Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

A hymn that we sing quite regularly when we have a Baptism is “Father Welcomes.” The refrain fits in quite nicely with our Gospel for today: “Father welcomes all His children/To His fam’ly through His Son/Father giving His salvation,/Life forever has been won.”

A Canaanite woman came to Jesus with a problem. Her daughter was possessed by demons, and she was hurting and confused. How could she bear the sorrow of having her daughter tormented by a demon? She did not know, and she cried to the Lord for help.

This doesn’t sound like anything unusual; many people came to Jesus for help and healing. Why is it different for this Canaanite woman? The Canaanites were the ancient inhabitants of the land, yet they were Israel’s foe of old. Coming to Jesus, the King of the Jews, is not something that the average Canaanite would do. Coming to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the woman revealed both her needs and her faith. She loved her daughter very much. She needed help, and she believed that Jesus could provide that help. She cried out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David….” She cried for help, but at first, our Lord ignored her. He treated her as though she did not even exist. To be ignored by one whose recognition we desire is one of the hardest treatments on earth to bear, and she felt this. From the depth of her being, she may well have asked, “Why is He so silent to me? Is it, because I am a Gentile and He is a Jew? What is the reason?”

We tend to ask the same question when bad things happen in our lives: “Why is God so silent to me? Didn’t He hear me?” God does indeed hear our prayers. “God hears the prayers of all Christians and answers in His own way and at His own time.” The prophet Isaiah tells us this in Isaiah 65:24 – “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” He has promised to hear all of our prayers, yet His answer may not be the answer we want or expect. There are three answers which God gives to His people: yes, no, wait. At the moment, the Canaanite woman’s response was “no.” She became so insistent that our Lord’s disciples urged Him, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” Did they mean He should heal her daughter and send her away, or did they mean He should “get rid of her?” It’s impossible to tell, but their concern seemed to be more for themselves than for this poor woman. The mother is making so much noise, it’s embarrassing, and through all of this, she’s getting on the disciples’ nerves. Choosing to brush aside His objections, this poor mother knelt down before Him saying, “Lord, help me.”

Now, before this turns into a personal pity party, we need to understand the horrible circumstances in life that this poor Canaanite woman had. First of all, she is a woman. In that time and culture, being a woman often meant being in a lower class and having a lower status. Second, she is a Canaanite woman. With respect to Jesus, she is a Gentile and He is a Jew. That means she is not one of the children of Abraham and not one of God’s chosen people of Israel. She is an outsider with absolutely no genetic right to ask for help. Third, the woman’s daughter is demon-possessed.

When Jesus does say something, He tells her He will only help the people of Israel, not some foreigner like her. Silence, rejection, exclusion, yet the woman doesn’t give up. Now she kneels before Jesus and begs. It is a heartbreaking scene, to say the least. Surely Jesus will do something now – He has to! But no, He tells the woman it’s not right to help her instead of the people of Israel. He even calls her a dog. But the woman presses on, asking for the crumbs that come from the table of a dog’s master. Now Jesus does what we expect Him to do – He heals the child and commends the woman for her faith.

This becomes the example for us as Christians when assailed by personal doubts and devils. We too may reply, “Everything about me is true. I am indeed a great sinner and God truly owes me nothing but punishment and condemnation, now and forever. If anything were left to me – to receive on what I deserve, then I am most certainly lost. But here is Jesus, my Savior and my Redeemer, who died in my place suffering the wrath of God in my stead. There is nowhere else to go.”

This was the thought of the Canaanite woman. She had nowhere else to turn. That same thought must be the thought of us as well. We must confess that we are indeed a sinner. We must confess that we receive nothing but punishment and everlasting damnation. We must confess that it is Jesus Christ and Him alone who is able to save us from our sins and to give to us everlasting life. There is nothing in this world that can give us the comfort, peace and assurance that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ gives to us; yet we continue to scour the world over to find that comfort, peace, and assurance.

