Category: Trinity 15

Clearing The Noxious Odor of Idolatry

9/22/2023

Trinity 15
Matthew 6:24-34
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
September 17, 2023

The First Commandment is, “You shall have no other gods.” Our Small Catechism explains the First Commandment, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Martin Luther explains in the Large Catechism that whatever you fear, love, and trust in most is your God. So, if you fear, love, and trust in money, your job, your family and friends, or sports more than you fear, love, and trust in God, then money, your job, your family and friends, or sports is your false god. A false god is an idol.
Jesus explains this by saying that whatever you serve is your God. He says that you cannot serve two masters, or you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. So, you cannot serve both God and mammon. Mammon is earthly wealth, often translated as money. So, if you serve money or any other earthly wealth, then money and wealth are your false gods. You can identify your false gods by observing what you serve rather than the true God.
Yet, what does Jesus mean by serve? He certainly isn’t forbidding us from working. Rather, Scripture frequently commands us to work (Genesis 2:15; Prov. 6:6-11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). He isn’t forbidding us from using money. Rather, Jesus tells us to make friends with our money, who will welcome us into our eternal dwellings when that money fails (Luke 16:9). So, how can you examine yourself to see if you have made mammon into a false god?
Do you worry? Yes, worry is one of the tell-tale signs that you are serving mammon as your idol. Worry is the noxious odor of idolatry. Anxiety is the putrid stench of worshipping the false god of mammon. When you serve money, possessions, and all types of mammon, worry rises from your heart like a foul fume, that disturbs all your senses. And why does worshipping mammon make you worry? Why does serving the god of money cause a noxious stench to trouble all your senses? Because mammon is a cruel god. It is disloyal. It doesn’t promise you anything for certain. Everything money does give you can be taken away and destroyed. Mammon will make you its slave, but it will abandon you for another at the drop of a hat. So, those who worship the god of money will worry. They will be anxious that they won’t have enough. They will worry that they will lose what they have. And the more they worry, the more securely they will be enslaved to this cruel god as the noxious odor of idolatry overpowers all their senses.
So, Jesus seeks to free us from our slavery to this false god by getting us to stop worrying. That seems like an easy enough task. Who wants to be a slave to a false god? Who wants to suffer from anxiety and worry all the time? Yet, surprisingly, this is a near impossible task. Although worrying stinks, although serving mammon leads to bitterness, hatred, and eventually hell, people refuse to be convinced to stop worshipping that awful false god and sniffing its poison-fumes.
Jesus seeks to convince us to stop worrying by pointing out how God takes care of his creation, even though it does not worry or slave away. He points first to the birds of the air, who neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. “Are you not of more value than they?” Jesus concludes. Birds don’t toil for their food. They simply gather what God produces for them. And in a very real sense, so do we. We are commanded to work by God, but it is God who provides for us. Even with the great labor, and study of science, and more labor that goes into growing crops and producing food, we are simply gathering from creation what God has put into it for our sake. We can’t make seeds grow or crops succeed. God is the one who grants the growth and provides the bounty.
So, if God provides for the birds of the air, over which he has granted us dominion and for whom He has provided no savior, how much more will He care for us? “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
And this brings us to a Seed, which none of us planted, but which produced a harvest greater than any. This Seed is the Seed of the Woman, Jesus Christ, whom God sowed in the ground after sending Him to be crucified for our sins. We did not prepare the soil for this Seed except by our sins which required such a sacrifice. We did not raise Him up either! Yet, by God’s sowing and reaping, we receive the gift of eternal life through faith. So, why do we worry about such little things as what we will eat?
Then Jesus points us to the flowers of the field, who again, neither toil nor spin, yet are arrayed in finer garments than even King Solomon, the richest and most splendid of kings on earth. If God so clothes the grass, which will be burned tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you for whom He sent His Son to die? And indeed, God does clothe you with an even more beautiful raiment than all the flowers of the earth. He has clothed you in the very garments of salvation, in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), yes in Christ Himself (Galatians 3:27), when He baptized you into Christ’s name. And that garment washed in the blood of Christ will grant you access into the very gates of paradise, where you will live with Christ forever! So, why are you worried about what you will wear?
In the end your worrying doesn’t do you any good. It doesn’t make you richer or make you live longer. Life is much more than what you worry about anyway. It is the unbelieving pagans who are anxious for these things, but it should not be so for the children of God. God already knows all the things you need before you know you need them, and has planned how He will provide them for you. As mentioned before, if God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to death in order to save your soul from hell, why would He fail at this much smaller thing of carrying for your body? If he has made sure to supply you with eternal life, why do you think He will fail to supply you for your temporal life?
Jesus’ reasoning is impeccable. You cannot argue against it. Worrying is a waist of time, even worse, it is harmful to your soul. Worrying is the putrid stench of breaking the First Commandment by fearing, loving, and trusting in the creation rather than the creator. Stop worrying. Stop worshipping mammon. Rid yourself of this putrid stench.
But how? The more you worry, the more you worry. The more you smell the stench of idolatry, the more it captivates your senses to make you a total slave. Jesus tells you how to escape from worry and flee from the bondage of worshipping money. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The Kingdom of God is the reign of God. God reigns over us by sending His Son into human flesh to suffer and die for our sins. God reigns over you by sending His Holy Spirit through His Word and Sacraments to bring you to repentance and create faith in your heart, so that you may receive Christ and all the benefits of His sacrifice for you. Jesus and His disciples prepared people for the coming of God’s kingdom by preaching, “Repent and believe in the Gospel, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47) So, when Jesus tells you to flee idolatry by seeking first His kingdom, He is telling you to repent of your sins, believe the Gospel, and immerse yourself in His Word, receive His body and blood in the Sacrament, and live as a citizen of heaven here on earth. St. Paul declares, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)
If you refuse to feed or clothe your children, you are rightly accused of child abuse. It is your responsibility to give your children proper food and drink. But the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink. How much more guilty are you of child abuse if you refuse to provide your children with the things of the kingdom of God? Christ does not accept any excuse for putting other things before His kingdom. Buying a field or five yoke of oxen or getting married is not a reason to delay seeking Christ’s kingdom (Luke 14:15-24). Cooking and cleaning as Martha did is not better than sitting at Jesus’ feet and listing to His teaching (Luke 10:38-42). Burying one’s father isn’t even a good reason to delay seeking the kingdom (Matthew 8:21-22)! Because none of these things will grant you eternal life. Yet, slaving and worrying over these things certainly can prevent you from entering eternal life!
Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. St. Paul tells us that the righteousness of God has been manifested to us through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Romans 3:21-22). God’s righteousness is Christ’s righteousness. And Christ gives us His righteousness through faith (Philippians 3:9). Christ Jesus made us right with God by bearing our sins for us. His righteousness gives us access to eternal life. And He gives us this righteousness in His Church, which is the Kingdom of God, where His Gospel is proclaimed and His Sacraments are given.
Outside of God’s Kingdom, that is, outside of Christ’s Church there is no true peace and joy, no righteousness or eternal life. But within this Community of Saints, where Christ tends to His sheep, we find a refuge from anxiety and worry. We find peace, which the world cannot give. We learn that all our physical needs are cared for by our Creator, and He has supplied us with an eternal kingdom for our home. Where the Gospel of Christ is preached, the putrid stench of idolatry is cleared from the senses of those who believe, and worry is put to flight. The Gospel causes you to see clearly that God cares for you now and forever.
While we toil on this earth the stench of idolatry will always linger close by. Satan will throw all he has at us, whether riches or poverty, to cause the stench of worry to return. And as sinners, we will struggle. Yet, consider the saints of old, who battled worry before us and how they cast their anxieties on the God, who cares for them. Jeremiah, after King Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, wrote these beautiful words in Lamentations chapter 3, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I will hope in Him.” (vss. 22-24) And the Psalmist shouts to God, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)
Do not despair when you worry. Rather, seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness. Run to the Gospel of Christ. Nothing else on earth can clear the noxious odor of idolatry from your senses and give you peace from your worry. Amen.

