Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: 1. Corinthians 9,16-23. 2. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Corinthians 9,16-23 3614

2. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 047

Peter and Paul, Apostles, Martyrs in Rome 67 or 68

29. Juni 2014

1. O God, Creator of heaven and earth, You are the Breath of life. All that we are, and all that we have, we receive from Your hands. Keep us as Your own, protect, heal and bless us this day and every day (VELKD, Prayer for 2013’s 2. Sunday after Trinity § 1). Amen.

2. »For if I preach the gospel, then that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is placed upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, then I have a reward, but if not of my own will, then I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share with them in its blessings.

3. In our Gospel Lection for this morning, Jesus teaches that it is God’s will that His house be full of men and women celebrating His heavenly banquet with Him. In His parable, Jesus tells how a lord sent out invitations to people to enjoy the feast he was throwing. When the feast was ready, he sent out his servant to let the invited know that the feast was ready and to arrive at the house for the celebration. The preaching of the gospel is like sending out banquet invitations and alerting people when the feast is ready to be celebrated. The Apostle Paul wrote: »The gospel that is preached is not man’s gospel, for the gospel is received through the revelation of Jesus Christ« (Galatians 1,11-12).

4. So we must ask: What is the gospel? The gospel is the Triune God’s merciful, saving work in His creation. As such, the gospel is always an activity of Divine intervention into our history. The Holy Scriptures speak of many times when Yahweh has graciously intervened in the lives of people. He saved Noah and his family from the worldwide Flood by keeping them safe in the ark for over a year. Yahweh called Abraham and his family from their home in Mesopotamia and lead them to Palestine. Yahweh sent angels to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yahweh rescued Joseph from jail, feed Judah and his family during a drought and rescued Israel from Egyptian slavery. Yahweh gave Israel the promised land, sent them prophets and leaders to save them from Canaanite oppression and liberated them Babylonian Captivity. All of these historical events of God’s loving intervention in our lives are examples of the gospel.

5. In John 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that the gospel is that God the Father loves the world, and He had sent His Only-begotten Son to redeem the world from its sin through His suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus preached this gospel, and lived it, His apostles proclaimed it, the evangelists wrote it down for us to read and bishops and ministers proclaim it yet today from the pulpits. While all the events where God intervened in the lives of people to rescue them from some catastrophe or guide them to a better life are gospel actions performed by the Triune God, the ultimate gospel activity is sending of Jesus to redeem the world. We could call all of God’s gospel actions types of the gospel of Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus is the antitype of the gospel, for He is the one that all the saving activities of God look forward to or back upon in the mighty acts of God’s salvation history (Heilsgeschichte) in the world. Since all theology is Christology (the study of Christ), therefore all history is about Christ. Although salvation history (Heilsgeschichte) specifically deals with salvation history that is centered on Christ, Christ’s history (Christusgeschichte) deals with the broad scope of history and how it pertains to Christ and salvation history (Heilsgechichte) as Yahweh works through history and historical events, persons and places to bring about mankind’s salvation. The mountain peak of Christ’s history (Christusgeschichte) and salvation history (Heilsgeschichte) is Christ crucified and risen.

6. This gospel enfleshed by Christ Jesus Himself has profound and world-changing implications for all men and women. „Sin brought the world into such a cursed mess that only the Son of God could rescue it. This He did by becoming part of our sin-cursed world, making Himself our brother and subject to the curse. Jesus stakes Himself with us. If He is crushed by the curse, there is no hope. If He overcomes the curse, then death cannot have its way with us. The fate of Christ and the fate of me are one. I can only be destroyed by death if Christ can be destroyed by death. Christ did die, but He rose again. His resurrection means my resurrection…. When I come to die, I can now die … quietly and without complaint“ (Nagel 216). This is simply the gospel, and since it is the gospel it is all God’s activity and none of ours.

7. Who would reject a gracious invitation to a splendid banquet? Who would reject the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ? Sadly, many people reject the gospel as Jesus soberly points out in His parable. The gospel has been preached around the world for nearly 2000 years, but only one-third of the earth’s population believes that gospel. Jesus plainly teaches that God desires that that all people hear the gospel, believe it and be saved, but many hear the gospel and make excuses why they can’t believe it.

8. The Apostle Paul declared: »For though I am free from all, I have made myself slave to all, so that I might win more of them.« The apostle spoke from experience. He preached to Jews and Greeks, rich and poor, men and women. Paul writes: »There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise« (Galatians 3,28-29). The gospel is about liberating people from the oppressive nature of the fallen world. In her best moments, the Church liberates with the gospel, but in her worst moments the Church keeps people oppressed by not giving them the gospel. Paul says: »To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share with them in its blessings.« The great temptation in the Church is to become set in her ways so that she cannot or will not use her freedom under the gospel to reach those outside the Church with the gospel. Paul was not afraid to reach out to both Jews and Greeks. Jesus was not afraid to eat with sinners, tax collectors and the other riffraff of society. He even taught in today’s parable that God calls the wealthy, the religious elite, the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame and people just standing around with nothing to do. He invites them all to the same banquet and seats them together at the table to enjoy His heavenly banquet. We need to recapture this liberating spirit of the gospel that reaches out to all people without fear of ridicule or being ostracized.

9. Jesus is the Great Liberator from sin, death and hell. He has become the Sinner of sinners and thereby saved all sinners. Jesus bore all the world’s sin and paid the price that sin demands. Jesus invited you to the heavenly banquet and He sends out His servants, His pastors, to tell you the banquet is ready. You hear the gospel, you believe the gospel and you will be welcomed through the heavenly gates. Jesus is for all people and the gospel is for everyone. May the Holy Spirit help us to become all things to all people, so that by all means some might be blessed and saved. For this to occur, the gospel must be preached and the gospel must be supported. May the Holy Spirit bless us as individuals and as a congregation offerings that are liberally and freely given so that as the offering plate overflows so the gospel may be preached to the edification for all people in our borough. The gospel that is preached in season and out of season, in times of plenty and in times of scarcity, is that Jesus Christ has redeemed all people from sin, death and hell. He has invited you to enjoy His banquet. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord, You are our strength, our Rock, our Fortress and our Deliverer. Help us to gratefully receive Your gifts so that our faith is strengthened, our good works flourish and You, O Christ, are glorified throughout the world. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, June 30, 2014

1. Corinthians 9,16-23. 2. Sunday after Trinity

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