The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - October 2, 2022

The Scriptures for this Sunday remind us that we are only unworthy servants of our Lord and need to keep trusting Him and His plans, no matter what. The prophet Habakkuk has to learn this in the Old Testament lesson, Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4. He cannot understand why the Lord would seem to let evil go by without doing anything about it. He has to learn to “live by faith” and wait for God’s wise ways of doing things, in the coming Savior Jesus. (If you want to look more at Habakkuk, there is a earlier series of podcasts that you can find and listen to at any time, if you keep scrolling back.)

David has learned this lesson over time, as he writes in Psalm 62. God alone is his Rock and Salvation. David will “wait in silence” upon the Lord and “not be greatly shaken,” for the Lord is his Refuge. He will not put his trust in people of “low estate” or “high estate” or in any forms of evil, but only in the power and steadfast love of the Lord.

In our Gospel lesson, Luke 17:1-10, Jesus reminds us that we are only “unworthy servants” of our Lord, even if we have done everything commanded us. And who of us has always done our duty? Have we ever caused someone else to stumble, to sin? Do we always forgive, again and again? Do we always do our expected work faithfully and then do even more, seeing it as our Master’s expectation? It is impossible. We finally are taught that we live by faith in our Lord, not by our great efforts, and the tiniest faith that our Lord gives and works in us is enough.

Paul teaches Timothy and us about that faith in our Epistle lesson, 2 Timothy 1:1-10. Paul has seen that “gift of faith,” in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and now in Timothy himself. That faith can be “fanned into flame,” not as Timothy looks at his own works, but but as he and we look at “the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” That Gospel is the Good News, not of what we have done for God, but of what God has done for us through Jesus, “who saved us… by His own purpose and grace.” Paul knows that he and Timothy and we are only servants, unworthy servants, but Jesus came to serve us and gave His life for us to forgive us again and again of every sin and to give us “a holy calling” to share with others “the promise of the Life that is in Him, Christ Jesus.”

Study of Galatians Part 17 - Galatians 5:14-21

Last week, we heard of the freedom that we have in Christ, allowing us not to be wrapped up just in ourselves, but enabled, through the Holy Spirit, to serve others in Christ’s love. This is a struggle, though, as we heard, between the new person we are in Jesus and our old sinful nature, which still troubles us. Paul encourages the Galatians (and us) to “walk by the Spirit” and not “by the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). There are good things we really want to do in following Christ, but the desires of the flesh are opposed to these good things. That is the battle we now face, as Christians (Galatians 5:17).

Paul reassured the Galatians and us, though, that if we “are led by the Spirit,” with faith in Christ, we are “not under the law,” in the sense that we must keep that law to earn God’s grace and be saved (Galatians 5:18). The law still serves its purposes, though, in reminding us of what is right and wrong and showing us where we may be going wrong and calling us to repentance.

Galatians 5:19-21 describes sinful “works of the flesh” for us. Paul says that they are “evident” - open to the eyes of people, in showing what these sinful cravings are. Paul groups them in categories, according to some commentators, including Lenski.

The first three are “sexual” sins, which were a serious problem for Greek and Roman cultures, including those in Galatia, because of very low sexual moral standards of that time - which we seem to be getting back into in our own day. The first is the term for all kinds of sexual sin, for the married and the unmarried. We get our English words “porn” and “pornography” from this word. The second word is “uncleanness” - not just specific sexual sins but what also leads to them. The third word has the idea of having all restraints removed, “plunging on as a runaway horse,” with no limits or controls on oneself (Galatians 5:19). Our sinful nature wants to do what it wants to do, not what what others think or say.

The next two words have to do with worshiping of false gods or gods of our own making. The first word is the word from which we get the English word “idolatry.” It does make a difference what or whom we worship. There is only one true God, and the Triune God alone is to be worshiped. The second word is the word from which we get the English word “pharmacy.” This does not refer to the work of modern medicine with genuine, approved pharmaceutical products; but in the ancient world, drugs and other potions were often used for “sorcery” and other secret pagan religious rites, connected with idolatry. Even today, don’t we also have much use of illegal drugs and pills and potions that can be harmful and even deadly to us (Galatians 5:20)?

