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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Last week, I discussed why I thought it would be important to consider some of the implications of the Letter of Jude (and other Scriptures) for moral issues today and particularly LGBTQ issues and same-sex marriage and related issues. (If you have not listened to or read last week’s study, I would highly recommend your looking at it first, as what I say today builds upon what was already said.)
Fundamental is the teaching in Genesis 1 that God created people with only two genders, male and female, and in Genesis 2, that God instituted marriage, of one man and one woman, in a life-long commitment, and that was the place for sexual desires to be fulfilled. Our Lord Jesus quoted from Genesis and affirmed these views of marriage, as planned by God “from the beginning.” Other Scriptures quote these passages, in a consistent view of what marriage was and is intended to be.
Obviously, sin then came into the world, in Genesis 3, and great rebellion against God and His will and plans resulted. Genesis 6 described how serious this was, and other Scriptures showed that the struggle with our sinful human nature has gone on ever since, in issues of sexuality and marriage. As I pointed out last week, if we were to do a full study of moral issues, we would need to spend much more time on problems and sins of heterosexual relationships. Sin is sin, and we are all sinners, and we all need God’s grace and forgiveness, in Christ.
I want to continue today by noting that the Jewish moral code for the people of Israel, given by God to Moses and other prophets, supported God’s view of the two genders and sexuality between a male and female in marriage, and warned against all immorality, including some references against same-sex sexual activity. In going through the Letter of Jude, I have already mentioned a number of these Scriptures and will repeat just a few, in more detail.
There is the story of the sins of Sodom. Genesis 13:13 says, ”Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” And in Genesis 19:1-11, we hear that two angels, appearing as men, came to visit Lot in that town. They were going to stay in the town square, but Lot invited them to stay with him, out of hospitality, but also to protect them. Later that night, all the men and boys of the town came and surrounded the house, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” If you read much Scripture, you know that the term “to know” sometimes means “to have a sexual relationship with.” That is positive within God’s plan for marriage between a husband and wife. Read Genesis 4:1, as an early example, between Adam and Eve. In Genesis 19, though, Lot clearly knew what all these males, young and old, wanted. They wanted to have sex with these men who were visiting Lot. Lot begs them, “Do not act so wickedly,” and suggests a very bad alternative, also immoral according to God’s standards.
The fact that males and boys were involved indicates a real part of homosexual behavior in some times and places. Younger boys were involved and often taken advantage of in the ancient world, especially in Greek culture and among some Romans, too. It involved what we would usually call today a form of “child sexual abuse” - “pedophilia” or “pederasty.” It still happens today. Think of all the stories we have heard of problems of child abuse from some Roman Catholic priests and also from some Protestant leaders and Boy Scout leaders and on and on. I just read an article today about authorities in one place wanting to do away with negative names for such abusers and simply call them “minor-attracted people.” (That seems to be a way to try to “normalize” very dangerous behaviors against children.)
You can read the rest of what happened in Genesis 19 on your own. The angels are able to help Lot and his family to escape, and Sodom and Gomorrah are totally destroyed. Mentioning Sodom became, in Old and New Testament, a way of warning against homosexual and other wrong behaviors, and the term, “sodomy” became a tern for a certain kind of sexual behavior often done by males with each other.
The Law of Moses simply says about homosexual behavior: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). This same prohibition is repeated in Leviticus 20:13, with very serious consequences for such a person within Israel.
There are other Scriptures that are related to this issue. Deuteronomy 22:5 says, “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.” Many think this refers to what we call today dressing in “drag,” as in a “drag show,” with men acting like women or vice versa and acting or speaking in suggestive and immoral ways. It often seems to be an activity of the homosexual community, and is very controversial, especially when children are involved. It is a way of sending mixed and confusing messages about what are clear differences between the two genders, male and female.
Again, we are hearing almost daily today in our own country about such “drag shows” in public libraries and other places where children are involved, and yet the same libraries, etc., refusing to allow programs by people and groups presenting a different moral message. This prohibition of cross-dressing could also speak to those who want to be transgender - a gender different from their birth gender, their natural gender.
