Blog Posts

All Scripture Hangs on This

10/20/2022

Trinity 18
Matthew 22:34-46
Pastor James Preus
October 16, 2022

In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus is bombarded with questions from the Pharisees and Sadducees in vain attempts to catch him in his words. Finally, a lawyer from the Pharisee party asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus teaches us that the greatest commandment in the Law is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” Every Jew knows that commandment from Deuteronomy 6, because it is part of the Shema, a prayer recited twice a day by observant Jews. Jesus added a second commandment found in Leviticus 19, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These two commandments are known as the two tables of the Law. The first table of the Law deals with your love toward God. The second table of the Law deals with your love toward your neighbor.
On these two commandments, Jesus tells us, depend all the Law and the prophets. By Law and the prophets, Jesus means the Holy Scriptures. The Old Testament is made up of the five books of the Law, written by Moses, and of the books of the prophets. The word for depend also means hang. So, as a visual you can imagine a cord connecting the Holy Scriptures to the commandments to love God and your neighbor. The Holy Scriptures are suspended by these two commands. If you cut the cord and sever the Holy Scriptures from these two commandments of love, then you lose all of Holy Scripture.
And with this teaching, Jesus tears down the Pharisee’s illusion that they are righteous. They can keep their six hundred plus outward observances of the Law, tithing, fasting, abstaining from certain foods, washings, etcetera, but if they fail to love God and their neighbor, it all comes crashing down. They’ve lost everything.
By teaching that the greatest commandment in the Law is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, Jesus teaches us that the First Commandment rules all Ten Commandments. In order for you to keep any of the commandments, you must first fear and love God, as your Small Catechism says. If you do not love God, then you have failed at every commandment, even if you have outwardly performed it. Likewise, the purpose of the second table of the Law is to love your neighbor. Even if you honor your father and mother, abstain from hurting or harming your neighbor, or committing adultery, or stealing, or slandering, if you do not do all these things out of love, then you have failed these commandments.
A good example of this is Jonathan, the son of King Saul. We learned in Bible study last week that Saul ordered Jonathan to kill David (1 Samuel 19). Saul was both Jonathan’s father and king, so you would think that Jonathan ought to have obeyed him according to the Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother. But you cannot keep the Fourth Commandment without first fearing and loving God and loving your neighbor. Jonathan refused to kill David and instead, convinced his father not to commit this evil sin, but to let David live. In doing this, Jonathan loved God, David, and his father Saul.
Jonathan gives us a great example of how we should handle the often-conflicting responsibilities we have in life by first loving God and doing everything out of love for our neighbor. Yet, not even Jonathan kept the law of love perfectly at all times. These two commandments of love do not only tear down the Pharisees illusion that they are righteous, but they tear down our own illusion. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets, our entire religion. If we fail in one part, it all comes crashing down. The Law does not budge. Rather, this Law of love condemns us all as sinners (Romans 3:20).
After giving perfect instruction on the Law, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question about the Gospel. He asks them about the Christ, God’s promised Savior for us. “Whose son is he?”, Jesus asks. “David’s,” reply the Pharisees. Everyone knows this. God promised David that he would raise up a son from his own body, who would sit on his throne forever (2 Samuel 7). But the Pharisees are only half right. Jesus asks them, “Why then does David in the Spirit call him Lord saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I set your enemies under your feet.’” In Psalm 110, David calls the Christ his Lord. Why would David call his son his Lord? No, David is not mistaken. David made this statement by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus clearly states. The Pharisees have no answer. It’s not that they can’t figure it out. It’s that the answer is too terrifying. It is impossible to believe! The Christ is both David’s Son and David’s Lord. The Christ is both the son of David and the Son of God; he is both God and man!
This is what St. Paul teaches in the first chapter of Romans, saying, “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3-4). Jesus is the Christ. He is descended according to the flesh from King David. Jesus is a man. He is also the Son of God, begotten from eternity from the Father. Jesus is true God.
