Working Together for Our Good - July 30, 2023 - Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12) - Text: Romans 8:28-30

Last week we were reminded by Paul that God never promised us that life would be easy. I might suggest that the phrase, “God never promised us a rose garden,” is quite true, because the fact is that even roses have thorns. So, even with the beauty of the rose comes the pain of the thorns. There may be times in our lives when everything is beautiful and there may be times when things are thorny. Yet, Paul’s ultimate reminder was that our present suffering is nothing, really nothing, compared to the glory which will be ours forever in heaven. This morning Paul again reminds us of the fact that our God is a God of love who never leaves us nor forsakes us and as He is always with us through good times and bad times. Paul even reminds us that it is God who works all things together for good.
 

This morning, in order to better understand our text, we will begin in the middle, at verse thirty, and work our way back to verse twenty-eight. First, which is the middle in our text, Paul talks about predestination. We read verse thirty, “30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”(v. 30). Very often people have questions concerning this thing called predestination. Who did God predestine? Did God predestine only some to go to heaven and others to go to hell. The logic is that if He predestined some to go to heaven and we know others are going to hell, then, logically speaking, and here I would say according to fallible human thinking, He must have predestined the others to go to hell. However, that argument is not substantiated by God’s Word. As a matter of fact, God’s Word never tells us that He has predestined anyone to hell, but actually tells us the opposite. According to Paul, writing young pastor Timothy, God’s will is that all people are saved. Paul says, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4). God’s desire is not that some are saved and others are not saved. His desire is that all people are saved. So this negates the flawed human logic that God has predestined some to be condemned. Again, this reasoning is why I always remind you that humans can and do get it wrong so when human reason disagrees with God and His Word, I will believe God.
 

So, how does God work out His desire? He has called all people to be saved. How has He called all people to be saved? The way in which we have been talking about over the past few weeks, through means, namely, through the means of grace. Through the Word of God all people are called to believe in Jesus as their Savior. The Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to give faith and forgiveness and with faith and forgiveness is also given life and salvation. This is God’s usual way of working with us in His world today. This is God’s usual way of calling people to faith. Certainly He can call directly as He did the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, but that is not His usual way of dealing with us in our world today. God’s desire is that all people are saved and He calls all people to faith through His Word. And here again, as well, as some of you may have heard me say before, I really like the character of Ebenezer Scrooge in the story, A Christmas Carol, because as he says he does not believe in ghost because it could be something he ate. Whenever we hear someone speak of God speaking to them directly, it could have been something they ate that brought on a bad nightmare. Anyway, we can be most sure that God speaks to us through the means He has given, especially His Holy Word.
 

So, then, back to the question, “How come some are not saved?” Some are not saved because some refuse and reject the call. This refusal and rejection should not be a surprise to us. Even as God has called us and given us faith and all His good gifts and blessings, we constantly refuse the gifts He has to give as well. Whenever we fail to remember our Baptism, we are refusing the gifts God gives through our Baptism. Whenever we fail to read our Bible, we are refusing the gifts God gives through His Word. Whenever we fail to confess our sins, we are refusing the gift of God’s forgiveness. Whenever we fail to come to the Lord’s Supper, we are refusing the gifts of God’s forgiveness and strengthening of faith. Whenever we fail to be in Divine Service and Bible class, we are refusing the gifts and blessings God gives through His Word and the hearing and study of His Word. Yes, we daily, and weekly refuse the gifts God has to give. Fortunately for us, the only condemning refusal, that is the only unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit. What that means is, refusing the Holy Spirit is refusing faith in Jesus. In other words, the only unforgivable sin is dying in unbelief. So, although we may at times refuse the gifts God has to give, we still cling to our faith in Jesus. Whereas, those who refuse faith in Jesus are refusing all God’s gifts. Thus, to complete Paul’s words in this verse, one who dies in unbelief has no glory because he or she desires to stand before God of their own justification meaning they are refusing Jesus’ justification, meaning they are standing before God as sinners, condemned sinners. Thus, they have refused God’s call to faith and His desire for their salvation.
 