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Thy Kingdom Come

9/29/2022

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Trinity 15
Matthew 6:24-34
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
September 25, 2022

“Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
Cause you don't love me any more?

Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love”

So goes the sappy 1960s teenybopper song about the end of a teenage relationship. The singer is surprised that the world continues to function when everything she thinks matters has gone to ruin. And I think we can all sympathize with the young in love, who get their hearts shattered. It can feel like the world is coming to an end. But it doesn’t. The birds keep chirping. The sun continues its course in the sky indifferent to your suffering. Have you ever gone outside to take a breath while you’re having a really bad day? And have you ever noticed that everything just keeps on going? The grass is still green. The flowers still bloom. The birds fly and sing. The squirrels chatter and chase each other from limb to limb. It’s as if your problems have no effect on the world at all. And this is a helpful thing to do when you’re having a bad day. Look at the world around you. It’s not actually crumbling to bits.

This in effect is what Jesus is telling us when we worry. Don’t worry. Consider the birds of the heavens. They don’t sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. How much more valuable are you than they? Are the squirrels stressed out? Are the flowers bothered? No, they’re not. How much more does God care about you than they? If God will let fish swim in the streams and frogs croak in the swamp without a care in the world, how much more does he want you to trust in him?

So, Jesus tells us not to worry, first of all, because God cares for us. Mankind is the crown of God’s creation. God breathed into Adam the breath of life. God made Eve out of Adam’s own rib. He gave them dominion over every living thing. And when they sinned, he sent his own Son to be born of a woman, to join our sorry race, to have our flesh and blood, and to die and rise for our salvation. How much more does God care about your body, what you eat, what you drink, what you wear. God cares about these things. So, you don’t need to worry.

Secondly, you shouldn’t worry about these things, because worrying doesn’t do any good. Who by worrying ever added an hour to his span of life, Jesus asks. Here, we must point out that when Jesus tells us not to worry, he does not tell us not to work. We should still do the work God places before us. Even the birds are busy building their nests and looking for worms and seeds. However, we should not worry as if worrying will make our work more productive. In fact, we should not trust in our work so much as if it all depended on us. God will provide. All things work out for good for those who love God. (Romans 8:28).