Through their relationship, Jesus was teaching the Canaanite woman and all of us to be persistent in prayer. We are not to lose heart if we do not get an immediate response to our prayers. Prayer is not a demand note. It is a relationship, a relationship in which we make our requests known to God our Father. We make our requests known to God and we leave it to Him to decide how best to answer our prayers. We think we know what is best for us; we have our own notion of how our prayers should be answered and the answer is always in our favor. However, that is not what Scripture says. The prophet Isaiah writes, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” When we are left to agonize in prayer, we learn our total dependence on God. We are more apt to believe and understand that the change in our lives has come from God in response to our prayers. When the Lord has answered our prayers, let us not question His delay in answering – instead, let us rather be grateful. Let’s remember what God has done in our lives and joyfully share the fact that He had mercy on us.

Remember how I made mention of the hymn, “Father Welcomes” at the beginning of the sermon? Listen again to the refrain: “Father welcomes all His children/To His fam’ly through His Son/Father giving His salvation,/Life forever has been won.” God the Father has indeed welcomed all of His children. He did it for the Canaanite woman through her faith. He has done it through the waters of Holy Baptism; just as He has with young Wesley and just has He has welcomed us, through our Baptisms into Christ and through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God our heavenly Father has heard our prayers and has forgiven us, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

By faith in Jesus Christ, you and I live beneath a heaven that God opened by sending His Son to be born a man. We are equipped to bring our prayers of blessing, confession, and petition to Him in the full confidence that He will both hear and answer us. It is by this act of Jesus that “Father welcomes all His children.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 14A

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

A hymn that we sing quite regularly when we have a Baptism is “Father Welcomes.” The refrain fits in quite nicely with our Gospel for today: “Father welcomes all His children/To His fam’ly through His Son/Father giving His salvation,/Life forever has been won.”

A Canaanite woman came to Jesus with a problem. Her daughter was possessed by demons, and she was hurting and confused. How could she bear the sorrow of having her daughter tormented by a demon? She did not know, and she cried to the Lord for help.

This doesn’t sound like anything unusual; many people came to Jesus for help and healing. Why is it different for this Canaanite woman? The Canaanites were the ancient inhabitants of the land, yet they were Israel’s foe of old. Coming to Jesus, the King of the Jews, is not something that the average Canaanite would do. Coming to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the woman revealed both her needs and her faith. She loved her daughter very much. She needed help, and she believed that Jesus could provide that help. She cried out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David….” She cried for help, but at first, our Lord ignored her. He treated her as though she did not even exist. To be ignored by one whose recognition we desire is one of the hardest treatments on earth to bear, and she felt this. From the depth of her being, she may well have asked, “Why is He so silent to me? Is it, because I am a Gentile and He is a Jew? What is the reason?”

We tend to ask the same question when bad things happen in our lives: “Why is God so silent to me? Didn’t He hear me?” God does indeed hear our prayers. “God hears the prayers of all Christians and answers in His own way and at His own time.” The prophet Isaiah tells us this in Isaiah 65:24 – “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” He has promised to hear all of our prayers, yet His answer may not be the answer we want or expect. There are three answers which God gives to His people: yes, no, wait. At the moment, the Canaanite woman’s response was “no.” She became so insistent that our Lord’s disciples urged Him, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” Did they mean He should heal her daughter and send her away, or did they mean He should “get rid of her?” It’s impossible to tell, but their concern seemed to be more for themselves than for this poor woman. The mother is making so much noise, it’s embarrassing, and through all of this, she’s getting on the disciples’ nerves. Choosing to brush aside His objections, this poor mother knelt down before Him saying, “Lord, help me.”

Now, before this turns into a personal pity party, we need to understand the horrible circumstances in life that this poor Canaanite woman had. First of all, she is a woman. In that time and culture, being a woman often meant being in a lower class and having a lower status. Second, she is a Canaanite woman. With respect to Jesus, she is a Gentile and He is a Jew. That means she is not one of the children of Abraham and not one of God’s chosen people of Israel. She is an outsider with absolutely no genetic right to ask for help. Third, the woman’s daughter is demon-possessed.

When Jesus does say something, He tells her He will only help the people of Israel, not some foreigner like her. Silence, rejection, exclusion, yet the woman doesn’t give up. Now she kneels before Jesus and begs. It is a heartbreaking scene, to say the least. Surely Jesus will do something now – He has to! But no, He tells the woman it’s not right to help her instead of the people of Israel. He even calls her a dog. But the woman presses on, asking for the crumbs that come from the table of a dog’s master. Now Jesus does what we expect Him to do – He heals the child and commends the woman for her faith.