This predestination does not negate nor contradict the fact of God’s foreknowledge. Backing up to verse twenty-nine, Paul says, “29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (v. 29). Although God’s desire and will is that all people are to be saved, being God, He knew before He even began creation who would refuse. Again, just because God knew who would refuse and reject does not mean He has determined it would happen. He does not make this refusal and rejecting happen. It is like when a teacher has a certain student in her class. She knows when that student is sitting next to another certain student what will happen, they will get into trouble. It is not that she has predetermined this, but she just knows it will happen. The only difference between this teacher and God is that what God knows actually will happen.
 

A part of God’s foreknowledge is that He knew He would send Jesus to take care of our sins. Even before He created the world. Even before Adam and Eve were created, God knew they would sin. Even before you and I were conceived, God knew us and He knew our name. He knew when we would be conceived. He knew when we would sin. He knows when we will continue to sin. Before sin entered the world, God knew what He would do. It was no surprise to Him that Adam and Eve disobeyed and brought sin into the world.
 

God created a perfect world, which He knew His creatures would mess up, but God knew He could and would make everything right. He knew He would send His Son, even Himself to take on human flesh and blood, to became as one of His creatures, except without sin, in order to do for us, in our place, what we are unable to do. Jesus came to bring us back into a right relationship with Himself. And God knew beforehand as well. God knew us, before we were created. His will is that we will be as His Son, that we will believe in His Son so that we might have eternal life with Him in heaven.
 

Because God knows all things, it is not difficult for Him to work out the good for us, His children. We back up to verse twenty-eight. Paul says, “28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (v. 28). Last week we mentioned again the question which is actually the title of a book, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People, the problem is the premise of the book is wrong. A better title would be, Why Do Good Things Happen to Sinful People? And the answer is, of course, because God loves us.
 

Now, Paul says that it is for those who love God that the good is worked. We understand from other parts of Scripture that this is not the first and prime thing. We understand that we cannot love God unless He first loves us. And time and again we are reminded by His Word of His love for us. Greater love can no one have than this, that one would die for another. Jesus shows His love for us in that He gave His life for ours. We are called by God, who knew us from before creation, to believe in Him, to be given His gifts, to be justified and glorified by Him. And as Paul lays out in the last half of our text, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Indeed, God is the prime mover.
 

We love because He first loved us. We love as we reflect His love back to Him and others. You have heard me use this illustration before, it is like the Sun and the moon. The moon has no light of its own. Whenever we see the moon shining in the sky, it is because the moon is reflecting the light of the Sun. We have no love of our own. When we love God and when we love others it is because we are merely reflecting the light of the Son of God.
 

So, what does this mean? As the phrase, sort of goes, “life happens” and God knows what will happen, but He does not predestine or predetermine  life to happen or what will happen in life. God gives each of us a mind to think and to make decisions. And here remember I am speaking on the order of Sanctification, not Justification. Many times it does not matter to God what decision we make, if we choose this or that, He will bless us either way. Please understand, this does not mean that God does not care, sometimes He simply gives us more than one option and He will bless us no matter what we choose. Certainly when it comes to temptation and sin His desire is that we make the right decision, which we can only make with His help. God’s desire is that we do what is good and right. He does not predetermine our doing what is good and right, just as He does not predetermine when we do what is wrong and sinful.
 

God is the prime mover. He has created us to love us and He has given everything to us. He gives us life at conception. He gives us new life, eternal life through the waters of Holy Baptism. He gives us faith and strengthening of faith through His Holy Word. He gives us forgiveness of sins through Holy Absolution and through His Holy Supper. He gives and He gives and He gives and we are given too.
 

God loves us so very much and He has so many gifts and blessings that He desires to give to us. He shows the ultimate love in the giving of His life, in the giving of Jesus’ life on the cross for us and for our sins. And God continues to watch over us and work out the best for us, according to His good and gracious will. We may not understand what His good and gracious will is at the time we are going through the struggles of life. We may not even see it later. But, by faith in Jesus we can be confident that God is working out the best for us.
 

