Category: Trinity 14

Walk by the Spirit

9/7/2021

William Brassey Hole, "Jesus with the One Leper Who Returned to Give Thanks" 1846-1917. Public Domain

Trinity 14
Galatians 5:16-24
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
September 5, 2021

You have been baptized into Christ. Your sins are washed away. You are forgiven. Through faith you are clothed in Christ’s own righteousness, so that you can stand before God without shame and confident in your eternal salvation. And yet, there is a war raging inside you! St. Paul tells us that the flesh wars against the Spirit and the Spirit wars against the flesh. This is why St. Paul exhorts us to “walk by the Spirit” so that we do not gratify the desires of the flesh. Yet, even without St. Paul telling you this, you’re aware of this war. The works of the flesh are evident. Although you are a Christian, you still are tempted to sin. The lusts you have renounced rise up within you. While you try to be loving, peaceful, kind, faithful, and self-controlled, a power within you incites you to hatred, enmity, fits of anger, and divisions.

This war is present in every Christian. St. Paul himself laments, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ... 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 7:15, 18-19) What is this strange phenomenon of which Scripture speaks, and of which each of us has experienced? What is this war between the Spirit and the flesh?

Despite what some think, this is not a battle between your body and your soul, or between the material world and the immaterial world. Rather, by flesh Scripture means your fallen sinful nature. This includes your body, soul, mind, and will: everything that was born from your mother. Jesus says, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) According to your first birth of flesh, you are a sinner. You have inherited original sin from your father. That means that from your conception, you have been a sinner. Your body, soul, and will are corrupted by sin. By Spirit Scripture means everything that has been redeemed by Jesus’ blood and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that is, your entire regenerated self. When you were baptized, your entire self was born again. That is why Christ joined water to the word. The water touches your body to indicate that your body is born again to holiness and righteousness. Yet, until you die, your sinful nature clings to you.

This means that your entire self, your body, soul, mind and will, your reason and all your senses are completely holy, righteous, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit with Christ’s blood; and that your entire self, your body, soul, mind and will, your reason and all your senses are corrupted by your original sin. You have been declared righteous by God through faith in Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit has enlivened your will to desire and pursue what is good and righteous. The works of your hands, feet, and mouth are also looked at by God through Jesus, so that he is pleased with you. Yet, in this same body, you have the desire to do evil, to turn from God, to pursue unholy desires. Yet, on account of Christ Jesus God overlooks this sin. Christians live by faith and walk by grace. St. Paul goes so far as to say in Romans chapter 7, “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

This means that although Christians still sin, they are regarded as holy through faith on account of Christ. Yet, this does not mean that it doesn’t matter if Christians sin, or that Christians can go on sinning so that grace may abound (Romans 6:1). St. Paul declared, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warned you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!” (Galatians 5:19-21)

This passage cannot be overlooked. While indeed there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), a person cannot claim to be in Christ Jesus while he willfully persists in sin without repenting. We are saved through faith apart from our sins, but it is impossible for true faith and the Holy Spirit to abide with mortal sin. Hebrews 10 states, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” (vss. 26-27)

It is false that Christians can continue in sin without repenting and remain Christians. True faith does not continue in willful sin. A wise man once said, “You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair!” You cannot keep temptation from coming or completely extinguish the desires of the sinful flesh, but you can keep them from ruling over you. We must make a distinction between sins of weakness, which all Christians must battle each and every day, and ruling sins, in which case, the battle is lost and sin has full control.

It is indeed a false teaching that Christians can live without sin. There are some who claim that Christians can reach a point of perfection, so that they no longer sin. They’ll use passages such as 1 John 3:9 to support this claim, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” Yet, this passage does not claim that Christians no longer sin, but rather, Christians do not persist in sin. In this same Epistle St. John writes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9) When people deny that Christians sin, they do great harm to the soul. They either drive some to despair, because of their own sins, or they create self-righteous hypocrites, who refuse to repent of their real sins.

Yet, it is equally a false teaching that Christians can continue in sin, while remaining in the saving faith. This false teaching causes people to be recalcitrant, confirmed sinners, who refuse to repent or seek forgiveness from Christ. While Scripture does not teach that Christians can live without sin, it certainly teaches that Christians do not persist in sin without repenting.

