The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - September 26, 2021

In the Old Testament lesson, Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29, God’s people again are weeping and complaining that they have only manna to eat, even though it provided plenty of food and could be prepared in various ways. Moses is sick of trying to deal with these people and wishes he could be killed, coming close to the complaints of other prophets in weak moments. (See Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:7, 14-18, and Elijah in 1 Kings 19:4.) God is angry at these sins, but is also merciful and gives Moses more people to help him and people who have the Spirit of God clearly at work in them, too.

In Psalm 104:27-35, the psalmist is grateful for God’s mercy in providing food and other good things for His creation. The psalmist knows that if God hid His face, all would die without Him. God rejoices in His works, though, and provides new life through His Spirit. The psalmist therefore seeks to meditate on the Lord  and to sing praise to Him and rejoice in Him as long as he lives.

The Epistle lesson is James 5:(1-12) 13-20. James warns about the wealthy who gather riches for themselves in ways that are hurtful and harmful to others, and about those who are always grumbling and complaining about others. “The Judge is standing at the door,“ James warns. Instead, God’s people are to be patient, like a farmer or like Job in his times of personal and family trouble, and to know that the Lord will be compassionate and merciful, as we pray and wait upon Him and forgive and receive forgiveness along with other believers. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power.” That is most especially true of our Lord Jesus, our Savior, as He prays on our behalf. He will care for us.

The Gospel lesson is from Mark 9:38-50. The disciple, John, was critical of someone who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus, but was not one of His regular disciples. Jesus was not jealous but grateful for any who help others in His name, including help for “little ones” who have received the gift of faith, by God’s grace. Jesus went on to warn about the seriousness of sin that could lead people away from Him. People need to battle that sin and seek to cut it out of their lives, by God’s grace and help. Jesus is not speaking of literally cutting out hands or eyes. They are not the problem, but sinful temptation within us. Three times, Jesus spoke of the reality of hell and of unquenchable fire, quoting from Isaiah 66:24. He does not want anyone to end up there, but to be “salt of the earth” (Mathew 5:13), trusting in Jesus and His love and forgiveness for us, and seeking to live in peace with others and help them see the Savior, too.

Bible Study on 1 Thessalonians - Part 6 1 Thessalonians 4:9-5:3

Last week, we heard warnings about temptations to sexual immorality and possibly also to dishonest dealings with others, in business and other matters. These were real dangers for the Thessalonian believers, living in their Greek/Roman culture in a busy commercial seaport city. They are still real dangers for us today.

Paul went on then to write in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 about “brotherly love.” The people of the church at Thessalonica were already doing well with this, but Paul encouraged them to seek to do even more, because they had been “taught by God to love one other.”

The word for “brotherly love” is the word “philadelphia,"from which we have the United States city of the same name, called “the city of brotherly love.” In classical Greek, the word almost always referred to love between literal brothers and sisters, who have the same parents. Christians took over the word to refer to love between brothers and sisters in Christ, within the family of God - special care and concerns for fellow believers in Jesus.  Since Christ died for all, and wants all to be saved, that love is also to extend to our “neighbors” - care for all those God has placed around us in our life. Jesus, the Son of God, had taught, in His summary of the 10 Commandments, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

He also taught that as God has shown great love and mercy to us, we are to seek to show such love and mercy to one another, especially in forgiveness. See, for example, Mark 12:28-31 and Jesus’ parable of the servant who was forgiven a huge debt and refused to forgive his fellow servant a tiny debt - Matthew 18:23-23 and especially vs. 32-33.

Paul also applied such love to the way Christian people are a “witness” to “outsiders,” people who are not Christians. God’s people are to “aspire” - to make it their goal, their ambition - to “walk properly before outsiders” in several ways: “to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs and to work with your own hands… and be dependent on nobody” (1 Thess. 4:11-12).

