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Romans 3.19-28; October 26, 2008; Reformation

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Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Rom 3:19-28, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We don’t see it very much these days… It really seems to be a picture from the past… I mean this picture of a young man (like Martin Luther) struggling to be good enough so that God won’t send him to hell. In fact, we all may look at that picture and think that it’s rather old fashioned. We may ask ourselves why anyone would ever be afraid of such a thing. Certainly few of us have had any fear about that kind of thing. We are an enlightened mature society. Religion is about love. If it’s about god at all it’s a god whose great love for people would never allow him to send anyone to punishment forever. It is often expressed in phrases like this: “The god I know would never punish people that way.” Or “How can a loving god deal out eternal punishment?”

I mean, if hell isn’t a reality for people then the question of being good enough to avoid it is really a non-issue. Isn’t it? It all kind of makes the Reformation that began with the struggle of a young German monk over sin and hell, a mute point. After all Luther’s struggle was against God, wasn’t it. He looked at himself and saw an imperfect person who didn’t “love God with his whole heart and soul and mind.” He looked at God and saw a judge who demanded perfection, not just in the way things were done, but in the motive and the thought too! His thorough study of scripture led him to the unmistakable conclusion that he was hell bound. That was then, this is now. The whole fear-of-hell thing seems like a leftover from a previous time when people thought differently.

The way it is now, the way we actually prefer to look at the world, and life, and God is completely different. We’ve made up a god of our own that doesn’t match with what the Bible tells us. Our new god is a doting grandfather that gives us whatever we need and want, and he simply ignores our shortcomings and failures. It could even be said that he doesn’t really even care that people don’t believe in him or even out and out reject him. “They’re only human,” He coos, “and nobody is perfect.” This god looks lovingly at struggling humanity and with a twinkle in his eye says, “They try so hard… that’ll be good enough.” It’s the picture of god giving an “A+” for effort, regardless of the results and regardless of the motives that lie behind the actions. He gives people a purpose in their lives and rewards them as long as we live in that purpose.

It’s no wonder people don’t fear the consequences of their sin anymore. The god we’ve invented acts and sounds just like one of us. He sweeps sin under the carpet just like we like to do. That’s just the way we live, as if sin wasn’t a problem, sweeping it quietly under the carpet. Letting it stand where we find it.

Just think a moment about these issues since 1973 in just the United States alone we have killed well over 40 million helpless children through abortion. (Note these stats include all abortions for any reason, even those where the child has already died.) It’s a staggering 1 in 4 pregnancies that end in murder. And don’t forget that you and I actually pay for three out of every 10.

We’ve defined marriage to be anything we want it to be. Men and men; women and woman; Adult and child; why not a man; a girl and two dogs and a donkey. It’s not just that, we participate in the degrading of the institution. How about how this issue hits closer to home. We all have it in our families. You know that that 90% of young couples (both Christian and non-Christian) live together before marriage. They ignore the stats that show those who do have an 80% higher risk of divorce. We ignore that God calls this a sin that affects the whole body of Christ.

God, the true God, speaks clearly about these issues. Killing humans beings at any stage of development is murder. He says sex outside of marriage is wrong, that means it is wrong for couples to live together before they are married, no matter how good the reasons seem. Test yourself on these issues: How many people know you are Pro-Life? Do you consider unborn children when you stand in the ballot box? How many young couples have you told that living together before they are married is wrong? We spend a lot of time and effort saying that God’s will for our lives is whatever we want it to be. And that God’s standards for living are quite flexible, more like suggestions that can be set aside when they are inconvenient or don’t match up with our “feel good” philosophy of life.

Luther’s struggle was about the difference between God and human beings. God is holy. People are not. God is perfect. People are not. God knows everything. God is able to look into the very depth of the human heart. When Martin looked honestly into his own what he saw there frightened him. It frightened him because he didn’t find an inner core of good. He saw an inner core of evil and darkness and hatred of other people and even of God. And when he realized that God saw that same heart, he knew that he was lost. With the law comes the knowledge of sin. St. Paul said to him. It was just like Jesus said, For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Mt 15:19, ESV) Martin Luther discovered that was accountable to God not just for his outward acts but also for what was in his heart. God said it also in the Old Testament. “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sa 16:7, ESV)

That’s the real problem isn’t it? It’s what’s in here that we can’t get rid of. We can only ignore it or pretend it isn’t there. Or invent a god that doesn’t care about sin, a god of our own making that hides his eyes to what we know is there. Because the real God, the one we learn about in His Word does care about sin. That same Word tells us all the truth we already know: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. No amount of keeping the law is going to fix what’s in here. The more we try to do what is right the more we see how we don’t do it perfectly, “with our whole heart.”

