eve in its skin, God foreshadowed how Christ would be slaughtered for the sin and shame of mankind, so that all who believe in Him could be clothed in His righteousness. This is what St. Paul teaches in Galatians 3, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” And St. John speaks of this in his vision of heaven in Revelation 7, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
The religion of grace was established by God Himself immediately after our first parents fell into sin. He did this by promising a Redeemer from sin. And it is this religion of grace which Adam taught to his sons. That is why Cain and Able brought sacrifices to the Lord. Adam taught them to do this to confess their faith in God’s promise to send a Redeemer. God looked with favor upon Abel’s offering, but He did not look with favor upon Cain’s offering. Why? Because Abel offered His offering in faith. Hebrews 11:4 states, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.” When Abel offered the firstborn of his flocks and their fat portions, He was confessing that God would provide His Firstborn Son as a sacrifice for our sins, the very best He had to save us.
Why then was Cain’s sacrifice rejected? St. John writes in his first epistle, “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12) Cain’s deeds were evil, because he did not have faith. Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Cain rejected the religion of grace and instead trusted in the religion of works. That is, he thought God should consider him righteous because he deserved it.
Many assume that Cain must have offered rotten vegetables to God, while Abel offered more valuable livestock. However, it is more likely that Cain offered the best of his crops. The problem was not in the outer expression of his worship necessarily, but what was in his heart. Likewise with the Pharisee. His outward works weren’t bad. He wasn’t a thief or an adulterer. He practiced self-control and self-discipline. He’s the type of guy you’d want as a neighbor or a member of your church. He tithed even that which the Law did not command him to tithe. A congregation full of Pharisees like him wouldn’t worry about keeping the budget.
But the Pharisee went astray in his heart, like Cain did. He trusted in his works. He did what St. Paul writes in Romans 10, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Cain and the Pharisee rejected Christ and pursued their own righteousness based on their works. But the problem is, our works are always sinful. Isaiah calls our works filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). There is no one who does good and never sins (Eccl. 7:20). Most people think that they’ll be okay on Judgment Day, because their good deeds will outnumber their sins. People think that to be a Christian means to be a good person, and most people think they are good people.
But our good deeds cannot outnumber our sins. Our sins are worse than our good deeds are good. Because none of the good we do is without sin. Even if our best deeds were judged on their own merits, they would still be riddled with sin. Even when we do good, we still sin. Yet, our sin is only bad. So, the idea that you can make it to heaven by your own good works is a delusion. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) If you are to stand before God’s judgment throne with only your own good works, you will be condemned to hell.
Yet, this is the natural opinion of all mankind. Even after God wiped this religion of works away in a global flood, it still arose out of the people’s hearts. People think they can earn their salvation. This is what every religion invented by mankind teaches. If you are good enough, you can be saved. But it is a lie. And what does it lead to? Those who trust in themselves that they are righteous treat others with contempt. Cain killed Abel. They treat them with contempt, because they do not know God’s love and they do not know their need for God’s love.
Abel offered an acceptable offering to God through faith. And so did the tax-collector. But wait, you say. The tax-collector didn’t offer anything? He just beat his breast and said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” Yes, the tax-collector did not offer anything of his own. Rather, he offered the only thing that can appease God’s wrath against sin: the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
The word the tax-collector used for “have mercy” is a different word than is normally used to ask for God’s pity. It means, “be propitiated” or “accept the sacrifice of atonement for my sake.” The tax-collector is not simply asking that God have pity on him, because he is so helpless, he is appealing to the only sacrifice that can ever take away sin: the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He and the Pharisee are in the temple where lambs are sacrificed to make atonement for sins. The lambs themselves do not make atonement, but they point to Christ who does. The religion of the Old Testament looks forward to what the religion of the New Testament looks backward: Christ, the promised Redeemer, who makes atonement for our sins by His death on the cross. This is what adherents to the religion of grace offer to God instead of their works. They appeal to Christ’s sacrifice for them.
This is why the religion of grace depends on faith. Faith does not earn your salvation. Faith clings to the promise and appeals to Christ, who has earned your salvation. This is why the religion of grace is opposed to the religion of works. Not because good works are bad. On the contrary, it is faith in Christ which enables you to do good works that are pleasing to God, as God’s grace enabled Paul to work harder than any of the other Apostles (1 Corinthians 15:10). But the religion of grace opposes the religion of works, because if your salvation is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of your works, otherwise grace would not be grace (Romans 11:6). Trusting in your own works for salvation hinders your faith in Christ, who alone can save you from your sins.
This is why faith requires repentance. St. Paul, after listing all his righteous credentials, declares in Philippians 3, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” (vss. 7-9) Paul doesn’t simply repent of his most evil deeds. He renounces all his works. He won’t bring a single one before God’s judgment throne. The only righteousness he will appeal to is Christ’s righteousness.
This is exactly what the tax-collector does. He says, “Have mercy on me, the sinner.” He doesn’t list off every sin. He doesn’t simply apologize for what bothers his conscience most. He acknowledges that he is a sinner and that all his works are riddled with sin. The only way he can be justified is if God forgives him for Christ’s sake. And that is what He does.
This is why we poor sinners have such confidence in our salvation. We come to church truly remorseful over our sins. We have offended God by our thoughts, words, and deeds. We look at the Pharisee and see how we have failed to take God’s Word seriously, how we have been greedy, lazy, lustful, and undisciplined. We have regarded the Ten Commandments as suggestions instead of what they truly are, God’s commandments for how we should live our lives. Yet, Christ Jesus has not only suffered and died for our worst and most embarrassing sins, the sins that bother our conscience and make us ashamed. He has made atonement for our entire sinful nature. God is fully satisfied by Christ’s obedience and sacrifice for our sins. And so, we do not offer our works to God to make us righteous before Him. Instead, confessing ourselves to be sinners deserving of His wrath, we appeal to Christ and plead that God find us righteous for His sake. And He does.
The religion of works, whether it comes in the form of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Atheism, or legalistic Christianity is a false religion. It will not produce good works pleasing to God nor will it cultivate true love toward your brother. The religion of works only results in condemnation. The religion of grace, which was founded by God Himself when He offered us a Savior from our sins is the only religion that saves. The religion of grace is only revealed in Christ Jesus, who made atonement for our sins. We are justified before God and saved, not on account of our works, but through faith in Jesus Christ, who has appeased God’s wrath against our sin. And the religion of grace actually produces good works, which please God and cultivates true love toward your neighbor.
If we were honest with ourselves, we would humble ourselves before God, because we have nothing to offer Him, but our sin. Yet, when we humble ourselves, we appeal to Christ alone. And it is Christ, our gracious Savior, who makes us righteous in God’s sight. So, take courage dear sinner. Cast your sins behind you and cling to Christ Jesus, who makes atonement for them. And you too will go down to your house justified before God. Amen.

