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.

In just a few weeks, we will come to the close of another Church Year. In these last weeks, we begin to look forward to the return of Christ. Paul, in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica. He begins by saying, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathering together to him…” He makes two very distinctive points in his opening line. The first is that Christ will come again. This was a very important point for Paul to make because there were those who were preaching that Christ had come the first time and He died; because He’s dead, He won’t be coming a second time. Paul makes it clear that Christ will come a second time and we will be gathered together to Him, which is His second point. We will be gathered to Christ. We will not be gathered to an earthly king. We will not be gathered to earthly things. Instead, we will be gathered to Christ and Him alone.

How easy must it have been for those in Thessalonica to just ditch the message of Jesus and adopt whatever message someone else was preaching in the synagogue or on a hill or in the marketplace. One could hear a pro-Christ and an anti-Christ message all in the same afternoon. The choices which one had at their fingertips with regard to Christianity were numerous.Paul tells us that Christ will come again. But for that event to happen, another event must happen first: rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed.

The word “rebellion” here is not translated the best way. The Greek word is ἀποστασία, apostasy. It goes beyond rebellion. It means an abandonment of the faith, a falling away. When you look around at Christianity today, it’s not a stretch to see that people have rebelled, have abandoned the faith or has fallen away from the faith. We don’t need to go to church because we can watch church on television, or we don’t need to go to church at all, just as long as I read the Bible. Well, if I don’t read the Bible, then if I pick up The Purpose-Driven Life or Become a Better You, then I’m okay. We can find excuse after excuse why we don’t go to church to hear the Word of God or to receive Christ’s body and blood. We don’t need it because we don’t need it! We’re good people, God is for bad people. Fortunately, we are not that bad, but we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that things other than the Word of God will reveal Christ to us and that the things of this world will sustain our souls like the Lord’s Supper can.

Besides rebellion, the man of lawlessness will be revealed. The man of lawlessness does not merely come as does the apostasy. While he at first remains hidden, he at last is revealed, to show what he really is. Both of these revelations are undoubtedly opposites, for which reason we may speak of an Antichrist, although Paul does not use that term in his letter. Regardless of whether or not the man of lawlessness is the Antichrist, what is his purpose? His purpose is oppose and exalt himself “against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Lawlessness such as this has never existed in the world. Men such as Pharaoh, with all of his evil and ungodly ways, was never like this man. Pharaohs and Roman emperors were deified and claimed divine honors, but never for one moment did they do this “against” any of their pagan gods, temples, altars, etc. Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Jewish Temple, but he did it by erecting an altar to Zeus. Caligula, the Roman emperor, did the same by trying to have his own statue erected in the Jewish Temple, but even he was in no way opposing and exalting himself against the Roman gods and objects of worship. The very nature of polytheism permitted the addition of new gods and of deified human rulers. But the Antichrist shall be worse, must worse, than these deified rulers.

The Antichrist reveals himself as the Antichrist by this pagan act of seating himself in the true God’s own sanctuary. He does not deny the true God, he is neither atheist nor agnostic; in face, he worships the true God. But he does it by this pagan act, the climax of all anti-Christianity. He sits in God’s own place as if he, too, were God and shows and exhibits himself to all Christendom with the claim that he is God, that no less than deity belongs also to him. The very idea of extending deity in this way is utterly pagan. The great apostasy accepts this claim and honors this Antichrist with divine honor. That is what constitutes this apostasy. When Paul wrote, the people of God had never seen an apostasy and an Antichrist like this.

Paul tells the Church that an Antichrist is coming, but he doesn’t stop there. He tells them to stand firm in the faith which they have been given. They are the chosen ones of God. God chose them “as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” They may be misguided, but they are still sheep, loved by the Lord and therefore to be loved and cared for by Paul, a servant of the Lord. Paul thanks God for them because they are “brothers” in the one true faith. Paul thanks God for them because God chose them before time began, elected them to be his adopted children, blessed them with the gift of his Spirit, and by the sanctifying work of that same Spirit set them apart from the rest of an unbelieving world to believe the truth of the Gospel and be saved. If they are so precious to the Lord, then they should be just as precious to his apostle. Paul clearly understood this, and so he thanked God for them. He was also setting an example for all of them to follow, for if he could thank God for them, they should be willing to thank God for one another and work to heal any hurts that may have developed in their church because of the false ideas that were spreading.

All of this is important for one reason and one reason only: “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They were called through the Gospel. They didn’t make themselves believe. They couldn’t. They were “dead in transgressions.” No, God worked this miracle through the good news of a Savior from sin which the Apostle Paul, Silas, Timothy and others had been privileged to bring to them. The Gospel originates with God himself, but it becomes our own when we take hold of it through faith, given to us by the Holy Spirit. When that happens we also “share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” His resurrection victory becomes our resurrection victory, and we have life to the full, just as He promised.