But it is precisely because the true God cares about sin that we are here today. It is because God really does love human beings beyond our understanding that He doesn’t just sweep sin under the carpet. He sees what sin does to us, how it tears our relationships apart, how it makes a mess of everything we try to do. And he knows above all how we are powerless to do anything about it. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That’s what the law makes very plain to us. But God goes beyond that he also says that we are justified by his grace as a gift… Well, it would have to be a gift wouldn’t it? We can’t scrub it clean, we can’t work it out on our own, and we can’t end sin in our hearts by any other way. We need a righteousness that we don’t have. Righteousness is exactly what God has. It is what God is. In fact the best definition of righteousness is Jesus.

St. Paul used that unusual word propitiation. He wrote the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood. What he is really talking about is a peace offering. When a wife is angry at her husband he scrambles to find a florist and shows up at the door with a big batch of flowers. That’s propitiation. And Jesus is just that, a perfectly righteous peace offering to God. Jesus offers himself to God as the object of God’s just anger over sin. He suffers the punishment that all human beings deserve because of the sin in their hearts. In Jesus heart, even though he fully human, there wasn’t any of the blackness that is in yours and mine. He didn’t make excuses for not following God’s law. Not only did he not sin, he confronted sin everywhere he went. He called sin, sin and pointed out its consequences. He didn’t struggle against God’s will for His life, even when it led him to a brutal execution. You see, everything He did was perfect, and not just in the things he did, but the motives and the thoughts, too! That’s because Jesus was not just good guy, he was human but he was also God, perfect and holy… You might say Jesus is the very heart of God’s.

Now when we compare Jesus heart to ours we know that what we need is His…

It’s the most amazing thing… it’s really beyond our understanding… it’s so utterly different than anything our experience can understand… But Jesus is exactly what God gives to us. Our sinful prideful mind and heart immediately jump to the conclusion that we must have earned it, somehow. “I must have done something good!” But the God’s law is right there to show us that there is nothing we can do. Its real purpose is to show us our sin, because we will not believe in Jesus, we can’t have true faith, until the law shuts us up, and puts anything we would do out of the picture. We get this wonderful totally free gift of Jesus righteousness, God’s perfection, by faith. What Paul means by that is seeing that Jesus righteousness is now yours. In Paul’s words: we receive the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

That’s where that young monk’s struggle ended… in faith. When Martin Luther saw that the righteousness that he needed was his as God’s free gift he did what faith does. Be believed… he received… he hoped… and he lived in faith every day of his life from that moment on.

My dear Christians friends, it is just so for you and me. The very same gift is ours. We can’t earn it, we can work our way to deserve it. It is a gift. It is the most amazing thing in the whole world. Our sin, both the things we do, and the things we think and feel, that blackness and evil in the deepest part of our heart is covered up by righteousness of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. We do what faith does… We believe… we receive… we hope… and we live in faith every day, from this very moment on. For we hold that [a person] is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Bonhoeffer on Abortion.

Christ and the German Resistance

The issue of abortion is again prominent in our current political situation. It was addressed decisively by the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) who lived during the period when the National Socialist Party of Adolph Hitler ruled Germany (1933 – 1945) and was executed for his involvement in the resistance to Hitler. Although his opposition to National Socialism is well known and admired, his opposition to abortion is not widely known. It provides substantial support for confessional Lutherans.

Here are his statements on abortion as found in his book Ethics:

Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life.  To raise the question of whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue.  The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of its life.  And that is nothing but murder.

A great many motives may lead to an action of this kind; indeed in cases where it is an act of despair, performed in circumstances of extreme human or economic destitution and misery, the guilt may often lie rather with the community than with the individual.  Precisely in this connection money may conceal many a wanton deed, while the poor man’s more reluctant lapse may far more easily be disclosed.  All these considerations must no doubt have a quite decisive influence on our personal and pastoral attitude towards the person concerned, but they cannot in any way alter the fact of murder.

