In the Name of Jesus
Romans 10,9-17.[18]
17. Trinitatis 062
Gallus, Abbot of St. Gallen, Switzerland, † appr. 646
1611-2011: 400th anniversary of the King James Bible
16. October 2011
1. O Holy Spirit, who inspired the Prophets and Apostles to write the Holy Scriptures, grant unto us faithful pastors and bishops to preach Your Word in truth and purity. We also give thanks for those devoted Christians who over the millennia preserved the Scriptural manuscripts and codices and for others who undertook to translate the Bible from its original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into their native language so that countless people would have access to the very words of life. We especially thank You for the desire of King James I to order an English translation of the Bible and for those scholars who carried out this laudable task. Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Epistle to the Romans where the Apostle Paul writes: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says: »Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.« [Isaiah 28,16] 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. 13For »everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.« [Joel 2,23] 14But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written: »How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel!« [Isaiah 52,7] 16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says: »O Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?« [Isaiah 53,1] 17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for »Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.« [Psalm 19,4] This is our text.
3. This year marks the 400. anniversary of the King James Bible. This Bible of King James was the third official English translation used in England (the first having been the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England that was printed in 1539 under the direction of Myles Coverdale, and the second was the Bishop’s Bible of 1568). King James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I of England and Ireland in 1603 and he is perhaps the most theologically astute monarch to ever be crowned in Great Britain. In 1604 the king commissioned 47 scholars to update the English Bible and in 1611, while the English colonists in Jamestown, VA were four years into building their settlement, the King James Bible began leaving British printing presses. To view the entire digitalized King James Bible check out the link at our church’s website.
4. The King James Bible was not the first official English translation. The followers of John Wycliffe undertook the first complete English translations of the Holy Scriptures in the 15th century. In 1525, William Tyndale, an English contemporary of Martin Luther, undertook a translation of the New Testament and Tyndale used Luther’s German Bible as a framework regarding poetry and translation style. Tyndale’s translation was the first printed Bible in English. Tyndale’s New Testament and his incomplete work on the Old Testament became the basis for the 1539 Great Bible. The 1568 Bishop’s Bible became the English source text for the 1611 King James Bible.
5. Why was the King James Bible so important for English men and women in the 16. and 17. centuries? Prior to the 1539 Great Bible, those living in England would have on Sunday Divine Service heard the Bible read or preached in a language other than their native English. Were you back then standing in an English church on Sunday morning you would have heard the 17. verse from today’s Epistle Reading as: »ergo fides ex auditu auditus autem per verbum Christi«. Prior to Tyndale’s translation and the 1539 Great Bible, all Scripture was read in Jerome’s 5. century Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate, which was the official Roman Catholic Bible translation from the time of Jerome’s printing of it in 405 until the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). To this very day, the King James Bible is a treasure of English poetry and prose, in addition to providing the English framework for all succeeding English translations, including the English Standard Version that we use each week for our lectionary.
6. Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ in one’s native language. The Apostle Paul wrote his Romans epistle in Greek which was the common tongue of the first century. We read his letter in contemporary English so that we can understand the gospel he proclaims. Therefore, after hearing the word of Christ, we:
I. confess,
II. believe, and
III. are justified.
I.
7. The Apostle Paul tells us the straight truth: »If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved« (10,9). Many, however, hear but do not believe. The consequence of unbelief is eternal death and damnation. Such is the lot that awaits sinful humanity. We have rebelled against God, and our punishment is death and everlasting banishment from His holy presence. Yahweh, however, would not see mankind, His crown of creation, lost forever in perdition. Yahweh instituted His Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) to redeem fallen mankind. He promised this redemption to Eve moments after her fall into sin. He reminded each generation of patriarchs of the gospel promise. He bound this promise to Abraham’s heir and David’s son. God the Father fulfilled this promise when He sent His only son, Jesus the Christ, into this lost world. This Jesus became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Preachers and pastors proclaim this gospel, and people hear it. No one has an excuse to not be saved, for Yahweh has saved His fallen creation and proclaimed this wonderful truth through His Church. Those who remain separated from Yahweh cannot blame Him, but must acknowledge that they alone are responsible for remaining separated from the Triune God.
II.
8. Confessing Jesus as our crucified and risen Savior who is our redeemer from sin, death and hell leads to faith. Those who believe in Christ will be saved. Notice, however, that the Apostle Paul does not say a generic belief in Christ, such as Christ existed or Christ was a prophet and good, moral teacher or some other confession that the world would have no discomfort believing. Rather, Paul says those who believe in the risen and resurrected Christ will be saved.
9. The resurrection of Christ makes all the difference. The risen Christ is the victor over sin, death and hell. Your sin is forgiven. Your death will lead you to eternal life with Christ. Your destiny is no longer the perdition of hell. The risen Christ does this, and none other.
III.
10. The Apostle Paul furthermore proclaims that those who believe in the risen Christ are justified. The Greek word δικαίωσιν (justification) is often translated into English as righteousness or made righteous. The term is theologically significant because Yahweh created Adam and Eve with original righteousness. They were created in the image and likeness of God Himself. When Adam sinned, however, he exchanged his original righteousness for original sin. Furthermore, Adam has passed on to you and me this original sin and its curse of physical death and eternal damnation.
11. Yahweh’s Heilsgeschichte involves restoring in you the original righteousness that He always intended for you to have. To do this, God the Father imputes Jesus Christ’s own righteousness to you. Martin Luther called this „die fröhliche Wechsel“ (the blessed exchange). Yahweh is not simply content to cleanse and wipe away all your sins, but He wants to remake you in His holy image and likeness. Christ took upon Himself your original sin and gave you in exchange His own holiness, namely original righteousness. The Holy Spirit has committed this gospel to His Church and has established that ordained ministers preach this gospel from the pulpit and that they give out this gospel in the Sacraments. You hear that you are justified, you then confess it, believe it, and have it by virtue of your faith in what God Himself has said.
12. The Apostle Paul speaks very highly of preaching this very word of life and salvation. At one time, this could be done using the original Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages. Such languages form the foundation of a classical, liberal education that was the hallmark of both the European and American education system. At one time, Latin was still taught in American schools at the junior high level. At one time, the average person had a working knowledge of Latin. Our culture no longer emphasizes the classical education format, and so knowledge of basic Latin and other liberal arts have been lost to many college graduates. No longer is it efficacious to proclaim: »ergo fides ex auditu auditus autem per verbum Christi«. Many American Lutheran pastors no longer understand the proclamation: »So kommt der Glaube aus der Predigt, das Predigen aber aus dem Wort Gottes«. The Word of God needs to be preached in the vernacular language of the people. For many that is English, for others it is Korean or Spanish. »Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.« The Word of God does not return void. You have heard the gospel; you have believed this gospel; on account of the gospel, you are righteous before God Almighty. Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You have the words of eternal life! Bring success to our singing of Your steadfast love so that we make known Your faithfulness to succeeding generations and through Your gospel they believe unto life everlasting. 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, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
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