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Learning from the Courage of Jesus

8/9/2024

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Trinity 10
Luke 19:41-48
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
August 4, 2024

The United States of America will be destroyed. I am not speaking hyperbole. The destruction of Jerusalem, which Christ predicted and which came to pass just forty years later, foretells the destruction of every nation. Israel was God’s chosen people. Jerusalem was God’s city where alone He chose to dwell in His temple. Yet, because Israel refused to recognize her visitation, God destroyed her.
There is a great heresy today, which causes great harm to the Jewish people. That heresy is that the Jews will be saved apart from faith in Jesus. But that is not true. The Christian religion is the true religion of the Jews, the religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of David and of the faithful remnant throughout Israel’s history. This is what Jesus told the Jews, “You search the Scriptures (that is, the Old Testament), because in them you think you find eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40) Again, Jesus who was sent to the Lost Sheep of Israel preached to the Jews, “for unless you believe that I am He (that is, the Christ) you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
The people of Jerusalem did not recognize their visitation and the things that make for peace, that is, they did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah, who came to rescue them from sin, death, and hell. And so, they received judgment and destruction. Yet, those who believed in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, were declared children of Abraham and heirs of the promise, as St. Paul writes, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8) and again in Galatians 3, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” (vs. 7)
The destruction of Jerusalem is a judgment for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus came to Israel first, but He did not come only for Israel. He came for the whole world, to every nation. And every nation that rejects Jesus as the Christ, who rejects His visitation, rejects the only one who can bring peace between us and God and will face a like punishment. Few nations have heard the preaching of Christ as clearly and loudly as the United States of America, but America has rejected the preaching of Christ. And we know that Christ’s preaching has been rejected, because of the fruits of this rejection. St. Paul writes in Romans chapter one that when nations know God, but do not honor God, that God gives them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to dishonorable passions. And that is what we see in our nation. Our nation has embraced the murder of unborn children, sexual perversion in every form, celebrating unnatural relations, the worship of idols, and the following of false prophets. And so, God’s wrath will be poured upon this unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Judgment is coming. Every knee will bow before Christ. And only His kingdom will remain forever.
And since we know that God’s wrath is coming upon the world and upon our nation, how then should we behave? Jesus teaches us exactly how to behave in this situation. Knowing that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed because of her unbelief, Jesus does three things, which we too should do.
First, Jesus weeps. Jesus is God. He has come to save His people from their sins. Yet, they reject Him. Jesus does not cry as a needy boyfriend who has been dumped by his girlfriend. Jesus laments the suffering, death, and condemnation facing His people, just as the prophet Elisha wept before Hazael before declaring him king of Syria, because he knew how God would use Hazael to punish Israel (2 Kings 8). God does not delight in the death of the wicked, but He desires that they turn from their way and live (Ez. 33:11). God did not predestine anyone from eternity to go to hell. Rather, Scripture says that God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Jesus is not simply weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem and hundreds of thousands of deaths that will accompany it, but He is mourning the damnation of people, whose souls He desires to save.
And so, as we are aware of God’s impending judgment on this unbelieving world, we should mourn for the lost. We should pray for their conversion, both the Jews and the Gentiles, because Jesus died to save them all. We should not be complacent at their damnation. St. Paul exhorts us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15), how much more should we weep with Jesus over the damnation of the lost and rejoice with Him at their conversion.
Second, Jesus cleanses the temple of sellers and traders, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” How remarkable that after Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem, which includes the destruction of the temple, He still makes the effort to cleanse the temple of uncleanness. He doesn’t see this as a pointless task, because until God destroys it, this temple remains His.
