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Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 7

Last week, we heard Jesus complimenting the church in Ephesus for patient endurance in the truth and for standing firm against false teachers, who called themselves apostles, and against the Nicolaitans, with their immorality and evil works, which both the Ephesian Christians and Jesus hated. However, the Ephesians had also abandoned the love they had at first and were called to repent and do the works they did earlier, or their church’s existence was in danger.

We looked at a number of Scriptures that talked about “speaking the truth in love” and “faith working through love” and the continuing importance of considering “how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25). That would follow along with “holding fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

We do not know exactly what the “abandoning of love” problem was, but notice what Jesus then says: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). These are exactly the same words given to all of the seven churches. A very important element  in solving the problems of any church is getting back to listening to the Word of God given to us all by the Holy Spirit. We read, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching” and especially for making us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus,” and “equipping us for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Peter also reminds us, “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). Jesus Himself added to that later in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22, by three times emphasizing, “Blessed is the one who keeps the Words of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7). See also v.9 and the message not to “add to” or “take away” from these Words (Revelation 22:18-19). (This refers especially to Revelation, but certainly also applies to all of the Scriptures, as this is the last book given to us by our Lord.)

The center of the Scriptures is Jesus Himself and what He has done for us as our Savior. During His ministry, Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus was always calling people to trust in Him. A little later, Peter said to Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:63-64 and 68-69). If people are hearing what the Spirit says in the Word of God, they are hearing the truth about Jesus. John, in one of his letters, also warns that we should not look for something new and different that is not centered in Christ and His Word. “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

From what we have been reading, we would also have the work and teaching of the Holy Spirit, as well. That is why the very next thing Jesus says in His letter to the church at Ephesus is, “To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). The tree of life had been in the Garden of Eden, a perfect paradise, before the rebellion against God’s will and the fall into sin. Then, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden and from access to the tree of life (Genesis 2:9, 3:23-24).

One other possible reference to this tree is in Proverbs 3:13,18, where Wisdom is described as “a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” This is likely a prophecy of Jesus, who is called in the New Testament “the power of God and the Wisdom of God” and “who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, ‘Let one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30-31).

It is through Jesus and His wisdom and redeeming work that we are saved and will eat of the tree of life in eternal life in heaven (Revelation 2:7). Jesus told the thief on the cross, who was brought to faith in Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This is a reference to heaven, where the soul of the thief went, by faith in Jesus, as soon as he died. The “tree of life” is also identified as being in heaven in Revelation 22:2,14, and 19; and in v. 14, we are told, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life.” And how are their robes washed and made white? Revelation 7:14 tells us. They are cleansed “in the blood of the Lamb.” In the same way, John tells us, in another of his letters, “The blood of Jesus His (God’s) Son cleanses us (also) from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Everything depends upon Christ Jesus and what He has done for us. It should be no surprise, then, that the only way that anyone “conquers” (Revelation 2:7) is also only through Christ. See Romans 8:37-39: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us… (Nothing) with be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus promised, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). (“Overcoming” is the same Greek word that is translated as “conquered” in Revelation 2:7.) The same thing is said in Revelation 12:10-11, where we hear that “our God and His Christ… have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony.”

In other words, if the Christians in Ephesus realize their own sins and failures to stay close to Christ and His Word and trust too much in themselves and things other than Jesus, and confess all that to Christ, He will forgive them and strengthen and renew them, through His Word and Spirit and love first given to them, in spite of their weaknesses. As they see again, through the Word, how great Christ’s love is for them. Though they do not deserve any of it, they will be more ready, in gratitude for His great love, to want to share that love and Good News with others, as He so often teaches. As John wrote, “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It all starts and continues with Christ. Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:9-10). Our love and good works are then a reflection of Christ’s love and a response to His love, and He enables us, and He gets the honor and credit, as Paul wrote, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

Here are a few more of many Scriptures encouraging Christian love and care for others in our lives, in thanks for Christ’s love and to give good, useful help to others. Some of these are what are called “third use of the Law” passages, pointing to the Commandments as a guide, a ruler for our lives, but always connected to Christ and His Word, in their context:

•  Words of Jesus: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
• “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law. For the Commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this Word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.” (Romans 13:8-10)
• “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the sacrificial offering) for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)
• “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes (conquers) the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
• Finally, Paul writes, helping the Christians at Ephesus and us to keep the Law and Gospel in proper perspective: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works…. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.” (Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-8)

Next week, we will move on to the other letters in Revelation 2. The Lord’s blessings.

Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost - September 3, 2023

Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Romans 12:9-21

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon originally delivered August 28, 2011

Preparing for Worship - September 3, 2023

The Scriptures this week encourage us to seek to follow our Lord and seek to do His will, not to earn God’s favor, but as a reflection of our love for and our trust in Him and as a witness for our Lord to others, for what He has already done for us, especially in Christ.

The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 15:15-21. God had said that His people had been so sinful and rebellious that even if the great prophets Moses and Samuel pleaded on their behalf, God would not listen (Jeremiah 15:1). What could Jeremiah then do? He asks the Lord to “remember and visit” him. God’s Words have been a “joy and delight for his heart,” and he has “sat alone” and avoided evil “revelers” and had disgust (indignation) toward their behaviors. Yet why was His “pain unceasing” in his miserable life? Was God being “deceptive” to him, like “a brook” that dries up and is gone? The Lord calls Jeremiah to repent and “return” to Him and speak His “precious” Word. Then Jeremiah would be like “a fortified wall of bronze” and God would “save and deliver” him from “the wicked.”

In the psalm, Psalm 26, David, too, speaks of his “trust in the Lord” and his attempts to “walk in God’s faithfulness.” He has tried to avoid “false men and hypocrites, evildoers, and the wicked.” He “loves” to be in “God’s house” and to “tell of His wondrous deeds.” Yet he fears “bloodthirsty men with “evil devices” and “full of bribes.” He prays for God to “be gracious to him and redeem him,” for he is trying to “walk in integrity,” in a very “sin-filled” world.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 16:21-28, Jesus is telling His disciples that He too must “take up His cross” and “suffer many things” and “be killed” and only then “be raised from the dead,” in order to forgive the sins of people and “save” their “souls.” Peter, who had just recently confessed that Jesus was the Christ (Matthew 16:16), was then “rebuking” Jesus and saying that “such terrible things would never happen to Him.” Jesus tells Peter that he was serving “Satan” by trying to oppose “the things of God,” which included Jesus “losing His life” for the salvation of the world. Jesus predicts, though, that “some standing with Him” would get to see a glimpse of Him in “His glory” in His “coming kingdom.” (See Matthew 17:1-8, the Transfiguration of Jesus.)

In the Epistle lesson, then, in Romans 12:9-21, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Paul calls upon Christians to show to others the “genuine love” with which Christ Jesus first loved them, “serving the Lord” and helping with the needs of others, even their “persecutors.” Paul gives a long list of what they could and should do, summarized with the words, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” They do these “acts of mercy with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:8) in gratitude for the mercy and eternal “hope” already given them in Christ their Savior.

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 6

Last week, we saw that Jesus, not John, is the truly important One in what is said in Revelation, and that Jesus makes it clear that there is much symbolism and imagery in this book. The lampstands are the churches, and the stars are the angels, the messengers, the pastors and teachers of the churches.

As Chapter 2 of Revelation begins, then, John is told to write what Jesus tells him to write to the leader of the church in Ephesus. John records the Words, but these are the “Words of Jesus” Himself, Who is “walking among” the seven churches listed in Revelation 1:11 and actively observing and concerned about them (Revelation 2:1). Jesus cared deeply about those churches, and He still cares about our churches today. His Words are for all of us to listen to and consider.

Ephesus was the capital city of the Roman province of Asia, a port city and commercial center about three miles from the Aegean Sea, in what is today a part of Turkey. Paul had been there on his second and third missionary journeys, and he and others had helped establish a church there. Paul had spent almost three years there, and others who worked there included Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos, and Timothy, at times. You can read about this missionary work in Acts 18:19-20:1. From this center, the Gospel of Christ went out to the other six cities and churches to whom the other messages in Revelation 2-3 were sent.  A colony of Jews lived in Ephesus, with a synagogue, but the great majority were non-Jews of many backgrounds. A prominent temple in the city was dedicated to the goddess Artemis (Diana). The early Christians had challenges from Jews and from followers of Artemis.