This becomes the example for us as Christians when assailed by personal doubts and devils. We too may reply, “Everything about me is true. I am indeed a great sinner and God truly owes me nothing but punishment and condemnation, now and forever. If anything were left to me – to receive on what I deserve, then I am most certainly lost. But here is Jesus, my Savior and my Redeemer, who died in my place suffering the wrath of God in my stead. There is nowhere else to go.”

This was the thought of the Canaanite woman. She had nowhere else to turn. That same thought must be the thought of us as well. We must confess that we are indeed a sinner. We must confess that we receive nothing but punishment and everlasting damnation. We must confess that it is Jesus Christ and Him alone who is able to save us from our sins and to give to us everlasting life. There is nothing in this world that can give us the comfort, peace and assurance that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ gives to us; yet we continue to scour the world over to find that comfort, peace, and assurance.

Through their relationship, Jesus was teaching the Canaanite woman and all of us to be persistent in prayer. We are not to lose heart if we do not get an immediate response to our prayers. Prayer is not a demand note. It is a relationship, a relationship in which we make our requests known to God our Father. We make our requests known to God and we leave it to Him to decide how best to answer our prayers. We think we know what is best for us; we have our own notion of how our prayers should be answered and the answer is always in our favor. However, that is not what Scripture says. The prophet Isaiah writes, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” When we are left to agonize in prayer, we learn our total dependence on God. We are more apt to believe and understand that the change in our lives has come from God in response to our prayers. When the Lord has answered our prayers, let us not question His delay in answering – instead, let us rather be grateful. Let’s remember what God has done in our lives and joyfully share the fact that He had mercy on us.

Remember how I made mention of the hymn, “Father Welcomes” at the beginning of the sermon? Listen again to the refrain: “Father welcomes all His children/To His fam’ly through His Son/Father giving His salvation,/Life forever has been won.” God the Father has indeed welcomed all of His children. He did it for the Canaanite woman through her faith. He has done it through the waters of Holy Baptism; just as He has with young Wesley and just has He has welcomed us, through our Baptisms into Christ and through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God our heavenly Father has heard our prayers and has forgiven us, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

By faith in Jesus Christ, you and I live beneath a heaven that God opened by sending His Son to be born a man. We are equipped to bring our prayers of blessing, confession, and petition to Him in the full confidence that He will both hear and answer us. It is by this act of Jesus that “Father welcomes all His children.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 14A

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Everyone loves a good story. Some stories make us cry, while some stories make us laugh. Some stories are for fun, while some stories try to make a point. Jesus was one who told lots of stories. However, his stories were more than just mere stories; they were parables, stories with a teaching moment to them. Jesus told 36 parables, and 7 of them occur in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. Nearly every one of the parables uses nature as the key framework of the story. Each parable deals with an ultimate truth and teaching of Jesus. The parable of the wheat and the weeds is no exception.

So the Church begins. As Jesus described it in the Parable of the Sower last week, He does so again as this new parable begins. He describes a man who sows seed in His field, and thus He has come and spread His Word of grace throughout this world in order to raise up His holy people. But the joy is quickly interrupted in this new parable.

The enemy of God introduces foreign elements, namely the tares or weeds, and these are sown by the enemy of God, the devil. God has enemies and they are actively engaged in overcoming His kingdom and spoiling God’s rightful harvest, but God permits this action only so He might be able to save His own at the final harvest. This parable of Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven in its earthly estate is a blend or mixture of good and evil, true and false, wheat and tares.

The devil is a clever enemy, and we dare not dismiss his cunning. Throughout history, he has used persecution and violence against the Lord’s Church in order to destroy it, but this has never accomplished his goal; indeed, a famous saying is that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” because the witness of persecuted Christians has usually strengthened resolve and won converts. This does not deter the evil one, however; instead, he resorts to a far more insidious plan. He creates a false church and intermingles it with Jesus’ true Church. He raises up unbelievers who claim to be Christian, but do not follow the Lord and His Word. This has a few effects: for one thing, many will join a false church and then believe that they are truly Christians because they do what that church teaches, even though it rejects Scripture. For another, it casts Jesus and His people into disrepute. Unbelievers see a group committing sins in the name of Jesus, and conclude that all Christians are so hypocritical—perhaps in need of control and legislation, even prosecution.

