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Trinity 11: The Consistent Grace of God

8/13/2018

Luke 18:9-14
August 12, 2018

Who do you think is a nicer God, the God of the Old Testament or the God of the New Testament? Which path of salvation would you prefer, that of the Old Testament or that of the New? If you find these questions ridiculous and even offensive, that’s good. The God of the Old Testament and of the New is one and the same God. And his way of salvation has been consistent from the foundation of the world. It is an ancient heresy called Marcionism, which teaches that the God of the Old Testament and of the New are two opposing gods. Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testament, who created the world was cruel, ignorant and unmerciful; the God of the New Testament and the Father of Jesus, however, is merciful and loving. Although Marcion was excommunicated from the Christian Church in 144 AD his view of the gods of the Old and New Testament is still popular in 2018.
People are often shocked when they read the Old Testament at how wrathful and strict God is portrayed and often fall into the notion that the Old Testament teaches a different religion than the New Testament or even that God has changed. But God has not and cannot change and his mercy endures forever even as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And when you look closely, you see that while God is strict, he is always just and merciful. The God, who destroyed all life on earth with a world-wide flood also rescued Noah and his family of eight. The God, who wiped out wicked Sodom rescued Lot and his daughters. And the God, who drowned Pharoah and his hosts in the Red Sea also rescued the nation of Israel from slavery.
A popular notion is that the God of the Old Testament demands good works in order for a person to be saved, while the God of the New Testament only requires faith. This is a false notion. And our Old Testament and Gospel lessons show us clearly that God’s way to salvation has always been by grace through faith.
Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God. Abel’s offering was accepted by God, but Cain’s was rejected. Why? Did Cain offer God a bunch of rotten vegetables while Abel offered good meat? Scripture doesn’t say that. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. We don’t have any more details than that. And there isn’t really any reason to suspect that Cain offered inferior vegetables or held back the best of his crop.
Abel, however, sacrificed the first born of his flock and of their fat portions. This actually tells us a lot about Abel. In Leviticus chapters 3 and 4 God commands Israel through Moses that when offering a peace offering or a sin offering, that all the fat of the animal should be offered on the altar to the LORD. Leviticus 3:16 says, “All fat is the LORD’s.” And in Deuteronomy chapter 15 God commands Israel through Moses that all firstborn males of their flocks and herds should be sacrificed to the LORD. Yet, both of these commandments regarding the offering of fat and the firstborn were made thousands of years after Abel already sacrificed the fat of the firstborn of his flock to the LORD. This means that thousands of years before God commanded Israel through Moses how to offer proper sacrifices, Abel was already doing it. Well, how can this be?
It is apparent that Abel’s father Adam taught Cain and Abel how to offer right sacrifices. Adam was taught by God. So, is Cain’s sin that he did not offer the right sacrifice? No. King David writes in Psalm 51, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (vss. 16-17) God looks at the heart. It is not as if you can figure out the perfect formula for a proper sacrifice and as long as you perform it perfectly you will go to heaven, regardless of what’s on your heart. God desires a repentant heart that trusts in the LORD. God speaks in Psalm 50, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. … Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, .... and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
It is perfectly possible that Cain offered a sacrifice in keeping with how his father Adam taught him. God commanded Israel through Moses to offer the first fruits of their fields as well. Cain could very well have offered the finest and best of his crops to the LORD. So why did God reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s? Hebrews 11:5 answers us, “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. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”
God accepted Abel’s offering, not because his offering was perfectly performed, but because he saw the faith by which Abel offered his gift. Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions, not because he thought he could appease God’s wrath and please him if he gave him a good enough present. What does God need dead sheep for? He offered God this sacrifice, because he believed in the promised Messiah, the firstborn from God, who would make atonement for Abel’s sins. By offering the most precious of his flock as a sacrifice, Abel communicated his faith in the promised Messiah, who would crush the serpent’s head, while suffering the strike upon his heal.
Cain meanwhile trusted in himself. He believed that God should accept him because of his sacrifice, not for the sake of the promised Messiah. Cain was works-righteous. Works-righteousness is the world’s oldest false religion. It teaches that you can be righteous before God based on your own works. Works-righteousness does not teach you to trust in Jesus, but in yourself. While faith in Christ produces love, works-righteousness produces hate. Cain hated his brother. Abel showed his faith by offering God a sacrifice, which communicated his faith in God’s promise. Cain showed his works-righteousness by murdering his brother in hate and jealously, because his works weren’t accepted.
Our Gospel lesson gives us a parallel story. A Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the temple to pray. There is no mistaking it, the Pharisee has good works. If you were to try conclude that God didn’t accept the Pharisee, because his works weren’t quite good enough, you’d completely miss the point of the parable. The Pharisee has fine works. It is good not to be a thief or an adulterer. It is good to fast and give ten percent of what you make to the church. The Pharisee did good things. And unlike Abel, we don’t see any of the good works of the tax collector. He just beats his breast and prays for mercy. So, why does the tax collector go down to his house justified? For the same reason that God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s: faith.