The next four words refer to personal, individual animosity and conflict we can have with others. The first word is “enmity” - personal dislike and hatred toward others. That can quickly lead to the second word, “strife” and “struggling” with others, motivated by things like the third word, “jealousy” toward others. That can also result in the fourth word, “fits of anger” that we direct toward others (Galatians 5:20).

The next four words refer to conflict that also develops between parties or groups of people. People begin to take sides, in support of some and in opposition to others. This leads to “rivalries” among people and “dissensions” and can even lead to “divisions.” This third word is the word from which we get the English word “heresies," for some divisions can become so serious that some groups go away from the truth and reject it in their lives and beliefs. (Paul used the same word in 1 Corinthians 11:19, saying that such “factionalism” can ultimately show who is correct and who is not, according to the Word of God.) Such divisions are not what God wants, though, and often flow from the fourth word, “envy” even among various groups. The divisions created by the false teachers at Galatia are particularly what Paul is talking about in referring to these particular works of the sinful flesh. They had created so many problems and much confusion among the Galatians (Galatians 5:20-21).

Paul added two more works of the flesh: “drunkenness” and “orgies” (carousing and revelry that gets far out of hand and becomes immoral). He also indicated that he could add many other examples of “works of the flesh,” too (Galatians 5:21). You can find lists of “works of the flesh,” the sinful nature, in Scriptures such as Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:3-5, Colossians 3:5ff., 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Revelation 22:15, etc. Paul also added the solemn words, “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21).

When we hear those last words, it might seem that there is no hope for any of us. Don’t we all sometimes have “fits of anger” and “strife” and “jealousy and envy,” etc.? We still sin, at times, because we are still in the struggle between the Spirit and the flesh,” as long as we are in this sinful world.

A better translation of Galatians 3:21 is that we are in danger if we “keep on doing such things,” without remorse or concern or seeking God’s forgiveness and His help to do better. These lists show that we are sinners and drive us back, as Christians, to our Savior and the forgiveness and acceptance that come only through faith in Him. We will inherit the Kingdom of God not by getting everything right, but by clinging to our perfect Savior Jesus and His mercy for us. We will talk about this more next week and as we think about “the fruit of the Spirit.”

One last thought. What Paul talked about in Galatians 5:15 is a danger when the “works of the flesh” get control of us at times, even in churches and families and other groups. We can ”bite and devour one another” when “strife, jealousy, rivalries, dissensions and envy” get the best of us. May the Lord help and forgive us and give us greater love and service to each other, when these difficult times come, as they did at Galatia and as they still can today.

Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost - September 25, 2022

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

Amos 6:1-7

1 Timothy 6:6-19

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon originally delivered September 29, 2013

Preparing for Worship - September 25, 2022

The Scriptures for this Sunday are very relevant, as they speak to financial, money concerns that many of us have in these days of high inflation and uncertainties about the future. The Old Testament lesson is from Amos 6:1-7. Amos speaks words of warning from God especially to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, though he speaks also to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The rich, “notable” people of the land are feeling “secure” and they are satisfying all their own desires, while not “grieving over the ruin” of many troubled people among them and helping them. They lie “at ease” on their beds inlaid with “ivory” and their beautiful couches. They eat luxuriously and have plenty of time to listen to and sing their favorite “idle songs” and drink not just glasses, but bowls-full of wine. If they continue this way (as they did!) ignoring the Lord and His will, judgment and exile was coming for them, as it did, at the hands of the Assyrian armies.

The Psalm is Psalm 146, a psalm of praise to the Lord. The warning is not to put too much “trust  in princes” (or queens and kings) and other human beings who cannot bring “salvation” to us. Rather, our hope and help are in our Creator Lord, who “keeps faith forever” for us and cares about us in all the difficult times in our lives. Ultimately this psalm is also a prophecy of “the Son of man,” our Lord Jesus, who came to save us, no matter who we are, as we trust in Him. (See Luke 4:16-21.)

