The lutheransermons's Podcast

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year - November 20, 2022

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, based on:

Malachi 3:13-18

Colossians 1:13-20

Luke 23:27-43

Sermon originally delivered November 24, 2013

 

Preparing for Worship - November 20, 2022

This is the Last Sunday of the Church Year. It is sometimes also called Christ the King Sunday, as we think of the victory of Christ our Lord and the eternal promises we have in our Triune God.

The Psalm is Psalm 46. We looked at this psalm a few weeks ago, at Reformation, with the focus on God as our Refuge and Strength and our Fortress in every time of need. Today we hear that while earthly “nations rage” and “kingdoms totter” and “earth”and “seas” and “mountains tremble” and “give way,” the Lord God “will be exalted” and “make wars to cease” and finally bring perfect, eternal peace to us in heaven, "the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”

The Old Testament lesson is from Malachi 3:13-18. God says that many of His own people had been saying “hard words against Him.” They were claiming that there was no “profit” in following Him and His will. The evil and arrogant were “prospering,” and the Lord was allowing the evil to escape with no consequences, they thought. Some still feared the Lord, though, and talked with with one another and encouraged each other, most likely in worship and prayer and use of the Word of God. The Lord heard them, and they were written in a “book of remembrance” as His “treasured
possession,” and they would clearly be identified as His children, who served Him, on the day of judgment. (See also Malachi 4:1-3.)

The Epistle lesson is Colossians 1:13-20, a beautiful description of God the Son - who He is and what He has done. “All the fullness of God dwelt in Him.” He existed “before all things” and was involved in the creation of ”all things,” and “in Him all things hold together.” For our sake, though, He came into this world to bring us redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. Through Him we are reconciled to God and have peace with God “by the blood of the cross.”

Our Gospel lesson, Luke 23:27-43, speaks of that great work of Jesus, as he went to the cross for us. He was “Christ the King, the Chosen One of God,” and yet willingly suffered  in our place to forgive our sins and give us the promise of “Paradise” - eternal life with Him in heaven, through faith in Him. He will remember us, too, and our names are written in His “book of remembrance” and life eternal, as we have been brought to know and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, just like the criminal described in this passage.

Study of the Letter of Jude Part 2 - Verses 2-4

Last week, we heard that this letter was written by Jude, a half-brother of Jesus and a brother of James, the leader of the early Christian church at Jerusalem. Jude simply began by telling what was most important - that he had been called to faith and was now “a servant of Jesus Christ.”

We don’t know exactly when he wrote this letter or who the people were to whom he wrote, but it may be that he had ministered to them in the past. He just says that they are people who were also “called” and dearly loved by God the Father and “kept” for Jesus Christ, their Savior (Jude. v.1). There are similarities between Jude’s letter and 2 Peter, and Peter’s letter may have been helpful to him, as he wrote by the inspiration of God, as Peter did.

Jude began with a blessing and prayer that three great gifts of God would be increased, “multiplied” among the Christians to whom he writes. He asked first that God’s “mercy” would be with them - His compassion and pity for them and their needs and especially for the forgiveness of their sins. As they knew of God’s mercy, they would know that they also had “peace” with God. The barrier of sin between them and God was removed, because of His great love for them, especially through what Jesus had done for them (Jude, v.2).

In preparing for this letter, Jude said that he was especially eager to write to these beloved people about “their common salvation” - the great hope now and forever that they and all those in the faith had in the good news of Jesus and what He had done to rescue them.

That was the favorite message of all the Biblical writers  - what God had already done for them, through the gift of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” It was a gift earned by the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

See how that one sacrifice by Jesus was described in Hebrews 9:24-28 and again in Hebrews 10:10-14. That one sacrifice was great enough to pay the penalty for all sins of all people, and we receive the benefit of all that Christ did and are counted as “saints” as we are brought to faith and trust in Jesus. That is “the faith once for all delivered” to the people to whom Jude wrote and to all who are brought to faith in Jesus, including us who trust in Him. See also Paul’s description of a “saint” in Romans 1:1-7. All believers are already counted as saints through Jesus. This is the message that Jude said that he wanted to spend his time on, in writing this letter.

