In the Name of Jesus
Romans 1,14-17 1112
3. Sonntag nach Epiphanias 016Vincentius, Deacon at Saragossa, Spain. Martyr 304.
22. January 2012
1. O Blessed God and Father most heartily do we praise and thank You for the exceeding great riches of Your grace which You have shown unto us in Your Son Jesus Christ. You have brought the Gentiles to the Light and united them in the fellowship of Your dear Son. We beseech You, Heavenly Father, to rule and govern us by Your Holy Spirit so that in these last evil times we may always walk according to Your Word and as children of light put off the works of darkness and be clothed with the armor of light so that with great confidence we may rejoice and comfort ourselves in Christ our Savior, participate in the inheritance of faithful Abraham and bring You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit acceptable sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving and finally with the fullness of the Gentiles and the Israel of God be saved and in Your reign with an everlasting hallelujah praise and magnify Your glorious grace (Löhe 129-30). Amen.
2. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith in faith, as it is written: »The righteous will live by faith.« (Habakkuk 2,4)
3. In today’s Gospel Reading we have another miracle of Jesus. St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist, proclaims how Jesus healed a paralyzed man. Jesus did so at the request of a Roman centurion. Here we see that although Jesus was first sent to the lost sheep of Israel, He was not only sent to them, but that He proclaims His gospel to all the nations of the world, including a Roman officer who Luke tells us in his Gospel that this centurion loved the Jews in Capernaum, so much so, that he ordered the building of their synagogue. The Jews therefore implore Jesus that this centurion, therefore is worthy of having Him heal the officer’s slave. Incredibly, Jesus finds a truer and greater worthiness in him, for Jesus praises this centurion’s faith in Him, a faith that, sadly, Jesus had thus far found lacking among the Jews.
4. The Apostle Paul speaks of this universal proclamation of the gospel in his Epistle to the Romans. Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles. He also preached to Greeks, Romans and barbarians. In Paul’s world, the civilized, educated folks were the Greeks and the Romans; Jews were also regarded as a civilized culture, and many Romans took pride in learning Jewish culture, including their monotheistic religion. But you also had those uncivilized, uncouth barbarians north of the Imperial border. Those were the various German tribes, like the Angles, the Saxons, and the Bavarii. The barbarians also included those wild British Catuvellauni, the Scottish Caledonii and Irish Blanii.
5. Do we take seriously »the obligation to preach the gospel«? Are we »eager to proclaim the gospel«? A: Yes, but we could do much better. We can support missionary and evangelical work better with more money and fervent prayer. We could confess and profess our faith in Christ when the many opportunities are dropped in our laps by the Holy Spirit. We could do more, but we don’t because our flesh is weak and we tolerate that quintessential American philosophy of universal salvation for all people regardless of whether they believe in Jesus, Buddha or the pixie fairies. Shame on us for not being obligated and eager to proclaim the gospel of Christ Jesus to those who desperately need to hear it’s soothing comfort.
6. Too often we are ashamed of the gospel. Let’s be honest with ourselves: we don’t want to be compared to the annoying Jehovah Witnesses who knock on people’s doors or the goofy guy at the football end zone wearing a rainbow clown wig while holding up a John 3,16 sign. We are often content to stay safe and cozy rather than take the proclamation of the gospel seriously. We cannot even come close to boasting with the first century Christians in Corinth, Philippi and Rome with supporting the spread of the gospel. Yes, Corinth, with all its dysfunctional concepts about basic Christian doctrine were better supporters of the gospel than we are today.
7. We have lost our zeal. Meanwhile people are dying right this second apart from faith in Jesus and they therefore will spend eternity in hell. O we are wicked and selfish people for keeping the gospel only unto ourselves.
8. »The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek«. »The gospel of Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, but to those who are called to faith, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God« (1. Corinthians 1,23-24). »Righteousness will be reckoned to you who believe in God the Father who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for your justification. Therefore, since you are justified by faith, you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For while you were still weak, at the right time Christ died for, you, the ungodly. Therefore just as Adam’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so Jesus’ act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all, yes, for you!« (Romans 4,24-5,1.6.18). »There is therefore no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8,1), for Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for you who believe« (Romans 10,4). »Now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord« (Romans 6,22-23).
9. The gospel absolves our wicked and selfish fallen human nature. You cannot overcome your weak flesh, but Christ has already overcome it through His flesh. You are not perfectly faithful to the gospel and its proclamation, but Christ has already been perfectly faithful to the gospel, yes, »faithful unto death on a cross« (Philippians 2,8), for »Christ Jesus became for you wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption« (1. Corinthians 1,30).
10. You see, Christ is obedient for you and in your place. He sends the Holy Spirit who creates and sustains the Church, and through His Church proclaims the gospel unto all the nations of the world. Through the gospel the Holy Spirit absolves you and me for our failure to be obligated and eager to proclaim the gospel.
11. The gospel of Christ Jesus crucified and risen for you and your sinfulness justifies you: all your sins have been paid for and you are now righteous before God the Father. The gospel sanctifies you: the Holy Spirit daily works in you to create good works by which your neighbors are blessed. The gospel is revealed by faith and received by faith. You are saved. You are righteous. You are sanctified. Christ has made it so. The gospel proclaims it. Believe it, for the gospel is the power of God the Son working in your life through the Holy Scriptures, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Absolution. The gospel is yours by grace and it is free all on account of Christ. Amen.
11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You reign over all creation, send us the Holy Spirit with His means of grace so that we are assured of our salvation, and with this assurance we gladly rejoice with the earth and the coastlands the wonders of Your Heilsgeschichte (salvation history). 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.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith. Copyright © 1902 Frank Carroll Longaker.
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