The Pharisee did not have faith. He did not offer to God a broken spirit or a contrite heart. He offered his works, which he thought were so good. Yet, when you look closely, you see that like Cain’s, they were not offered in love. The Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous and treated others with contempt. He hated the tax collector and cared nothing for his soul. His hatred was the rotten fruit that proved that he did not have faith.
The tax collector, however, reveals his faith through his words and actions. By beating his breast, he reveals that he has a broken spirit and contrite heart. He confesses to God that he is a sinner. And not just a sinner, he says, “have mercy on me, the sinner.” The tax collector doesn’t accuse anyone else of sin. He acknowledges his own sins before the Lord and bids for pardon.
And the word the tax collector uses for mercy here really connects him to Abel. He doesn’t use the regular word for mercy. Instead, he says, “Be propitiated to me, the sinner.” This phrase, “be propitiated” is sacrificial language. It refers to a sacrifice. The tax collector is saying to God, “God, let this sacrifice make propitiation or satisfaction for my sins.” They are in the temple during these prayers. The Jews went to the temple to pray during the morning and evening sacrifices. During these sacrifices the priests offered lambs without blemish on the altar, and their fat portions. In the presence of this same type of sacrifice that Abel offered thousands of years previously the tax collector with a contrite heart offers quite possibly the same prayer to God as Abel did. “Be propitiated to me, the sinner.”
Yet, how does this teach that we have the same God and the same way of salvation as the Old Testament? We don’t offer sacrifices anymore. Jesus. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the connection. Jesus, is the promised Messiah, promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden. When Abel offered sacrifices, he did so trusting in the coming Messiah, who is Christ Jesus. When the tax collector said, “Be propitiated to me the sinner” feet away from the burning fat of a sacrificed lamb upon the altar of God, he was not praying that God would be satisfied with the sacrifice of that beast, but with the sacrifice which that offering pointed to: Jesus Christ on the cross.
Every sacrifice of the Old Testament points to Christ Jesus. Adam and Abel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah and Rachel too, Moses and the faithful of Israel, they all trusted in the coming Messiah. Their sacrifices pointed to the future revealed Christ. It is Jesus and his death and resurrection, which unites the Old and the New Testament and proves that God always keeps his promises.
Cain and the Pharisee were rejected by God, because they trusted in their works. They were works-righteous, but God did not declare them righteous. Abel and the tax-collector were accepted by God and declared righteous through faith apart from their works. They humbled themselves and were exalted. And it remains the same today.
The first false religion in the world remains the greatest false religion in the world: works-righteousness. People still believe that they can earn God’s favor by being good or at least better than everybody else. Of course, to do this they have to set boundaries, so that their goodness can be obtainable. So, they love their family members or people who love them and believe they have fulfilled the law of love. They speak poorly of others behind their back, but justify themselves by saying that it is true. In many ways people declare themselves righteous before God. And in many ways we do too. We think God owes us something, because we said something nice to someone or donated to a charity or showed up to church or said a prayer. We think this way. We judge God according to our standards and are aghast that he dares to judge us according to his. This is works-righteousness. It produces only love for the self and resentment for God and your neighbor.
And works-righteousness gives no hope. You don’t know if you are good enough for God. If you break out of your dilution that you are better than everyone else, you are left with the sad realization that you are indeed a poor miserable sinner. And in the religion of works-righteousness, that is a terrifying position to be in. Yet, in the one true religion, the religion of Abel, the tax collector, and the entire Christian Church, which teaches that we are declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ apart from our works, such a position is no longer terrifying. Rather, it is the only position in which you can come before God and be declared righteous. We come before our God as poor miserable sinners, we claim nothing else from ourselves, but we put our trust in Jesus Christ alone, who sacrificed himself for our sins. And God counts such faith for righteousness.
It is comforting that the God of the Old Testament is still the God we pray to today. And it is comforting that his way of salvation remains the same. Because, this means that God always keeps his promises. Brantley David Cordray was baptized today. That is a wonderful thing. Why? What benefits does such pouring of water and a few words give? “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as the words and promises of God declare.” And which are these words and promises of God? “Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark, ‘Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’”
These words and promises of God are comforting, because they remain true. If God promises it, then it stands forever. This means that when Brantley sins, when he brings shame upon himself (which remains unavoidable in our sinful condition), and when the Holy Spirit, whom he has received today in his Baptism strikes his conscience with remorse over his sins, he can say to God, “Be merciful to me, the sinner, for the sake of Christ, who is the Savior of all who trust in him both from the Old and New Testament.” And he can go down to his home confident that he is justified.
May God grant us such faith to hear and believe the promises of Christ, so that we may stand in a right relationship with God today and forever. Amen.