Christians do not have to make a big show of what they do; nor do they need to be “busybodies," being “nosy” and interfering with the affairs of others. They can just go on with their lives and try to take care of their own needs as best they can and not idly depend on others for what they could do themselves. Greek culture often thought that “working with one’s hands” was degrading and should only be for slaves or servants. Paul said the opposite. Any honest work, even with one’s hands, is good. Jesus was a carpenter before his public ministry began; Paul was a tentmaker; many of the disciples were fishermen; parents must care for their children, often with their hands; we all have a variety of vocations, of “callings,” in everyday life, etc.

From what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians, it is possible that some Christians thought Jesus was coming back very soon, and just quit their jobs and everyday responsibilities, and were sitting in idleness, waiting for Him. This is not what God wished. Christians are to go on with their daily lives, doing their work faithfully, but ready for Jesus by faith in Him above all. Neither does God demand that everyone must have a “paying” job. Some cannot work, for a variety of reasons, including disabilities,  or may be busy as a parent or a caregiver, without pay, or be an older retiree, etc. However, our quiet, ordinary life can be a positive witness for Christ and Christian values, as much as possible. See also 1 Peter 3:15-17, for example.

Paul then moved on in his letter to address a concern he had likely heard from Timothy, when Timothy returned from his visit to Thessalonica. Some must have been wondering and worrying about people who died, who “fell asleep” before Jesus returned, on the last day. What would happen to them? Would they be OK, somehow? Paul wrote to give these questioners comfort and encouragement.

The loss of a loved one is always difficult. There is grief and sorrow. But God’s people do not need “to grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). The NIV Study Bible notes say, “Inscriptions on tombs and references in literature show that first-century pagans viewed death with horror, as the end of everything.” Paul wrote so that Christians would not be “uninformed” and without hope, even in the midst of death. (The Greek word here is the word from which we get the English word “agnostic." An agnostic is someone who just does not know, for example, whether God exists or not. He may hope God exists, but thinks he just doesn’t know.)

Paul wrote because he wanted the Christians in Thessalonica to know for sure that their loved ones who lived and died in faith in Christ would be taken care of. Paul based his certainty upon the fact that “Jesus died and rose again.” Jesus did not just die a tragic death on our behalf, in payment for our sins. He also “ROSE AGAIN.” That was the unanimous testimony of the early Christian church. Paul himself had not believed that truth and was very anti-Christian until the risen, living Lord Jesus appeared to him and turned him into a believer and witness for Jesus. See Acts 9:1-20. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the foundation of the certainty that though we die, we shall also live, through faith in Jesus and what he has done for us. See John 11:23-26, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 2 Corinthians 4:13-17, and on and on.

“Even so,” Paul wrote, “through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.” Paul declared this “by a Word from the Lord” (probably revealed directly to him by God) and then described what would happen on the last day, the day of Christ’s return in glory. People who are still alive at the return of Jesus will not “precede” (go ahead of) those who have already died, have fallen asleep (1 Thess. 4:14-15).

The fact that Paul says that God will bring with Jesus those people is an indication that the souls, the spirits, of believers go to be with Jesus in heaven as soon as they die. Death is not a “soul sleep,” where people are somehow not conscious until Jesus returns, as some try to say. Only the physical body is resting in the grave. The souls of believers do rest from their earthly labors, in peace and joy with the Lord in heaven (Revelation 14:13).

• Jesus said to the thief on the cross who came to trust in Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise”(Luke 23:42-43).
• As Jesus died, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”(Luke 23:46).
• On the third day, Easter Sunday, Jesus’ grave was empty and the body of Jesus had been raised and changed and glorified (Luke 24:1-7).
• As Stephen was stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).
• In Philippians 1:21, Paul said, “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
• In verse 23, he said, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

These Scriptures tell us that our loved ones who have died are taken care of. Their souls are with Christ in perfect peace. Their bodies rest on earth.

What happens on the last day, then? Paul wrote that the Lord Jesus Himself will descend from heaven  in a very loud, visible way. (This will not be a “secret rapture” of all living believers” for a period of time, while life goes on on earth, as some say.) Instead, there will be “a cry of command,” “the voice of an archangel," “the sound of the trumpet of God," and “the bodies of the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16) and be changed and glorified and reunited with the souls that Christ is bringing with Him, for the fullness of eternal life with the Lord. (Paul writes more about all this in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 42-44.)

