Faith and Works - February 28, 2024 - Third Wednesday in Lent - Text: Eph. 2:8-10; Heb. 11:6

Last week we continued our series on Lutheran Doctrine by hearing what we believe, teach and confess about the Freedom of the Will. Today we continue our series by being reminded of what we believe, teach and confess about faith and works and how these two important parts of our lives works together, especially how they interact.
 

There are truly only two religions in the world, the religion of man and the religion of Christ, the Christian Church. The religion of man is based on one’s character or good works. A person is commanded to do in order to live. Failure to do leads to death. This religion is based solely on the law and points a person to himself or herself. As you have heard me say before, a preaching of Law only, without the Gospel will lead a person either to despair believing there is no salvation and no hope or to works righteousness that is believing one is able to do what is commanded, like choose Jesus, dedicate your life to Jesus, be obedient and so on. Of course, the bar for doing enough good is always lowered and lowered as we are unable to do any good in and of ourselves.
 

The religion of man is based on good works, whereas the Christian faith is based on the Gospel and points us to Jesus. We are not saved because of some innate goodness in ourselves, we are not saved because we have been obedient or because we have chosen Jesus, but we are saved by God’s grace, through faith, given to us, in Jesus. We are saved because Jesus chose us. We live by faith and because faith is given to us our response is to live lives of faith. So, instead of doing and living we live and are moved to be doing.
 

The Apostle Paul writes concerning the connection of faith and works. To the Ephesians he writes, “8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul writes to make sure we understand that first and foremost we are saved by grace. We cannot save ourselves. We might asked, “Can a dead man bring himself back to life?” “Can a drowning person save himself?” “Can a person choose to be born?” The answer to all these questions is a resounding “No.” Our salvation must come from outside of us and it does. Our salvation is a gift given to us.
 

As for this word “grace” unfortunately there are others who would misdefine this word as God giving us the ability to do something. The word “grace” actually means gift. Here I would point out that gift and present are not exactly the same. I would define present as, “You give me a present and I will reciprocate and give you a present.” Whereas I would define a “gift” as giving something without receiving anything in return and without expecting anything in return. Indeed, something that is truly a gift is something that always points us to Jesus. Gift is Gospel talk.
 

Paul says that we are saved by grace, that is, salvation is a gift and he goes on to say that it is through faith. Thus, faith is important. So, how do we define “faith?” Although there are different types or aspects of faith, that is faith may simply be an ascent, accepting something as true, “Yes, I believe it will rain,” or it may be an acknowledgment, “Yes, the sky is blue,” true saving faith is complete trust in something outside ourselves. For faith to be saving faith it must have an object and its object must be Jesus and only Jesus. Faith in a tree does not save. Only faith in Jesus, faith given as a gift, that is graced to us, will save us.
 

Now that Paul has established this fact that we are saved by God’s grace as a gift given to us, a gift giving us faith in Jesus alone for our salvation, he moves on to encourage us in our response of faith, that is in what naturally follows the gift of faith, which is our desire to live lives of faith, as Paul further states, “10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
 

As you have heard me say before, and as I said at the beginning of this series, God created us, first and foremost, to love us. At the same time, as God gifts us faith the faith He gives stirs in us the desire to be the people He would have us to be, though as we know we can only be the people He would have us to be rather imperfectly. Paul express our desire as being created to do the good works God has prepared in advance for us to do. In other words, it is something we really cannot help but desire to do.
 

So, Paul encourages us much like James does in his epistle to understand that good works flow from faith. A person who has been given faith cannot help but want to respond by living a life of faith, by doing those works God has prepared in advance for us to do. It simply becomes a natural flow out of a thankful heart.
 

So, what is a good work. What is a good work in God’s eyes? Good works that are truly good works in God’s eyes are those works that are motivated by God, work in and through us by God and give God glory. In other words, our sinful nature will not prompt us to do good works. It is only as God stirs in us that we will be moved to do good works. Because good works do not come natural for us, God works them in and through us, meaning we usually are not aware of when we are doing a good work. And certainly any work that is a good work in God’s eyes is done to His glory. Meaning, quite frankly, most of the time we are doing a good work we do not even realize what we have done.
 

As the writer to Hebrews tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 ).  So, good works in God’s eyes are different than what we would identify as social good works. A rather harsh way of looking at social good works is to suggest that social good works are those good deeds done for oneself, self recognition, tax write off, or other personal gain.
 

We believe, teach and confess that without faith a person cannot do good works that are good works in God’s eyes, but one can only do good works which we would consider to be social good works. In other words, many if not most of the good deeds we see done in our world today, especially those done by people outside the faith, are simply social good deeds and works and have no accounting in God’s eyes for, as Isaiah tells us, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6a). And the polluted garments of which Isaiah speaks are menstrual rags, in other words, when we offer what we believe to be our good deeds to God, outside of faith they are filthy rags. It is faith, and faith alone, that motivates what are truly good works in God’s eyes.
 

What does this mean? First, we would recognize that, although faith and good works go together, faith must come first. It is faith, given to us as a gift, graced to us, and faith in Jesus alone that stirs in us and moves us to live lives of faith, to be the people God would have us to be, though imperfectly we would always add, and to do the good works God has prepared in advance for us to do.
 