The Christ sits at God the Father’s right hand. That means that he is all powerful. Everything Jesus does, he does as both God and man. So, that baby in the manger is the ruler of the universe. That man crawling under the burden of his cross is the commander of the armies of angels in heaven. God became man. And in so doing, he has made all our enemies his enemies. Sin, death, hell: these are our enemies. They have no claim on Christ. Yet, God takes on our human flesh and conquers our enemies, so that they are under his feet. This means that all who are joined to Christ also have sin, death, and hell forever under their feet.
“Who is the Christ?” is the most important question in all of Scripture. If you do not know that Jesus is true God and true man, who has come to save sinners from their sins, then Scripture remains a closed book to you. The Pharisees asked a question about the Law. And they didn’t even understand that! Now, they are confronted with a question about the Christ, and they prove that although they have read the Scriptures over and over again, it has remained a closed book to them. Jesus is the Christ, true God and true man. All Scripture is about Jesus, as Christ himself says in John chapter 5, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” (vs. 39)
Jesus Christ is the culmination of all Scripture. All the Law and the Prophets find their fulfillment in him, as Jesus again says in Luke chapter 24, ‘“These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead…’” (vss. 44-46).
And this brings some clarity to Jesus’ statement that on these two commandments (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself) hang all the Law and the prophets. Jesus is the embodiment of all the Law and the prophets. The word for hang or depend can also mean to crucify, which makes sense, because those who are crucified are also said to be hanged on a tree. A cross is made of two beams. These two commandments of love are each a beam. One beam says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” The other beam says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two beams is hanged Christ Jesus, he who fulfills the Law and the prophets.
Jesus fulfilled the Law throughout his life. He never sinned. Yet, his greatest show of love was in his crucifixion for our sins. Jesus, the man, loved the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, and mind. He was not forced to the cross, but he went willingly. Jesus could at a word send all the soldiers, who arrested him to the ground (John 18:6). His soul was in anguish as he bore our sins and considered his suffering and death. Yet, Jesus prayed to his God and Father, “If it is possible, take this cup away, yet not my will but yours be done.” (Matthew 26:39) As that beam was erected on Calvary with Jesus’ nailed to it, you can almost see it written in blood, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.”
In his crucifixion, Jesus fulfilled the command to love his neighbor. Jesus himself taught his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). And again, as Jesus permitted his hands to be nailed to that cross beam you can almost see the inscription in blood, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Our congregation uses Lessons for Lambs as children bulletins. And on the front cover, we have wonderful illustrations by a faithful Lutheran artist, which help teach the lesson of the day. However, I must disagree with the picture he provided for today. If you look at the children’s bulletins, you will see the two tablets of the law hanging on the cross, an obvious allusion to Jesus saying that the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. But the illustration has it wrong. The commandments of love are not hanged on the cross. The commandments of love are the cross. They are the beams on which Christ Jesus, the fulfillment of Scripture is hanged. The Law is not crucified. The Law crucifies sinners. That is why Jesus’ crucifixion is so important! He has saved us sinners from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us, as it is written, “Cursed by everyone who hangs on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13) The Law is not crucified for our sins. Jesus is crucified for our sin. He has not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.
Now the Law of love cannot condemn us. Now, we are free to love God and our neighbor without fear of being condemned to hell. Most people think that you are saved (whatever they think that means), by doing good, by loving. That is why it is increasingly popular to say that Jesus is not the only way to heaven, because many ways teach us how to love equally as well as Jesus. God save you from that devilish teaching! First, it’s not true. Jesus teaches us to love infinitely better than the Hindu Vedas, or the Jewish Talmud, or the Islamic Koran. But more importantly, you will never be saved by following the Law. No matter how good you think you are, you do not love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You do not love your neighbor as your own flesh; not all the times! But Jesus does! And Jesus did as he was hanged on the cross for the sake of the Law of love. Jesus is the only way to heaven. He is the only one who has saved you from your sins. Jesus, David’s Son and David’s Lord, has placed all our enemies under his feet. And he invites us to join him in his victory through faith in Christ. Amen.

