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

Remiscere: God Lets Himself Be Conquered Through His Word

2/26/2018

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Matthew 15:21-28 
February 25, 2018 
 
Humanly speaking, which saint from the Bible would you trade places with? Would you be willing to live the earthly life of any of the saints in Scripture? Adam's firstborn son murdered his second born, which reminded Adam that sin entered the world because of him. Noah survived the great flood, but everyone he knew outside of his seven family members died in the deluge. God kept Abraham waiting for decades before giving him his son after making him leave his homeland. Joseph ruled Egypt, but not before he was sold into slavery and was imprisoned for years. King David lived as a fugitive more than once fearing for his life. Daniel was fed to lions. And the twelve disciples were either tortured, killed or both. You know, to be honest, I wouldn't trade places with any of them.  

Why does God let his saints suffer so? It seems for those who love and trust in God, they can expect hardship in this life. And perhaps you have experienced such hardship. When God doesn't answer your prayers, it is easy to think that God has forgotten you or perhaps that he even delights in your suffering, as Saint Job prayed in his anguish, "I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me." (Job 30:20-21) And a common thought for the Christian going through suffering is that God is punishing him for some sin. So, why does God permit his Christians to suffer? 

Hebrews 12 states, "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline." (vss. 6-7) And this we certainly can understand. A child, who is not disciplined, will be rebellious. As a father disciplines his children for their good, so much more for our good does God discipline us.  

Therefore, when you suffer, it is always appropriate to repent of your sins to God, even those sins, which you do not know. Yet, not all suffering is a result of a direct sin. And sometimes Christians even suffer for doing what is right. Yet, God permits this suffering too, because suffering strengthens faith. St. Paul writes, "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)  

God doesn't permit us to suffer to be cruel or to push us away from him. He permits us to suffer, so that we will be drawn closer to him and bear much fruit. Jesus says that every branch that bears fruit will be pruned, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:2) So just as pruning might seem to hurt a plant, a gardener does it so that a plant will grow more fruit and be healthier. And some gardeners will even beat a fruit tree with a stick if it doesn't produce fruit, so that the tree gets shocked and starts to produce.  

God wants you to produce fruit. He wants your faith in him to grow as well as your love for him and your neighbor. And God knows how much your faith can handle when he permits you to suffer. One of the authors of our Lutheran Confessions, Philip Melanchthon, wrote, "Hypocrisy mimics the Spirit of God, but trial will show the truth, since in affliction only the faithful endures." Hypocrites, that is, those with fake faith will not endure the trials God sends. They won't keep the faith when times get rough. But true faith endures trials and affliction. 
 
When going through suffering it can be easy to take your focus off your faith, especially when it seems that God isn't answering your prayers. But the most important thing to do when going through trials is to focus on God's Word. The Canaanite woman in our Gospel text teaches us how to do this.  

The woman's daughter is badly oppressed by a demon, which is a horror that none of us should wish on our worst enemy. She cries out to Jesus for mercy. Yet, she doesn't simply cry out to Jesus, because she hears that there's this miracle worker going around, who might help. She calls Jesus, "Son of David," which is the title of the Messiah. Even though she is a Gentile and not a Jew, she has faith in Jesus, because the Scriptures say that in him the Gentiles will hope. (Isaiah 11:10) 

Yet, Jesus doesn't answer her. Was her faith wrong? Did she misunderstand the promise? I'm sure you've experienced something similar, where you've prayed to God for mercy in some part of your life, but God doesn't seem to answer. This is where many would simply give up. But not the Canaanite woman, she continues to cry out for help. And so should you even when it seems that God is silent to your prayers. As Jesus said in another part of Scripture that we should continue to pray and never lose heart (Luke 18:1).  

As the woman continues to cry out, even Jesus' disciples plead to Jesus on her behalf. Yet Jesus responds, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This is even worse than silence. Jesus says he was sent only to the house of Israel. This woman is a Gentile, not a Jew. Is Jesus really saying that he won't help her because of her race?  

Yet, the woman persists. She falls down on her knees before Jesus and says, "Lord, help me." But Jesus responds, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." The Jews are the children. She's a Gentile dog. Surely, she'll give up now. How clearer could Jesus get. He's saying, "no." Isn't he?  

