One for One - February 26, 2023 - First Sunday in Lent - Text: Romans 5:12-19

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Today, this Sunday, we begin our trek to the cross and during our trek to the cross we are reminded of our part in putting Jesus on the cross. Yes, it was because of our sins, your sins and mine, our sins of thought, word and deed, our sins of omission, not doing what we are supposed to be doing and our sins of commission, doing what we should not be doing, it was because of our sins that Jesus had to go to the cross.
 

Today is one of those somewhat rare occasions when all our readings for the day very easily interrelate with one another. We understand that the context of the day is the fall into sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the temptation of Jesus, also in the wilderness. The Old Testament reading shows the original temptation, the first temptation of the devil who tempted Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. It was this temptation and the falling into sin of Eve and Adam that brought sin into the world and the need for a Savior.
 

In the Gospel reading we see Jesus as our Savior. We see Jesus as He came, not only to suffer and die for us, but also to live for us. This Gospel reading shows Jesus our Savior taking our place in temptation, except that Jesus does not fall but overcomes the devil and his temptations. Jesus wants us to know that He can and will help us when we are faced with the temptations of this world and as He has overcome, so He can and will help us to overcome.
 

Our text is the Epistle lesson in which Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome and to us here at St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield. Paul reminds us that sin came into the world through one man. Although, as we read in the Old Testament reading, it was Eve who sinned first and then gave to Adam to sin with her, it was Adam who was responsible for the two of them in the Garden and so it was the sin of Adam which brought sin and death into what was a perfect world. This sin of Eve and Adam brought sin into the whole world, because their sin was passed on from generation to generation and continues to be passed on. We call this original sin and this sin infects all of creation, that is, the Lord cursed the very ground on which Adam and Eve were standing and depending and the punishment includes all of humanity. Because God had put Adam in charge as His first creation, He held Adam accountable. Next Paul tell us how Adam, who was accountable for our inborn sin, was a type of the Savior to come.
 

Paul tells us that there was sin in the world even before the law was given. We might ask, “How can this be that there was sin in the world before the Commandments were given?” God had written His law on the hearts of Adam and Eve. They knew what was right, and that is all they knew, only what was right, remember the fruit of the tree of which they ate was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They only knew what was good, what was right and yet they gave up what was good and right, falling for the lies of Satan, the lies that they could be come like God, the lies concerning what God really said. Interestingly enough, we continue to fall for the same lies as Adam and Eve did in our world today. How often are we tempted to think we can be like God, or we try to be our own God by doing things our way, making our own decisions and the like. How often do we question or at least hear questioned whether or not God spoke about certain sins? Just as we see sin operating in our world today, even so, before the written law was given, there was sin and there was death which showed that there was sin in the world. And just as a side note here, it is sin that brings death. The price for sin is death. If babies are born sinless or if their sin were not counted against them until a certain age then they would not die and we know that babies die at all ages thus we know that our sin is counted against us from the moment of conception. Thus, the importance of infant baptism.
 

Just as sin came into the world through one man, so Paul goes on to tell us that justification came into the world through one man. Justification is that word which we define as reminding us that we are seen before God “just as if I’d never sinned.” To be justified is to be made right and just and holy in God’s eyes. Through one man sin entered the world, so justification entered the world through the one man Jesus who was born perfect, holy, sinless.
 

Jesus was born as the embodiment of Israel, that means that Jesus was born to do what all of humanity could not do. Jesus was born to live perfectly, holy, sinlessly, for us in our place. Jesus was born to do what Adam and Eve could not do. Jesus was born to do what the whole nation of Israel could not do. Jesus was born to do what we cannot do. In the Old Testament reading we saw Adam and Eve fail, miserably. In the Gospel reading we see Jesus triumph, gloriously, defeating Satan and temptation and we see Him do this for us, in our place, because we cannot.
 

Because Jesus was born without sin and because He lived perfectly and never sinned, so He was able to take our sins upon Himself and then, having our sins upon Himself, God held Him accountable for our sins. The punishment which was not fully given out in the Garden of Eden was inflicted on Jesus. Yes, there was physical death from the moment of the first sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve began to die a physical death, but the eternal death in hell penalty was not given until it was given in Jesus.
 