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Sanctifying the Sabbath

10/9/2022

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Source: I was not able to find the name and date of this artist. It appears to be an Eastern icon. If you recognize it, please leave a comment.

Trinity 17
Luke 14:1-11
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
October 9, 2022

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”, Jesus asks. What kind of a question is this? Why wouldn’t it be lawful to heal on the Sabbath? The question lies in the Third Commandment. God gave Moses the Third Commandment, which is written in Exodus chapter 20:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (vss. 8-11)

So, there lies the question. God forbad work on the Sabbath Day, which is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. The word Sabbath means rest. The Pharisees considered healing to be a work. Jesus knew this, so he asked them if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, the day on which God forbid all work. Yet, why did God forbid working on the seventh day? God gave this command for the sake of the body and the soul. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

First, God forbid working on the Sabbath for the sake of the body. It is not good for a person or animal to work every day of the week without a break. The Sabbath law was not only a ceremonial law for the Jews, but it was a civil law for the nation of Israel. It was illegal for an employer to make his employees work on the Sabbath. A man couldn’t even make his slave or animal work on the Sabbath. Thousands of years before any trade union, God took care of the bodies of workers.

The greater purpose for this commandment was for the sake of the soul. Why did God give everyone in Israel a day off every week? Yes, to rest the body, but is that it? Of course not. Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy. The Sabbath day is supposed to be holy, that is, set a part for God’s use. The children of Israel were supposed to put aside the work they did, so that God could work in them. By not working, they showed that they trusted in God to provide for them, not in their own work. By not working, they demonstrated to the nations, who did not observe the Sabbath rest that the LORD was their God. By not working, they were able to take time as a congregation to hear the Word of God preached and taught to them, to pray, praise, and give thanks.

So, the greater emphasis was not simply avoiding outward work. The greater emphasis for the Sabbath day was to sanctify it, that is, to make the day holy. And the day is made holy by the Word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:5).

So, back to the question. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Why wouldn’t it be lawful? Is healing work? Okay, perhaps. But healing is loving. The purpose of this command is to make those who observe it holy. We are made holy when we are joined to God, who is holy. Well, God is love. In fact, Scripture plainly tells us that love is the fulfilling of the Law! (Romans 13:10) You cannot fulfill the Law simply by observing outwards actions, do not touch, do not eat, do this then, don’t do that then. The fulfillment of the law is love. The purpose of the law is love. If you are not loving, then you are breaking the law. If you love, then you are keeping the law.

This man was suffering from dropsy. We don’t use that term much anymore. It means that his body was retaining fluids. This is a terrible condition, which can cause a lot of pain, can damage major organs of the body, including the heart, and even cause death. And the condition is obvious. Someone suffering from dropsy is swollen, so that he looks fat. This man was suffering. Jesus saw that he was suffering. The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus, watching him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus threw the test back in their face by asking them the question. He silenced them by speaking out loud the evil they were questioning in their heart. Of course, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the fulfilling of the Law.

Jesus shows us that we cannot keep the Law simply by our outward actions, but we keep the Law by first loving in our hearts. This is good and true, but it’s not the Gospel yet. It’s not good news, because it still condemns you. The reason Pharisees want to focus on outward actions instead of the heart, is because it is much easier to control your outward actions than to change your heart. But no one loves as he ought to. No one loves his neighbor as his own flesh at all times. And no one at all times loves God with his whole heart, soul, strength, and mind. Even if you go to church every Sunday and read your Bible every day, your heart is not always in it. So, the commandment still condemns you.