The Old Testament says little about lesbianism (woman with woman sexual activity), as it seems to have been uncommon within Judaism and clearly does not fit the Biblical standards, either. The famous Jewish author and historian of the 1st Century AD, Josephus, just after the time of Christ, wrote: “What are our marriage laws? The Law recognizes no sexual connections, except the natural union of man and wife, and that only for the procreation of children. Sodomy (male to male) it abhors, and punishes any guilt of such assault with death.”
In God’s plan of salvation, Jesus, as true man, then came from the Jews. He taught and followed basic Jewish moral Law of the Old Testament, while doing away with ritual and ceremonial laws that were not part of the New Covenant, the New Testament. As a Jew, working largely among fellow Jews, Jesus needed to focus on basic male and female and Biblical marriage issues, as perversions of them by homosexuals and lesbians were rarer. Jesus clearly showed in a positive way what God did want and approve of, in these issues
Once the Gospel began to go more to non-Jews, God inspired the New Testament writers to speak more to the homosexual, lesbian, and bisexual activity so much more common among the Greeks and some other cultures. There were also more temples of false “gods” in these cultures, which had cultic male prostitutes in these temples, who could cater to homosexual desires. The most specific passage about this is in Romans 1:18-32. Paul speaks of the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and worship and serve created things, including each other, rather than the immortal God, their Creator. Read especially Romans 1:24-27, where Paul speaks of people following “the lusts of their hearts,” “impurity”, “the dishonoring of their bodies along themselves” (v.24). Then Paul becomes very specific about some of their “dishonorable passions.” “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature” - lesbian sexual relations. “And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men - homosexual sexual activity - “and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (v.26-27).
The root problem is a form of idolatry, These men and women do not see fit to acknowledge God (and His clear plans for males and females and sexuality only between a man and woman united in marriage, as we have seen). Instead, they follow their own “debased minds,” their own bad choices, and “do what ought not to be done” (v. 28). And equally bad, “they give approval to those who practice,” who keep on doing these same things (v.32). Couldn’t that be a description of exactly what many in the LGBTQ community are doing - encouraging and supporting and pushing for approval of these sinful behaviors?
There are other places, too, where the New Testament points out that these behaviors are wrong in lists of other wrongdoing. See 1 Corinthians 6:9: “the sexually immoral,” including “men who practice homosexuality,” and 1 Timothy 1:10: “the sexually immoral,” including “men who practice homosexuality”… and whatever else is contrary to sound (healthy) doctrine.” One could also point to Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled.” In the context of the whole of the Scriptures, this refers to the marriage of one man and one woman, one male and one female, in a lifelong commitment, with a sexual relationship only there.
Again, I am already going on too long and will stop for today. We will continue with this subject for at least one more week - maybe two. We still need to talk about what is actually going on in the LGBTQ community according to polls and the CDC and other research, and about the divisions and splits that are going on in various church groups over this issue and how we are to respond as Christians. Keep reading and studying and praying and above all, listening to God’s Word, and asking His forgiveness for when you have failed, too, and His help to try to do better.
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 29, 2013
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Sermon for New Year's Eve, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 31, 2013
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
There are two possible sets of readings again this Sunday. Some churches may celebrate the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus, eight days after His birth. The Gospel, Luke 2:21, tells how His family obeyed Old Testament law in having Him circumcised, and His blood was shed, prefiguring His final shedding of blood on the cross. He was given the name, Jesus, for He would one day do that final sacrificial work as the “Savior“ of the world.
The Psalm is Psalm 8. David twice speaks of the majesty of God’s Name. He is Lord and the Creator who set all things in place. Yet He will humble His own Son as a man, the Son of Man, lower than the angels, to do His saving work on earth, and then be crowned with glory and honor and given all dominion once again.
The Old Testament lesson, Numbers 6:22-27, is the Benediction, the blessing that Moses was to give to God’s people. That Benediction is still used often today in worship. The Lord will bless, keep, be gracious to us, and give us peace, as He looks upon us with His Favor.