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Trinity 9 You Cannot Serve God and Mammon

7/29/2018

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Luke 16:1-13
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
July 29, 2018

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
This lesson from Jesus clearly teaches against greed. Greed is forbidden in the ninth and tenth commandments, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” and “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” The prohibition to covet is often looked at as the least of God’s commands, being tagged on to the end of the Decalogue. Yet, Jesus’ warning against greed is nothing short of a warning against breaking the greatest commandment God gives. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.” In this greatest commandment we are given the meaning of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” How do you have no other gods before the LORD God? By loving the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
Martin Luther correctly teaches in his Large Catechism concerning the First Commandment: Whatever you fear, love, and trust in most is your god. Most people don’t think this way, but it is true. Most Christians figure that if they aren’t worshiping a golden statue or praying in a Mosque then they are obeying the first and greatest commandment. But there is another false god with far more followers than any other idol: Mammon.
Mammon is the Aramaic word for worldly possessions or money. Aramaic was Jesus’ mother tongue. Mammon has far more devotees than any other religion, because people from all walks of life around the world serve mammon; fear, love, and trust in mammon above all things. People believe that if they have enough money they will be secure and safe. It’s simple mathematics. Mammon is such a persuasive god, people sacrifice their time, friends, wife, children, even their bodies to obtain more money. And the only thing money can buy will perish.
So, why does Jesus tell a parable, where the main character is commended for his unwavering devotion to mammon? “The master commended the unrighteous manager for his schrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” Jesus does not tell us this parable so that we will cheat, lie, and steal to gain more money, like the manager in our lesson. Rather, Jesus shames us Christians for being less diligent toward our God than the mammon worshipers are toward theirs.
St. Paul warns us in our Epistle lesson, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” We live in an urgent time. Christ will return like a thief in the night and judge the living and the dead. On that day we will face eternity and we need to be ready. Yet, we’re lazy. We slack off as if we have all the time in the world. Christians, for the most part, don’t take their devotion to Christ as seriously as those who worship this creation. The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with this generation than the sons of light; to our shame.
So, what shall we pathetic Christians do in response to this embarrassing rebuke? Jesus says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Is Jesus telling us to cheat our employers and use bribes so that people will receive us into their homes as the manager in his parable did? Certainly not. Jesus is not telling us to cheat and bribe the rich so that we can benefit here on earth. He tells us to make friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that we can be welcomed into the eternal dwellings. The rich can’t give you eternal dwellings no matter how much you suck up to them. And you can’t buy these eternal dwellings no matter how much money you scrounge.
Mammon isn’t in and of itself bad. It is unrighteous, because it cannot give you eternal life. But mammon, like all creation is a gift from God. All things are made holy by the word of God and prayer. Yet nothing in creation should be an object of your worship, not even your father, mother, son, daughter, wife, or husband. Yet all these things and people can be used for service in the kingdom of God! By telling us to make friends with unrighteous mammon, Jesus is telling us not to have mammon our god, but rather to make mammon our servant and as such a servant to the kingdom of heaven.
There is a big difference between serving mammon and having mammon serve you. Mammon is a terrible master; a cruel god. Mammon is unforgiving, unmerciful; it’ll betray you to your worst enemy. It demands complete devotion your entire life and then abandons you when you die. And we see people racing after it all around us; bowing to it; slaving for it. Children don’t know their fathers, because their fathers devote all their time searching for money. Worse, children don’t know their heavenly father, because their parents search after money instead of teaching them about Jesus; money for bicycles, sports, camp, vacations, fancy clothes; money to give them the best life they can live here on this sinful earth. But money can’t buy Jesus or his forgiveness. Serving mammon is slavery, which leads to death.
Serving God is freedom, which leads to eternal life. And with such freedom, you can make mammon your servant. This is what Jesus is telling us to do. Make friends with unrighteous mammon. Make the mammon holy by how you use it. You do this by recognizing that all you have from your head to your toes, from your bank account to your coin purse is from God. He has given you all you need in this life. It belongs to him. And as a free child of God, you use all that you have, your skills, time, and money in God’s service. All you do as a Christian should be in love toward God and in service toward your neighbor.
Now, who will welcome you into your eternal dwelling? Well, those are your fellow Christians. Jesus says in his familiar end times lesson in Matthew chapter 25, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” It is the least of Jesus’ brothers, who will welcome us into our eternal homes; Christians, whom we have served in this life with unrighteous mammon made holy by being put to work by free children of God!
Of course, we can’t look at people and know whether they will join us in heavenly bliss. And Jesus commands us to love even our enemies and pray for them. Yet, it is clear how Jesus wants us to treat our fellow lambs. He wants us to care for them. Watch out for their needs. Be generous. Feed, clothe, and help the poor. Support the preaching of the Gospel and missions. What does God want you to do with the mammon he has given you? Do you think he might want you to use it as an instrument to grow his church, to support missions and Christian education? God wants you to be generous with those in need, especially those within the household of God. That is how you make friends with unrighteous mammon; friends who will welcome you into your eternal dwelling.
The manager in our lesson was clever, no doubt. But he had something going for him that was essential to the success of his scheme. His master was very generous. And he wanted everyone to know that he was generous. He didn’t rescind his manager’s adjustments to his debtor’s debts, because he wanted all his debtors to believe that he was generous; which he was. He was even generous enough to give his manager time to cheat him instead of throwing him into prison immediately.
We are all managers of what we have. We don’t really own it. God does. We’re stewards of God’s gifts. God is generous. He will take care of you. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the rest will be added unto you.” God will feed you and clothe you. He’ll provide you with all you need to support your body and life. He wants you to believe that he is generous. And he wants you to be generous with what he entrusts to you.
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is unrighteous in a very little is also unrighteous in much. If then you have not been faithful in 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?” Mammon is very little, no matter how much you get. It’s just unrighteous wealth. But Jesus does have true riches for you. And he is even more generous with his true riches.
As God wants you to be generous with your unrighteous wealth, making friends with those you will see in heaven, even more he wants you to be generous with true riches, which Christ Jesus has won for you. True riches come in the form of the forgiveness of sins, which you receive through Jesus’ Word and Sacraments from Jesus’ cross. God’s greatest generosity is seen where Christ sheds his blood for sinners. Through faith in Christ, you have riches that cannot be measured on earth. And as you have been given these riches freely, so Christ wants you to give them freely as well, by forgiving others, putting the best construction on things and not getting unreasonably angry, by sharing Christ’s love through patience and through sharing the Gospel.
You can’t buy eternal life with money. Neither can you earn it with your generosity toward others. But if you trust in Jesus through faith, you are free to lord over unrighteous wealth for the benefit of the kingdom, which you will inherit. Christ has set you free to be a child and heir of his kingdom. Do not become a slave to mammon. Amen.