However, Jude first “found it necessary to write appealing” to the people “to contend for that faith.” To “contend” meant to struggle, to fight as a combatant for something - in this case, for the sake of “the faith.” We get our English word “agonize” from this Greek word; and added to the word is a preposition which suggests “to agonize or struggle or fight “earnestly.” Why was there a need to have an agonizing struggle? What was so important to fight about?

Jude said that “certain people have crept in unnoticed… who are perverting the grace of our God…” (Jude v.4) in a way that was “denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.” These were not people attacking the church and the faith from the outside. These were people who were part of the church, who had crept in stealthily, from the side, and were distorting and perverting key teachings of the faith, including “the grace of God,” and in the process were “denying” the Lord Himself and His Word and will.

It is not a total surprise that people who do not believe or understand Christians would be criticizing them and challenging them. It is much more difficult and dangerous when the attacks come from within from those who seemed to be God’s people. Something must be done, Jude was saying.

We will get into more of what Jude said and meant next week. Keep looking at this letter yourself. What example of past problems did Jude give? Do we still have such problems today? What should be done to “contend” for the faith? These are not easy issues and are ones that some  would often prefer not to deal with at all, in our current culture. But Jude is saying that these are dangers that we cannot ignore. The Lord’s blessings on your week.

Sermon for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - November 13, 2022

Sermon for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Malachi 4:1-6

2 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Luke 21:5-19 

Sermon originally delivered November 17, 2013

Preparing for Worship - November 13, 2022

We are now in the last two weeks of the Church Year. Our Sunday readings have to do with “end times” and the return of Christ our Savior. The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 98, a great psalm of praise to the Lord for his marvelous work of salvation. He has been faithful to His chosen people of Israel and will now perform His glorious work for all nations and make this Good News known to the ends of the earth. This will happen through Jesus Christ and His Gospel shared with all. We are to bring a joyous song to Him, with words and musical instruments, along with praises of the created world. When He returns, He will judge in a righteous and upright way.

The Old Testament lesson is from Malachi 4:1-6. Elijah the prophet (identified by Jesus as John the Baptist) will come and turn the the hearts of people, through his call for repentance and return to the Lord. He will prepare the way for the “Sun of Righteousness,” our Lord Jesus, who will bring spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sins, and joy to people who fear the Lord and trust in Him. A day of final judgment will come, though, for the arrogant and evildoers, with fire and destruction.

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Thessalonians 3:(1-5) 6-13. Paul asks that the believers would pray for him and all others sharing the Word of the Lord, that the Word would speed ahead and more people might be delivered from evil and be brought to faith in the Lord. Then they will know in their hearts “the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.” Paul also warns the Thessalonians not to become idle busybodies, refusing to work and earn their own living when they can work. Paul encourages them to be busy at some ordinary work, and “not grow weary in doing good.”

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 21:5-28,(29-36). People are admiring the magnificence of the Jerusalem temple, but Jesus warns that it will all be destroyed. Questions come, and Jesus describes some of what is coming. Some say it is like looking at a mountain range, with peaks ahead, but not an ability to tell exactly what is ahead and when. He warns about false teachers who think they have everything figured out and know just when the end is near. There will be many natural and humanly-made disasters. God’s people will have many trials and tribulations, too, but also will have “mouths and wisdom” to bear witness to Christ. Jesus tells the believers how they can escape destruction when the temple and Jerusalem are destroyed and can then bring the Gospel to Gentiles (non-Jews), along with Jews, all over the world. Believers are to stay awake in faith and prayer in the Lord. Finally, the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, will come in a cloud with power and great glory. Believers can hold their heads high, for the day of final redemption has come at last.

Study of the Letter of Jude Part 1 - Verses 1-2

We begin today a study of the Letter of Jude. You can find it right before the Book of Revelation. It is the second-last book of the New Testament. It is short, with only 25 verses. I picked this letter because we can work through it in just a few weeks, as a break from the 22 weeks it took to study Paul’s Letter to the Galatians!

Jude can a good follow-up to Galatians, too, because both letters dealt with false teachers, but in almost opposite situations. The false teachers in Galatia were trying to add various Jewish rules and regulations that the Galatians supposedly had to do in order to earn salvation for themselves. They were challenging salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. Trust in Christ was not enough, the false teachers said. In contrast, Jude was dealing with people who falsely perverted the grace of Christ by making it seem to be an excuse to sin and do whatever they wanted to do, as if God did not care.

