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Making Friends for Eternity

8/19/2019

Luke 16:1-13
August 18, 2019

“You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus here is clearly teaching the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Mammon is a false god. Mammon is often translated as money, but it refers to any type of riches or property. Martin Luther says that mammon is riches or temporal goods anyone owns over and above what his needs require, and with which he can benefit others without injuring himself. Of course, what one’s needs require is difficult to discern. Three-year-olds are not the only ones who use the phrase, “I need” quite liberally. The more money we have, generally, the more needs we seem to have.
But money, property, riches, all mammon are false gods. There is only one God, whom we should worship. The Father, who created all things through his Son, who died for us, and the Holy Spirit, who makes us holy through his word: three distinct Persons inseparably united in one Godhead. Apart from this Holy Trinity, there is no god. You make something your god when you fear, love, or trust in it most. This is why mammon is a false god. People fear, love, and trust in money and possessions more than the one true God, from whom come all good gifts. Your god is that which you fear losing most. Your god is that, which you serve. And far more people serve mammon than serve the one true God, who alone is deserving of service and adoration.
The First Commandment is law. When Jesus teaches us the First Commandment by telling us that we cannot serve both God and mammon, he is confronting us with our own sin. That is what the law does. “The law is but a mirror bright/ To bring the inbred sin to light/ That lurks within our nature.” (LSB 555:3) Through the law comes knowledge of sin. We serve mammon. We work hard to get it. We guard it. We prize is. We fear losing it. We are much more concerned that we might lose some of our extra mammon than that others lack what they need. Mammon is a false god that draws us away from the true God and his word and keeps us from serving our neighbor in love. This is a sin.
The law confronts us with our own sins, so that we repent. To repent means to turn from our sin. We must turn from serving mammon and serve the only true God. Yet, how can this be done? How can we make God our only master? The temptation to serve other gods we can feel, touch, and count are much too alluring to this sinful flesh!
The truth is, we cannot make God our master. Rather, he makes himself our Master, that is, our Lord. You are taught in your Small Catechism:
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,
who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death,
that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.
This is most certainly true.
Jesus became our Master by purchasing us from sin, death, and the devil with his precious blood and innocent suffering and death. Jesus becomes our one and only Master, our God and Lord through faith, when we believe that he has forgiven our sins and rescued us from the condemnation of the law. And even this faith, he gives to us as a gift through the Holy Spirit, who works in our hearts through the Gospel.
You cannot make God your one and only Master by serving him. You are much too sinful to do that. You will fail. Rather, you serve God, because he has made himself your Master through Jesus Christ, whom you receive through faith.
Yet, what should we do with all this mammon? It still exists, doesn’t it? We cannot just act like it doesn’t. Yet, since Christ Jesus has become our only Master through faith, we certainly can’t serve it either. So, what ought we do with it?
Mammon is a gift from God. It shows us that God not only provides us with what we need to support this body and life, but he supplies us with much more than we need. Yet, he does not supply us with these gifts in order for us to abandon him and serve the gifts. Rather, since we are now God’s servants and he is our Master, everything we own becomes in the service of God’s kingdom. We do not serve unrighteous mammon, rather, unrighteous mammon serves us to the glory of God.
Jesus tells a strange parable. And it is made all the stranger by the approval of this dishonest steward, who stole from his master in order to be welcomed into the homes of his debtors. Yet, the master does not commend the steward for his lying and cheating, but rather for his shrewdness, because he worked diligently to secure room and board for himself by means of mammon, fifty measures of oil here and twenty measures of wheat there. Jesus does not want us Christians to emulate this shrewd steward in his dishonesty, but rather in his shrewdness and diligence. Make your mammon work for the kingdom of God as diligently as this man made his master’s mammon work for himself.
Jesus says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Many falsely claim that here Jesus teaches us to earn our way to heaven by giving to the poor or giving to the church. Yet, we have already learned that we cannot earn our way to heaven, but rather, Jesus has purchased us from all sin, from death and hell, and has made himself our Master. And we his servants, live under him in his kingdom forever. We do not serve in order to get to heaven, but rather, we serve, because we are already heirs of God’s kingdom in heaven through faith in Jesus’ blood. Rather, here Jesus is teaching us how to serve him even now.