The Epistle lesson is Galatians 3:23-29. Paul tells us that once we were captives, imprisoned under the law. But once we are connected to Christ through our baptism and faith in Him, we are children of God and all one in Christ and are heirs of all the promises of God.
The Sunday service might also include, instead, readings for the first Sunday after Christmas. In the Psalm, Psalm 111, the Psalmist praises God for all His wondrous works and gives thanks to Him in the congregation, with other believers. The Lord has kept the promises of His Covenant and will send redemption to His people, (finally coming through Jesus). We, in turn, can now grow in fear and trust in the Lord and in wisdom and good understanding, through Christ as our Savior.
The prophet Isaiah also recounts, in the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 63:7-14, the steadfast love of the Lord. He redeemed and saved and carried along His chosen people, and even though they rebelled against Him and grieved His Spirit, He would reach out and put His Spirit again in their midst and give them rest, in His compassion.
How would God do all this? Paul tells us, in the Epistle lesson, Galatians 4:4-7, that in the fullness of time, God did send His own Son, born of a woman, to redeem all who were under the burden and condemnation of the law, and turn them (and us) from slaves into sons, children of God, and heirs of eternal life through faith in Him.
The Gospel lesson, Matthew 2:13-23, continues the Christmas story. Not only did God send His Son into the world, He also protected Him, warning Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt with Jesus and escape the massacre of children by King Herod and then calling them back out of Egypt, once Herod died, and returning with Jesus to Nazareth. All this fulfilled prophecy after prophecy from the Old Testament - Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15-17 and the words of Philip in John 1:46, etc. God will keep His promises to us, too, in Christ.
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Last week, we heard Jude talking about “having mercy” on people who are continually doubting and wavering about their faith; those heading toward hell who need to be snatched out of that coming fire; and those who are far gone, who need to be approached with fear and with hatred of their fleshly evil, and yet shown mercy, with the desire of their repentance and return to the faith.
Remember that Jude was talking about people who have crept into the church, who are within the church, and yet unnoticed, without people being really aware or caring enough, who have rejected God’s word and changed teaching, especially about moral issues and are promoting deeds of ungodliness, including sexual immorality and unnatural desires.
Jesus said to believing people, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:11-16). Jesus Himself, of course, is the “True Light,” the “light that shines in the darkness” of this sinful world, through His Word and works, and “the darkness has not overcome” Him (John 1:1-11). But Jesus warned that the sinful world would fight back against the truth. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).
Paul also warned that the attacks would come from within. “Fierce wolves will 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” (Acts 20:29-32). That is exactly what Jude was writing about as he sent his letter to churches facing these problems in the early church. And that is a problem again today within too many churches.
I am going to focus on just one problem among many - the whole LGBTQ movement and same-sex marriages and related issues. It is a very hot topic today, about which one hears everywhere. My own church body, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, had a national youth gathering this summer of more than 18,000 young people of high school age. The youth were asked to share the issues they wished the church would talk about more. Do you know what they picked as the #1 issue? LGBTQ issues.
That is what we will focus on, and if you just work through the Scriptures God’s point of view becomes very clear. The very first chapter of the Bible says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). There are only two genders - male and female. There is no mention of any other genders in the Bible, even though some speak of numerous “genders” today, especially in the LGBTQ community, but among others and even in some churches, too. God knows only two genders, though - male and female.
Then in Genesis 2, God instituted marriage, bringing the first man and woman together. Ever after, “therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:24-25). That is where sexual activity was to take place, within a committed marriage between one man and one woman, who could be fruitful and multiply, and raise children in a stable place of love and care in the Lord.
Jesus affirmed this plan of God when he was asked about divorce. He said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” Jesus then quoted from Genesis 2:24 and added, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.” Read carefully Matthew 19:3-6. Marriage was intended by God to be a lifelong commitment of one man and one woman together. See also Mark 10:6-9. This same passage from Genesis 2:24-25 is quoted in other contexts, too, in Ephesians 5:31, 1 Corinthians 6:16, and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, and both Old and New Testaments uphold this view of marriage consistently.