This is “our gospel” as well. It is ours because God has given it to us time and time again. He gave it to us when He removed us from that Garden. He gave it to us in a Baby. He gave it to us on the cross. He gave it to us at our Baptism. He gives it to us in the Lord’s Supper. He has given to us the Gospel of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ “so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He has given us the Gospel so that we may believe and not be led astray by Satan and all of his temptuous ways. He has given us that Gospel so that we may remain steadfast in His Word until the second coming of His Son, who will gather all Christians to be with God forever. Until then, we remain steadfast in His Word, trusting in the promises which He has given to us, never doubting that His Word will do what it says it will: give to all believers forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 24C

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.

On November 10, 1483, a woman in Eisleben, Germany, gave birth to her and her husband’s first child – a son. The next day, that child was taken to the basement chapel of St. Peter’s Church in Eisleben to be baptized. Because it was the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, these new parents, Hans and Margarethe Luther, named their firstborn child Martin – Martin Luther.

As they held this baby boy in their arms, little did Hans and Margarethe realize the tremendous impact he would have, not only on the history of Germany, but also on the history of the whole world. Little did they know the role their son would play in restoring to the Church of hid day the truth of God’s Word and retaining that true for believers still today. Little did they realize that more than five hundred years later, all over the world, men, women, and children would be assembling in special worship services such as this one to say, “Thank you God, for the birth, life, and work of Dr. Martin Luther and for the Reformation of the Church.”

On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed a paper to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This in itself was not unusual. In those days, the church door served as the town’s bulletin board. If someone wanted to debate an issue publicly, he would make it known by nailing a note on the church door. But the particular notice written by Luther was quite unusual compared to the commonly accepted beliefs and practices of that time. That paper began the Reformation, a worldwide revolution that continues to have repercussions today.

Luther was a learned monk of both the Old and New Testaments. When he read the words of our text today, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law…”, Luther knew who it was referring to. It referred to him. It referred to those in Germany. It referred to all people. Before God the judge, all mankind stands guilty of sin and liable for punishment because of their many transgressions. Luther knew this and this became a foundation to his theology.

Throughout his days in the monastery, Luther saw more and more of his shortcomings. He tried to pray harder, spend more time of the day reading Scripture, because by doing this, he would be a better Christian. The law demanded deeds – holy thoughts, attitudes and works – to fulfill it.

Reading the words of our text for today, Luther saw how off the mark he really was: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Far from earning God’s declaration of righteousness, the law only produced a clear knowledge in man of how far he had missed the mark of the holiness God really demanded.

The Roman Catholic Church was very skewed in their interpretation of Scripture. They believed in the practice of grace AND good works for salvation. Luther scoured all throughout Scripture and could not find what the Roman Catholic Church was teaching.

Luther read passages such as Ephesians 2:8-9 which read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Those passages don’t support the doctrine which Rome is teaching. Luther could only do one thing: hold fast to Scripture and not the teaching of man.

Luther saw beyond the smoke and mirrors of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. God declares a sinner not guilty of sin. Free of sin, guilt and punishment, the acquitted can enter the joys of heaven. This is the result of Christ and Christ alone. It is not the result of good works which we do. If salvation depended on good works, when would enough be good enough? Would one good work a day be sufficient? Would one good work an hour be enough? Would we have to do a good work every minute of every day, in hopes that we would be saved? Luther could not accept that. He repeatedly went back to Scripture and the answer was singular, not plural. The answer was Christ. Paul makes that abundantly clear in our text that “righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

The avenue by which God’s declaration, “not guilty of sin,” becomes ours is faith in Jesus Christ, not by trusting in our observance of the law or our good works to earn heaven. That is why Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses. That is why Luther wrote pamphlet after pamphlet. The more that the Roman Catholic Church said that we had to do something to receive salvation, the more adamant Luther was in his writings against the Church.

Many people, in their sinful rebellion against God, continue to cling foolishly to the hope that their character, their life, their morality, and their good works have some worth or value that might enable them to gain heaven. People today continue to cling to the hope that their good works will outweigh their evil works, that their goodness is superior to their sinfulness, or that even though we fail miserably, God might in the end reward us at least for our efforts, if not for our accomplishments.

There is absolutely nothing that any of us can do to gain heaven. Salvation is entirely a gift of God. A gift is something freely given, which the giver expects no payment. The Roman Catholic Church wanted to put a price tag on salvation, namely the indulgence. The indulgence, as Webster’s Dictionary puts it, is a “remission of participle or all of the temporal and especially purgatorial punishment that according to Roman Catholicism is due for sins whose eternal punishment has been remitted and whose guilt has been pardoned.” That indulgence would spare you some time in purgatory and get you one step closer to salvation, which had already been given to you; however, you need to work at getting it.

