The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - October 1, 2023

In the Psalm for the day, Psalm 25, David speaks of his “trust” in the Lord, as the “God of his salvation.” At the same time, He asks the Lord to remember His mercy and goodness and not remember the sins of David’s youth and his transgressions. Several times David speaks of the need to be taught the Lord’s truth and to be led in His ways and to wait humbly for the Lord and His steadfast love.

The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel 18:1-4 and 25-32. Ezekiel reports God’s command no longer to use the proverb, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” We cannot blame our parents or others for what we individually do. “All souls are the Lord’s,” and “it is the soul who sins who shall die.” God’s ways are “just,” but our ways are often not. We are called to “repent and turn away from our transgressions,” with “a new heart and a new spirit.” (Both Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:25-27 tell us that God gives us that “cleansing” and “a new heart and spirit.”)

The Gospel lesson is Matthew 21:23-27 (28-32). Jesus had chased out the money changers and sellers from the temple and the next day was teaching in the temple. The chief priests and elders came and asked Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus challenges them with His own question about from where the baptism of John the Baptist came - “from heaven or from man?” The elders realize they are in trouble no matter which way they answer, and so they say nothing. Jesus does not answer them either. He knows that their judgment was already against Him, and that He would be crucified in a few days (Matthew 26:2). Jesus then tells a parable about two sons. The one who who did the will of his father did the right thing, though he was a rebel at first. In the same way, the religious leaders are the continuing rebels, for they will not believe in the message of John or the One for Whom he was preparing the way - Jesus Himself.

The Epistle lesson continues readings from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2: 1-4 (5-13) 14-18. Paul calls upon the Philippians to be like-minded, with the mind of Christ, following the humility and love and service by which Jesus came into this world and even gave His life for us on the cross. We bow our knees before Jesus and confess that He is Lord and try to follow in the way of salvation. Paul reminds us, though, that it only God at work in us who enables us to “will and to work for His good pleasure.” Through Him we are considered “without blemish” and are “lights” in the midst of a “crooked and twisted generation,” as we “hold fast to the Word of Life,” in Christ.

NEW Sermon/Bible Study on Psalm 27

Sermon/Bible Study based on Psalm 27

Sermon originally delivered September 27, 2023

Psalm 27 is the psalm assigned for worship this past Sunday - but since we use a Divine Service at all of our regular worship, there isn’t a specific place for a psalm. Psalms are good to listen to and study, though, because they are written by real people, just like us, with their joys and struggles and challenges. Psalm 27 is a good example, with David as the author.

If you know much about David, you know that he was the youngest child in his family and not always respected or thought much of, until he, as a young person, defeated the mighty giant, Goliath, with a sling-shot.

David had many other dangers and challenges in his life, too. You get a sense of that in verses 2 and 3 of the psalm. We hear David speaking:

• “Evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh.”
• I have “adversaries” and “foes.”
• “An army encamps against me” and “war arises against me.”

David faced all of that and more. King Saul tried to kill him more than once. When David finally became king, he had to fight many battles against many people to try to secure the land for the Israelites, and to set up a capitol city in Jerusalem, as a place for the tabernacle and later the temple to be built. His own son, Absalom, later on overthrew him as King and tried to capture and do away with him. Yet David says, again and again, in this psalm: “Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? I will be confident!”

How about us and how we are doing, these days? On a smaller scale, do we face many of the same challenges and fears?

• We live in a pretty safe community, but we sometimes hear of “evildoers” and bad things happening pretty close to where we are, right now. That’s why our church and school have to be locked up much of the time, especially for the sake of our children and staff at our school.
• Do we still have “adversaries and foes?” We hear and read almost every day of people attacking the Christian faith and important things that we believe.
• What about armies and wars? We wonder what will happen between and Russia and Ukraine. What about the threats of China with Taiwan and other nations, too? 

Some say that reading the news these days is “doom scrolling,” because there is so much doom and gloom described. This all leaves us perplexed and worried and feeling helpless - at least at times - as if we were in-the-dark in life.

