✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
Matthew 28,16-20 3615
6. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 051
Henry II, Emperor, ✠ 1024
Bo Harald Giertz, Bishop of Göteborg and Confessor, ✠ 1998
12. Juli 2015
1. O God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are baptized in Your Name so we call upon in confidence that You hear our prayers and answer them according to Your will (VELKD Prayer for 6. Trinitatis § 1). Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to Matthew where the holy evangelist writes: 16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some had doubts. 18And Jesus came and said to them: „All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.“ This is our text.
3. Following Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, His Heavenly Father gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus’ signs and miracles of during His public ministry involved reestablishing Yahweh’s authority upon a fallen, sinful earth so that just as God’s will is perfectly done in heaven so too will it be done on earth. By Jesus’ authority and through the Holy Spirit’s power, the apostles were sent out to evangelize the world. Luke gives us an overview of some of this evangelization in his Acts of the Apostles which focuses particularly on the Apostle Paul’s travels throughout the Roman Empire as he preached the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
4. Jesus describes how this evangelization will be carried out: the apostles are to baptize people in the Triune Name of God and teach them to observe Jesus’ teachings. The Church continues this apostolic mandate to this very day as she baptizes people and teaches them about Jesus. Particularly useful in this task are the Holy Scriptures, especially the Four Gospels which give us the content of Jesus’ teachings and actions, and the Apostolic Epistles which show how the law and gospel can be applied in specific instances and places.
5. The 21. century Church finds herself in a similar situation that the 1. century Church was in. The 1. century Greco-Roman culture was one of pluralism and religious choices. Many different cultures and ideologies bumped into each other, merged and formed variations of the original. One could worship the classic Greco-Roman pantheon, follow the exotic Eastern mystery religions like Mithraism or Zoroastrianism, become a God-fearing follower of Judaism, be baptized a Christian or opt to worship no god at all. Although such religious freedom was granted by Rome, as the 1. century drew to a close Rome became more and more hostile to the Church so that in some locations Christians were robbed of property, possessions and their lives.
6. Amidst the many and diverse challenges of the 21. century, some churches abandon the foundational teachings of Jesus. They do this hoping to fit in with the society and culture in which they find themselves, believing that doing so will make people more open to them and their proclamation. Unfortunately, the Church has her own culture that is unique from that of the cultures that surround her. The farther a given culture is removed from the Judeo-Christian foundation, the more adversity and conflict that culture will have with the Church. Trying to fit in with the surrounding culture will not completely remove those adversities and conflicts, because the average person will always view the Church as an entity that has a different way of thinking from the prevailing culture.
7. Case in point: the Church upholds Jesus’ teaching that the way of salvation is through Christ alone. Jesus clearly taught this when He said: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one gets to the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). This is anathema in our society, for one can believe anything he or she wishes except the solus Christus principle. The world tempts the Church and Christians with the promise that if this doctrine is set aside then all friendship with the world is eagerly awaiting. Too many Christians and churches believe the world and give up, water down or conveniently forget that a person is only saved through faith in Jesus Christ (solo Christo).
8. It is not easy for the Church and her Christians to stand solidly upon Christ and His Word. Our culture is quite happy to have a compliant Church and eager Christians who will focus on morality, virtues, helping those in society who are in need of assistance and the like. O our culture will voice their annoyance and torment the Church when she calls the culture to embrace life rather than abortion or keep marriage a union between a man and a woman. The world can get along with a moral, virtuous Church because after all, at the end of the day, the world realizes that having good, caring citizens is conducive to calm social order. The problem is that morality, virtues and a good social conscience do not save a person. Yes, they are valuable traits that God exhorts in us, but these traits will not and cannot save us.
9. The world is not enough, for a person needs the gospel in order to be saved. You are God’s elect and chosen on account of the gospel. The world, with all its wickedness, and our culture, with all its mischievous ideals, needs the gospel. Jesus suffered on the cross and rose in victory to redeem the world from sin. The apostles and the pastors who followed them preached this crucified Christ throughout the world. The Church that would be faithful to Jesus must and does preach this same gospel today.
10. There is no guarantee that this gospel will produce the number of fruit that we expect, want or demand. The Holy Spirit produces faith when and where He wills (AC V,2). The gospel falls upon different types of people: some are hard-hearted and never give the gospel any consideration whatsoever, some have faith for a while but for one reason or another they abandon the faith to pursue the cares and wealth of this world or because the cost is too high and the suffering too great when they are ridiculed by the world for being a Christian, but others hear the gospel, faith is created, and their faith blooms with much fruit.
11. In the midst of uncertainty, Jesus promises to be with you and His Church. The journey may be light and easy, but more often than not the path is rocky and dangerous. The gospel and its preaching is fraught with much grief and hardship. All of Jesus’ apostles suffered, and all but one was martyred for their faith. The Church now exists in a society and culture that is more and more increasingly hostile toward her and her proclamation of the gospel. Our American culture was founded on the teaching of Jesus and the foundation of the Church’s principles, but the American culture is becoming less Christian and more pagan. Other religions and philosophies compete with the Church, and our culture is enamored with anything that is not Christian. Jesus’ word, however, is greater than our American culture and society, and our Lord promises: »Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.« Take this promise to heart, let it comfort you and rejoice for your sins are forgiven, eternal life awaits you and Jesus is your Lord. Amen.
12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, help us baptize and teach Your word so that faith is created, nurtured and Your people praise You. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Soli Deo Gloria
✠
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.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 19. July 2009 (6. Trinitatis) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on Matthew 16,16-20. Copyright © 2009 The Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
No comments:
Post a Comment