So, Adam is an opposite of Jesus. Through the one man Adam, sin entered the world and with sin came death, physical death and worse, apart from faith in Jesus, eternal death and hell. But through the one man Jesus forgiveness entered the world and with forgiveness came life, even eternal life in heaven with Him. So we see that the free gift of grace is greater than the sin of man.
 

What Does this Mean? This means that it is a fact that we are conceived and born in sin. The sin of our first parents has been passed down to us. The premise of Paul Meier’s book A Skeleton in God’s Closet is that archeologist thought they found the bones of Christ, and what would that mean? I suggested that someone write a book with the plot being that scientists believed they found the original sin gene and what would that mean? But as I make such a suggestion I want to make sure that you know that I believe that could never happen because I do not believe that there is one gene that is the original sin gene, rather original sin permeates and affects all the genes and we see this as the sin of Adam and Eve has so corrupted the very fibers of our world that as Paul says elsewhere, the whole of creation is groaning for the last days when it too will be relieved of the pains of sin. Yes, we are conceived and born in sin and we daily sin much adding to our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness. We sin in thought, word and deed. We sin sins of commission, doing what we are not supposed to be doing and more often, I believe, because we know what we should not being doing, so more often we sin sins of omission, that is we actually sin by not doing what we should be doing. And so, we cannot save ourselves. As a matter of fact, left to ourselves we would be eternally condemned.
 

Thanks be to God that he provided the solution. God provided the solution in His Son, Jesus. Jesus was God and still is. Before He came down to earth, He was in heaven enjoying all the glory that was His and yet, He gave that up in order to take on Himself human flesh and blood. He was born the way we are born, of a human mother. He was not born of rich parents, but humbly and lowly, with His first bed being a manger, a feeding trough for animals. He was circumcised and later as an adult He was baptized. All the things He did He did for us, so that He might be our substitute.
 

Jesus was true God and He had to be true God so that He could be perfect, holy and sinless. He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit,” as we confess in the creed, so that He is truly God.  He was true God and He was true man. He had to be truly human in order to be our substitute. Only as a man could He suffer the punishment inflicted on man. As a man, Jesus did what we were unable to do. He lived perfectly for us in our place. He fulfilled all God’s laws perfectly. He fulfilled all the prophecies, all the promises of God for us, perfectly.
 

The price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden. God created Adam and Eve and told them that the day they ate of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil they would surely die, that is they would begin dying a physical death, but also, apart from Jesus they would die an eternal death in hell. The consequences of their actions was that sin and death entered the world. All things were now subject to death. Paul reminds us earlier in this same letter that the wages, that is the price, what sin earns is death, eternal death and hell. The price for sin had to be paid and Jesus came to pay the price and He did pay the price, all of the price, once and for all.
 

Jesus’ life and death was for all people, that is what we call universal atonement, it was for the universe. However, even though Jesus’ life and death brings universal atonement, this atonement needs individual application or what we call vicarious atonement, that means that it must also be for me. And yes, this vicarious atonement is for me and for you. The only exception is this that anyone may refuse this gift of vicarious atonement, that is anyone may refuse the gift of forgiveness, life and salvation and one does this, refuses the gifts by not believing and not confessing.
 

How fitting to begin the Lenten season by being reminded of the reason we have Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter morning. Certainly we know and believe that God created the world, perfectly in six days, but we also understand that because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, their sin has infected and permeated the whole of creation. At the same time we are reminded that God promised to take care of the sin of Adam and Eve, the sin that separated God’s creation, His creatures, we humans from a right relationship with Him. His promise and solution was to send His Son, whose birth we recently celebrated at Christmas, to do what our first parents and we are unable to do. How fitting even more that we see Jesus doing what we and our first parents were unable to do in our Gospel reading as Jesus overcomes the temptations of the devil. And finally, here in our text, Paul writes putting these two events into perspective for us, just as through Adam sin entered the world, so through Jesus justification and righteousness enter the world. Thanks be to God that He has given us faith through His Word and Sacraments, that He continues to strengthen us in faith and keep us in faith until He comes again. And thanks be to God that His righteousness far exceeds our sin. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Lutheran Way - It Makes A Difference? (Series 1 of 9)

An Introduction (part 1)

Practice what you preach. If you’re gonna talk the talk, then walk the walk. Why do we worship the way we worship? Why is our church building built the way it is? How do doctrine and practice reflect each other? Can you separate style and substance, and what does that mean? Is there such a thing as doing things in a “Lutheran” way, and what does that mean? Does it really matter what we believe and/or how we practice what we believe? Questions, questions, questions. Why do we have disagreements over these issues, and are they really important, at least in the eternal perspective?
 