Thus, good works are a demonstration of one’s faith. Although a person without faith might be inclined to do a social good work for whatever benefit, a Christian cannot help but let his or her faith shine through not only their desire, but also their doing the good deeds God motivates them to do, works in and through them and does to His glory. Indeed, all good works, that are motivated by God, worked in and through us by God, are done to His glory.
 

As we continue on during this Lenten Season first and foremost we are reminded of our sin and the fact that it was because of our sin and God’s great love for us that the events of Holy Week had to take place. As we celebrate Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday with Good Friday in view we do so in humility understanding that all these things are done because of God’s great love for us. And we rejoice in God’s gifts to us, His grace poured out on us. His gift of faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. And most especially the fact that He stirs in us our response of faith, living lives as His people, giving praise and glory to His holy name. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

We Have Been Justified (Accomplished Action) - Second Sunday in Lent - February 25, 2024 - Text: Romans 5:1-11

Computers are great inventions, at least, I believe they are. I remember getting my first computer and being very hesitant about doing anything wrong, after all, it was rather expensive and I did not want to break it. Then I discovered the “reset” button. I also remember my first word processing program. And then getting into a more powerful word processing program. Today these programs almost type what you want before you even think it. Most word processing programs have spell check and even a grammar checker. I tried using the grammar checker a couple times on my sermons, but I found that they do not really work, at least on sermons. Let me explain. The times I checked my sermons for grammar I kept getting corrected on using the passive voice. At first I was not sure what that meant, but as I learned, I realized that, grammatically speaking, I should use the active voice, in other words, I should be talking about how things are and how we are doing things, instead of the passive voice, that is how things were and how things are done even without any action or initiative of our own. Then I realized, although the active voice is good grammar and the passive voice should be avoided, that does not make for good theology. The passive voice and not the active voice are what make for good theology. In other words, I do not preach about what we have done or are doing or even have to do for our salvation, rather I talk about what God has done, how God acts on us, and how we are simply done to and given to. Now, that may not be good grammar, but that is great theology. And so, this morning we get even more great theology as Paul continues to use the passive voice in describing who God is and what He continues to do for us and in and through us.
 

We begin with a very familiar passage of Scripture where Paul talks about peace in suffering. We begin at verse one, “1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (v. 1-5).
 

As we know, faith is not something we get, or do or proclaim, indeed as we confess in the explanation of the Third article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him.” Rather we know and believe that God gives faith. God gives faith, not directly, but indirectly, that is through means. Through the means of grace, the Word, the Bible, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, God gives faith. It is this faith which God gives through these means that grasps all the other gifts God gives. Faith is the instrument which is what takes hold of and makes God’s gifts and blessings ours.
 

God gives faith and it is this faith which grasps forgiveness of sins, the most important gift. Perhaps you have heard me say this before, that the most important gift we are given is forgiveness of sins and maybe you have wondered why I say that. Forgiveness of sins is the most important gift we are given because without forgiveness of sins, we are left to suffer the punishment for sin, which is eternal death and hell. It is only with forgiveness that we have life and salvation. And so we see the need, every Sunday, and even every day, for confession and absolution, that is to confess before God, all our sins in thought, word and deed, sins of omission and sins of commission. And it is important that we hear God’s words of absolution, that our sins are, that our sins have been, past tense, passive voice, forgiven. This is not something we accomplish but what has already been accomplished for us, outside of us and given to us.
 

God gives faith which grasps forgiveness of sins. With forgiveness of sins we are given peace. This peace is not a moment of calm during one’s hectic life, but this peace is true peace. This peace is the peace we have from the removal of sin and guilt. And that is true peace.
 

God gives faith, God gives forgiveness, and God gives peace. And with faith, forgiveness and peace we also have the hope of eternal life in heaven. This hope of eternal life in heaven is not a far off hope, but is a hope which is ours now. This hope is not a wishy washy maybe hope, but is a certainty. And this hope is a present reality, it is ours now. Certainly we will not move into our heavenly home until after we pass away from this world, or the Lord returns, but our place in heaven is secure, right at this very moment.
 

And so, while we remain in this world there may be suffering. This suffering is a result of temptation and sin. Ever since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, the whole world, the earth itself has been groaning, waiting for the end. Because we live in a world that has been tainted by sin, we will incur temptation and sin.
 

Last week we were reminded that God tempts no one to sin. We were also reminded that God may allow testing in our lives. This morning we are reminded that God uses suffering to produce endurance, character and hope. So, again, we are always pointed to that fact that God is the one doing the doing and we are being done to, that is, passively being done to.
 

But Paul is not finished. He reminds us even more of what God is doing and how He is doing it according to His own perfect timing. We pick up at verse six, “6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (v. 6-11).
 

Paul says, “at the right time,” that is at just the right time, the right time according to human history, the right time according to our need for a Savior. God’s timing is always perfect timing. When all the events of the world were where they needed to be, God sent His Son to live for us and to give His life for ours. And Paul shows us the difference between man’s love and God’s love.
 

Man’s love is this that someone, some human being may give one’s life for a good person or even for a good cause, but for a person or cause we deem unworthy, probably not. Certainly we have heard of situations where a person may give bone marrow or a kidney, or some other “spare” body part, but not one’s life. Or, we may have heard of someone giving their life for someone deemed worthy as we understand the secret service men are to give their lives to save the president. But, that is about as far as we human beings will go.
 