The last part of all this is that the bodies of believers who are still alive on that last day will also be changed and glorified (1 Thess. 4:17 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-56) and “caught up” together in the clouds to meet the Lord, and all the heavenly believers, in the air, and all believers will always be with the Lord, in the fullness of what the eternal existence will be.

Paul has answered the concern of the Thessalonians about their loved ones who have already died. All believers, living and dead, are taken care of by Jesus, in His love for them. As Paul said, in another letter, “So, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8-9). (See also Romans 8:11 and 38-39 and many other such Scriptures.) Paul ended this part of his letter by adding, “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” Death and separation from our loved ones still brings sorrows and hurts us, so much. But we have hope for our loved ones, in God’s promises in the living, risen Lord Jesus (1 Thess. 4:13) and for ourselves, in the promises of Jesus for us, living, too: “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

The Words of 1 Thess. 4:13-18 are often read at funerals or memorial services to give comfort and hope to families. That fact that Paul tells the Christian congregation at Thessalonica to encourage one another with these words reminds us still today that this is the very Word of God Himself, coming through Paul. This Word works, whenever it is used, as we heard in 1 Thess. 2:13, whether spoken by a pastor or teacher or spoken and read by you. Share the Good News of God’s Word! The Holy Spirit is always at work through that Word.

As 1 Thess. 5 begins, Paul wrote about a related issue that some Thessalonians must have been bringing up: Just when will Jesus come back? Paul used two picture images to emphasize that it will be sudden and unexpected: like “a thief in the night” or as “labor pains” suddenly “come upon a pregnant woman” (1 Thess. 5:1-3).

We will talk more about this next week and see how Jesus and others used the same images to show that no one knows when the end will come, except the Heavenly Father. Even Jesus, as true man, did not know during his earthly ministry (Matthew 24:36). We can be prepared, though, by continuing to trust in Jesus our Savior, by God’s grace, and using the powerful Word of God. Again, we will be OK, in and through Christ Jesus.

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost - September 19, 2021

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Jeremiah 11:18-20

James 3:13-4:10

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon originally delivered September 23, 2012

Preparing for Worship - September 19, 2021

People often think today of the hard time we have as believers in Lord in a very troubled, sinful world. It is not anything new. This week, we see the opposition to God and His will being experienced in each of our lessons. Yet, God is still with His people, serving them.

The Psalm is Psalm 54. David is in danger from King Saul and is in hiding. People around him tell Saul where he is,  and Saul is coming to capture him. You can read the story in 1 Samuel 23:19-29. David writes and prays this psalm, asking for the Lord’s help. “O God, save me by Your Name… Behold, God is my Helper, the Lord is the upholder of my life.” And the Lord continues to care for him.

In the Old Testament lesson, Jeremiah 11:18-20, God reveals to Jeremiah that enemies are out to destroy him, including people from his own home town. He is “like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter” simply because he is speaking the true Word of God and warning people who are unbelievers of their sins. Yet, God will “judge” the situation “righteously” and care for Jeremiah.

The Epistle is from James 3:13-4:10. James speaks of the “jealousy and selfish ambition” of so many people who oppose “the wisdom from above,” from God, and create “disorder and every vile practice,” and so many “quarrels and fights.” James calls all to repent and “humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

In the Gospel lesson, Mark 9:30-37, Jesus takes His disciples aside to teach them about His coming suffering and death and resurrection, for them and for the world. They only care about themselves, though, and “had argued with one another about who was the greatest” among them. Jesus has to teach them again that in the Kingdom of God, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Jesus then used the example of receiving and helping a little child, as that kind of service; and He would soon give up everything by dying in our place on the cross, to serve and forgive and save us.

Bible Study on 1 Thessalonians - Part 5 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

In the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, we have heard of Paul’s gratefulness to God that those who came to faith in Jesus were continuing in that faith, even with times of persecution from Jews and others opposed to Christ. Paul continued to pray for the Thessalonian church and hoped to visit them in the future. He rejoiced in the good report about the church from Timothy, but wanted to strengthen the people’s faith and understanding on certain issues of concern that he had heard from Timothy. Paul dealt first with sexual immorality.

