Acts 8, 26-39. 6th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Acts 8,26-39    3912

6. Sonntag nach Trinitatis  051  

Stilla, Virgin, of Abenberg, Bavaria † 1158. 

The Division of the Holy Apostles. 

Gumbert, Abbot of Ansbach, Bavaria † 790. 

15. July 2012

1. O Holy Spirit, our Gift from heaven sent by Christ Jesus, we live in a dark and wicked generation where people hold fast to spirituality and religion but neither know the True God nor the Christian faith. Worse yet, our culture glorifies and praises religious pluralism while vilifying Christianity. O Holy Spirit: Work in our midst, proclaim the pure Word of God from our church, use each one of us as disciples of Your gospel, enlighten the minds of men and women, prepare their hearts for the gospel, create faith where it does not exist and embolden faith where it already is. Make the proclamation of Christ crucified real in our lives, a beacon in this borough and the light unto the fallen world.  Amen.

2. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip the Deacon: „Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.“ This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians [AD 25-41], who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip: „Go over and join this chariot.“ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the Prophet Isaiah and asked: „Do you understand what you are reading?“ And he said: „How can I, unless someone guides me?“ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: »Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who can describe His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth« (Isaiah 53,7-8). And the eunuch said to Philip: „About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this: about himself or about someone else?“ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the gospel about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said: „Behold, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?“ And Philip said: „If you believe with all your heart, you may.“ And the eunuch answered and said: „I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.“ And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water: Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:26-36, 38, 39 ESV) 

3. The account of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8 is one of many instances why the Prophet Isaiah is often called the Fifth Evangelist and the Book of Isaiah the Fifth Gospel. It is also no coincidence that this Ethiopian royal minister is reading a Jewish Prophet. The Queen of Sheba had visited King Solomon, and a number of Jews fled to Ethiopia when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem in 587 BC. It is no surprise then that this Ethiopian has access to the Old Testament and had knowledge of Jewish customs and culture since there was already a 1000-year tradition with Judaism in Ethiopia.  

4. In our Gospel Reading from Matthew 28, Jesus tells the apostles to make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them His Word (28,19-20). Acts 8 is another in a series of events that Luke the Evangelist lists as he describes how the Holy Spirit establishes the Christian faith by the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world. This event follows the familiar pattern recorded by Luke in the book of Acts: 1. the Word is heard or read, 2. this Word is interpreted as referring to Jesus and 3. there is a Baptism. There is an undeniable sync between the Word, Holy Baptism and faith. Furthermore, these three occur in quick succession to one another. 

5. Additionally, Acts 8 occurs in the most unlikeliest of places: Philip is sent to a desert place. No one should be there, but nevertheless that is where the Holy Spirit sends Philip. In this desert place, Philip discovers another unlikely set of circumstances: an African royal minister is there reading the Prophet Isaiah. What are the chances of that happening? 

6. This, dear Christian brothers and sisters, is where the 21. century Church often gets it wrong. We become too dependent on technology. We go where the demographic study points us. We have to establish a detailed plan. We weigh the risks versus the costs. For much of her existence, however, the Church has been more intuitive and relied more upon the moving of the Holy Spirit. Western Christianity has lost this aspect in regards to proclaiming the gospel. 

7. Now the Church is right in trying to maximize the most out of a given situation. We should proclaim the Word to many people. Jesus told parables about that: Go and spread the Word in all directions and on all types of soil and see what springs up and bears fruit. On the other hand, the Church wants to also seriously consider the effect of one person hearing the gospel in the most unlikeliest of places. There have been Christians in Ethiopia for nearly 2000 years because one man heard the gospel, got baptized and returned home to further proclaim and teach Jesus as the Savior of the world. This only happens by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

8. The Ethiopian was reading the 53. Chapter of the Prophet Isaiah: »Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned﹣every one﹣to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of My people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of Yahweh to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He sees His offspring; He prolongs His days; the will of Yahweh prospers in His hand. Out of the anguish of His life He sees and is satisfied; by his knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, makes everyone to be accounted righteous, and He bears their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with everyone, and He divides the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His life to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of everyone, and makes intercession for the transgressors« (Isaiah 53,1-12). 