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Trinity 8: Don't Talk to Strangers

7/23/2018

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Matthew 7:15-23
July 22, 2018
When I was a young boy, maybe six-years-old, my mother dressed my sister and me snug in our winter wear, so snug hardly an inch of skin was showing on our entire bodies and the snow pants and coats were so bulky that we could hardly bend our knees and elbows, but rather had to waddle like penguins to school. Although we lived just two blocks from St. John’s Lutheran School in Racine, WI, it was a treacherous journey for two children with the combined age of maybe eleven as the wind blew snow so forcefully into our faces that we had to hold on to the chain-link fence of the school playground to guide our way. When we were just a block away from the school a mini-van pulled up next to us and a nice lady kindly invited us to get in and she would drive us the rest of the way. My little sister immediately ran toward the van, but I grabbed her by the hood of her winter coat and shouted, “No!”, and we walked the rest of the way.
“Don’t talk to strangers!” This slogan had been drilled into our heads at school for the past couple weeks. We would watch videos in class about how to act if a stranger talked to us and how to recognize danger and avoid getting abducted. We even gathered in the school library for “Officer Friendly” to warn us against talking to strangers. The lady, who offered to give us a ride, I later learned, was my friend’s mom. My classmate was sitting just in the back seat. She apologized to my mom for scaring us and my mom told my six-year-old self that she was proud of me for following the instructions we learned in school: “Don’t talk to strangers or get into their vehicles even if they seem friendly.”
This isn’t a novel concept. We teach our children how to recognize danger in order to protect them. And this isn’t just for elementary school children, who lack the ability to make good judgments on their own. We prepare our children when they go to high school and college, so that they do not hang out with trouble makers, to protect them against predators, and to defend them against harmful teachings that they will be taught in public schools and universities. We tell them what type of behavior is not okay, so that they can defend themselves or seek help if a person of trust turns out not to be trusted. We warn them against the teachings of evolution, atheism, and materialism. And thank God my parents taught me the meaning of the Sixth Commandment or I would not have been able to distinguish good from evil when the sex-ed curriculum at my public high school taught ungodly behavior.
False prophets come to you in sheep’s clothing, Jesus warns us. This means that they look nice! They look like they can be trusted. They look like they just want to help you. So, how can you defend yourself against them? “You will know them by their fruits,” Jesus tells us. Just as we prepare our children for danger they will inevitably encounter, Jesus prepares us for false prophets by telling us to look at their fruits.
The fruits of false prophets are their teachings. False prophets may be very nice and good looking. You might have a lot in common with them. They may be impressive. They might even be members of the LCMS. You won’t be able to identify them as false prophets by any of these signs. You need to look at their fruit: what do they teach.
But to identify their bad fruit, that is, their false teaching, you need to know what good fruit is. Good fruit is the teaching of Jesus. You find the unadulterated teaching of Jesus in the holy Scriptures. St. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” and St. Peter writes, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
And how does God distinguish between the prophets, who prophecy lies in his name and the true prophets? The false prophets “speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:16) And so, you need to know what is from the mouth of the LORD and from the mouth of some dreamer, of whom there are too many to count.
Jesus says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” And so, we need to be built on the rock, not just our little children, but we ourselves, no matter how old we get. We learn Luther’s Small Catechism in our youth not because Luther was such a great guy, but because they sum up the clear teachings of Scripture. The Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, the Office of the Keys, and the Sacrament of the Altar: these are all teachings of holy Scripture. If you are familiar with these teachings, you will be able to identify bad fruit from a bad tree, whether you are six or 106-years-old. And this means that you should be a student of the catechism no matter how old you get.
When you are familiar with the teachings of Scripture and your Catechism you will be able to recognize the bad fruit of false prophets. When preachers teach contrary to Scripture, whether that has to do with teachings concerning creation, marriage, or salvation itself, you know that they are false prophets. They’ll try to tell you that Scripture isn’t clear in this or that passage. Don’t believe them. Scripture is clear and profitable to the one who pays attention to it. Or they’ll say that Scripture doesn’t necessarily tell us what God says, but what men once wrote. This too is false. God caused the Scriptures to be written and he has preserved them for us.
If you look at old paintings of the fall into sin you might notice a peculiar detail. In many paintings, especially those from the renaissance period, the serpent through whom Satan speaks has a human head. And not just a human head, often times a feminine human head, one, who looks peculiarly like Eve. Now, why would so many artists paint the serpent to look like Eve? Didn’t they know what snakes looked like? They did it to make a theological point. How did the serpent deceive Eve? He said, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The serpent tempted Eve with desires he placed in her heart. Eve looked at the fruit and she liked what Satan said. And so, it is important for us to recognize that the fruit Jesus warns us against might look good to our eyes.
Bad fruit is bad, because it contradicts the pure teaching of Jesus. It’s not bad, because it smells putrid in our nostrils or looks rotten to our eyes. The most popular bad fruits are those that feed our inborne desires, as St. Paul warns, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) You can’t just rely on yourself to identify good and bad fruit. What you like; what makes you feel good, may very well be bad fruit, as Jesus says, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts...” A preacher may preach a sermon, which touches on every single one of your pet peeves and turn his pulpit into your soap box, so that you exclaim, “That was the best sermon I ever heard.”, yet the preacher failed to speak a word about Jesus. Just because you like what a sermon says, does not mean that it is good fruit.
Holy Scripture is clear. Otherwise it wouldn’t be profitable for teaching. The reason Christians support women pastors, evolution, and homosexuality is not because the Bible is unclear on these topics. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14, “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.” This isn’t unclear. Anyone with the reading comprehension of a second grader knows what it says. Christians don’t believe it, because they don’t like what God says. Likewise, what Moses writes in Exodus 20 is clear, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” And St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, “Do not be deceived: neither sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” These passages and many others from Scripture are crystal clear. But their meanings are rejected, because they go against our feelings. When Jesus warns against false prophets, he warns against the desires of our hearts.
There are also many, who say that these are side issues that are not very important. All that matters is that we believe in and love Jesus. This is called “Gospel-reductionism.” It is a false teaching from the devil. All Scripture is God breathed and profitable, not just that which directly relates to Jesus. If we only believe the parts of the Bible that relate to Jesus, we will deny that passages we don’t like pertain to Jesus. For this reason, churches that embrace women pastors, homosexuality, and evolution also soon embrace teachings that Jesus is not the only way to heaven, denial of the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s vicarious atonement for sin. This is why Jesus warns against all false teaching, not just some false teaching.
You might like a preacher’s personality, you might not. But you don’t judge the preacher’s preaching based on that. You judge it based on whether it is faithful to God’s Word, preaches the Law and the Gospel faithfully, and points to Jesus as the only way to salvation. This doesn’t mean that you can’t like your pastor. In Acts chapter 20 the Ephesians were most sorrowful that St. Paul said that they would never see his face again. They loved him, because he did not shrink from preaching to them the full council of God. Whether you like your pastor’s personality or not is not important, but rather that he preaches the full council of God faithfully.
Bad fruit can be really tempting. It looks good. It tastes good. It’s like it’s manufactured perfectly for you. So, what’s the harm in it? Well, it doesn’t give you eternal life. Only the good fruit does that, as St. Peter said to Jesus after many of his disciples left him to look after tastier fruit, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
The fruit Jesus gives you was ripened on his cross, where he shed his blood for you. All Scripture culminates around the event of Jesus’ crucifixion for the sins of all people. This is the moment of salvation on which our salvation hinges. It is through feasting on this fruit that we attain eternal life, as St. Paul preached to the Ephesians in Acts chapter 20, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified.” False teaching that makes you feel good does not give you this inheritance, only the precious blood of Jesus, which was shed for you and for which the entire Scriptures were written can make you an heir of eternal life.
Why do you spend so much time equipping your children, so that they are safe even after they move out of your home? Because you want them to live long and happy lives and be able to enjoy that life with you. Why does Jesus tell you to beware of false prophets? Because those false prophets can’t offer you anything good. False teaching kills saving faith. But the good fruit Jesus feeds you gives you eternal life with him. Nothing else can do that.
The best way to beware of false prophets is to cling to Jesus’ words, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. Receive Christ’s word and sacraments for what they are: good fruit from a good tree, which is indeed the tree of life. No other food will do. Amen.