Over the years the above questions have been asked and attempts have been made from different perspectives to answer them, and yet these questions remain and continue today. Perhaps you have heard certain answers and later heard other answers, and perhaps you have your own opinion, as we all do. Maybe you are one who simply wants to “get along,” “not make waves,” and simply avoid any such discussion concerning these issues. So, are these issues important and why might they be important? Peter tells us, “. . . always be[ing] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
 

It has been asked, “What is the difference between apathy and empathy?” And someone answered, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” How true this statement is. Why should we care about what others think, and why should we care about the “why” of what we do?
 

As a pastor, I believe that it is important not only to teach the faith but to teach the “why” of the faith. If you do not know the “why” of faith, then you might believe a wrong faith, and God has given me the responsibility and says He will hold me accountable for what I teach. Therefore I teach because:
    ●    I believe it is most important that not only do we believe, but that we know “why” we believe.
    ●    I have heard too many not be able to express the “why” of what we believe.
    ●    Too many people have an inability to express the “why” of what we believe.
    ●    Because too many are unable to give an answer, a defense of our faith (and thus may even be susceptible to believing someone who can articulate some other belief)
    ●    Not caring may be seen as a low level of either acceptance of something false or misleading or seen as no faith.
    ●    God tells us, “So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33)
 

In the next few articles I will attempt to address, explain and teach so that one can give an answer to the issues above, as well as, others which have been brought to my attention.
 

Over the past few years I have been privileged to present a sectional at our Higher Things youth gathering which I titled, “Why Am I Lutheran?” I have presented much of that material here at St. Matthew in Bible class and on other occasions, and I believe it is important to be able to articulate why we are Lutheran especially when we are asked by those who have a desire to know, and if they ask, we know they will want to listen. I am presenting this material here and will be posting it on my blog so that you will have it and it will be available to others and other churches to use. As I have prefaced my presentations, if people do not ask, it means they do not want to know. So no matter what you say, they are not listening. But if they do ask, they are interested. You not only have the opportunity but also permission to give an answer, and that is the best time to answer and to give a witness. So be ready!

Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee - February 22, 2023 - Ash Wednesday - Text: Isaiah 9:1-2; Matt. 4:12-16

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we will continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we will be looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we begin with the prophecy of Jesus’ ministry.
 

Isaiah the prophet writes, “1But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:1-2). Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of a time after the dispersion when the children of Israel returned to the promised land, looking some five hundred or more years into the future.
 

Because of the constant rebellion and sin of the children of Israel, God sent other nations to discipline them, that is to bring His punishment on them. As other nations overthrew the nation of Israel the brightest and the best were carried off, dispersed to other nations. Years later God would stir in the hearts of pagan rulers to allow the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the temple. By inspiration of God, Isaiah is seeing and prophesying of the time of the Messiah coming into the region of Zebulun and Naphthali to bring good news of salvation.
 

Isaiah is seeing the time of Israel’s punishment and oppression coming to an end and describes the coming of the Messiah as a light shining in the darkness. Indeed, Jesus is the light of life, the light of forgiveness shining in a land of darkness of sin and its consequences. For the children of Israel in dispersion the words of Isaiah are words of comfort and assurance that God has not forgotten them and will once again, as always, to rescue them.
 

In our reading from Matthew, he gives the history of Jesus’ fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. As he says, “12Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned’” (Matthew 4:12-16).
 

Our reading comes after the beheading of John the Baptists and as Jesus begins His earthly ministry. Jesus was baptized by John identifying Himself with us who have been brought into the church through the waters of the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and His baptism ordained Him into the work of a prophet, priest and king. As we have heard, He who was without sin became sin for us, fulfilling all the law for us, in our place, perfectly, as our substitute.
 