This was a huge problem for most areas where Paul went, sharing the Word of God and the Good News of Jesus with people. The Greek and Roman cultures had very few standards about sexual activity, for a variety of reasons. This is very simplified, but:

• They did not know the one true Triune God and the moral standards God had set for the Jewish nation in the Old Testament and the very similar standards of the New Testament. (This could be another extensive Bible study, but in summary, God created the first marriage, bringing the first two people, one male and one female, together in a life-long commitment. Sexual activity was to be within the marriage, with the possibility of children being born, but in a stable atmosphere.) (See Genesis 1-2, and Jesus‘ affirmation of this in Mark 10:2-9.)
• Ancient philosophies often said that all that mattered was the soul or spirit of a person. What one did with the body did not really matter. For some, “hedonism”- the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence - was the highest good. Most anything was permissible, if it felt good.
• Many ancient religions and temples had temple prostitutes. Having sex in this setting could help fertility of nature and crops and stir up the “gods” and “goddesses” to act in favorable ways.
• Some leaders were moral, but many were extremely immoral in their own sexual behaviors and the bad examples they set. As a result, immorality was rampant. Sailors in a seaport city like Thessalonica had the supposed “lovers in every port” where they went. And on and on.
• Women often had equally low standards, and male homosexuality and sex between men and boys (that even today many would call “child abuse”) was all too common. (If we think standards are low now, they were even worse in those days - and sadly, we seem to be moving back into pre-Christian times, where most anything was OK.)

Paul wrote, as I Thess. 4 begins, with God’s standards, “in” and “through the Lord Jesus.” He and Timothy and Silas had already taught these principles, but they needed to be reinforced: how believers “ought to walk” and “please God” and follow “the will of God.” Paul put it very simply - “abstain from sexual immorality.” The word he used is a general term for all kinds of sexual immorality - premarital sex, breaking the bond of marriage by adultery, prostitution, homosexual behavior, rape, incest, and on and on (1 Thess. 4:1-3).

Paul complimented the Thessalonian believers, as they were trying to follow God’s standard. This was a way to “please God,” in gratefulness for all that God had done in sending His Son to be the Savior. It was and is also right and best for people themselves and is not self-centered “passion or lust” and does not “transgress” against and “wrong” others in this matter, by taking advantage of them and upsetting families and children

Paul also spoke of the fact that our bodies are not our own to do with what we want, but can be “controlled” in “holiness and honor” and not in “impurity.” (See the words of Colossians 1:9-14, where we can be strengthened by God’s Word and remembering how much God has already done for us, in His great love for us, in Jesus. He will surely also tell us what is really best for us and others.)

See a much longer discussion of this same issue of sexual morality and immorality in 1 Corinthians 6:13-20. Note that as believers, we are a “walking temple,’ belonging to God, in which the Holy Spirit lives, purchased by the sacrifice of Christ for us. Our bodies are important, and we can glorify God by what we do with them, according to His will. This ties in with 1 Thess. 4:8, where Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers that “God gave His Holy Spirit” to them to bring them to faith and enable them to follow their Lord’s will “more,” as he encouraged them.

(See also the promises of God in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-28, where He predicted the gift of Holy Baptism, where the “stony heart” of our sinful nature would be taken away and we would receive a “new heart” and God would put “His Spirit within us” Who can “cause us to walk more in His statutes.” There is our power, in the Lord working in us.)

Paul “asked” the Thessalonian believers to go in this direction, but he also “urged“ them to do so and “gave them instructions” (the Greek word means almost like a manual for military service, with rules to be obeyed). Finally, he also gave them a “solemn warning” that the Lord could be an “avenger," bringing judgment, if people continually resisted God’s will. (Think of all the sexually transmitted diseases floating around, these days.) These people could eventually drift away from God himself and abandon their faith, too. This is not at all what God wants, though.