But the woman still isn't deterred. And here we learn the greatest lesson about prayer from our sister in Christ, the Canaanite woman. You see, the woman was listening carefully to Jesus' words, even as she was in distress. Jesus called her a dog. So, she says, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." It's true isn't it? You're not going to deny a dog crumbs! So, Jesus says, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire."  

The woman beat Jesus in the war of words. Jesus didn't say anything untrue. He was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It isn't good to take from children to give to dogs. But the woman listened closely to find a promise. You don't deprive dogs of crumbs. And so, the woman proved herself not to be a dog after all. Rather, she is a true sheep of the house of Israel. Israel, as we learned in our Old Testament lesson, means one who struggles with God and men and wins. This woman struggled with Jesus and came out victorious! And she proved that a person becomes a member of the house of Israel through faith and not through flesh.  

When Jesus teaches you to be persistent in prayer, he is not telling you to throw a temper tantrum like a two-year-old and cry and cry until we get what you want. He's not saying that if you want it really, really badly, then you will get it. As if God doesn't give you what you asked for, because you didn't want it badly enough. No, when Jesus teaches you to be persistent in prayer, he is teaching you to cling to his word. Just as the hymn says, "By the light His Word doth lend you, Prayer will joy and comfort send you." God's Word provides the light to your prayers. You don't know what to pray for without God's Word. And you don't know that God will answer your prayers unless he says so in his word.  

Jacob wrestled with God all night. And even as his hip was out of joint he clung to God and wouldn't let go until he blessed him. Why would Jacob do this? Is he teaching you that if you try your hardest God will reward you? No. He's teaching you to trust in God's word even when it looks like God is going back on his word. God said to Jacob, "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised." (Gen. 28:14-15)  

Jacob struggled all night and fought through the pain, because he had a promise from God. Scripture does not teach that you will get whatever you want if you never give up. There might be things you want that God doesn't promise to give you. There might be things you want that are wrong for you to want. But God promises you great things in his word, not the least of which is eternal life in heaven through the merits of Jesus Christ. God wants you to believe that he will give you everything he promises. And when it seems that God will not give what he promises, God wants you to cling to his promise with all your might.  

When you are going through a trial, whether it is sickness or a broken relationship or financial troubles or a guilty conscience and it seems that God is silent to your prayers, God wants you to go to his word and pray according to his promises. God promises to clothe you and feed you. He promises to protect you from the devil and that no one can snatch his sheep out of his hands. God promises to forgive all your sins for the sake of Jesus' suffering and death. God promises that all who have been baptized into Christ are baptized into his death and are also joined to Christ's resurrection. God promises that whoever receives Christ's body and blood in the Sacrament in true faith receives forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. God promises that guardian angels are watching over you. Read the Scriptures. Recite the Creed. Go to church and hear a sermon or go and talk to your pastor. Hear and learn God's word. Be like that Canaanite woman and listen carefully for God's yes to your prayers.  

Jesus was defeated by the Canaanite woman. And he wanted to be defeated. And he wants you to win too. But the only way you can win when you wrestle with God is by clinging to God's Word. That is how Jacob won. That is how the Canaanite woman won.  

You are saved through faith alone apart from your works. Yet, faith puts you to work. And you will find yourself exhausted in body, soul, and mind exercising your faith during life's trials. Yet faith is a resilient thing when it holds to God's Word. In the midst of Job's suffering, he was able to say of God, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him." (Jobe 13:15) Through faith, St. Paul was able to say, "For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.", and, "For those who love God, all things work together for good." (Romans 8:18; 28) And in the midst of your suffering your faith can say this too, because Jesus has promised you that whoever comes to him he will never cast out.  

Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Jesus overcame the world through his suffering on the cross. And through this suffering he won for you eternal life. Jesus' suffering also shows you God's willingness to give you every good thing. With faith in Jesus' suffering for your sins, you can have confidence to pray to God in every trouble, as King David said in Psalm 34, "The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." 
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God always keeps his word. It is impossible for him to break his promise. So, if you want assurance that God will answer your prayer, listen to what God promises to give you in his word for the sake of Jesus Christ. No good thing can God deny you. Don't lose heart. Keep praying. Amen.  ​
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Invocavit (Lent 1): Christ our Victor

2/19/2018

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Matthew 4:1-11 

​February 18, 2018 
 
"Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways?" These three questions have been asked of baptismal candidates at Baptism since ancient days. And for good reason. We are baptized into Jesus' Baptism. Immediately after Jesus was baptized at the end of chapter three in Matthew's Gospel he is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And so, we too, after being washed in Jesus' Baptism enter into battle with Satan.  
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Considering our track record and how our first parents so miserably failed in their first encounter with Satan, this probably seems like a daunting task. As Martin Luther describes the old evil foe in his hymn, "A Mighty Fortress," "on earth is not his equal." And so, how can we possibly be a match for this enemy we have renounced?  