Thirdly, we should not worry, because the things of this life are not what’s important. Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the rest will be added to you. Everyone enjoys a good meal, but what then? You eat it; you digest it; you forget about it. Your clothes eventually get tattered and you buy new clothes. What was fashionable twenty years ago is unfashionable today. We spend our lives pursuing our interests and goals, and yet at the end we must say with the preacher from Ecclesiastes, “vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” At the end of the day, all our stuff passes away. Whatever we build crumbles. And even if you gained the whole world, what would it matter if you lost your soul? (Matthew 16:26).

And here is also a warning against idolatry. While worrying about the things of this life, we prove that we trust in false gods here on earth instead of him who reigns in heaven. Remember the parable about the seeds and those that fell among the thorns (Matthew 13). The thorns were the cares and pleasures of this life which choked out the word of God. When you care so much about the things of this life and pay so little attention to God’s Kingdom, then you are worshiping false gods. You’re letting the word get choked out by thorns.

So, what really matters is not what you eat or drink or wear; it’s not where you work or in which neighborhood you buy your house. What really matters and deserves your care is the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness!

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, Jesus instructs us. Well, how do we do that? You can start with prayer. Jesus, when instructing us to pray says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) So, when Jesus tells you to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he is telling you first and foremost to pray for it. You should pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Yes, “Thy kingdom come,” a petition you already pray every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer. But what are you praying when you pray, “Thy kingdom come,”? Our Small Catechism says, “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without out prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.” How does God’s kingdom come? “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”

First off, God’s kingdom comes without our prayer. God’s kingdom is better understood as God’s reign or God’s rule. God’s reign came when Christ Jesus, God’s own Son became man and was born of the Virgin Mary, when he lived under the Law as a human being and fulfilled it, when he went innocent to the cross bearing all our sins, when he died, rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven. That is when God’s kingdom came with its righteousness. Through his ministry on earth, Christ Jesus made everything right. He righted every wrong; he paid for every sin. He justified the world by satisfying God’s wrath against sin. This kingdom of God and its righteousness came without any of our prayers. Before Christ came, the world was under the dominion of the devil. That is why the demons went so crazy as Christ walked on the earth. Yet, Jesus cast them out. And finally, when he said, “It is finished” from the cross, he cast Satan from his throne of sin and lies and death, and Jesus established his kingdom on earth.

So, God’s kingdom comes without our prayer. God’s kingdom is here, whether you ask for it or not. Yet, Jesus instructs you to pray that it will come to you also.

God’s kingdom comes to you when your heavenly Father gives you his Holy Spirit, so that you believe his holy Word and live a godly life here in time. This means that you are praying that God would preach to you and that you would hear it. So, you cannot seek God’s kingdom and righteousness simply by saying a prayer, but by going and seeking what you prayed for. Listen to God’s Word. Hear his Gospel. Repent of your sins and believe that God has forgiven you for Christ’s sake. Believe that God’s Kingdom has come for your sake. Christ Jesus died for you. He cast Satan off his throne for you. He defeated death and hell for you.

Yet, when you pray, “Thy kingdom come,” you are not praying only for yourself. When you pray the Lord’s Prayer, you are never praying only for yourself. Remember, we pray, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Our. So, you are not only praying that God’s kingdom, his reign would come to you, but to everyone; that your children will hear the Gospel and believe it; that those who have strayed from listening to the Word and going to church would repent and come and hear the Gospel and live according to it. You’re praying for missions and new congregations and for a new generation of believers; that churches won’t close and that the wayward would be granted a Christian death. Martin Luther in his Large Catechism sums it up this way, “Dear Father, give us, we pray, Your Word, so that the Gospel may be genuinely preached throughout the world. And grant that it be accepted by faith and be alive and do its work in us, so that Your reign may flourish among us through the Word and power of the Holy Spirit and that the devil’s reign may be overthrown and have no claim or power over us, until finally it is totally destroyed and we live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness.”

We pray that God’s kingdom come here in time. We pray that it may come there in eternity. We seek God’s kingdom and righteousness by praying for Christ to return and for us to be taken to his kingdom to live with him in righteousness, innocence and blessedness forever. This is when we really get how much more important it is to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness than food, drink, and clothing. God’s kingdom is forever! We’re talking about eternity! Don’t be so shortsighted that you give up eternal life for a bit of contentment here on earth! When Jesus tells you to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he is commanding you to ask for the greatest treasure imaginable and he is promising that he will give it to you. Ask for God’s kingdom, and it will be given to you!

And it is only when you believe that God gives his kingdom and righteousness to you that you can be confident to not worry about worldly things. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”, so says St. Paul in Romans 8. He who gives his kingdom at the price of the innocent suffering and death of his own Son to whoever asks for it, how much more will he make sure you are clothed and fed and your children won’t be living on the streets. How much more will he provide your sons and daughters with pious Christian spouses. How much more will he add whatever else is good for you.