There are also a few alternative ways to understand a few of these verses. Some translate verse four to mean that God’s will is “that each of you should know how to take a wife for himself.” The Greek literally says something like “how to receive a vessel for himself, in holiness and honor.” (See the text notes in an ESV Bible, for example.) There is at least one other place in the New Testament where a wife is called a “vessel” - 1 Peter 3:7. This translation would emphasize the seriousness of making the choice about the person we marry and wanting to do so in a way that honors God  and His Word. What a blessing when we do find the right person, too, and both seek to act in God’s love and forgiveness.

If you looked at a King James Bible, you would find that verse six is translated: “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter” (in business dealings or in coveting  what others have so much that we hurt or harm them or in other such ways). That translation would mean that God is also warning about dishonest dealings in business and acting in evil and covetous ways, too. This is possible, as Thessalonica was a commerce center between areas to the east and west, and advice about dealing honestly with others would be important, in this context. Some point out, too, that there are other Scriptures where Paul closely ties sexual immorality with greed and coveting. (See Ephesians 4:19-20 and 5:3, 5, and Colossians 3:5, for example.)

Finally, take seriously that “This is the will of God: your sanctification.” God really wants us to try to do the good things He teaches us. They honor God and are best for us and our marriages and families and are helpful for others around us, too, as we interact with them. We have also heard in this lesson that God gives us His Word to guide us, and the Holy Spirit is working through that Word within us, and Jesus promises that he will be with us always. We do have His strength to help us always.

At the same time, do not think that your salvation depends upon finally being holy enough and doing God’s wishes well enough. If that were true, none of us could be saved.

For example, we just had James 3:1-12 as a reading in worship, and we are called to have holy, sanctified tongues. In that same passage, though, James reminds us that “No human being can tame the tongue.” We try, but we do not always use our tongues in good and right ways. Finally, our hope and salvation are only in Jesus and His perfect life lived for us, and His sacrifice on the cross to pay for all our sins - past sins and failings, too. We are declared forgiven and holy only through trust in what He has already done for us.

Read again the words of Ezekiel 36:25 and the promises of 1 John 1:7-2:2, including “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” There alone is our hope - not in ourselves, but in Jesus.

Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost - September 12, 2021

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

Isaiah 50:4-10

James 3:1-12

Mark 9:14-29

Sermon originally delivered September 16, 2012

Preparing for Worship - September 12, 2021

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 116:1-9. The writer is not identified, nor are the specific problems he has been dealing with; but he “loves the Lord” because when he “was brought low, the Lord saved him,” and “delivered his soul.” This is a good Psalm for any of us, when we are struggling. It reminds us that “the Lord is gracious… and merciful,” and he will hear our “pleas for mercy.” We can trust Him and call on Him all our life.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 50:4-10. In prophecy, the coming Servant of the Lord, our Lord Jesus, says that he will “not be rebellious” but will listen to and do what He has been “taught” by His Heavenly Father, even if it means being “struck” and “disgraced” and “spit upon.” He says, “The Lord God helps me; who will declare Me guilty?” Yet he will be declared guilty, as He suffers and dies in our place to pay for our sins, in His love for us. 

In the Epistle lesson, James gives a very strong indictment of us and our human condition. He uses the example of our tongues. “We all stumble in many ways.” None of us is perfect, even if we are teachers. We can sometimes create a “forest fire” of trouble with our tongues, as if we were speaking  words from hell instead of words from heaven.
“No human being can tame the tongue.” How much we all need the mercy and forgiveness Jesus came to bring to us.

The Gospel lesson is from Mark 9:14-29. A boy is possessed by a terrible evil spirit; but the disciples cannot cast out that spirit, even though they have been given such power, through Jesus. It seems as if they were trying to use their own power and forgetting to pray and ask Jesus for His help and power. Jesus then called His generation a ”faithless generation.” The boy’s father admits his lack of faith, crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” No one has perfect faith; but Jesus is the perfect Savior. He is able to and does cast out the evil spirit from the boy, and He brings us to new life and hope and faith in Him, too, by His mercy and His Word and promises.