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Timothy 6:6-19. It fits best with our other readings for today. (A reading from 1 Timothy 3:1-13 could also be chosen, about important qualities needed for what we would call pastors and elders and other church leaders today. But even they are reminded not to be “a lover of money” or “greedy for dishonest gain.”) In Chapter 6:6ff., we are reminded of what is most important for us: “godliness with contentment,” satisfied with the basics we need for our life, and staying in the faith and love of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not money itself that is evil, but “the love of money” - a “craving” through which “some have even wandered away from the faith.” Those who are wealthy are called “not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God.” They are also called to do good with the blessings they have received and “to be rich in good works” that help others.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 16:19-31 - a story Jesus tells about “a rich man” who had the best of everything and “feasted sumptuously every day,” but ignored and would not help in any way a poor, sick man, Lazarus, who lay at his gate, day after day, who wished only for scraps that fell from the rich’s man’s table. Both men died, and Lazarus was taken to the joy of heaven. (Other Scriptures make it clear that he was taken to heaven, alongside Abraham, not because he was poor, but because he had been brought to faith in his Lord God. The rich man ended up in Hades, in hell, in torment, not because he was rich, but because he rejected his Lord or in his focus on himself had wandered away from the faith.) The rich man now wishes only for a “scrap” - a drop of cool water - “in his anguish in the flame” - but it is too late. He wishes then that someone could go and warn his five living brothers, who are in eternal danger in unbelief themselves. He is reminded that they have the very Word of God available for them, as he did, and if they ignore and reject that, they would not believe, even if someone would rise from the dead - which Jesus eventually did, in His victorious saving work, available to all.

Study of Galatians Part 16 - Galatians 5:13

Last week, we heard how relevant Paul’s words in Galatians are to our own day, because so many groups, including churches and other religious groups, still erroneously teach that we are saved by good works that we must do to merit our salvation, along with trust in what the Lord has done. In that view, Jesus has not done enough for us to rescue us, and we are left without the “freedom” and confidence we are meant to have through simple faith in His completed work for us. We are left with uncertainly about whether we have done enough ourselves to be totally acceptable to God and to reach eternal life.

Paul said it again in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers.” As Jesus had said about Himself in John 8:31-36, “If the Son set you free, you will be free indeed” - free from “the slavery to sin” and “its condemnation.” As Paul also wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). At the same time, Paul wanted to make it clear that this freedom is not now a license to do whoever we want in our lives.

Paul wrote, “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law of God is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13-14). Once we are brought to faith in Christ through our baptism and the Word of God, God is able to do genuine good in and through our lives, for His honor and to help other people.

Remember how Paul wrote, earlier in Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) and Paul said, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith; for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26). Paul also spoke of believers as people “born according to the Spirit,” as Isaac was, who are “children of promise” (Galatians 4:29). (See also the words of Jesus, who said, speaking of baptism, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:2-7).)

Christians are therefore people in whom both God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are at work, under the blessings of God the Father. Paul wrote about this also in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us a ministry of reconciliation.”

As Christians, there is therefore a part of us that is “new” in Christ and really wants to do the right things that God wants, in love for God and for our neighbor, and in gratefulness for all that Jesus has done for us as our Savior. Jesus describes the “good fruit” that comes as we abide in Him by faith, in John 15:3-5. We will bear some “fruit for Him,” not to gain favor from Him by following laws and rules, but just because we are connected to Him as our Lord. One of our Lutheran writings says, “Good works are not necessary for our salvation; but they are necessary.” They will be there in each of us and through each of us in some way.

We want to do good works, but not because we must in order to earn God’s favor and gain salvation. The motivation is different. It is in thankfulness to God for what He has already done for us and promised us; and God is working in us to strengthen us and help us, and motivating us through His Word. It is motivation by the Gospel, above all, and not by laws and rules we must keep. See how Paul describes this life in thankfulness to God in Colossians 3:15-17. We live by faith in our merciful Lord, not by fear. And we live in daily repentance for our sins, as our Lord taught us through John. (See 1 John 1:7-10.)

