Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Acts 4,32-37. 1. Trinity

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Acts 4,32-37. 1. Trinity

Acts 4,32-37 3820

1. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 046

Elisha, Prophet, 840 bc

14. Juni 2020

1. O Bountiful and Gracious God, how great and glorious, how rich and mighty You are! Give us Your Holy Spirit. Give us a Godly heart, so that by Your working in us we conquer evil desires, put away bad habits and surrender our selves to You as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You through Jesus Christ. Amen. (Starck 118 ¶ 1.2)

2. »Now the full number of those who having believed were of one heart and soul, and none of them were saying that any of the things belonging to him was his own, but that all things were in common and shared by all. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.«

3. Last week we heard that those born of water and the Spirit enter the reign of God. Today we hear Jesus tell us about the rich man and Lazarus and the efficacy of the power of God’s Word to convert people to faith.

4. In the Acts 2, St. Luke the Evangelist summarizes the liturgy of the Early Church: apostolic preaching, the Sacrament of the altar and prayers. This is the basic outline of our Divine Service found in our Lutheran hymnals; we have the Scriptures read and proclaimed, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and we conclude with prayers. Then in Acts 4 Luke tells us: And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

5. The Scripture, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, is about Jesus Christ. In general, the Old Testament prophesizes the arrival of Jesus and the New Testament proclaims what He did when He had arrived. The defining moment in Jesus’ ministry is His crucifixion and resurrection. Paul told the Corinthians: We preach Christ and Him crucified for the salvation of the world (1. Corinthians 2,2); and this is what the apostles taught and preached two thousand years ago. What the apostles preached with great power was „not merely interesting information, but [a preaching that] has power to work saving faith, which is no illusion, but communion with the living Christ. ... This faith does not just arise by spontaneous combustion, but arises only because the apostolic word is taught and preached“ (Martens ¶ 8).

6. C. S. Lewis’ in his essay The Weight of Glory condenses the message of apostolic preaching into 5 simple points:

1. All children of Adam and Eve are sinful and have sinned. Romans 3,23.

2. The penalty for sin is death, both physical and eternal. Romans 6,23.

3. Jesus paid that penalty by His crucifixion. Romans 5,8.

4. Justification is pure gift and not our works (imputed righteousness). Eph 2,8-9

5. The assurance that we are right now justified before God. Romans 1; 1. John 5,12-13

7. Faith receives this gift of the proclamation which is justification. And through faith the Holy Spirit works in us sanctification: those good works in our lives that are a produce of faith. Luther teaches us in his Large Catechism: „I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. 52] I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods she possesses, brought to her and incorporated into her by the Holy Spirit by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of God, which is the beginning of entering her. For formerly, before we had attained to this, we were altogether of the Devil, knowing nothing of God and of Christ. 53] Thus, until the last day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ and which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing her [this community] daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces. 54] We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and, in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin. 55] Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered to the end that we shall daily obtain there nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. Thus, although we have sins, the [grace of the] Holy Spirit does not allow them to injure us, because we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but [continuous, uninterrupted] forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other“ (Large Catechism II,51-55).

8. The Word of God is able to do what it promises. Lazarus is in Paradise right now because Moses and the Prophets, by the working of the Holy Spirit, created faith in his heart. We have faith in our heart because the preaching of the apostles heard in our church, by the working of the Holy Spirit, created faith in our hearts.

9. Today we heard Jesus tell us about the rich man and Lazarus and the efficacy of the power of God’s Word to convert people to faith. Next week we will hear that God invites and gathers into His house those whom will partake of His gracious banquet. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord, Your testimonies are righteous forever; give us understanding of Your Holy Word, so that we may live. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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.

Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 18. July 2010 | Acts 2,41-47 | 7. Sunday after Trinity. Copyright © 2010 St. Mary Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf (SELK). All rights reserved. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2010.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Acts 4,32-37. 1. Trinity

No comments:

Post a Comment