Obviously, the rebellion against God and fall into sin happened and is described in Genesis 3. The perfect relationship between the first two people was broken, and distortions of God’s plan happened quickly. There was murder within the first family, and by Genesis 4:19, we hear of a man who “took two wives,” clearly against God’s will. By Genesis 6:5, we read that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” and “… all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Genesis 6:5, 11-12).
The judgment of the great flood obviously did not solve the problems of sin and evil in every human heart, including that of Noah and his family and the generations that followed. God followed His eternal plan of working through a particular nation, the nation of Israel, the Jewish nation, so that eventually from that nation would come the Savior of the world, Jesus, a true Jewish male and yet also the Son of God.
God provided through the prophets, especially Moses, specific rules and regulations for the nation of Israel, including sexual morality. (Many of the ceremonial rules and other requirements in the Old Testament were done away with by Jesus, as Lord of the Sabbath and Lord God of the New Covenant, focusing on Himself and His saving work in love for all nations and the whole world. The New Testament helps clarify those things, doing away with many Sabbath and dietary and ceremonial and other rules and festivals, but keeping the basic moral law and the Ten Commandments, though the day of worship is no longer the specific Old Testament one.)
Sadly, God’s own Old Testament chosen people broke law after law of God’s will for them, including God’s plan for marriage and sexuality. Even many of the leaders failed in this regard - and we read of polygamy and adultery and divorce and on and on, even among heterosexual people. In fact, for this study of sexual immorality to be complete, we would have to focus mostly upon such heterosexual failings and sins. Those are the most common within churches today, most likely, as people struggle to follow what they know is the right way God wants them to live.
This study, though, will focus upon the concerns with LGBTQ people and their problems, particularly. But we must speak humbly, and remember the old saying, “If you point one finger at someone else, you are pointing several fingers back at yourself.” Sin is still sin, whatever it is, and we all need forgiveness, and can live only by the mercy of God, especially when we remember that we sin by thought and word, as well as deed. Jesus Himself said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He also said, about judging, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 5:27-28 and Matthew 7:5). At the same time, we must speak honestly about sin and evil, especially when others are calling evil “good” (See Romans 1:32).
I don’t want this to get too long, so I will continue with this next week, even as some of these things are difficult even to talk about. I will not get too specific about some things, for as Paul wrote, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead, expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret” - and now, even in public, at times (Ephesians 5:11-12). The Lord’s blessings, as you continue to think about this difficult subject.
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
There are a number of possible sets of readings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this weekend. What I have here may not be exactly what you will hear, depending on when and where you attend worship, but these are some of the important Christmas readings to be thinking about.
The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 62:10-12. This is a prophecy that a remnant of God’s people will be able to “go through the gates” where they have been captive and return to the promised land and to “Zion,” the city of Jerusalem. It is there that the Lord Himself will come bringing “salvation,” His “reward,” His blessing, and His “recompense,“ His just judgments. He will “redeem” people and call them “holy” and His people will not be “forsaken.” The New Testament centers all of this in the coming of Jesus to Israel, “the daughter of Zion” (see Matthew 21:5); but this is good news to be “proclaimed to the end of the earth” - for Jesus came to be the Savior for all people. See how all believers in Christ, including us, are called God’s chosen, holy people, who are not forsaken, but receive mercy from Him, in the words of 1 Peter 2:9-10.
The Psalm is Psalm 98, a ”new song” of praise to the Lord for the marvelous way He would provide salvation for “the house of Israel” but also for people in “all the ends of the earth.” All creation (“seas” and “rivers” and “hills” - and maybe even Christmas trees and beautiful decorations?!) should “sing for joy,” and all people should praise the Lord with “joyous songs” and all kinds of musical instruments. This sounds like a joyous Christmas celebration - when we realize that the tiny baby born in Bethlehem is “the King, the Lord, our Lord Jesus.” He came to “work salvation” and bring righteousness and equity (uprightness) to us, as we trust in Him and what he has done for us.