9. The Ethiopian wants to know who the Prophet Isaiah is talking about in Chapter 53: Is Isaiah referring to himself or someone else? The text of Isaiah is about Jesus, and Acts 8 notes that it is all about Jesus. It is not about five ways to a happier life. You want guides for moral living? Jesus made that pretty simple: love God and love your neighbor. If you need more directions in that, then there are 10 easy-to-remember commandments that explain what it means to love God and love your neighbor. 

10. Following the law and obeying the commandments, however, will never earn you everlasting life. Notice that the Ethiopian did not ask: „What must I do to be saved?“ Rather, he confessed: »Behold, here is water! I need to be baptized«. Through reading Isaiah the Prophet and hearing the teaching of Philip the Deacon, the Ethiopian had learned that all depends on what God has done and still does for us. Isaiah pointed to the Suffering Servant, and Philip taught that this Servant is the Christ, who is Jesus. Jesus had suffered and died for the sin of the world and in Holy Baptism the Ethiopian received the grace and gospel that Jesus alone gives. 

11. The text was about Jesus in Isaiah 53 and Acts 8. The text is still about Jesus 2000 years later. Jesus has not changed, and neither has the text. If it is about Jesus, then it is about the gospel; and if it is about the gospel, then it is about salvation freely given. Therefore, the Apostle Paul proclaims: You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6,11).Therefore, Jesus promises: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28,20). Where Jesus is there is forgiveness, for you, in full, and free. God be praised!  Amen. 

12. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, You proclaimed our names before our Heavenly Father, help us to proclaim Your Name to our neighbors so that, like the Ethiopian in Acts 8 they may rejoice in the gospel and praise You in the midst of the congregation.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Genesis 12,1-4a. 5th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠ 

Genesis 12,1-4a   3812

5. Sonntag nach Trinitatis  050

Aquila and Priscilla, 52

Kilian, Bishop of Würzburg, Germany, Martyr 688/89 

8. July 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, whose weakness is greater than man’s strength and whose foolishness is wiser than mankind’s wisdom, we gather here again this morning to worship and praise Your only Son our Savior and Redeemer. Make this church a house of prayer, a sanctuary of Your Word and a temple of Your Sacraments where the law and gospel are proclaimed in purity and the absolution is given out rightly for our eternal salvation and the blessings of our lives.  Amen. 

2. Now Yahweh said to Abram: „Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.“ So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  

3. Yahweh made a covenant with, and a promise to, Abraham: I will bless you and make your name great. This covenant was fulfilled when Yahweh brought the people of Israel into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, Moses’ successor. Thousands of years later, Jesus brought a greater fulfillment through His apostles when He promised that the fishermen-now-apostles will now be catching people (Luke 5,10). 

4. Yahweh is a covenant-making God. He delights in making promises to mankind. He takes great joy in blessing His creation. 

5. There is a problem with Yahweh’s covenant: it kept getting broke. This is not Yahweh’s fault, but rather it is solely our fault. We take His wonderful covenant and get our greedy fingers into it trying to make it better for us. Israel reasoned: if Yahweh has blessed us in Canaan, then worshipping all the gods in the land will exponentially increase our blessings. Israel’s greed lead to unforeseen implications. By worshipping the Canaanite gods, Israel began to accept the morals and values of the land. Canaanite morals had much to be desired. They would slander their neighbors, bribe judges for favorable judgments, ignore the widows and abandon the orphans. 

6. Since Israel broke the covenant, God punished them. First the Assyrians, and then the Babylonians, conquered the Promised Land and exiled Israel. Israel was no worse than America or us. We take advantage of Yahweh’s blessings, seek to reap more gifts from our greed and will throw our neighbor under the bus if it means we can improve our lot in life. 