The chief use of the law is to show us our sin. This is the chief use, because it shows us our need for a Savior. The law condemns us for our sin, in order that we see our need for Jesus’ blood and forgiveness. Yet, since we are Christians redeemed by Christ and no longer under the threats of the law, we do not fear the condemnation of the law. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Yet, the law still has its use for us Christians. Now, instead of condemning us, the law teaches us. Here Jesus teaches the law in order to teach us Christians how to serve our Master with the unrighteous wealth he gives us.
Mammon is called unrighteous, because it can be used for evil. That is why people steal. Mammon is a very disloyal god. It helps whomever happens to have it in his possession. Stolen money will buy a car just as well as hard earned money. And money can be used to satisfy sinners’ most vile desires just as easily as it can be used to feed hungry children and build churches. But you can use mammon for good, and that is what God calls us to do.
Mammon always fails, but God calls us to use it to make friends we will have for eternity. Who are these friends? They are our fellow Christians, who will receive an eternal dwelling with Christ on the basis of His merits, His suffering, death, and resurrection. Scripture teaches us to do good to everyone, especially to those who belong to the household of faith. We are going to live with them for eternity, so we should start getting along with them now.
The steward in Jesus’ parable was not working with his own money. He was playing with his master’s money. He used his master’s money to his own advantage. Yet, he made his master look generous. News surely spread that this master forgives debts, is merciful, kind and patient. We too do not work with our own property. Everything we own comes from God. And in reality, God owns all that we have. We are stewards, managers.
This realization should result in two things: great confidence in God and great generosity toward those in need. We should have great confidence in God, because God has given us all that we have and he promises to not let you starve, or be in need, but to provide you with everything you need in this body and life. You can be confident that you will not lose anything by using your unrighteous mammon to help those in need, because God will richly supply you and will make up for whatever you need. This should result in us being generous and eager to help. This truly is a fruit of faith, which shows that we have confidence in God.
Generosity with unrighteous mammon glorifies God. Scripture says, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). Yet, what is the result when the opposite happens? Then instead of God’s love being hidden, God’s love is revealed. All good gifts come from God. When you help those in need, particularly those who are members with you in Christ, what is their response? Is it not thanksgiving to God for his ever-enduring mercy? Yes, by your actions you can cause someone to praise God and to have confidence that God does indeed provide daily bread.
Your generosity also should extend to the Church and her mission to proclaim the Gospel both at home and abroad. The Lord commands in Scripture that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14) and that those who are taught should share all good things with their teacher (Galatians 6:6). Yet, the Lord does not want you to give out of compulsion, but with a free heart. As Scripture says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
This can only be done as a fruit of faith by one who has confidence that God will supply him with every good thing. This is what our fathers Abraham and Jacob did. Melchizedek did not command Abraham to give him a tenth of all he had, nor did God command this of Jacob, yet they did it with a free heart, because they trusted in God’s goodness and protection. Likewise, Moses had to command that the people of Israel stop bringing free will offerings for the construction of the tabernacle, because they brought gifts according to their hearts desire every morning in such abundance that they had much more than they needed to build God’s sanctuary.
This is how God uses unrighteous mammon, which fails in all its endeavors, to do work that will last through eternity. Through free-will gifts given by previous generations, we all have established churches where we have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through which we are saved for eternity. And through our free-will offerings now, God helps friends in future generations, whom we may never know in this life, but who will be our friends in our eternal dwellings.
Yet, this generous spirit has an adversary. Our old sinful flesh. And when we examine ourselves, the law which we should use as an example to live in service to Christ, again convicts us for having a less generous spirit than we ought. The law tells us that we aren’t good enough servants in Christ’s kingdom. That instead of putting our mammon to work for God, we serve it. The law causes us to doubt our place in God’s kingdom.
This is why we must always remember how God becomes our one and only master. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, who has purchased and won us by his suffering and death. That is the only way that we are placed in his kingdom and it is the only way we will remain in his kingdom. And this faith will produce fruit. Christ will work in you. But this fruit only comes when your heart believes that you have a generous God, who willingly forgives all your sins for Christ’s sake and gladly provides you with all you need both now and for eternity. May such faith in Christ produce fruit from us, so that we may make friends now, who will greet us when we enter our eternal home. Amen.