Having finished His explanation of why He spoke in parables and of what the parable of the sower meant, Jesus continued to feed the people with the Word. Through the gospel promises of God’s Word and Sacraments, Jesus gives us the sure hope of heaven. To explain one aspect of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus points us to the familiar world of farming. This farmer owned his own field and therefore made extra sure that the seed he planted was good seed. He wanted good seed that would germinate and produce wheat, not weeds.

That sounds exactly what we heard in the Gospel last week. We want to be good seed, producing wheat, just as we want to be good soil. We don’t want weeds ruining our harvest of wheat, just as we don’t want bad soil hindering the growth potential of the good soil.

Good seed was planted in the Garden of Eden. God created man and man was good. He had planted and sowed the good seed, spreading His Word to Adam and Eve. They were yielding the wheat which God had planted, for all of humankind. Yet as we all know, Adam and Eve did not continue to yield the wheat which God had planted. Satan, God’s enemy, entered into the Garden and began to sow weeds among the wheat. Satan’s weeds, sin, has entered the field of God’s wheat and is now intermixed with the wheat.

The weeds that are among the wheat are not just any weeds. They are a type of darnel, a weed that closely resembles wheat, except that the grains are black. On a far observation, they look just like the good grain; however, it is only on close inspection that you see that it is not just wheat, but it is weeds among the wheat.

That, my friends, is the same for us as well. We are God’s wheat, planted with His Word and Spirit, in the rich soil that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yet in each and every one of us, there are weeds, there is sin. This will remain until the harvest. When is the harvest: it is at “the close of the age.” When Christ comes again, the wheat will be separated from the weeds. So it will be with us. When Christ comes again, Christians will be separated from the non-Christians; believers from the non-believers; the true Church from the false church.

We all know the true Church: where the “Gospel is preached purely and the Sacraments are administered rightly.” The true Church is where we hear the Word of God, in both its Law and Gospel, showing us our sins and showing to us the forgiveness given to us in Christ. The true Church is where a sin is called a sin, according to the Word of God. Do not misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying that the Lutheran Church is the only true Church on earth. There are other denominations and church bodies that have the Gospel. With that said, there is indeed the false church.

What do I mean by the false church? I mean that church body or denomination that takes sins condemned in the Word of God and make them permissible because “it applied 2000 years ago, it doesn’t apply to us now.” We see that with state churches that prohibit pastors on preaching against sins such as homosexuality or abortion because they are permissible under state law. How can the true Church be found if the Gospel is not preached purely? How can the true Church be found if a sin according to God is no longer a sin according to man?

The tares are going to be around until the harvest. False believers, claiming the name and blessing of Jesus, are going to be around until the Last Day. To the eyes of many, they will look like a good, helpful, productive crop. It’s not going to be different or better before then. In fact, from Matthew 24 and elsewhere, it is clear that the weeds will nearly choke out the wheat. It is prophesied that true Christianity will be nearly snuffed out before the Lord returns in glory. It is not pleasant news, but it is good to be prepared. There are many who believe that the Church will only grow greater and more glorious on earth as it triumphantly prepares the way for Jesus, but this is not what the Scriptures say. Those who believe it to be so are priming themselves to be bitterly disappointed and perhaps led astray.

Here’s the encouragement: the Lord’s harvest will remain, and the harvest day will come. While the Church will be buffeted and battered, the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and the Lord will return on the Last Day to deliver His people to heaven. It is then, when the harvest is gathered, that tares and wheat will be seen by all for what they really are. Those who gloried in sin and claimed Jesus’ name will confess, “Jesus is Lord, but I am not among His redeemed.” Those who remained in the faith will rejoice, “Jesus is Lord, and we are delivered.” Do not despair: the harvest is coming. In this wilderness of the world, the Lord has prepared a place for you. He has made you His own, borne you again, by the waters of Holy Baptism. He has nourished you with His Word and nourishes and strengthens your faith with His very body and blood. To that end, when our Lord Jesus Christ comes on the Last Day, do not fear about the tares amongst the wheat: He will gather His children and bring them to His Father, to live in everlasting righteousness, because Christ Himself has sifted the wheat from the tares. All that will remain are those who have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In His name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 10A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Everyone loves a good story. Some stories make us cry, while some stories make us laugh. Some stories are for fun, while some stories try to make a point. Jesus was one who told lots of stories. However, his stories were more than just mere stories; they were parables, stories with a teaching moment to them. Jesus told 36 parables, and 7 of them occur in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. Nearly every one of the parables uses nature as the key framework of the story. Each parable deals with an ultimate truth and teaching of Jesus. The parable of the wheat and the weeds is no exception.