How did David cope with all this? He said in verse 1, “The Lord is my Light.” This sinful, fallen world has always been full of darkness, but as David wrote in another psalm, “With You, O Lord, is the fountain of life; in Your Light do we see light” and hope, too (Psalm 36:9). And another psalmist also wrote: “Send out Your Light and Your Truth, O God; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling. Then I will go to the altar of the Lord, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise You” (Psalm 43:3-4).

The reality is that David was not always so confident in his Lord when tough times came. He wondered, at times, where the Lord was and what He was doing. We get a glimpse of that in verses 7-10 of Psalm 25, where David prays that the Lord will “hear” him  and “not turn away” and “not hide His face” from him, or “cast him off” or “forsake him.”

David even thinks of his parents and how they have “forsaken” him, in v.10. He probably simply means that they have died (which they could not control), and he greatly misses them and their presence and their encouragement, as we all do when our loved ones and other family die. That can be a very dark time for us, too.

Yet, then, David bounces back to his trust in the Lord, as v.10 ends: “but the Lord will take me in,” even if family and friends are gone. He asks the Lord to teach him His ways and lead him on a “level, stable path.” That is what David had prayed for in v.3 - that he would be able to be often in the Lord’s house and talk and inquire of Him. For the Lord and His Word were a continual “lamp to his feet and a light to his path” (Psalm 119:105) and would point him again to what he also mentioned in v. 1 - “the Lord’s salvation,” which would ultimately come in Jesus.

The name “Jesus” means “Savior” - the Lord saves - and Jesus was “the Light of the world” (John 8:12) and “the true Light who enlightens every person” and “the Light that no darkness can ever overcome” (John 1:5,9). Jesus Himself said, “Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12). That Light and that eternal victory, that salvation, was won for us by Jesus by His death and resurrection.

We are here today at worship for the same reason that David wanted to be in God’s House. We have days of strong faith, but also darker days of worry and struggle. We need to be reminded again and again of the Lord’s forgiveness and His promises, especially in Christ our Savior. And they are always there for us, too, in God’s Word and the gift of the Lord’s Supper.

One commentator on this psalm says that people sometimes “whistle in the dark.” It’s a coping mechanism that helps them feel a little better when by themselves on a dark night - but it doesn’t help very much. We have so much more, in our Lord. As David said in verses 5-6 in this psalm: “The Lord will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up… and I will sing and make melody to the Lord.”

David had his psalms to sing, and we have our hymns, which also reflect God’s Word to us and encourage us, so that we can say with David, as he says in v.1, “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Stronghold, the Defense of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

And we can also say with David what some call his “Amen,” his “This is most certainly true” of this psalm, in v.13-14: “I believe, (I truly believe!) that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” - (strength in this life and eternal life to come.) Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

We pray: “Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they can be safe, in Christ Jesus” our Lord (Philippians 4:7). Amen.

NEW Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost - September 24, 2023

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 55:6-9

Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon originally delivered September 23, 2023

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost - September 24, 2023

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 55:6-9

Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon originally delivered September 18, 2011

Preparing for Worship - September 24, 2023

This week’s psalm is Psalm 27:1-9. David knows that “the Lord is his Light and his Salvation.” David is not “afraid,” though “evildoers” and “foes” and even “armies” are opposed to him. He prays that he may be able to keep coming to the Lord’s “tent,” His house, “to sing and make melody to the Lord” and to pray for His “sheltering” protection “in the day of trouble.” He trusts that the Lord will “hear” and “be gracious,” as He is “the God of his salvation.”

God speaks also through Isaiah in our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 55:6-9. We, too, are called to “seek the Lord” and forsake our “unrighteous ways and thoughts,” and He will “have compassion and pardon us.” His “thoughts and ways” are always better and “higher” than ours, as we keep calling “calling upon Him” and listening to His Word.

We especially see the “higher” ways of the Lord in the parable that Jesus tells in the Gospel lesson, Matthew 20:1-16. A man hires laborers to work in his vineyard at a certain wage; and as the day goes on he hires more workers. Some worked only one hour, where those hired first had worked 12 hours - yet they all received the same wage, the original agreed-upon wage. How unfair this seemed to those who worked the most. They thought they deserved more pay, though they received exactly what was promised. We might tend to agree with the workers who “bore the burden of the whole day and the scorching heat” until we realize that, in context, Jesus is teaching about receiving salvation and eternal life. No one can earn or deserve that not matter how hard we work and try to do the right things. We are saved only through the “generosity” of our Lord in sending Jesus to do His saving work for us. It is His gift to us, and when we finally are brought to trust in that, the undeserved grace of God for us, we can only rejoice when others receive that gift of grace, too, at whatever point in their lives.