Paul left Ephesus, after a time of conflict and “uproar,” with many opposed to him and his Christian teaching. Later, he called the leaders of the church at Ephesus and asked them to meet him at a nearby city and gave them final words of warning and encouragement, and “commended them to God and to the Word of His grace, which would be able to build them up and ensure them of God’s promised eternal Inheritance.” (You can read these Words of God in Acts 20:16-38, and especially v.32.)

Still later, the Apostle John became the leader of the church in Ephesus and the others churches of this area. He also wrote his “Gospel of John” and three letters found near the end of the New Testament. Finally, about 95 AD, he was banished to the island of Patmos by the Roman Emperor Domitian, as we have already heard, and from there, wrote what we are studying now. He writes to the current “angel” (messenger) leader in Ephesus.

Each of the seven letters follows a similar pattern. There is a reference back to something from Revelation 1, indicating that this letter came from Jesus, though written down by John. Then we hear Jesus Himself speaking, “I know…” (Revelation 2:2ff).

First, He commends them for good things that have been happening in and through the church. “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance…” “I know you are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not grown weary” (Revelation 2:2-3). (The people were seeking to follow Scriptures like Galatians 6:9 and 2 Thessalonians 3:13.) Paul had also warned them, long before, that “fierce wolves would come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” The Christians at Ephesus had listened and were “dealing with those “who are evil” and “tested those who called themselves apostles, and are not, and found them to be false” (Acts 20:29-30, and Revelation 2:2). (Again, the church at Ephesus was trying to follow Scriptures like 1 John 4:1 and 2 Corinthians 11:12-15)

Then Jesus speaks of the failings of the church at Ephesus. “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Keep on remembering therefore from where you have fallen” (Revelation 2:4-5). Paul had written, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up into Him Who is the head, into Christ… so that the body (of Christ, the church) grows so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). Jesus had warned that there are times when “many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

At such times, even God’s people may be so busy criticizing and condemning the wrongs all around them that they forget to “speak the truth in love,” still trying to care for the people so lost, all around them. When Jesus spoke of those coming bad times, He also remembered to encourage His people to endure and keep the faith, and to keep “proclaiming the Gospel,” the Good News of God’s love, throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations.” (Matthew 24:13-14).

All this is a great challenge for God’s people. The church at Ephesus was to keep standing up for the truth and condemning wrongdoing. Jesus also complimented them “for hating the work of the Nicolaitans, which He also hated” (Revelation 2:6). The Nicolaitans were people who wanted to compromise with the paganism all around them, just to make life easier for themselves and be more like everyone else. Why not go along with what others do, even it is wrong, just to get along with others?, they said. Peter had warned, “The time that is past has sufficed for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you" (1 Peter 4:3-4). Nicolaitans needed to be opposed and condemned. But the Scriptures also say so much about “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). The writer to the Hebrews speaks strongly of “holding the confession of our hope without wavering, for God who promised is faithful.” But he also combines that with: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:23-25).
    Jesus calls the church to “repentance,” then, for forgetting “love” and calls them “to be doing the works they did at first, in love.” I am going to stop here, for now, as I don’t want to go on too long and as I suspect that these Words speak to every church, including our own, in some ways. Jesus added, “Let him who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7), including our own. The Good News is that there is always forgiveness in Christ and hope in His love, first given to us. We will talk about this more next week and look at the rest of what Jesus says in this first letter to the churches. The Lord’s blessings and strength.

Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost - August 27, 2023

Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 51:1-6

Romans 11:33-12:8

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon originally delivered August 21, 2011

Preparing for Worship - August 27, 2023

The theme of our readings this week could be summarized in this way: God does the good. It is He Whom we trust and praise. He enables the good we do.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 51:1-6. God asks His people to “look at the rock from which they hewn.” Their nation began with “Abraham and then Sarah,” but it was God Who “blessed and multiplied them.” He “comforted them “ and gave His people “joy and gladness.” The Lord says, “Listen to Me… Give attention to Me… Give ear to Me.” It is His righteousness and salvation and His mighty “arm” that will bring hope. The things of this “heaven and earth” will “vanish,” but God’s “righteousness and salvation” will be forever.”