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A Case for Pure Doctrine

8/13/2019

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Christ Denouncing False Prophets and Pharisees: Illustration to Matthew 7: 15-21, 1530s, Daniel Hopfer, German, metmuseum.org, Public Domain

Matthew 7:15-23
August 11, 2019

Should we care about pure doctrine? Should we pursue it? Well, first, what is pure doctrine. You know what it means to be pure. Your water purifier purifies your water by taking out all the stuff, the chemicals and microbes that you don’t want to consume, out of your water. Silver is purified when all the dross is removed from it. Doctrine means teaching. So, pure doctrine refers to teaching that is true; teaching that doesn’t have any foreign stuff in it; teaching that agrees fully with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re concerned about purity when we shop for our food. Everywhere in the grocery store you find ads on boxes promising “No artificial ingredients,” “All natural,” and so forth. So, should we be concerned with the purity of our doctrine? It seems obvious, but most think that devotion to pure doctrine is too extreme. What’s really important is that we all love Jesus. That’s where the true unity is. But when you start focusing too much on doctrine and ask too many questions, like “Who is Jesus?”, and “What did he do?” and “What exactly does he teach?” well, then we start to get divided. People are concerned that when you focus too much on pure doctrine then instead of Jesus being this great source of unity, he becomes a sword that divides households and sets sons against fathers, daughters against mothers, and daughters-in-law against mothers-in-law.
But of course, we should be concerned with pure doctrine! Jesus tells us to. Christ commands us to beware of false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing. And he tells us we will recognize them by their fruits. Their fruits are their teaching; their doctrine. If a preacher’s doctrine is not pure, Jesus tells you to mark and avoid him. Even in your Small Catechism you are taught that when you pray, “Hallowed be thy name.” you are praying that the word of God be taught in its truth and purity and that we as the children of God also lead holy lives according to it.
Well, is that even possible? I mean, is it possible to have pure doctrine? Or are we setting ourselves up for a pipe dream to obtain the unobtainable? Well, of course it’s possible. Pure doctrine is not something you must obtain through your own great intelligence or hard work. Pure doctrine is a gift from God. God gave us pure doctrine when he gave us his holy Scriptures, which were caused to be written by the Holy Spirit himself, which are profitable for teaching, for reproof, and for training in righteousness. Pure doctrine was given to us as a gift, when the Word of God became flesh, fulfilled all Scriptures by dying and rising again for our salvation, and taught his Church that all Scripture teaches of him. Yes, pure doctrine is possible, because the God by whom all things are possible, who cannot lie and is the source of all truth has given us pure doctrine through the Holy Scriptures.
Yet, you might object, “But lots of churches have the Holy Scriptures, yet they don’t all have the same teaching!” And this here is the source of great doubt, which causes many to say, “There are so many different churches, how can you possibly know which one, if any, teaches the truth? Can we Lutherans possibly make such a claim without being completely arrogant?” Well, yes, we can.
Yes, there are innumerable churches that teach lots of different things. And even if you discount those church bodies that reject that the Bible is without errors, there are still many different churches, that all claim loyalty to the Scriptures. So, how do we know that we have the pure doctrine?
First, you must understand that Scripture not only is the pure doctrine given by God, but it is the purifier of all doctrine. We heard God speak through Jeremiah, “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” God’s word is like the fire that melts the silver, so that the dross can be removed. God’s word is a hammer. Miners must crush rock to separate the valuable minerals from the waste. This is what God’s word does. When Scripture rules and is the source of all your teaching, your teaching is pure. Yet, when Scripture is ruled over, then your teaching is not pure.
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church both claim that the holy Scriptures are part of the tradition which the Church has handed down to us. This means that they deny that the holy Scriptures are the only source of pure doctrine. That is how they are able to deny that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone apart from our works, even though Scripture clearly teaches this in Romans chapters 3 and 4, Ephesians 2, and other places. They give the Church the authority to interpret the Scriptures. Whatever the Church says the Scriptures mean, that is what they mean, even if the Church says the opposite of Scripture. In other words, they do not let the Scriptures act like a fire that removes all dross or a hammer that separates the waste. They place the Church and human traditions above the authority of the holy Scriptures.
Although the protestant churches differ in many ways, they are all the same in one regard: they place human reason above the holy Scriptures. One example of this is the teaching, “The finite cannot contain the infinite.” This is a very simple statement. Finite means limited. A 20 oz bottle is finite. It can only contain 20 oz. If you try to pour 30 oz into it, it will over flow. The finite 20 oz bottle cannot contain an infinite amount of liquid. Human beings are also finite. A human can only be so big and can only be in one place at one time. This is true. So, protestant churches use this argument to prove that Jesus’ body and blood are not present in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is a human being. True. A human being cannot be in more than one place at a time. Also, true. Therefore, they conclude that Jesus Christ cannot be present at numerous altars with his body and blood while also ruling at the right hand of God the Father.
The problem is that this teaching is nowhere taught in Scripture. It is a logical syllogism, which contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus in holy Scripture. Holy Scripture teaches us that Jesus’ body and blood are given to Christians to eat and drink in the Sacrament. Human reason disputes this clear teaching. But if God’s word is a fire and hammer, then human reason must give way to the pure teaching of Scripture.