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Trinity 6: Jesus defends us before the judgment seat of God

7/9/2018

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Matthew 5:17-20
July 8, 2018

“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Is Jesus giving legal advice here? But what if no one is suing me? For how many of us does this legal advice even apply? In fact, it applies to every single one of us. Jesus is not giving us legal advice for being sued in an earthly court. He is telling us how to be prepared to stand before the judgment seat of God. Everyone will stand before God’s judgment throne and give an account of all their deeds, both good and bad. The plaintiff, who will accuse you before this court is the Law of God itself, which we just heard in our Old Testament lesson: The Ten Commandments. Every transgression you’ve committed against this Law will be presented before the court. And if you are found guilty in this court, you will be thrown into the prison called hell, where you will pay the penalty of your debt for eternity.

How then can you come to terms with this accuser? What is your legal defense? Are you going to plead not-guilty to breaking the Ten Commandments? Have you had no other gods before the LORD God? Have you honored your parents and all authorities in life? Have you abstained from murder, adultery, and theft? Perhaps you think you have. “I don’t worship Allah or a golden statue. I don’t get into legal trouble. I’ve never killed anyone, cheated on my wife, or stolen anything.”

And, this probably is how most people plan to defend themselves when they get their day in God’s court. But Jesus himself destroys this defense. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment...” Jesus teaches us the true meaning of the commandment. The commandment isn’t simply concerned with your outward expression. That is how the Pharisees treat the Law, who, Jesus says, are like whitewashed tombs, who are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. No, the commandment is concerned with the intent of your heart.

