The lutheransermons's Podcast

Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost - July 23, 2023

Sermon for 8th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 44:6-8

Romans 8:18-27

Matthew 13:24-43

Sermon originally delivered July 17, 2011

A Bible Study on Birthpangs

I have often told people that I first could see for myself how valuable learning Greek could be when I studied Acts 2:24 in Greek. Speaking of Jesus, Peter said, “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” The Greek word for “pangs” most literally means “birthpangs.” Jesus’ terrible suffering and agony and pain (pangs) were like “birthpangs of death” out of which would come life - His resurrection from the dead, and new and eternal life for us who are brought to trust in Him as our Savior.

Death comes as a result of sin (Romans 6:23), and dying can often be a long and terrible and painful experience. For believers, though, it is also transformed into the gateway to eternal life. The “pangs of death” are more like “birthpangs” leading to the peace and joy of being with our Lord forever in heaven. Jesus said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” What comforting words of hope we have from the Lord, even in difficult days and even “in the valley of the shadow of (the birthpangs of) death” (Psalm 23:4). We will try to “fear no evil,” for the risen, living Lord has been through that valley for us and will be with us, too, and will comfort us and our loved ones and be the Door to eternal life for us.

Paul used the same basic word and concept in Romans 8:20-23, when he said that “the whole creation was subjected to futility” by the fall of Adam and Eve into sin and is in “bondage to corruption,” too. (Remember the description in Genesis 3:16-19 after the fall, including the thorns and thistles and pain in childbirth uniquely for women. Husbands can be there during labor and try to be helpful, but don’t always do so well in support! This original meaning of “birthpangs” is real and vitally important as a part of the birth of a child and will continue until Christ’s return, also.)

In the New Testament, though, “birthpangs” take on these additional picture image meanings. As a result of the fall, Paul says, “the whole creation has (also) been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Paul adds, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:22-24). We are already “children of God," adopted” through Christ and heirs of God’s promises to us. Our souls and the souls of all believers will be with Christ when physical death comes, but our bodies will wait to be raised and changed and glorified on the last day, when Christ returns. All this is certain for us, in Christ, just as God planned.

What happens with the rest of creation is not so clear. Jesus Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). Peter, in 2 Peter 3:12, speaks of the destruction of “the heavens” and “the heavenly bodies” by fire, but also, in v.13, “according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Mentions of such are also in Isaiah 66:22 and Revelation 21:1ff and in other parts of Revelation which seem to have highly symbolic language. Some commentators, like Franzmann, suggest that the New Testament writers do not really attempt to explain fully what the new eternal existence will be like. They talk more about what will not be there - no sea, no sun and moon, no evil, and above all, God “will wipe every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more. neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who is seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5).

In God’s amazing plans, there will be some continuity between our human bodies as they are now and as they are raised and changed and glorified on the last day. It will truly be us and our loved ones in Christ in heaven. Maybe, some think, Paul is saying in Romans 8:18-22 that there can be some continuity between the old creation and the new in which we will live in heaven and eternal life, too. We do not know, but God will work all things out in just the right way, in His wisdom as God (Romans 8:28). (See also Ephesians 1:10 and Colossians 1:20.)

In the meantime, we still suffer and struggle in this life, even as believers, and even though we also have much joy and blessing and eternal hope. Jesus Himself used the imagery of birthpangs in talking about “signs” of the times that will remind us that His return, and the end of existence as we now know it, is coming. See Matthew 24:8 and Mark 13:8, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Matthew 24:4-8). (If you read on through v.9-12, you can see why some think we are in the very last times.)