The problem is that we also still have our old sinful nature within us, with which we were born. There is a battle that goes on then, within us, even as Christians, between what we want to do as believers and what our sinful nature still pulls us to want to do. Paul described that in Romans 7:15-25. He had “the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out,” all the time. He said, “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” He called himself a “wretched man” and knew that only in Jesus Christ his Savior, did he have forgiveness and “no condemnation,” even in his struggles. (See Romans 8:1-4.) He thanks God that he will have victory through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25) and not by his own efforts.

Next week, we will see how Paul described walking by the Spirit, in contrast with living in the desires of the sinful human flesh. That struggle is part of our life, too, as Christians, but we have hope in Christ and in His Holy Spirit, living in us.

Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost - September 18, 2022

Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Proverbs 25:2-10

Hebrews 13:1-17

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon originally delivered September 1, 2013

Preparing for Worship - September 18, 2022

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 113, a psalm of praise for the special covenant name, “Lord” (Yahweh), given to Moses to bring to the people of Israel as they were rescued from slavery in Egypt. This name is repeated three times in the opening verse, and five more times in the verses that follow. This psalm later became the first of a set of psalms (113-118) called the Hallel (Praise), which was sung as people went up to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration and then at the Passover itself. Jesus and His disciples probably sang this psalm at His “Last Supper” before His death. The Lord is “high above all nations,” yet He stoops down to help the “poor” and the “needy” and even the “barren,” like Hannah in the Old Testament. (See her song, in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.) The Lord lifts them all up and blesses them, as Jesus would when He came to this world to save us all, princes or poor and needy. Hallelujah! -which means,: “Praise the Lord!”

The Old Testament lesson is from Amos 8:4-7. The Lord speaks to His own people, who are trampling on and cheating and deceiving the poor and needy for personal gain. They were even willing to force the poor into slavery for as little gain as “a pair of sandals.” The Lord says that He will not forget their evil deeds, and judgment is coming upon them.

The Epistle lesson is from 1 Timothy 2:1-15. Paul is teaching a younger pastor, Timothy, about what is important for public worship. He stresses that prayers and thanksgiving be made for all people. (That is why we still have a “General Prayer” in worship, covering the joys and needs of many, including those in authority, that we have a “peaceful and quiet” society.) The word “all” is used five times in the first six verse. Everyone is important to the Lord. At the same time, Paul stresses an unpopular idea in our own day, but which we still follow - that only men are to be the leaders and teachers in public worship, as part of God’s order of creation and in a fallen world. Women are encouraged to be more concerned about inner spiritual beauty than outward appearance. The same is true for men, who are to serve “without anger or quarreling.”

Above all, the one true Triune God is to be at the center of worship and especially the work of Christ Jesus, who became man and “gave His life as a ransom for all” - men, women, and children. “God our Savior desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 16:1-15. This is a difficult passage, as Jesus tells of a wasteful manager who is losing his job and uses the owner’s money to try to make friends of people who owe the owner money, by lowering their debts. The owner finds out and admires the “shrewdness” of the manager, thinking about the future, though he certainly cannot approve of what the manager has done. Jesus then goes on to say that our money and possessions can be used “unrighteously,” but they can also be used for good, in “serving God” and helping others find the “eternal dwellings” of heaven through faith in Jesus as Savior. Jesus then spoke to Pharisees, who had a reputation of loving money for personal gain and prestige, and warned them (and us) that He knows what is truly in the hearts of people - trust in the Lord or in ourselves and our desires.

Study of Galatians Part 15 - Galatians 5:13

Paul said it again, as Galatians 5:13 begins. “You were called to freedom.” He was referring once again to what he had been saying throughout Galatians - that salvation comes to us purely by the grace of God through the gift of faith, of trust in Jesus and His saving work for us. Our human works cannot save us or ever contribute to our salvation. Jesus has done all that we need, as we stay in faith in Him, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Listen again to a little of what we have already heard in Galatians:

• “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” (Galatians 1:3-4)
• “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16)
• “Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith, just as ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness?’” (Galatians 3:5-6)
• “The promise by faith in Jesus Christ (will) be given to those who believe.” (Galatians 3:22)

The focus is always on Jesus and trusting what he has done for us to save us - not on what we need to do for our salvation. This could be summarized by what Paul wrote in Romans 3:21ff: “But now the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law… the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe… (who) are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (God) is the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what become of our boasting? It is excluded… For we hold that one is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law” (portions of Romans 3:21-22).