You can be confident in what you have been taught in your Small Catechism, because the Small Catechism is not some additional teaching to the pure teaching of Scripture. Rather, the Small Catechism is the pure teaching of Christ, which has been purified by the fire and hammer of Scripture. It teaches what God’s word teaches without the dross of human reason or tradition.
This is why we must always learn our Catechism. It is the job of every one of you to judge what I preach to you. Not to judge it based on your own personal preference or feelings, or thoughts, but to judge my preaching based on the pure word of God, which is clearly laid out for you in your Small Catechism. In order to recognize whether the fruit I dish out to you is good or bad, you must know what good fruit looks like. Your Catechism teaches you what good fruit is.
Now, this is not to say that only those who belong to Lutheran congregations will go to heaven. You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone. There are many who belong to churches that do not have entirely pure doctrine, who still trust in Jesus Christ their Savior for forgiveness and salvation. Yet, just because you can be saved while attending a church that teaches falsely, does not mean that it doesn’t matter where you attend church and what teaching you listen to. Jesus warns against false teaching, because it is harmful.
God speaks in Jeremiah concerning the false prophets, “So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.” False teaching does not profit you. It hurts you. The false prophets in Jeremiah’s day told the people that it would be well with them when they stubbornly followed their own hearts. I’m sure that made them feel good for a moment, but it did them no good. God remained displeased with their idolatry and sexual immorality and he punished them for it. The false prophets harmed the people they lied to by not warning them to repent!
Would you go to a doctor, who would only give you a clean bill of health, even if you were sick? Do you want your dentist to lie to you and say you have no cavities while your teeth rot away? Would you be pleased with your lawyer if he told you, you had a winning case, even though he knew you would lose when you got to court? Of course, not! Then why would you want a preacher to lie to you in order to make you feel good?
It is a sin to skip church. That is to despise God’s preaching and word. It is breaking the Third Commandment. But saying that upsets people. So, should we stop saying it? It would still be a sin. It is a sin to have sex outside of marriage. Couples should get married before they move in together. Scripture is abundantly clear on this. But saying that upsets people. So, should we stop saying it? Should we stop preaching the Ten Commandments, because we might offend someone? Many churches do. They have stopped condemning sin as sin, so as not to offend. Are they helping anyone? No. God tells us that refusing to preach the law does not profit anyone. Rather, it hurts sinners worse by not warning them to repent, so that they can receive forgiveness.
Pure doctrine is important, because it gives true comfort. False teaching does not comfort you. Rather, it robs you of comfort. Why is it important that we teach that we are only saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not by our own works? Because if we trusted in our works, we would lose the comfort that Christ gives by dying for our sins. Does it matter whether we baptize babies or not? Or is it just a tradition we have? Yes, it does matter. Baptizing babies gives great comfort. It tells us that Baptism is God’s work, not ours. It assures us that God has washed away our sins and the sins of our little children. It assures us that God has given them faith even before they can speak. Denying baptism to babies denies them God’s grace and forgiveness. Yet, baptizing them gives them and their parents confidence in Christ.
Does it matter whether Jesus’ true body and blood are present in the Lord’s Supper or not? Yes, it matters. If Jesus’ body and blood are not present in the Lord’s Supper, then we are just eating a remembrance meal out of obedience. It means the meal does not give us the forgiveness of sins. It means that we must judge Jesus’ teaching against our own reason. It means that Christ is as far away from us as the heavens are from the earth. But, if Jesus’ words are true and we can trust them even against our own eyes and reason, then we have confidence that Jesus is with us with his peace even today.
Although, every one of us should continue to be a student of the Catechism and faithfully hear the word of God taught and preached regularly, you do not need to be a scholar for pure doctrine to benefit you. Pure doctrine benefits the newborn baby when he’s baptized just as it benefits the elderly grandmother in the hospital bed when she hears that Jesus died for her and that her sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Pure doctrine benefits all who have faith in Christ, because pure doctrine gives Christ, his forgiveness, righteousness, and salvation.
The other week I said that no one has died with greater certainty that he’ll go to heaven than the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Despite the fact that Jesus was nailed to the cross next to him as a condemned criminal, the man was confident enough to acknowledge that Jesus was the king of heaven and to ask him to remember him. And the pure words of Jesus gave this repentant criminal confidence to die upon his cross.
Now, I don’t know if that man knew anything about Baptism. I doubt he knew that Jesus had just hours earlier fed his disciples his very body and blood under the forms of bread and wine for the first time. Yet, I have no doubt that had he survived the cross, he would have devoted himself to the apostles teaching, the fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and prayers, been baptized and learned all these things. Yet, even with that one sentence the man benefited from Jesus’ pure teaching. And with those words he gained eternal life.
Pure doctrine saves, because Jesus saves. When we speak of pure doctrine, we are not speaking of a science formulated by men. We’re speaking about the words of our Savior, which are the words of eternal life. We want to hear pure doctrine, because we only want to hear Jesus. Jesus teaches us to watch out for false prophets, because he loves us. He is our Good Shepherd, who speaks to us. And we, his sheep, want to hear only his voice, because only he gives us eternal life. Amen.

