Augustana Service - St. Paul Lutheran Church, Bennett, IA - June 25, 2016
The
Joy that Is Set before You
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The joy of the Lord is your
strength. These words from Nehemiah 8
are one of those beautiful Bible passages that are very easily marketed. So much can be said in such a short pithy statement. Years ago, I was given a coffee mug with this
verse on it. I still like it. What a wonderful thing to read or hear – that
even when you are weak, your strength is found in the joy you have in the Lord
who saves you! There is no other strength
you need.
But like with many one-liner
Bible passages, if it can fit on a coffee mug or a bumper sticker, it is liable
to be taken way out of context. As you
no doubt heard last Sunday, the words of Jesus, “Judge not, and you will not be
judged,” have a wildly different meaning than what most people assume. We should beware of when Bible passages are
used as clichés in order to contradict what the Bible actually teaches us, “for
the Lord
will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Ex. 20:7).
False doctrine is always dangerous.
The devil does not spin webs for his own
amusement, but in order to ensnare souls and deceive, if it were possible, even
the elect (Mt. 24:24). Pure doctrine is
always safe. God does not teach us to
hear himself speak, but because he has so joined our eternal welfare to his
eternal glory. Pure doctrine saves because
it gives light to our path and consoles the wounded conscience. False doctrine damns because it blurs the
glory of Christ and benights the proud conscience. Therefore, since false doctrine can be
expressed even in the briefest of statements, even by quoting Scripture out of
context, when we speak of the joy of the Lord being our strength, it is fitting
that we flesh this out and learn what God is
saying, and what God is certainly not
saying.
This is the purpose of a
confession. It is not to be an addition to the word of God, but a testimony of it.
If at times our confessions seem unduly long and verbose, it is because
we must remember how mightily the devil seeks to rob us of true heavenly joy by
capitalizing on our weakness. Believe it
or not, the Augsburg Confession and its accompanying confessions in the Book of
Concord are remarkably concise even as they guard and defend that precious
jewel of God’s word from that legion of false teachers who would presume to
steal it from us.
“The joy of the Lord is
your strength.” We find
our strength where we find our joy. But
what if we feel that we lack joy? Do we
then lack the strength we need? And if
we feel that our faith is weak, should we then pursue whatever gives us joy in
order to make our faith stronger? Or what
if we feel immense joy – what if, in the midst of some music or brotherly community,
you are overcome by such serenity that you feel enveloped by the very arms of
God – is this where you direct your soul and your friends and family for that
strength of God that saves you? Is it by
expressing this feeling of contentment that you confess Christ before men?
We must be careful not to put
the cart before the horse. We must be
mindful to confess Christ and not merely the religious feelings we have even if
they do indeed seem to come from a true love for God. In order to learn (and confess) how the joy of the Lord is our strength – in order to
share it with others – we must consider two things: First, what is our weakness? And second, how is the joy of the Lord
different from other joys?
Our weakness is, of course,
our sin. We are by nature rebellious
enemies of God. Of ourselves, we have no
spiritual strength to love what God loves let alone to trust God when he speaks
to us. This is the first commandment. This weakness stems from our failure to fear
God. And it reflects itself in the works
of the flesh, which are evident: fornication, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, heresies, envy – just
to name a few (Gal. 5:19-21). The
ultimate end of this human weakness is death.
Death is the wages of
sin. It is proof of our most profound
spiritual weakness, since spiritual death leads to physical death. People who think they have spiritual strength
of their own have to come up with all sorts of fanciful excuses for why they
die. They have to say things like, “Death is a part of life,” or, “God wanted another angel in heaven,” or
some other such silliness. These
statements are obviously false. But
consider. They come from the very same
source as all false doctrine,
including that lie that would have us overcome our own sin and present our own
righteousness before God. Whether it be
a seemingly harmless platitude that gains popularity among ignorant Christians
like what you may find on a Hallmark card, or else a complex doctrinal system
that has been the hallmark of the Papacy – either way, false doctrine seeks to
praise the natural strength of man under the guise of rejoicing in Jesus. But the joy such people conjure in their
hearts is cheap and fading, because they refuse to reckon with the true nature
of man. The reason we die is because we
are sinners, plain and simple – or, to put it more simply – we die because we deserve to die.
Man’s greatest weakness is his
pretense to strength – it is that aversion to admitting how weak he is. Our greatest weakness is in our proclivity to
seek out worldly joys – but then to make it all worse – to paint these worldly
joys up like heavenly joys. This is what
folks do when they imagine that their own good works earn God’s approval. They find joy in themselves – even if they are disciplined enough to shun those
baser pleasures like drunkenness and adultery – they find joy in how holy they
are, how generous and successful they are, how much praise from men they
receive, or how many people flock to embrace their message of self-improvement. But they never reflect on how worthless this all
is before God who reveals what is covered and makes known what is hidden. And this is because man’s greatest weakness is
his sin. It is his ignorance of God’s
holy will, his lack of fear, love, and trust in God who reveals his will in
Holy Scripture. That, there alone is our
strength.
The original sin committed
once upon a time in Eden is the same
original sin which we have inherited in our corrupt nature. It is nothing less than the fact that we do
not listen to God’s word – we do not rightly distinguish truth from error. It is the sin of doctrinal indifference. This is the original sin just as surely as
the devil’s lie was the original false doctrine. Our flesh would rather embrace some message
that stokes our pride than a message that requires dependence on God and
meditation of his word. We do not by
nature want to come to terms with how weak we are and repent. And so by nature, we trade the joys of heaven
for trifles here on earth. Instead of
finding our strength in the joy of the Lord, we find our joy in the strength of
man.