7. Since sinful men and women have broken Yahweh’s covenant, our covenant God promised to make a new, unbreakable covenant. The Prophet Jeremiah proclaims: »Yahweh declares: „Behold, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer will each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying: „Know Yahweh,“ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more“« (Jeremiah 31,31-34). 

8. The new covenant that Yahweh foretells to Jeremiah was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham. The Patriarch Abraham’s name is great because of his descendant Jesus. Abraham is a blessing for all the families of the earth on account of Jesus. Thus the Apostle Paul explains Genesis 12: »Abraham’s faith was „counted to him as righteousness.“ But the words „it was counted to him“ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification« (Romans 4,22-25). »In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, and you are thus heirs according to the promise« (Galatians 3,14.27.29). 

9. Christ Jesus Himself says at His institution of the Lord’s Supper: »The cup poured out is the new covenant in My blood« (Luke 22,20). In Christ the Abrahamic covenant is properly fulfilled, and it is a covenant of everlasting salvation and forgiveness. This is a covenant of grace based on Christ’s shed blood and it is a testament of Christ’s steadfast love toward all the families of the earth. 

10. This new covenant in Christ is an unbreakable covenant, for it is not based on us or any action on our part. The new covenant is completely grounded upon Christ and His merit. »And by that new covenant we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all« (Hebrews 10,10). Christ institutes the Sacrament of the Altar to give out the blessings of His covenant. This is the greatness of Christ: His covenant is pure gift and pure grace. His covenant is all His merit and none of ours. His covenant is freely given to us out of love. Christ gives His Church the authority and the privilege to proclaim this covenant as the herald of the gospel of full forgiveness and eternal salvation. He gives you, His disciples, the task of sharing this gospel to your neighbors so that they may also experience the blessing of redemption that Christ pours upon all the families of the earth.  Amen. 

13. Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, You have revealed Your righteousness in the sight of the nations. Make known to us, through this church, the salvation merited only by Christ alone so that our hearts are strengthened and our lives blessed.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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. 

   ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

1. Peter 3,8-17. 4th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

1. Peter 3,8-15a (15b-17)     3712

4. Sonntag nach Trinitatis  049  

Theobald, hermit near Vicenza, Italy, † 1066  

1. July 2012

1. O Heavenly Father, You are merciful, gracious and forgiving. Often we attempt to help our neighbors without first examining our lives first. As such we treat our neighbor legalistically, judgmentally and with little forgiveness. Help us to first examine our lives by Your Holy Word, repent of our sins of legalism, judgmentalism and lack of forgiveness, so that we, by the power of the Holy Spirit moving within us may help our neighbor with a heart of mercy, a gracious attitude and a forgiving spirit.  Amen. 

2. Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, so that you may obtain a blessing. For »Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil« [Psalm 34,12]. Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 

3. The Apostle Peter tells Christians the straight truth: you will suffer for your Christian faith. Furthermore, you will suffer for being righteous. In this worldly tribulation, the holy apostle emphasizes two points for Christians: give a defense of the Christian faith and be respectful. 

4. The Apostle Peter uses the word ἀπολογία. From this Greek word comes our word „apology“. In modern English it refers to being sorry, but that is not the true meaning of apology. An apology is an ancient Greek term that means a well-reasoned reply; it a thought-out response to adequately address the issue that is raised. In the courtroom, it is a reasoned argument that presents evidence. 

5. The first century Church took up this word and developed apologetics. In Biblical apologetics, an apology is supplying evidences for the faith. The chief evidence for the faith is Christ’s resurrection and the empty tomb. The Apostle Paul argues: »I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and that He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve, then to more than five hundred brothers at one time, then to James, then to all the apostles and last of all, He appeared also to me, Paul. Indeed, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep« (1. Corinthians 15,3-8.20). 