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August 05th, 2019

8/5/2019

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Mark 8:1-9
August 4, 2019

When I was in high school health class, we learned about a disorder called anorexia. A person who suffers from anorexia has an intense fear of gaining weight, often thinks of herself as fat or overweight, and usually copes with this fear by refusing to eat and constantly trying to lose weight. As immature high schoolers, we found this a bit funny. We loved food. Who on earth would refuse to eat? But this condition is no laughing matter. Those who suffer from anorexia can comit great harm to their bodies. They'll even starve themselves to death trying to obtain the unobtainable. They are delusional. I don’t mean that in an offensive way; it’s simply a fact. They believe that they do not need food and need to lose weight, even when presented with all the facts to the contrary. Those who suffer from anorexia need intervention from those who love them, careful counseling to identify the underlying cause of their condition, and they need to eat a healthy amount of food.
We all know the importance of eating food. Our whole lives revolve around food. A young mother worries when she brings her young children for their well-child check-ups, whether her children have gained the appropriate amount of weight. It can be a moment of pride or great worry when a young child is set on the scale at the doctor’s office. Yet, horrifyingly, there are some parents who aren’t concerned with how much their children eat. Although, they are perfectly capable, they don’t feed their children healthy food and let them go hungry and malnourished. What do we call such parents? We call them negligent, don’t we? Depriving your children of food is a form of child abuse.
Now consider this great crowd that stays with Jesus in the wilderness for three days. Jesus is concerned that they might faint on their way home for some of them had traveled from far away. And in St. Matthew’s account of this story we learn that this 4,000 did not include the number of women and children with them. So, this great crowd was not only filled with people, who traveled out into the wilderness without enough food to get them home, but they even brought their children into this dangerous situation! How reckless! And what does Jesus say to them? Does he call them delusional for neglecting to see the importance of food for their body? Does he call them negligent and abusive parents for depriving their children of food? No. Jesus has compassion on them.
Compassion. That is, Jesus felt for them in his gut. As they were undoubtedly hungry, including the children, so Jesus’ stomach ached for them. And of course, he provided food for them in abundance, so that they had seven baskets left over after every man, woman, and child was fully satisfied. And with this miracle, Jesus teaches all of us an important lesson: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The crowd ran out of food, because they were listening to the word of God from Jesus’ mouth. They considered Jesus’ words more important than food for their bellies. And they were right. The food you eat helps you live for a moment, but it is later expelled from your body and you eventually die. No matter how healthily you eat, you cannot outrun death. Yet, the words Jesus speaks give eternal life. Those who believe in Jesus will never die. Though their bodies sleep in the grave for a little while, Jesus will raise them up to eternal life. The words of Jesus are true spiritual food that everyone needs. Jesus’ words give salvation and eternal life to all who believe them.
So, this crowd was not delusional for neglecting their need for physical food. Rather, it is those who do not see their need for the words of Jesus who are delusional. They are deluded by sin and unbelief that craves that which can only lead to death. And, if we call them negligent, who deprive their children of physical food for their bodies, how much worse is it to deprive them the spiritual food for their souls?
From the day God placed the first man into the Garden in the east, he has provided food and drink for our race. God willingly and abundantly provides for all that our bodies need. This is why Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things: food, clothing, home, will be added unto you. God provides for your bodily needs, so that you can seek the greater need.
The words of Jesus offer the most precious treasure you could ever imagine: forgiveness of sins, peace with God, eternal life. And these words are offered freely to anyone who will listen. Yet, amazingly, few do listen. And it’s not just those other people who refuse to come to church, who are delusional in this regard. We all are deluded by the old Adam, who still lives within our heart. Like horse and mule, who must be curbed with bit and bridle, we need to be coerced into feeding on words of eternal life. We force ourselves to go to church and listen. We force ourselves to read our devotions. We make our kids go to church and behave. Because each of us suffers from the delusion of thinking that we don’t need what need the most.
This delusion comes from our sinful nature, that is, our old sinful Adam. By nature, we think that we don’t need God. We value stuffing our faces more than filling our hearts. And so, when we feel this delusion overpowering us, and we think we don’t need to feast on Jesus’ words, what we need to do is grab that old sinful Adam by the back of the neck, tell him that he is delusional, and dunk him under with all sins and evil desires. We need to repent. And we need to hear those words that strengthen our new self to live forever.
What are these words that we should prize so highly? These words are Jesus. They give you your Lord and Savior. Jesus says, “Search the Scriptures, for … in them you have eternal life. And it is they that testify of me.” God’s word gives you eternal life, because it gives you Jesus. It reveals to you how God sent his Son to become and remain a human being, so that he might be your advocate for all eternity. Jesus Christ bore your sins for your sake. He died for you that you might live. Through the work of Jesus Christ, his work of atonement, you have peace with your Father in heaven. As Jesus rose again from the grave, you have the promise through Jesus’ words to follow in his train. Jesus came into the world to give life abundantly to all who believe his words, and so his words are our greatest treasure in this life. We cannot grasp Jesus with our hands, but we hold him in our heart through faith in his word.
Jesus is very liberal. That is, he generously pours out his grace on us. He baptizes us, so that we might be clothed in Christ every day. Under the form of bread and wine, he feeds us his true body and blood, which were sacrificed for our sins and even now intercede for us before the Father in heaven. Jesus richly provides for our spiritual nourishment, so that we might always satisfy our hunger while we live here in this desolate place.
You are what you eat. Your whole body is made up of the food you have consumed throughout your life. And to what has that brought you? Sickness? Frailty? Sinful urges each day of your life? And finally, death. To think that such food is your greatest need is nonsense. Through the hearing of Jesus’ words, you feast on Jesus Christ himself, the very bread of life. You become as he is. Jesus passed through death and now lives immortal, imperishable, sinless, and righteous forever. You are what you eat. When you feast on Christ, you share in his righteousness and glory. You become as he is.
God knows that you need physical food. He knows all of your needs. And he provides them for every living creature. And he assures you that you are much more valuable than they. God has compassion on those who hunger, especially for those who hunger, because they neglect their body for a moment, so that they might feast to feed their souls. Is it possible that you might suffer for a while, because of your pursuit to feast on Christ? Sure. For a moment. It might mean going hungry for a while, not getting your dream job, not making the sports team, losing friends, losing family. But it is impossible for you to lose, if you feast on Christ. He promises to add all these things unto you along with the kingdom of God and his righteousness. God assures you that you will not be neglected feasting on Christ through his word.
Sometimes children don’t want to eat what’s best for them. But good parents still give them healthy food to eat, so that they grow big and strong. A person recovering from anorexia will have to fight against the delusion that she shouldn’t eat food. But eventually she’ll enjoy the healthy feeling she gets from eating a well-balanced meal. There is no greater comfort than that which comes from hearing the words of Jesus. Our deluded old Adam might try to distract from these words. Our body, which is made up of perishable food will get easily distracted and at times confused. Yet, nothing roots out the fear of hell other than the blood shed for you by Jesus Christ. Nothing soothes your conscience like the peace God sends you from the mouth of your risen Lord. And there is no food or medicine or gadget on this earth that can give you eternal life, but only the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which you receive through faith in his words and sacrament.
Let us pray.
My Lord, You here have led me/ To this most holy place
And with Yourself have fed me/ The treasures of Your grace;
For you have freely given/ What earth could never buy,
The bread of life from heaven, That now I shall not die.
(O Living Bread from Heaven, Johann Rist, LSB 642:2)
Amen.