If you are six-years-old, seek first the kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you. If you are eighty-years-old, seek first the kingdom of God, and everything will be added to you. If you are a mother or father, seek first the kingdom of God, if you’re a teenager in high school or a young adult off to college, seek first the kingdom of God, if you’re sick, poor, rich healthy, whatever else is going on in your life, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Go to church, listen to the preaching, eat and drink Christ’s body and blood, pray, forgive, repent, believe, and all the rest will be added to you. Amen.

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God’s Service

9/21/2022

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

Trinity 14
Luke 17:11-19
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
September 18, 2022

It has become common for English speaking Lutherans to refer to their Sunday worship as the Divine Service. This is a translation from the German, Gottesdienst, which literally means, “God’s Service.” Yet, the term God’s Service or Divine Service is a bit ambiguous. Who is serving whom? What are we doing on Sunday morning? Is this our service to God? Or is this God’s service to us? … The answer is yes. In the Divine Service, we serve God and God serves us.

There were ten lepers crying out to Jesus for mercy outside a certain village. Jesus sent them all to the priests. And as they went, they were all cleansed. However, just one of them returned praising God with a loud voice, fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

With Jesus’ words, he teaches that it is our duty to give thanks to God. We hear this at every Divine Service, “It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, Heavenly Father…” And our Small Catechism teaches us that we should serve our God at all times. In the explanation to the First Article of the Creed, after confessing that God has created us and all we have and still takes care of them out of his own fatherly goodness and mercy, we declare, “For which it is my duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him.” In the explanation to the Second Article, we confess that Jesus Christ has purchased us, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, “that I may be His own, and live under Him in his kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness…”

And of course, our liturgy and our Catechism teach us that we should serve God, because that is what the Bible teaches us to do! St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people… This is good and is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.” And so, it makes sense that Jesus was disappointed in the nine men cleansed of their leprosy, who failed to return and give praise to God.

“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” That is a question we can ask quite frequently when we consider how many fail to come and serve God with their thanks, praise, and songs. Where are all those who were cleansed? Weren’t so many baptized? Where are they? Weren’t so many confirmed? Where are they? And of course, Christ Jesus died to save all people everywhere of their sins. Where are they? Why do they not return and give praise to God?

Many say that they don’t need to go to a particular building to worship God, so that’s why they don’t need to go to church. And in a very simplistic way, they’re right. I visited several homebound parishioners this week in nursing homes and homes. We didn’t go to the church building. But we certainly had church. We had the Divine Service. We served God, prayed to him, thanked him, praised him, and sang to him. And God served us. He forgave our sins. He taught us. And he fed us Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. So, church-skippers are right that you don’t technically need to go to the church building to worship God. But you do need to go to Christ.

The cleansed leper praised God and fell down at His feet giving Him thanks. Whose feet? God’s feet. They were Jesus’ feet. The leper worshipped God at Jesus’ feet, because Jesus is his God. If you are not worshipping Jesus, then you are not worshipping God. Well, how do you worship Jesus? You gather around his Word! Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” (Matthew 18). Jesus said, “Go therefore, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28) Jesus is where his name is proclaimed, where his Word is taught, where his Sacraments are given. We aren’t worshipping some random sky god. We’re worshipping Him, who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. We are worshipping Christ Jesus Himself, our Lord and God.

So, the first lesson about worshipping God is that we worship Jesus. The second lesson is that we must repent. The leper turned back and worshipped Jesus. Jesus said that only one returned to give praise to God. To repent means to turn. We turn from our lives. We stop what we are doing. And we give our attention to the God who deserves our thanks and praise. Oh, you still don’t want to go to church? You think the service is boring? You don’t know the hymns? It’s inconvenient? Well, tough. Not everything is about you. God desires your service. He wants you to thank and praise him. And you demonstrate that you recognize God as God when you turn from serving your own self and put your efforts into serving God. That is why we should not just show up to church, but we should listen, learn, recite the responses with the congregation, and especially, sing the hymns, as Scripture says, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” (Ephesians 5:19)

And it is especially important that we listen to the words of our God. Our Small Catechism explains the Third Commandment, Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy, saying, “We should fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” Those who belong to God, who worship him, listen to his words.

Yet, it is of the utmost importance that you know that your service toward God does not earn you the forgiveness of sins. Your service toward God in no way justifies you before God or merits eternal life for you. In fact, your service toward God is not even the main reason you go to the Divine Service! Rather, your service to God, traveling on a Sunday morning to worship, reciting the prayers, singing the hymns, hearkening your ears, is all fruit of faith!

And this is the most important lesson in this story. There can be no worship of God without faith. Without faith, no matter how beautifully you sing that hymn, God doesn’t like your singing. Without faith, it doesn’t matter how attentive you follow the service, reciting the responses and listening to the sermon. Without faith, it doesn’t matter how early you got up, how far you drove, how on time you were, how nice your Sunday best is. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:16). Without faith it is impossible to serve God.