During His three years of work, preaching the Gospel, forgiving sins, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons and the like, Jesus traveled from place to place, always ready, willing and able to share the good news. Matthew tells us that after leaving Nazareth, Jesus came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim. As Isaiah prophesied, so now Matthew attests to the fulfillment of his words that this Jesus is the One promised by God to come into the world to save the world.
 

Matthew attests to the spiritual condition of these people that is that they were sitting in darkness, theirs was a life of oppression. As one commentator put it, “The spiritual condition of the people was such as to represent and increase in religious blindness even over the time of Isaiah, nearly 700 years before.” “The shadow of death had enveloped them. It effectually shut out the light of life streaming from the Old Testament prophecies.”
 

But now, Jesus, the Light of Light, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world has come into their region and has brought good news and hope to the people. Jesus, true God in human flesh. Jesus, Lord of all. Jesus the true prophet, priest and king has brought a message of hope and salvation, but not only has He brought a message of hope and salvation, He has come to effect that hope and salvation.
 

What does this mean? In the beginning, soon after creation, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s one command and sinned, bringing the curse and God’s promise of a Savior. Out of all the people in the world God called Abraham and promised that the Savior of the world would be born through his family line. God continually reiterated His promise that through the nation of Israel, through the line of Jacob, God would send a Savior, one who would bring forgiveness of sins. Indeed, God’s promise was always the promise of a forgiveness of sins Savior.
 

As we know their history, as we have heard time and again and have studied time and again, God’s chosen people, the children of Israel rebelled and were punished, sought forgiveness and were delivered, rebelled and were punished, sought forgiveness and were delivered, rebelled and were punished, sought forgiveness and were delivered, again and again and again, and although they lost their earthly conditional promise of an earthly land and nation, the unconditional promise of a forgiveness of sins Savior was never negated.
 

As the Gospel writers and in particular in our text, Matthew writes, Jesus came, according to God’s perfect timing, to bring salvation. When all the world was at just the right place according to God’s perfect plan and timing, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, born to redeem those under the law. Jesus came, God in human flesh to do for Adam and Eve what they could not do, to do for the whole nation of Israel what they could not do, and to do for us what we cannot do, be perfect according to God’s command. Jesus was perfectly obedient, fulfilled all of God’s law and commands and substituted Himself for us.
 

Just as the people of the Old Testament including the children of Israel were saved by faith, that is faith in the coming Savior, not by DNA or genetics, so too, we are God’s children, the new Israel, by faith in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus, that is that He is the Savior that brings salvation to all in our world today.
 

Yes, even today we still live in a darkened sin filled world. The devil, the world and our sinful flesh continue to tempt us and to lead us to all kinds of sin and evil. In and of ourselves we have no hope, but with Jesus there is hope, that is a certainty of our salvation.
 

And so, even today, Jesus’ brings us good news, the fulfillment of God’s Word to bring us salvation. We have God’s Word which points us to Jesus and His life, suffering, death and resurrection for us. We have the sacrament of Holy Baptism which marks us, like circumcision, as God’s children. We have Holy Absolution through which our sins are forgiven. And we have His Holy Supper wherein He gives us His body and blood to eat and drink marking us so that the angel of eternal death passes over us. Just as the old nation of Israel were saved by faith in the coming Messiah, so we are saved by faith in Jesus, the One who was sent by God, as attested to by the Gospel writers.
 

As we being this season of Lent we are reminded that God continually spoke His words and promises before they happened so that when they happened we would know that what happened was according to God’s good and gracious will, His perfect plan and timing and we would believe as He spoke by the prophets of old. So, as we look at God’s promises and as we see their fulfillment in the person of Jesus we can know that our faith is not in vain. As a matter of fact we can be reassured and strengthened in our faith and then as always, with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit we will be ready to give an answer for the hope and faith we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And ultimately we will stand with all the saints at the Lord’s throne and rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Bible Is the Word of God - February 19, 2023 - Text: 2 Peter 1:16-21 - Transfiguration Sunday

As the saying goes, “Easter is late this year.” Easter is later because of the way in which the celebration of Easter has been defined, but we will not go into that at this time. Anyway, because Easter is later this year that means we had six Sundays in Epiphany and now we move forward quickly to the Last Sunday after the Epiphany which is celebrated as Transfiguration Sunday. Today we celebrate the event described in our Gospel reading, the transfiguration, that is the metamorphasis, of Jesus, His changing into His heavenly glory and the appearing of Moses and Elijah with Jesus before His disciples, Peter, James and John. This Transfiguration Event happened just before Jesus was to go into Jerusalem for the last time. We might say that this event happened as a preparation for the last events of Jesus’ earthly life, the Passion as we call it.
 