Bible Study on 1 Thessalonians - Part 4 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

We began this lesson with prayer and then remembered what Paul had been discussing as we ended last week - the persecution that had happened at the hands of Jewish religious leaders. Jesus had warned of this. Read Matthew 23:31-34. Note the predicted crucifixion of Christ Himself and “persecution from town to town” in the early Christian church, by people who were like “serpents” and “vipers," images of servants of Satan.

Paul had, in fact, been chased out of Thessalonica by Jewish opposition, as we have heard. In 1 Thessalonians 2:17, Paul described it as being “torn away” from the group of people who had come to faith in Jesus in Thessalonica. His heart was still with them, though he could not be with them in person. He used a Greek word that meant that he was “orphaned” from the believers there - the only time I think this particular
word is used in the New Testament.

The Bible speaks of God’s concern for literal orphans and widows and the very vulnerable situations they were often left in, with the troubles of this life. (See James 1:27 and Psalm 146:9, for example.) Jesus also promised that He would not leave us as spiritual orphans, even though He would have to leave His disciples, with His suffering and death to pay for our sins. He would be raised to life again, though, and even when He returned to his Father in heaven at His ascension, He would “still be with us always, to the end of the age.” (See John 14:18-19 and Matthew 28:20.)

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul had already called the Christians there his “brothers," part of his Christian family. He had spoken of working with them as “a nursing mother” and as “a father with his children” (2:7,9,11); but now he felt and was “orphaned” from them. “Satan was hindering him,” though he tried to return to them (1 Thess. 2:17-18).

We don’t know just what other barriers Paul had at this point, though he had been chased far away from Thessalonica, into Athens and then Corinth, in a different Roman province. Some think that he would have endangered Jason and others who had hosted him in Thessalonica if he tried to come back, too. Remember again Acts 17:5-9, where Jason and others had to put up money as security, as a kind of bond, as protection from more trouble for Paul. If Paul returned and trouble broke out, many people could be in big trouble.

In 1 Thess. 2:19-20, Paul also called the Thessalonian believers his “hope” and “joy” and “glory” and “crown of boasting” on the last day, when Christ returned. This was not “self-boasting” by Paul at what he had done. It was simply rejoicing in more believers standing firm in faith, who would also have eternal life in heaven, by God’s grace.

We look forward to seeing loved ones again in heaven, some of whom we have not seen for a long time. Won’t it be great, too, to see believers we have worshipped with and prayed for and maybe helped and encouraged in the faith or taught Sunday School to, together with us on the last day? (See how Paul spoke of other believers in the same way in 2 Corinthians 1: 12-14 and in Philippians 4:1, about fellow believers still alive.)

As Chapter 3 of 1 Thess. began, Paul admitted that he could finally not wait any longer to hear what was happening with the people in the Thessalonian church. He decided to send Timothy to Thessalonica to strengthen and exhort the people in their faith, even though that meant leaving him alone to do what he could in Athens and then in Corinth.

Paul knew that the believers faced continuing affliction and suffering for their faith. He had warned them of such dangers in the short time he had been with them and told them, “We are destined” for this kind of trouble (1 Thess. 3:1-4). (There are many other Scriptures where we hear the same message. Here are just a few examples from Jesus and others: Matthew 5:10-12, 10:21-22, Mark 4:17, John 16:33, Acts 14:22.)  At the same time, God assures us that He is working for our good and the good of the church and sharing of the Gospel, even through times of trouble and persecution. (See Acts 11:19, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, 4:16-18. Ephesians 6:18-20, etc.)

Paul often taught Christians not to worry; but he struggled with his own fears and worries at times. Would the believers in Thessalonica be able to withstand temptations of the tempter (Satan, again) as Jesus had to handle just such temptations? (See Matthew 4:1-11, for example.) Could they have fallen away and all the work in Thessalonica been in vain? (1 Thess. 3:5)

Finally, Paul reported that Timothy had made it to Thessalonica and spent some time with the church there and encouraged them and returned with “good news” about their faith and love in the Lord. This may be the only time in the New Testament when Paul used the term “good news” to refer to anything other than the Gospel of Jesus our Savior. In this case, though, too, faith is only there in the Thessalonians because of hearing and being brought to trust in the good news of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Remember what Paul had said earlier about the power and trustworthiness and effectiveness of the Word of God, working in people through the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 2:13 and 3:6).