So the Church begins. As Jesus described it in the Parable of the Sower last week, He does so again as this new parable begins. He describes a man who sows seed in His field, and thus He has come and spread His Word of grace throughout this world in order to raise up His holy people. But the joy is quickly interrupted in this new parable.

The enemy of God introduces foreign elements, namely the tares or weeds, and these are sown by the enemy of God, the devil. God has enemies and they are actively engaged in overcoming His kingdom and spoiling God’s rightful harvest, but God permits this action only so He might be able to save His own at the final harvest. This parable of Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven in its earthly estate is a blend or mixture of good and evil, true and false, wheat and tares.

The devil is a clever enemy, and we dare not dismiss his cunning. Throughout history, he has used persecution and violence against the Lord’s Church in order to destroy it, but this has never accomplished his goal; indeed, a famous saying is that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” because the witness of persecuted Christians has usually strengthened resolve and won converts. This does not deter the evil one, however; instead, he resorts to a far more insidious plan. He creates a false church and intermingles it with Jesus’ true Church. He raises up unbelievers who claim to be Christian, but do not follow the Lord and His Word. This has a few effects: for one thing, many will join a false church and then believe that they are truly Christians because they do what that church teaches, even though it rejects Scripture. For another, it casts Jesus and His people into disrepute. Unbelievers see a group committing sins in the name of Jesus, and conclude that all Christians are so hypocritical—perhaps in need of control and legislation, even prosecution.

Having finished His explanation of why He spoke in parables and of what the parable of the sower meant, Jesus continued to feed the people with the Word. Through the gospel promises of God’s Word and Sacraments, Jesus gives us the sure hope of heaven. To explain one aspect of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus points us to the familiar world of farming. This farmer owned his own field and therefore made extra sure that the seed he planted was good seed. He wanted good seed that would germinate and produce wheat, not weeds.

That sounds exactly what we heard in the Gospel last week. We want to be good seed, producing wheat, just as we want to be good soil. We don’t want weeds ruining our harvest of wheat, just as we don’t want bad soil hindering the growth potential of the good soil.

Good seed was planted in the Garden of Eden. God created man and man was good. He had planted and sowed the good seed, spreading His Word to Adam and Eve. They were yielding the wheat which God had planted, for all of humankind. Yet as we all know, Adam and Eve did not continue to yield the wheat which God had planted. Satan, God’s enemy, entered into the Garden and began to sow weeds among the wheat. Satan’s weeds, sin, has entered the field of God’s wheat and is now intermixed with the wheat.

The weeds that are among the wheat are not just any weeds. They are a type of darnel, a weed that closely resembles wheat, except that the grains are black. On a far observation, they look just like the good grain; however, it is only on close inspection that you see that it is not just wheat, but it is weeds among the wheat.

That, my friends, is the same for us as well. We are God’s wheat, planted with His Word and Spirit, in the rich soil that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yet in each and every one of us, there are weeds, there is sin. This will remain until the harvest. When is the harvest: it is at “the close of the age.” When Christ comes again, the wheat will be separated from the weeds. So it will be with us. When Christ comes again, Christians will be separated from the non-Christians; believers from the non-believers; the true Church from the false church.

We all know the true Church: where the “Gospel is preached purely and the Sacraments are administered rightly.” The true Church is where we hear the Word of God, in both its Law and Gospel, showing us our sins and showing to us the forgiveness given to us in Christ. The true Church is where a sin is called a sin, according to the Word of God. Do not misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying that the Lutheran Church is the only true Church on earth. There are other denominations and church bodies that have the Gospel. With that said, there is indeed the false church.