Further information on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Resistance is available at GermanResistance.com

Christ and the German Resistance
Charles E. Ford, Ph.D.

Abortion is a Spiritual Issue!

Although Pr. Nour is addressing a South Dakota ballot issue his article ABORTION IT IS A SPIRITUAL ISSUE AND NOT A POLITICAL ONE  hits home.  Here's a sample.

Abortion is not an “election issue.” Abortion is a grave sin. Abortion assaults God’s Word of truth about the sanctity of human life and, therefore, assaults the Word Himself Who became flesh that we might have life and have it abundantly. Abortion is a sin against God who is the Author and Redeemer of Life. Abortion is not an “election, choice, or political issue.” Because abortion destroys human life–a life created in the image of its maker–the Lord Almighty. Abortion is a SPIRITUAL issue.

You can read the whole article here. http://www.afootwasher.org/2008/10/abortion-it-is-spiritual-issue-and-not.html

Matt.22.15-22; October 19, 2008, Pentecost 23

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Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle [Jesus] in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, there it is, isn’t it? A text about politics. And very fitting so close to the election too. I struggled a lot about which text to preach today. And frankly, I just didn’t have the guts not to use this one. You’d all go home wondering what I would have said. So here we are, contemplating this text. But, if you’re expecting me to tell you who to vote for in a few weeks you’re going to be disappointed. I will tell you that there are some issues you should deeply consider. I for one, would find it very difficult to vote for any candidate who isn’t pro-life. It says something to me about the basic character of a person when they take a stand for protecting the rights of those who are the most helpless among us. But, this text really doesn’t talk about that.

At first look it looks like it talks about taxes, more specifically, paying taxes. The question you all want to know is, “Does God require us to pay taxes?” Actually, what you are looking for is a good reason NOT to pay them. Well, truthfully, I’m looking for a good reason NOT to pay taxes. But actually, this text isn’t really so much about that either.

You see, these guys who ask Jesus this question have thought it out ahead of time. They’ve set up the question very carefully. Note the word at the beginning. They “went and plotted how to entangle Jesus.” The Lutheran Hour preacher this morning said they were out to nail Jesus against the wall. The two groups of folks involved here are the Pharisees and the Herodians. Now these guys aren’t allies in any sense of the word. In fact, they are normally at odds. But they’ve come together to oppose Jesus. The enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of thing. The Pharisees hate Jesus because he’s got the people behind him. The Herodians hate Jesus because the Herods hold power as long as things run smoothly. Jesus threatens them both. So they plotted this question. To set up the context, it seems that there was a controversy about some of the coins that Pilate had made. It had an image of Caesar on it and an inscription that implied that he was a living god. This was very offensive to Jews and Pilate was already in hot water with Rome over some other issues. He made a new coin that was less objectionable. So this question is intended to entangle Jesus in a current controversy. The question? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Is designed to be a got-ya no matter how it is answered. It is a question to nail Jesus to the wall. If Jesus says, “Pay taxes.” He’s promoting the paying of taxes to the occupying force. This stand isn’t going to be very popular with the masses. If he says, “don’t pay taxes.” The Roman government is going to be very interested in him. But Jesus answers the question and gets out of the trap at the same time. He asks for a coin. “Whose image is on it? Whose name is on it?” “Caesar’s” is the answer. Then Jesus says something that is a very deep and important answer. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Jesus enemies “marvel.” I think you can say they were disappointed. Jesus has wiggled out of they’re trap. They have to find another way to get him. Actually, trying to nail Jesus to the wall is about like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.

So what about this response, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”?

Actually, Jesus response nails us to the wall. Now look at the back of the LWML insert. This is my favorite cartoon. It’s called Agnus Day. It’s a comic strip written by a Lutheran pastor and it goes along with the regular Sunday readings. (You can read it yourself on www.agnusday.org) These two sheep are named Rick and Ted. Rick is the sheep with the coffee. He always has coffee. He always has answers. Ted is the guy with all the questions.