To find some comfort and hope we should look to a Bible story, which should be well known to all of you. Goliath of Gath was a Philistine warrior, who stood over nine feet tall! He stood between the Philistine and Israelite armies and proposed a wager. Set any Israelite soldier against him, and if the Israelite could kill Goliath, all the Philistine army would be their servants. But if Goliath killed the Israelite, then the Israelite army would be the Philistines' servants. Goliath was terrifying. And the stakes of his wager were incredibly high. So, the Israelite army remained in their camp afraid.  

Yet, a young shepherd boy named David came. He did not arm himself with mail or even carry a sword. Rather, David came to slay the Philistine in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. And he did. God guided the stone from his sling right into the Philistine's forehead and Goliath fell dead. And David took Goliath's sword and cut off his head. The Philistine army fled as the Israelite army recovered from their terror and chased after them and plundered their camp.  

Shortly after Satan deceived Eve and led Adam into sin, God put an end to Satan's notion that he would continue to win the victory over Adam and Eve's children. God made a promise, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will bruise your head and you shall bruise his heal." (Gen. 3:15) This was the first promise God made that Christ would be born of a woman to fight our battle against Satan. It is as Luther wrote in that same hymn,  

With might of ours can naught be done,  
Soon were our loss effected;  
But for us fights the valiant One,  
Whom God Himself elected.  
Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is,  
Of Sabaoth Lord, And there's none other God;  
He holds the field forever.  

Jesus Christ is our shepherd boy, who goes and fights Goliath for us as we cower on the sidelines. Luther rightly says of him, "There is none other God," yet, this Jesus Christ is also true man. He became a human being, the offspring of Eve, so that he could fight Satan in our place. As St. Paul writes, "But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5) God is not under the law. But he became under the law in human flesh in order to battle Satan for us.  

And so, after Jesus' Baptism the Spirit leads him out to the battle field to fight Satan. Yes, Jesus finally defeats Satan and crushes his head when he dies on the cross, but unless Jesus wins this battle against temptation, then the battle on the cross is lost before it begins. You need to know how important this temptation of Jesus is and how necessary it is for us that he wins. The stakes are too high for him to lose. If Satan wins and Jesus sins, then we all become servants of Satan and his angels forever. Yet, if Jesus wins, Satan and his demons become our servants.  

Jesus won. Although Satan used his finest cunning and thousands of years of expertise to draw Jesus into sin, taking advantage of physical weakness, twisting God's Word, and offering great riches, Jesus defeated Satan.  

Now, I have a question for you. When Goliath fell dead and David hewed off his head, did the Israelite army run away and hide? Did they surrender to the Philistine army? No! They chased the Philistines down like dogs hunting a fox and they plundered their goods! Now you have witnessed your champion Jesus make minced meat out of Satan. Should you now surrender yourself to this evil foe? No! Christ has given you the victory! When he wins, you win! 
Satan doesn't only tempt you to sin. He also accuses you of sin. He's an insidious little creep. Not only does he try to get you to break God's commandments, but then he accuses you of being a law-breaker in hopes that you will despair of God's love for you. But in Christ's victory over Satan, you have a retort against the devil. "God has put on my flesh and blood and defeated you on my behalf, Satan! And in Baptism I have put on Christ! You can't accuse me, because I have a champion in heaven, who gives me victory over you!" 

This must be the primary message you get from the temptation of Jesus. Jesus defeated Satan and gives you the victory. Now, his journey to the cross should make more sense. The sinless Son of God gives us the victory over Satan, and then he takes on our sins and goes to the cross to die for them. He can't die for his own sins, he has none, Satan failed to deceive him. He dies for your sins. Jesus can crush the head of Satan on the cross, because he defeated the tempter in the wilderness. And Jesus gives you the victory of both these battles. 
 