What do I mean by the false church? I mean that church body or denomination that takes sins condemned in the Word of God and make them permissible because “it applied 2000 years ago, it doesn’t apply to us now.” We see that with state churches that prohibit pastors on preaching against sins such as homosexuality or abortion because they are permissible under state law. How can the true Church be found if the Gospel is not preached purely? How can the true Church be found if a sin according to God is no longer a sin according to man?

The tares are going to be around until the harvest. False believers, claiming the name and blessing of Jesus, are going to be around until the Last Day. To the eyes of many, they will look like a good, helpful, productive crop. It’s not going to be different or better before then. In fact, from Matthew 24 and elsewhere, it is clear that the weeds will nearly choke out the wheat. It is prophesied that true Christianity will be nearly snuffed out before the Lord returns in glory. It is not pleasant news, but it is good to be prepared. There are many who believe that the Church will only grow greater and more glorious on earth as it triumphantly prepares the way for Jesus, but this is not what the Scriptures say. Those who believe it to be so are priming themselves to be bitterly disappointed and perhaps led astray.

Here’s the encouragement: the Lord’s harvest will remain, and the harvest day will come. While the Church will be buffeted and battered, the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and the Lord will return on the Last Day to deliver His people to heaven. It is then, when the harvest is gathered, that tares and wheat will be seen by all for what they really are. Those who gloried in sin and claimed Jesus’ name will confess, “Jesus is Lord, but I am not among His redeemed.” Those who remained in the faith will rejoice, “Jesus is Lord, and we are delivered.” Do not despair: the harvest is coming. In this wilderness of the world, the Lord has prepared a place for you. He has made you His own, borne you again, by the waters of Holy Baptism. He has nourished you with His Word and nourishes and strengthens your faith with His very body and blood. To that end, when our Lord Jesus Christ comes on the Last Day, do not fear about the tares amongst the wheat: He will gather His children and bring them to His Father, to live in everlasting righteousness, because Christ Himself has sifted the wheat from the tares. All that will remain are those who have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In His name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 10A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

Do you understand who you are? You may be a father or a mother. You may be a shift worker or a teacher. You may be many things, but do you fully understand who you are? Paul did not understand who he was. He was a saint and a slave to God, yet he was also a sinner and a slave to sin. Was he a sinner or a saint? Paul was both. So let me ask you who you are? Are you a sinner or a saint? You are both. Martin Luther coined the phrase, Simul Iustus et Peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner. He was fond of talking about himself as saint and sinner at the same time. He knew in a most personal way the struggle of St. Paul. He, more than most, desperately struggled to control his every thought and action, but to no avail. It was only after he found the secret of God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ that he could boldly confess he was saint and sinner, but living moment by moment in God’s forgiveness. Paul’s passionate struggle and search for an answer helped Luther and other heroes of the faith and is capable of helping us experience God’s good news for us today.

Paul realized in our text that that was exactly who he was: a saint and a sinner. It is a realization that all Christians can make, and should make, of themselves: throughout our lives as baptized children of God, we are, and always will be, simultaneously saint and sinner.

Some Christians miss the point of our text. They suggest that Paul is talking about his life before he was converted. Some Christians even make the assumption that after conversion, it’s possible to live without this tension. Paul is talking about his personal struggle after his conversion experience. He’s talking about the Paul who Jesus confronted on the road to Damascus. He’s talking about a Paul who had the courage to face councils and governors. He’s talking about a Paul who could give thanks and sing for joy, even in a prison cell. Paul, who was a hero of the faith, cried out, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

That is the same message which we exclaim as well. We don’t do the good which we want to do, but we are able to do the evil which we don’t want to do. Why is that? It is just as Paul tells us: “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” That is the story of our lives. The sin which plagues us all causes us to do what is wrong, what is evil. We know right from wrong, we have God’s Word to direct us in the ways in which we should go, yet we do not or are not able, to do what God’s Word commands us to do. This comes down to a struggle between the flesh and the spirit.

