Romans 9,1-5.31-10,4. 10. Sunday after Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Romans 9,1-5.31-10,4   4018

10. Trinitatis  055

Nonna, mother of St. Gregory of Nazianzen, 4^th c 

Oswald, King of Northumbria, England, Martyr 642

5. August 2018 

1. О Gracious God, who shows mercy to men and women, grant us a faith that bears good fruits, so that through our good works our neighbor may be helped and blessed (Starck 138).  Amen.  

2. »I am speaking the truth in Christ﹣I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit﹣that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship and the promises. To them belong the Patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever.  Amen. But Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written: »Behold, I am placing in Zion a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offense; and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.« (Isaiah 8,14) Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  

3. The Apostle Paul tackles the age-old question: how is one saved; is it by doing the works of the law or is it by believing in God? The question was a relevant one in the 1. century ad. Paul lists the blessings afforded to Israel as the Lord’s chosen people, and then he declares: »Israel pursued a law so as to attain righteousness and they did not succeed in attaining that righteousness. Yet, Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness through the law have attained that righteousness through faith.« 

4. The Apostle Paul had been a prominent Pharisee before he became a Christian. He himself described his philosophy before believing in Jesus: »as to the law, I was a Pharisee« (Philippines 3,5). In the 1. century ad, the scribes and Pharisees represented the official interpretation of the Jewish law and the traditions of their elders. These interpretations were taught in the synagogues by the rabbis. The Pharisees interpreted the Holy Scriptures to teach that by obeying the law one became and remained righteous. Their premise was: the Lord gave us the law at Sinai, therefore He intends for us to perfectly keep this law. To ensure that the law was kept, they exhorted their fellow Jews to obey the 613 statements and principles of the law, ethics and spiritual practices contained in the pages from Genesis through Deuteronomy. If all these hundreds of laws and rules were kept, then one would merit the perfect obedience of the law. The Pharisees boasted that they indeed keep the 600-plus precepts, and therefore they have attained righteousness by doing the works of the law.

5. Jesus and Paul had their greatest arguments with the Pharisees over the purpose of the law in regards to righteousness. Jesus once scolded them: »Woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint, rue and all kinds of herbs, yet you neglect justice and the love of God; you should have practiced these things without neglecting the others« (Luke 11,42). Later, Jesus told this parable to some, the Pharisees, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: »Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: „O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.“ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: „O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!“ I tell you, this tax collector went down to his house justified, rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.« (Luke 18,10-14). Earlier in his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul declared: »Everyone, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, for there is no one who is righteous, not even one [Psalm 51,5; 14,3], not even Pharisees. No one will be justified in God’s sight by works prescribed by the law, for the knowledge of sin occurs through the law« [Psalm 143,2] (Romans 3, 9-10.20).

6. Unrighteousness sinners need the righteous of God. This righteousness cannot be earned by obeying the commandments. This righteousness cannot be merited by doing things we think are pleasing to God. This righteousness is given only by God in Christ. The Apostle Paul summarizes it this way: »Righteousness is pursued by faith, for Christ is the end of the law so that all who believe shall be justified« (9,32.10,4).  

7. In Christ, we see that God the Father desires to save everyone, both a Jew and Gentile. In Christ, we see the great mercy and love of God, »for everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved« (Romans 10,13). »Righteousness is reckoned to all who believe in Christ who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised from the dead for our justification» (Romans 4,24-25). We are righteous and justified by faith in the crucified and risen Christ; He is the End of the law and the Source of the gospel. By grace we have been saved by faith (Ephesians 2,8). Righteousness and justification are given as a gift through/by the merit of Christ Jesus. 

8. We have been built upon Stone, Christ Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12,1-3). Go in peace, for He has elected us unto salvation.  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You are our God and we are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand; bless our house of prayer, so that we may worship here in solemnity and be refreshed by the gospel that promises us forgiveness in Your Name and grant us opportunities to share this gospel with our neighbor.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, Vol. 4. © 1963 Henry Regnery Co. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.