The Gospel lesson is Luke 2:1-20. Mary and Joseph are forced to make a long trip to their ancestral home to be registered to be taxed by the Roman government. But this place is Bethlehem, exactly where Old Testament prophecy said the Savior of the world would be born. Mary has her baby there, in very humble circumstances, where animals were kept, and the baby Jesus was placed in a manger, a feed trough for animals, because there was no other available place for all this to happen. The first people to hear about this were lowly shepherds. A multitude of angels praised God and announced to the shepherds what was “good news” for them and for “all the people” (including us). The Savior, Jesus, Christ the Lord, was born! The shepherds went to see the baby Jesus and glorified and praised God and told others about this Child. And believers are still praising God and talking about Jesus, to this very day.
The Epistle is Titus 3:4-7. Titus reminds us that the coming of Jesus was entirely a gift to us and the world, through “the goodness and loving kindness of God.” Jesus came to save us, not because of anything we had done, but because of His own mercy for us. God the Father sent His Son to us. Jesus did everything necessary for us to be our Savior. God the Holy Spirit then brought to us personally the blessings of what Jesus had done, through our baptism, “the washing of regeneration and renewal.” As water, connected with the Words and promises of God, was poured on us, our sins were washed away and we were reborn and renewed as children of God and “justified,” forgiven and counted righteous and acceptable to God, through the Holy Spirit. We are now also “heirs of eternal life” by faith in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit continues to work in us through the Word of God and the Sacraments, to keep us in that faith. This was all purely by God’s “grace” - His undeserved love and favor given to us as a gift. No wonder we thank and praise and worship our great God and especially our Lord Jesus, as we celebrate the gift of His birth this Christmas! A blessed and joyous Christmas to you all.
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Last week, we heard that there were many predictions of “scoffers” who would come in the last times and challenge God and His Word. Some would even be within the churches, yet were “worldly” people, without the Holy Spirit, but following “their own ungodly passions,” and causing “divisions” (Jude, v.17-19). God’s faithful people were not left without help and hope, though. They had the Word of God, through which they were built up in their “most holy faith,” in “the love of God” and praying by the power of the Holy Spirit. Above all, they continually had the “mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who would “lead them to eternal life” (Jude, v.20-21).
The believers knew that they were still sinners, yet were “beloved” and forgiven, “called” to a “common salvation” through the “grace of God” in “Christ Jesus the Lord” (Jude, v. 1-3, portions of v.4). If God so loved them, they were called to seek to show that same love and mercy to others, even in their own churches, who were struggling spiritually. Jude said that to them in Jude, v. 22-23, describing in a very brief way three different kinds of people among them, in addition to firm believers.
First, there were those who were “doubting.” The Greek suggests that these were people who knew some about the Christian faith, but were continually doubting, continually “wavering” within themselves about the faith, with lots of questions, and were easily drawn into sinful behavior. They needed to be approached by concerned Christians in a way that is described in other Scriptures like Galatians 6:1-2, Romans 15:1-7, Ephesians 4:12-16,
and Ephesians 4:32, in a gentle, caring way, with believers ready always to explain their own hope that was in them, in Christ (1 Peter 3:15, Jude, v.22).
Then there were others who had drifted far from the faith, if they were ever really in faith, and were in great spiritual danger. Jude said, seek to “snatch them out of the fire” (Jude, v.23). These are people on the road to hell, rather than to heaven, if left on their own, as they were. Hell is pictured in various places as a “fiery” place of judgment, for those apart from the Lord. See the words of John the Baptist, who warned that “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire;” and “the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:10,12). (See also the words of our Lord Jesus Himself in passages like Matthew 5:22: “Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment… and whoever says, “You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” See also Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:19, Matthew 25:41,46, and the words of Revelation 20:10 and 14,15.)
When we hear these words, we realize that we, too, deserved that judgment, because of our own sins, but were rescued by what Jesus has done for us as the Savior and by our being personally brought to faith in Jesus and by the gift of baptism. We did nothing to deserve God’s mercy, but He gave it to us by His grace. And God wants more and more people to be “snatched out of the fire” and brought to forgiveness and trust in Him.