By faith in Jesus, given through the means of grace, we have been predestined to eternal life. We have been justified and Jesus works to conform us to His image.  Because of His love for us, all who love Him, as a response of His first love for us, know that all things work together for our good according to His good and gracious will. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

We Have Hope - July 23, 2023 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11) - Text: Romans 8:18-27

You may remember back at the beginning of this season, the season of Pentecost, I told you that the color for this season is green. Green is the color of growth and so that is what we do during the long Pentecost season, we hear God’s Word and we grow in our faith. We have been growing as we have been listening to Paul teach us about the need to hear the law and the Gospel; to properly distinguish between the law and the Gospel; that we are at the same time sinners and saints; that we are on our way through this road of life to heaven; and today Paul continues teaching us. This morning we hear that this road of life may not always be an easy road, but we do have the promise that God is with us as we travel this road of life and that no matter how bad things might seem to get while we are here on this earth, the bad really is nothing compared to the glory that will be ours in heaven.
 

Paul begins by describing our present sufferings. We begin at verse eighteen, “18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (v. 18-22). There has been much debate over the years as to why there is suffering in this world. Some have asked the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And here Paul explains that suffering is a result of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Before Adam and Eve sinned everything was perfect, was good and even was very good, but after Adam and Eve sinned, God punished Adam and Eve and cursed the earth.
 

So, now the whole of creation is subject to the curse, is subject to death and decay. This is not a happy scenario. Sin brought death. The bottom line is that at the moment of conception, we begin our journey toward our own physical death in this world. There is simply no way around it. All people, all animals, all things in this world are subject to death and decay.
 

But the good news is that this condition is merely a temporary condition. Our suffering in this world is merely a temporal suffering, in other words, it is only while we are living in this world. Our suffering is not, and will not ever be an eternal suffering. An eternal suffering is eternal death in hell. By faith in Jesus, who suffered the eternal punishment of sin for us, in our place, we will never suffer that eternal punishment. Certainly we may at times suffer for the consequences of our sins, our actions, while we are living in this world, but thanks be to God we will never suffer the eternal punishment of eternal death in hell.
 

So, although we may experience some suffering at the present time, we still have hope. Paul outlines our present hope beginning at verse twenty-three, “23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (v. 23-25). Yes, we have hope. We have God’s promise that He has taken care of everything, that He has fulfilled everything in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus took care of our sins. He took care of our inborn, original sin as we call it, that is the sin with which we are born. And He has taken care of the punishment for our actual sins, those sins we daily commit, those sins of thought, word and deed, those sins of omission, not doing what we should be doing and those sins of commission, doing what we should not be doing. Jesus paid the price, on the cross for all sins, all sins of all people, of all places, of all times, and most especially for your sins and my sins.
 

Not only do we have hope because we have forgiveness, we also have been given faith. Through the waters of Holy Baptism we are given faith and thus are saved. Through the Word of God we have what He declares, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. Through the means of grace, that is through the Word of God, through the sacred acts of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, through the gift of Holy Absolution, we have exactly what our Lord declares us to have, faith, forgiveness and life, even eternal life. These are not things we get ourselves, but these are indeed gifts from our gracious and loving Lord.
 

And thus we have hope. Of course, we understand, as Christians, that our hope is not the same as the hope of this world. Hope in this world usually refers to something that is a maybe, an uncertainty. Our hope as Christians is a certainty. Our hope as Christians is a confidence. As we fix our eyes on Christ our Savior, our hope embraces, expects, trusts and patiently awaits the gifts our Lord has to give to us.
 

Not only do we have hope, but we also have help. Paul goes on to tell us of our present help. We pick up in our text beginning at verse twenty-six, “26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (v. 26-27). The work of the Holy Spirit is to give us faith and as we have said, He gives faith through means, namely through the means of grace.
 