This is why the Church must be firm on what is a sin. People are offended that the Church condemns fornication, adultery, homosexuality, unionism with other religions, abortion, and other common sins. But Christians must know that those who persist in these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God! (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21). A person can claim to have faith in Christ, but if he rejects Jesus’ teaching and clings to his sin, then he is not following the true Jesus.

This is why it is necessary for Christians to repent of their sins every day, as our Lord teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer. Temptation seeks to become sin and sin seeks to rule you and produce unbelief. Sin is like yeast. It seeks to grow and spread. And Luther reminds us that sin is like a snake, if it can fit its head in, so can it fit its entire body. So, we must constantly be on guard. Furthermore, consider how closely sin clings to us! Our entire body, soul, and mind is corrupted by sin. Jesus says that out of the heart come sinful desires (Matthew 15:19)! So, Christians must be wise to the danger of besetting sins and crucify their flesh with its desires daily through repentance.

And so, you’ll learn that the Law is a helpful tool for the Christian to curb his sinful actions and to aid in daily reflection and repentance. Yet, you must be careful that you do not fall into legalism. St. Paul does not say, “Walk by the Law and you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh,” but rather, “Walk by the Spirit.” Legalism teaches that you can be righteous by strictly following the Law. Yet, Scripture has already made clear that we are declared righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We do not then remain righteous by works, otherwise the Bible would not say that you are justified apart from works of the Law.

In this very Epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul has already made this argument. He writes, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you! It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—Just as Abraham ‘believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness’?” (3:1-6) In Chapter 5, St. Paul goes so far as to say, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (vs. 4)

The point is this: The Law kills the sinner, but not the sin; the Gospel kills the sin, but not the sinner. The Law tells you what is right, and condemns you when you fail to do it. While you might be able to curb some outward sins with the Law, the Law cannot make you love God or your neighbor. The Law does not give you the Holy Spirit, who enlivens your new self. But the Gospel kills the sin, while keeping the sinner alive. It is the Gospel that gives you the Holy Spirit, so that your whole self seeks to do what is right. It is the Gospel that Jesus Christ died for all your sins and that God forgives you for Christ’s sake that creates faith in your hearts and makes you alive to produce good fruit.

To walk by the Spirit means to walk through faith in the Gospel. You can and should use the Law to rebuke your sinful flesh, but the Law cannot give you the desire to do what is right. Only the Gospel can create love in your heart. St. Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” This is fruit, not works done by coercion. The Spirit sows the Gospel, and reaps fruits of love. This is why he writes, “And those who are in Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The only way to conquer the sinful flesh, so that it does not subdue you, is to place your sins on the cross of Christ. Do not only repent by acknowledging that you are bad and the Law is good. Repent by turning to Jesus for forgiveness and the power to live in love and purity.

It is by the grace of God through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit that you are justified in his sight. And it is by that same grace of God through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit that you produce good fruits of love and war against your sinful flesh. He who began the good work in you will complete the good work in you. Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are not a slave to your sinful flesh nor to the Law, but you are a legitimate child of God with the Holy Spirit himself living in you. Amen.

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The Evidence of Saving Faith

9/14/2020

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James Tissot, The Healing of the Ten Lepers, 1886-94, No Known Copyright Restrictions