The author of this letter simply calls himself “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude, v.1). The name “Jude” is a short form for “Judas.” (The Greek actually has “Judas,” but maybe it is translated as Jude to make sure there is no confusion with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, or another Judas, also called Thaddaeus, both of whom were among the original 12 disciples.)

This Jude seems to be the Judas identified in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 as one of the “brothers” of Jesus. He was actually a half-brother, since Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the others brothers and sisters, including James, were born of Mary and Joseph in the normal way later on. (The “James” mentioned here in Jude v.1 is not the Apostle James, who was killed by one of the Herods in Acts 12:1-2 some time earlier. This is James, another of the half-brothers of Jesus (Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3), who became a leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem (Acts 15) and wrote the Letter of James) (James 1:1).

It is interesting that both Jude and James call themselves “a servant of Jesus Christ.” But they do not call themselves brothers (half-brothers) of Jesus in their letters, as they could have. This is probably because they knew that earlier in the ministry of Jesus, they had not believed in Him as the Messiah and Savior. See John 7:5. It was not until after Jesus’ resurrection that it was clearly said in the Scriptures that they had become believers in Him. See Acts 1:14. Jude and James would also have remembered that when they and Mary had come earlier in His ministry to see Jesus, He had said, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

Jude and James knew that it did not matter if people had met and knew facts about Jesus or even were His relatives. What really counted was whether a person had been brought to faith in Jesus as Savior. That was, as Martin Franzmann says, “the tie which bound a person to Jesus and made him an obedient child of God.” That’s why Jude, in Jude v.1, calls himself only “a servant of Jesus Christ” and immediately in v.2 says that he is writing to “those who are called,” as he was, to faith in Jesus. These were “beloved” people, dearly loved by God the Father and “kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude v.2).

Paul also wrote of “the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:8-9). Peter wrote of how believers are being kept, “being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:2-5). John spoke of these gifts of God as being the definition of love and “being beloved” - “not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins”(1 John 4:9-10). Jude summed up all of this in the simple words that he wrote to believers “who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.”

We close for today with a few other introductory notes. We know nothing more about Jude than what is in this letter. We don’t know who the people were to whom he was writing or where they were located or just when this letter was written. There are similarities with some things written in 2nd Peter, so some think that Jude had seen 2nd Peter and was influenced by what Peter said, or vice versa, before Peter was put to death for his faith. This could put the letter in the 60's AD, probably between 65-70 AD.

Paul mentions in passing in 1 Corinthians 9:4-6 that there were “brothers of the Lord” involved in sharing the Gospel besides Peter and the apostles and Barnabas and he himself. Jude could have been writing, then, to churches he himself had worked with. There are a few late traditions, long after his time, that say he worked in Persia, but we don’t know if these are true. We do know that there are possible references to this letter and quotations, as early as in Clement of Rome, 96 AD or so, and numbers of early church leaders in the 100’s AD and later.

If you have time, read all of Jude and think about what it seems to be saying and warning about. See if you can find where the references to the Old Testament are found. Praise God that you have been called to faith and are kept safe in Christ Jesus. The Lord’s continued blessings.

Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - November 6, 2022

Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Isaiah 1:10-18

2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 10-12     

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon originally delivered November 3, 2013

Preparing for Worship - November 6, 2022

Most churches will likely celebrate All Saints Day this Sunday. We will focus on those readings, though some church may choose an alternate set of readings. The first lesson is from the New Testament, a vision of those in heaven given to the Apostle John in Revelation 7:9-17. John sees a countless number of people from every nation and tribe and people and language, singing, “Salvation belongs to our God… and the the Lamb.”

All the angels of heaven also praise the Lord. The hymn “This is the Feast of Victory for our God” is based on this and other Revelation passages. The people are all those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have eternal joy and blessing in Him. They are saints because they have been saved by God and brought to faith in their Good Shepherd, Jesus, who will lead them always.