So, how should we imitate our Lord in cleansing the temple? The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. What temple is there left to cleanse? St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (vs. 16) and again in chapter 6, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (vss. 18-20) So, you cleanse the temple of your body by repenting of every evil lust and sin. Jesus warns us that God’s judgment is coming, so we should take that as an opportunity to cleanse the temple as He did, repent of our sins, our pride, lust, and greed. And be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Scripture also calls the Church the temple of God, because it is the household of God, built of living stones. We cleanse the church by cleansing it of false prophets and teachers, that is, we refute false doctrine. When the world is collapsing all around us, Christians must put their own house in order. This is not a time to become tolerant of the devil’s lies. Rather, we should even more insist on the truth of God’s Word.
Finally, Jesus preached in the temple. This is the most remarkable thing Jesus does. After declaring that Jerusalem will be destroyed, because she does not recognize the time of her visitation, meaning, she has rejected Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus then continues to preach to her. And He does this in the presence of the very people who will within a week arrest Him and deliver Him over to the Romans to be crucified. This preaching in the midst of His enemies shows incredible courage from our Lord Jesus and teaches us two things.
First, we too should take courage and not fear those who can kill the body, but afterward have no power over our soul. The chief priests and scribes were already planning to murder Jesus. They were planning to murder Him because of His preaching. Jesus knew this. He knew they would succeed in killing Him. Yet, He continued to do the very thing they would kill Him for. He continued to preach. He did this, because He knew that their power was superficial. Although they would kill Him, He would rise again and live and reign for all eternity, victorious over sin, death, and every enemy. So, He continued to preach the Gospel in front of them. And so, we should follow suite.
In response to the blasphemous opening ceremony for the Olympics, which mocked the Christian Church and our Lord Jesus with a drag show parody of the Last Supper, Elon Musk, the owner of the social media site X wrote, “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.” He is wrong, because Christianity can never perish. The Church will withstand the very gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). It is the world which will perish, while the Church stands strong even in God’s judgment. However, he is right that Christians need bravery. In fact, unless Christians have bravery to stand up against evil, they will perish and not stand in the judgment. It takes courage to repent of your sins. Only cowards continue in the sins of their flesh, following the course of the wicked world. It takes courage to stand up against the world and live by the Word of Christ. Confessing Christ takes bravery. Yet, Jesus says, whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess before My Father in heaven, but whoever is ashamed of me in this generation, of him will I be ashamed before My Father in heaven.
The Church must continue to preach the whole council of God in this sinful generation. We must not be afraid of what men can do to us, how our neighbors or friends will react, or even what the Government will do. We must preach Christ crucified as the Redeemer of the world, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name.
Second, Jesus’ preaching in the temple in the presence of His enemies even after predicting Jerusalem’s destruction teaches us that there will remain a remnant until the end of the age. A remnant is a small group of people who remain faithful. Although God has not preordained anyone from eternity to go to hell, God has from before the foundation of the world chosen His elect, who will remain faithful to the end and be saved (Eph. 1:4-5). And until the end of the age, until the final judgment, there will remain a remnant of believers, whose ears have been prepared to listen and cling to Jesus’ Word. And so, to the very end, even when the whole world is crumbling around us, even as our enemies are trying to silence and kill us, there will always remain the necessity to preach the Gospel, so that God’s elect may be saved.
God has prepared for Himself a courageous remnant, who will cling to His Word even as the world is destroyed. That remnant recognizes God’s gracious visitation through the preaching of Christ crucified for sinners, in Baptism, where we are clothed in the Crucified One, in the Sacrament of the Altar, where we feast on Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This is what it means to know your visitation. It means to recognize Jesus as your Savior and to receive Him according to His Word. Those who receive Christ through faith will be prepared to receive Him at His glorious visitation, when He comes in judgment.
It is Christ’s Word that gives us courage to stand up against the evil of the age. And it is Christ’s Word that gives us power to stand when the world falls. Because Christ’s Word gives us the forgiveness of sins and peace with God, purchased with the very blood of Christ. Christ’s Word reveals our Savior Jesus and gives us certainty of everlasting life. And so, we will cling to Christ’s Word even as the world passes away, because by the power of Christ’s Word we will stand forever. Amen.