See the story in Zechariah 3:1-5, where the Lord calls Joshua the high priest “a brand (a burning stick) plucked from the fire.” Joshua was “a high priest,” a leader among God’s people, and yet is described as wearing “filthy garments,” symbolic of his sins. His filthy garments are removed, and he is clothed with “pure vestments,” as the Lord said, “I have taken your iniquity away from you.” In Zechariah 3:10, the Lord also promised, “I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day,”
All this was predicting what Jesus would do on Good Friday. He was “the Lamb of God, who” in one day “would take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and provide a “robe of righteousness” and “salvation” for all who would be brought to faith in Him (Isaiah 61:10-11 and Revelation 19:7-8). The Scriptures promise, ”In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). God now sees Christ in those who are baptized and believe in Him, and they will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Unbelief and its evil fruit and evil deeds are what condemns.
God gave such a warning to His own people in the Old Testament, using an image just like what was used by Zechariah and now by Jude. The prophet Amos said, “You were as a brand (a burning stick) plucked out of the burning, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the Lord” (Amos 4:11). Even though Christ died for all, some can choose to resist and reject Him and His saving work and never come to Him or return to Him.
Ultimately, it is God who brings people to faith in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, but God often used people like Jude, and Christians in the churches to whom he wrote, to bring to people the call to repentance (since God does take sin seriously) and the Good News of forgiveness and hope only through Christ Jesus. If some come to renewed faith in Christ, those people are “snatched out of the fire” and have God’s eternal blessings and a better life now, as they seek to follow His will, which is always best.
The third group of people that Jude wanted to reach out to through the believers is the most difficult, and Jude said, the most dangerous to approach. Jude still said to “show them mercy,” but to do so “with fear” and “hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude, v.23). These are the people for whom Jude used his strongest words of condemnation, because they were openly going against God and His Word and will, especially, it seems, in regard to sexual immorality, “following their own sinful desires.“ They were “loud-mouthed” and “malcontents,” and really wanted to “gain advantage” over others and draw them to their own ideas and lifestyles, which were “such ungodly ways” (Jude, v.15-16).
These people even needed to be approached “with fear,” because they could be so influential to believers in such negative ways and create so much division. Remember the warning in Galatians 6:1: “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” and be drawn astray to things that sound good, or at least OK, but are really not. Jude even used the very strong word “hate” with regard to “the garments stained by the flesh” and where fleshly desires might lead. God does not want to “hate” people, and John taught that “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15) and is “in the darkness” (1 John 2:11).
At the same time, God is holy and just and wants people to do what is right and good and is best for them and others and can never approve of evil, or of people doing evil. David says of the Lord, “You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with You… You hate all evildoers” (Psalm 5:4-5). At the same time, we read that “God so loved the world,” that He sent His only Son to suffer and die for all, including evildoers, which we all are” (John 3:16) and that “God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
So, God hates all evil and can never approve of it or call it acceptable. Yet He still wants to “show mercy” to sinful people who have gone far astray and bring them to repentance and faith. That includes us, who have been shown God’s amazing mercy. We have been spotted, stained by sin, yet we were saved with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or stain” (1 Peter 1:18-19). So, Jude also called for the Christians to show mercy to the toughest people in the churches, without approving of their behaviors, and guarding against being influenced by them.
Jude closed his letter, then, with a word of blessing and encouragement, giving all glory to God. It is God, Jude said, who can keep the faithful people in the churches from stumbling, so that they would not be influenced by false people and wrong ideas and living in wrong ways. It is God who can also help God’s people who are trying to witness to those going astray, in finding the proper balance between the Law, which can show people the reality of their sins, and the Gospel of Jesus, who alone can save through His work already done for the world.