Yet, even this rebuttal from Jesus doesn’t deter the human pride. “I’m justified in my anger! So-and-so has done me wrong, so I have a right to be angry with him.” You do? Okay, then. Give your defense before the judgment seat of God. Tell him that you are justified in your anger and are not guilty of breaking this commandment. See how that goes for you.

But this is another example of the righteousness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees’ righteousness is hypocritical and self-justifying. They don’t actually care for their neighbor. If you are truly justified in your anger, then go to your brother with whom you are angry and tell him! Confront the one who has sinned against you and seek repentance, so that you can forgive! No? You won’t do this? You just want to remain “justifiably angry?” Then your justification for being angry is in serious doubt. Righteous anger seeks to make a wrong right through repentance and forgiveness. Righteous anger doesn’t stew and hate. This is not the righteousness of God, but the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” You can’t defend yourself in God’s court by saying, “Well, I’m not perfect, but I’m better than most people.” That won’t cut it. You have to be perfect. Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. And their outward righteousness, which is the only kind of righteousness you can see with your eyes, surpasses them all.

So, how can you have a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees? Well, you have to have a better righteousness. So, first we have to learn a little more about the righteousness of these religious elites. We already know that theirs is an outward righteousness. They claim to keep the commandment, “You shall not murder,” even while wishing and even demanding that the Governor Pilate crucify Jesus. (They apparently think the commandment says, “Your hands shall not murder, but your mouth and heart may.”) But why is the Pharisees’ righteousness purely outward? It starts with their teaching. The Pharisees teach that you are saved by your works. Their purpose for doing good works is entirely selfish. They don’t refrain from murder out of love for their neighbor. They don’t murder, so that they won't be found guilty. Yet, their heart has no care for their neighbor’s physical safety.

This is a completely different type of righteousness than the one Jesus wants you to have. The Pharisees’ righteousness is external, hypocritical, and phony. The righteousness you need to be saved is internal, sincere, and true.

Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” and “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” The righteous works of the Pharisees are inferior, because their teaching is inferior. They relax the commandments of God and teach others to do the same. But the Law and the Prophets are not only about outward works.

The Law and the Prophets refer to the books of the Old Testament. This certainly includes the Ten Commandments. Yet, the Law of Moses is not all law. Within the Old Testament there are also many promises: promises of a Savior, who will crush Satan’s head, be born of a virgin, be stricken for the transgressions of God’s people and rise from the dead and sit on the throne of David forever. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament scriptures not only by perfectly obeying the Ten Commandments, both inwardly and outwardly, but by fulfilling every prophecy of the Savior. Every sacrifice made in the Old Testament by men of God was a prophecy pointing to Christ Jesus, who would die on the cross. And in his suffering and death for the sins of the world, Jesus fulfilled these prophecies.

Jesus is God. He didn’t need to submit himself to the Law. But he became a man, so that he could fulfill the demands of the Law in your stead. You have broken the Ten Commandments. Jesus obeyed them and gives you the credit through faith. Jesus had no sin whatsoever, but he bore the sins of all people and suffered the punishment for them. When we see Jesus dying on the cross, we don’t simply see the sorry sight of an innocent man falsely condemned to die. We see the righteous judgment of God against every sin ever committed and to be committed. This means that when the Law accuses you as you go to God’s court, you do not try to come to terms with it by justifying your actions and eschewing the blame. No, when the Law accuses you, you point to Jesus on the cross and say: “There is my righteousness. I believe were sinners more than sand upon the ocean floor that Jesus has paid the full ransom and made atonement for them all, including me!” You come to terms with your accuser through repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus, who is the only one who has fulfilled all righteousness.

You are declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith Jesus gives you a righteousness that far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. With this righteousness you have assurance that your sins are forgiven, that God is pleased with you, and that you will be safe as you stand before God’s judgment throne on the Last Day. This is a righteousness that you cannot see, but dwells within your heart. So, what then becomes of your outward righteousness? Well, you don’t need it to be saved. So, why then do you show love for your brother? Because you actually love him. The righteousness you have through faith in Jesus causes you to desire to love your brother. This isn’t rooted in outward actions, but inwardly.

The unbeliever looks at the righteousness through faith and says, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” But the believer responds, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Through Baptism and faith in Christ, you die to sin and arise a new person. The righteousness that dwells in you through faith in Christ produces outward works of righteousness from the inside out. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 13, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” To those who have Christ’s righteousness through faith, more righteousness will be produced through them in outward works of love. But to those who do not have this righteousness of Christ through faith, even their outward works of righteousness will be taken away from them. God will not accept them, because without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Having been justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Law cannot accuse you of sin. You are no longer its debtor. Yet, now you are free to do good works, which exceed those of the scribes and Pharisees; good works, which start from the heart. This is why Jesus also tells you to leave your gift at the altar if you remember that your brother has something against you. Being a Christian is not simply about having a good relationship with God. It is about having a good relationship with your fellow Christians as well. Your relationship with God is vertical. Your relationship with your fellow Christian in horizontal. This is what Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer, when we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our faith in the forgiveness of sins from our heavenly Father is inextricably connected to the forgiveness we grant our brothers and sisters. This is because the forgiveness God gives you through Jesus, he also gives to your fellow Christian. When you forgive others, you confess the forgiveness of sins freely given for Christ’s sake.