This good news from Timothy brought great comfort to Paul. The ministry of Paul and Silas and Timothy had not been in vain. (See 1 Corinthians 15:58.) In fact, Paul spoke as if he were really alive, because these Thessalonians were “standing firm in the faith” (1 Thess. 3:7-8). Paul talked then about giving great thanksgiving to God for what He had done for these people and the joy that is restored to him.

Paul had been praying again and again for this church, that he could one day see them again in person and he could continue to teach and “supply what is lacking in their faith” (1 Thess. 3:9-10). This does not mean that the people did not have saving faith, as a gift from God. They knew and trusted their Savior; but there was always room for growth in their understanding and confidence in the Lord and in dealing with practical concerns for their Christian life. We will see more of that as we get into Chapter 4, next week. That is a good reminder that we all can grow in what is lacking in our own faith and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, above all. See 2 Peter 3:18.

As happened in other letters, Paul then broke into a spontaneous prayer to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. (Clearly Jesus is God, together with the Father, and can be addressed in prayer, too!) He prayed that he could eventually have the way open to see the Thessalonians again. That prayer did seem to be answered later on, if you look at Acts 20:1-4. At least a few of the people of the Thessalonian congregation were with Paul.

Paul also prayed for the Thessalonians to have increasing love and hearts firmly “established “ in Christ. That word “established” is used by Paul in 3:2 and again in 3:13. In classical Greek, that word was used to speak of building buttresses to strengthen and support buildings. By the time of the New Testament, that word was used for strengthening many other things, including spiritual life, as Paul did here.

Paul would continue to do what he could, by prayer and by this letter and by sending help; but finally, only God could “establish hearts blameless in holiness before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” Even as Christians, we are not blameless in our life and actions. Only through the perfect life of Jesus for us and His forgiveness of every one of our sins, by His sacrificial death on the cross in our place, are we counted as acceptable to God on the last day. We wear by God’s grace, received through the gift of faith, the robe of righteousness earned for us by Jesus. The “saints” are not the especially good people who have merited God’s grace by their good deeds and actions. The saints are simply those who trust in the Triune God and His saving work for them through Jesus. That means that you are a “saint,” too, in God’s definition, as you keep on trusting in what Jesus has done for you. (See 1 Corinthians 1:2 and 1 Thessalonians 3:13.)

We will hear more about this and being ready for that last day, as our study continues next week.

Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost - September 5, 2021

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

Isaiah 35:4-7a

James 2:1-10, 14-18

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon originally delivered September 9, 2012

Preparing for Worship - September 5, 2021

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 35:4-7a, where God calls His people to “Be strong; fear not!” because He will “come and save” them, bringing healing and joy and a new creation, where it is as if even the desert is transformed. This is a prophecy of the coming of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, and what He will eventually bring to all believers in eternal life.

Jesus is “a Son of Man” in Whom there is salvation, as the Psalm of the Day, Psalm 146, predicts. He is God become man to help and give hope to all, including the  widow and fatherless and sojourners (even non-Jews). We praise Him, because he is One in Whom “we can put our trust” now and always.

In the Gospel lesson, Mark 7:(24-30) 31-37, Jesus shows that He is the Promised One, the Lord and Savior, as He fulfills portions of the Old Testament lesson and Psalm. He heals a deaf man who also is mute and cannot speak; and He meets a non-Jewish woman who has faith that even a few crumbs from Jesus would be enough to help her little daughter - and a demon is cast out of the little girl by Jesus. Jesus does all things well - exactly what is said of God at Creation, too.

In the Epistle lesson, James 2:1-10, 14-18, we are called to show no partiality, but to love the people God has placed around us, no matter who they are, as Jesus taught us. God has chosen us to be rich in faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. That faith shows itself in words and deeds of mercy for others.