We know, however, that God is still in control, and he will care for us, in life and in death. The Holy Spirit is with us and will pray with and for us, as will Christ our Savior (Romans 8:26-27 and 34ff). The image of “birth pains” reminds us that something so much better is coming for us, in eternal life, no matter what today or tomorrow brings. “The one who endures to the end (in faith in Christ) will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Paul also reminds us, “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

As we wait for Christ’s return, in our death or on the last day, we still have important work to do, with and for our Lord. Jesus also said, “This Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). We can help with that testimony right where we are and as we pray for and support mission work wherever we can. There are still so many people without faith and unprepared for Christ’s return. As Paul wrote, including the image of “birthpangs,” “you yourselves are fully aware that the day of he Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

Paul used this image of “birth pains" one more time, too, when He wrote to the church at Galatia. Paul had been there, and people came to faith through the Gospel of Jesus and baptism. Then, false teachers came in and were leading people astray, away from Christ as Savior. Paul writes and witness to these people again, including those who seemed to have lost the faith. He calls them “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish (birthpangs) of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). Obviously, only the Lord can finally bring people to faith or renew their faith by His grace, but how challenging and wonderful to help even a little with others who still need to know the hope and joy we have in our Savior, even in very difficult times.

Preparing for Worship - July 23, 2023

The Scriptures this week emphasize that our Lord is the only True God, and that though we face many problems and troubles in this life, He will care for us and will finally take us to everlasting life and peace. The certainty of this is stressed in the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 44:6-8. Our “Lord” is our “King” and our “Redeemer,” and “there is no god besides Him.” He is “the First” and “the Last.” He has always existed and always will. He is always our Rock, and we need not fear. We can be witnesses to His faithfulness, as His people.

In Psalm 119:57-64, the psalmist says that “the Lord is his portion.” He trusts that the Lord will be gracious and keep His promise to him, given in His Words, even though “the cords of the wicked” may “ensnare” him, at times. He will “turn to the Lord’s testimonies” and “be a companion of all who fear the Lord” and praise Him and “His steadfast love,” in worship.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, Jesus tells the parable of weeds sown by an enemy among wheat in a field. The field is the world, and in it are “sons of the Kingdom” and “son of the evil one.” For the sake of not endangering God’s people, the evil will not be “rooted out” until “the harvest,” “the end of the age,” by the angels of the Lord. That day will come. The evil those who follow the devil, will be “thrown into a fiery furnace” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The righteous, who trust in Christ, “will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." Again, Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him keep on hearing” the “Word of the Lord.”

Paul reminds us in the Epistle lesson, Romans 8:18-27, that “in this eternal hope we were saved” already by what Christ has done for us and by “the Spirit” who has brought us to faith in Christ. We already have “the firstfruits of the Spirit” and great hope, but we “groan inwardly” because of “the sufferings of this present time,” as we live as “unsaintly saints” (Martin Franzmann’s words) in an evil world, with a “corrupt creation.” Our sufferings, bad as they sometimes are, “are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” in eternal life. We ”wait patiently” for our future in heaven and are grateful that the Spirit prays (intercedes) with us and for us when we, in our human weakness, do not know what to pray for. We “wait eagerly” for the redemption of our souls when we die and for “the redemption of our bodies,” too, when Christ returns on the last day. (See this week’s Bible study for more about this and “the pains of childbirth” that we and the creation are “until now” going through.)

Preparing for Worship - July 16, 2023

The Scriptures this week tell us that the Lord will provide for the growth of His Kingdom and for our own spiritual growth, as well.

The psalm is Psalm 65:(1-8) 9-13. The psalmist, David, knows that “praise is due to God” for the “goodness” we receive in His “house,” His “temple.” This is good news, the Word of “righteousness” and “salvation” and “hope” for “all the ends of the earth.” It is pictured as a bountiful harvest, when the Lord has provided abundant “water” and good “earth” and “enriched” it and “blessed its growth.” The Lord “crowns the year with His bounty, and the creation “shouts and sings together for joy.”

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 55:9-13. God inspired Isaiah to use images from the natural world, as David did in the psalm. The “heavens” are high above the “earth.” God’s “ways and thoughts”. are high above our own, too. As the rain and snow come down to water the earth and help cause things to grow, so God’s Word is sent down from His mouth and accomplishes what He wishes. “It will not return empty and void.” The creation sings and claps its hands in praise of the “name of the Lord” and the “everlasting sign” of His providing care.