Christians are still imperfect sinners in this world, but are forgiven and counted as saints and “presented as blameless” when they (and we) are presented before God in heaven. The glory and majesty and dominion and authority are all God’s, for His creating and redeeming work on our behalf. The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, existed “before all time” and is with His people now (including today and whatever we are going through) and will be with His people, including us, forever in eternal life. Jude can only close his letter with the word “Amen.” This is most certainly true!
Someone wrote me recently that “Jude has a lot more information than I imagined, still relevant to today.” Amen! That is also most certainly true. Next week, I will try to make some practical applications of what we have been reading to some of the moral issues of today, which are troubling many churches, including such things as gender and LGBTQ issues, as well as adultery and sex before marriage and divorce. We need to talk more about some of these issues in the church, but if you prefer not to, just avoid the next podcast or podcasts. A blessed Christmas to all, too.
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 22, 2013
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
This Sunday before Christmas, we hear in Matthew 1:18-25 the simple story of the birth of Christ, without much detail, from the perspective of Joseph, the man betrothed to Mary. When Mary is found to be expecting a child, Joseph seriously considered “divorcing her quietly.” An angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him to take Mary as his wife, because this was a miracle of God through the Holy Spirit. The child would be called Jesus, our Savior from the greatest human problem, that of sin. He would also be called “Immanuel, God with us,” according to Old Testament prophecy of a virgin birth. Joseph believed what the angel said and took Mary as his wife, but did not have a normal marital relationship with her until after the birth of Jesus.
This miraculous birth had been prophesied in our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 7:10-17. Ahaz, king of Judah, and his people were being threatened by enemy nations, and they were very frightened (Isaiah 7:1-9). God offered to give Ahaz a sign that all would be OK, but Ahaz refused God’s offer of help and hope. Instead, God then gave another prophesy of help and hope to “the house of David” that would be fulfilled much later - the prophesy quoted by the angel to Joseph - the virgin birth of a “son” (of David), who would also be “Immanuel,” God coming to be with His people.
The psalm is Psalm 24. King David speaks of God’s care for “the world” and all “those who dwell in it.” God desires that people have “clean hands and a pure heart,” and He will bring such “righteousness” and “salvation” to those “seeking” Him and His coming. That coming is pictured as “doors” and “gates” being opened and the King of glory coming in. This will be the Lord Himself, “strong and mighty,” coming into this world and later coming into Jerusalem, “the hill of the Lord,” with a glimpse of His glory, on Palm Sunday and at other times. This coming one is also called “the Lord of hosts,” the Lord of all the heavenly angels. Think also about how, on the night of His birth, “a multitude of the heavenly host” appeared to shepherds and announced the coming of Jesus as the “Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:8-14).
In the Epistle lesson, Romans 1:1-7, Paul announced that he is a servant of the coming one, “promised beforehand… in the Holy Scriptures,” a real human being “descended from David according to the flesh” (through Mary) and yet also the “Son of God” (through “the Spirit of holiness”), evidenced as “Jesus Christ our Lord”… ”by His resurrection from the dead.” Paul has been brought to “the obedience of faith” in Jesus and has now been sent out, as an “apostle,” to proclaim Jesus’ “name among all the nations,” including those in Rome “who are loved by God and called to be saints,” believers also in Jesus. The “grace” and “peace” of God come to all who thus “belong to Jesus Christ,” including us today who trust in Him as Savior.
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Beginning with v. 4 of his letter, Jude had been talking almost entirely about the false people who had “crept in unnoticed” into the churches to which he was writing and had caused all sorts of problems for these churches. Jude used very strong language to describe their “deeds of ungodliness,” rejecting the authority of God and His Word, and “perverting the grace of God into sensuality” (immorality, including passions of the flesh and sexual immorality), and “denying their only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” This is what these false people were like.
In contrast, beginning at Jude, v.17, and again at v.20, Jude wrote, “But you, beloved,…” He was now speaking again to and about those he was writing to at the beginning of this letter, in Jude, v.1-3 - the faithful believers who had been “kept in Jesus Christ” and needed now “to contend for the one true faith.” Jude called the believers to “remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Luke’s letter is short, and he gave only one reference to these predictions. I will give you many more and other related Scriptures. I would encourage you to look up at least some of them to see how often these concerns were raised and what other Scriptures say.)