In our Lutheran Confessions, in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Philip Melanchthon writes, “Faith is that worship (or divine service) which receives the benefits that God offers… God wants to be honored by faith so that we receive from him those things that he promises and offers.” [Apology IV (II):49] Faith is true worship, because it receives what God offers us for Christ’s sake. The greatest honor you can give God is to believe his promises! This is what Jesus taught the Samaritan. He said, “Your faith has saved you!”

Now, our English translation says, “Your faith has made you well.”, but that is more of a paraphrase. The translators assume that Jesus is saying that the man was made well from his leprosy, because he had faith. But there were ten lepers who were made well. Yet, only one of them demonstrated his faith by returning to worship Jesus. Jesus meant what he said, “Your faith has saved you.”

Faith and service go hand in hand. If you have faith in Christ, then you desire to serve him. This is why this service is called a fruit of faith. Yet, the greatest emphasis in the Divine Service on Sunday morning is not our service toward God, but God’s service for us. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served by to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The greatest Divine Service ever was when Jesus Christ gave his life as a ransom for all sinners. No service you could offer or anyone could offer could make atonement for one sin. Yet, Jesus by his perfect sacrifice makes satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.

And that is what Christ offers us in the Divine Service on Sunday morning, the benefits he gained for us on the cross: the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So, faith draws you to go to church, not only so that you can serve God with your thanks and praise, hymns and prayers; faith draws you to church primarily so that you can receive God’s service for you.

Before the leper was healed, he was not permitted to come near anyone. He was unclean. In the Old Testament, a number of figures are struck with leprosy as a punishment for their rebellion against God (Miriam, King Uzziah, and Elisha’s servant Gehazi). So, leprosy became associated with punishment for sin, even though lepers were not necessarily worse sinners than non-lepers. Yet, all physical ailments are a sign of sin. Sin brings death! We are sinners. By nature, we are unclean and not worthy to come before God. Yet, Scripture says in Hebrews 10, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We draw near to worship Christ, not afraid of our uncleanness, because he has made us clean. In Baptism, Christ washes all of our sins away in his blood. And through faith, we have assurance that all our sins are forever drowned. And we continue to draw near to be cleansed by Christ. As Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, so Jesus washes our feet in the Divine Service, so to say. He declares his absolution to us through his servant, forgiving our sins. He teaches us and strengthens our faith for the continued journey through this veil of tears. He even feeds us his own body and blood to eat and to drink, a foretaste of the heavenly feast, which grants us forgiveness and strengthens us in the faith. Faith in Christ draws you to come near and receive these benefits from Christ, through his Word and Sacrament. Faith draws you to be served by God.

And in response to being served by God, we in return serve God. The Divine Service is a heavenly conversation on earth between God and his people. God declares his grace and forgiveness to us through the mighty works of Christ Jesus, and we respond by confessing this great truth. We stand and bow and sing and declare, “amen!”, in response to being told by our God that we are his people, that he is our God, that we are no longer unclean, but we are washed in the blood of Christ. And you can often tell whether you are serving God or he is serving you based on which direction the pastor is facing. If the pastor is facing the congregation, he is likely representing and speaking for Christ to the congregation, God showering his grace on his people through his minister. When the pastor is facing the altar, he represents and speaks for or with the congregation to God, offering petitions, thanksgivings, and praise.

Yet, our service to God is always offered in response to our faith receiving God’s service to us. And God’s service to us is always for the sake of the innocent sufferings, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has earned for us forgiveness, justification, and eternal life. This is why the number one reason anyone should go to church should always be to receive the forgiveness of sins Jesus won for you on the cross, that is, to be served by God. Amen.

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Walking by the Spirit: Building up Others and Sowing to the Spirit

9/10/2018

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Galatians 5:25-6:10
September 9, 2018