Not only does the Holy Spirit give us faith but He also works to strengthen and keeps us in faith and this work He does as well through means, the means of grace. I tend to believe our biggest challenge as Lutherans is that we tend to sit on our grace. And I believe we sit on our grace because we do not actually believe we are sinners, at least not too bad or too big of sinners, after all, we are constantly told by the world that we are pretty good people and there are a lot of people who are worse sinners than we are in this world. What we fail to recognize is that God’s demand is perfection. When we place our imperfect lives next to God’s demand of perfection, then we see just how sinful we are. As I have mentioned to our Bible class, one of the differences between we Lutherans and other denominations is that other denominations confuse the Law and Gospel and turn the Gospel into Law. They suggest that we should be and we can be the good people God would have us to be and as we grow in our faith we do become the good people God would have us to be, and actually we become so good we really do not even need Jesus any more. As Lutherans we believe that as we grow in our faith we see more and more just how sinful we truly are and how much more we need to cling to Jesus, just Jesus for our salvation.
 

I believe this understanding or misunderstanding explains our misunderstanding of what God means by regular Divine Service attendance. I believe that as members of this congregation we believe that we are in Divine Service on what might be considered a regular basis. And you know how I encourage making regular, and diligent use of the means of grace. Now, by regular I believe that for some people that means once a year, or once a month or once every other week. Thus, we may be regular, according to our own definition of regular, but we are not really diligent. To be regular and diligent means that God wants us to be in Divine Service whenever the doors are open for worship. Now, I know, for some of you I am preaching to the choir, because you are here every Sunday, but some of us are not here every Sunday. Understand, I am not saying this to shame anyone or to belittle anyone, I am saying this because, if we really believe that our Lord comes to us through means and that the Holy Spirit strengthens us through means, and that we are sinful, imperfect human beings in need of forgiveness, then we will desire, we will want to make sure that we are where the means are present and the gifts are being given. So, I guess this is one of those areas where the Holy Spirit still has work to do, at least on many of us. And where we are to encourage each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
 

Yet, the Holy Spirit has more work and that is that He also prays for us. Certainly we are to pray for ourselves and others, but we do not always know for what we need to pray. We may think we know what we need, but more often than not we only know what we want. God knows what we actually need. And thanks be to God that the Holy Spirit does pray for us, because, again, who knows better what we need and what we need to be prayed for than the Holy Spirit.
 

What does this mean? We are reminded that when God created the world He created everything perfect, holy, and sinless. Everything in the beginning was good and even very good. In the beginning there was no sin and there was no death. In the beginning there were no temporal consequences for actions.
 

But then man messed up what was perfect. Eve and Adam disobeyed God. They questioned God, “Did God really say?” They desired to be like God, knowing good and evil. They partook of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they brought punishment and death into the once perfect world. Adam and Eve sinned and yet God did not reject them. Instead He came and promised to mend the relationship that was broken between Himself and His creation. He promised to take care of the punishment which He had imposed on Adam and Eve and all humanity, the punishment of eternal death and hell.
 

Jesus came, God in flesh in order to bring us back into a right relationship with God, with Himself. Jesus did what God demanded and what mankind could not do. Jesus lived perfectly. He obeyed all God’s commands perfectly. Then He took our sins and the punishment for ours sins upon Himself. He suffered the eternal death penalty of hell for us in our place. And He also suffered much of the temporal consequences for our actions for us in our place as well. Jesus died. But death and the grave had no power over Him, because He rose from the dead, victorious over sin, death and the power of the devil. Before He ascended He promised that He would come again and that He would send the Holy Spirit to work in us.
 

Today the Holy Spirit continues to work. He continues to come to us. He continues to give, strengthen and keeps us in faith. He continues to work through the means of grace, as we make regular, every Sunday, and diligent, everyday use of the means of grace, reading our Bible, remembering our Baptism, confessing our sins, coming to the Lord’s Supper, He works to strengthen and keep us in faith.
 

And finally, we have hope. Just as God fulfilled His first promise, to send a Savior and just as Jesus fulfilled that promise, so we know that Jesus will fulfill His promise to return. Ours, then, is a certainty that Jesus will return. And so we spend our time getting ourselves ready and keeping ourselves ready for that return.
 