The psalm is Psalm 138. David gives “thanks and praise” to the Lord “before the gods.” Some think he is referring to the angels, who are perfect and like God in some ways. More likely, David is saying that he trusts the one True God and His “Name and steadfast love and faithfulness and Word” instead of the false gods all around, who are not real and are worthless to put trust in. (See Psalm 135:15-18.) The Lord is the One “who answers calls and strengthen souls, and preserves life and delivers,” rather than “earthly kings.” David says, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” David knows that he cannot do it himself.

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 11:33-12:8, Paul speaks of the greatness of God’s “wisdom and knowledge and ways.” No one is capable of “counseling” Him or doing anything for which God is indebted to him and needs to “repay” him. “For from God and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.” We seek to be “holy and acceptable” to God in our lives as our “spiritual worship,” but it is only “by the mercies of God” that our minds can “transformed and renewed” and we can better “discern the will of God.” We are “one body in Christ,” but God gives us “different gifts according to the grace He has given us,” and “we are called humbly to use those gifts given us.” There is no need to compare ourselves with others, for “we do not all have the same function,” in what God wants to accomplish through us.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 16:13-20, Peter makes the great and true confession that Jesus “is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus makes it clear, though, that Peter did not figure this out on his own, by his own ability. He is not the great One, but just is “blessed” because “the Father in heaven” has “revealed” this to him. Peter is not the “Rock” on which the church is to be built. Jesus is the Rock and the confession of Him as Lord and “the Son of the Living God” is key. Peter and the others disciples and the church are given the “Office of the Keys,” though, with the ability to forgive sins, in Christ’s Name, or withhold forgiveness when people are not repentant and believing. (See this passage and Matthew 18:15-18 and John 20:19-23, for example. Jesus is the One Who truly “has the keys of Death and Hades,” though, and has opened the door to heaven and eternal life for us (Revelation 1:17-18). See a fuller discussion of all this in the second half of last week’s Bible study, the podcast on “Revelation 1-3 and Ears to Hear,” Part 4.)

Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 5

Last week we saw that the important One that John sees in his vision is Jesus Christ, the Living One, alive forevermore, One with the Living God of the Old Testament. We also saw what some of the imagery of Christ means - that He has a two-edged sword in His mouth and keys of death and Hades. John is simply to write down what he has seen.

John had also seen “seven stars in the right hand” of Jesus (Revelation 1:16) and that He, Jesus, was standing “in the midst of seven lampstands” (1:12-13). The “mystery” (something hidden) of what these are is now revealed, too, in 1:20 by Jesus Himself, as a Divine revelation. Jesus says that the “seven stars” are “the angels of the seven churches” to whom John is to write; and the “seven lampstands” are the “seven churches.”

This is important to note, as one of our principles for interpreting the Scriptures is to take things “literally” unless there is something in the text or context to suggest otherwise. In this case, Jesus is telling us that “stars” are not always literal “stars.” They represent something else. This indicates that there can be lots of symbolism and picture images in Revelation - as there are. Jesus does not literally have a knife in His mouth, but we can see what that image means about Him. Those who try to take all of Revelation literally run into many problems.

Some passages are just common sense, too. When Jesus says of Herod, “Go and tell that fox” (Luke 13:32), we can tell that He is speaking of Herod’s character, not that he was literally a fox. Poetry, such as the psalms and other poetic materials, have lots of picture-images and figures of speech. Psalm 96:12 speaks of “the trees of the forest singing for joy,” and Psalm 98:8 says “the rivers clap their hands;” and we get what those images mean. In contrast, there is nothing in Genesis 1-3 that tells us to take those chapters in a non-literal way, though many try to make them into parables or fables of some sort. Genesis 1-3 is God describing, through Moses, His actual creation of the universe and our world and the first people and then, their fall into sin. Scripture itself often helps us interpret other Scriptures, too. (If you look through Scripture, God is always described as the Creator of all things, and the first people and the fall into sin as real events of real people.)