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” These words of St. Paul are directed specifically to pastors, who oversee the household of God, yet they are relevant to all who live by the Spirit. Here Paul speaks of what to do if you see one of your Christian brothers or sisters caught in sin. This is incredibly relevant, because we are all susceptible to sin and fall into temptation from time to time. And it is important for us to notice how the apostle directs us to address this recurring problem, “you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”
“Gentleness” is a key word here. Meekness is another appropriate translation. Such an approach is not looked at as a winning strategy by the powerful in the world. Those, who are gentle, meek, and humble lose. They don’t win in conflicts. And your flesh will agree with the powerful. Your natural inclination when confronted with another’s sin likely won’t be to be gentle and meek. This certainly isn’t the case with many, who are charged to oversee the household of God! “Zeal for your house has consumed me!” is what many sons of thunder are eager to proclaim at the first sight of wrong-doing in the congregation. However, St. Paul warns against vainglory, that is, being ruled by the prideful flesh. He carefully uses the word for gentleness, because it is a fruit of the Spirit. And there are many good reasons to approach the sins of others with meekness.
First, meekness is an attribute of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. He did not overcome sin and conquer Satan by boasting or snapping reeds and pinching wicks. Rather, with meekness Christ bore the burden of our sin and trusted in God to vindicate him. Jesus dealt compassionately toward sinners, spoke patiently to them, taught them, corrected them, forgave them, and ultimately died for them. And so, when we approach those caught in sin, we should not do it according to our own righteousness, but submitting ourselves to the word of God.
Second, meekness is necessary because of the stated goal. St. Paul does not say that when you see a person caught in sin to seek and destroy. Rather he says to restore him. Now, I’ve worked both on demolition jobs and building projects, and demolition jobs are more fun. They’re also a lot easier. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t call us to demolish or win in a conflict. The Holy Spirit calls us to restore. This means that your goal is for your erring brother or sister to walk side-by-side with you in the Spirit and bond of peace, not to win an argument or prove yourself a better Christian.
St. Paul gives further reason to practice meekness when he says, “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” There is no sin that your neighbor has committed that is impossible for you also to fall into. It is only by the grace of God that you don’t fall into the sins you see in others. And when you examine yourself, you will see that even if you haven’t fallen into the same sin as your brother or sister, you have fallen into your own mire enough times. This is why our Lord instructs us to remove the plank from our own eye before we seek to take out the speck in our neighbor’s. No, sin still must be addressed, but we have good reason to be cautious as we address it.
We should also take note of the word choice of the Holy Spirit, which St. Paul records, “If anyone is caught in any transgression.” He speaks as if we’re talking about a fly trapped in a spider’s web or a child, who has fallen into a pit. Here Paul points out a reality not just about your neighbor, but about you yourself. You are sinner, inclined to sin. We fall daily. The situation Paul instructs us in here concerns not an unbeliever, but a Christian like any of us. Christians still sin! And Christians should be open to correction from God’s Word from a fellow Christian and especially from their pastor, who is called by God to do such a task. And so, pastors (and all Christians), should address the sin in others as they would want others to address their sin. With patience and toward the goal of repentance and forgiveness.
But those, who refuse to be corrected and stubbornly remain in their sins even after correction from God’s word are not to be called Christians. This is why sin still must be addressed. Gentleness does not mean that you forgo addressing the sin.
“Bear one another’s burden’s, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Yes, bear their sins. Sin isn’t just an internal thing in the heart. Sin is external and it hurts other people. And God is asking you to bear that which hurts you. That’s tough. No one wants to bear slander or disrespect. And it is because sin hurts other people that Christians often react pridefully with the intent to tear down instead of build-up. Yet, the Spirit moves us to be patient, that is, long suffering, bearing the burden of others’ sins as we work toward repentance, forgiveness, and restoration. And so, we see that forgiveness isn’t cheap. So, it is important to remember that each of us has been forgiven our debt of 10,000 talents and with this in mind we should be willing to bear the small cost of forgiving and bearing with others.
We, as Christians ought to show such patience, because Christ has shown such patience with us and more. How many times in a day has Christ forgiven you? And how many more times will you need to be forgiven? And so, we approach one another as Christians in need of the same forgiveness and patience from Christ. The blood, which has redeemed you from sin and death also redeems your fellow Christian.
“One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.” This Scripture passage, also included in the Table of Duties in Luther’s Small Catechism, instructs hearers to take care of their pastor’s physical needs. Pastors tend to avoid the topic of giving money in the offering plate, because it is an awkward topic. Pastors don’t submit invoices for services rendered. Instead, they live off the offerings freely given by the people of God. And so, pastors often avoid talking about giving to avoid seeming preoccupied with money or setting a stumbling block in the way of the weak. Yet, St. Paul does bring up the topic a number of times in Scripture and pastors shouldn’t ignore the topic completely for a reason that goes far beyond the church finishing the year in the black.
St. Paul writes, “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” St. Paul does not write this only for the pastors’ sake, although that certainly is part of it. St. Paul wrote in Philippians 4, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” He writes this for the sake of the Christian. Why do Christians support the preaching of the Gospel? Because they believe it! They believe that the words of Jesus are the words of eternal life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is worth more than life itself! And why do some not support the preaching of the Gospel when they are able? Because the temptations of the flesh have convinced them that their money is better spent elsewhere. Their flesh has convinced them to sow to the flesh instead of sowing to the Spirit.
When you willingly support the preaching of the Gospel, you confess that you are seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and are confident that God will add the rest to you. It is an exercise of the Spirit, who lives within you. Exercises of the Spirit bear abundant fruit that money cannot buy.
To sow to the Spirit means much more than investing your money in the preaching of the Gospel. It is investing your time, energy, yes, your life in the Gospel. “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap” is such a simple concept. If you sow corn, you’re going to harvest corn. If you sow soybeans, you’re going to harvest soybeans. If you invest in the desires of your flesh, you are going to reap the reward of the flesh, which ends in death. If you invest in the Spirit, you are going to harvest the reward of the Spirit, which is eternal life.
And this applies doubly to pastors. If in their preaching pastors sow toward the goal of raising money, they’ll get riches that perish. If they sow toward temporary peace or bigger crowds, then they might just get it. But none of those things will grant a harvest of saints for the Lord. Yet, what does Scripture say if the preacher sows the true word of God? He’ll save both himself and his hearers and the Lord will harvest a crop some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
So, what do you sow? Do you invest more time striving after money or seeking true riches that come from the teachings of Jesus? Do you invest more effort getting your children to all of their sporting events on time or having devotions with them, taking them to church and Sunday School? When you take time to pray and read God’s Word, attend Bible Study, speak to your children about Jesus and make sure they learn the Gospel, you are sowing to the Spirit. When you preoccupy all your time and energy on the needs and wants of yourself, you are sowing to the flesh. So, what are you investing in here on earth? In the that which perishes or in that which lasts forever? Are you working hard to satisfy the desires of the flesh or is the Holy Spirit moving you to do the will of the Lord? What do you expect to harvest in the end?
Sowing to the Spirit means to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. God wants you to trust in him, so he has given you a sure promise. He promises you that he knows what you need to support this life. He will not let you go cold or hungry or naked. He provides for all living creatures and he has not forgotten about you. And God promises this so that you can focus on sowing toward the kingdom of God and not fear that you will not also reap what you need for your body in this life.
Bearing one another’s burdens is tortuous and sowing to the Spirit is impossible unless you already have the Spirit. Unless you believe that God has forgiven the multitude of your sins, you will not be able to bear with and forgive others their sins. And unless you believe God’s promise that you will reap eternal life, you will not sow to the Spirit. It is only through faith in the Gospel that these things are possible. So, lest we grow weary in trying to do good, we must constantly return to the Gospel: return to Jesus for forgiveness, teaching, and strengthening in faith. This is how we receive the ability to do good to others, especially those of the household of faith, who have been built up, just as we have been built up, and who will reap the same reward as we reap on the Last Day. Amen.