What does Paul mean by “flesh,” or “sinful nature?” Paul is referring to the corruption of sin which infects every human being since Adam’s fall. Without spiritual rebirth a man remains entirely flesh; because of his sinful nature he is unable to please God. Nothing morally desirable can be detected in the flesh, not even in the flesh of a Christian. The Christian discovers, as did Paul, that this sinful nature corrupts his understanding in spiritual matters, overrides his will and provides the ideal cover for the intruder called sin to lurk within him.

When Paul talks about the struggle of the flesh against the spirit, he’s talking about a force that permeates every part of us, our mind, spirit, soul, and body. Because of our sinful flesh, it brings about our selfish purposes, our greed, lust, anger, hatred, and murder. It is that sinful flesh which keeps the true Spirit of God from working in us. In contrast, when talking about the spirit of the law of God, he’s talking about another force which permeates every part of us. It’s an energy, a desire, which empowers us to love, to serve, to give, to affirm, to care, to risk our self, to share, or in other words, to be motivated by God’s Spirit for life and peace. However, there is a problem. The flesh and the Spirit struggle against one another, and in the end, only one can win out. The question is which will win: the flesh or the Spirit? It’s the struggle between two different kinds of energy that Paul and we experience. It’s a struggle of sin and the Law at work within us and the force of God’s Holy Spirit. That’s why, many times, what we want to do, we don’t, and what we don’t want to do, we do.

What is the solution? Can the tension ever be resolved between flesh and Spirit? What’s the answer? Is there a solution? Is there an answer? Where does one find hope in all of this? It would be easy to answer “Jesus Christ,” but what does that mean? All too often, Christians act as if the conflict does not exist. Luther once said that the “World at is best, is the world at its worst.” In the best of human action, there is often the assumption that the struggle no longer exists. It assumes a goodness in human kind which is not there.

The Old Testament lesson for today gives us a clue. The word from Zechariah is a joyous one: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The children of Israel were able to receive the message of Jesus Christ. Their liberation was not coming from themselves or anything of this world. All of these had failed. They were in exile and they knew it. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was delivering them, and it was a different King of King who was to do the job. They had given up on trusting themselves. They had recognized their plight, and at that juncture, they were capable of receiving deliverance, not from themselves, but from God.

The Gospel for today gives us the answer. The fear we experience, the struggle we experience between flesh and spirit, all comes because there is something in life which makes us think we can solve our own problems, justify our own actions, and become our own righteousness. Paul talks about this as law. There is something in our own makeup that tries to find security in ourselves. The message of Jesus is just the opposite. Listen to the Gospel for today: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you….”

The yoke of Jesus is acceptance. We can depend on someone other than ourselves. There is forgiveness. Paul concludes this discussion about the struggle of flesh and spirit in Romans 8 with these words: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” That’s the yoke of Jesus. That’s the message we need to live in the tension between the flesh and the Spirit.

The power of the Spirit gives wholeness and we become an integrated person. That’s what Luther is talking about when he calls himself a saint and sinner at the same time, living moment by moment in God’s forgiveness. That’s a different life style, and it’s why Paul could say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” You and I, too, can live in Christ’s forgiveness as saint and sinner at the same time. The yoke of Christ is easy. His burden is light. The Law can’t condemn. Flesh and Spirit both are accepted and loved. We’re free, at last, made whole. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 8A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

Do you understand who you are? You may be a father or a mother. You may be a shift worker or a teacher. You may be many things, but do you fully understand who you are? Paul did not understand who he was. He was a saint and a slave to God, yet he was also a sinner and a slave to sin. Was he a sinner or a saint? Paul was both. So let me ask you who you are? Are you a sinner or a saint? You are both. Martin Luther coined the phrase, Simul Iustus et Peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner. He was fond of talking about himself as saint and sinner at the same time. He knew in a most personal way the struggle of St. Paul. He, more than most, desperately struggled to control his every thought and action, but to no avail. It was only after he found the secret of God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ that he could boldly confess he was saint and sinner, but living moment by moment in God’s forgiveness. Paul’s passionate struggle and search for an answer helped Luther and other heroes of the faith and is capable of helping us experience God’s good news for us today.

Paul realized in our text that that was exactly who he was: a saint and a sinner. It is a realization that all Christians can make, and should make, of themselves: throughout our lives as baptized children of God, we are, and always will be, simultaneously saint and sinner.