God never promised that life would be easy. But He does promise that He is with us and that He will be with us as we face the trials and difficulties in this world. And we know for certain that whatever we do suffer in this world, it is really, nothing, compared to the eternal glory which we will share in heaven. Thanks be to God and to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Our Adoption - July 16, 2023 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10) - Text: Romans 8:12-17

The Apostle John tells us, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is” 1 John 3:2 (ESV). In other words, John tells us the same thing Paul has been telling us. Over the last couple weeks Paul has been telling us the importance of hearing the Law and the Gospel, the importance of properly distinguishing between the Law and the Gospel, and the importance of realizing our own state of being, that is that we are at the same time both sinner and saint. John simply expresses this as telling us that we are now, at this time, not what we were before, and what we were before was complete lost and condemned sinners, and yet we are not what we will be in heaven, that is in heaven we will be complete saints, but instead we are on this road of life as sinner/saints. This morning Paul out lines for us what we were like before being saved, as he says, before being adopted, and what we are like after our adoption.
 

Remembering David’s words, ‘we are conceived and born in sin,’ Paul tells us, beginning at verse twelve, “12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (12-13). Immediately after birth and truly from the moment of conception before we were baptized, before we were given faith, we were lost and condemned creatures. There is no way around this unhappy scenario. Before our Lord gave us faith our spiritual status was that we were lost. But as I say that, let me assure you especially if you have lost a child as a stillborn, that God can and does also work through the means of His Word, so as a young pregnant mother attends divine service, indeed God can and does work through the Word as that child in the womb hears to give faith as well. My point is that we are conceived and born in sin, it is in our DNA, and as I have said before, we are accountable for that sin born in us otherwise we would not die until we reach a certain age. Thus we see the need for the washing waters of Holy Baptism as soon as after physical birth as possible.
 

Perhaps we were not given faith until we grew older or perhaps we rejected the faith given to us at an early age. And yes, even at this time in our own lives, even after being given faith there are times that we try to live according to the law. We try to live as if there is something we can do to earn, at least some bit of our own salvation. Kind of like our friends might express, we try to be obedient enough for Jesus. Of course, the law always fails us because the law only accuses us.
 

And then something wonderful happened. Paul tells us about our adoption in verse fourteen, “14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (v. 14). We are adopted as children of God. How are we adopted? We are adopted as the Holy Spirit gives us faith through means of grace. We are adopted at Holy Baptism. When we are brought to the waters of Holy Baptism and water and God’s name are put on us we are saved. As we heard Peter say it back a few Sundays ago and as we hear him say every time we have a Baptism, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). Yes, Baptism saves us. Baptism is not something we do, but is what God is doing and what God is doing is that He is saving us, giving us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

Yet, not simply through Baptism are we saved. If we are not saved through the waters of Holy Baptism, then we may be saved by the very Word of God. The Bible is also a means through which our Lord adopts us as His children. Remember the Bible is the Word of God and it does what it says. So, as we read or hear His Holy Word, the Holy Spirit works through that Word to give faith, to strengthen and to keep us in faith. Of course here we understand that if and when we are given faith though the Word of God our natural desire will be to want to be baptized, not to show God anything, but as a natural response of faith. These are two of the means our Lord has of giving us His good gifts and blessings.
 

But there is more. Not only does our Lord adopt us through His means of grace, He continues to be with us to strengthen and keep us in faith. The Holy Spirit strengthens faith through means as well. We pick up with Paul’s words in verse fifteen, “15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (v. 15). We are a church that believes as our Lord so teaches in His Word that our Lord comes to us through means, namely the means of grace. That is why we worship the way we worship, that is liturgically. Because we believe that Holy Baptism is important we begin each service with an invocation, an inviting of the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reminding us of our Baptism. Because we believe the Lord comes to us through the Word of God our service is permeated with the Word of God, even our saying back to God the very Words He has given us to say. This is not simply a way to flatter the Lord, but because our words are inadequate and because His Word is His Word, there is no better way to worship than to say back to Him the very Words He has given us to say. Because we believe we are sinners and are in constant need of forgiveness, in almost every worship service, in one way or another we have a time of public confession and absolution. We believe that through the very Words of God, spoken through the pastor that we have what God gives, namely, forgiveness of sins.
 