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Trinity 14: Walk by the Spirit

9/4/2018

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Galatians 5:16-23
September 2, 2018

Last week the Holy Spirit taught us through St. Paul that we receive the inheritance of eternal life in God’s kingdom by faith in God's promise and not by works of the Law, as we heard read, “For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Gal. 3:18) So, it might seem inconceivable to some that the same Holy Spirit caused the same St. Paul to write in the same letter to the Galatians, “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, how is it that the divinely inspired St. Paul, who wrote that we inherit the kingdom of God by faith, apart from our works, now says that those, who do certain works will not inherit the kingdom of God? I thought works didn’t matter! Does this mean that we inherit the kingdom of God by our works after all? Some people think so. It is a popular teaching in many churches that God receives us into his kingdom by grace, apart from our works. Yet, in order to remain in God’s kingdom, we must continue to do good works.
However, this is a false teaching. God brings you into his kingdom by grace apart from works of the law. And it is by grace, not by your works, that you remain in God’s kingdom. Salvation cannot be both by grace and by works, as St. Paul says in Romans 11, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” And St. Paul argues directly against the notion that those, who enter into God’s kingdom by grace then continue to remain in his kingdom by works, he writes, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3) No, Scripture teaches that having begun by the Spirit, you are then completed by the Spirit!
Of course, as with all difficulties people find in Scripture, the difficulty is not in the actual Scripture, but our in own limitations, because of sin. Scripture says that we are enslaved to sin and imprisoned under the law, but Christ frees us through faith in him. Yet, what should you do with this freedom? The sinful flesh asks, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” “By no means!”, St. Paul retorts, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)
St Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) God has called you out of darkness. He has made you clean in the blood of Christ and has washed away all your sins. By grace through faith you stand righteous before God. God has justified you. You know what it means to be justified, right? It means to be declared righteous by God. To be righteous means to be in a right relationship with God. God also sanctifies you. Justification and sanctification cannot be separated. If you are justified, you are also sanctified.
To be sanctified means to be set apart. God sets you apart from sin by washing you clean in Jesus’ blood and giving you his Holy Spirit to lead you in the path of truth. The Holy Spirit gives you a new heart, that desires to do good, not evil. If you are rescued from the slavery of sin, why would you want to return back to sin? It is the sinful flesh, which tries to bring you back into slavery.
And here we are met with the problem St. Paul addresses in our text today. “But I say, 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 Sprit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Christ has indeed forgiven all your sins through his death and resurrection and you receive this forgiveness freely through faith. And God has given you his Holy Spirit, who works in you to do good. Yet, sin still dwells in your mortal body. And it will continue to dwell in your mortal body until you die. This means, that raging within your very heart is a fierce battle between your sinful old Adam and your new man, made alive by the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul says the Spirit and the flesh oppose each other, “to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Well, what do you want to do? According to your new man, you want to love God and serve your neighbor. It is your sinful flesh, which wants to prevent you from performing the love you desire, as St. Paul writes in Romans 7, “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.” Now, if even St. Paul struggled so with his sinful flesh, what hope do we have? Our hope is in the forgiveness of sins and grace under which we live. God does not count our trespasses against us, so that St. Paul writes, “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” So, we Christians walk this earth with sin waxing and waning in our hearts, constantly rebelling against the Holy Spirit. And though this means that we do sin, God does not count these sins against us for Christ’s sake.
Yet, we must make a distinction between sins of weakness and ruling sins. When St. Paul says, “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”, he is speaking of ruling sins. Sins of weakness are the sins that you hate, which you fight against, so that you don’t commit them and when you do commit them, you repent. Ruling sins are sins that rule over you. Your new man no longer fights against them. It is no longer a case of you doing what you do not want, but you doing exactly what you want, which is sin. Ruling sin is when the flesh has won the battle against your new man. It is to be an impenitent sinner. Impenitent sinners are not Christians. Their faith has died.
Your flesh works against your saving faith by luring you to do works of the flesh. When you let your flesh rule over you unchecked, eventually your faith dies. That is why St. Paul says that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those who do such things prove by their actions that their faith is no longer living. And because these works of the flesh are so dangerous, it is important for us to recognize them, so that they do not destroy our faith.