Trinity 14
Luke 17:11-19
September 13th, 2020

“Your faith has made you well.”, Jesus says to the cleansed leper from Samaria. How did Jesus know that the leper had faith? Faith is an activity of the heart. You cannot see faith. Only God can look at a man’s heart. So, you would probably answer that Jesus is God, so he is able to look into the heart of the leper and see his faith. And yes, Jesus is God! Yet, Jesus did not need to be God to see the leper’s faith. Anyone standing around with eyes and ears could clearly perceive that the man had deep faith. How could they perceive his faith if they could not look into his heart? Because the man cried out to Jesus for mercy. And when he saw that his leprosy was cleansed, he turned back to Jesus glorifying God with a loud voice and falling on his face at Jesus feet, he gave thanks to God. One would literally need to be blind and deaf to not know that this man had faith!
Faith is invisible. Only God can see faith. And yet, this man’s faith was clearly visible. How is this? Because faith produces fruit. We heard this from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” And of course, this is not an exhaustive list of the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fruit of faith.
We know the leper had faith in Jesus, because his faith caused him to cry out to Jesus for help! He cried, “Have mercy!” along with the other nine lepers. He used his voice to shout praises and thanksgiving to God. Faith starts in the heart, but it does not lie dormant there. It works its way through the mouth. This is why Jesus says, “Whoever confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32) And why St. Paul writes, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:10)
Public worship is evidence of saving faith. When Christians sing the Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy), confess the Creed, sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, and come to bow before Jesus, they make visible the faith dwells in their hearts, just as apples on an apple tree gives proof that a tree is an apple tree.
Yet, strangely, it is common for those who do not go to church yet identify as Christians to pass judgment on those Christians who do regularly go to Church. They’ll say things like, “I don’t want to go to church, because churches are filled with hypocrites.” And as with many bad ideas, there is a little bit of truth in that. There are hypocrites who go to church. There are people who go to church, not to receive God’s grace through faith, not to worship Christ, but to make a show and to prove how good they are. And Scripture attests to this. Last week we heard the parable from Jesus of how the priest and the Levite, who devoted their lives to public worship, yet proved that they had no faith, because they neglected to love their neighbor lying bloody on the side of the road. And that goes to show that public worship is not the only fruit of faith, but also love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
The fruit of faith is not what saves, but the faith itself is what saves. Yet, fruits are bound to follow. This is what it says in our Lutheran Confessions, “Good works certainly and without doubt follow true faith—if it is not a dead, but a living faith—just as fruit grows on a good tree [Matthew 7:17].” (Epitome of the Formula, IV) And if good works follow a living faith, then it follows that bad works follow unbelief. This is why St. Paul admonishes us, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.” He goes on, “The works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” Works like these make evident a lack of faith. St. Paul even goes on to say that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! This is why our Lutheran Confessions also say, “We also reject and condemn the teaching that faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are not lost by willful sin, but that the saints and elect retain the Holy Spirit even though they fall into adultery and other sins and persist in them.” (Epitome of the Formula, IV)
So, while faith remains an activity of the heart which ultimately only God can see, both unbelief and faith can be made evident by outward actions. This is why Christians should flee from what is evil and cling to what is good. Continuing in sinful behavior without repenting kills saving faith and gives evidence of unbelief. Continued practicing of the fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy and public worship gives evidence of a lively faith and blocks the sinful flesh from accomplishing its evil desires.