We hear the very Word of our Lord read to us straight from Holy Scripture and as it is proclaimed through the preaching of the Law and the Gospel. And we also hear the Word through our liturgy and the hymns we sing.
 

And finally, because we believe our Lord has also given us His Holy Supper as a means through which He also gives His good gifts and blessings, we come to His Supper wherein we are given to eat His body and drink His blood until He comes again and through this sacred means we participate in His life, suffering, death and resurrection and so we are given forgiveness of sins and strengthened in faith. Yes, these things, these means of grace are the ways in which our Lord comes to us to give us His good gifts and blessings and that is why we worship the way we worship. If we believed something else, then certainly we would worship in a different way, and as we see others worshiping in different ways, then we can see it is because they do have different beliefs.
 

To sum it up, our Lord adopts us as His children and He does this through His means of grace, the Bible, Holy Baptism, Confession and Absolution and the Lord’s Supper.
 

Now that we have been adopted into His family what is life like now, after adoption. We pick up with Paul’s words at verse sixteen, “16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (v. 16-17). Now, since we have been adopted as children of God, now we live life as children of God, that is we live life as brothers and sisters of Christ. With God’s help, and even though we know we will make mistakes and we will backslide, yet with God’s help we strive to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do. We strive to build each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ. We look out for one another. We realize that caring for one another is not simply the elder’s and the pastor’s job, but is a joy we all share. We realize that being a member of this congregation and of the family of God means giving of ourselves, our time, talents and treasure, for the purpose of building the Kingdom of God. We have a whole new attitude about our life.
 

And we live life looking forward to eternal life, our eternal inheritance. We no longer spend all our time with our eyes focused on this world and the temporariness of this world. Instead we spend our time on getting ourselves ready and keeping ourselves ready for our Lord’s return or for our passing and going to Him. We spend our time making regular and diligent use of the means of grace because we know that this is how He comes to us. We have a desire, a yearning to worship as often as worship is offered. We read the Word every day. We remember our Baptism, every day. We confess our sins every day and every Sunday we publicly confess and hear those most beautiful words of forgiveness. We partake of the Lord’s body and blood and as often as we do this we participate in His death and resurrection.
 

So, what does this mean? As usual, and as we need to hear every week, Paul reminds us that we were conceived and born in sin. Not only that, but we daily add to our sinfulness. We cannot help ourselves. We are conceived and born in sin so sinning comes natural to us. And so we know that daily we need forgiveness.
 

We are reminded and each week we need to be reminded that we were given faith. Faith is not something we got ourselves, it is not something we did, but it is a gift given through means, namely through the means of Holy Baptism and through the means of His Holy Word. And since these are the means through which we have been given faith, then we realize our need to make diligent and regular use of these means so that we might be strengthened and kept in this faith.
 

Being given faith, forgiveness, life and salvation we are reminded that now we live lives of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit is alive and well and continually working through the means of grace to give us the strength and courage to live lives of faith. So, what is there to fear in this world? What is the worst thing that can happen in this world? Most people will say that dying is the worst thing that could happen. Well, when you die, by faith in Jesus you go to heaven, and that is a great thing, so then back to the question of what is there to be afraid of? Nothing. And the Holy Spirit works in us to give us the courage we need to live lives of faith in this world
 

And finally, we look forward to eternal life, not in fear, but in anticipation. We know that heaven is a wonderful place filled with God’s glory and grace. We know that we have the certainty of eternal life in heaven, it is ours now. Certainly we will not move in until we pass on from this world, but heaven is ours and so we may rejoice and even anticipate our final move into our heavenly home.
 