Yet, the fact remains that we baptized victors in Christ must still walk through this world with an angry devil, who will try to lead you astray and destroy your faith, so that you lose your victory. As we sing,  

I walk in danger all the way. The thought shall never leave me 
That Satan, who has marked his prey, Is plotting to deceive me.  
This foe with hidden snares 
May seize me unawares 
If ever I fail to watch and pray.  
I walk in danger all the way.  

And so, Jesus' victory over Satan not only assures you that he has won in your place. But it also gives you an example to follow to defeat Satan. You have put on Christ in your Baptism and through faith. This means that you are righteous before God. Yet, this also means that Christ gives you strength to battle Satan with his Holy Spirit.  

In the first temptation, Satan tries to get Jesus to despair of God's goodness and trust in himself. Jesus is hungry after fasting forty days. "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread." Surely Jesus could have done this, but Satan is trying to get Jesus to doubt God's providence. So, Jesus responds, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" And so, Jesus teaches you what is most important even as you are tempted by Satan. How often does Satan turn your attention away from God's Word to focus on your belly or your bank account, as if God doesn't know how much a loaf of bread costs? And do you place your trust in God or do you neglect hearing God's Word and prayer, so that you can take care of yourself and your wants as if God won't take care of you? Let this be ever on your tongue, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." God will take care of you. He knows your needs. And he says that you need his word more than food, drink, house, home, money, goods, etc.  

Next, Satan twists God's Word. He tells Jesus to test God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple and he sites Psalm 91, "He will command his angels concerning you... and... On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Now, if you were paying attention to the Gradual this morning you would notice that Satan left out an important phrase, "To guard you in all your ways." The angels are sent to guard us in the ways God has sent us. This means according to God's Word. If God doesn't promise it, then don't hold God to that promise. Jesus responds to Satan with clear Scripture, "It is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."  

Satan knows Scripture and he will gladly misuse it. And you have all heard Scripture be misused. False preachers misapply God's word all the time to get people to believe things that God never actually said. Jesus says, "Don't Judge," so false teachers conclude that God is okay will all kinds of sins and no one needs to repent. Scripture says, "God is love," So, false teachers distort the word love to mean accepting sexual perversion. Scripture demands that you follow God's Law perfectly and that those who break God's Law will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So, false teachers say that you cannot be saved through faith alone or trust in the forgiveness of sins, but you must follow God's law perfectly or you will go to hell. False teachers come in many shapes and sizes, but they always distort God's word to say what it doesn't actually say. So, learn from Jesus. Take the clear passages to defend against distorted Scripture.  

Satan tried to use riches to get Jesus to fall. It didn't work. Jesus again uses God's Word, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." And he sends Satan away. This again should be on our lips and on our heart every day. There are many false gods to seek after: money, power, sex, drugs, popularity. And Satan knows them all by name. All of us must be reminded every day that God is God and we are here on earth to serve him.  

"It is written," Jesus said three times to Satan. That's quite remarkable. Jesus is God. You'd think that he would simply smash Satan's face with lightning or something like that. But Jesus isn't beneath using the written Word of God as his weapon. And neither should you be. Jesus used God's Word to defeat Satan and he teaches you to do the same.  

Imagine that a great knight, who had fought and won many battles, gave his battle sword to a peasant boy. Do you think that boy would treasure that sword highly? Or for a more contemporary example, if your father or grandfather were to give you his rifle that he used to fight Nazis in World War II, would you toss it in your garage to rust away? Of course, you wouldn't. You'd prize it, keep it clean, and put it in a place of honor. Well, Jesus gives you a much more valuable and useful weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17) And Jesus doesn't just give it to you to put in a trophy case. Jesus tells you to use it. And he promises that it will work well, just as it worked well for him.  