Going back to Revelation, Jesus says in Revelation 1:20 that the “seven stars” are “the angels of the seven churches. ”The Greek word “angel” means a messenger, and angels sometimes delivered messages. Some think, then, that these angels for the churches are some kind of literal guardian angels, another function that angels, who are real, can perform. Revelation 2:1 says though, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write.” There really are no clear Biblical examples of letters being written to literal angels. Most think that the meaning “messenger” is a better understanding of Revelation 2:1, and that this refers to pastors and teachers and leaders of the churches, who are God’s messengers in each of the churches and would read and share what was written to them with the members of their churches.

See, for example, Malachi 2:6, which says, “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his lips, for he is the messenger (same word as angel) of the Lord of hosts.” See also Daniel 12:3: “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Those who share the Word of God are compared with stars of the sky, because of the bright light of God’s truth that they share.

In Revelation 1:20, the seven lampstands symbolize the seven churches themselves, to whom the letters are to go. Often God’s people, who are the church, an assembly of believers, are called to be lights or lamps to others and to the world. See Matthew 5:14-16, for example. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven.” 

One more thought, and then we will stop for this week. Note that in Revelation 1:12, Jesus is pictured as in the midst of the seven lampstands, which we now know are the seven churches to whom John’s vision are to go. Jesus is also pictured In Revelation 1:16 as holding the seven stars, which we now know are the seven angels (messengers - pastors and teachers), in His hand. Both of these images picture Jesus as being closely involved in all that is going on with the messengers and the churches themselves. The messengers and churches are important, but Jesus still is most important, leading and guiding through them and through His Word.

Next week, we will look at the message to the church at Ephesus, in Revelation 2:1-7. If you have time, read Acts 19 and 20:17-38 to get some of history of the ministry in Ephesus.

The Lord’s continued blessings to you all. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2:15-16, “May you be children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of Life.”

NEW Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost - August 20, 2023

NEW Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 

Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32

Matthew 15:21-18

Sermon originally delivered August 20, 2023

 

12th Sunday after Pentecost       
Series A Gospel         
Matthew 15:21-28

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

The text for our meditation is the Gospel lesson, Matthew 15:21-28.

As our Gospel lesson begins, Jesus does something very unusual. Only a few times in His public ministry did He go outside of the Land of Israel, and this is one of those times. Very surprisingly, He goes north to the area of Tyre and Sidon, where many Canaanites lived.

When the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land, the land called Canaan, God told the Israelites to “clear away” a number of nations, including the Canaanites. And why? It was one simple reason. God said, “They would turn away your sons from following Me to serve other Gods” (Deuteronomy 7:1-14). The Canaanites were a real danger to God’s people as Old Testament history shows.

God knew the weakness of sinful human beings, including even Abraham and His chosen people of God. They were not chosen because they were greater and better than others, but simply by God’s grace and mercy.

Moses reminded them: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people” (Deuteronomy 9:6).

Yet, God in His wisdom simply chose to work through this stubborn nation of Israel to bring eventually through them the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus would be the Savior, not just for the Jews, but for all nations and peoples.

This was often forgotten by God’s Old Testament people, with their focus too often just on themselves, but the Lord had said to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3, “I will bless you and make of you a great nation… and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

And to emphasize this, God had Moses write down and repeat these same words three more times, between Genesis 18 and 26, “in you… in your offspring” (singular – one particular offspring to come) “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 18:18, 22:18, 26:4).

Jesus was, of course, the promised One. As we heard in the children’s sermon, in John 3:16, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and Jesus, God the Son, knew His Father’s plan and what He had to do to earn salvation for us and for the whole world.
• First, Jesus had to be a real human being, and be tempted as we are not yet not sin, as a perfect substitute for us, who so often fail to do what we should.
• But the perfect life of Jesus wasn’t enough. He also had to take all our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty for them all. Peter wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree… and by His wounds we have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

We are righteous and acceptable to God, not through anything we have done, but through what Jesus did for us. And “Christ died for all” (1 Timothy 2:6), the Scriptures say, and He did it “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

And on the third day, He rose from the dead and is “alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18), showing His victory, for us, over sin and the devil and death.