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Jesus Himself tells a parable of seed being sown and then explains it to His disciples. The seed sown is the Word of God’s kingdom. Some hear it but don’t understand, and “the evil one” snatches it away. Others hear and “receive the Word with joy,” but only for a time, and then “fall away” when trouble and persecution come on account of that Word. Still others hear the Word, but “the cares of the world” and the “deceitfulness of riches” act like thorns that choke out the Word. Some people do hear and understand the Word and bear much fruit of various amounts, though, by the grace of God, as He promises. The problem is not with the seed, the Word of God, but with the soil, Satan’s work and a sin-filled world with many temptations to resist the Word and people’s trouble with hearing and understanding the Word. Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” How is our hearing of the Word and the hope we have only in Jesus?

The Epistle lesson is from Romans 8:12-17. Paul emphasizes, in this reading and throughout Romans 8, the importance of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to faith in Christ and keeping us in that faith. The Spirit works through the Word of God (and the gift of baptism) to do this. He gives us “life” in Christ and make us “adopted children of God” and “heirs of eternal life.” We can cry out to our Heavenly Father, “Abba, Father,” as His beloved children. We still face times of “suffering” for our faith and temptations from the devil, the sinful world, and our own “sinful flesh; but the Spirit who dwells in us,” (Romans 8:11), along with Christ, will strengthen and protect us through the Word and the Sacraments, Baptism and Communion, connected with that Word.

Bible Study - Psalm 65

Psalm 65 is a great psalm of praise to God for all kinds of blessings that He provides. David is the author, and in the introduction, he directs this psalm to “the choirmaster” as a “song” that is to be sung. David knows that “praise is due to be given to God”  and that “vows” of thanksgiving and commitment should be made and carried out (“performed”) before the Lord (Psalm 65:1.

First of all, God hears our prayers and does respond to them (v.2). Amazingly, even “when iniquities (times of sin) had prevailed against” David in his life and “overpowered“ him, and David prayed and confessed His sin, the Lord atoned for his transgressions and for the wrongdoing of other repentant people (v.3). This is the greatest gift of God, David knew, - the forgiveness of sins. (There are other complicated words for this forgiveness from God - atonement, propitiation, expiation, etc. - which indicate that God forgave sins in light of what His own Son, Jesus, would eventually do on the cross, in a sacrificial payment for the sins of the whole world, including David’s and ours. See New Testament passages like Hebrews 2:17 and Romans 3:23-25 and 1 John 2:1-2 and 4:10.)

Without that forgiveness, what a great burden of guilt people are under. See what David says in Psalm 32:1-5  and how wonderful forgiveness was for him in Psalm 32:10. David also knew that he had not chosen God, but that he was one whom “God had chosen and brought near” to Him and allowed him to be “in His courts,” in “His house,” and to receive His “goodness and holiness” (Psalm 65:4).

Jesus says the same thing about His disciples and about us in the New Testament. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” “Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me…. For apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:3-5,16).

David also trusted that God would answer his prayers with “awesome deeds” bringing “righteousness” and “salvation.” In God was his hope. As in other psalms, David was also prophesying of how God would be “the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,” too, through the coming of His Son, Jesus, as Savior of all (Psalm 65:5). The Lord was the “mighty” God, the one true God, “who by His strength established the mountains” and all the rest of creation (Psalm 65:6). He cared about what He had made, including “the tumult of the peoples” in a troubled, sinful world - “even those who dwell at the ends of the earth.”

