1. Corinthians 7,29-31. 20th Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

1. Corinthians 7,29-31   5312

20. Sonntag nach Trinitatis. 065 

21 Ursula with her companions, Virgins, Martyrs, 453

21. October 2012

1.  O Almighty and Merciful God, of Your bountiful goodness, keep us from all things that may hurt us; so that we, being ready both in body and soul, may with free hearts accomplish those things that You would have done.  Amen. 

2. This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 

3. The Early Church believed in, and expected, the imminent return of Jesus. A number of the Apostle Paul’s epistles teach this doctrine. As the apostolic martyrdoms added up one after another, as the persecutions mounted against the Church and when the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem, the Christians in the first century A.D. expected the Lord to return in their lifetime. Thus Paul counsels the Corinthian Christians to live with this expectation. 

4. The apostolic doctrine: »the present form of this world is passing away« is as true today as it was for the apostle 2000 years ago. We are exhorted and encouraged to live with this doctrinal expectation. The difficulty is that we become complacent when things don’t happen right away or when we long for them to happen. Yahweh, for reasons only He knows, has delayed His return for nearly 2000 years. It does not appear that His return is on the horizon. This leads the Church into sinful activity. 

5. When we do not expect the Lord to return at any day now, one of the first things that goes by the wayside is the desire to evangelize the world. The apostles and their churches went far and wide with the proclamation of the gospel. No resource was squandered, no risk too foolhardy and no sacrifice was unbearable. The gospel was carried to the four corners of the Roman Empire, and beyond! Apostles died on account of this proclamation. In the 21. century we have greater means of quick, inexpensive travel, instant communication and publishing capabilities, and financial resources that dwarf the first century Christians. Nevertheless, our evangelistic endeavors pale in comparison to Paul and his contemporaries.  

6. While the Early Church was not perfect in her unity, she was far more united in doctrine and practice than we are today. We let the smallest details derail us from preaching the gospel and supporting our church. We become divided over minute issues. We are quick to sever fellowship rather than endure for the sake of the gospel, the Church and unity. 

7. During the Reformation, the Lutherans desired to remain with the Roman Church. They had rediscovered the pure gospel that comforts sinners, the great Pauline proclamation: »we are justified by faith apart from works of the law« (Romans 3,28), and they earnestly desired the reform of the Roman Church. Therefore, the, Lutheran Church claims to be a Catholic Church in the strictest sense of the word: she acknowledges her identity with the orthodox Church of all times and places, and asserts that in doctrine and ceremonies, nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Catholic Church, contra scripturam aut ecclesiam catholicam (Sasse 90). The Lutheran Reformers were prepared to make great concessions to prevent a schism (Sasse 84!)! Every line of the Augsburg Confession records their desire for agreement with Rome (Sasse 84). Melanchthon’s reservation when he signed Luther’s Smalkald Article, penning: „I, Philip Melanchthon, also approve the above articles as right and Christian. But regarding the pope, I hold that, if he would allow the gospel, we could agree to his superiority over the bishops, which he has otherwise by human right. This would be for the sake of peace and the general unity of those Christians who are also under him and may be under him hereafter“ [1] 

 (463,6-464,7). In addition, Melanchthon’s irenic tone with the Treatise represents the most far-reaching concessions ever made to the papacy by any evangelical church (Sasse 87-88). 

8. The return of Christ could be any day. The Apostle Paul describes it this way: »the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night« (1. Thessalonians 5,2). Paul exhorts us to be ready and prepared for that day, writing: »Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him« (1. Thessalonians 5,8-10). Paul elsewhere lists faith, love and hope, writing: »Faith, hope and love endure, these three; and the greatest of these is love« (1. Corinthians 13,13). 

9. Paul teaches that Christ’s first advent has radically changed the course of history. Those who are now believers in Jesus as the Savior from sin, death and the devil. We are of the day, that great and glorious day of Jesus’ second advent. Furthermore, Paul says we are prepared for this day, for the Holy Spirit has given us faith, hope and love. In Paul’s day, Roman legionnaires went into battle in armor, and two key pieces of this armor were the breastplate and the helmet. Still in the 21. century, soldiers and riot police, still wear similar armor (bullet-proof vests and hard helmets) to keep them safe. Paul says our Christian armor is the breastplate of faith and love, for these two gifts protect our precious organ, the heart, from whence resides faith and love flows forth. We think faith resides in our mind and love in our heart. Not so Paul. The proper Judeo-Christian thought resides both faith and love in the heart, for it is core for our trust and emotions. Our heart, therefore, must be protected, and is protected by the Holy Spirit. Our brain is the source of our thoughts and reason. Paul says hope resides there, and this hope is grounded up the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1. Peter 1,3). 

10. With faith, love and hope, grounding us in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are ready for the last day of Christ’s 2. advent. This present world is fading and passing away, yes, awaiting the return of Christ as eagerly as we are, for »the creation was subjected to futility by God, and creation will be set free by God from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory on the last day« (Romans 8,20-21). The pure gospel proclaims this certainty of salvation (Heilsgewißheit), and it is imperative that the Church ensure that this pure gospel remains pure so that Christians are edified and secure in their faith. 

11. The pure gospel is simply this: the gracious promise of the forgiveness of sins on account of Christ. This forgiveness is by solus Christus. Jesus, and solum Iesum, is the sinners’ salvation from sin, death and the devil. This forgiveness is given to us by Jesus through sola gratia and is received by us through sola fides. No works of ours are needed or required to be forgiven, for Jesus has done it all; His merit has secured our redemption and everlasting life. 

12. This gospel proclamation is a radically different message from any other in the world. No other religion, save Christianity, gives God all the glory and in mankind’s redemptions. Jesus has saved each one of you. He has changed your life. Your life in this world is not lived as unbelievers live. You have a purpose, and that is to ensure the proclamation of the gospel. This will involve great sacrifices of time and money. You will be persecuted and ridiculed by the world. With His Divine Providence, Jesus supplies all you need to support the gospel and He protects you in every tribulation.  Amen. 

13. Let us pray. O Lord, who gives us His Holy Word of law and gospel, teach us the way of Your statutes, send us the Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with the gospel so that by the power of the gospel we may observe Your instructions to the end.  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, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 5. Edition © 1963 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 

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

Sasse, Hermann. Here We Stand. Copyright © 1979 Lutheran Publishing House. 

[1] Ich Philippus Melanthon halt diese obgestallte Artikel auch fur recht und christlich, vom Bapst aber halt ich, so er das Evangelium wollte zulassen, daß ihm umb Friedens und gemeiner Einigkeit willen derjenigen Christen, so auch unter ihm sind und kunftig sein möchten, sein Superiortät uber die Bischofe, die er hat jure humano, auch von uns zuzulassen [und zu geben] sei.