On the other hand, God’s love is so much greater and He shows how His love is so much greater. God’s love is so great that He was willing and He did give His life for us while we were sinners. Well, after all, we are conceived and born in sin. Our natural inclination is to sin. We talked about that last week, even the fact that we love to sin because sinning is fun. And yet, to call ourselves sinners really does not do justice to how bad we really are. Not only are we sinners, but we are also enemies of God, actually fighting against Him. We are not simply passive sinners, but we are active sinners. We actively fight against God. We actively refuse and reject His gifts. We actively disobey all His commandments. And yet, God’s love is such that while we are active sinners, He gave His life for ours.
 

God’s love is shown in the shedding of Jesus’ blood. He shed His blood, that is He paid the price of His life, the price or cost for sin, for us. What we owed, He paid. Thus, we are saved from the wrath of God, because the wrath of God was taken out on Jesus.
 

When we talk about partaking of the Lord’s Supper in “remembrance” of Him, we understand that remembrance is a participation. Thus, we understand that Jesus’ life is our life. Jesus’ death is our death. And now, how much more do we understand that His life is our life.
 

All that is left is the rejoicing. All we can do is respond and interestingly enough, that is something we do passively as well. It is the Holy Spirit who moves in us to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

What Does This Mean? In and of ourselves, apart from Christ, we are lost and condemned persons. When we attempt to take an active role, our active role is that we are spiritually blind, spiritually dead and actually enemies of God, fighting and striving against Him. Of course, that is our nature after all and bad habits are hard to change.
 

Thanks be to God that Christ has taken an active role. In His active role Christ has taken care of everything. He has paid the price, notice past tense, that we owe. He paid the price, which is eternal death and hell, by shedding His blood. Jesus actively obeyed all the law and the prophets perfectly, doing for His people, the children of Israel, what they were unable to do, and doing for us, His children by faith, faith given to us, what we are unable to do. He lived perfectly for us in our place. He took our sins upon Himself and suffered and paid the price for all our sins. He died, for us, in our place. And yet, death and the grave, as we know, had no power over Him. He rose, for us, in our place so that we know that we too will rise again.
 

Our response, then, again, is a passive response. Yes, God gives and we are given to. God has done it all and we have been done to. That may not be good grammar, but it is great theology and that is what is more important, great theology.
 

Christ does it all; dying to pay the price for our sins, while we were yet His enemies, fighting and sinning against Him; giving us faith so that we have peace, which comes from forgiveness of sin and guilt; strengthening us during times of suffering so that we have true hope which does not disappoint us; and stirring in us to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, our response is to passively be given to and to say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Freedom of the Will - February 21, 2024 - Second Wednesday in Lent - Text: Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 12:3

Last week we began our series on Lutheran Doctrine by hearing what we believe about the creation of the world. Today we continue our series by being reminded of what we believe about the freedom of the will and I will break the news to you now, truly we really do not have a free will because our will has been cursed and tainted from the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden.
 

The apostle Paul tells us, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Rom. 8:7). Our nature is that we are dead, dead in our trespasses and sins. Our nature is that we are spiritually dead, spiritually blind and enemies of God. Our nature is that we are conceived and born in sin. Our nature is that sin is in our DNA and because the price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden, we will die. We will die an earthly physical death, and except for the fact that Jesus paid the price for our sins, we would be destined to an eternal death in hell.
 

Because our nature is that we are conceived and born in sin our natural inclination is to refuse and reject anything that is good and from God. We cannot accept Jesus as our personal Savior. We cannot choose to follow Jesus. Because we can only refuse and reject, our condemnation is our own fault. Truly, although God’s desire and will is that all people are saved, and although He has never intended, let alone predetermine or predestined anyone to hell, because our nature is to reject Jesus, it is our own fault if we die in unbelief. At the same time, Jesus gets the credit for our salvation and rightly so, after all, He is the one who gave His life for us.
 

So, our journey in understanding the freedom of our will is that our will has been tainted by sin and the curse so our will and our nature is evil and contrary to God.
 

Paul continues by telling us, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Here again we are reminded that we cannot choose or accept Jesus, except by the power of the Holy Spirit working faith in our hearts, meaning, it is not we who are doing the choosing and accepting, but God who is choosing and accepting us and giving us faith. We reiterate Paul’s words in our confession of faith. In the explanation of the third article of the Apostles’ Creed we confess, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him.” We might well add, thanks be to God that He comes to us, that He chooses us, that He accepts us.
 

We further confess that our being given faith also comes from outside of us and it comes by the work and power of the Holy Spirit. As we confess, “but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Here we confess the means through which the Holy Spirit calls us to and gives us faith, the outward means of the Gospel and the means of grace, Holy Absolution and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Holy Supper.
 

Here we are reminded once again that faith is not some internal feeling or inclination. Faith is a gift given to us from outside of us. Here again we are reminded of the importance of the external means of grace. God comes to us from outside of us through the means He has given, His Word, water, bread and wine. He gives us life and conception. He gives us new life, even eternal life, forgiving our sins and writing our names in the book of life, writing His name on us through the water and His name at Holy Baptism. He forgives our sins through Holy Absolution. He strengthens us through bread and wine and His Word, His body and blood in His Holy Supper.
 