God's Word is a powerful weapon to aid against temptation. Jesus has demonstrated this to us. And even more, God's Word is a powerful defense for your faith. Satan's ultimate goal is for you to doubt the forgiveness of sins won by Christ for you. He wants you to doubt God's love and think that there is something lacking in you that God cannot fill. But God's Word again gives you confidence. Your baptism joins you to your victor Jesus. Jesus has won the battle in the wilderness and the battle on the cross for you. And he gives you victory even over your grave. You have received the same Holy Spirit as Jesus. And just as Scripture promises the protection of angels to Christ, so do you have the same host of angels protecting you. When Satan attacks your faith in Christ and God's Love for you, you can respond, "It is written, 'God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.'" (1 Corinthians 15:56) Amen.  
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Quinuagesima: Jesus Accomplishes Love

2/12/2018

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1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 18:31-43
​February 11, 2018
 
If I were God I'd do things differently! Now, you might find that statement blasphemous and foolish. And you'd be right. It is blasphemous to even think about taking God's place as ruler of the universe. And it is quite foolish to think that you know better than God. Yet, this thought is not confined to the minds of raving lunatics. People everywhere frequently think that they know better than God and they act upon such a deranged notion. 
 
Our first parents were the first ones to start this trend. They knew God's command, yet they were persuaded to believe that they knew better than God. And so, sin and death spread to all mankind. The Lord sees not as man sees. And this continues to befuddle sinful people.  

All human beings are sinners. Therefore, Scripture says, "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." (1 Corinthians 2:14) And the disciples demonstrate this for us in our Gospel lesson. Our Lord says, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise." These are pretty plain words. Yet, the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying.  

It's not that the disciples didn't understand the words Jesus said. But they could not understand what Jesus meant by them, because his plan was so greatly different than what they would have expected. In other words, if they were God, they would have planned this whole Messiah thing differently.  

People in general think they would do a better job at being God than God. As crazy an idea as that is, that is the nature of sin. Every time you act against God's Law, you are behaving on the premise that you know better than him. And when false teachers preach false doctrine they are operating on the assumption that they know better than God does. Such false teachings have left devastation in their path. God teaches in his word that a sinner is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Yet, false teachers, who know better than God, teach that a sinner must earn his salvation through good works. This has led to self-righteous hypocrisy in some and despair in others. Whenever people think they know better than God they cause hardship and strife.  

This Wednesday is Valentine's Day. This has become the day of romantic love. I cannot think of a word that has been more grossly misused than the word love. Scripture says, "God is love." (1 John 4:8) Yet, the sinful world claims that it knows what love is better than God does. And the result has been devastating. Our culture characterizes love as an emotion that seeks intense pleasure and relationships based on love are contingent on these pleasurable moments. This definition of love has caused many drunk by its emotion to throw caution to the wind and strive after securing its fleeting pleasure. This is the definition of love that both young and old are instructed in by movies and shows, which they spend a lot more time watching than reading and hearing God's Word, which teaches the correct definition of love.  
And what has been the result of embracing this shallow view of love? Rampant fornication and adultery, children without fathers, mothers without husbands, abortion, and disease. Demonstrators held signs saying, "Love Wins" as the Supreme Court struck down every marriage law in the country that limited marriage to one man and one woman; laws which sought to protect children by increasing the likelihood that they would have both a father and a mother; laws which protected women by hindering abandonment; laws which encouraged men to be men; and most importantly laws, which were based on the revealed will of God. Of course, such sign-wavers don't know what love is. Love's a beautiful word. No one wants to be against love. But when love is changed from selfless and sacrificial action to selfish emotion people are hurt in the name of love.  

In our Epistle lesson, St. Paul beautifully teaches us what God says about love. First, he tells us that love is essential. Second, he tells us what the nature of love is. Third, he tells us that love endures forever.  

Love is essential. St. Paul writes, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."  

Here Paul gives impossible examples to show how essential love is. You can't speak in the tongues of angels or understand all mysteries and knowledge of God. But even if you could, St. Paul tells us that your teaching and preaching would be worthless without love. The most important thing for you to expect from me, your pastor, is that everything I preach to you is true and based on God's Word. Yet, even if I have more knowledge than any pastor, can recite the Bible front and back and answer every theological question truthfully, I would know nothing if I did not have love. How can this be? Because God is love. You cannot understand God's word unless you understand love and are possessed by it.  

You cannot understand God's Law unless you have love. The Holy Spirit caused St. Paul to write in Romans chapter 13, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (vss. 8-10) The Law of God commands that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our neighbor as ourselves. Every commandment you observe from God must have the ultimate goal of showing love to God and your neighbor.  

You cannot understand the Gospel unless you have love. The Gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for our sins is God's expression of love for you. God thought about your needs and sought to benefit you at great cost to himself. Love is so essential to the Gospel, that you do not know what love is unless you know the Gospel. The Gospel is God showing pure unadulterated love to you.  

