Trinity 18

Matthew 22:34-46 - Trinity Eighteen - September 25, 2016
David’s Son and David’s Lord

The reason the Pharisees were so blind to the true nature of the law is because they were so disinterested in theology.  The reason they were so unable to see how the law applied to their lives is because they did not care about Christian doctrine.  They found theological discussion of God’s word boring.  They were much more interested in what they considered more practical matters, and they thought they had a firm handle on these.  Instead of meditating on the promises and mysteries of Holy Scripture, the Pharisees preferred to discuss other things — like what they had to do to gain God’s favor and blessing — or how they might build some sort of system for remaining faithful to God while caring as little as possible about the why and wherefore of what God actually commanded. 

This is what they did.  In order to do this, they took interest in what all men know by nature (at least to some degree): the law.  The law is written on everyone’s heart.  It can be smeared, distorted, ignored, or even added to, sure.  But it is God who wrote it on our hearts when he made us in his image – so it’s there.  We call this natural law.  Now, every false religion out there, or that’s ever existed, is and has been what really just amounts to an ornate and perverted twisting of this natural law.  People suppose that by being obedient to the law, however they may have arranged it, they might find approval in their consciences and rewards in heaven.  This is natural.  And it makes sense.  Doing good makes you feel good.  And only good people go to heaven.  So be good, and you’ll get there and you’ll feel good about yourself on the way. 

All Saints'

Matthew 5:1-12 - All Saints’ Sunday - November 2, 2014
The Blessedness of the Christian Life

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high …” (Hebrews 1:1-3) — through Him, our Lord and Mediator, Jesus Christ, grace, mercy, and peace, be to you.  Amen. 

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When God curses, that which he curses is cursed.  When God blesses, that which he blesses is blessed.  When God speaks, it is so.  God’s word is efficacious.  He who upholds all things by the word of his power knows what he says and why he says it and to whom he is saying it.  In times past, God spoke through the prophet Moses.  Moses was God’s mouthpiece. 

But on one occasion, from Mt. Sinai, God actually spoke without a mouthpiece.  He revealed his Majesty by speaking directly to all of Israel. 
After this, our fathers begged Moses to have God speak only through him from now on.  Why?  What words did God speak that scared them so?  The 10 Commandments. 

Trinity 21

John 4:46-54 - Trinity XXI - October 20, 2013

Taking up the Full Armor of God

This morning’s Scripture lessons teach us about faith.  What does faith do?  From whom does it seek help?  How does it respond to God’s word?  What does faith need to stay strong?  And how does it stand up against doubt? 

We will receive an answer to each one of these questions as we consider the account of the nobleman whose son was severely ill and at the point of death.  Let us pray:

Increase my faith, dear Savior,
For Satan seeks by night and day
To rob me of this treasure
And take my hope of bliss away.
But, Lord, with Thee beside me,
I shall be undismayed;
And led by Thy good Spirit,
I shall be unafraid.
Abide with me, O Savior,
A firmer faith bestow;
Then I shall bid defiance
To every evil foe.     Amen. 

Trinity 26

Matthew 25:31-46 - Trinity 26 - November 17, 2013

The Sheep and the Goats

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.”  The Son of Man is the Son of God.  Jesus frequently applies this title to Himself in order to emphasize his human nature as true man born of the Virgin Mary.  As Jesus said, for instance, when he healed the paralytic, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins— Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”  During His earthly life, Jesus hid His glory as the Son of God behind a lowly appearance, so that, besides the occasional miracle, all people could see was His humanity – a man like anyone else.  Yet while Jesus hid from the world His divine nature, He nonetheless remained fully God.  By hiding His glory, and submitting Himself to the law, Jesus served sinners as only God is able to do, all the way to the cross where He suffered and died in our place.  It is this man who is going to return to judge all the living and the dead for all eyes to see. 

Trinity 25

Mark 13:24-31 - Trinity 25 - November 10, 2013 

The World remains evil; the Word remains true.

The World is Very Evil.  It’s true.  There is an old hymn in our hymnal that used to have these very words as its title.  The hymn has undergone some editions through the years, and in our hymnal, the first line of the hymn now reads, The Clouds of Judgment Gather.  Now at first it kind of annoyed me that they changed the words, and I suppose they didn’t need to.  But the difference of translation offers us a fitting interpretation of what’s going to happen.  Why do the clouds of judgment gather?  Because the world is very evil.  That’s why.  Jesus tells us that the Son of Man will come with great power and glory in the clouds to judge the living and the dead.  Now, you can’t do anything to stop the clouds from coming, and I suppose that’s why Jesus talks the way he does.  Talk about something impending, and making everything around you dark, and suddenly you have to reckon with what is about to happen … when the clouds come. 

Jesus used an example from nature to explain to us how we will know when this will occur.  As soon as the fig tree’s branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.  The meaning of this is really simple.  Just as nature gives certain and definite signs that summer is coming, so also Jesus has told us to look for certain and definite signs that Judgment Day is coming. 

Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19 - Thanksgiving - November 22, 2012 

Knowing Whom to Thank

                         

Today is Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is not a church holiday.  It’s a national holiday.  It’s a nice thing for our country to have devoted a day to consider what we are thankful for.  We’ll take advantage of it.  But we celebrate this holiday in church, not because we need the state to remind us to be thankful, but because it is here that we learn how to be thankful, and to whom to be thankful, because it is here that we learn about Jesus.  Consider what we pray before we celebrate the Lord's Supper: “It is truly mete, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto you, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord…”  We thank God first by identifying who He is.  He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is our God who shed His blood to redeem us.  He is the One who comforts us and brings us peace through the words of Jesus.  He is the triune God who tends to our needs, who saves us, and who takes care of us in body and soul by grace alone.  And so, in this way, He teaches us how to thank. 

The word “thank” is kind of a neat word.  It derives simply from the word “think.”  To be thankful is to think about what it is that another has given you – and to think about why he gave it.  Consider that other word that we have and use: “grateful.”  This word derives from where we get our word “grace.”  And this is a wonderful connection, and I’ll use it to make the point that we all need to know about thanksgiving.  To thank God is to think about His grace.  This means that whatever it is that you have – that God has given you – that you don’t deserve – that you kind of think you kind of do deserve – whatever it is that makes you wealthy and fortunate and happy and safe and fed today – all this you have solely because of God’s grace and favor – grace and favor (and here’s the point) that is found in Christ alone.  There is no such thing as thanking/being grateful to God apart from knowing Jesus. 

All Saints'

Matthew 5:1-12 - All Saints’ Sunday - November 6, 2011

The Blessedness of the Christian Life

November 1^st was All Saints’ Day.  But we celebrate this holiday today in order to remember those saints who have gone before us.  But what exactly is a saint?  To be a saint is to be sinless, and perfectly holy.  Our Epistle reading from Revelation 7 provides the most excellent definition: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  Even in heaven, a saint’s identity continues to be found, not in his or her own good works, but in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  A saint is one who is blessed by God. 

Although saints certainly do good works on earth, and they are indeed rewarded in heaven, a saint is a saint not because of his own righteousness that he earned by obeying the law.  A saint is a saint because he receives Christ’s righteousness that Jesus earned by obeying the law in our place.  God calls them saints who have been baptized into the death of Christ and share in His resurrection victory over sin and the grave.  A saint is one who while yet living on earth reasoned accordingly: Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; I am a sinner; therefore Jesus took away my sin too.  That’s what a saint believes.  And God counts this faith to him as righteousness and calls him holy.  A saint is one who has washed his robe in Jesus’ blood, and it has come out spotless, and it remains spotless forever.  That’s what a saint is.