What does this mean in ourselves? Because we may die at any time from the moment of conception this fact means we are accountable for our sins from the moment of conception. Remember there was no death until Adam and Eve sinned. At the moment of their sin they and all God’s cursed world was subject to death. Thus, we see the importance of infant baptism. Just as no one can choose to be born, so we cannot choose to be reborn. Thanks be to God that our parents brought us to the font so that God, using the hands of the pastor could put water on us and using the mouth of the pastor could put His name on us, giving us faith, forgiveness and eternal life.
 

Just as a dead man cannot bring himself back to life so we cannot bring ourselves back to life. We cannot choose Jesus. We cannot accept Jesus. We cannot dedicate our lives to Jesus. We can do nothing because we are born spiritually dead. We are born spiritually blind and enemies of God.
 

Whenever be begin pointing to ourselves we lose. We can never be sure of ourselves. We can never be sure of our feelings. As Ebenezer Scrooge would admit, he did not believe in ghost because it could have been something he ate. Our surety and confidence must and does come from outside of us. We are most sure that God speaks to us, that God calls us from the external means of grace, especially His Holy Word. And when God gives us His gifts through the external means of grace of Holy Absolution, Holy Baptism and His Holy Supper. These means are most sure because they are outside of us and from God who does and gives what His Word says. Left to ourselves we would refuse, deny, and reject anything of God and from God because that is, after all, our conceived and born in nature. Thanks be to God that there is another way.
 

What does this mean in Jesus? When we come to Divine Service we are not pointed to ourselves. Although we hear the Law, that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, we are never pointed to ourselves as if there is something in us that can have any part in gaining God’s forgiveness and favor. We are not encouraged to accept or choose Jesus, to dedicate our lives to Him, to be obedient to His Word.
 

Rather we are encourage and we rejoice in hearing the Gospel, the good new that it is God who has chosen us. It is God who promised and sent Jesus to dedicate His life to us. It is Jesus who was obedient, perfectly obedient to all God’s Laws, all God’s commands and demands. It is Jesus who lived the perfect life for us in our place because we cannot. And Jesus did what He did for us of His own, untainted, perfect and holy free will. Because of His great love for us God created us and Jesus redeemed us, bought us back with His Holy Precious Blood and His innocent suffering and death, again as we confess in our creeds.
 

As we rightly confess and as we should indeed confess every week, in our creeds we confess our faith in God our Creator, in Jesus our Redeemer and in the Holy Spirit, the one who gives us faith and strengthens us in our faith. What better confession can we have and what joy and relief to confess that our salvation does not depend on us. What joy to confess that faith, forgiveness and life are all gifts from our great and loving God.
 

And even more, not only does God give us faith, forgiveness and life He also stirs in us to respond by living lives as priest in the priesthood of all believers. He stirs in us our response of faith, giving praise and glory to Him for all His good gifts and blessings.
 

As we continue on during this Lenten Season we are reminded of our part in these events of Jesus life. We are reminded of our sin and the price for our sin, death, blood being shed. We are reminded of our nature, our sinful nature that is always contrary to God. We are reminded of our total depravity. And we need that reminder lest we begin to think more highly of ourselves as if we have any part in our salvation, thus denying all that our Lord has done, does and continues to do for us. And so we most certainly rejoice in the fact, that although in and of ourselves we would be lost thanks be to God that He does all and all gives all to us. Thanks be to God that He calls us to and gives us life. He calls us to and gives us faith. He forgives our sins. He strengthens our faith. He gives us eternal life with Him in heaven. He stirs in us our response of faith, that is to live lives of faith, imperfect as they may be. He shows His love for us in creating us, in sending Jesus to live for us, in taking our sins and paying the price for us, in giving us all the good gifts and blessings He has to give. Indeed, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Testing - First Sunday in Lent - February 18, 2023 - Text: James 1:12-18

This morning we again have three texts that work well together. In the Old Testament reading we were reminded of Abraham and his testing of faith. In the Gospel reading we were reminded of Jesus and His temptation by Satan. And with Jesus’ tempting we are reminded that when Jesus was tempted, He was tempted way beyond what you and I could ever imagine, because He was tempted with every temptation with which we may be tempted and even more. And He never sinned. In the Epistle lesson, our text, James explains the difference between temptation and testing.
 

James begins by reminding us that temptations will come. We begin with verse twelve, “12Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (v. 12-15).
 

James begins by reminding us that the person who remains faithful through trials and temptations is certainly blessed. Perhaps that is an understatement. And, as we realize, in and of ourselves, we cannot remain faithful through trials and temptations, thus we realize that the person who remains faithful does so because God is with them and so we realize, yes, when God is with us we are certainly blessed.
 

James goes on to remind us that although God may allow trails to come, He tempts no one to sin. God is the author and giver of only good. God is not the author of sin. God tempts no one to sin, that is not His nature. When temptations come to us, we know that they are not coming from God.
 