The book of Hebrews points this out. The author writes of the people of Israel failing to obtain God’s rest through the Sabbath, saying, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:8-9)

Here, Scripture shows us that we cannot enter God’s rest by works of the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus has become our Sabbath rest, because he himself has fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and was punished for us in our place. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 11, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

In fact, it is so necessary that you consider Christ Jesus your rest, that St. Paul explains that the command to refrain from working on the Sabbath no longer applies to us. He writes in Colossians chapter 2, “Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are shadows of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” So, just as we are not required to celebrate the Passover anymore or to have our sons circumcised on the eighth day or to refrain from eating pork, shellfish, and rabbits, so also are we no longer forbidden to work on Saturday. These were all ceremonial laws meant to point to Christ. They were shadows. But Christ is the substance. Now that the substance has appeared, we may take our eyes off the shadow and focus them on Christ!

It is essential that you recognize this, because if you don’t you will lose sight that Christ Jesus alone is your Sabbath rest. You cannot find rest in your own outward observances. You can only find rest in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

However, this is not to say that we should not gather every week to worship God and hear his word. The outward observance of the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ, but the spirit of the Law continues. We cannot continue in sin, because Christ has fulfilled the Law. Martin Luther explains the Third Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it Holy.”, “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.” It is foolish even today to work seven days every week without taking a day off to rest. It is wise to have a designated day in the week to rest the body and gather together to focus on God’s Word, which is why the ancients observed Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection. It is necessary to take time to hear and learn God’s Word, to grow in faith, and to worship God with his people.

It is impossible to fulfill the Law without love. And it impossible to love unless you first receive God’s love. We love, because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). And indeed, God did first love us. Jesus came in humility to bear our iniquities and take away our diseases. To love is to be humble, because to love means that you put the needs of others before your own. This is what Christ did for us.

And to have faith is to be humble. If you are to receive Christ’s love, you must be humble. You must recognize that you are utterly unworthy of anything from God, to recognize that you are a sinner who has failed to fulfill the law both outwardly and inwardly. If you exalt yourself, claiming to be without sin or to not need God’s forgiveness, then you are exalting yourself above God’s grace. Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) This means that it is impossible to be proud in heart and be a Christian. To be a Christian, you must be lowly and contrite in heart. To be filled with God’s grace, you must first be empty. As water gathers only in low places, so grace dwells only with those who are meek and lowly in heart. In order to meet Christ with his grace, you must meet him in humility.
This humility is a characteristic of the faith which receives God’s grace. This humility is also a characteristic of the love, which is produced by the faithful. As Christ in love humbles himself in order to save us, so we in humility meet Christ in faith. And likewise, we in humility love one another. St. Paul writes, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Our common faith in our common Lord and Savior draws us to live selflessly among each other. Our goal is not to have a congregation of like-minded individuals, but a congregation who sets their own selfish minds aside in order to share the mind of Christ, who humbled himself for our sake (Philippians 2:5ff). Finding our Sabbath rest in Christ Jesus, we seek to love one another. We maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by repenting of our own pride and insisting on Christ’s way, the way of patience and forgiveness. In this way, we do not only sanctify one of the seven days of the week, but we sanctify our entire lives. And the Sabbath rest extends far beyond a single day of the week, but Christ’s forgiveness gives our consciences rest every day of the week as we share it with one another.

It is indeed lawful to heal on the Sabbath. It is lawful to love. And it is meet, right, and salutary that we humbly trust in Christ and love our neighbor at all times and in all places, so that the Sabbath may be sanctified in us. Amen.

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Guardian Angels

10/5/2022

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Pietro da Cortona, The Guardian Angel, 1656. Public Domain.

St. Michael and All Angels (Observed)
Matthew 18:10
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
October 2, 2022

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)

September 29th is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, known as Michaelmas. October 2nd is also celebrated as the Feast of Guardian Angels. So, it is fitting for us to take time today to learn about angels.

Scripture calls St. Michael the archangel, meaning that he is the chief of angels. He battles Satan and casts him out of heaven with the blood of Christ. His name means “who is like God?” And he is commonly stated to not be a created angel at all, but Christ, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity. Only Christ can be said to be like God, because he is God. Only Christ can cast Satan out of heaven. Only Christ is the prince of the people of Israel (Daniel 10:13; 12:1). So, like the Angel of the LORD, who is himself God, Michael is also said to be a title given to Christ. However, most claim that he is only the chief of all the angels, doing the bidding of Christ.