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Everyone a Steward

8/2/2024

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Trinity 9
Luke 16:1-13
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
July 28, 2024

Jesus said, “No one 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.” (Luke 16:13) A couple chapters later, He says, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25) St. James rebukes the greedy, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.” (James 5:1-3) And St. Paul warns in 1 Timothy 6, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.” (vss. 9-11)
Holy Scripture clearly warns that earthly riches pose considerable temptation and that the love of such wealth jeopardizes your salvation. Yet, most people still strive more earnestly after money than they do after the Kingdom of God. There are two paths you can send your children down. One will result in more wealth, comfort, and admiration from this world, but your children will most likely lose their faith and go to hell. The other path will result in suffering, hatred from the world, and likely less wealth, but your children will most likely endure in the faith and inherit eternal life. Which path will you set your children on? Most people, even most church-going Christians choose the first. They choose for themselves earthly riches and store up treasures on earth, which moth and rust will destroy and will testify against them on the Last Day, instead of choosing Christ and storing up treasures in heaven. And for this, many fall away as Jesus warned they would. How difficult is it for the rich to be saved. You cannot serve God and money. Flee from the love of money, which will cause you to wander from the only saving faith.
The chief lesson of Scripture is that God is a gracious God, who forgives our sins for Christ’s sake and that we are saved apart from our own works through faith in Jesus Christ, who made atonement for all our sins on the cross. Yet, we cannot then go and serve the things of this world which lead to death! So, Jesus also told this parable that we might learn how to behave as children of God and heirs of His kingdom.
“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. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:10-12) With these words, Jesus teaches us that we are all stewards. A steward is a manager of that which does not belong to him. Everything we own in this life is not really ours, but God’s. That includes our money, property, talents, children, even our time. In fact, Jesus doesn’t simply say that you cannot serve God and money. He says, you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon encompasses all earthly wealth. You are not supposed to serve it. You are supposed to manage it for God’s kingdom. It belongs to God. You are merely a steward temporarily in charge of it. But that stewardship will end and you will be held accountable for your stewardship. Your eternal riches are in heaven. Your riches on earth will be taken away.
Not everyone is a minister, but everyone is a steward. Every Christian is charged with that which is not his own, for which he will be held accountable to God. There will come a day when everything you now have will be taken away from you. Yet, if you are found faithful, you will receive true riches, which will be yours for eternity, which were purchased with the precious blood of Christ. But who will give true riches to one who is unfaithful in that which was not his own?
How does Christ expect you to manage what He has temporarily put into your charge? He tells you clearly. “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9) Your unrighteous wealth or mammon is everything you are put in charge of in this life: your money, your time, your talents. Do not serve them. Do not be mammon’s slave. Rather, be diligent to put the mammon entrusted to you to work for God’s kingdom. Jesus even uses a lying, conniving, thief as our example! Not that we should be lying, conniving, thieves, but that we would work with urgency in the task before us. The unjust steward’s back was pushed against a wall. He lost his job and house and soon would be on the streets begging. So, he used the little time and resources he had left to make friends, so that they would welcome him into their homes.
But Jesus doesn’t call you to lie and cheat. He calls you to act diligently and generously with what He has entrusted to you. Do not bury your talent in the ground or worse, spend it on yourself. Rather, invest it in God’s kingdom. Mammon can be used so broadly, but I would like us to focus on three things in this life of which God has made us stewards: Money, our time, and our children.
All your money came from God. Scriptures tells you not to fall in love with it, but to use it for the Kingdom. Obviously, this means that you should use your money to support the Church and the preaching of the Gospel. St. Paul writes, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” (1 Timothy 5:17) Christians should support their local congregation as well as missions abroad. The patriarchs Abraham and Jacob set an example of giving a tenth of all they had to the Lord (Gen. 14:20; 28:22). Christians by doing this in generations passed have assured that future generations would have the Gospel preached to them, so that they would welcome them into their eternal home.