We know that we are tempted to sin. Each person is tempted by his or her own desire, what we call our sinful flesh. When we are reminded of the fact that, as King David says, we are conceived and born in sin, then it is only natural that our inclination is to sin. We simply cannot help ourselves. We sin in our thoughts, even in church. We sin in our speaking. We sin in our doing what we should not be doing and in not doing what we should be doing, sins of commission and sins of omission. We do not even need practice sinning because it comes so naturally. And the great thing about sinning is the fact that while we are sinning it is fun. Think about it, if sinning were not fun, would we be doing it? Oh, we may have regrets later, but again, while we are sinning it is fun.
 

James lays out the progression of sinning as this; sin begins with a thought, and for those who would deny our sinning in our thoughts, I would ask, “What does God mean when He says that if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out?” Your eye cannot commit an actual sin, but it is connected to your brain which has a sinful thought. So, our sin begins with a thought, then it moves to a word, that is we are moved to speak evil words, and finally, sin can end in a deed, an action. The best example of this progression of sin is the sin of Cain killing his brother Abel in Genesis. Remember, Cain first despised, or hated his brother. He had evil thoughts. He devised, or thought up a plan to kill his brother. He called him out into the field and then he actually murdered his brother. Also, notice the eternal progression of sin. Sin begins inside of us, in our heart. That should make you think about the encouragement from our culture to look inside ourselves for the answers to life’s questions. All we find inside ourselves is our sinful nature. Sin has its start inside of us, in our heart. As James says, sin is conceived inside of us. And after its gestation, sin is born. And as sin grows, it reaches its fullness in death, and here we do understand, full grown, unrepentant sins brings death, eternal death and hell.
 

But do not be dismayed. James goes on to explain the key in times of temptation. We pick up at verse sixteen, “16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creation” (v. 16-18). First and foremost we are reminded that every good and perfect gift comes from God. As we said earlier, God only gives good. God does not tempt anyone to sin or evil.
 

“Of his own will,” God brought forth the greatest gift. The greatest gift was the gift of the “word of truth,” in other words, Christ Himself. As the Gospel writer John so poetically reminds us, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Apart from Jesus there is no and can be no truth. Jesus is the Word, the word of promise, the word of fulfillment, the word made flesh, the word made tangible in His Holy Supper. Jesus is the Word of Truth.
 

Jesus, the “word of truth” came, not for Himself, but as our substitute. Jesus came to do what Adam and Eve could not do, obey one command, what the whole nation of Israel could not do, obey the Ten Commandments, and what we cannot do, be obedient. Remember, last week we saw Jesus appear with Moses and Elijah on the mountain of transfiguration. There Jesus conferred with Moses the law giver and Elijah the great prophet, to make sure He had actively obeyed and fulfilled all the law and the prophets, perfectly. Jesus came to do for us what we are unable to do. The fullness of the Gospel is that Jesus came to do what we cannot do. He came to live the perfect life for us, obeying all of God’s commands, because we cannot resist temptation and not sin. Jesus came to complete all things for us in our place. He came in life, in temptation, in suffering, in death, and in His resurrection for us, to be our substitute.
 

Jesus is our strength and our reward, even “that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.” Jesus has accomplished all things for us, in our place. We are a kind of firstfruits of His creation when we, with His help and by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us live lives of faith.
 

What Does This Mean? This means that we recognize the difference between temptation and trials. God may allow us to undergo trials, but these trials are not temptation to sin. The struggles and difficulties we may and will face in life are not meant to lead us into sin, but are meant to strengthen us in our faith.
 

On the other hand, the devil, the world and our own sinful nature (what we might call the unholy three) constantly hound us to sin. The devil, the world and our own sinful nature do not tempt us in order to strengthen us in our faith. Rather they tempt us to sin and even to sin boldly. The devil tempts us, not because he loves us, but because he hates us. He hates anything that is good, and anything that is from God. The world tempts us and even the things of this world which may be created for good can be used for tempting to evil. Remember such things that were created for good as dynamite, gun powder, nuclear energy and so on, all these were created for good and yet became temptations for evil. And our own sinful nature, that thing that is closest to us, that is a very part of us, is the thing which tempts us the most.
 

In and of ourselves, we cannot keep from sinning. We are conceived and born in sin. Sinning is our nature. It is natural for us to sin. Actually, for us to not sin is very unnatural. Yet, we have James’ exhortation to remain steadfast. Certainly this adds to the pressure as we daily face the temptations of the world.
 

In the Old Testament Lesson, God tested Abraham. God required of Abraham that he give back to Him the one most important thing, his son. At the same time, God gave Abraham the strength to accomplish his trial. Abraham could not have accomplished his task without the Lord’s help and strength. Remember, even when Isaac asked Abraham were the sacrifice was, Abraham responded that God would provide.
 

In the Gospel Lesson, Jesus, as true God, and as true man was tempted. Jesus was tempted for the whole forty days. He was tempted with every temptation with which you and I are tempted. He was tempted in every way. And yet, He did not succumb to temptation. He never sinned.
 

As we see in the Old Testament reading, as we see in the Gospel reading, and as we see in the Epistle lesson, only with God’s help, only with Jesus on our side are we able to resist and flee from temptation and sin. Again, as every Sunday, then we are pointed back to where we need to be, always at the mercy of our great God. We fail. God accomplishes. We fall for temptation and sin. God resists and overcomes. We mess up. God cleans up. We are doomed to eternal death and hell. God, in Christ, suffers our punishment for us.
 