Well, it is true isn’t it? Human beings were made in the image of God. If we are to give to God what is God’s then we should give ourselves to him, shouldn’t we? I like Ted’s last statement. Sounds just like we expect a stewardship committee to be like isn’t it? And Ted’s response is just like us. We don’t mind giving to the church but we sure don’t want to be told what to give, how much to give, or when to give. And this “giving ourselves” idea just sounds a bit cultish, a bit fundamental. The real problem is Jesus statement about giving to God nails us to the wall. We don’t want to belong to anyone. It’s counter to our culture. It goes against the American Dream. We have the flawed idea that what we are and what we have is ours. After all, we work hard to earn the money we use to buy the stuff we have. Sometimes we sacrifice to get ahead. We scrimp and save to get what we want. Or some of us just over spend our future on credit to get our stuff. If I’m gonna pay ten times what something is worth just so I can have it now I’m sure gonna call it mine. And here Jesus says we aren’t even our own. That’s just counter to our culture. Sometimes Jesus just rubs us the wrong way, doesn’t he? Sometimes we just don’t understand or even like what he says.

That’s kind of the reaction Jesus’ enemies had too. They got a bit tired of getting nailed by Jesus. They got a bit tired of being told they were the problem. They didn’t like the idea of being told how they were wrong about their religious ideas. And they certainly didn’t like Jesus. In fact, they hated him. Finally Jesus answers to the questions that were designed to get Jesus, got Jesus nailed to the cross.

You know, there is something else about this idea of giving to God what is God’s. We talked about being in God’s image, and that’s true. But also just like Caesar’s name is on the coin, God’s name is on us. He put it there with water. Holy Baptism is God claiming us as his. We belong to him. His name is right here, on our forehead and upon our hearts. Receive the sign of the cross both upon your forehead and your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified. (Rite of Holy Baptism, LSB p. 268) You’ve been marked with God’s name. And where his name is, God is with all his promises. It’s funny, in a way, because we don’t always like the idea. Sometimes we’d rather belong to ourselves. We’d rather give what belongs to God to ourselves. We think that we’ve been put here on earth to serve ourselves. St. Paul says it in 1 Corinthians:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, ESV)

The price was Jesus nailed to the cross. Jesus crucified dead and buried to put to death the nature in us that wants serve itself. That’s what happens in Baptism. Luther says it like this:

What does such baptizing with water indicate?

It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

When St. Paul says Glorify God in your body. He’s saying the same thing Luther says here and Jesus says. Give to God what is God’s.

And here we are right back to what Jesus said. When he says, give to God what is God’s he’s talking about living your life as a Baptized Child of God, a Christian. So what does that look like? Actually, there’s a way that that ties back to the first part of Jesus reply. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Jesus could very well be saying, do what you’ve been given to do when you’ve been given to do it. Pay taxes when you’ve been given taxes to pay. Work for the church when you’ve been given that work to do. Really, giving to God isn’t always about what happens here in this building. It’s also about you serving your neighbor in what you do every single day. Moms change diapers, teachers teach, truck drivers drive and factory workers make things. Each of these is both giving to Caesar and giving to God. Serving your neighbor in what you’ve been given to do every day to the best of your ability is living before God in righteousness and purity and serving God with your body.

And yet that old sinful nature pops up again and again, changing our work for our neighbor to work for us. Well, drown him again in Baptism. Jesus Christ died on the cross for that sin. It is washed away, drowned dead. You can serve God instead. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus . Amen.

Baptism Now Saves You! Ask the Pastor with pr. Snyder.

Thanks Pr. Snyder for a clear discussion on "Baptismal Regeneration" and the Lutheran teaching on it.

Baptismal regeneration isn’t mere ancient tradition nor is it an invention of the Lutheran, Catholic, or other churches. The saving nature of Baptism is solid Lutheran doctrine based on the clear word of Holy Scripture. Peter plainly says, “Baptism ... saves you.” In 1 Peter 3:18-21, the apostle used the example of salvation by water “in the days of Noah (v. 20)” to illustrate the saving power of Baptism: “Baptism, which corresponds to [the Noahic Flood], 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.... (v. 21, emphasis added)”

Read the whole article http://xrysostom.blogspot.com/2008/10/baptismal-blessings.html

Video Worth Seeing.