Through David and the children of Israel, God would provide “awesome signs” and prophecies of hope for all peoples, culminating in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, and His saving work (Psalm 65:8). See how Jesus could “still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves” (Psalm 65:7 and Matthew 8:24-27 and  Mark 4:36-41). “Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ’Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they (the disciples) said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’”

Jesus was and is God who became man to do His saving work, as David and so many others predicted, not just for Israel, but for the whole world. He did “atone for all our transgressions” by His suffering and death in our place, and His mighty resurrection (Psalm 65:3). Jesus also sowed the seed of God’s Word and sent out His disciples to share that Word, as well, so that more and more people could come to faith in Him and be saved by His grace and be ready for His return on the last day. That day will come. Jesus Himself predicted “signs of that time” including “the roaring of the seas and the waves.” Jesus, the Son of God, will come with power and great glory and settle it all. He said, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing nigh” (Luke 21:25-28 and Psalm 65:7).

Go back now to Psalm 65:8-13. David looks around and marvels again at God’s good creation, in spite of the troubles and sorrows all around. He sees joy in morning and evening and in the days going by (Psalm 65:8). He sees that God does care and “visits the earth” with “water” and “grain” and “growth” and “abundance,” even though people often do not appreciate His gifts (Psalm 65:9-10). Jesus Himself said, “Your Father in heaven makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

God often “crowns the year with His bounty,” though we do not deserve it (Psalm 65:11). When we are out in the natural world on a nice summer day, we marvel at the overflowing beauty and majesty of “pastures of the wilderness” and “hills” and “meadows” and “valleys.” We can sense the picture image of the creation “shouting and singing together for joy” to the Lord (Psalm 65:12-13). Again, Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them…. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:26-29). We, too, get so busy with our lives that we miss the beauty and blessing that God provides all around us.

One more thought. In our Old Testament lesson for this coming Sunday, Isaiah 55:9-13, God leads Isaiah to use some of the same imagery as David - rain watering the earth and plants sprouting and growing  and “giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.”
In the same way, God says, His Word will come down from His mouth and accomplish what He wishes, bringing “joy” and “peace” and “an everlasting sign” of hope for us and our world (Isaiah 55:11-13).

That was the greatest way that “God visited the earth” (Psalm 65:9), with the gift of His Son, the Word become flesh in Jesus our Savior and His Word and work for us. (See John 1:14 and the prophecy of John the Baptist preparing the way for the “visit from on high” of Jesus (Luke 1:76-79).) That’s what makes continued study of God’s Word and the Good news of Christ so important for us all. That Word from God shall never “return to God empty or void,” but will always be a blessing for us (Isaiah 55:11).

Sermon for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost - July 9, 2023

Sermon for 6th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Zechariah 9:9-12

Romans 7:14-25a  

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon originally delivered July 6, 2014

Preparing for Worship - July 9, 2023

Last week we heard that Jesus came not to bring peace, but a sword. His Word is a two-edged sword, which does bring the Law of God and reveals our sinfulness and need for a Savior (Matthew 10:34-39, Hebrews 4:12-13, and Revelation 1:13-16, for example).
Jesus ultimately, though, wants to bring the Gospel and His forgiving rest and peace in His eternal Kingdom, as we hear in our readings this week.

In Psalm 145:1-14, David sings a great song of praise to God for His “goodness, mercy, and steadfast love” and the “unsearchable greatness” of His “everlasting kingdom.” He has “mercy over all that He has made,” from “generation to generation.” He helps “those who are falling” and “raises up” those “who are bowed down.” In return, we can only bless his name every day and praise Him for His abundant goodness.

The Lord is also “faithful in all His Words” (Psalm 145:13). We see that in the Old Testament lesson, Zechariah 9:9-12. God’s people could “rejoice greatly,” because the promised “salvation” was coming in a humble King, who would “speak peace to the nations” and bring “freedom to prisoners.” This Scripture is quoted in the New Testament in Matthew 21:5 and indirectly in Luke 19:37-38, in reference to Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as a humble King on a donkey. This Scripture also speaks of “the blood of the Lord’s covenant” - the New Covenant, in which Jesus would later that Holy Week shed His own blood on the cross for the forgiveness of all sins, as the Lamb of God.