The result is this, that every good and perfect gifts comes from God, even and especially eternal life in heaven. God gives and we are given to. Is it no wonder that I continue to remind you of the importance of making regular and diligent use of the means of grace. It is through the means of grace that our Lord gives us the strength to bear up under temptation. Our making regular and diligent use of these means, the Word of God, through personal reading of His Word, through personal and family devotions, through every Sunday Divine Service and Bible Class attendance, through remembering our baptism, through our regular confession and absolution, through our regular participation in the Lord’s Supper, this is how our Lord strengthens and keeps us in faith. As we begin this Lenten season and reflect on the fact that it was and is because of my sin that Jesus had to die on the cross, certainly we see the need, and from the word of the Gospel we are given the desire to make such regular and diligent use of these means of grace.
 

Temptations do come. Temptations arise through our own sinful flesh, through the attractions and distractions of the world, and especially through Satan himself. At the same time, these temptations are not to be confused with our Lord’s testing of our faith. Yet, in all these times, it is our Lord who is there, ready, willing, and able to strengthen us so that we might keep from sinning, so that we might bear up under any and all trials, so that we might win out in the end. And the greatest encouragement we have is this, the Gospel message, that even when we do fail (and we will fail), Jesus has already taken care of the consequences of our sins. Through His life, suffering, death and resurrection Jesus has already paid for our sins, giving us comfort and encouragement, indeed to confess and ask for His forgiveness and help. And He even pours out on us all His good gifts and blessings. To Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Creation - February 14, 2024 - Ash Wednesday - Text: First Article; Gen. 1, 2

As Lutheran Christians, what do we believe about God, about faith, about good works, about prayer, about Justification and Sanctification, about creation, about the Law and Gospel, about worship? This year during the season of Lent we will be looking at the various teachings (doctrines) of our church and why we believe what we believe (as attested by God’s Word), so that when we are asked we will be better able to give an answer for the hope that we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today we begin with what we believe about creation.
 

Whenever I begin talking about such things as creation, or really any part of God’s Word I like to begin by making a distinction between the Word of God and the word of man. First, I usually ask the question, “Are human beings ever wrong?” Of course, the answer is yes. Humans are wrong and quite often are quite often wrong. Because we human beings are conceived and born in sin, our reasoning ability is fallible, corrupt, and cursed. We have faulty wisdom and reasoning. Indeed, humans get it wrong.
 

The second question I ask is, “Is God ever wrong?” Now, although there are those who would say yes or that they do not believe in God, I would have to suggest that “If there were a God, do you suppose He would ever be wrong?” Of course, as Christians we would agree that God is never wrong. How can the one who created all things, who is from eternity, who is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent be wrong. Indeed, I would posit the truth that nothing in the Bible is wrong and nothing in the Bible has ever been proven to be wrong.
 

Finally, as Lutheran Christians, not only do we believe the Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible, we also believe the Bible is sufficient, clear, efficacious and powerful. Indeed, God’s Word has the power to effect, to bring about, to give what He speaks. So, when humans speak, they may get it wrong, but when God speaks I know it is true and trustworthy.
 

As for the teaching of the creation of the world and all things, there is man’s idea, man’s theory and there is the truth God has given to us. According to man’s theory, the theory of molecules to man evolution the purpose of this theory which is to be rid of God, if man can explain the world without a god, then man becomes his own god. Think about it this way, why do we have so many problems in our world, children shooting children, robbery, theft, murder, and so forth. When we are taught  there is no god, then there is no accountability. In other words, as Christians we understand that we are accountable to the one who created us, who gave us life. We are accountable to God.
 

Also, if there is no god then that means there is no ultimate authority. If there is no god then you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do. Indeed, to be taught that all things simply appeared from nothing and there is no god, no ultimate authority and no accountability, that we are all simply attempting to survive and work our way up the “food chain” as it were, then who are you to tell me that to kill a lesser creature is wrong? I am simply living out my natural inclinations.
 

I would posit, that there is not one iota of proof of man’s molecules to man idea and theory. Please understand that I when I speak of what is called “evolution” I make sure to speak of the theory itself which suggest that through natural selection pond scum has evolved into humans. Those who actually teach the theory as fact do what I call a bait and switch. They will suggest that it is through natural selection that things evolve. Here I would point out that as Christians we believe in natural selection because that is what gives us our many differences, eye color, hair color, shape of eyes, noses, etc. However, I would also point out that for natural selection to occur there must be something in one’s DNA from which to select and there is no proof that any such preexisting options exist, thus, natural selection can only work if a creator has provided all those options. So much for the wisdom of fallible human beings.
 

On the other hand, we have the history of how all things came in to being from the One who was there in the beginning doing all the work of creation. We have the truth of God’s Word of exactly what happened. God Himself tells us that, “1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
 

God begins by telling us that before He began creating the world there was only darkness and chaos. It is interesting that He does not tell us that there was nothing, although all being darkness and chaos might not sound any better. Now, most of us understand and have never witnessed anything spontaneously appear out of nothing. To the average person that would not make any sense nor would it be believable, yet that is what the previous, human idea was. Here in Genesis, we will see that God never speaks of anything appearing by itself. Instead God begins with Himself. Now we could have a philosophical discussion about there begin a god or not, but the point would be simply that if there is a god, he would have to be the ultimate prime mover, the one who begins all things. To suggest life was planted on this earth by others would simply move the debate back to “where did the others come from,” and so on. So, we will forgo that philosophical nonsense, remember “philosophy” is the love of wisdom, which too many philosophers seem to fail to have.
 