Our text is the Epistles lesson which was written by Peter, as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is important that we note, as was stated in the Gospel lesson, that Peter was there on the mountain of Transfiguration, with James and John and Jesus and Moses and Elijah. Peter was an eye  witness of these events about which he is writing and it was because of Jesus’ command that they  not tell anyone until after the Son of Man had been raised from the dead (Matt. 17:9) that Peter did not talk about nor not write about these things until this time.
 

What did Peter witness? He witnessed the Majesty of Jesus. He witnessed Jesus in His heavenly glory. Peter says, “16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (v. 16). Peter saw Jesus change, that is, and the word is that Jesus metamorphed, right before his eyes. Interestingly enough Peter does not mention the fact that he did not know what to say so he suggested the building of three booths, but he does relate this incident, this event as it is, something to which he was an eye witness.
 

Peter saw Jesus transformed and he witnessed the voice of God the Father attest to Jesus. Again, Peter says, “17For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (v. 17-18). Peter heard the voice of God the Father. We have already heard the voice of God the Father, and that happened at the beginning of our Epiphany season at Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River. Certainly this event, this seeing with his own eyes and this hearing with his own ears had a profound effect on Peter.
 

Peter saw and he heard. Peter now witnesses the power of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He writes, “19And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (v. 19-21). Although these are the words of Peter, which he writes with his own hand, he acknowledges that these are the Word of God, given to him, to write to us. Peter witnessed God in flesh, Jesus Christ, in His heavenly glory, attested to by the voice of God the Father and now he is compelled to write of these events by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Peter knows the truth of what many have a difficulty with today.
 

Today we live in a world in which the very Word of God, the Bible is questioned. We live in a world in which the questions of the Garden of Eden persist, questions which tempt us to ask, “Did God really say...?” Questions which tempt us to doubt the Bible and whether it is the Word of God. For many the Bible is not the word of God, rather the Bible merely contains the Word of God. What does it mean if the Bible merely contains the Word of God? If the Bible merely contains the Word of God then we need to be as a detective and figure out what is and what is not His Word. We need to be a detective and determine which of the Bible is bound by time and culture and which part is not. We need to be smarter than “the average bear” in order to determine what God is actually trying to say, in other words, we are not to simply believe the Word as it is written.
 

Unfortunately, and I say unfortunately, while others would say fortunately as we will attest to in a moment, unfortunately if the Bible merely contains the Word of God then not all of it is applicable. Actually, that would be an understatement. If the Bible merely contains the Word of God, then we have to find out which is that Word, and that which is not would then not be applicable to us.
 

Again, if some of the Bible is God’s Word and some of the Bible is not God’s Word then we have to decipher which is and which is not. And in our deciphering, you might suggest that one part is the Word of God and I might decide a different part is the Word of God, so that ultimately, we will have to throw out the whole of the Bible, because if some is not the Word of God, then truly all is not His Word.
 

So, why all this questioning? As I said, for too many in our world today, they believe it is fortunate to believe that the Bible merely contains the word of God because that leaves the door open to justify any deviant behavior one might wish to practice. As we asked several Sundays ago, why is it that Christian denominations that have the same Bible cannot agree on some doctrines and teachings of that same Bible? Well, think about our nature. We are conceived and born in sin. We daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. We sin freely, we sin boldly, we do not even need practice to sin it comes so easily to us. And we do not like to think about the fact that we sin, so we need to justify our deviant sinful behavior. How can we justify something that the Bible says is wrong? We can justify our deviant behavior by questioning whether or not the Bible is the Word of God, whether or not it is applicable to us today, whether or not God was really talking about certain sins when He spoke His Word. If the Bible merely contains the word of God then that leaves the door wide open for all kinds of deviant sinful behavior which may well be justified by any means of argument, and that is exactly what is happening in much of our world and even in many so called Christian denominations. That is why what has for so long been known to be wrong and sinful is making its way into these Christian denominations even to the point of condemning those Christian churches, like our own, who are not tolerant, open-minded and diverse enough to respect their opinions.
 