Why did Paul keep saying these same things, and why am I emphasizing this so much in what I say and write? Because this is the central teaching of the Christian faith. It was being challenged by false teachers in Paul’s day, and it is still being challenged by so many people and groups still today. I have said I would give you current examples, and that is what follows here. I can only give brief descriptions and a few quotations, but am trying to be fair in what I say. If anyone wants more explanation, let me know.

Obviously, atheists do not believe in any god or higher being and can only trust in themselves and other human ideas. Agnostics are not sure if there is a god or not, and what to think about Jesus, and ultimately have to trust themselves and whatever they think. Non-Christian religions and groups will not talk about Jesus at all, or only as a kind of prophet or teacher, and certainly not as the Savior of the world.                                    

Groups that call themselves Christians will talk about Jesus, but not necessarily accurately and according to what the Bible says. There are very liberal churches and groups that question many things in the Bible and would see Jesus, at best, only as a good teacher, whose example and ideas we should follow, if we can sort out what he really said and what is really true. Such people will accept only what seems rational and reasonable to them and to human thinking today. Modern media likes these non-traditional and controversial ideas. All such views are very different from Paul’s, who was an eyewitness to what he described and what Jesus directly taught him and claimed that what he said and wrote was true and accurate.

Traditional Christians will take more seriously what the Bible says, but can mix in what they see as our own human responsibility for our salvation, as well. Sometimes this happens because churches and people accept additional and later traditions and writings that they make equal to and almost more important than the Biblical revelation.

The Roman Catholic Church is an example of this, saying that Jesus paid for the “eternal” consequences for our sins, but we must pay for the “temporal punishment” of our sins. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Every sin… must be purified either here on earth or after death in the state called Purgatory.” How do we accomplish this purification (according to the Catholic Church)? “By works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer, and the various practices of penance” (things that people are required to do by a priest, after they have confessed their sins to him). In the Catholic view, people also have obligation to pray for and do good works on behalf of their dead relatives to help pay for their sins and get them out of Purgatory more quickly. People can also pray to Mary and to other saints, especially holy people, to get help from the “treasury” of their “prayers and good works.” These saints have already “attained their own salvation and at the same time cooperated in saving their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body” (The Church). 

The Roman Catholic Church clearly says that God gives us “the initial grace” we need. But then, “Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.” The Roman Catholic Church’s Council of Trent condemned in several ways the Biblical doctrine of justification by God’s grace through faith alone. Here is one example: “If anyone saith that by faith alone the impious is justified, in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to the obtaining the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will, let him be anathema” (cursed and condemned).

Clearly, in the Roman Catholic Church, one is saved not only by faith in Christ, but also by one’s own work and efforts and merits and by gaining the merits of others. And these ideas are not in Scripture but were developed in the traditions of the Roman church in later centuries.

The same thing is said in the Eastern Catholic or Orthodox Churches. An Orthodox Confession reads, “What must an Orthodox and Catholic Christian hold and observe in order to inherit eternal life? Answer: Right faith and good works.” “We believe that a man is justified not simply by faith alone, but by a faith which is active through love, that is, through faith and works.” Faith is simply assent to Orthodox or Catholic doctrines - rather than confidence in Jesus and His completed, saving work for us.

Many Protestant churches also emphasize our cooperation with God in the work of our salvation, to one degree or another. Churches that are influenced by Arminian ideas tend to downplay the seriousness of our original or inherited sin, from the fall into sin by Adam and Eve. They would say that we are not “dead in our trespasses and sins, by nature,” and that God must therefore make us spiritually alive, as Ephesians 2:1-7 says. Instead, these groups say that we are capable of and must make the first moves toward God, by opening the door to Him and confessing our sins and saying prayers a certain way, “as an act of our own will.” Only then will God respond to us and make us His own. As one prominent Baptist preacher said in the past: “God casts a vote. The devil casts a vote. And you cast the deciding vote.” in this view, your decisions seem to be the real deciding factor in your being saved - more than the decisive saving work of Christ for you.