With our foundation that the Bible is God’s Word and that God is the prime mover, what we learn from what God is telling us here in Genesis is that in the beginning there was God. We also get an understanding that our God is a triune God, a God who is three persons in one godhead. We  get this understanding because the very word God is in the plural, not that there are many Gods, but that there is one God in a Trinity and He is from eternity. As you have heard me say time and again, God does not live in time. In the beginning there is no indication of time simply that there was God, darkness and chaos. On the very first day of creation God created light, notice, not the sun, but light and He separated the light from the dark calling the light day and the dark night and giving us morning and evening He gave us the first day and the beginning of time for us humans He would eventually create.
 

As each day of creation proceeded the next we cannot help but see the awesome power of our God and the awesome power of His Word. Indeed, each day what God spoke it was. God spoke light into existence. God spoke dry land and seas into existence. God spoke plants into existence. God spoke sea creatures and flying creatures into existence. However, when it came time to create the crown of His creation God did not simply speak man into existence. Rather we are told that God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. Indeed, we humans are different from all the rest of God’s creation including His animals. While animals are living beings, we humans are not only living beings we also have an eternal soul so that we have an eternal immortal life.
  

What does this mean? If man’s idea is correct, if life spontaneously came about out of nothing and through mutations evolved from pond scum to human life that would mean there is no accountability to anyone because there is no ultimate authority meaning life has no meaning or purpose. If life has no meaning or purpose then why bother being good, doing good, trying to do anything except get ahead and be on top. Which might explain why when disasters happen you do not see too many evolutionist, atheist and the like out helping lend a hand.
 

However, I would posit that we can quite clearly see God’s hand in all of creation. Unfortunately, as we know the history of creation, that soon after God created a perfect world, the humans He created fell for the lies of the devil, the father of lies and with that fall into sin, with that disobedience sin and a curse entered the world so that we live in a sin cursed world. Yet, we still cling to our faithful God who promised and kept His promise to send a Savior to redeem, to buy back His world. Which is what we are in the midst of preparing ourselves for, celebrating our salvation.
 

God’s hand in seen in the intricacies of creation. Have you ever looked at the miracle of the human body and all the intricate details of the body, how it is fearfully and wonderfully made. How can anyone not believe the parts of a car, an inanimate, nonliving object did not put itself together by accident, but believe the human body did? That simply does not make reasonable sense.
 

As Christians we understand, we believe, teach and confess that in the beginning God created. God created all things out of nothing simply by speaking it into being. And God crowned His creation by creating us and creating us to love us. Our sole purpose in life then is to be loved by God and our response of all that God does for us and gives to us is to, with His help, live lives of faith. And although, in our attempt to live lives of faith we do so imperfectly, God continues to forgive us, love us and care for us because of His great love for us.
 

As we prepare our hearts and minds to once again commemorate the events of Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, we get ready by being mindful of the fact that it was because of our sin and God’s great love for us that Jesus came to live, suffer and die for us. We are reminded of God’s great love for us a love seen in the fact that although He knew what was going to happen even before He began creating, He created us anyway. He created us to love us and so He does. Indeed, we rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

I Am Compelled - February 4, 2024 - Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany - Text: 1 Corinthians 9:16-27

Over 200 years ago our country was founded on the idea that all people are created equal. Over the years we have struggled with the understanding of just what that means. Even today we struggle with the understanding of what it means to be free. We are people who do not like to be dependent on others and we are people who do not like to have to answer to others for our actions. We are people who like to have our freedom, whatever that means to us. To some, freedom means being able to do whatever I want to do without any interference from others. To some, freedom means not having to answer to others. In our text for today Paul gives us a better understanding of what freedom means for us as Christians.
 

Although the word in our text is translated as “servant,” the more accurate translation would be “slave,” as some translations do record. Unfortunately, the very mention of the word slavery brings an uncomfortable feeling to the people of our country today, perhaps that is why it is so often translated as “servant.” Over the years our country has developed a very narrow view of slavery. Because of our understanding of slavery today, we find it strange and even hard to believe that Paul would tell us that he makes himself a slave to everyone. We might wonder to ourselves, why would anyone want to subject themselves to another human being, to be owned by them, to be abused by them, to be at their every beck and call? Obviously, our understanding of what it means to be a slave is quite different from Paul’s understanding.
 

If our understanding of slavery is different from Paul’s, what about our understanding of freedom? Do we understand freedom today in the same way Paul did? I would suggest that even though we see freedom in a very positive light we tend to explain it in negative terms. When we think about freedom, instead of speaking about freedom to do or speak, we think about freedom from different things. Freedom from slavery; freedom from tyranny; freedom from having to listen to others, obey others, and for some even freedom from religion, going to church and the like. Again, I think our understanding of freedom is quite different from Paul’s understanding.
 