Because St. Paul says that without love he would be nothing, even if he had faith to remove mountains, theologians in the Roman Catholic Church have argued that love is more important than faith in justifying a sinner. They teach that it is more important that you do works of love than have faith in Jesus and that faith in Jesus alone does not save. Yet, this is not what St. Paul is teaching.  

Scripture clearly teaches that we are saved by grace through faith alone apart from our works. This means that we are justified by faith, not by our works of love. Yet, St. Paul teaches us that there is no true faith without love. Your faith in Christ receives God's love. This means that your faith will produce love. Yet, God does not judge you based on how well you love. Rather, God finds you innocent of all your sins purely through faith in Jesus Christ, who took all your sins away.  

St. Paul tells us that no matter how great we think our faith is, it is not true faith if it does not produce love. True faith in Christ is not simply knowledge. True faith is trusting in God's love. True faith produces works of love.  

St. Paul continues, "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Here Paul describes the nature of love. Love is not a pleasure-seeking emotion. Love is self-sacrificing action.  

Yet, to understand what Paul means by these words, we must look at how Jesus fulfills them. Jesus is patient and kind. He is slow to anger and quick to forgive. Jesus does not envy or boast. Although he was in the form of God he did not seek equality with God a thing to be grasped, but took the form of a servant and became obedient to the point of death on a cross. Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Just think of that! Jesus claims the highest office. All things whether in heaven or on earth or under the earth are under his feet, yet Jesus calls his 12 weak disciples friends. And he calls you his friend too. He speaks to you with patience and understanding, just as he did many times with broken and messed up people as he walked on this earth.  

Jesus did not insist on his own way. Rather, as he sweat blood with his soul in anguish to the point of death, he prayed that God's will be done, even when he knew that God's will was to crush him. Jesus went as a lamb to the slaughter for us. He went willingly. We see this in our Gospel lesson. He tells his disciples that he is going to suffer and die in Jerusalem. Then why does he go? He doesn't need to go through all that for himself. Jesus is God! There was no need for Jesus to leave his glorious throne, to take on our human flesh, to suffer our ailments, to be found guilty of our sins, to suffer punishment both in his body and soul and to die a miserable death. Jesus had no need to do this for himself. But you certainly did. If Jesus did not do all this, then you and I would be punished for our own sins.  

But Jesus didn't insist on his own way. He didn't look out for himself, rather he looked after you and your needs. This is love. You men might remember the butterflies in your stomach when a pretty girl first smiled at you. You women might remember your heart thumping when a handsome guy put his arm around you. Or perhaps you've had the experience of your heart exploding as you look at your newborn child in your arms. But you don't know love unless you know the love Christ showed for you and possess this love through faith.  

Jesus is not irritable or resentful. Although we return to him over and over again, repenting of the same sins, he does not resent us. Rather, Jesus forgives us as often as we sin with perfect patience. And yet, Jesus does not rejoice at wrong doing. Jesus hates your sin. He doesn't want you to fornicate or steal or gossip. He wants you to confess your sins and rejoice in the truth. Jesus endures all things for you, so that you can believe against all odds that God loves you.  

Love endures forever. St. Paul writes, "Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. … So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." I'm preaching to you now. And I'll likely preach to you again, because you need to hear God's Word so that your faith in Jesus may thrive. But there will come a time when I will no longer need to preach to you. You have faith now. And you hope for many great things in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet there will come a time when your faith will be superfluous and you will no longer need to hope for what you do not see. Now through faith you look through a dim glass and see the reflection of Christ as you hear him preached and you receive Christ's true body and blood in the Sacrament. Yet, faith and hope must give way when the veil is removed from your eyes and you see Christ Jesus in the flesh and know him even as he sees and knows you fully.  
​

Love is eternal. God the Father has loved the Son from eternity and vice versa. We depend on faith for our salvation now, but once we reach our salvation, we will no longer depend on faith. Yet God's love for us will still abide, as will our love for God and for one another. Our faith will have served its purpose, but love is the eternal goal. The world's shallow notion of love will pass away forever, but God's love for us will enliven us for all eternity. And for this reason, we thank God that God is God. Amen.  
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Sexagesima: Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word

2/5/2018

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Picture
Luke 8:4-15 

February 4, 2018
 
 
In this parable about the sower sowing seed our Lord Jesus paints a picture of what happens in the hearts of those, who hear the word of God preached. The seed is the word of God. The sower sows the same seed on the four types of ground.  