All this is tremendously good news for all of us and for the world. And it is good news that needs to be shared. That is what Jesus is showing and teaching in our Gospel lesson.

When a Canaanite woman from the Gentile area came and asked Jesus for mercy for her and for her daughter, oppressed by a demon, an evil spirit, the disciples may have been thinking that she, a non-Jew, and a Canaanite, wasn’t worthy of Jesus’ time and attention. They didn’t want to be bothered by her, either, as they had, on other occasions, tried to chase away others, including little children, as if Jesus didn’t have time for them. The disciples said, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us” (Mark 10:13-16).

Jesus did not agree with the disciples. He could already see that the woman had some faith in Him. Three times she calls Him, “Lord.” (This same story is also recorded in Mark’s Gospel. And in Mark’s Gospel, this is the only time that any person calls Jesus “Lord,” as he really was and is.) The woman also called Jesus, “Son of David.” That was exactly right. Jesus was in the line of Abraham and of King David, and the term “Son of David” was a reference to Him as the promised Savior and Messiah.

How did this woman know these things? Mark’s Gospel tells us that people came from as far away as Tyre and Sidon to hear Jesus preach and do miracles in northern Israel (Mark 3:7-8). Maybe this woman was one of those who came and even saw Jesus cast out evil spirits. That was the help she especially wanted from Jesus for her daughter.

We know from other Scriptures that “faith comes from hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17), centered in Christ – for faith is a gift of God to us. And somehow, through the Word, the beginnings of faith were in her.

And Jesus always wanted to bring people to faith in Him or help their faith grow. That included that Canaanite woman, and His own disciples, who were watching what Jesus said and did.

But then Jesus did what seems like a very surprising thing. The woman cries out for mercy and help, and we hear, “Jesus did not answer her a word.” He is silent.

I suspect this has happened to all of us, at times. We pray very sincerely about something and think we are asking for the right things – and nothing happens. God seems to be silent.

We can get discouraged and give up and sometimes might even be tempted to give up on God.

Or this can be a way that God helps grow our faith, as we trust that, somehow, God is still working for our good.

And so we do what God says – to keep asking and seeking and knocking (Matthew 7:7), praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and calling upon God in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15), trusting His ways, as God wishes.

That is what the Canaanite woman did, in faith. The Greek text indicates that she kept on crying and crying for help and mercy, trusting that Jesus would still somehow help her and her daughter.

Jesus finally speaks, but what He says does not sound so very helpful. He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

That was true, in the sense that the saving work, through His sacrifice on the cross, would happen within the land of Israel, according to prophecy and the plan of His heavenly Father. And then a primary responsibility was also to reach out to His fellow Jews with the Gospel.

For God still loved His original chosen Jewish people, in spite of their stubbornness and rebellion and current opposition to Jesus, as lost sheep. Jesus wanted as many of His fellow Jews to be saved, too. And there was only one way to salvation, for Jews or non-Jews – and that way was through Jesus. Jesus Himself said it so clearly, “I am the Way and the truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12). Jews needed and still need Jesus as Savior, even as everyone in the world does.

The Canaanite woman then came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, help me.” She seems to understand that Jesus needed to help other lost sheep. But she prays, “As you help others, help me and my daughter, too.” And she asks in a humble way.

Again, Jesus speaks and seems to say something very harsh. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Since Jews often looked down on all non-Jews, they called them dogs – using a term that meant a wild, stray dog of the streets and the country – a dog that could be mean and vicious and harmful.

Jesus uses a word for a smaller dog that is a loved household pet and lives in the home, as part of the family. Jesus was really setting the Canaanite woman up for the next great statement she makes. He was using a proverbial statement, which means something like: “It is not right to take food our children need and starve them, so that we can feed dogs.”

The woman seems to understand where Jesus is leading her, and she quickly responds, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” In effect, she is saying, very humbly, “I know that I don’t deserve anything; but I do know that even a few crumbs of your mercy will be enough for me and my daughter.”

And Jesus said to her, right away, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

And remember, as one commentator, Franzmann, says about another parable of Jesus: This woman went home but only with the promise of Jesus in her pocket and a few words of His. But she went home in faith and found her daughter healed and the evil spirit gone. Crumbs from Jesus were enough.