Paul’s words this morning are nothing new. He knows about our adoption as children of God and he knows about the importance of the means of grace. Perhaps our Old Testament reading was on Paul’s mind when he penned these words to the Romans. “10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). Yes, God’s Word does what it says. And if you listened closely to the Gospel reading for this morning, even Jesus related the importance of the Word of God and its power to give faith, meaning to bring us into adoption as His children.
 

Finally, we are again reminded that it is all God’s doing, all God’s giving and all our being given to. It is God who runs the verbs and so we know we get it right. And so we rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Severity of the Law, the Sweetness of the Gospel - July 2, 2023 - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 08) - Text: Romans 7:1-13

We are encouraged in our homiletics classes, and let me say, homiletics means preaching, anyway, we are encouraged in our homiletics classes to preach the law in all its severity, meaning to preach that we are all conceived and born in sin, we are daily sin much in thought, word and deed, we sin sins of omission and commission, every intention of our hearts is evil all the time, we are lost and condemned persons, on our own there is no hope or help for us indeed we are condemned to die eternal death in hell. That is preaching the law in its severity. And we are also taught to preach the Gospel in all its sweetness, meaning we never need to fear the law because Jesus has taken care of all the requirements of the law, obeying all God’s commands and living a perfect life for us in our place. We are never to preach the law one week and the Gospel the next week. That would, indeed, be devastating. Suppose you come to church this week and hear me preach about how we are lost and condemned sinners fit only for the fires of hell and not preach to you the good news and the hope and certainty of the Gospel. And then suppose you did not come back next week when I will preach only the Gospel, that is the hope and certainty of heaven. I do not like even to think about the sorrow and heart ache that might cause. And so, following the example of the great Lutheran theologian, Paul, this morning we will hear, again, as we do every Sunday, the Law and the Gospel.
 

Paul beings by explaining the tenure of the law. The law, that is the law of God, just like the law of any country, is binding only as long as a person is alive. We hear Paul speak beginning at verses one, “1Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress” (v. 1-3). So, in the same way as when we pass away from this world and we are no longer under the law of the land, so we are no longer under the law of God. The law will have fulfilled its purpose with us while in this world and will no longer be of any concern for us.
 

Paul then moves to the logical conclusion for us as Christians, even while we are alive in this world, that is even while we are alive in this world as Christians, we are dead to the law. We continue at verse four,  “4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit” (v. 4-6). As Christians, because Jesus lived for us, because Jesus took our sins upon Himself, because Jesus died for us, because Jesus rose for us, so we are one with Him and since He has fulfilled the law, so we have fulfilled the law. The logic then is that we, as Christians, have died to the law even while we are alive in this world.
 

The result then is that we have the freedom of the Gospel. Christ has fulfilled the law. Christ has fulfilled all the prophecies. Christ has taken care of everything for us, in our place so there is nothing left for us to do except live under the freedom of the Gospel.
 

So, what is the purpose of the law? Paul spells out the purpose of the law picking up at verse seven, “7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good”(v. 7-12). One of the purposes of the law is that the law shows us our sins. The law tells us what we should do and thus reminds us of what we have not done. The law says we should do good to others and we see how we have failed, time and again, to do good to others, except possibly for selfish reasons. The law tells us what we should not do and thus reminds us of what we have done. The law says we should not covet and yet time and again we do covet. We tend to be like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we tend to be like children, when we hear the words, “Don’t do this” or “Don’t do that,” “this” or “that” is exactly what we want to do.
 

Paul reminds us that sin deceives us into breaking the law. How often it is each and every day temptations arise and with temptation comes sin because we are unable to resist. It is no wonder we hear said from time to time, “ignorance is bliss,” because we believe if we do not know we are sinning, then perhaps we believe we are not sinning. Or maybe you have heard the phrase, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse,” and this fact is true. Just because we do not know that one thing or another is sin does not mean it is not sin. And so, it is not the law that causes us to sin, but it is that we sin and the law points out the fact that we have sinned. Let me say that again so we understand, it is not that the law causes us to sin, it does not. Rather it is that we sin and then the law points out the fact that what we have done or not done is sin.
 