Paul speaks of his own need for forgiveness in the Epistle lesson, Romans 7:14-25a. Last week, we heard him speak of his struggles with “covetousness” in the past, before being a Christian. Now he switches to the present tense and talks about his continuing struggle to do the right things, because of his “sinful flesh” and nature. He wants to do God’s will, but he finds himself doing the opposite, at times. He says “he has the desire to do what is right, but not always the ability to carry it out.” There is a “war” going on within him. He “delights in the law of God,” but “evil also lies close at hand.” He calls himself a “wretched man,” a poor miserable sinner. “Who will deliver him from this sinful body of death?” He knows that his only hope is in Jesus. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus promises “rest for the souls” of those who, with the faith of “little children,” simply trust what He has done for them and reveals to them. Religious leaders of His day spoke of the heavy yoke, the burden of the Law, and thought of themselves as being more “wise and understanding” than others by carefully trying to keep these hundreds of laws. Jesus Himself not only kept the Law in our place, but was “gentle and lowly of heart” and carried our burdens of sin to the cross to pay for them all. As we keep coming to Him and learning from Him, He now lightens our burdens and gives us the rest and peace we really need. We do not rescue ourselves. Jesus rescues us.

Bible Study - Thoughts on Law & Gospel

The Scriptures in worship for the last few weeks have had a lot of Law in them. The Law of God is very important and has three main purposes, as a “curb,” a “mirror,” and a “ruler” in our lives. You may have learned those descriptions from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation years ago.

First, a curb is intended to keep cars and other vehicles where they belong, in the street, and not on a sidewalk or other places where they could do harm. God’s Law is like a curb, when it keeps people from doing very harmful things to others. It helps provide some order and authority in a very disorderly world.

A Scripture suggested in our latest version of the Catechism, related to this, is 1 Timothy 1:9-10. Paul writes, “The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient. for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.” These are lawless people who do not accept basic moral standards, but might be restrained in some of what they do, because they don’t want to get caught and be in trouble. Paul is not saying here that evils described here do not apply to “the just” also, those who already trust in Christ as Savior, and live by His grace. Believers should already know that these things are wrong and should be trying to avoid these sins, too.

Unfortunately, that is not always true, and believers, with a sinful human nature, also struggle to know right from wrong at times. That is where the Law of God also serves as a guide, a ”ruler,” a straight line for what is pleasing to God in our thoughts, words, and deeds. This is called the “third use of the Law.” A few Scriptures that speak to this are Psalm 119:105: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path;” Proverbs 6:23: “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life;” and Psalm 119:160: “The sum of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous rules endures forever.”

Many people and even some churches and denominations, reject this use of the Law because they no longer believe that the Scriptures are entirely the Word and message of God. They would prefer to pick and choose what sounds acceptable to them, according to their human reason and desires and what sounds “loving” and “tolerant” to them. To them, the greatest virtues are tolerance and acceptance and approval, no matter what.

Taking such a false view of Scripture also means that people will often also reject the second use of the Law, as a “mirror” for their own lives. In everyday life, we look into a mirror to see what we look like and to fix anything that doesn’t look so good. We may need to comb or brush our hair in a better way, fix makeup, change our clothes, wash away a spot on ourselves, etc. The Law serves as a “mirror” when we look into it to see what our lives look like, in comparison with God’s standards. When we do that, we are always shown to be sinners, who “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Paul put it this way: “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20). When we look in the mirror of the Law, we see our faults and sins, but we cannot fix these problems, these sins, and their guilt, on our own. We can comb our hair when we look in the mirror, but we cannot straighten out our sins and sinfulness when we look in the mirror of the Law.

Some use the SOS letters to talk about this. The Law “Shows Our Sins” and how desperately we need God’s help and rescue and forgiveness. The Law always ultimately accuses and condemns us. We can never keep its standards as we should, as Paul describes in the Epistle lesson for this week (Romans 7:14-25a). Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How far we all are from that, even as Christians, in what we do!