6. There are two historical facts: Jesus was crucified by the Romans and His tomb was empty three days later. The crucifixion was not an issue. The Jews and the Romans knew it had happened. Roman historians mention that Pontius Pilate had executed Jesus. What stirs up the hornets nest is the empty tomb. Again, this is an undisputed fact: the tomb was empty and the body of Jesus was missing. His corpse never turned up; no one found it. A few theories quickly arose to explain this. One, the disciples must have gone to the wrong tomb. The Christians then argued: well then, take us to the right tomb and show us the corpse of Jesus. Two, well you disciples must have stolen the body. The Christians then argued: well then, prove it. Present the corpse of Jesus. Three, well then, you Christians just made this resurrection up; you are just deluded or crazy. The Christians then argued: Mary Magdalene saw the risen Jesus and talked to Him. The apostles saw Him and touched His body. He is a living, breathing Jesus. He ate and drank with us. Peter saw Him, James saw Him and Paul saw Him; furthermore, 500 disciples saw Jesus on the same occasion. 

7. The Apostle Paul rightly argues that there is overwhelming eyewitness testimony that: 1. the tomb was empty, 2. Jesus bodily rose from the dead and 3. over 500 people testify to seeing the risen Jesus. The world cannot even produce His corpse to challenge our Christian proclamation. 

8. The resurrection of Jesus is the key evidence in Christian apologetics. Paul simply outlines it as: I, Paul, am handing on to you what I had received from others: Jesus died and rose. If Jesus has not risen, then we preach in vain, your faith is groundless and we are lying about God, namely, we are breaking the 2. Commandment. If there is no Easter Sunday, then you are still stuck with your sins, and therefore God will condemn you. But be of good cheer, Jesus really did rise from the grave: sin is atoned for, your faith is based upon the certain truth of the resurrection and on the last day Jesus will return and raise up your decayed body to new, everlasting life! (1. Corinthians 15,3.14-15.17-20). 

9. Such is the great promise and comfort of the gospel. Christian apologetics exists to defend this gospel. Christian apologetics is founded first and foremost upon the Bible. Christians defend and argue from the Biblical texts. Apologetics, however, is also served by other Humanistic tools. We employ logic, grammar, semantics and a host of other disciplines to present an orderly, reasonable defense of the faith. Ad Hominem arguments, straw man arguments and other logical fallacies don’t help a Christian in the defense of the faith. Unfortunately, these logical debate fallacies are common even among Christian apologetics. An ad Hominem fallacy is when an argument is directed against a person rather than his or her position. A straw man fallacy is an argument that is against a misrepresentation of the opponent’s position rather than the actual position, namely, putting words in the opponents mouth that he or she hasn’t said or doesn’t believe so as to disprove the premise or conclusion. 

10. Good Christian apologetics refrains from logical fallacies. The Apostle Peter thus adds: be gentle and respectful in the defense of the faith. No one appreciates a smug, boastful person who ridicules his opponent’s intelligence and reputation in the course of any discussion. We see how off-putting this is in the current state of political debates where both sides accuse their opponent of often inaccurate items that quite frankly are not relevant to the topic being discussed and debated. Having spent the last several days at the English District convention, I heard a few logical fallacies when speaking for or against a particular proposed resolution. There were times when the debate became lively and passionate. But at all times the men and women in our district remained respectful. Often after the particular resolution had been adopted or rejected those who had debated it would often be seen talking privately in the convention hall further explaining their position and making sure that there were no hard feelings from the heat of debate. I have heard from friends in other district conventions of similar activities. Such collegiality and respect is what St. Peter encourages in our sermon text. I encourage each of you to have the same heart and respect as you carry out your defense of the Christian faith to your neighbors. 

11. You see, this is the power and the working of the Holy Spirit through the precious gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ acted this very way during His ministry. He did perfectly what we can never do, and He applies this perfect merit unto us. 

12. Go in peace, for Christ is your Apology. He justly defended you against the accusations brought forward by the prosecuting Satan. Jesus is your Confidence (Luise Henriette von Brandenburg). He is your Defense and the Right Man who fights for you (Luther). Jesus honors you and your name from the slanders of the world. He speaks well of you and declares you righteous before His Heavenly Father. Such is the love and respect that Jesus lavishes upon you this day and every day; may you do the same for your neighbors.  Amen. 

