Revelation 14,6-7. The Feast of the Reformation

Soli Deo gloria

Revelation 14,6-7

The Feast of the Reformation (22. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 26C)

Wolfgang, Bishop of Regensburg, Germany. † 994

31. October 2010

O Merciful God and Everlasting Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who in the fullness of the times did send forth Your only begotten Son, who has declared unto us whatsoever He saw and heard in Your bosom: most heartily do we praise and thank You, that You have rekindled among us the light of Your Holy Word, and graciously delivered us from the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, and maintained that work done years ago by Your elect servant Martin Luther. In spite of the wrath and temptations of the devil You have preserved Church and School, given power to Your Word, and granted faithful teachers and ministers to Your congregations. And we acknowledge and confess that we are not worthy to receive such manifestation of Your mercy and goodness, but rather deserve Your judgment and condemnation and on account of our indifference, sins, and hypocrites to be left without the light of Your Holy Word. But we beseech You of Your mercy, deal not with us after our sins nor reward us according to our iniquities. Abide with us, O Lord, for it is toward evening. Keep us and our posterity in the faith of Your Word and in the right use of the Holy Sacraments. Sanctify Your Church in our midst; further and advance Your Reign; glorify Your Name; put down Satan under our feet, and destroy the Son of Perdition by the brightness of Your appearance. Preserve us from all false teachers, hypocrites, and enemies of Your Word who seek to overthrow Your Church purchased at so great a cost by Your dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; but at all times send us faithful ministers and teachers who shall lead us into the knowledge and confession of the heavenly mysteries, and finally into the glorious righteousness of Your everlasting Reign. Amen (Lö he 149-150).

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Revelation given to St. John where the holy evangelist writes: ⁶Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to those living on earth and to every nation, tribe, language, and people, ⁷saying with a loud voice, ,,Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” This is our text.

Before there was Luther, the Germans had Wolfgang the Bishop of Regensburg, Germany in the 10^th century. He is considered one of the three greatest German ecclesiastical leaders in German history. Five centuries later, God gave Germany its greatest theologian, a man named Martin Luther.

If you ask any Lutheran when the Reformation began, the answer you would receive would be 31. October 1517, for that is the day Martin Luther walked from his apartment at the Augustinian monastery and posted his famous 95 Theses on the doors of Allerheiligen Kirche (All Saints Church), which is more commonly known as Schloßkirche (Castle Church) because Duke Frederick III the Wise, Elector of Saxony, built this church in Wittenberg from 1490-1511. When the University of Wittenberg was founded in 1502 by Duke Frederick, the Castle Church became the university’s chapel. Luther was a well-educated man. He was an Augustinian friar (1505), a Catholic priest (1507), and a professor at Wittenberg University with the degree of Doctor of Theology (ThD) (1512). Luther posted the theses to announce that he would debate and lecture at Wittenberg University on the topic of indulgences. It took him fifteen minutes to walk down the street from the Augustinian monastery to the Castle Church. It took fifteen minutes for the Medieval world to change, a change that still reverberates into the 21^st century.

At issue in 1517 for Luther was the future of the Church. It is still the issue before us five hundred years later. The thesis before us today is:

The future of the Church

1. does not lie in what we do, but

2. lies alone in what God does through Christ (Martens).

I.

There is one heresy that consistently infects and infests Christ’s Holy Church, and that is the heresy of Pelagianism. The central doctrine of Pelagianism is that men and women have the ability to keep God’s law and therefore merit eternal life. A number of polls are conducted each year by different denominations where the question is asked, Q: How do you get to heaven? The answer given most often by Christians and non-Christians alike is, A: I have to earn my way into heaven. When asked what things earn entrance into heaven, the usual responses are given, A: be a good person, go to church, give an offering, obey the Ten Commandments, and other similar things. At this point Lutherans hold up their head and puff out their chest and proudly proclaim: ,,We are the heirs of Luther and we know the answer to that question!“ Polling data, however, consistently reveals that even 66% of Lutherans give the answer as ,,I must earn my way into heaven.“ Some of these Lutherans say this because, sadly, that’s what they are taught and have preached to them on a regular basis. Most Lutherans, however, give this wrong answer because Pelagianism agrees so much with our fallen nature and way of thinking. There is something in the fallen, sinful nature that reasons that we must do something to save ourselves and restore our broken relationship with Yahweh.

This desire to do something in regards to our salvation results from the uncertainty that attends to our fallen nature. We are uncertain whether enough has been done to merit our forgiveness, therefore, we reason that if we add our own merits to the mix then a certain level of certainty will result and ease our unsettled consciences. In Luther’s day, Medieval certainty involved many different things, including pilgrimages, masses, and indulgences. Instead of providing certainty, such activities actually heightened one’s uncertainty because one never knew if they had merited enough through their acts of piety and penance to reach heaven. The common Medieval portrayal of Jesus in painting and stained glass windows showed Him as an angry God casting sinners into hell. In the face of such anger, no one was sure if they had enough forgiveness and their faith was directed away from Christ and onto other means of certainty.