The ones along the path where the seed is trampled and eaten by birds are those, who hear the word of God, but the devil snatches the word away from them, so that they do not believe and are not saved. There are many like this. They hear the word of God taught and preached, but it goes in one ear and out the other. The sound of God's call to repentance and the promise of the forgiveness of sins makes no more impression on them than the barking of a distant dog. They hear the word, but as a lazy student sitting slack-jawed and mindless in a boring lecture, so the word does not move them to faith.  

The ones, where the seed fell among the rock spring up quickly. They receive the Gospel with joy! They believe for a while, but in time of testing, they fall away. This goes against the popular notion of "once saved always saved." There is a false teaching that says once someone believes the saving Gospel, then he will always be saved. This is not true. Jesus says clearly that there are those, who believe for a while, but fall away at time of testing. 
 
The teaching of once saved always saved is a dangerous teaching for a number of reasons. First, if it is impossible for a believer to fall away, then the Gospel of Jesus winning the forgiveness of sins becomes neglected. The Gospel becomes only the initiation into the Christian life and further instruction focuses rather on the good works of the Christian. Secondly, if once a person has saving faith, he cannot fall away, yet we see that there are those, who believe the Gospel, but then fall away, we must conclude that they were not saved even when they believed the Gospel. There must be some other criteria to determine whether you are saved or not. This causes many to look to their own obedience and good works for their assurance of their salvation instead of the assurance of God's forgiveness through Christ.  

Those who believe the Gospel can fall away. This often happens, as Jesus tells us, at times of testing. When they must suffer for the faith they take their eyes off the word and focus more on obtaining temporary happiness.  

The third group are those sown among the thorns. These are they, who having received the word go along, but the cares and riches and pleasures of life choke out the word and it does not mature. These are those, who are more concerned with earthly matters than focusing on the teaching of Christ. Their job comes before hearing God's word. School is more important than hearing the Gospel. Sports, music, hunting, fishing, vacation, drinking, sleeping, and the list goes on and on. God's word, which should be the most important thing in any Christian's life soon becomes of least importance. And so, the word is choked and faith dies. People willingly give up the glories of heaven for a handful of sand here on earth.  

Not everyone, who hears God's word has faith and is saved. You can't blame God for this and say he does not desire some to be saved. Scripture is clear that God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4) And although, God tells us that many, who hear the word of God will reject it, he still commands that the seed be sown. God wants all people to hear the Gospel.  

So, you cannot blame God for the unbelief of anyone. If someone does not accept the Gospel, that is his own fault, not God's. Yet, this does not mean that we have the power of ourselves to choose God or that we are by nature better than those, who do not believe. We were all by nature dead to sin. It is by God's grace that our soil has been worked and plowed, so that it is receptive to God's Word. Faith and salvation are purely a gift from God.  

This parable is troubling, because so many, who hear the word of God, in the end do not have faith and are not saved. So, many try to make God's word more effective by changing the teaching so that it is more palatable to more people, that is, they try to improve the seed. This is often done by ignoring less popular teachings in the Bible. Many will say, "Well, all that really matters is that we love Jesus." But they won't say who Jesus is or what he has done or what he teaches, lest they cause division. And so, the seed they sow is not the seed Jesus sowed.  

There were many, who heard Jesus' teaching, yet they did not accept his word, or they fell away at time of testing, or the cares and pleasures of this life choked out Jesus' word. Can we improve on Jesus' teaching? Of course not! We can only remain faithful to Jesus' words. If we change the word to try to suite the soil where it is planted, we will not be sowing the good seed. A pastor's job is to preach God's word faithfully and to trust that God will cause the growth.  

This parable is intended to be a warning to us. Have you ever heard God's Word, but you didn't really listen? Has Satan from time to time snatched the word of God away from you so that you did not pay attention to it? Have you ever been tested and failed? Has suffering and temptation caused you to lose sight of the Word of God, which you once received with joy? Do life's anxieties, riches and pleasures crowd your mind and heart, so that there is no room for the word of God to grow? From time to time this is bound to happen, because you are a sinner living in a sinful world with the devil constantly on the attack. And so, each of us finds a plot of unfruitful soil in our own hearts. So, Jesus warns us.  