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The Righteousness That Exceeds That of the Scribes and Pharisees

7/28/2019

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Jacques Callot, French, 1592 - 1635, Sermon on the Mount, 1635, Credit:R.L. Baumfeld Collection, Accession No.1969.15.884, (National Gallery of Art), Open Access

Matthew 5:17-26
July 28, 2019

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

These are frightening words from our Lord Jesus, aren’t they? Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, then you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Never, ever. Well, what does Jesus mean by “your righteousness”? Righteousness usually refers to your right conduct under the law. Those who do good are righteous. Those who do bad are unrighteous. God sets the standard for what is right or wrong. If you want to be righteous, then you must do what God says, you must live up to his standard. The obvious way to do this is to follow the Ten Commandments. You must live as God teaches you in Scripture.
Now, we’re used to thinking of the scribes and Pharisees as the bad guys, because they are Jesus’ main antagonists during his earthly ministry. Yet, we should remember, the scribes and Pharisees did a good job of following the Ten Commandments, at least outwardly. They did not worship other gods or swear falsely. They read and listened to the Scriptures regularly, going to synagogue and attending all the required ceremonies surrounding the temple. They paid their taxes, they didn’t murder, they didn’t comit adultery, they didn’t steal. They tithed, meaning, they gave a tenth of all that they made to God. They really did look like examples of righteous living. You may not like the scribes and Pharisees, but you have to admit that they do a pretty good job.
So, what is lacking in the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? If they are so good, how can we possible have a righteousness exceed theirs? Well, Jesus tells us what is lacking. In Matthew chapter 23 Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
So, you see, the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is lacking, because it is superficial. It is only on the outside, while their hearts are far from righteous. And, if you pay attention to what Jesus teaches, he wants us to be righteous on the inside, in our very heart, not just in our outward actions. So, the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is far from sufficient to enter heaven. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! And while it may feel good to watch the haughty get knocked down from their pedestals, this really isn’t good news for us either. If our outward righteousness does not live up to the snuff of the scribes and Pharisees, how about our inward righteousness? Are we more righteous than they on the inside? Well, examine your heart. Are you? Do you not only do good, but want to do good from the heart both to God and to your neighbor?
No, when we examine our own hearts, we see that we are in the same predicament as these religious elitists. And when we hear what Jesus says about the human heart, it is enough to throw us into despair. He says, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19) It is as God says by the Prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) So how can we, whose hearts are by nature sick beyond understanding, obtain a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, that is, a righteousness that makes the heart pure? Let us listen to a former Pharisee, who exchanged his lacking righteousness with the only kind that gives eternal life.
St. Paul, who, you might remember, was a zealous Pharisee before his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, wrote in Philippians chapter 3, “Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith...” (vss. 4-9)
St. Paul despairs of his own Pharisaic righteousness under the law, a righteousness that depended on his own works, and instead he clings to a foreign righteousness, to be received by faith. The righteousness, which surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees is Christ’s own righteousness. Jesus Christ alone has lived under the law perfectly. He is the one who has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in human flesh. And he gives us this righteousness to be received by faith and not by our own works.
St. Paul discovered that his best works were still lacking. Even if he got to choose only his very best works, and could cover up all the evil thoughts of his heart, his good works would still be lacking. The righteousness he needed, which we all need, is Christ’s.
This is why Jesus came into the world. He came to fulfill all righteousness. This means that he, as a human being, actively obeyed God’s law; not just outwardly, but from his very heart. Jesus truly loved God with his whole heart and loved his neighbor as himself. Of course, Jesus did not need to do this for his own sake. Jesus has been righteous from all eternity, long before he became man. But he became man in order that he could be righteous for us and in order that he could give us his righteousness by grace, as a gift. St. Peter writes, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous one for the unrighteous ones, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18a)
Christ Jesus not only performed that which is righteous on our behalf, but he suffered what we deserve for our unrighteousness. This is called the great exchange. Christ gives us his righteousness; we give him our unrighteousness. Christ gives us eternal life and salvation; we give him death and condemnation, which he endured on the cross. This is how Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. This is how he fulfilled everything written in the Law and the Prophets. He not only lived in obedience to God’s righteous law, but he fulfilled every promise of God in order to give that righteousness to us.
The Law and the Prophets, which is another way of saying, the Old Testament, prophecy about Jesus Christ. They promised that God would send a Messiah to save his people from their sins. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was lacking, because they relaxed this teaching and they taught others to relax it as well. They taught people to trust in their own righteousness, which could never get them into heaven, instead of trusting in the promised Christ, taught throughout the Law and the Prophets.
The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6) Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by becoming man, by perfectly fulfilling the law, and by dying to redeem his people. The Pharisees’ righteousness is lacking, because it rejects the LORD as the only true righteousness. It rejects Jesus. All righteousness that rejects Jesus is lacking.
We are declared righteous through faith in what Jesus has done for us, not on account of our own good works. Yet, that does not mean that we Christians do not do good works or that we can just continue in sin, as if what we do does not matter. Rather, if you are in possession of Christ’s righteousness through faith, then you too will produce works of righteousness. We, who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, so that we might also rise like him to walk in newness of life. Having been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, we are no longer enslaved to sin, but Christ has set us free. We are dead to sin and alive to righteousness. God has made us instruments of his righteousness.
This righteousness manifests itself, as you can tell from Jesus’ teaching, in loving our neighbor. Those who love God also love their neighbors. The righteousness of Christ, which faith places within our hearts leads us to not only refrain from murder, but to actually curb our anger toward our neighbor and to be reconciled with him as quickly as possible. Christ’s righteousness leads us to not only refrain from fornication and adultery, but to refrain from lust in the heart. This is the natural response to possessing Christ’s righteousness through faith.
Yet, we must take note of a few things when we consider the works of righteousness, which our faith in Jesus leads us to do. First, while good works are necessary for Christians to do, they are not what save us. Consider the thief, who hung to the right of Jesus on the cross. I don’t think we can find a man, who died with more certainty of his eternal salvation. Jesus actually said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Yet, what good works did this thief do? He was converted to the faith on the cross and he died that same day on the cross. Yet, he has certainty of his eternal salvation apart from any works.
We must be careful that we do not trust in our good works instead of Christ’s righteousness. Keeping track of our own good works is a dangerous thing, because it leads us to trust in these works. Rather, Jesus teaches us that when we do works of righteousness, to not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. Our faith must always center on Jesus. This will not hinder us from doing our own good works. Our very faith in Christ Jesus is what empowers us to do works of righteousness; not the law.
The law is still useful to us Christians. Yet, our relationship with the law is quite different than that of the Pharisees and scribes. They thought that they could make themselves righteous by observing the law. We, however, already know that we are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. He has forgiven us all our sins through his death and resurrection. Rather, we look at the law as an aid, a helper to teach us how to do what we truly desire to do from the heart on account of our faith in Christ. The law is our tool, our instrument, not our master. Christ’s righteousness has freed us from our bonds under the law.
In this life, we will continue to fail to live the righteous life, which our faith has called us to live. St. Paul himself laments this when he says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19) As long as we live on this side of the resurrection, we will experience this struggle between our new self, which bears the righteousness of Christ, and our old self which still wants to serve sin.
And this is why it is so important that we recognize where our true righteousness is. It is in Christ. It is always in Christ. When we sin, we repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness and we are assured that through faith in him that we have a righteousness that guarantees us our place in heaven. Whether we think we are doing really well holding at bay our worst vices, or whether those vices soil our conscience, our righteousness always remains in Christ. He is where we turn in good days and in evil. He is the one, who gives us certainty of eternal life. Jesus alone. On account of Jesus, we are not terrified when Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Because we have such a righteousness. We have Christ’s righteousness through faith. Amen.