The Epistle lesson, Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30, begins a series of readings from another of Paul’s letters. Philippians 1:7 tells us that Paul is in prison because of his Christian faith, as he writes this letter; yet it is called his Epistle of Joy, because he sees how the Lord is working this all out for good. He is having opportunities to witness to many people he could not have reached out to otherwise, and his fellow believers in Philippi are gaining “confidence” in “speaking the Word of Christ without fear.” Paul does not know what the future will bring, but he is confident that he still has more fruitful labor to do in sharing the Gospel. He knows that he will be OK, in life or death. He says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In the meantime, he encourages the believers in Philippi (and us, too) to “strive side by side for the faith of the Gospel” without fear, “believing in their salvation, and that from God.”

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 9

This week, our focus is on the letter to the church at Pergamum, in Revelation 2:12-17. It begins with the same pattern as the other letters (Revelation 2:12) written to the angel (the messenger, leader) of the church, with words coming from Christ Himself, who has the sharp two-edged sword (in His mouth) as described in the vision given to John in Revelation 1:16.

Jesus says that “He knows where the church at Pergamum dwells” (Revelation 2:13). It is where “Satan’s throne” also is. Pergamum was a legal center of that area of Asia Minor and was filled with temples of false gods and idols. All seven cities to whom John writes had pagan temples, but this city may have been the worst. Already in 29 BC a temple had been built to the “divine emperor” Augustus and the goddess Roma. A prominent cult was that of Aesculapius, the god of healing, whose symbol was a serpent, which reminded Christians of Satan. There was a memorial to Zeus “the savior,” the chief god of the Romans, and Athena, one of the chief goddesses, and many other temples. Which of these was “Satan’s throne?” We don’t know, but maybe it was the combination of all of these places of idolatry and false worship. The early Christians had certainly been taught that “an idol has no real existence and there is no God but one” (1 Corinthians 8:4-5). Satan is definitely involved with idolatry, though, and demons are at work in all this idol worship and food sacrifices to them, and people can be led astray by them (1 Corinthians 10:19-21).

Jesus knows what is going on in Pergamum, though, and has been helping the Christians to “hold fast to His name and never to deny Christ and His faith, even during the time when Antipas, “Christ’s faithful witness” and likely the leader of the church at Pergamum, had been killed “among them,” by the forces of Emperor Diocletian, for not worshipping Diocletian as Lord and God. Jesus Himself is called the greatest “faithful witness” in Revelation 1:5, perfectly doing His Father’s will and shedding His blood, that we might be saved, but Antipas also was willing to die for the Christian faith, and most of the believers in Pergamum kept the faith in these hard times.

Some, however, had drifted away into the false teachings of “Balaam and Balak” and the false teachings of the Nicolaitans that we heard about in Revelation 2:6 and the Ephesian church (Revelation 2:14-15). The story of Balaam was especially important in the Old Testament (Numbers 22ff). A Moabite king, Balak, hired Balaam to put curses on the Israelites, who were threatening their land, but the Lord did not allow Balaam to do so. Balaam instead was able to convince Israelites to have sexual relations with Moabite women, and soon the Israelites were worshipping the Moabite god, Baal, offering sacrifices to Baal, and eating off those sacrifices. Much trouble resulted, and many died of a plague, in God’s judgment for their sins (Numbers 25). In Numbers 31, Balaam and many others were killed, and Moses spoke of the terrible, evil advice that Balaam gave that brought many Israelites into idolatry and sexual immorality. See Numbers 31:16, especially.

Ever after that time, the evil story of Balaam was used as a warning about the dangerous combination of sexual immorality and idolatry, in both the Old and New Testament. See Deuteronomy 23:4, Joshua 13:22 and 24:9-10, Micah 6:4, 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11, and now this passage in Revelation 2:14. The temptation to sexual immorality, which is a rejection of God’s will,  can lead to more and more rejection and even to rejecting God Himself for false gods and idolatry. That is what was happening with some in the church in Pergamum, along with some who became involved in the false cult of the Nicolaitans, which also involved sexual immorality and unbelief. See Revelation 2:6.