Little has changed since Luther’s day. Christians are still tempted to doubt their forgiveness and salvation. Is Christ’s merit enough? What can I do or what can I add that will bring me more certainty? Christians are not helped and their Anfechtung (angst) is not relieved when they turn on their TV and see Rick Warren declare: ,,You see, it takes more than faith, it takes more than belief to really please God“. Christians will think ,,Surely, if one of America’s preeminent Evangelical pastors says this, then it must be true.“

II.

Fortunately for us, the Church does not exist in a vacuum. Countless Christian men and women have struggled with such doubts, and they found their answer in the gospel. The future of the Church, and their own eternal future, did not lie in themselves, but it lies upon solus Christus (Christ alone). Luther is perhaps the most well-known theologian to proclaim this answer.

Luther’s 65^th thesis is a precious jewel; he writes, ,,The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.“ Not only does John see in his Apocalypse an angel proclaim this gospel in mid-heaven, but the Holy Spirit has throughout all ages sent prophets, apostles, and pastors who are bishops and teachers to preach this glorious gospel of Christ. True Christian preachers proclaim the opposite of Rick Warren, for true Christian preachers proclaim the pure gospel which is ,,It takes only faith to really please God.“

Let us be clear here, the emphasis is not on ourselves or the faith, but the emphasis is on the subject of the faith, which is Christ. Faith looks to Christ and only Christ. Faith looks to Christ Jesus who suffered on the cross as the ransom price for our sins and who then rose on the third day in victory over sin, death, and the devil. Christ on the cross and Christ risen from the dead are the only merits that please our Heavenly Father. Christ pleases God on our behalf, and faith trusts in Christ and therefore has Christ’s good pleasure credited to the individual who believes in Jesus. Thus faith pleases God.

Do not let the devil or your conscience weigh you down, arguing that you must do something more, something else, to be sure of your righteous standing before our Heavenly Father. Do not believe the lies of Rick Warren, or any other preacher, who tells you that you must put your certainty of salvation in Jesus plus something else, or faith in addition to some other work to be assured of your justification. We only need Christ alone. We only need faith alone in this great and glorious Redeemer.

Such is the purifying message of Luther’s Reformation. He brought certainty to uncertain sinners. He brought them Christ, and only Christ, as the cure and balm for the forgiveness of sins. We must be vigilant with this precious gospel, for it is easily lost. The landscape of Protestantism is littered with denominations that have jettisoned or corrupted the pure gospel of Christ crucified. American Christianity assuredly needs the Reformation with its doctrine of justification just as badly as the Medieval Church needed it in Luther’s day. May the Holy Spirit raise up this day men and women who will ensure that the proclamation of the gospel endures and may He raise up bishops, pastors, and theologians who will ring the bells with their joyous peals of the gospel in sermons, in books, and on the Internet. It took Martin Luther fifteen minutes to change the world with the gospel of Christ penned in his 95 Theses, and it only takes a pastor fifteen minutes to proclaim this same gospel from the pulpit. For when the gospel is purely preached, Christ is rightly glorified and His Church is strengthened and expands because sinners are assured of their forgiveness through the merit of solus Christus (Christ alone). Amen.

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of Your Church, take away our fear and give us peace so that we are certain and assured that on account of You and Your merit alone that it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give us the reign of heaven and that we enter into this blessed reign solely on account of the fact that You, O Christ, has opened heaven for us. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

   All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.

   Lö he, Wilhelm. Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Church. Copyright © 1997 Repristination Press.

   Martens. Gottfried. A sermon preached on 31. October 2009 (Gedenktag der Reformation) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on John 2,13-22. Copyright © 2009 The Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2010.
　

The 95 Theses. Martin Luther

OCTOBER 31, 1517

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.


In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said poenitentiam agite ["Repent"], willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. [Matthew 4:17]
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept. [Matthew 13:25]
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and the assurance of salvation.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach only human doctrines which say that as soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the person that is truly penitent, so rare is also the person who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such people are most rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
33. People must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which a person is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.
38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded for they are, as I have said [Thesis 6], the proclamation of the divine remission.
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons.
44. Because love grows by works of love, and a person becomes better; but by pardons a person does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a person in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment. 48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them, but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure.
61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most loathsome, for it makes the first to be last. [Matt. 20:16]
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly fished for men of riches.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross. 69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!
72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.
75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a person even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in 1 Corinthians 12[:28].
79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned people, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a person who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
85. Again: "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
86. Again: "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
87. Again: "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! [Jeremiah 6:14]
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell,
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace. [Acts 14:22] 

Luke 18,9-17. Trinity 21

In the Name of Jesus

Luke 18,9-17

21. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 25C

Raphael, Archangel

24. October 2010

O Lord Jesus Christ, we know that true Christian faith and hearty confidence in Your Name is the pure and noble gift of God unto those who are obedient to Your word. We thank You that You have also kindled this light in our souls, and granted that even we, though yet in great weakness, with such weak faith, may place all our trust in You alone. O Savior, maintain and increase our faith within us. We do believe: O help our unbelief at all times. Let not the bruised reed be broken nor the smoking wick be quenched as long as we live; so that we may always embrace You in a believing heart, trust You with our whole hearts’ confidence, delighting always in the heavenly treasure of Your grace, unto our own peace and comfort, and daily find our joy in You, even unto the end (Löhe 242-43). Amen.