The Christian life is important, but some Protestant churches put such tremendous emphasis on what we now do as Christians that it almost sounds as if our salvation depends on how holy our life becomes. Some go so far as to say that we can stop sinning, though we may make “mistakes,” whatever that means. Others say that we can become perfect if we try hard enough - and that is what we should try to be doing. The emphasis switches from “Christ crucified” and what He has done for us, to what we are doing for Christ and how well we are following His rules and expectations, almost as if our salvation depends on doing it all well enough.

We also have so many cultic groups around. The Seventh Day Adventists still insist that we must worship on Saturday and not do any work that day and must follow many other Old Testament rules, just as the false teachers were saying in Galatia.

The Mormons have the Bible plus their own Scriptures, which are really more important, in their view. They call themselves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; but Joseph Smith seems more important than Jesus in much of what they say. Becoming a “saint” by following all of their rules and regulations is really most important. They even say that you could become a “god” just like Jesus and have your own planet, some day, if you work hard enough at it all.

I also receive a mailing from another group called the United Church of God, an offshoot of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God. They have Saturday worship and focus on many Old Testament festivals. They talk about Jesus and His millennial reign here on earth (an idea most Christian do not believe in - rather, He will return to raise the dead and take all believers in Christ to eternal life in heaven, etc.) But their focus again turns to what good works we are doing. “We can follow God’s commands today, celebrating the Day of Atonement and all of His Holy Days and completely submitting ourselves to His will in our lives.” Again for them, faith in Christ our Savior is not enough to save us.

I could go on and on with more false and confusing ideas around today, too. That is why Paul spent so much time talking about salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ’s work already done for us. It is still important for us to hear today. Christ stays at the center of the Bible for us, and our confidence about our eternal future is in Him, not our performance.

At the same time, beginning next week, we will hear Paul talking about the right understanding of how doing “good works” does fit into our life in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Our “freedom” in Christ is not a license to do whatever we feel like. That is how many look at “freedom” today, as an old poem by William Ernest Henley said: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” But that is not what Christ or Paul taught. Join us next week to hear more about all that.

Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost - September 11, 2022

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

Isaiah 66:18-23 

Hebrews 12:4-24

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon originally delivered August 25, 2013

Preparing for Worship - September 11, 2022

There is always a Good Shepherd Sunday on the 4th Sunday of the Easter season, showing that our Lord Jesus is our Good Shepherd. The readings this Sunday have a similar emphasis, but reminding us that we have all been lost sheep in this troubled world, with a sinful nature and many temptations to sinfulness. We would stay lost if it were not for God’s merciful help for us, in finding us and bringing us to Himself.

The Old Testament lesson is Psalm 119:169-176. The Psalmist has written verse after verse, speaking of the greatness of God’s Word and how much he loves and appreciates the Lord and His Word. Yet at the end of this long psalm, the writer still has to cry out for the right “understanding of the Word” and “longs for the Lord’s salvation.” He has to admit that he has “gone astray as a lost sheep,” and needs the Lord to “seek him” and draw him closer to Himself.

The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel 34:11-24. God speaks and promises that “He will search for His sheep and will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” Some may neglect His sheep, but the Lord Himself will “seek the lost and bring back the strayed and bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.” There will one great Shepherd, from the line of David, Who will especially “feed His sheep” -  our Lord Jesus

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17, Paul sees himself as “the foremost, the chief, of sinners, as a blasphemer and persecutor and opponent” of Christ and Christians. Yet even he received mercy because “Jesus came to save sinners” and if Paul could be saved, anyone can be rescued, by Christ's grace, no matters what we are struggling with or where we are spiritually.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 15:1-10, Jesus Himself is being criticized for receiving “sinners” and even showing care for them by “eating with them.” Jesus tells parables of lost sheep and lost coins. If only one is lost, there is still the greatest of care and concern for that one sheep or one coin until it is found and restored. No one can repent and find his own way home. It is the Lord’s doing, by His mercy and forgiveness for the lost, even us. He rejoices over each one of us, who has been brought to faith in Him, through His Word and Baptism and all the good gifts He gives to us.