The Epistle is another description, given in 1 John 3:1-3 by John, of those who will be in heaven. They are those called to be children of God simply by the love God the Father has given them. They are called God’s children already, though they are not perfect, but they hope in the Lord and His ultimate purifying power. 1 John 1:7 tells us that the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses them (and us) of all sin. In heaven all those who hope in the Lord will be perfect, as they will see the Lord as He is.

The Psalm is Psalm 149, another vision of the saints, the godly in heaven. They rejoice in their heavenly King and sing His praises. Even now on earth, the Lord is “adorning” those who humbly trust in Him “with salvation” - those who hear and use the “two-edged sword” of His Word of Law and Gospel. (See Hebrews 4:12, 14-16.) They will receive grace in time of need, and one day, the gift and honor of heaven.

The Gospel lesson is the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 5:1-12. Who are those who are truly blessed? They are those who know they are spiritually poor; who mourn about their sins; who are meek and humble before the Lord; who hunger and thirst for His righteousness, which they know that they do not have on their own; who seek to be merciful to others because they know they can only survive themselves by God’s mercy given to them as a gift; and on and on. They will live, in this troubled world and forever in “the kingdom of heaven,” simply through trusting Jesus and the words and promises coming from His mouth to them.

Study of Galatians Part 22 - Galatians 6:11-18

Last week, we heard Paul calling the Galatians and us not to “sow” seeds to our own sinful nature, focusing on and glorifying it and its selfish desires. Rather, we are to “sow to the Spirit,” as the Spirit leads us to “eternal life.” That path leads to doing much good for others, too, in gratefulness to God, including fellow believers in Christ, who are “of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:6-10).

As Paul closed his letter, then, he wanted to emphasize that this was truly his own message, written by the direction and inspiration of God. Paul wrote, “See with what large letters I am writing to you in my own hand” (Galatians 6:11). Most likely, this means that Paul had dictated this letter, written down then by someone else, but signed it in his own special way here, to give proof of his authorship.

See how Paul did something similar in 1 Corinthians 16:21, Colossians 4:18. and 2 Thessalonians 3:17, and how Peter also indicated that he wrote his first letter “by Silvanus” in 1 Peter 5:12. Even today in the US, people sometimes speak of signing their “John Hancock,” referring to the very large way in which Hancock wrote his signature on the Declaration of Independence, as the president of the continental congress and the first signer. Some think that Paul wrote this whole letter himself in “large letters,” and this might be an indication that his “bodily ailment” mentioned in Galatians 4:13-15 might have been an eye problem, causing him to write in such a big way.

Regardless, Paul went on to reemphasize a few key ideas of his letter. In Galatians 6:12-13,15, he said that “forcing” the Galatians “to be circumcised” was wrong. The false teachers were trying to “make a good showing in the flesh” for their own benefit, and not really for the good of the Galatians. They should have known that under the “new creation” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17) in Jesus as Savior, “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision count for anything” (Galatians 6:15). Trusting Jesus and what He had already done for the whole world was the key.

The false teachers were only trying to make themselves look better in the eyes of Jewish leaders by insisting on the need for circumcision and keeping other Jewish laws and traditions. This might help them avoid some of strong attacks and persecution coming from the Jews toward Christians. (Remember what Paul suffered at the hands of Jews in Acts 14:19-23. He was stoned and left for dead.) At least these false teachers were getting some Gentiles to look more “Jewish” by forcing them to be circumcised, etc. That might help these teachers to protect them from radical Jews and keep them from being “persecuted for the cross of Christ” (Galatians 6:12).

This “Jewish-like” stance might help some of the false teachers to be protected also from Roman persecution. At the point when Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, Roman leaders were still tending to be tolerant of Jewish religious beliefs. If some Christians were considered just another offshoot Jewish sect, as the false teachers were really acting like, then that might provide these leaders more protection from Romans, too.

This all changed after the Jewish rebellion against Rome in the late 60s AD and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and many Jews in 70 AD. It might have helped these false teachers and those who followed them, though, in earlier days, when Paul wrote this letter. But obviously, Jewish opposition to Jesus and pressure on the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, helped in putting Jesus to death on the cross. Jesus received no protection, even as a circumcised Jew.