And so, Paul reminds us that the law is good. In verse thirteen he says, “13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure”(v. 13). And so it is important that we have the law, because if we did not have the law then we would not know we sinned and if we did not know we sinned then we would not know we needed forgiveness and if we did not get forgiveness then we would still be in our sins and we would be barred eternally from heaven. So, although we may not like the law, the law is good and serves a good purpose. To sum it up, the fact of the matter is we do not like to know our sins because we like to think we are good people. We do like to think we are good people. How often do you hear someone tell you, “Well, I am a lot worse than my neighbor, you should see how good they are.” No, rather we usually hear, “Well, I am not as bad as ‘so-n-so’.” The bottom line is, we are sinners, each one of us and in and of ourselves we are and would be eternally condemned. There is really no way around it, no matter how good we might think we are.
 

Which brings us to the Gospel and the purpose of the Gospel. The law shows our sins. The Gospel shows our Savior. The Gospel tells us about Jesus. The Gospel reminds us that Jesus was born for us, that He was baptized for us, that He lived for us, that He resisted all temptation for us, that He took our sins upon Himself, that He suffered and that He died for us. And that He rose for us. All Jesus did, He did for us, in our place, as our substitute, because we are unable to do so. The Gospel shows us Jesus, true God and true man. The Gospel shows us Jesus, triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, undivided. The Gospel shows us that there is one and only one way to eternal life. The Gospel reminds us that Jesus claims the exclusive way to eternal life.
 

The Gospel shows us forgiveness. When God’s Word speaks, that is when we read it or hear it, it does what it says. When we hear or read that we have faith or that faith is given to us, then, we have faith. When God’s Word tells us that we are forgiven, then we are forgiven. Every Sunday morning when you hear the pastor say, “As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” then you know what, your sins are forgiven. When the Word of God says you have eternal life, then you can know for certain that you have eternal life.
 

Finally, the Gospel moves us to repent. It is not the law that moves us to anything. You know how it is, when you were young and someone would yell at you for doing something wrong, that was not what motivated you to do what was right. It was their love and care for you which motivated you to do what was right. The law does not move us to repent. It is the Gospel that moves us to repent. When we hear the message of what Jesus did for us, while we were sinners, how He gave His life for us, that is what motivates us to repent, because we understand that failure to repent is gift refusal which would mean no forgiveness, but repentance means forgiveness means eternal life.
 

So, again, in good Lutheran fashion we ask, “What does this mean?” And we answer that this means that we need to hear the law in all its severity. We need to be reminded of our sins, great and small. We need to be reminded that even to think something sinful in our hearts and minds is sin and that all sins are equal and equally damnable in God’s eyes. We need to be reminded, no matter how good we might think we are and even how good we might present ourselves to be in this world, that without Christ we are lost and condemned creatures.
 

And we need to hear the Gospel in all its sweetness. We need even more to hear of the fact of God’s love for us, a love shown in His taking on flesh and blood in order to pay the price for our sins. And He did what He did, not by coercion, not because He had to, but because of His great love for us, a Father’s love for His children, a Creator’s love for His creation. He paid the price for our sins so that we have forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness we know that we have life and salvation. And even when we continue to mess up, He continues to forgive us. What a great God we have.
 

Again, then we are reminded that Christ gives, works in us, strengthens us and keeps us in faith. No matter what we do, no matter how we act, no matter how much we sin or think we do not sin, God continues to do everything for us, because we cannot. God gives, God gives, God gives, and we are given to and we say, thanks be to God.
 

The law is good and just and holy because it brings me knowledge of my sin. It is important that I know my sin so that I might repent so that I might have forgiveness and eternal life. The Gospel is good because it tells me of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who gave His all and daily gives His all for me. The Gospel reminds me that I am given faith, forgiveness, life and salvation and because of all that the Lord does for me, gives to me, works in and through me, the more I am motivated by the Holy Spirit to repent and to, with His help, live a life that is pleasing to Him in His sight. And certainly the Gospel moves me to say, “To God be the glory,” for Jesus’ sake. Amen.