What did the leper’s outward expression of faith demonstrate about the faith that dwelt in his heart? When he cried out for mercy, it shows that the leper trusted in Christ to heal him, not based on the leper’s own worthiness, but according to Christ’s own compassion and goodness. Today, we rarely look at a disease as a consequence of sin. Yet, that is very much the way people viewed leprosy at this time. Likely, because the Old Testament frequently connects leprosy and punishment. God punished Miriam the sister of Moses with leprosy for seven days, because she rebelled against Moses. God punished King Uzziah with leprosy on his face, because he offered incense in the temple when he was not authorized to. And clearly, the leprosy on these ten lepers is a symbol of their spiritual uncleanness. Yet, the lepers do not consider their unworthiness. They trust in Jesus to heal them. Their shout for mercy demonstrated the faith in their hearts.
While the other nine lepers did not return to Jesus, this Samaritan did, with shouts of praise to God and thanksgiving as he bowed down at Jesus’ feet. This outward action demonstrated that the leper considered Jesus his God and Savior. Jesus sent the lepers to the temple, to show themselves to the priests. The priests would have performed a ceremony for the lepers for their ceremonial cleansing and would have offered a sin offering to make atonement for them. The temple is where God dwelt. The temple is where God made atonement for sins. Yet, this leper did not go to the temple, he gave glory to God at his feet. At God’s feet! At Jesus’ feet. He demonstrated with his outward actions that he believed in his heart that Jesus is God, his body being the temple where God dwells. He demonstrated with his worship that he believed that Jesus would make atonement for his sins, because he is the fulfillment of all the ceremonies in the temple. By the leper’s outward actions, we see clearly what his faith held to in his heart.
And this is what we do when we come to worship. We confess our sins before a God, we do not see. We do not claim to be worthy, but to be poor miserable sinners, who deserve temporal and eternal punishment. But we pray to God to have mercy and forgive us for the sake of the blood of his Son. We sing, “Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.”, because we believe that we receive all good things of body and soul from the only God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, out of His love for us. We confess the Creed confessed by the whole Christian Church throughout history, which confesses that the Son of God for our sake and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, so that he could suffer and die for our sins. We stand for the reading of the Gospel as we would for our Monarch when he speaks to us. We kneel before bread and wine, believing that this is the body and blood of our Lord, which was given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. We say clearly, “Amen” to every prayer and blessing, because we believe it is true. We sing with joy supplications, praise, and thanksgiving to our God. All these things we do with our bodies, our ears, eyes, and mouths, because that is what is going on in our hearts. Our faith becomes visible and audible when we worship him in Spirit and Truth.
“Your faith has made you well.”, Jesus says. What does Jesus mean by "made you well”? Well, in fact, Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you.” Bible translators translate the word for save as “made well,” because it can mean made well, and in the context, the leper was healed of his leprosy. Yet, all ten of the lepers were made well, and only one returned to give thanks to God at Jesus feet. To only one did Jesus say, “Your faith has saved you.” after showing disapproval that the other nine did not return to demonstrate such faith.
The nine other lepers went to the temple where the priests would offer a sacrifice to make atonement for them. The one Samaritan leper returned to Jesus, who would make atonement for his sins on the cross. The leper’s faith did not simply heal him. His faith saved him, that is, gave him eternal life.
How did the leper’s faith give him eternal life? Because faith receives what God promises us through Jesus: forgiveness of sins, peace and acceptance from God, and eternal life. Faith is not our work. Faith receives. This is why faith must be an activity of the heart. It by grace, not by our works. Yet, faith receives something that is outside of us: the promise of salvation through Jesus. This is why faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
We come to church to worship Christ, because we have faith. Our faith receives God’s blessing and forgiveness. And our faith cannot help but break through from our heart and into our words and actions. We do not come to church to make a show of our faith or to earn our salvation, yet our public worship does publicly declare the trust we hold in our Savior in our hearts. Our cries of supplication, our confession and singing of glory, all these come from a heart that trusts in the Lord. We come to church to hear our Savior say to us, “Your faith has saved you.” And by hearing this, our faith in our Savior grows. Amen.