The question we might ask is, “How can someone question if the Bible is the Word of God or merely contains the Word of God and actually answer that question?” The simple answer is that this questioning happens when humans elevate their own reasoning, and I would add, their own tainted by sin reasoning, over God’s Word. As you have heard me say many times, are humans ever wrong? Of course they are. Is God every wrong? Of course not. So, whenever humans disagree with God, I will believe God every time.
 

Thus, we do not believe and we do not teach that the Bible contains the Word of God. We believe and teach that the Bible is the Word of God. If the Bible is the Word of God, then it is all His Word and so it must all be believed. We must believe all His Word even if and especially when it contradicts the words and beliefs of our own society and culture. We must believe all His Word even if and especially when it contradicts the seeming facts of science, physics, arithmetic, archeology, anthropology and so on. Interestingly enough, the seeming facts, of which most are theories, of science, physics, arithmetic, archeology, anthropology and so on are subject to change without notice, yet the Word of God never changes. Thus, when the word of man differs from the Word of God, it is the word of man that needs to change, not the Word of God. And please, do not accuse me of intellectual suicide. I am not advocating that we stop thinking or having intellectual discussions on matters of science, physics, arithmetic, archeology, anthropology and the like, what I am saying is that these disciplines must be subject to the Word of God, not the Word God be subject to them.
 

If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then we cannot pick and choose which parts we want to believe and which parts we do not want to believe. We cannot question whether God spoke or did not speak about certain sins. We must take it as it is given, each word in each sentence with the words meaning what they say.
 

We know and we believe, even as Peter tells us in our text that the Bible is the Word of God, given to us by inspiration. As we have been reading through Genesis and now are in Exodus we notice that these words must be true and must be God’s words because why would anyone write about such sinful and terrible people, showing all the warts and flaws, unless this is God’s Word.
 

We know and we believe as Peter tells us that the Bible is the Word of God as the Holy Spirit moved holy men to write. Certainly God used the personalities of the inspired writers, but the words are God’s Word and we believe them, all of them, whether we like them or not, we believe them because they are the very Words of God Himself.
 

What Does this Mean? This means that we can trust and believe, all of the Bible. We can believe that God indeed did create the world in six twenty-four hour days, out of nothing. We can believe that the reason we have so many problems in our world is because of the fall into sin by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We can believe that God cleansed the world with a world wide flood. We can believe that God dispersed the people throughout the world, giving us the various languages and even cultures at the tower of Babel. We can believe that the Ten Commandments are from God. We can believe that God promised to send a Savior and that the promise included the fact that the Savior of the world, for all people did come through the line of the Children of Israel. We can believe that Jesus was born of a virgin woman. We can believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the Son of God.
 

We can know for certain that Jesus lived for us, for you and for me. All that we can not do, keep the commandments perfectly, live perfectly, He did for us, in our place. Just as the stories of the Old Testament are true, they are not made up fictitious stories meant to tell us something about ourselves, but just as they are true, so we can believe that the New Testaments stories are true. We can believe that Jesus did what He did and that He did what He did, lived, suffered and died, for us and for our sins.
 

And we can know for certain that we have eternal life. I may shock you by saying this, and I have to admit, this is not something I came up with on my own, but something I heard someone say, but I thought was quite profound in itself, but one of the most profound songs we sing is not “A Mighty Fortress,” but is, “Jesus Loves Me.” It does not get any more profound than the fact that “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” The Bible, the Word of God, tells me that Jesus loves me and so I have eternal life. If the Bible is not the Word of God then think of the consequences. Because the Bible is the Word of God we can be assured of the reward!
 

This morning marks the end of our Epiphany season. Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and for forty days we will spend time on Wednesdays contemplating the fact that it was our sins that put Jesus on the cross and it was His love, God’s love for us His creation that moved Him to take care of our sins, to pay the penalty, the eternal, death penalty of hell for us in our place that we might have forgiveness, life and salvation, as the Bible tells us so. To God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

God Gives Growth - February 12, 2023 - Text:1 Corinthians 3:1-9 - Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Again this week we continue our trek through Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth. And again I remind you that these are not my words to you, these are not Paul’s words to you, rather these are God’s Words through Paul to all of us today.
 