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to St. Luke where the holy evangelist writes: And Jesus told this parable to some who had convinced themselves that they are righteous and look down upon everyone else: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee having stood by himself was praying for himself, ,,O God, I thank You that I am not like the everyone else, greedy, not righteous, an adulterer, or even like this tax collector! I fast twice a week, I give ten percent as an offering of everything that I buy! But the tax collector having stood far in the distance was unwilling to even lift up his eyes to heaven, but rather he was beating his chest, saying, ,,O God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner.“ I tell you, the tax collector went down to his home having been declared righteous rather than the Pharisee; for everyone exalting himself will be humbled, but everyone humbling himself will be exalted. This is our text.

In first century Judaism, the temple in Jerusalem existed solely for the sake of giving out forgiveness. One arrived at the temple a filthy sinner, a sacrifice was offered by the high priest, and then one left the temple forgiven and declared righteous in the sight of Yahweh. The temple also was a focal site for prayer. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem serves this purpose today. The Wailing Wall is the remains of a defensive fortification that was not part of the temple structure but a wall built to defend the temple structure. Everyday Jews go to the Wailing Wall and offer up prayers. In Jesus’ day, one could go up to the temple and publicly pray twice a day. At both 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. the priests offered up an atoning sacrifice by shedding the blood of an innocent animal (Just 682). Public prayer was permitted in the temple when this sacrifice was offered up in the morning and the evening. A person could go to the temple and offer a private prayer at any time, but crowds of people were only allowed to pray in public twice a day.

In Jesus’ parable, the Pharisee and the tax collector seem to be at the temple either in the morning or in the evening when the atoning sacrifice was offered up. Jesus’ parable presents the Pharisee with the worst of the trait’s a Pharisee might have (Just 682). He stands apart from other Jews gathered to pray, but he makes sure he is in a central location for everyone around him to hear his pious prayer (Just 682). Traditionally, when a devout Jew prays, he or she prays aloud, even in private. ,,The picture here, then, is of a man who is arrogant and elitist. He sets himself apart from the rest of the worshipers but within earshot so that they can observe his piety and hear his prayer. He wants to impress those around him“ (Just 682). This Pharisee is a narcissist. His short prayer is two sentences long, and is composed of five declarations instead of petitions. Each declaration has ,,I“ as the subject. His entire prayer is about himself and how pious and perfect he is. He petitions God for nothing since he needs nothing (Just 682).

This Pharisee is an exemplary Jew. He fasts twice a week instead of one day a week. He offers ten percent not only on his income, but he also offers ten percent on every thing he buys with that income (Just 683). Such piety is above and beyond what was expected in Jesus’ day.

This Pharisee is giving, good, chaste, and charitable. He already considers himself righteous, but he does not understand what righteousness truly is. This Pharisee views his righteousness in terms of the law. He does all that the law requires, and then more that the law requires. His salvation and righteousness is based or the works of the law. Thus Jesus says this Pharisee left the temple and returned to his home unrighteous.

Contrasted with this Pharisee is a tax collector. He holds the most vile and corrupt job in the first century: He collects taxes for the pagan Roman overlords of Judah. Tax collectors earned their salary by overcharging people on their taxes. Rome demanded ,,x“ amount of tax money from each person, and a shrewd tax collector could extort three or four times more than that which went directly into his pocket. This tax collector is a thief who has grown extremely wealthy off of his thievery. Everything the Pharisee boasted he was not, this tax collector is, for he is a walking embodiment and example of breaking all of the Ten Commandments. He is despised by everyone as a dirty, rotten scoundrel.

This tax collector knows all this. He is in the temple and offers up a heartfelt plea for mercy: O God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner. He confesses that he is indeed a complete and utter sinner through and through. He admits that he has not kept God’s holy law, not even close. So he keeps his head bowed in shame and he beats his chest in sorrow and unworthiness. The Ten Commandments have stricken his conscience and he declares that he is a poor, miserable sinner, and he petitions God for mercy.

In humility and repentance he lays his life on the line and hopes in God’s mercy. The verb used by Luke is ,,be propitiated“ (i`la,sqhti,) and this verb only occurs in Luke 18 and in Hebrews 2,17. The word is generically translated as ,,mercy“ but as a verb is properly translated as ,,to expiate“ or ,,to propitiate“, both of which are verbs used in the atoning sacrifice offered at the temple for the forgiveness of sin. It is derived from the Hebrew word ,,kaffar“ (rpk) which means ,,to ransom“, ,,to redeem“, ,,to cover“, ,,to atone“, ,,to expiate“ or ,,make propitiation“. It is the word used for the cover or seat of the ark of the covenant, where it is called the ,,mercy seat“ upon which the high priest poured the blood of the sin offering on the Day of Atonement (~yrIPuKi ~Ay).