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Faith Goes to Where Jesus Is

9/23/2019

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James Tissot, "The Healing of the Ten Lepers," 1886-94, Brooklyn Museum. Public Domain.

Luke 17:11-19
“Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” These words of our Lord seem peculiar in a couple of ways. First, why is Jesus disappointed that only one of the ten cleansed lepers returned? Didn’t he tell them to go show themselves to the priests? Why should they turn back to Jesus?
Well, first we need to understand why Jesus told them to go to the priests in the first place. It was the priests’ job to inspect those healed of leprosy and to offer the appropriate sacrifices. You can read in Leviticus chapter fourteen of the elaborate rite God ordered for declaring a leper clean. After a priest found that the leprosy was healed, he would take two birds. One, he would kill and pour its blood into a basin of water. The other bird he would dip in the bloody water along with some cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, then sprinkle the man seven times with these things before letting the bird go free. Then eight days later, the man had to bring two male lambs and a ewe lamb along with some grain and oil. And with one of the male lambs, the priest would offer a guilt offering, whereby he would take some of the blood from the lamb and put it on the man’s right earlobe, thumb, and big toe and do the same with the oil before offering the sin, grain, and whole burnt offerings. And all this the priest did in order to “make atonement for him.” (Leviticus 14:20)
So, Jesus sent these men to the temple in Jerusalem so that the priests could do these sacrifices for them and they could be atoned for. Yet, we must realize something about these sacrifices and all sacrifices in the temple. All of them proclaim Christ Jesus and the sacrifice he would make for all sins. In Hebrews chapter nine it states, “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Jesus Christ is greater than all sacrifices in the temple. He alone makes atonement for the sins of the whole world, something the blood of beasts could never do. So, when this Samaritan returned and fell down to worship God at Jesus’ feet, he returned to him who is a greater High Priest than any priest working in the temple, who offers a greater sacrifice than any offered in the temple. Jesus is greater than the temple itself. The temple is where God dwelt. Yet, Jesus is God, and in Jesus God will dwell bodily for all eternity. This is why Jesus asked where the nine were. He wanted them to have faith in him, who is greater than the temple with its high priests and sacrifices.
The other reason Jesus’ words seem peculiar is that he asks, “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” This sounds funny to our ears, because God is everywhere! And the Bible clearly teaches that you cannot run away from God’s presence. You can give thanks to God anywhere, whether you are at home, or out in the woods, or stranded on a deserted island; you could take a rocket to the moon and still be able to give thanks to God there! So, how does Jesus know that the other nine did not give thanks to God their entire jog to the temple? And that they didn’t continue giving thanks their whole lives?
And this is the way most people think. Since God is everywhere, I can worship him at my leisure, whenever it is convenient. Yet, it is different when you know where your God can be found. This Samaritan knew where his God could be found. He recognized Jesus as his God and Lord. He worshipped God and gave thanks to him at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus asked, “Where are the nine?” for good reason. He cleansed them of their leprosy. He did for them just as he did for this Samaritan, who believed in him. Yet, they did not return to him. They did not worship him. They did not have faith in him. And, so it is today. God sends rain to the good as well as to the bad and lets his sun shine on the unjust as well as the just. God feeds, clothes, and shelters unbelievers along with Christians. He grants success to life-saving treatments for cancer and other horrible diseases to the benefit of the wicked and the good. And these are all light things in the eyes of God. Jesus, our God and Lord, made atonement for all of our sins, paying for them with his blood. He has erased the debt of all mankind and won for all people forgiveness of sins, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Yet, Jesus may well ask today, “Where are the others? Were there not many more who were clothed, fed, cured, and rescued? Did I not win salvation for the whole world? Where are the rest? Was there found no one to return and give thanks to God, except these?
The Samaritan returned to worship Jesus at his feet, because he had faith in Jesus. Faith draws you to Jesus. The one who has faith seeks Jesus where he will be found, and goes to him to receive every good thing from him, to learn from him, to give thanks to him, and to sing his praises. Yes, faith will pray to God and trust in him in any place and time, whether on the battlefield or at the grocery store, but faith will always seek to go where God promises to be found. This Samaritan knew where he could find his Lord. He was just a few hundred yards away from him. He had just heard his voice. So, he ran back and fell at his God’s feet.
When Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He promised to be present where his word is taught and believed and where his sacraments are administered. Jesus is present in the Baptismal waters. Jesus is present in the Sacrament of his body and blood. Jesus is present with his words of healing wherever his word is proclaimed in truth. We don’t look to the hills for our help; we look to the Lord, who made heaven and earth, where he promises to be. And he promises to be in his word and sacraments. This is where you find Jesus.
That is why we are here today. We are here, because we know where Jesus is. He’s here. Here he cleanses us. Here he forgives us and strengthens us. Here he receives from us our thanksgiving and praise. When you kneel at the Communion rail, you kneel before Jesus himself in true worship. There you return to him from whom all blessings flow.
We need to be where Jesus is. We all heard St. Paul list off the works of the flesh, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and we could list off quite a few more like these, which burden our conscience. Scripture is clear that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And yet, we do such things, don’t we? Although we desire to walk by the Spirit, our sinful flesh overpowers us, convincing us to do those things we know we should not want to do. We’re guilty. We need Jesus. We need to hear that he forgives us. We need to be cleansed of our filth. We need to be strengthened, so that we can walk by the Spirit. We need to give thanks to him and sing praises to him, for not abandoning us to our sins. We need to be present where Jesus promises to be present.
Jesus said to the Samaritan, “Your faith has made you well.” Well, that is what most English translations say. The word Jesus used is actually the word for save. But the word can mean “healed” in certain contexts, and the Bible translators figured that the context implies “healed” instead of “saved.” Except, all ten of the lepers were healed. Only one of them had faith. The others cried out to Jesus for help, but they didn’t have faith in him as their God. They called him their master, but not their Lord. Only the Samaritan returned to Jesus. Only the Samaritan bowed down at Jesus’ feet. Only the Samaritan had faith. And only the Samaritan was saved, at least that day.
God heals everyone. He feeds them and takes care of them, whether they have faith or not. But he only saves those who have faith. Only faith, which trusts in Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing saves. And saving faith draws you to Jesus, where he can be found.
I don’t know what happened to the nine. I sincerely hope that they did come to faith in Christ. I know that was Jesus’ desire too. Yet, I know what happened to the Samaritan. He was saved. He is currently in heaven singing praises to God with the heavenly hosts. And we who trust in Jesus for forgiveness and healing will meet him someday. You, who trust in Christ will meet him just as you will see your Savior Jesus face to face, because your faith has saved you. Amen.