This stark realization is what
caused God’s people to weep. The Law,
which they had ignored for generations, was read to them for the first time in
most of their lives. They were
confronted with their sin. Just imagine
the context. Much like in the darkness
of the papacy when the clear teaching of God’s word was suddenly made to shine
forth during the Lutheran Reformation, the children of Israel had returned from
Babylonian captivity to the Promised Land where God’s word was preached to them
in its truth and purity. Up to then,
they had identified as God’s people based on their habits and traditions and
family connections, but not on what God’s word actually taught them. Now their shame was exposed. The spirit of God’s law taught them what their
shallow religious platitudes had masked for generations.
Perhaps this is why so many today
persist in their willful ignorance of Christian doctrine. There is shame in having our ignorance
exposed. It is easier to reduce our
identity as Christians to statements like, “My
church is Bible-based,” without even knowing the doctrine the Bible actually
teaches. It is easier to join hands with
people who call themselves Christians – as though there were strength in
numbers – without learning to articulate how God made you a Christian and how
he keeps you in the faith. But to whom
much is given much will be required. To
live as God’s chosen people, as the communion of saints, while jealously
embracing ignorance over knowledge and understanding is to rely on the strength
of sin and to despise the joy that only God’s word can give.
And dear Christians, it is
pure joy. Do you feel insufficient when
your pastor preaches doctrinal sermons? Does
it go over your head sometimes? Or does
it seem unimportant and irrelevant? Do
you feel like your weakness is being accentuated when God’s servant presumes to
teach you what you do not already know?
Would you prefer God’s word affirm you rather than inform you? Dear brothers and sisters, learn with our
fathers and mothers to repent.
Repent and learn to weep so
that the Lord can bid you cease as he has always done for his beloved. He alone will dry your tears, and turn your
mourning to dancing and your weakness to wisdom. Your strength is in the joy of the Lord. Your strength is in that joy that your flesh
resists, the world hates, and the devil seeks to hide from your eyes and
silence from your lips. Your strength is
in that which you will never master – nor will your pastor. But you and he will both be students of it until
the day you die. Your strength is in
that eternal joy that you will not yet be able to contain until your heart is
made perfectly holy and your body is raised glorious. And yet by faith that joy is yours, today,
because by faith Jesus is yours and all that he won.
And so remaining a pupil of
the Lord, you learn to confess what gives you joy – more likely than not in the
face of resistance too strong for you.
But it is not too strong for God.
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
This is the joy that was set before our Lord when for us he became weak
and endured the cross, despising the shame.
Yet in his weakness the power of the gospel was established for your
salvation. And so you are made strong in
the pure proclamation of Christ for you.
Do not fear those who can
destroy the body – those who can rob you of earthly joys and make your life
difficult, Jesus says. Rather fear God
who has power to destroy both body and soul in hell. Do not fear man. Fear God.
And yet, Jesus continues, do not be afraid. You are precious. More precious than many sparrows. For God did not send his Son to assume the
nature of his groaning creation, but to take on the flesh and blood of his rebellious
creation so that all creation might await the glorious revelation of the sons
of God – of you. God sent his Son to
become your Brother. By bearing your sin
and all God’s wrath against you, Jesus clothes you in his own obedience. Your value is found in his perfect life,
death, and resurrection. And so your joy
is found in every word he speaks. Because
he loves you, he enjoys teaching you. He
teaches you where this love is found, and how to confess and express this love
by contending for his holy word.
The strength of sin is the law
(1 Cor. 15:56). So you do not dare find
your joy where your spiritual strength is praised. Oh no. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The
joy that all your sin is atoned for and you have peace with God, the joy that
God continues to abide with you and bear with all your sin and shortcomings,
because he loves you. This is what we
celebrate today when we celebrate the good confession of our fathers. It is what we celebrate when we study God’s
word and ask questions that reveal how simple we are and how much we lack. Yet it is the same good confession of all
faithful preachers and of our very Lord himself who before Pilate confessed the
truth so that we might lack nothing.
And so
we find the joy of the Lord where we confess our weakness. And there we find our strength. We find that we are strong when we learn in
our hearts and minds that God’s word is true.
He truly is for you. He does not
require some strength in you, some devotion or commitment, or some mental
ability that you do not have. Rather
through his forgiveness and compassion, he gives you life, salvation, and love
for what the gates of hell cannot prevail against. He gives you his Spirit who makes wise the simple
and strengthens the weak. “The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”
(Gal. 5:22-23). So much virtue. It sounds like a list of good works. But that word joy shows that each one is a gift freely given by grace to
make the lives of his saints a constant blessing.
As the confessors at Augsburg,
and those who have had to contend for pure, saving doctrine have endured persecution
– as you who presume to talk theology with friends and family must endure
sneering sighs – as pastors who insist on preaching the truth despite social
forces against them must endure what often seems like a joyless task – as all Christians
who confess Christ before men must suffer – yet for the joy that is set before
us, we endure the cross, despising the shame.
For under the cross of Jesus, we have peace with God and the sure
testimony of his Spirit that Christ even now confesses us before his Father.
Amen.
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