12. Let us pray. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High. „O Holy Spirit, true Leader and Guide of all the elect…. Here we are upon wild and stormy waves, in an evil world; but help us through this all, so that we may finally attain to heaven and arrive at the Fatherland with joy after all these great tribulations“ (Löhe 343-44).  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

✠

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. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

1. John 1,5-2,6. 3rd Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠ 

1. John 1,5-2,6   3612

3. Sonntag nach Trinitatis  048

The Eve of the Nativity of John the Baptizer 

24. June 2012

1.   O Lord Jesus Christ, it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that You came into the world to save sinners. You desire that no one, yes, no one, be lost. There is not a single soul in the whole wide world whom You did not love and carry upon Your heart. From all eternity You had thoughts of grace toward every human being. By Your life and suffering, by Your bleeding and dying on the cross You reconciled every person to Your Father, redeemed them from all sins and won for them grace, righteousness, life and salvation. Therefore You have also given the command to go out into all the world and preach the gospel, the glad tidings of Your grace and reconciliation, to every creature. O Holy Spirit, embolden Your dear Church! Fill her with ardent love for those who are still without God and without hope in this world. Grant unto Your Church that through her the gospel may be brought into all foreign lands and convert unto faith Christ Jesus. Arise, O Lord, to rescue those who are lost.  Amen. 

2. This is the message we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says: „I know Him“ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in Him: whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. 

3. The Apostle John uses the word „propitiation“ in his epistle which serves as our sermon text for this morning. Propitiation is not a word commonly heard in the Church today, but it is a vitally important word in the life of the Church. To propitiate means to bring forgiveness or to have mercy. 

4. John writes that there is light and darkness. God is light. Sinners are darkness. The two cannot coexist. Light always drives out the darkness, and likewise God’s holy presence drives wicked sinners away because there is no darkness in God. The vast majority of the world is content to ignore this simple truth. Ask the average person about God and sinners and you will hear answers such as „God is love“ or „God welcomes sinners“, but press them as to why God is love or why God welcomes sinners and it is like looking at a deer caught in the car headlights.

5. You see, by and large, the world is indifferent to sin and wickedness. At worst mankind is morally neutral and we just need a little extra boost from God and His grace to put us into the good column. The world does not understand that God hates sin and God hates sinners. Many Christians do not understand this either. We want to have a sugar-coated God of generic love, and then we are happy and content to carry on with our lives. 

6. The holy apostle reminds us this morning that you, me and the entire world are sinners. If we deny this fact, then we are deceiving ourselves and do not have the Truth within us. If God hates sin, and we are sinners, then it follows that God must hate the sinner. The wicked rightly deserve death and hell, we reason, and thus so do we all, for we are all wicked sinners before God. 

7. This is where the word „propitiation“ comes into play in God’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history). Although God hates sin and the rebellious sinner, and in His holy justice must punish sin and condemn sinners, God is a God of love who does not want to damn His creation to perdition. God, however, in His holiness and righteousness cannot just overlook mankind’s sin. Sin must be atoned for and the sinner must be punished. A propitiator is one who appeases God through a sacrifice, and one who atones for our sins by sacrificing Himself. John proclaims that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for all sinners, yes for the entire world. Therefore, God sent His Son to atone for sin, Himself being the sacrifice to bear all sin’s awful load. Jesus became the Chief Sinner on the cross, and by becoming the Sinner who bears the sin of the world, He bore our just punishment and condemnation in our place. Jesus has atoned for sin, paid the ransom price and has merited the forgiveness of sin. 

8. On account of Jesus we can now boldly say and proclaim that „God is love“ and „God welcomes sinners“. Jesus is righteous and by His merit He exchanges our unrighteousness with His righteousness. the result of his blessed exchange is explored in Nikolaus Zinzendorf’s hymn Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness: „Bold will I stand in that great day, Cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay; Fully absolved through these I am From sin and fear, from guilt and shame“ (LSB 563.2). 