Some Christians miss the point of our text. They suggest that Paul is talking about his life before he was converted. Some Christians even make the assumption that after conversion, it’s possible to live without this tension. Paul is talking about his personal struggle after his conversion experience. He’s talking about the Paul who Jesus confronted on the road to Damascus. He’s talking about a Paul who had the courage to face councils and governors. He’s talking about a Paul who could give thanks and sing for joy, even in a prison cell. Paul, who was a hero of the faith, cried out, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

That is the same message which we exclaim as well. We don’t do the good which we want to do, but we are able to do the evil which we don’t want to do. Why is that? It is just as Paul tells us: “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” That is the story of our lives. The sin which plagues us all causes us to do what is wrong, what is evil. We know right from wrong, we have God’s Word to direct us in the ways in which we should go, yet we do not or are not able, to do what God’s Word commands us to do. This comes down to a struggle between the flesh and the spirit.

What does Paul mean by “flesh,” or “sinful nature?” Paul is referring to the corruption of sin which infects every human being since Adam’s fall. Without spiritual rebirth a man remains entirely flesh; because of his sinful nature he is unable to please God. Nothing morally desirable can be detected in the flesh, not even in the flesh of a Christian. The Christian discovers, as did Paul, that this sinful nature corrupts his understanding in spiritual matters, overrides his will and provides the ideal cover for the intruder called sin to lurk within him.

When Paul talks about the struggle of the flesh against the spirit, he’s talking about a force that permeates every part of us, our mind, spirit, soul, and body. Because of our sinful flesh, it brings about our selfish purposes, our greed, lust, anger, hatred, and murder. It is that sinful flesh which keeps the true Spirit of God from working in us. In contrast, when talking about the spirit of the law of God, he’s talking about another force which permeates every part of us. It’s an energy, a desire, which empowers us to love, to serve, to give, to affirm, to care, to risk our self, to share, or in other words, to be motivated by God’s Spirit for life and peace. However, there is a problem. The flesh and the Spirit struggle against one another, and in the end, only one can win out. The question is which will win: the flesh or the Spirit? It’s the struggle between two different kinds of energy that Paul and we experience. It’s a struggle of sin and the Law at work within us and the force of God’s Holy Spirit. That’s why, many times, what we want to do, we don’t, and what we don’t want to do, we do.

What is the solution? Can the tension ever be resolved between flesh and Spirit? What’s the answer? Is there a solution? Is there an answer? Where does one find hope in all of this? It would be easy to answer “Jesus Christ,” but what does that mean? All too often, Christians act as if the conflict does not exist. Luther once said that the “World at is best, is the world at its worst.” In the best of human action, there is often the assumption that the struggle no longer exists. It assumes a goodness in human kind which is not there.

The Old Testament lesson for today gives us a clue. The word from Zechariah is a joyous one: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The children of Israel were able to receive the message of Jesus Christ. Their liberation was not coming from themselves or anything of this world. All of these had failed. They were in exile and they knew it. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was delivering them, and it was a different King of King who was to do the job. They had given up on trusting themselves. They had recognized their plight, and at that juncture, they were capable of receiving deliverance, not from themselves, but from God.

The Gospel for today gives us the answer. The fear we experience, the struggle we experience between flesh and spirit, all comes because there is something in life which makes us think we can solve our own problems, justify our own actions, and become our own righteousness. Paul talks about this as law. There is something in our own makeup that tries to find security in ourselves. The message of Jesus is just the opposite. Listen to the Gospel for today: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you….”

The yoke of Jesus is acceptance. We can depend on someone other than ourselves. There is forgiveness. Paul concludes this discussion about the struggle of flesh and spirit in Romans 8 with these words: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” That’s the yoke of Jesus. That’s the message we need to live in the tension between the flesh and the Spirit.

The power of the Spirit gives wholeness and we become an integrated person. That’s what Luther is talking about when he calls himself a saint and sinner at the same time, living moment by moment in God’s forgiveness. That’s a different life style, and it’s why Paul could say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” You and I, too, can live in Christ’s forgiveness as saint and sinner at the same time. The yoke of Christ is easy. His burden is light. The Law can’t condemn. Flesh and Spirit both are accepted and loved. We’re free, at last, made whole. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 8A 2008