How comforting and encouraging this story is for us, too. God’s promises are for us, too, though we don’t deserve them, and they often come in small, non-dramatic ways.

We’re talking about children today. They are part of this world that God so loved, and they are loved, too, in Christ.

Think about baptism of an infant. It doesn’t look like much – just a little bit of water sprinkled on a child and a few words said. It may seem like crumbs, and some churches say that’s all it is, just dedicating a child for something that might hopefully happen in the future.

That’s not what God says in His Word. In baptism God’s Holy Spirit is creating faith in a little child and bringing him or her into God’s kingdom, with an eternal future of blessings ahead. And the child does nothing but receive the blessings.

Then what you do as parents and as teachers is so important, when it is done in the name and love of Christ, and with the Word of God, as it is in a Lutheran setting, for children. It may seem like only crumbs added, day by day; but children grow and learn and God blesses.

That can be said of so much else in our lives, too. Holy Communion doesn’t look like much – a tiny bit of bread and a little wine, and yet Christ Himself is also coming to us with His real Presence to forgive our sins and strengthen our faith, again and again.

And even when we have times where troubles come and we think we have only crumbs left in our life, God’s crumbs, His blessings in Christ are enough to carry us through. I think of elderly people. They can’t hear and can’t see and read, and get confused. Yet God’s Word is planted in them, and crumbs are enough.

God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, and He died for all. We know Jesus and we trust Him and that’s enough for each one of us, through His Word.

Let us rise for prayer.

Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep our hearts safe, in Christ our Savior (Philippians 4:7). Amen. 

Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost - August 20, 2023

Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 

Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32

Matthew 15:21-18

Sermon originally delivered August 14, 2011

Preparing for Worship - August 20, 2023

The Scripture readings this week make it clear that God’s love in Christ is for all people and not just limited to God’s Old Testament Jews. The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 56:1, 6-8. Earlier Scriptures seemed to say that non-Jews could only enter one limited part of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, though, God says through Isaiah that His house would be a “house of prayer for all people” and that “foreigners” (non-Jews, Gentiles) could also “be joyful in His house of prayer” and even their “sacrifices would be acceptable on His altar.” The Lord said, “I will gather yet others, besides those already gathered,” as My people. This was all fulfilled in Jesus, who said, in John 10:16, “I have other other sheep that not of this fold (of the Jews). I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” This would be the flock of all who trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The psalm is Psalm 67, predicting that “our gracious God” would make His “saving power known among all nations.” Then, “all the peoples could praise Him.” “His way may be known on earth” and “all the ends of the earth could fear Him” and love and trust Him, as “He makes His face shines upon us.” Again, this happened through Jesus and His saving sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the whole world, and His call to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Gospel lesson is from Matthew 15:21-28. (John the Baptist had been killed; religious leaders had come from Jerusalem to attack and argue with Jesus; and He then “withdrew” to where He rarely went, outside of Israel, “to the district of Tyre and Sidon.”) There, a Canaanite woman asks for His mercy and help in freeing her daughter from a demon. Jews normally hated Canaanites, as they hated Samaritans and many other non-Jews. Jesus’ disciples wanted to get rid of the woman, and Jesus ignores her and then seems to treat her badly. He is actually growing the “great” gift of faith in her, until she is willing to have just a few “crumbs” of His mercy and that would be enough. Jesus’ mercy is always enough, and her daughter is healed instantly by Him.

The Good News of Jesus as Savior is now to go to the whole world. “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). In the Epistle Lesson, Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15,28-32, Paul also reminds, though, that God still loves His Old Testament people of Israel, and wishes salvation for them, as well. He says, “At the present time there is a remnant (of the Jews), chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:5-6). Paul himself is one of those “Israelites, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin” and brought to faith through the risen Lord Jesus Himself. Paul knows that he has been called especially to be an apostle to the Gentiles, and he “magnifies his ministry,” in hope that his fellow Jews would notice and that “some of them also might be saved.” All people, including Jews are in “disobedience” on their own, and need to “receive God’s mercy” and “life from the dead,” which comes now only through faith in Jesus as their Savior.