To ,,make propitiation“ means that ,,someone appeases God by being a sacrifice that atones for our sins“. A propitiation also has the meaning of cleansing one from sin and reconciling one back to Yahweh (Just 684). Our Heavenly Father is reconciled with us on account of the propitiation of His covenant. In the Old Testament, that covenant involved the shedding of the blood of animals in order to cleanse people of Israel from their sins. This happened every day at the temple in Jerusalem. In the New Testament, that covenant involves the shedding of the blood of Jesus in order to cleanse all people from every nation from their sins. The old covenant looked toward the new, and the new covenant is the fulfillment of the old.

The tax collector went home forgiven of all his sins and was made righteous on account of the atoning sacrifice performed at the temple. By faith, he received this absolution as his very own. His sins, which were many, were forgiven; his faith in Yahweh’s covenant saved him, and he went home in peace (Luke 7,47.50).

The Gospels all indicate that Jesus associated with tax collectors. The Pharisees complained that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5,30). Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7,34). Tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear Jesus preach and teach (Luke 15,1).

This tax collector confessed to be the chief and greatest of sinners. Jesus, the friend of tax collectors, also took up that designation for Himself, for on the cross Jesus became the Chief and Greatest Sinner. He became the Propitiator, the one who appeases God by atoning for our sins by sacrificing Himself upon the cross. Jesus is also our Mediator between God the Father and us, for Jesus reconciles and mediates the differences between our Heavenly Father and us, differences that we alone are guilty for on account of our sinfulness.

Jesus’ parable illustrates the Great Reversal of the reign of God. The tax collector, and not the Pharisee, returns home justified. This parable is a foretaste of what Jesus will soon do at Calvary where Jesus is punished and crucified as a sinner and we are released. Christ takes upon Himself our sins and bears God’s wrath in our place, and we in return receive Christ’s righteousness and enjoy His heavenly peace.

On either side of Jesus, two evildoers were being crucified. One of those evildoers repented and turned to Jesus for mercy. That evildoer was told, ,,Today you will be with Me in Paradise.“ His sins were forgiven and he died having been made righteous by the declaration of Jesus. So also we, like the tax collector and the evildoer on the cross, are made righteous by Jesus. His gospel ushers in the last day whereupon the methodologies of this present corrupt and evil age are overturned and reversed. Sinners are forgiven and released of their sins. Righteousness and justification are given to the unrighteous and the lawless. You and I are invited to the heavenly Paradise of God. Christ gives these gifts freely and we humbly receive them with faith alone in Christ who has merited them for us. Amen.

Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, who welcomes children into the reign of God, You have given us this heavenly reign by faith, therefore keep us soundly on this foundation of faith in You so that when our time arrives we will enter into Your glorious Paradise. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

   All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
   Just, Arthur A., Jr. Concordia Commentary: Luke 9:51– 24:53. Copyright © 1997 Concordia Publishing House.
   Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

2 Timothy 3,14-4,5. Trinity 20

In the Name of Jesus

2 Timothy 3,14 - 4,5

20. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 24C

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch and student of the Apostle John. Martyr 108

17. October 2010

O Lord Jesus Christ, who has commanded us to search the Holy Scriptures and promised that in them we have the impulse of faith and everlasting life; who alone is worthy to open and break the seven-fold seals of the Book; open now our eyes to behold the wonders of Your law. Show us the paths of righteousness, so that we continue therein unto the end. From heaven above, pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us, and from Your throne of glory send Him to be with us; to work in us so that we learn to know what is pleasing to You; to do all our work in Your Name, unto Your glory; and to fill our hearts with true faith, love, hope, humility, long-suffering, fear, and blessedness in the Lord (Löhe 37-38). Amen.

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the 2. Epistle to Timothy where the Apostle Paul writes: As for you, Timothy, abide in what you learned and was entrusted with, having known from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and valuable for doctrine, for refutation of error, for correcting faults, and for instruction in justification, so that the man of God may be fully qualified, having been equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His reign: preach the word; be insistent when the time is right or not right; show a person his error, warn, and encourage, with all patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. This is our text.

In our day and age, it is common to hear the phrase, ,,The Bible is just another religious book like other religious books“ or ,,The Bible was written by human beings“. Behind these statements are more than 130 years of historical-critical approach to the Bible, wherein the Bible is only understood as a human product that is devoid of Yahweh’s inspiration and inerrancy. This enlightened-humanist philosophy can furthermore be traced back to the early 1700s. ,,For at least 300 years the Church has been torn between the danger of an historical-enlightened understanding of Scripture and an enthusiastic-fundamentalist understanding of Scripture“ (Wenz 1).

The Apostle Paul tells Timothy who is a pastor and bishop that all Scripture is given by Yahweh. ,,In short, it is not merely a human or theological conclusion, but a direct assertion of Scripture that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God’s own and therefore infallible Word. All who hold otherwise, all who … would not ,,identify“ the Holy Scriptures and God’s Word, lack reverent fear of God’s Word and become critics of the Word of God“ (Pieper 683).

In our 21^st century, many churches and denominations have denied and rejected the words of the Apostle Paul in 2. Timothy 3,16 which declare: »All Scripture is breathed out by God and valuable for doctrine, for refutation of error, for correcting faults, and for instruction in justification.« This denial and rejection is the result when a person, a church, or a denomination lacks the fear of the Word of God. Historically, the Church has erred in two ways when rejecting the doctrine of Biblical inspiration.