Nowhere is this vertical and horizontal relationship more visible than at the Communion rail. And this is why it is so important to forgive those who have sinned against you and to repent to those, whom you have sinned against before you receive Communion. When you partake of the true body and blood of Jesus you are not simply expressing fellowship vertically with God. This isn’t a personal meal just between you and God. You are also expressing fellowship with those around you, who partake of the same feast. This is why you shouldn’t commune at churches that teach false doctrine and then commune here where we teach and confess truthfully. This is also why you should reconcile yourself with those you are angry with or who are angry with you before you receive Communion. If you will not forgive your brother or sister or refuse to repent for the sin you’ve committed against your brother and sister, then you cannot receive Christ’s body and blood with a good conscience. That means that you would receive the Sacrament unworthily. Instead of receiving it for the increase of faith toward God and fervent love toward your fellow Christian, your reception of the Sacrament can cause spiritual harm and your faith and love will decrease.

So, how do you come to terms with your accuser as you go with him to court? Clearly not by justifying your own actions. Yet, you don’t even come to terms with your accuser by pointing out that you have forgiven others or been reconciled with your neighbor. Because of the weakness of human nature, we never accomplish this perfectly. You come to terms with your accuser only by pointing to Christ as your righteousness and fulfillment of the Law for you. St. Paul says of his outward works of righteousness, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. … and being found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.” (Philippians 3:8b,9a)

Let Christ Jesus be your defense attorney. Let him plead your case with his pierced hands and feet. Only Christ’s righteousness will give you the confidence to stand before God’s judgment throne without fear. And you receive this righteousness through faith alone. Amen.

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Trinity 5; At Jesus Word the Church Grows

7/2/2018

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Luke 5:1-11
July 1, 2018

They had toiled all night and caught nothing. Jesus was well aware of this. Yet, still he tells Peter to push out into the deep and let down the nets. Although this seems to Peter to be a futile task, he replies to Jesus, “But at your word I will let down the nets.” And behold, they caught so many fish that their nets began to tear and they filled two boats with the great catch.

Here Peter gives us a good example of faith. Peter is an experienced fisherman. They had already failed to catch fish all night. He knew that it was unlikely to catch any fish now in the middle of the day. That's why they already washed their nets and put them away. Yet, Peter submits his reason and experience to Jesus’ word. And as a result, he caught more fish than he had ever seen at once. Jesus’ word trumps Peter’s reason. And so, should his word overrule our wisdom and experience.

Yet, this is much easier said than done. Setting our reason and experience aside can be an impossible task. “Baptism can’t save! How can water do anything but wet the skin?” Yet, Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16) So, we believe the plain words of our Lord. Likewise, most reject the idea that Jesus’ actual body, which was pierced on the cross and blood, which flowed from his wounds is present in the Lord’s Supper. It looks and tastes like ordinary bread and wine. Yet faith clings to the words of Christ, “This is my body, given for you. This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26) Ordinary men can’t forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins. So, it is a great offense to many that in our church pastors forgive the sins of the people. Yet, our Lord Jesus clearly says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:23)

Being a Christian means submitting your reason and experience to Jesus’ clear words. If we let our reason judge whether what Jesus says is true or not, we would constantly doubt our salvation. “How can Jesus say that my sins are forgiven? Doesn’t he know what I’ve done? Doesn’t he know that I keep repeating the sins for which I ask forgiveness? Doesn’t he know the wicked thoughts I’ve had, the hatred, the lust, the anger? How can I go to heaven simply by faith. Surely, I must do my part!” But Jesus knows your sins better than you do. Yet, the truth remains, Christ’s blood makes propitiation for all your sins. True saving faith is to trust in Jesus’ words over your experience. Your reason will say, water is just water, bread and wine are just bread and wine, and God can’t punish Jesus for your sins. Yet, faith says with Peter, “Yet at your word I believe.”

At Jesus’ word, Peter and his fellow fishermen caught a tremendous amount of fish. Yet this biblical account is not really about fish.  Also, at Jesus’ word many people pressed up to Jesus, so that he had to take refuge in a boat off the shore. It is Jesus’ word that is the heart beat of the Christian Church. Without the words of Jesus, there is no Church. And so, it is of the utmost importance that we remain faithful to the Word of God. Just as Jesus’ Word caused fish to swarm into Peter’s nets, God’s Word brings people from all nations into his Church.

When Peter saw the great catch of fish he fell down at Jesus’ knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Here, Peter gives us a good example of unbelief. And so, it is important for us to learn what Word of God creates faith, forgives sins, and brings people into Christ’s Church. We rightly divide God’s Word into two: The Law and the Gospel. The law is what God commands of us. God commands that we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. God’s law threatens eternal punishment to all who fail to love perfectly. To an extent, people can know God’s law even apart from God’s word, because the law is written on our hearts (Romans 2:15). Even non-Christians know what is right and wrong. The law offers no comfort. It only threatens. And when one is confronted with the great power of God, fear overtakes the heart. This is why Peter tells Jesus to go away from him. He has come face to face with the almighty and holy God! God’s power and might are not comforting to you if you are not aware of the Gospel. Instead, God’s might terrifies burdened consciences.