9. Now that Christ has become our propitiation, we ought to walk according to His law for to know Christ is to keep His commandments. Jesus summarized His Ten Commandments as love God and love your neighbor. 

10. Bear good works in keeping with the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. Worship the Triune God. Pray to Him. Read His Word, and regularly hear it preached and taught on Sunday morning. Give tithes, offerings and service to your church. In these ways you begin to show your love for God. 

11. Share with your neighbors. If your neighbor is in need, then help him out. Speak kindly of your neighbors. Help them to upkeep their property. Defend their honor, reputation and good name. In these ways you begin to show your love for your neighbor. 

12. The Holy Spirit desires to perfect His love in you. His law shows how you can love God and your neighbor, but His gospel gives you the power and ability to actually love. The gospel creates faith, and faith bears the fruit of good works for the neighbor. 

13. We need the power of the gospel to motivate us to love, for many times our neighbors aren’t the most congenial people. We would rather not help our neighbor who is a thorn in our side, preferring instead to focus our attention on the neighbors who are nice to us. 

14. In this morning’s Gospel Reading, St. Luke the Evangelist tells us: »Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying: „This man receives sinners and eats with them.“« (Luke 15,1-2). „Today Jesus is the guest with a different set of people. These are the riffraff, the poor, the despised.  The sort of people you wouldn’t want to be associated with if you valued what people might say. Their lives hadn’t turned out so well“ (Nagel 167). And the religious people, those who had a comfortable life, who followed Yahweh’s law, the scribes and the Pharisees, let Jesus know that it was simply improper and unacceptable for Him, a man of God and His law, a rabbi no less, to be seen in the company of the despised, the tax collectors, the prostitutes and the publicans. O the scandal! 

15. You have neighbors who are put in those categories. Perhaps you yourself label them as such. Are not these the despised of our borough who think they don’t have a friend in the world? These are the neighbors Jesus wants us to help and have in our company. They need our love just as surely as the sinners did in Luke 15. „God’s business is bringing and keeping and lost sheep close to Himself that they may be forgiven and have the achievement and joy that God wants them to have. Jesus came to give all that to us“ (Nagel 167). 

16. The 20. century Lutheran and theologian Dietrich Bonhöffer spoke and wrote about the costly grace of God. Divine grace is costly because Jesus paid with His own blood and life to redeem the world back to His Heavenly Father. In Christ we see true love of God and the neighbor, a love that will sacrifice all in order to show the world the depths of Gods love to His wicked, sinful neighbors. Christ’s costly grace also may exact a high toll from each one of us. That is the way of grace and love, for they know no bounds in serving the neighbor. Such is the love that Jesus calls upon us to show God and our neighbors, a love that knows no bounds and no excuses. In the case of Bonhöffer it meant that he had to stand up and say „no“ to his Führer who sought to rid Germany of the riffraff and undesirables: his political adversaries, those who were homosexual, the gypsies, the Jews,  even the Christians who said „no“ to the work camps and the genocide. Bonhöffer was executed for his crimes against the State, but he died knowing that his love for the neighbor trumped the despotic wishes of Hitler.  

17. What will Divine grace demand of you? It may be a little or it may be much, but know that Christ paid the highest cost to bring you His love. The gospel will enable you to bear whatever cost grace demands from you as you love both God and your neighbor, for God’s grace is sufficient for you in all things.  Amen. 

18. Let us pray. O Merciful, Gracious Lord, You are slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness, instill in us the great joy of our salvation so that we are assured of that if we become lost, we are comforted that You seek us out, find us, and return us unto Your holy Church.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

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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. 

Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1549 Cambridge University Press. 

   ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Nagel, Norman. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. Frederick W. Baue, Ed. Copyright © 2004 Concordia Publishing House.