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The Comfort of the Gospel Catches Men

7/22/2019

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The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, James Tissot, 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, No known copyright restrictions (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4481)

Luke 5:1-11
July 21, 2019

After Peter and his crew failed by their own efforts to catch any fish all night long, Jesus with his word caused them to catch more fish than either their net or two boats could hold. And so, Jesus teaches his new disciples that it is the Lord, who provides for all that we need to support this body and life. God told Adam that by the sweat of his brow he would eat bread, but he never told him to trust in his own sweat. Rather, God provides for all people purely out of his own fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us. Here Jesus shows us the power and mercy of the Father, who cares for us every day, granting us success, as the Psalmist says, “Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
You don’t just leave God in church when you go home or on the side table with your Bible when you head off to work. God goes with you to protect you from all danger, to support you in your work, and provide you success. This is how we are able to eat, be clothed, and sleep in peace: by the providence of God. But this is not the main lesson of this story. Rather, the great catch of fish is a lesson concerning a much greater work that God will do through his servant Peter and all who come after him. Peter will catch men for the kingdom of God. This is a much greater task, as Jesus elsewhere says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
Jesus tells Peter that from now on he will be catching men, that is, human beings to be citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom. Through Peter God will bring people into his holy Christian Church. But who is Peter? What does he say of himself? “I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Peter is a sinner. Nevertheless, Jesus calls him to be a fisher of men, to be his tool to save sinners.
In fact, all of Jesus’ ministers are sinful men. St. Paul called himself the chief of sinners! (1 Timothy 1:15) Every pastor, who has ever preached the good word has been a sinner. I am a sinner. Yet, Jesus calls sinful men to bring sinners to repentance and to preach the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. He calls sinful men to forgive the sins of sinners. Well, how can this be? It is because the sinful men do not go out to represent themselves, but Jesus. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” (John 13:20) Again, Jesus says to his disciples, “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)
Jesus’ ministers are not sent out to represent themselves, but to represent Jesus. And they are not sent to speak their own words, but to speak Jesus’ words. Jesus’ words are the words of God. There is no greater force in this universe than God’s word, for by it the heavens and the earth were made, and by it sinners dead in their trespasses are rescued from the clutches of hell and brought safely into the holy ark of the Church. The Lord God did not meet Elijah in the great wind or in the earthquake or fire. He met Elijah in a low whisper. God comes to us in his word. When the minister of God speaks God’s word to you, however unimpressive he might seem, that word has the power and authority of God.
Peter was an expert fisherman. He had a good crew and good partners. They spent their lives on the lake of Gennesaret, also called Galilee. Yet, it wasn’t Peter’s expertise that brought in the great hull of fish. Nor was it the experience of his crew, nor the sleepless hours through the night, nor the sweat and strain on his body. It was the word of Christ. “But at your word I will let down the nets,” Peter says. And through faith in Jesus’ word, Peter succeeded in catching fish.
What will grant success to the church? How will we catch people as Jesus tells Peter he will do? Many run to the experts, who have years of experience getting people to come through doors and spend money. So, they use business models designed for gathering customers to gather sheep into Jesus’ fold. If we just give people what they want, then we can get them into the church to hear the Gospel. It’s called a bait and switch. It’s the way most of us fish. You put bait on a hook. The fish wants the bait. It doesn’t see the hook. But you want the fish to bite the hook. The fish goes for the bait and you pull it in on the hook. But that’s not how Jesus teaches us to fish for people. We can’t trick people into joining the church. We can’t trick them into becoming Christians. They must be caught by the net. And the net is God’s word. They must hear the word of God and believe it for what it is.
In the book of Acts, when the author Luke wants to say that the number of disciples increased, he writes that the word of God increased (Acts 6:7; 12:24). It is through the preaching of the Gospel and only through the preaching of the Gospel that sinners, men, women, and children are gathered into salvation. They can’t be tricked. They can’t be searching for something else. It must be the word of forgiveness and acceptance from God for the sake of Jesus Christ that brings poor sinners in.