Angels are created beings. They were created during the six days of creation, yet Scripture does not tell us on which day. They are spirits and do not have bodies; however, angels often take on visible forms, always appearing as men and sometimes with wings. Angels are not divided into men and women as mankind is. Jesus tells us that they do not marry, so they also do not have children. Yet, there are very many angels. Scripture does not tell us how many, but rather uses expressions like “ten thousand times ten thousand” (Daniel 7:10), and “innumerable angels” (Hebrews 12:22). So, it is clear that God has a mighty host of angels ready to serve him.

People do not become angels when they die. Angels are a different order of creation from humans. Humans have both a body and a soul. Angels are only spirit. Yet, angels are mighty and are able to affect the physical world.

The word angel means messenger. And angels certainly are messengers. An angel announced the conception of John the Baptism and Jesus. Angels announced the birth and resurrection of Jesus. And God has sent angels to warn his people of danger, like when an angel warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. Yet, angels do much more than relay messages for God. Scripture tells us that they are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Psalm 103 states that angels are mighty ones who do the Lord’s word, obeying his voice. So, angels are mighty creatures who serve us at God’s pleasures. Psalm 91 even promises us, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” So, we have the promise of God that angels will protect us from danger, both physical and spiritual.

And Scripture gives many examples of angels doing just that. God sent his angel to close the mouths of the lions when Daniel was thrown into their den (Daniel 6). God sent angels to rescue Lot and his family from Sodom before they rained down burning sulfur to destroy those wicked cities (Genesis 19). God sent an angel to kill 185,000 soldiers of Sennacherib as they camped against Jerusalem (2 Kings 18). And there are more instances than time allows of angels rescuing believers and demonstrating great might in Scripture, as well as many other instances throughout history.

Of course, angels especially serve Christ Jesus. Angels ministered to Jesus after he was tempted by Satan, having fasted for forty days. An angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, before his crucifixion.

Angels are believed to escort Christians to heaven when they die, because in Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus, angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16). And Jesus teaches us that at the close of the age, he will send his angels to separate the evil from the righteous, taking the righteous to his kingdom, but casting the evil into the fiery furnace of hell (Matthew 13).

Scripture also warns of Satan and his angels, often called evil or unclean spirits and demons. We know that Satan was originally created to be a good angel, yet he fell. Revelation 12 states that when Satan fell, a third of the stars fell with him, indicating that a large number of angels fell and became demons. Satan is often called Lucifer, which means light-bearer and is also a name for the planet Venus. Satan is compared to Venus because Venus often rises in the east before the sun as if it is the morning star, but when the true morning star appears, Venus disappears from sight. So likewise, Lucifer tried to exalt himself above Christ, but was cast down from heaven (Isaiah 14:12). Revelation also says, woe to the earth and sea, because Satan roams here in his great wrath.

So, Scripture teaches us that there is much more to this created world than what we can see and observe. There are innumerable good angels, sent by God to do us good. And there are also many evil angels, minions of Satan, who mean us harm.

So, with this knowledge, we should be humble. The angels of God have not sinned. They do not possess our shame. And they are much more powerful than we are. Yet, they serve God willingly, even serving us for Christ’s sake. So, we too should be humble, and gladly serve and obey God. We should not take angels for granted and test God, but walk in the way God has given us confident that angels stand ready to protect us.

Jesus says not to despise one of these little ones, because their angels always see the face of His Father in heaven. But who are these little ones Jesus speaks of? Earlier Jesus said that unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven and he warns against tempting one of these little ones who believes in him. So, one of these little ones is clearly one of his Christians. We should not despise our fellow Christians. Yet, Jesus could hardly tell us to become like children without himself having an affection for children. And indeed, he does. Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and by no means hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

But what does despising children or your fellow Christians have to do with the angels? Jesus says that they always behold the face of His Father in heaven. But what does that mean? God the Father does not have a face you can see. He is Spirit. What does it mean that angels behold the face of God the Father in heaven? And what does that have to do with little ones who believe in Christ?