For Paul, it was his freedom which led him to make himself a slave of the Lord. In verse sixteen Paul tells us that he is compelled to preach, “16For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (v. 16). To us that may not sound like freedom. And certainly that does not sound like gospel, but law. But, let us not get confused. Paul does not say that he must preach the gospel, because if he does not preach the gospel then he will go to hell. No, Paul says that he is compelled to preach, it is something within him, a burning desire to share the good news with others. Some have suggested that it is a gospel imperative that has moved Paul to preach. Of course, that seems to make the Gospel into a new law which is what an imperative would be, something demanded for us to do. Perhaps we  might call it a Gospel urgency which has moved Paul to preach. I believe it would be great if we were all the same way. Certainly our salvation does not depend on what we do. We do not have to tell others about Jesus. But the more we hear and read the good news, the more the Holy Spirit fills us with the good news, the stronger we become in our Christian faith, the more we bubble over and we just cannot help ourselves, we just have to tell someone the good news. It is what we get to do. It is kind of like when we get something new, when we get a new car or a new home, we just have to tell someone or we will just burst.
 

Paul says it with even more emphasis when he says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” By faith in Jesus’ work of redemption Paul was assured of his eternal salvation. He was free from the law. As a response to all that the Lord has done for him, Paul has volunteered himself as a slave to the Lord. As a slave of God he now has no choice in the matter of accepting or rejecting the tasks the master, God, gives him to do. But woe to him if he refused, and woe to him if he did not do well. Remember the parable of the talents; how the master gave his servants 5, 2, and one talent and when he returned expected that each had managed his talent or talents well. The Lord has given us all things, life, new life, faith, forgiveness, the promise of eternal life, and so on. The Lord has made us right before our Father in heaven. Because of all our Lord has done for us we respond, with the help of the Holy Spirit and make ourselves slaves to Him. As slaves He expects great things of us, things which we do with the help of the Holy Spirit.
 

Jesus made Himself to be an example for His disciples. On Maundy Thursday He took a towel and some water and washed the feet of His disciples and He showed them by his example how they are to be toward one another. He showed them how they are to serve one another, not to gain righteousness, but as a response to the righteousness gained for them by His death on the cross. In our text Paul tells us that he has made himself to be a slave to everyone in order to win as many as possible. He goes on to list those he has become like in order to win. And notice, Paul does not say he become what he mentions, but he says he became like, one. We are included in the list as those who were under the law before coming to salvation, that is, we were under the curse of the law before coming to salvation. Remember, the purpose of the law is to show us our sins. The purpose of the law is to condemn us.
 

Thanks be to God, we are no longer under the power and curse of the law. By grace, through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross we now live under the Gospel. The purpose of the Gospel is to show us our Savior, to show us our forgiveness, earned for us by Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.
 

Does that mean that we can throw out the law? By no means, because we are still under what we call the third use of the law, that is the law is still a guide for our lives. And there are times that we still come under the first and second uses of the law, that is that the law is there to keep us on the right road and to show us our sins so that we repent, but for the most part, now that we have been given faith, now that we are Christ’s, the law is used to give us guidance in our lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
 

What does this mean? This means that we have Jesus’ example to follow and we have Paul’s example to follow. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are to become all things to all people. This does not mean that we do anything that will compromise our Christian faith and life, but it does mean that we live our lives so that we are examples and witnesses of our faith through all we think, say, and do.
 

I believe Dr. Luther had it right in his explanation to the third article when he said, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason our strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.”
 

How easily we forget all our God has done for us and that God has done it all for us. It would seem that each day we wake up and ask, what God has done for me lately? And each and every day we need to be reminded of all that God has done for us. We are really no different from the children of Israel and their roller coaster existence as God’s chosen people. How often it was that they would fall away from God, He would allow for them to be taken captive, they would repent, and God would rescue them. So too with us, we daily sin much, God allows for us to be disciplined, we repent, and God assures us of our forgiveness and salvation.
 

And the most joyous thing about this life is what He continues to do for us. He continues to allow us another day to live. He continues to allow us to have a job, to earn a living to feed ourselves and our families and even more so to allow us to be able to have things we want, not just things we need. He continues to reassure us of our forgiveness. Through our daily reading of His Word, through our confession and hearing His Words of absolution, through our being given His body and blood in His Holy Meal, through our daily remembering of our baptism, through our daily devotions, through our studying of His Word He works to strengthen us and keep us in faith in Him.
 

At the end of the explanation to the first article of the Apostles’ creed Dr. Luther expresses the idea that it is our “duty” to thank and praise, serve and obey our Lord. Our first reaction might be to think that this is a new law. After all, the word “duty” implies something we are compelled to do. This exhortation is not a new law. Dr. Luther is reminding us that everything that we have is a gift from God and that it is our privilege to respond to all our Lord has done for us by thanking and praising, serving and obeying Him. That is what this little word “duty” means, it is our privilege to respond. To use Paul’s words from our text, yes we are compelled, we cannot help ourselves, but to “thank and praise, serve and obey” our Lord.
 

The Gospel gives us all that God has to give, forgiveness of sins, faith, life, even eternal life. God does all and gives all. He has taken care of everything, that is the Gospel. The freedom of the Gospel does not move us to live lives of cheap grace, that is to sit on our grace. Rather, the freedom of the Gospel moves us to respond, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to make ourselves slaves of our Lord. So, with the help of the Holy Spirit the Lord gives to us to live according to His good and gracious will to the praise and glory of His Holy Name. We just cannot help it. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.