Historical-enlightenedism, aka the historical-critical method, rejects Biblical inspiration and inerrancy out of hand, and furthermore denies the miracles, Christ’s virgin birth, and His resurrection. Historical-criticism was pioneered in Germany in the 19^th century and is the normal methodology taught at most universities and seminaries in Europe and America. This methodology even infected the LCMS in the 1960s and 70s until it was purged from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1973. Small pockets of resistance and devotees to this errant methodology still hide in dark corners of our Synod, but by and large it is a dying methodology in our midst. Nevertheless, pastors and churches must remain vigilant lest this dragon’s head rear up again and threaten the landscape of the Missouri Synod. The disease of the historical-critical methodology is its forthright denial of Christ’s vicarious sacrifice which then leads to its Biblical approach that Scripture is not inspired by the Holy Spirit and correspondingly Scripture contains errors and mistakes. The Bible, then, ceases to be the final authority and norm for Church doctrine, practice, and Christian living.

The other incorrect Biblical methodology that afflicts the Church is enthusiastic-fundamental methodology. If you watched last week’s PBS six-hour documentary ,,God in America“ then you saw many examples of this error cropping up throughout our country’s Christian experience. This methodology holds to the Christian fundamentals, such as the Divine inspiration of Holy Scripture and that the Bible does not contain any errors, but the enthusiastic nature of the approach exalts an individual’s personal thoughts and feelings above the Word of God. The proper (orthodox and catholic) approach to reading the Holy Scriptures is to let Scripture interpret Scripture (scriptura sacra sui ipsius interpres). The errant enthusiastic approach to interpretation relies more heavily on the quickening of one’s spirit to interpret the Bible. As a result you have Quakers who will sit in church for two hours and there will be no sermon unless someone feels moved to speak. Pentecostals and Charismatics will use dreams, visions, and other mystical and esoteric experiences to understand Scriptural passages, so that you get the heretical statement made by one prominent Pentecostal (Benny Hinn) that the Holy Spirit revealed to him by divine revelation that God is not Triune, but there’s really nine of them in the Godhead.

It is imperative that Holy Scripture is understood properly and interpreted rightly. The proper methodology of Holy Scripture is that the Bible does indeed distinguish itself from all other books in the world (Wenz 2). ,,This precise understanding is focused upon the person named Jesus Christ. He is not only the central content of the Scriptures, but He is their Lord, their Source, and their Interpreter. He is also Lord over the purpose and objective of the Holy Scriptures“ (Wenz 2). Thus we do not first confess that the Bible is Divinely inspired and without errors, and then believe in and confess Jesus Christ as our savior, but we first believe in and confess Jesus Christ as our savior which then leads us to correctly confess that the Bible is Divinely inspired and without errors. Jesus is the Source and Content of Holy Scripture; the Bible is all about Jesus and what He does to save and redeem His people.

Since Jesus is the subject of Holy Scripture, the Bible then has specific properties. The Holy Scriptures are authoritative (auctoritas divina). The Scriptures do what they say (efficacia divina). The Scriptures are sufficient (perfectio) and clear (perspicuitas, sive claritas) (Pieper 307). Holy Scripture possesses divine authority and is entitled to the same faith and obedience that is due Christ because Holy Scripture is God-breathed (Pieper 307). The word of the law has the inherent power to work such a knowledge of sin so that we realize our eternal damnation and despair of all self-help; the word of the gospel has the inherent power to deliver us from the fear of death and thus to make us the victor over death, to work faith in the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin, and to change us inwardly so that we gladly subject ourselves to God’s law and will (Pieper 316). The sufficiency of Scripture is that the Bible teaches everything that we must know to obtain salvation (Pieper 317). The clarity of Scripture is that Scripture uses a language that can be understood by everyone (Pieper 320).

Thus the Apostle Paul writes that the Scriptures have specific usages. The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, establish doctrine, refute error, correct faults, and instruct in justification, so that the people of God may be fully qualified, having been equipped for every good work (3,15-17).

The Holy Scriptures are thus preached. Yes, the Scriptures must be preached for we live in a world that rejects Christ and follows the many philosophies of this world. Yahweh has blessed our nation with the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press. These wonderful freedoms, however, are exploited by wicked people. Charlatans, false teachers, and heretics ply their ideas from their pulpits and in their books. Pseudo-Christians and false churches thrive in America. Many unsuspecting people are deceived by their lies and are lead down the golden path that ends in hell and condemnation.

The only way to counter these wolves is to preach Christ. Christ, the enfleshed Word, acted to restore humankind through His life, death, and resurrection (Kolb 173). Scripture provides the only authoritative source for the use of God’s Word that, on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection, delivers life and salvation to sinners in our age (Kolb 173). The crucified and risen Christ must be preached for only in Him do we have the forgiveness of our sins and only Jesus is our savior from death and the devil. Never take your eyes off of Christ and Him crucified for you, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life unto Paradise. Amen.

Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, we rejoice that You hear our prayers and quickly give us justice so that we may be reassured that we are justified and righteous in our Heavenly Father’s sight. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

   All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
   Harrison, Matthew C. At Home in the House of My Fathers. Copyright © 2009 Matthew C. Harrison.
   Kolb, Robert and Arand, Charles P. The Genius of Luther’s Theology. Copyright © 2008 Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand.
   Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.
   Pieper, Francis. Christian Dogmatics, Vol. III. Copyright © 1953 Concordia Publishing House.
   Wenz, Armin. ,,The Holy Scripture as foundation and means of grace for the Church of Jesus Christ, formulated for the instruction of the Lutheran Confessions“. A lecture by The Rev. Dr. Wenz presented at the Bü ndener Conference on 14. March 2009. Copyright © 2009 The Rev. Dr. Armin Wenz. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2009.

Luke 17,11-19. Trinity 19

In the Name of Jesus

Luke 17,11-19

19. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 23C

Gideon, Judges 6-8

10. October 2010

O Lord Jesus Christ, we know that true Christian faith and hearty confidence in Your Name is the pure and noble gift of the Holy Spirit unto those who are obedient to Your Word. We thank You that You have also kindled this light in our souls, and granted that even we, though yet in great weakness, with such weak faith, may rest all our trust in You alone. Dear Savior, maintain and increase our faith within us. We do believe: O help our unbelief at all times. Let not the bruised reed be broken nor the smoking flax be quenched so long as we live; so that we may always embrace You in a believing heart, trust You without our whole hearts’ confidence, delighting always in the heavenly treasure of Your grace, unto our own peace and comfort, and daily find our joy in You, even unto the end (Löhe 242-3). Amen.

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to Luke where the holy evangelist writes: ¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, ,,Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.“ ¹⁴When He saw them He said to them, ,,Go and show yourselves to the priests.“ And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus answered, ,,Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?“ ¹⁹And He said to him, ,,Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.“ This is our text.

Ten are healed, but only one is saved. Ten are restored to life, but only one receives eternal life. Ten were in the midst of the reign of God, but only one has realized this truth.

These statements should not surprise us, for among every crowd only a few will truly comprehend Jesus’ miracle and teaching. First century Judaism longed for the reign of God to dwell in their midst like it had in the days of Moses, the prophets, and the kings. These nine Jewish lepers and the solitary Samaritan leper all longed for the reign of God to arrive and set things right. Nine did not realize the eschatological significance of what had happened to them, namely that the reign of God had arrived in Jesus, but one did, and that one was a Samaritan foreigner (Just 654).

Luke has emphasized in the previous sixteen chapters of his Gospel that the presence of Jesus is the manifestation of the reign of God. ,,Eschatology“ means ,,the study of last things or the last days.“ There are then three questions of eschatological significance in the Gospel according to St. Luke. Q: What is history’s goal? A: The coming day of universal judgment. Q: Who is in control of history? A: Jesus is in control of history. Q: How does the present time relate to the final goal of history? A: This present sinful age will be overtaken and supplanted by the new age to come. This new age will come with effects for the entire cosmos; the whole creation will be affected (Gibbs 29).

Particularly in the healing of the lepers, the eschatological significance for the lepers is that Jesus the Christ, the Eschaton in our midst and in the flesh, has transformed the lepers from the old created order into the realm of the new created order. The old created order is the nature of this fallen and cursed world with sin, sickness, and death. The new created order is the nature of the reign of God with health, healing, and everlasting life.

Part and parcel of Yahweh’s eschatology is the Great Reversal where the last will be first, and the first will be last (Luke 13,30). Q: Was ist das? What is this? A: Lepers will be cleansed. Samaritans and other foreigners will be brought into the reign of God. Both Jews and all the other nations will comprise the Church and be saved. The outcasts receive Jesus by faith and the religious establishment rejects Him (Just 654). The last will be first, and the first will be last (Luke 13,30).

Here then is the law which confronts all people: what do you make of Jesus? He performed miracles. He taught and preached God’s Word. He forgave sins. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He creates faith and gives eternal life. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and many Jewish men and women heard and witnessed the glorious ministry of Jesus, and yet they rejected Him. Their eyes saw the miracles, but they did not comprehend. Their ears heard His sermons, but they did not understand.

The Pharisees then asked Jesus, ,,When would the reign of God arrive?“ Jesus answered them, ,,The reign of God does not arrive with close observation, nor will they say, ‘Behold, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ for behold the reign of God is in your midst!“ (17,20-21). The Pharisees wanted to know what celestial signs and fantastic earthly events would herald how near and where the reign of God would be. Tell, us Jesus, will an alignment of planets in conjunction indicate the arrival of Yahweh’s reign? Teach us, Jesus, what natural disaster will usher in the arrival of the heavenly reign?

Those with blind eyes and deaf ears seek out of this world signs as proof of the reign of God’s imminent arrival. The alignment of planets on 21. December 2012 will not be a sign of the arrival of the reign of God. An earthquake or hurricane that devastates a major city also will not be an indicator that the reign of God is just around the corner. Unbelievers seek breathtaking signs, but those with faith in Jesus know that the arrival of God’s reign occurs in the person and the ministry of Jesus.