Paul also pointed out that “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law.” They cannot and do not do everything required by their own standards. The standard is perfection if we want to earn our own salvation (Matthew 5:48). No one comes anywhere close to that. Paul kept saying that truth in Galatians. (See also Galatians 2:15-16, 3:10-11, etc.) The false teachers wanted converts to their pro-circumcision, pro-law viewpoint, in whom they could boast, but no one could boast of being that good, that perfect (Galatians 6:13).

Finally, Paul took himself (and the Galatian believers and us) back to where we all need to be -  to the hope we have alone in Christ Jesus and His cross (and then in His mighty resurrection from the dead for us all). Connected to Christ and His death, by His grace, though faith in Him, we died, through His crucifixion and death, to our old sinful life and nature, and are raised to be that “new creation” headed for eternal life (Galatians 6:14). (See also Galatians 2:20-21 and passages like Romans 6:3-11, along with Galatians 3:26.)

Paul boasted in nothing “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There was his hope. When Paul spoke of his own troubles and “the marks of Jesus, that he bore on his own body,” he was not boasting about himself and what he had gone through (and would go through for Jesus) (Galatians 6:17). He did not think he was earning anything, even any merit, because of his suffering. He simply knew the reality of what he and others spoke of, after he had been stoned and left for dead in Lystra, when he had been in Galatia, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Paul also may have been referring to the fact that in the ancient Greek world, both slaves and animals often bore the mark of their owner or master, sort of as cattle are sometimes “branded” in our own culture. Paul bore the “marks of Jesus” on himself, as a servant of Christ, as the Galatians and we are, too; but these are not marks of bondage, but of freedom in Christ and so many eternal blessings that are our in Jesus, even though there will also be times of suffering in this life, as we try to stay close to Christ and His Word, “walking in line with the rule of Christ and the Holy Spirit (Galatians 6:16-17).

Paul ended this letter as he began it, speaking of “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the “peace and mercy” that will be upon upon the Galatians and us, and “with our spirits,” in Christ. (See Galatians 6:16,18 and Galatians 1:3-5, which also spoke of the cross of Christ, as He gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the "present evil age.”) Note also that this is not a “theology of glory,” where we think in any way of what we have done or accomplished or need to accomplish truly to be saved. There is not an additional list of what we still need to do to be real Christians, as the false teachers at Galatia had given.

“The glory is God’s alone, forever and ever” (Galatians 1:5). Paul’s letter is a “theology of the cross” where Paul boasted only in the cross of Jesus and what He had accomplished already for us, through the cross and then His mighty resurrection. He also called the Galatians and us “brethren,” part of the family of God, simply through faith in Christ and His cross, whether we are Jews as Paul was, or Gentiles, as the Galatians were (Galatians 6:18).

Notice that Paul was also speaking of the true “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). This is no longer the Israel of the Old Testament, waiting for the promised Savior and practicing circumcision and the many Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies and laws. The Savior has come, in the Person of Christ crucified and risen for Jews and Galatians and us, whoever we are.

Paul had spoken of this “Israel of God” several times in Galatians. (See Galatians 3:5-9, 14, 15-18, 22, 26-29; 4:4-7, 28-31, etc.) There are not two separate and equal covenants, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. Paul, a Jew, never spoke that way once he had seen and come to faith in Christ. He proclaimed Christ crucified, the Savior for all, and in whom everyone must believe. He alone is our Hope and our Savior, together with the plan of God the Father and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:14.22-24,27-31, 2:1-5).

Paul ended this letter with the word, “Amen” (Galatians 6:18). He used it at the beginning, as well, in Galatians 1:5. When Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you” (as in John 3:5 and many other places), He literally said, “Amen, Amen, I say to you.” The word means: “This is really true.” It emphasizes that what is said is “most certainly true.”

We can and should say “Amen” to all that Paul has written in this letter. God gives us eternal hope in all the promises in Christ, and they are ours, simply by faith on Jesus, and not by any works we need to add. It is truly good news for us all to believe  and to share with others, in love and care for others, as Jesus first has loved us. When you doubt your own goodness and worthiness, as we all do and should, read this letter again! Our hope is in Christ alone, and His gift, His declaration of righteousness, for us, because of what He has done for us.

Sermon for Reformation Sunday - October 30, 2022

Sermon for Reformation Sunday, based on:

Genesis 4:1-15 

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18       

Luke 18:9-17

Sermon originally delivered October 27, 2013