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Trinity 14: The Faith that Saves

9/18/2017

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Luke 17:11-19

"Rise, and go your way; your faith has saved you." Jesus tells the man cured of his leprosy that his faith saved him. This is fantastic news and a comfort that we Lutherans hold dear. We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works! (Eph. 2:8-9) This means that our works cannot condemn us! If our salvation depended on what we did and how well we did it, we would never have certainty that we are saved. "Have I done enough?", would haunt each one of our consciences until our last breath. But since we are saved by faith and not by works, our failings and our past sins cannot condemn us.

Now, it is not because faith is some tremendously good work that it saves. Rather, faith saves, because it holds onto Jesus. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Whoever believes in Him, that is, in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Father, who became man and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, who suffered and died for our sins, who rose for our justification, who ascended into heaven and currently sits at the right hand of God's power. If you believe in Him you will have eternal life; not if you believe in Allah, or yourself, or money, or the government, or power, or any other false god. Faith is only as good as what it holds onto. If your faith is in Jesus then your faith saves. If your faith is not in Jesus then your faith does not save no matter how strong it might be.

"Your faith has saved you" is such a simple statement, yet it is so grossly misunderstood. Many treat faith in Christ as frivolously as knowing the score of a football game. "Who won the game last Sunday? The Packers? Hey, cool. Now I'll continue to live my life just as I would if they had lost." "What's that you say? Jesus died on the cross for my sins and if I believe in him I'll be saved? Hey great; thanks for the info. Now I'll continue to live my life just as I did before I had this 'faith.'"

But the man healed in our text didn't continue on like that. Rather his faith compelled him to return to Jesus and give thanks. As soon as he saw that he had been cleansed the man ran to Jesus. This is what faith does. Faith isn't simply knowledge. Faith is trust. Faith wants to be with the one it has faith in. The man wanted to be with Jesus. The Psalmist expresses this faithful sentiment perfectly in our Introit from Psalm 84,

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O | LORD of hosts!*
     My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts | of the LORD;
Blessed are those who dwell | in Your house;*
     They will still be | praising You
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house | of my God*
     than dwell in the tents of | wickedness.

The man praised and gave thanks to God at Jesus' feet. He recognized God in Jesus, so he went to Jesus to give thanks. He recognized where God promised to be. And so, it is with us, who have faith in Christ. We want to be with him, so that we can receive his forgiveness and blessing and so that we can thank him and sing his praises. That great Lutheran hymn describes it perfectly when it says that heaven itself would be void and bare if our Lord Jesus Christ were not there (LSB 708).

So, we as Christians go to where God promises to be, where our Savior Jesus promises to be. "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age", Jesus promises. Well, where is he? Jesus is where his word is taught. Where his Sacraments are given. Where you have God's promise of forgiveness, there you have Jesus. Where two or three are gathered in Christ's name, there you have our Lord. And that is where Christians gather, like that healed leper, to give thanks and praise.