John the Baptizer sent his disciples to inquire whether Jesus was the reign of God in our midst. Jesus told them, ,,Go and tell John what you saw and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them“ (7,22). Those whose eyes are opened by faith have already seen the reign of God arrive in Jesus (Just 661) and that this reign was manifested by His miracles and teachings that overturned the old, cursed order of this world.

For the ten lepers, the reign of God arrived in their midst with Jesus, and that reign was manifested in Divine glory when Jesus healed them of their disease. However (Dennoch) the reign of God became an eternal reality for the Samaritan leper who had faith in Christ. He not only believed that Jesus could (and did) heal him, but he furthermore trusted in Jesus for his eternal reward. This is why Jesus told him, ,,Your faith has saved you.“

 

At this point in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is journeying up to Jerusalem where He will suffer His Passion which culminated with His suffering and death on the cross. Jesus’ crucifixion ushers in the eschatological last day with it’s Divine justice.

Temporally, the last day is some time in the future, but Jesus’ advent warps and folds (visual) that day and it’s implications into His own time. The last day is ruled over by the judgment seat of Christ where the wicked are punished and the righteous are rewarded, where the unbelievers are condemned to eternal torment in hell and the believers are welcomed into the eternal life of Paradise. On the cross, our Heavenly Father’s wrath and judgment is poured out. The wicked sinner is punished by the demanding and unrelenting precepts of the law. The last day is manifested on the cross where Jesus bears upon Himself the guilt and sin of all people. Sin is condemned, the sinner is punished, and death results upon the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ act of sacrifice ransoms us back to God because sin and death are accounted for. The last day’s reward for the righteous is now credited to us.

This eschatology finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus and His death and resurrection. Heilseschatologie (salvation eschatology) is the future age of bliss when paradise is restored, and this future age has been ushered in by Jesus. On the cross, Jesus told the insurrectionist crucified at His side, ,,Today you will be Me in Paradise“ (ref). The Samaritan leper had this promise of Paradise by faith, and each one of us also has that same promise of Paradise by faith solo Christo (through Christ alone). Amen.

Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Great Physician of our bodies and souls, as the report about You went abroad and great crowds gathered to hear You and to be saved from their iniquities, so may Your report spread from this house of worship and send the Holy Spirit to draw unto us men and women seeking and desiring salvation so that the gospel that is proclaimed here may be to them a message of healing and security. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

   All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
   Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Jerusalem and Parousia: Jesus’ Eschatological Discourse in Matthew’s Gospel. Copyright © 2000 Jeffrey A. Gibbs.
   Hummel, Horace. The Word Becoming Flesh. Copyright © 1979 Concordia Publishing House.
   Just, Arthur A., Jr. Concordia Commentary: Luke 9:51– 24:53. Copyright © 1997 Concordia Publishing House.
   Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Luke 17,1-10. Trinity 18

In the Name of Jesus

Luke 17,1-10

18. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 22C

Jairus, Matthew 9,18

3. October 2010

Unto You, O Gracious Father, we render thanks for Your paternal and gracious preservation and defense during the night now past, and for Your mercy which permits me to see this day, when I shall again receive Your eternal gifts. Lord Jesus, open our ears so that we may hear You calling us unto Yourself. Touch our hearts and minds so that we may truly rejoice in Your grace and goodness unto us. Lord God, the Holy Spirit, by the enlightenment of our minds, open to us the gates of everlasting life, and let us find the true pasture of Your divine doctrine and comfort, so that we may hear the voice of our Great Shepherd Jesus, to go to Him in faith, obey and follow Him in love, and so to go unto all our neighbors, proving our faith; to the end that we may abide in Your reign of grace here unto the end, and finally be received in the reign of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord (Löhe 99-102). Amen.

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to Luke where the holy evangelists writes: And Jesus said to His disciples, ,,It’s inevitable that stumbling blocks which cause someone to sin will come, but woe to him through whom they come. It would be better if a millstone be placed around his neck and thrown into the sea than that he simply cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother simply sins, rebuke him, and if he simply repents, forgive him. And if seven times in the day he simply sins against you and seven times he simply returns to you saying, ‘I am sorry’, forgive him. And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Add to us faith!’ And the Lord said, ‘If you have faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you. And who among you with a slave who is plowing or herding sheep, will say to him as he comes inside from the field, ‘Come here immediately and sit at the table’; but won’t you rather say to him, ‘Prepare my supper, dress yourself appropriately, and serve me until I finish eating and drinking, and after I have done so you may eat and drink.’ He doesn’t thank the slave because he did what was commanded, does he? So you also, when you have simply done everything that has been commanded, saying that, ‘We are merely slaves who have done only what was our duty.’“ This is our text.

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus warns His disciples not to become like the Pharisees. In chapter 16, Jesus had excoriated the Pharisees who placed wealth and possessions before pure Biblical doctrine. The Pharisees had apostatized from the Biblical Jewish faith in two ways. First, they added to the law. The Pharisees added hundreds of decrees to the Ten Commandments and thereby turned the covenant of Sinai into a heavy and oppressive burden that no person could hope to bear. Second, they rejected the very promise and prophecy of the Holy Scriptures which proclaim and point to Jesus who is the Christ and Savior of Israel and the Gentiles.