What we need, then, is another SOS, with regard to Jesus and His Good News, the Gospel. The Gospel “Shows Our Savior.” Our eternal hope is never in ourselves and our performance before God or others. Our hope is in Christ and what He did for us, in His perfect life in our place and His death on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins and His mighty resurrection and ascension to the Father, showing that His saving work was complete.

Paul put it this way: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness from God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). As a result, Paul wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life sets you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh (our sinful flesh), could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4). We need the Law, for its three useful purposes, but our hope is finally in Christ and continually being brought back to Him and His saving words and works for us.

When we look at our world today, we see so much that is sinful and evil. We can become very discouraged. We might say with the psalmist in one of last week’s readings: “I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commandments” (Psalm 119:158). We hate sin and the great damage it does to so many. The Law of God will not let us put a stamp of approval and acceptance on what is clearly wrong.                                                    

At the same time, we also know that we are still sinners, too. God does not hate just the “big” sins we prefer to point out in others in our society. He hates all sin. Sin is sin - even the sins of thought, word, and deed that we confess day after day and week after week in worship. We continually need God’s mercy, and we want that mercy and forgiveness for ourselves. Somehow, we need to be ready to convey the hope of the Gospel, as well as the Law, to others, too. Jesus prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). How many people today have been never been taught or have been so misled that they have no real sense of what is right and wrong, or the consequences of wrongdoing. How much we need care and concern for them, too, even though we can’t give approval for wrongdoing.

Both Martin Luther and C.F.W. Walther, a great early leader of our LCMS, said that distinguishing Law and Gospel and knowing when and how to apply each is one of the greatest challenges for church leaders and teachers and for us all. It would be easy just to pound others with the Law. We need also, though, to pray for the lost and straying and confused and misguided people, as we pray for ourselves and our struggles. We need to pray for wisdom, too, in trying to find ways that show that we do care for others and want the best for them, as people for whom Christ also died. Walther also emphasized that “the Gospel should have a general predominance in our teaching.” He said that otherwise people will be spiritually underfed because the Bread of Life is not the Law, but the Gospel.” Please pray about all this. The Lord’s blessings.

Preparing for Worship - July 2, 2023

The Scripture readings this week are challenging ones to understand and apply. The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 28:5-9. You almost have to read all of Chapters 27 and 28 to get the full meaning. In Chapter 27, God told Jeremiah to put a yoke on his neck, symbolic of the fact that God’s people were soon to be servants of the Babylonian king, who had already taken some people and many valuable vessels from the temple in Jerusalem. A period of about 70 years of captivity was coming because of their sins. Hananiah, a false prophet, then said that the Lord told him that in two years the people would be set free and all the vessels taken from the temple would be returned. He said what the people wanted to hear. In the OT reading, then, Jeremiah confronts Hananiah and the people. He wishes that what Hananiah had predicted was true, that a time of “peace” was coming soon. He would like to say “Amen” to that. However, Jeremiah then said that earlier prophets had predicted “war, famine, and pestilence,” as the Lord had also told him - not “peace.” Only time would tell which prophet was speaking the truth. (After our reading, Hananiah broke the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck, saying that Jeremiah was the false prophet; and Hananiah predicted “peace” again. The Lord then sent Jeremiah to Hananiah to tell him that he would die for deceiving God’s people, and within a year, Hananiah was dead, and the long Babylonian captivity did happen.)

In the Gospel Lesson, Matthew 10:34-42, we also hear Jesus saying something hard to His disciples, as He prepares them to go out and share His message, “I have come not to bring peace, but a sword, to the earth.” Not everyone would believe what the disciples were telling. There would be rejection and division, “a sword,” among people, even families, at times. Some would prefer to follow their own ways and desires instead of Christ as Savior. They think they are finding what they want, “the good life,” where it is really the opposite. Receiving and believing the Word of God, by the grace of God, actually brings Christ Himself and His saving work to people, and the blessings of God the Father, who sent Jesus and wants to bring His Good News of love and hope to all, even the littlest of people. We are still blessed and a blessing, as we seek to bring that Good News to others, also, whoever they are.