Paul also pointed out that tragic Old Testament events like these were examples for us in New Testament times “not to desire evil as they did,” including idolatry and sexual immorality. See 1 Corinthians 10:6-21. Jesus pointed out, then, that He “had a few things against” the church at Pergamum - particularly that they were not dealing with the idolatry and immorality of some within their own church. These people needed to be confronted and called to repentance, and the people of the church also needed to repent for failing to do anything. Otherwise, the Lord Jesus Himself would need to come and “war against the evil with the sword of His mouth.” (This is pictured as part of the final judgment. See Revelation 19:15-16, 21; but the Lord could bring some judgment sooner. See the words to the Israelites in Jerusalem who kept refusing God and His will until the city was finally destroyed (Jeremiah 21:5-6).)

Again, in Revelation 2:17, Jesus calls all the churches to hear what He is saying to all the churches. Do we have sexual immorality going on in our churches? Do we have idolatry in our churches today - maybe not worship of literal idols but of things that are made more important than our Lord? The call is to repentance. (See also passages like Ezekiel 12:2 and 13:2.)

But then also, Jesus gives great promises, in unusual picture images (Revelation 2:17). “To the one who conquers” through Jesus and faith in His victory for us, Jesus promises to give “hidden manna” and “a while stone with a new name.” In Exodus 16:31-34, when manna was first given to the Israelites, they were to save some to be kept always as a reminder of God’s taking care of the people. In Psalm 78:23-24, this manna is described as “the grain of heaven” and “the bread of the angels.” Jesus, in John 6:47ff, speaks of Himself as the true bread of life, the manna from heaven, and all who believe in Him will have eternal life. He was also preparing for the gift of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, which helps sustain us for eternal life. The hidden manna is a way of describing that all we need will be taken care of in eternal life, just as the “tree of life” will provide for us, as promised in Revelation 2:7.

We are not exactly sure what the white stone and new name represent. Isaiah 62:2 promises that when the Lord comes, all believers will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. Isaiah 65:15 promises that “the Lord will call His servants by another name.” White is always a symbol for purity and being clean. All those believers pictured in heaven are described as having white robes in Revelation 7:9,13-14. Christ, the Word of God, rides, at the end, on a white horse and “has a name written that no one knows but He Himself,” in Revelation 19:11-13. And the Lord Himself says, at the end, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

All this seems to be a marvelous way of picturing the greatness of the eternal life that will be ours, by God’s grace and the saving work of Christ. We can’t fully understand it all, but we believe it all, through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Read 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 in closing this study.

Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost - September 17, 2023

Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Genesis 50:15-21

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon originally delivered September 11, 2011

Preparing for Worship - September 17, 2023

This week, again, many of the Scriptures are about the importance of forgiveness for us and a warning about the failure to forgive and be patient with others.

The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis 50:15-21. The brothers of Joseph are very worried, because their father, Jacob, had died, and now their brother, Joseph might “pay them back” for all the evil they had done to him in earlier days. Joseph tells them not to be afraid. They “had meant evil for him,” selling him as a slave into Egypt, but God “meant it for good,” helping them and “many people to stay alive,” through the wise policies that God led him to implement to help in a time of great famine in that part of the world. Instead of punishing his brothers, Joseph continued to “forgive” and “comfort and speak kindly” to his brothers and family, as God wished.

The psalm is Psalm 103:1-12, in which David speaks of how “merciful and gracious“ the Lord is, “not repaying us for our many sins,” but “removing our transgressions from us, as far as the East is from the West.” The Lord will “chide us” for our sins, but He also “forgives” us and “redeems our lives” and “renews” us and calls us to “fear” and trust in Him and His “steadfast love.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 18: 21-35, Jesus teaches Peter to keep on forgiving others, again and again, 70 times 7 times, a perfect and complete number of time, as God has forgiven him. Jesus also tells a parable, showing that we are not to take for granted God’s amazing, overwhelming forgiveness for us, but to be willing to forgive others, from the heart, as God has first forgiven us. (The amount forgiven the “unforgiving“ servant, 10,000 talents, was an impossible amount. It is estimated that Herod, the rich, powerful King of the Jews, earned only 900 talents a years. Then the servant, forgiven so much, refuses to forgive a $20 debt someone else owes him. Do we remember how great and costly the forgiveness Jesus earned for us really was?)