The first is sexual immorality or fornication. It is not a surprise that this is the first one St. Paul lists. Desires of the flesh and sexual desires are often thought to be synonymous. Now, sexual sins are definitely serious. Fornication is a direct attack on marriage. Those, who have sex outside of marriage give away what they have no right to give and take what they have no right to take; they attack God’s perfect institution of marriage and its beautiful imagery of Christ and his bride, the Church; and they endanger future generations. And there are other forms of sexual immorality, which damage people and their souls, as St. Paul also lists impurity and sensuality.
Yet, works of the flesh do not stop at sexual sins. St Paul also lists idolatry and sorcery. These show a hatred and distrust of God himself. Enmity, strife, jealousy, and fits of anger: These works of the flesh attack the very Gospel of Jesus Christ, who makes peace, is patient and kind, and loves. Rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy: Me first, that’s what these say.
The works of the flesh do vary, so that no one young or old can claim that he is not tempted by them. For some sexual sins rise up from inside, while others, fits of anger or envy. Yet, what do all of these works of the flesh have in common? They all show a distrust of God and a hatred toward your neighbor, while being completely selfish. Those, who are ruled by sexual passion care nothing for anyone, except to fulfill their lustful desires. Those who are ruled by enmity and strife have no desire to be at peace and are comfortable hating their neighbor.
Contrast these selfish sins with the fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. All these fruits are focused on loving and trusting in God and looking out for the good of your neighbor. They are completely selfless works. Love, αγαπη, is the selfless love that God had for us when he sent his Son to die for our sins. This love is produced by the Spirit, so that you look out for the best interest of your neighbor. Joy, not in your own advancement or pleasure, but joy that you have fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ; peace, which is gained by forgiving those, who sin against you; patience, that is, long-suffering, that means that you bear with your neighbor’s sins, not in anger, but patiently, bearing the cost out of love until he is brought to repentance. Goodness, delighting in what the Lord delights; faithfulness to God and to your fellow Christian; gentleness, that is, meekness, not boasting over others, but trusting in God’s Word to win over hearts; and self-control, that is your new man ruling over the old man, so that you do not satisfy his desires.
Notice that St. Paul calls them works of the flesh, but fruits of the Spirit. Your flesh works you as a slave until you earn your wages, which is death. While the Spirit works in you to produce good fruit, which manifest your saving faith within you. God uses these fruits of the Sprit to battle against the works of your flesh, so that these selfish and hateful works do not kill your faith and take away your salvation.
Now it is obviously beneficial for yourself to battle your sinful flesh, so that it does not rise up and kill your faith. But it is also necessary to battle your flesh for the sake of the Christian congregation. The Church of Christ is one body. And so, a Christian congregation must act as one body and each member as a member of that body. The left arm doesn’t rebel against the right arm nor do the fingers try to dig out the eyes. Each member is different, but each member is united under one head, who is Christ. But the desires of the flesh are selfish and divisive. If each person insists on his own way, seeks to be better than others, is impatient and unkind, refuses to forgive and holds grudges, then the congregation itself scatters.
Such divisions are inevitable. I will no doubt do things that annoy you. And you will no doubt do things to annoy others. And if we let our flesh have its way, we will bite and devour each other and tear the church asunder. But if we walk by the Spirit, and love one another, take joy in others’ salvation, seek peace and bear it when others hurt us, desire to do the will of God and are faithful to his words while not boasting over others and try to control our own flesh first and foremost, then divisions can be repaired and the body can be mended. It is by repenting of our own faults and being quick to forgive others that we walk by the Spirit and in Christian unity.
The fruits of the Spirit seem like law and for good reason. The fruits of the Spirit are all about love and love is the fulfillment of the law. But you do not produce fruits of the Spirit by becoming enslaved to the law, meaning, by trying to obtain your salvation by your own works. The fruits of the Spirit are produced when you have the Spirit. And God gives you his Holy Spirit through the Gospel, when you believe in the forgiveness of sins spoken to you for Christ’s sake. It is through faith in the Gospel that you are able to walk by the Spirit. This is what it means to dwell in God’s tabernacle and walk in his courts: to hear the words of Christ, to believe them, and cherish them. Then the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart. And if he dwells in your heart, he will produce in you fruits to the glory of God. Amen.

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

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Trinity 14: Walk by the Spirit

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