You'll notice that Lutheran pastors emphasize the wonderful benefits of coming to church to receive forgiveness from Christ. And we'll even criticize other forms of worship that focus almost exclusively on praising God and giving thanks. While it is true that God doesn't need your praise or thanksgiving and you need his forgiveness and word a lot more, your faith will compel you to sing praises to God. Faith wants to thank him who has given you all things. That is why our worship focuses both on us receiving God's grace and on us responding with thanks and praise.

Faith is simple. And you don't need to understand the whole Bible to be saved. Yet, faith is never done learning. Isn't it amazing, that the Book that teaches salvation by faith alone still has a whole lot of instruction? King Solomon wrote in our Old Testament Lesson, "Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil." (Proverbs 4:12-14)

These words of wisdom were written for Christians, those who trust in the God of Israel. These words were written for those who have saving faith. Well, if they have saving faith, why do they still need instruction? Because instruction produces more faith. It brings you closer to Jesus! It teaches you to fight against Satan and your own sinful flesh. Because saving faith does not stop at being saved, but continues to learn more and more out of love and trust in Christ.

Faith saves you without your works and despite your sins. But this does not mean that you can continue in sin without repentance. St. Paul wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:19-21) Now when Paul wrote this, did he then deny that you are saved by faith alone? Certainly not! But if you have faith in Christ then you have the Holy Spirit. The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. This means that if you have saving faith you are constantly at war with your sinful desires.

You will continue to struggle with sin. But you will struggle. One who does not struggle, but goes headlong into sin, without repenting cannot at the same time have saving faith. Saving faith constantly turns the sinner from his sin to Christ for needed forgiveness. When St. Paul writes, "Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God," he means it. He is not saying that those who sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. He is saying those who devote themselves to these things without repenting do not have saving faith, so they cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This is why faith constantly drives you to Christ, because you will sin. You need Jesus every day. Jesus receives sinners, no matter their sin.

The ten lepers cried for mercy. A couple weeks ago we learned about the tax collector, who in the temple prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And we learned how the word he used for mercy was a special word: propitiate. The tax collector prayed that God would be propitiated to him, meaning that God would accept the sacrifice for his sins and not be angry with him. The word the ten lepers used for mercy is not the same word. It is a much more common word. It's the same word we use when we sing, "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, after the Introit. This word for mercy is much broader. It doesn't only mean, "Lord, forgive me." It means, "have pity on me."

You can pray that God have mercy on you for an array of problems. "Lord, have mercy on me! I can't pay my bills." "Lord, have mercy on me! I have cancer." "Lord, have mercy on me! A hurricane is going to destroy my parent's home and they are trapped inside." "Lord, have mercy on me! My husband is leaving me. My child is sick. I have a drinking problem." And of course, "Lord, have mercy on me! I am a sinner."

Saving faith cries, "Lord, have mercy on me!" But not only to ask for salvation. Saving faith asks God for all things. Often we might think that God will take care of our spiritual problems, but the "real world" problems, well, we need to figure those out for ourselves. But God wants you to ask him for all things. Great and small! God wants you to expect every good thing from him. He wants you to believe that just as he has provided you a Savior and eternal life, that he will also take care of you from day to day. This trust in the Lord is a fruit of saving faith.

The man, who returned to give thanks to God was a foreigner. Worse, he was a Samaritan; a most hated foreigner. Yet, he had faith. Salvation comes by faith. It does not matter what nation you are from or what color your skin is. Jesus died for all people. God promised Abraham that through his offspring all families of the earth will be blessed. Everyone is blessed through faith.

Faith saves, because it grasps onto Jesus. Is your faith strong? Well, of course it can always be stronger. But the better question is, is your faith in Jesus. Jesus can save you even if you have a weak faith. But your faith must be in Christ. You must trust in him alone for your salvation. Because only Jesus has the power to save. Only Jesus died for your sins and rose to give you new life. Is your faith in Jesus? Then your faith has saved you. Amen.

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

Walk by the Spirit

The Evidence of Saving Faith

Faith Goes to Where Jesus Is

Trinity 14: The Faith that Saves

Rev. James Preus

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