The problem about which Paul is writing is nothing new to us in our world and in the church even today. As the teacher or preacher so well points out in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun, indeed the same problems the church was dealing with years ago continue even in our world today. The problem that God through Paul points out is that the people are not spiritual or better said, they are not mature in their faith. As Paul so bluntly says it, “For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (v. 3b). If I may be so blunt, it sounds like Paul has been to one of our voter’s meetings.
 

The people are thinking in earthly terms instead of spiritual terms. We might say they were naval gazing instead of looking to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Today we might express their problem as seeking a theology of glory which is natural to our sinful human nature. We tend to look at the outside. We tend to think in terms of who is doing what and how many people are in attendance, as if these outward signs have anything to do with the spiritual well being of a congregation or its individual members.
 

Paul goes on to express how the people are honoring the workers. Not much different than today. How many people look up to the good motivational speakers who pack the people into the mega churches? Yet, when the message is presented, it is not a message of the cross of Christ, but a message of glory, a message of law, and truly a message of which we are not capable of accomplishing. As I have said before, although there are those that would teach that you can become more and more like Jesus, that you can be the person Jesus wants you to be, that is not the message of God’s Word nor the message of the cross. As a matter of fact, if we could be the person God’s wants us to be then we would have no need for Jesus, which means such messages are actually anti-evangelistic and anti-Christ. No, what we believe, teach and confess is that the more we grow in our Christian faith and life the more we realize just how filthy and sinful we are and how much we need to cling to Jesus and Jesus alone for forgiveness. Indeed the more we grow and mature in our faith the more we will recognize our own sinful depravity, our need for a spiritual physician, our need for forgiveness of sins and the more we will have a desire to be in Divine Service and Bible Class each and every Sunday and whenever and wherever the means of grace are offered and God’s gifts are given out.
 

And so there is division. There is a division between those who look at the externals and those who look to Jesus. But, Paul is not finished.
 

To help the Corinthians and to help us to understand, Paul uses an illustration. Paul speaks of planting and watering. Indeed, a farmer may be the one who tills the soil, makes the rows, plants the seeds and waters the seeds, but God is the one and the only one who gives the harvest. We do not convert people. We do not grow God’s church nor His kingdom.
 

Paul goes on to explain that he and Apollos planted and watered as they went and preached the message of Christ’s perfect life, His perfect suffering, His perfect death and His perfect resurrection. They preached what you hear every week from this pulpit. They preached the fact that we are all conceived and born in sin and that every inclination of our hearts is evil all the time. They preached that we are born spiritually blind, spiritually dead and enemies of God. They preached the fact that we daily sin much in thought, word and action, in sins of omission and sins of commission. They preached that we cannot be the good people God would have us to be indeed we cannot be perfect which is God’s command. They preached that apart from Jesus and faith in Jesus, yes, apart from the cross of Christ there is no salvation. They preached Christ, but they did not convert anyone. They knew that it was God who gave the growth, it was God who converted the people.
 

And so Paul puts it to us that we are merely the workers. Indeed, as I have expressed many times, we are evangelists, and unfortunately we are not always good evangelists. We are bad evangelists when we wear the name Christ, Christian, and when our lives are lived in a manner unpleasing to our Lord. We are bad evangelists when we speak ill about our congregation, the members of our congregation as well as our pastors. Yet, we can be and we are good evangelists as we live and work in our vocations, as we offer our lives as living sacrifices to the Lord, as we have opportunity to give a defense of our faith, acknowledging that it is God who is the provider, not only of the opportunities, but also of the courage we are given and the very words we may speak and ultimately it is God who works and gives faith when and where He pleases.
 

What does this mean? Paul is correct, we tend to not be spiritual. Our tendency is to fall in line with the rest of the world, to live and let live so to speak. We tend to fall in line with popular culture. We tend to think little or less and less of our spiritual well being and the consequences of our lives in this world, especially in how the way we live might affect our eternal well being. We want God’s blessings, but we do not want to have to jump through any of His hoops to get them.
 