Paul, in the Epistle lesson, Romans 14:1-12, calls upon believers not to “quarrel” with one another over “opinions,” where the Lord gives us freedom. He uses the examples of what people “eat and don’t eat,” and whether they “esteem one day as more important than others.” Paul clearly says that the person who has strict rules about such things is the “weaker” person, because under the New Covenant in Christ, there are not rules about such things. However, it is not evil to be a vegetarian or also eat meat, or to worship only on Sunday or on Saturday night or another day. Whatever we do, we are to it all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31) and to be united in Christ, who “died and rose again” for us. Our “knees bow before Him,” and “we confess Him” as Lord.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 8

We look today at the second letter to churches in Asia Minor in the ancient Roman Empire. This letter is in Revelation 2:8-11 and is addressed to the angel (the messenger, the pastor and other leaders), Revelation 2:8, of the church at Smyrna, a city about 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was an ancient Ionian city that had been destroyed and then was later rebuilt by Alexander the Great in 320 BC. It was a commercial center with a strong emperor cult (worship of the Roman emperor) and also had a sizeable Jewish population.

As with the other letters in Revelation 2-3, this letter includes a quotation from Revelation 1 and the vision John saw of the risen, ascended Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 2:8). This quotation is from Revelation 1:17-18, where the eternal nature of Jesus is indicated and His oneness with God the Father, the Alpha and the Omega (who reflects the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet). Jesus is also the One who became man and lived and died for us and was raised to life in His Easter victory. Revelation 2:8 again also affirms that this letter is a message from Jesus Himself, though written down by the Apostle John.

Jesus indicates that He knows of the tribulation (the persecution and other troubles of this church, with many poor and in poverty); yet Jesus says that they are “rich” at the same time - rich in faith and in trust in the Lord (Revelation 2:9). They had already been experiencing “slander” and other attacks from the Jews of this city. These Jews claimed to be God’s people and yet were opposing Jesus and those who followed Him as the promised Savior and were therefore “a synagogue of Satan,” and not of God. (See how Jesus faced the same opposition in His ministry in passages like John 8:39-59, especially v. 43-47 and 58-59.)

As the followers of Jesus went out to share His Gospel, much of the opposition, at first, was from Jews, even though most of the first believers were Jews themselves, who had been brought to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Savior. (See Acts 13:42-50 and 14:1-7, 19 and 17:1-9, 13 and 18:5-17 and 21:27-36, etc.) This opposition from the Jews continued even to the end of the first century AD, when Jesus sent this letter to the Christians at Smyrna, We know from history of the Christian church that such persecution continued. Jews took a leading part in having Polycarp, the Christian leader at Smyrna, put to death in 155 AD.

In Revelation 2:10, Jesus warns that these Christians would suffer even more, with imprisonment and other troubles, probably referring to persecution coming from the Romans, also. We have already heard that the Emperor Domitian had begun to require everyone to worship him as Lord and God - something that Christians could not do. Such required worship was coming soon to Smyrna, a center of the “emperor cult,” with increasing pressure on Christians to conform to what Domitian wanted. This could mean testing of their faith and even being thrown in prison by Roman “devils,” too.

The hopeful news is that this will be a tribulation for 10 days. This is likely another symbolic number, meaning that this persecution would only be for a limited time. (See passages such as Genesis 24:55 and Daniel 1:12,14, where 10 days refers to a limited time of testing, controlled by the Lord.) From what we know from Roman history, Emperor Domitian was assassinated in September, 96 AD. The persecution of Christians in Smyrna would be difficult, but it would not be long-lasting, with Domitian soon to die.