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 7:1-13, Paul reminds us that the Law of God is righteous and good, but we can never be saved by following it well enough. The Law is like a line on the ground that we are not to go over. It is a challenge to us, and sin and our sinful nature keep urging us to step over that line, and we step over the line all too often, bearing “fruit for death.” Comparing ourselves with the Law shows us our sins and our need to be set free from the Law of sin and death. Paul uses a human example of how we are “free” from “certain laws and commitments” only by the death of someone. We will be freed from the condemnation of the law of God, which we have failed to keep, only “through the body of Christ” and His death for us, to pay for our sins. Our hope is now “in the new way of the (Holy) Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus and seeks to keep us in that faith, as “we belong to one another” and seek “to bear fruit for God,” as the Spirit leads and guides us through the Word of God.

The psalm is Psalm 119:153-160. The psalmist knows that “God’s Word is truth” and seeks “not to swerve from the Lord’s testimonies.” God’s “law” and “commands” are a guide for his life, and he seeks to follow God’s will. At the same time, he has to admit in the last verse of this psalm, verse 176, beyond this reading, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.” He doesn’t forget them, but he doesn’t always follow them, either. The psalmist knows that his ultimate hope is not in himself, as hard as he tries to do the right things, but is in the Lord and His “great mercy.” He says, “Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to Your promise!… Give me life according to Your steadfast love.” There is our hope, too, especially in Christ our Savior and what He has already done to rescue us, in His redeeming love. 

Preparing for Worship - June 25, 2023

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 91:1-10 (11-16). The psalmist assures us that when our “dwelling place” is with the Lord, He will be our “shelter,” our “refuge,” and our fortress.” We can “trust” Him, no matter what dangers and “terrors” surround us. He will be with us “night” and “day” and at “noontime.” This does not mean that we won’t have trouble, but the Lord and His angels “will be with us” and “rescue” us ultimately with “His salvation.” (See the fuller Bible Study on this psalm in this week’s podcast.)

The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 20:7-13. The prophet Jeremiah had the very difficult job of telling the people of Judah that “violence and destruction” and captivity in Babylon were coming to them, because they were continually rejecting the Lord and His Word. When Jeremiah spoke this Word from God, he received “reproach, derision, laughing, and mockery” from those to whom he spoke. He wished he could stop speaking, but he could not. God’s Word was like fire, and he could not hold it in. At this point, the Lord was like a “dreaded Warrior.” Through it all, Jeremiah knew that somehow the Lord would be “delivering the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 10:5a, 21-33, Jesus was preparing His disciples for the very challenging days they would face, much like Jeremiah did, but in their case, it would be for proclaiming “the name of Jesus” as Savior of the world. If Jesus was to suffer much as their Lord and Master, should members of His “household,” His Christian family and church, be surprised if they are also “hated” and “maligned” (spoken about critically in a spiteful way)? They are “not to fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” “The one who endure to the end” in faith in Christ “will be saved.” Jesus will “acknowledge” all believers, including us, before His “Heavenly Father.”

How can we endure in the faith, even as we may face more challenges? Paul reminds us, in our Epistle lesson, Romans 6:12-23, of the greatest gift we have already received. “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Now that we live under that grace, that free gift of God, would we want purposely to keep on sinning, with “lawlessness that leads to more lawlessness” and to “the wages of death”? “By no means!” says Paul. We still have that temptation, because of “natural limitations” (literally, “because of the weakness of our (sinful) flesh,” with which we were born. How much better to be what we now are - “slaves of God” and His “standard of teaching to which we are committed” in Christ. God loves us in Christ! He knows and always wants what is best for us and is leading us now to eternal life. That is the good “fruit” we now want to see in our lives, through God’s grace in Christ.