Well, what should we do when we find the word of God under attack in our very hearts? Jesus tells us, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Keep hearing the word of God. It is through God's word that Satan is sent fleeing, that rocky and shallow soil is broken up, and thorn bushes uprooted.  

Satan snatches the word of God out of the ear of the hearer by lying. He asks, "Did God really say?", even as you hear God speaking. Satan has convinced millions, who have heard God's Word to consider it as nothing more than myth and superstition. What possible defense can we have against this? God's word. God's word can defend itself and expose the devil's lies. When you are assailed by doubt, turn to God's word, read it, listen to it preached, and ask your pastor questions to defend against Satan's attacks. The truth is the greatest defense against lies.  

Times of testing take a toll on our faith, yet when we turn to God's Word, we are given strength to endure our suffering. Just look at the great suffering St. Paul endured for the sake of the Gospel as we heard it in our Epistle lesson. And he was able to boast even in his suffering, knowing that when he was weak, Christ made him strong.  

When the distractions of this world choke out your faith God's word again can help. You're worried about money, about your house, your free time, your children, and so on and so forth. Well, what does God's word say to you? "Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on. … For the Gentiles seek after these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." (Matthew 6:25, 32-33) The promises in God's Word can encourage you and assure you that God certainly will take care of all that you need and he has something much more important than anything you can enjoy in this life.  

The word of God is a great source of solid reasoning against the arguments of the devil, of encouragement in time of testing, and assurance in times of anxiety. Yet, there is something much more. The word of God is powerful. We heard God speak through Isaiah the prophet, "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose." God sends his word to create faith. When a sinner repents and believes in the Gospel, this is not the accomplishment of human beings, but the success of God through his Word.  

God's word is so powerful that every prophecy of Scripture either has been or will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The same powerful word of God, which caused the earth to be created out of nothing, which caused Scripture to be written and fulfilled, which caused the sick to be healed and the dead to be raised, works in your heart to create faith.  

Jesus meant this parable to be a warning. Yet, he also meant it to be a source of comfort. The word Jesus sows finds its source in Christ, who himself was buried in the ground as a dead seed, yet rose to life to bear much fruit. The power of the word of God to create saving faith is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself.  

Many great men in history have gained millions of followers by force or by eloquent wisdom; followers, who were even willing to kill and die. Yet, the word of God is so powerful to create faith that at any moment in history for nearly two thousand years millions upon millions of people have been willing and are willing to die rather than deny him, who was hanged on a tree for them.  

The Gospel that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, took our place under God's judgment, pleaded guilty to our sins and suffered the full punishment for them, so that we might go free is the greatest message that ever has or ever will be spoken. It is this word that forgives your sins, so that you stand before God pure and holy. It is this word that makes your heart able to receive this faith. It is through the power of this word that you too will rise from your grave, just as God has promised. And it is this word, which Christ has commanded to be sown on every soil, even in your own heart.  

Finally, the word of God when it is sown in good soil bears fruit. This means that those who come to faith love God and their neighbor and show this love in their words and actions. Our Gospel lesson gives us an example of such fruit. The disciples came to Jesus and asked him what the parable meant. It seems like a small thing, but it isn't. Many heard Jesus' parable, made no sense of it, and let it slip from their minds. The disciples, in whose hearts the word of God was sprouting and growing, asked Jesus to explain the word. Faith causes you to want to learn God's word more. That is why Christians continue to listen to sermons week after week. That is why Christians go to Bible study and ask questions and read their Bibles at home. They want to learn more. They want to be closer to Jesus. This is fruit produced by the sown word.  

And fruit produces more seeds. Christians, in whose hearts the word grows, then produce fruit, which produce more seed. And they sow that seed, by teaching their children the Gospel and by confessing Christ before others in this world. And so, God produces seed for the sower and food for the eater, so that all might be satisfied.  

This fruit is borne with patience, that is, with steadfastness. Those, who are saved, are not those who once heard the word of God or even those who once believed it. Rather those are saved, who hold on to the word of God and trust it with steadfastness. As St. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?", so we whose hearts have been worked into good soil by the power of the Holy Spirit also cling to Christ's word of forgiveness and grace, so that it continues to grow and produce fruit until God sends his harvesters to gather us to himself. 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. 

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