Peter spoke the truth when he called himself a sinful man. Yet, he demonstrated his lack of faith when he told Jesus to depart from him. Yet, Peter didn’t need to cease to be a sinful man before he could ask Jesus to stay with him. Rather, Peter needed to have faith. The law and God’s power cause a sinner to ask Jesus to depart from him. The Gospel, which reveals God’s grace and forgiveness for Christ’s sake causes a sinner to say to Jesus, “Abide with me, for night is day when you are near.”

This is not to say that the law is not necessary! Jesus himself preached the law clearly and boldly. He preached against divorce, fornication, lust, covetousness, hatred, theft, gossip. But the law isn’t the net that brings people into Christ’s Church. Because without the Gospel, the law causes us to say to Jesus, “Depart from me for I am a sinner.” It is the Gospel that causes the sinful man to cling to Jesus and not let him go. Because the Gospel reveals that Jesus died, so that sinners might live and that he forgives sins willingly.

Yet, it is the Gospel that is impossible for reason to accept. Your reason and experience can accept the law. The law makes sense. If you do wrong, you should be punished. If you want to be rewarded, you need to do good. There’s no arguing with that! But your reason will argue against the cross of Christ. How can a man make propitiation for the sins of the whole world? How can God credit Christ’s righteousness to sinners and our sins against the righteous Jesus? That’s not fair! That’s not just! Our reason wants to cling to the law and say, “No, I must do something to earn my salvation. I have to make amends myself.” But you can’t. Your sins are a greater debt than you can possibly repay. If you could see the true ugliness of your transgressions, you would say with Peter, “Depart from my, Jesus for I am full of sin.” And this is where the law is very useful. It will beat you down until your reason gives up and says, “I can’t. As much as I try, I can’t earn my salvation. I must throw myself at the mercy of God.”

The law can never assure you of God’s love. It can never give you confidence that you are saved. It simply tells you what is right and that you are not. The Gospel alone creates saving faith and forgives sins. Only Jesus’ death and resurrection can save you. And so, it is only the preaching of the tender mercy of God shown through Jesus’ suffering and death that can grow the church. Baptism, which reason cannot understand, but which connects you to Christ’s death and resurrection grows the church. The Lord’s Supper, which no sane person could actually believe to be Jesus’ true body and blood keeps the church strong. God’s grace, which must be believed against common sense is the net, which catches men.

Jesus tells St. Peter that from now on he will be catching men. Here Jesus is instituting the office of the ministry of the word. Peter and all ministers of the word will catch people, not with nets, not with eloquent wisdom, not with gimmicks, but with Jesus’ words. Ministers use Jesus’ word as their tool to effectively catch men and women and bring them into Christ’s fold. It is the only tool that works.

Jesus calls sinful men to be pastors. This is as remarkable as the fact that Jesus calls sinners to be his saints and live with him forever. But just as Jesus forgives all of you your many sins with his priceless and inexhaustible blood, he also forgives his pastors. And he calls them not to represent their sinful selves, but to represent Christ Jesus. Jesus says to his ministers, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) As well as, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I command them. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Pastors do not work with their own power, but with the power and resources of Christ, which are given to them through Jesus’ word, as St. Paul writes, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1)

And because pastors do not work according to their own power, wisdom, or talents, but they simply do and speak according to God’s word, they cannot claim success for the growth of a church. Rather, as Peter recognized that the cause of the great catch of fish was not his ability to cast a net, but rather Jesus’ word, so also pastors must recognize that the faith and love, which is produced in their people is a result of Jesus and his word. As St. Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

This is a difficult thing to accept, because sometimes God does not grant the growth we want. How many Lutheran congregations are stagnant or dying? And it is a strong temptation to change the word, which we preach. Pastors and congregations are tempted to take out some of the words of Jesus, which might sound a bit offensive. And while it’s easy to point the finger at liberal church bodies like the ELCA or United Methodists, who do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, we should examine ourselves first. Do we water down the Gospel, so that it can reach more people? Do I do this? Is this what Jesus did or what he commands us to do?

No. The Church grows by Jesus’ word and no one else's. We can’t trick people into believing. If they are offended, they are offended. We must trust in God to produce the growth, just as Peter trusted in Jesus as he cast the nets.

Jesus did institute the Office of the Ministry and his pastors are indeed charged with keeping his word and preaching and teaching according to it. But the words of Jesus are not the exclusive property of the pastor. No, all who have been brought into the boat by the words of Christ now own those words. Jesus’ words are your property to console your conscience when it gets burned and to comfort your loved ones and children, to teach in your home and always carry on your heart. It is also your responsibility as a Christian to judge your pastor according to Jesus’ word. This means that you actually need to learn what Jesus says, read your Catechism and Scripture, listen to sermons, attend Bible studies, and devote yourself to God’s Word.

Jesus’ Word is the most important thing in your life, not just the most important thing in the life of the pastor. The disciples left everything to follow Jesus, but this is not because they were called into the ministry of the word. It is because they were called to be members of Christ’s Church. And Christ’s Church is not filled by nets, but by the calling of the Gospel, which says to all sinners, come, cling to Christ. Christ calls you to follow him, to hear his word and trust above all things. Let us all follow Jesus and trust in his word.  Amen.

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

Trinity 11: The Consistent Grace of God

Trinity 9 You Cannot Serve God and Mammon

Trinity 8: Don't Talk to Strangers

Trinity 6: Jesus defends us before the judgment seat of God

Trinity 5; At Jesus Word the Church Grows

Rev. James Preus

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