This is not to say that this does not involve work. This involves a lot of work, sweat, blood, anxiety, sleepless nights, study, and prayer. Jesus spoke to his servant Ananias concerning St. Paul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:16). No, the work of ministry is a lot of work. Yet, what does St. Paul say? “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) It is God, who grants his church growth, who gathers Christians into his fold even as he brought the great catch of fish into Peter’s nets, and he does this through his word. It is the Lord who kept his 7,000 from worshiping the false god Baal, and so we trust that God will cause growth to his church today through the same means of his word.
This is why our Lutheran Confessions are just as relevant today when they say in Augsburg Confession Article V, “So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.”
So, Jesus calls this sinful man Peter, the first in a long line of sinful men, to preach the Gospel, so that God might work through his preaching to bring sinners to salvation. Yet, why does Jesus say, “Do not be afraid.”? Did you catch that? Peter, when he sees Jesus’ tremendous power says in fear, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” And Jesus responds, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Why is it that Jesus links telling Peter to not be afraid with his call to catch men? You’d think that that would be more reason to fear! Peter must give up all that he has in order to catch men. He will lose his livelihood preaching the Gospel. Peter will be persecuted by his own people and finally be crucified by the Romans, because of this call to fish for men. So, why does Jesus tell him to not be afraid?
Because the Gospel message Jesus is calling Peter to preach is for Peter as well. That which will gather countless numbers of people into Jesus’ church will also gather Peter. St. Paul writes so much to the young pastor Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) Paul taught Timothy that what he would preach would save himself along with his hearers. St. Peter believed and practiced this as well. He preached of Christ in Acts 4, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
And so, it is important for preachers to take comfort in the Gospel they preach. Jesus forgives pastors. And he wants pastors to preach that forgiveness to his people. That which put away Peter’s fear, so that he clung to Christ instead of telling him to depart from him, was the forgiveness of sins. And it is the forgiveness of sins won by Christ that alone will draw people to Christ.
The word of God is rightly divided into two parts: the Law and the Gospel. The Law shows us our sin. The Gospel shows us our Savior. The Law points us inward to ourselves and shows us where we have fallen short of God’s glory. The Gospel points us outward, away from ourselves and to Christ Jesus, who has removed our sins and brought us up into God’s glory by grace. When Peter saw Jesus’ divine power, he heard the Law. He focused in on himself and on his own unworthiness. When Jesus told Peter not to fear, he preached the Gospel, which alone can draw one close to God.
A preacher must preach the law, so that sinners can realize their sin, repent and believe in the Gospel. But it is not the preaching of the law that catches people for Jesus. It is the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel alone comforts by revealing to sorrowful sinners a gracious and forgiving God.
God calls ministers to preach the Gospel and Scripture teaches against people preaching without being called. Yet, that does not mean that the Gospel belongs to the ministers. The Gospel belongs to the Church. God has given it to her. Ministers are simply stewards of this mystery of God. But every believing Christian possesses the Gospel as his own inheritance. The Gospel is yours. The comfort it gives belongs to you. And you have the right and the duty as a child of God to share that Gospel. St. Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) And we heard St. Peter himself say in our Epistle lesson, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)
The disciples left everything and followed Jesus. They didn’t do this because they were called to be ministers of the word. They did this, because they were called to be Christians, that is, disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus calls you to leave everything and follow him. Now this might seem impossible. How can you leave your job, your husband or wife, your children? Well, that’s not exactly what it means to leave everything and follow Jesus. Christians leave everything and follow Jesus, because only Jesus can comfort sinners. Only Jesus, through his perfect life, innocent death, and resurrection can forgive sins and give you certainty of eternal life. To leave everything means to trust in no one and nothing else than Jesus Christ, the crucified. To be caught by the net of the Gospel means that your entire life revolves around your trust in Jesus Christ. You do not know God apart from Jesus. You trust that God will give you all good things through Christ. Jesus is your source of comfort in every trial. In his word you trust. His word takes away your fear. His word of grace continues to draw you to him. Amen.

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

Making Friends for Eternity

A Case for Pure Doctrine

August 05th, 2019

The Righteousness That Exceeds That of the Scribes and Pharisees

The Comfort of the Gospel Catches Men

Rev. James Preus

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