Jesus exhorts His disciples not to become like the Pharisees. In 21^st century America, Christians are in danger of two extremes of false doctrine. First, there is the temptation to follow the discipline of the Pharisees. Too many Christians and churches place undue and unscriptural legal burdens upon their fellow Christians. They add to the Ten Commandments and teach that if you violate their many additional precepts, then you are a bad Christian or no Christian at all. Some examples of their precepts are enforcing a strict and ultraconservative dress code, a strict observance of the day of rest where all extraneous work is condemned, don’t drink or smoke, and a harsh approach whereby they ostracize Christians from their presence who do not follow their strict discipleship. Such Pharisaic Christians are heavy on the law but weak on the liberating gospel of forgiveness. The Gospels and the Epistles do preach a condemning law that reveals our sinfulness, but the Holy Scriptures also teach moderation and modesty in many things that some Christians condemn as sinful. The apostles and the evangelists proclaimed modesty in dress and moderation in alcohol but they did not forbid the appropriate use of fancy clothes or jewelry nor did they forbid the drinking of liquor and spirits. The apostles and evangelists encouraged a day of rest whereby one can worship the Triune God on Sunday, but they also exhorted Christians to take up the task of work and labor on Sunday if one’s neighbor is in need of our help.

Second, there is a temptation among Christians to take the approach of what I call the ,,law lite“. Such Christians acknowledge the validity of the law, but take a very soft approach to that law. The emphasis is not on the law as a revelation of our sinfulness and need for a savior, but that the law is defanged of its accusatory power so that the law is merely friendly suggestions of how to live a moral life. Such an approach unscripturally assumes that our fallen and corrupt human nature is capable of doing what the law demands. As such, there really is no urgent need for Christ Jesus as a savior from sin and the condemnation of the law because we can fulfill the precepts of the law by our own natural strength and power. Such is the message that regularly comes from preachers like the Sheila Schuller Coleman, Rick Warren, and Joel Olsteen.

Yahweh gave us the law to reveal our sinfulness, shipwreck our luxury cruise of this life, and deliver us upon the seashore at the feet of Christ Jesus who is our savior from sin, death, and the condemnation of the law.

Therefore Jesus tells us to be magnanimous in our forgiveness. When someone sins against us and then apologizes, we are to forgive that person. It doesn’t matter if the sin is insignificant or devastating – we are to forgive that person. Even if the person sins against us six more times that day, we are to forgive that person when he or she apologizes. This is what the torah tells us. Such forgiveness is Jesus’ commentary on the prayer He taught His disciples to pray: »And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive those indebted to us« (11,4). The second phrase is the commonly understood financial language of debts. We have personal experience with debt, be it school loans, a home mortgage, or maxed out credit cards. Financial debts must be repaid in full with interest. Financial debts burden people each day, and sometimes debts take 92 years to pay off as today marks the end of The Great War for Germany makes its final reparation payment of $95,076,040 (€69.950.000) to fulfill the $393.6 billion in reparations owed to the Allies since 1918.

Other debts cannot be paid off with money. Debts of sin can only be cancelled and forgiven. The act of forgiving sins (absolution) is how creation is released from its bondage through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection (Just 644). This absolution is part of Judeo-Christian piety (Just 644). Christ shed His blood to cancel our huge debt of sin. Our Heavenly Father has forgiven our sinful debt on account of His Son’s bloody reparation. Jesus now exhorts us to likewise cancel and forgive the sins that others have against us.

The apostles realized their plight. They realized that they might take pure doctrine lightly and cause people to stumble. They realized that they failed to forgive their neighbors as their Heavenly Father has forgiven them. So they asked Jesus to add to their faith! The apostles’ request arises from their recognition that they are unable to do what Jesus has exhorted of them because they lack the necessary faith (Just 645).

,,Even though the apostles do not realize it, they have enough faith to do miraculous things, even something as remarkable as transplanting a mulberry tree, with its deep root system, into the sea“ (Just 645). The power of faith is as unlimited as God’s power itself (Just 645). The apostles will be given faith to preach the reign of God and heal and thus keep Christians from stumbling (Just 645). The apostles will be given faith to forgive seven times a day and thus show how true healing in the heavenly reign takes place (Just 645).

As 21^st century disciples of Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us the necessary faith to do great things in God’s Name, keep the biblical doctrine pure, and forgive those who sin against us. The Holy Spirit nurtures this faith through the preached Word that proclaims Yahweh’s forgiveness, by receiving the Lord’s body and blood with faith in the words ,,Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins“ has the very forgiveness that the sacramental words promise (Small Catechism, Lord’s Supper, 4^th Question), and that our Baptism indicates that the Old Adam in us shall be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man shall daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever (Small Catechism, Baptism, Part 4). Amen.

Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, when a fellow Christian sins, is rebuked by Your holy law, and repents, give us the faith to forgive and absolve that person so that the repentant sinner knows and is comforted that his or her sin is forgiven by God and by us. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

   All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
   Just, Arthur A., Jr. Concordia Commentary: Luke 9:51– 24:53. Copyright © 1997 Concordia Publishing House.
   Luther, Martin. Luther’s Small Catechism. Copyright © 1986 Concordia Publishing House.
   Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.