Jesus gave a great promise, though, to the Christians at Smyrna. Some of them might even face death, but if they were faithful to Christ even unto death, they would receive the crown of life. Jesus died on the cross, but He rose again. The same is true of all believers who live and die in faith in Jesus. They will receive the “crown” of eternal life won for them by Christ. (See also Romans 14:7-9 and Paul’s description of Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:8-10. See also 1 Corinthians 9:25.)

This passage is often given to young people at their confirmation in the Lutheran church, still today. Lifelong faithfulness to Jesus is important, even if we do not face the exactly the same dangers the early Christians faced. Times of testing of our faith come to all of us. That is why Revelation 2:11 reminds us to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit says also to us. We conquer through Christ and trust in His victorious work for us; and “the second death” cannot hurt us, as we continue in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, through His Word. “The second death” refers to eternal torment (hell) in “the lake of fire.” See Revelation 20:10, 14-15 and 21:8, and the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:28. Jesus also reminds that the lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his evil angels, but that those who reject Christ and follow the ways of Satan can end up there, too (Matthew 25:41).

Remember above all, though, the promises of God given to the Christians at Smyrna and to us, too, in Christ. See also these promises of the crown of life, prepared for us in heaven: 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, and 1 Peter 5:4. There is our eternal hope, in life and in the time of our own death, whether in a peaceful way or in a time of trouble or persecution. Christ is with us always.

Preparing for Worship - September 10, 2023

The Scriptures this week call us to repentance for our sins, but also to caring for others and calling others to repentance and faith.

The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel 33:7-9. The city of Jerusalem had fallen to Babylonian invaders, because of the sin and rebellion of the Israelites (Ezekiel 33:21). Ezekiel’s work as a prophet was not done, though. He was called by the Lord to continue to be a watchman, speaking words God had given him and warning people to turn from their evil ways or they will die in their iniquities, their sins. The Lord still always wants people, including the Israelites, to turn back to Him and be forgiven and live in Him (Ezekiel 33:10-12).

The psalm is Psalm 32:1-7, one of the penitential psalms of David, where he speaks of repenting for his sins and rejoicing in God’s forgiveness. When he tried to hide his sins, David was miserable, “groaning” day and night, and feeling that his “strength was dried up.” Finally, he “confessed his transgression to the Lord” - and how “blessed” was God’s forgiveness for him. He had been trying to hide from God, but now God was his “hiding place,” his place of “deliverance” and “preservation.” David uses three words for wrongdoing: “transgression” (stepping beyond the boundaries God has set for our lives); “sin” (trying to do what God wants but missing the mark He sets for us); and “iniquity” (the unevenness in our life, where we sometimes do right and then turn right around and do wrong and are guilty). How good it was that David could bring His sins to the Lord, and “the Lord would count no iniquity against him.” (See how part of this psalm is quoted by Paul in Romans 4:1-8, too, as he emphasizes that we are counted righteous by faith, “apart from works.”)

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 18:1-20. the disciples ask Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” - probably thinking about their own greatness. Jesus puts a little child in their midst and calls them to have humble, childlike trust in the Lord. There is greatness, and how tragic it would be to lead astray one of these little ones who has faith. They have guardian angels and should not be despised. Watch out for anything, Jesus also adds, that could lead you or others into temptation, and avoid such things. Jesus also talks about His care for those who are lost and straying, like sheep, and those already guilty of wrongdoing, and provides a process for dealing with them, within the church, called church discipline and the Office of the Keys and Confession. The goal is always for people to be brought to repentance for their sins and forgiveness and renewed faith and fellowship within the church.

The Epistle lesson is Romans 13:1-10. As we heard last week, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19). A day of final judgment will come. In the meantime, God has provided government as a way of keeping basic order and authority in our sinful world. Government “is the servant of God, an avenger, who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” We are therefore to “be subject to the governing authorities” and “pay our taxes” and “revenues,” and give “respect” and “honor” where it is owed. In our personal lives, we are called again to “love one another.” Many of the 10 Commandments can be summarized in the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” and “Love does no wrong to a neighbor.” Here is where the repentance and forgiveness talked about in the other readings come in, as we look in the “mirror” of those commandments and realize that we have done wrong or others have done wrong, also. That is why Jesus died for us all, so that we can give and receive such real forgiveness through Him.