When it comes to the church, to our own congregation, we see what other churches are doing, how some seem to be prospering and growing, at least it looks that way on the outside, and so we may want to put our trust in “church growth” principles, based on man’s studies. We think in terms of glory and numbers of members as if these things means that any particular church is doing well spiritually.
 

And so we have a tendency to honor or dishonor church workers depending on our view of results. The human way of thinking is that if a congregation has a lot of people attending the pastor must be doing something right, but if a congregation does not have a lot of people attending then he must be doing something wrong. Where we fail is that we can only look at the outside. Only God can look on the inside and see if the individual members of a congregation are growing in their faith, which is true spiritual growth and true church growth.
 

And so there is division. Indeed Satan has his way with us and we do not ever realize we have become his minions. Every time we speak ill of our congregations, its pastors and members, we are aiding and abetting the enemy. Personally, I believe we must be doing something right if Satan has to spend so much time harassing and haranguing us.
 

The question we might ask and the question God through Paul answers is this: How does the Church Grow? The simple answer is that God grows the church. And how does God grow the church? God grows the church through the means He has given to grow His church. God grows His church in the ways we have talked about many times and in ways our sinful tainted human wisdom does not comprehend. God grows His church through simple earthly things like water and His Word, namely His name being put on us at Holy Baptism. Through Holy Baptism God gives faith, as He has promised. He writes His name on us. He puts faith in our hearts. He writes our names in the book of heaven. He forgives us our sins. He makes us and claims us as His children.
 

God grows His church through the very means of His Holy Word. As you have heard me say many times, God’s Word is efficacious which means that God’s Word does what it says and gives the gifts God has to give. Through our hearing and reading the Word of God we are given faith, we are given forgiveness of sins, we are strengthened in the faith we are given.
 

God grows His church through the very means of confession and absolution. Why do you suppose we have confession and absolution at almost every service we have? Because through confession and absolution God gives us forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness is life and salvation. Indeed to not be forgiven means we remain in our sin and to remain in our sin would mean eternal death and hell. But with forgiveness is life and salvation.
 

God grows His church through the simple earthly elements of bread and wine combined and connected with His Word in His Holy Supper. Through the bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord in His Holy Supper He gives us forgiveness and strengthens us in our faith. And again with forgiveness is life and salvation.
 

God grows His church. God grows His church through the means He has given to grow His church reminding us first and foremost of our need to desire to be given to and the desire to be where those means are given out, Divine Service and Bible class. God grows His church as He sends the Holy Spirit to give faith, when and where He pleases. Notice it is God who is running the verbs, who is running the show. We might ask, where do we come in when it comes to growing God’s church, what can we do? First and foremost we can be given to, because it is only as we are given to, it is only as He first loves us that we can love others and share our faith with others. Second, we can, but only with God’s help, offer our lives as living sacrifices for the Lord. Indeed as we live counter to the world, as we live, with God’s help, God pleasing lives, others will see and as they ask, as we have opportunity, God will give us the opportunity and the courage and the very words to speak in defense of our faith. That defense may simply follow Philip’s witness, to invite them to “come and see” Jesus. Notice then, as Paul is reminding us in our text, we simply till the soil, make the rows, plant the seed and water the seed. It is God who gives the growth and He gives the growth when and where He pleases.
 

Finally, we are simply left to rejoice and give glory to God. We give glory to God when we see how He gives faith when and where He pleases. We give glory to God when we rejoice in His life, suffering, death and resurrection. We give glory to God when we rejoice in the faith that He has given to us. We give glory to God when we rejoice in His loving us so that we might love others. We give glory to God when we recognize that only He can look into the hearts and see the faith He gives and strengthens. We give glory to God when, with His help and by His urging we desire to be given His gifts whenever and wherever they are offered.
 

God’s Word to us today through Paul are words of forgiveness, correction and encouragement. We are not left to depend on ourselves, no matter our natural tendencies. Instead we are relieved that we might depend on God who gives the growth, when and where He pleases. And we rejoice that He calls us God’s fellow workers as we are indeed God’s field and God’s building. Finally, we are encouraged to rejoice and give glory to our great God. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.