Also, Christians should be generous to the poor and needy, as St. John exhorts, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17) If you recognized your money not as yours but God’s, then you might look at God’s children in need differently and not begrudge helping them with what their heavenly Father has entrusted to you.
Time is our most finite resource in this life. We only ever have less of it. And what you have is given to you by God. So, we should use our time wisely. If you were to divide up your time in a pie chart, would you be ashamed of how you spend it? Do you work hard? Or have you wasted your time? Do you devote time each day to God’s Word and prayer? How many Sunday mornings in a year do you hold sacred for God’s Word and worship and how often do you use that sacred time for yourself instead? Do you use your time and talents to help others, or do you only serve your own interests?
Your children strictly speaking, are not mammon. They are human beings with immortal souls. Yet, children today are often treated like mammon. Their cost is calculated like buying a new car or going on vacation. And children do cost a lot of mammon, both time and money. So, how do you use your time and money for your children? How do you invest in your children? Do you invest more in their sports, entertainment, and future careers (all of which are mammon) than you do in their eternal dwelling place in heaven? Do you have them skip church for sports and leisure? Do you take time to teach them how to pray and to defend their faith? Do you get them good books that teach them God’s Word and take time to read the Bible at home to them? Do you pray for them and bring them to church?
God isn’t secretive in how He wants you to us raise your children. “And these words which I command you today, shall be in your heart! You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deut. 6:6-7) “And what was God seeking? Godly offspring.” (Mal. 2:15) “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God,” Jesus says (Matt. 19:14). So, in your short time before your stewardship is taken away from you, you should build eternal friendships with your children, so that they will welcome you into your eternal dwellings.
If the accounts were drawn, and God inspected how you managed the mammon He entrusted to you during your short stewardship, how would you fair? Not one of us has been as good of a steward of the mammon God has entrusted to us as we should. We must beg for forgiveness. This is why Jesus says that the sons of this world are more shrewd in their own generation than the sons of light. Even being children of light, our works are marred by our old Adam, which wants to serve mammon instead of God.
Yet, we have a generous and merciful master. Most masters, when they discover that their steward is wasting their property, will fire him immediately and not give him a chance to sort out the books. Yet, the master in Jesus’ parable warns the steward and gives him short time to get things in order. And that is exactly what our Lord Jesus is doing for us. He has told us that our time of stewardship has run out. We may no longer be stewards. We have a short time before we must hand in the accounting and prepare for our new eternal dwelling.
And what does Jesus want us to do with that time? He wants us to be generous with what He has given us. He wants us to make friends, who will welcome us into our eternal dwellings when we will receive what is truly ours forever. We don’t make these friends by cheating and conniving. We make them by supporting the preaching of the Gospel and helping the poor, by using our time for Christ’s kingdom and investing for our children’s future in the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to treat the mammon we are entrusted with today as if we have true riches waiting for us, which can never be taken away. Jesus has secured these riches with His holy precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death, which made atonement for all our sins. Through faith in Christ, we are children of light, who have an eternal inheritance.
We do not earn this inheritance by our stewardship. Christ alone earned this inheritance for us. Yet, being a bad steward of what God has entrusted to you and serving mammon instead of Christ will cause you to lose this inheritance. Yet, God richly blesses good stewardship with additional treasures on earth and in heaven, given according to His own grace and mercy. And it is when we recognize that Christ has gained for us this eternal inheritance that we are emboldened to be diligent and generous stewards of God’s kingdom, so that we do not become slaves of mammon and lose our inheritance. May God bless our stewardship, so that we may welcome each other and our children into our eternal homes. Amen.

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

The Law in Service to the Gospel

The Grace of the Father, Merits of the Son, and Efficacy of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments

Two Religions

Learning from the Courage of Jesus

Everyone a Steward

Rev. James Preus

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