These predictions were that “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions” (v.18) who were “worldly” (following only the sinful, physical world) and “devoid of the Spirit” (without and not listening to the true influence of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God). As a result, these people were also causing divisions within the church (v.19).
As you think about these verses, remember first that “the last time” mentioned by Jude in v.18 refers to any time from the coming of Christ and after that, up to the return of Christ on the last day. It does not refer only to the very last time, when Christ returns in judgment. Hebrews 1:1-2 calls the preaching and teaching and saving work of Jesus as part of the “last days.” Peter, at Pentecost, quoted the prophet Joel and said,”This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: In these last days it shall be, God declares, I will pour out My Spirit…” (Joel refers to Pentecost, but also to events that we usually associate with the final return of Christ. See Acts 2:14-21 and Joel 2:28-32.)
Note also that Jude, v.18, sounds almost like a direct quotation from 2 Peter 3:3, (read on in v.4-13, also) when Peter was also writing about “the last days.” As I mentioned early in our study of Jude, many think that Peter, as an apostle, made this prediction before his death, and Jude then quotes it just a few years later, as a fulfillment of what was now happening in the churches.
It could be that Jude wrote first and then Peter, but either way it was a growing problem in the churches, as more and more years went by and Jesus did not return and He didn’t seem to do anything about evil in the world, in the view of some. This was a problem that many other apostles warned about, too, even earlier: Paul, in Acts 20:29-32, 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and 2 Timothy 3:1-9. John wrote about such problems, later on, too, in 1 John 2:18-23 and 4:1.
There were also many warnings about people who go astray and cause divisions in the churches as Jude said: “it is these who cause divisions” (Jude, v.19). See, for example, Romans 16:17-18, and James 3:14-16 and 4:1-4. Jude also called these people “worldly,” “devoid of (without) the Spirit of God.” See what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 and 12:1-3 and Ephesians 6:17. People must have the Spirit of God at work in them, through the Word and Baptism to become and remain Christians. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:19.)
Again, in contrast, Jude said, “But you, beloved,” are “building yourselves up in the most holy faith” (Jude, v.20). By the grace of God, Christians are saved by faith, as a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Jude encouraged the believers, therefore, in this way, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that leads to eternal life.”
The hope and strength of Christians is in what God has done and continues to do for us in the mercy and forgiveness earned for us by Christ. See Scriptures like 1 John 4:9-10 and Colossians 2:6-7. Our foundation is Christ Himself and His Word (Ephesians 2:19-20) and the Holy Spirit working through that Word (Ephesians 2:21-22).
Jude also encouraged the Christians to “pray in the Holy Spirit.” (See also Romans 8:15-17 and Ephesians 1:13-14, 16-18, and 6:18.) This is not some unique, special kind of praying using special language, as some say, but it is simply asking the Holy Spirit to pray with us and for us and guide us in our prayers, as we do not always know what to pray for and sometimes can’t seem to find the right words to say on our own. See Paul’s words about the Holy Spirit’s help in Romans 8:26-30, which leads us to greater confidence in God’s love for us and knowing that nothing we face can separate us from God’s love in Christ (Romans 8:31-39).
I don’t want to get too long, so will close with some more words, in summary, by Martin Franzmann, on what Jude was saying: “The people called by God and kept for Jesus Christ are not without defense. They have the apostolic Word and face the evil forewarned and open-eyed; they have the faith once and for all delivered to them as the firm foundation on which their house of life may be built; they have the Spirit to inform their prayers; they have the love of God to sustain them in the bright hope of the return of their Lord, the hope of eternal life. Thus furnished for defense, they need not fall prey to the divisions produced by worldly, unspiritual people” (NT Study Bible with Notes, p. 508).
Next week, we will look at the final verse of Jude and also focus on the fact that there is even hope, through God’s power, that some of the lost and straying people, even in the church, could be turned back to the Lord, as God’s people seek to be a witness for Him.