First, Jesus clearly says that whoever has seen Him has seen his Father (John 14:9). So, these angels obviously keep their eyes on Jesus, the Son and image of God. Yet, there is something else even more telling.

God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle and its furnishings. The most important of these furnishings was the Ark of the Covenant upon which sat the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was pure gold. And it had two golden angels called cherubim on either end, who faced each other with their wings pointed toward each other, so that the tips of their wings touched. Upon the Mercy Seat, God declared that he would dwell. The ark and the Mercy Seat were put in the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest could go once a year and sprinkle the blood of atonement on the Mercy Seat. Now, Scripture tells us that this tabernacle and the ark with the Mercy Seat were copies of heavenly things, meaning, this Mercy Seat with the cherubim facing the seat of God is a picture of what is going on in heaven. And these angels see the blood of the atonement sprinkled on this seat where God dwells.

We now know that the bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament all prophecy of Christ’s bloody sacrifice on the cross. Jesus is true God and true man. The cross then became the Mercy Seat of God as God’s own Son sprinkled his blood to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. And although you can’t see them, the cherubim are there gazing at this sight.

That is what it means that their angels always behold the face of Jesus’ Father in heaven. The angels are always gazing at the sprinkled blood of Jesus, which speaks peace and forgiveness to all people. That means that when the angels look at you, they do not see your sin, but they see you dressed in a white robe washed clean in the blood of Christ (Revelation 7:14).

Jesus said that whoever confesses him before men, he also will he confess before the Father in the presence of the angels in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33; Luke 9:26). And when Jesus confesses you before the angels, he confesses that he has washed all your sins away in his blood. Jesus says that there is joy among the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10). That means that when you become like a little child and humble yourself, repenting of your sins and believing in the blood Jesus shed to save you, the angels rejoice and sing.

For this reason, we should at all times seek to be reconciled with one another, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven each of you (Ephesians 4:32). When you hate your fellow Christian, you are hating him for whom Christ shed his blood. And the angels see it. The angels do not hate those who have been washed clean in the blood of Christ. Rather, they love them and seek to protect them for the sake of Christ’s blood.

Likewise, we should take care not to despise our own children. If parents were to refuse to give food to their children, what would you call them? If parents refused to clothe their children, to give them a proper bed, to clean their filth, and to educate them, what would you call them. You’d call them child abusers, wouldn’t you? And you’d be right! Yet, what is more important? The needs of the body or the needs of the soul? What then would you call parents who refuse to teach their children the Gospel, who refuse to bring them to church to have Jesus’ blood sprinkled on them, to be washed and fed that spiritual food? It’s spiritual child abuse. For this, negligent parents need to repent and consider the angels, who stand ready to protect their children for the sake of that shed blood, which is meant for their children. They should also consider that these angels will be charged with separating the righteous from the wicked on the Day of Judgment.

When we consider our sins and our failings, especially that we have despised those for whom Christ shed his blood and for whom the angels dedicate such care, we can be filled with shame at the thought of guardian angels. Do they see my wickedness as they watch over me? Will they testify against me to God for my sins? And so, we should humble ourselves and repent of our hatred and laziness. The angels in heaven rejoice at such a repentance. And we should confess Christ Jesus, who shed his blood for us. The angels hear Christ’s confession of those who confess him. And you should take confidence that as your Father in heaven does not look at you apart from the blood Christ Jesus shed to take away all your sins, so too the angels look at you through that shed blood, and are ready to protect you for the sake of that holy blood, and finally, for the sake of Christ’s blood, to escort you safely to your eternal home in Christ’s kingdom. 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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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

All Scripture Hangs on This

Sanctifying the Sabbath

Guardian Angels

Thy Kingdom Come

God’s Service

Rev. James Preus

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