When one hears that, how can they accept that? How could you accept that God sent His very Son to take on human form, to live a sinless life, to die for your sinful life so that you may receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, BUT, in order to receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, YOU have to do something to earn it! That is not a gift! That is something which you yourself earn.

Salvation, by grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, as found in Scripture alone, is the basis of our daily Christian life.

May we be as bold as Martin Luther: “Unless I am convinced by the teachings of Holy Scripture or by sound reasoning – for I do not believe either the pope or councils alone, since they have often made mistakes and have even said the exact opposite about the same point – I am tied by the Scriptures I have quoted and by my conscience. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither safe nor right. Here I stand. God help me! Amen.”

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Reformation C 2007

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

        “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…” This is what Paul writes to Timothy at the beginning of our text. These were words which were very ironic for St. Paul. As he awaited execution in a Roman jail, despite all that Paul was facing – death, the end of his ministry, abandonment by most of his friends for fear of persecution – he faithfully directed his spiritual son Timothy to the hope that is in Christ. He didn’t care about his own life right now; he was focused on the young pastor Timothy and his church at Ephesus.

        That is the message of every pastor of the Gospel: “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” That is the message which we need to hear day in and day out. That was one of the three solas of Martin Luther, sola gratia, grace alone. The basis for Luther’s sola gratia were two verses which St. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

        Why the focus on these two verses in all of Scripture? Why did St. Paul, when facing his own death, instead focus on Timothy and Ephesus? The answer to this question is two-fold. First, because of God, we have grace. All of this goes back to the Garden of Eden. When God made man, there was one simple rule which Adam and Eve were to follow: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” One simple rule for eternal paradise and Adam and Eve broke it. They were tempted by Satan to become like God. Because of that temptation, Eve broke the law of God. When she gave the fruit to her husband Adam, he broke the law of God. From that moment on, instead of becoming like God, they feared God. Instead of becoming closer to God, they became separated from God.

        For Adam and Eve, they deserved death, wrath, and eternal condemnation. Instead, they received forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. What they received was true grace – unmerited divine assistance given for regeneration or sanctification. That is what you and I have received. Do we deserve it? Absolutely not! Did we receive it? Absolutely yes! Where did we receive it? We received it at the cross of Jesus. We received it through the waters of Holy Baptism and we continue to receive it each and every time we come to the Lord’s Table to receive Christ’s body and blood, given for you, for the forgiveness of sins.

        That is why Paul tells Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead…” Isn’t it taken for granted that Christians remember Jesus Christ? Paul knows, however, that in the stress of life on earth and even in the noise of religious work it is all too easy to forget Jesus Christ. Christians need to be encouraged to have Jesus and His saving work in mind continually. We need to remember at all times and in all places that Jesus Christ is indeed risen from the dead. It is a constant remembrance of who Jesus Christ is and what it is that Jesus Christ has done: that He is the very Son of God and that “he has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.”

        These words which Martin Luther wrote are not just mere words. These are words which every Christian needs to hear because they say exactly what it is that Jesus Christ has done for us. Words which sound so simple to us were words which meant a great deal to Luther. When the Roman Catholic Church was insisting that our salvation came from Jesus Christ AND the works which we did, it caused Luther to question the faith. Is Jesus truly the Son of God? If He is, then His life, death, and resurrection is all sufficient for salvation. If He is not, then salvation depended on Luther to some extent and he knew that he was a sinner and could not, as he says, “by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.”

        The resurrection assures us that our sins are paid for and we are forgiven. It guarantees that Jesus has saved us!  Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” For this reason Paul regularly puts the resurrection of Jesus in the spotlight, not just as a reminder of what Christ did for us, but that it was Christ and Christ alone who could bring about true salvation.

        As Paul writes this letter to Timothy, he is “bound with chains as a criminal.” He is no longer able to pastor a congregation. He can no longer preach the Word of God to the people as he once did. That responsibility now lies with men like Timothy. While Paul is bound, he makes a statement to Timothy which sounds like a no-brainer: “But the word of God is not bound!” Paul says much about the power of God‘s Word in this one little sentence. God will see to it that His Word does its work in spite of human opposition! The evangelist may have a ball and chain on his leg, but the message of Jesus is off and running. We need not become discouraged when it looks bleak for Christianity. God’s Word is still at work. No human power can suppress it.

        For Paul, he knew what was at stake: the salvation of the Church. He risked his own life, time and time again to preach the Gospel. He went on three missionary journeys for the Gospel’s sake. He faced prison time on multiple occasions. Now, his life has culminated in another prison sentence. However, he doesn’t care. He reminds Timothy why he has done what he has done: “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Concern for the salvation of these elect is for Paul another motive for perseverance in Christian ministry. He has the eyes of Jesus toward the lost. He has a love for the lost that moves him to be a slave to everyone and to become all things to all men. He is more concerned with evangelizing the world than with his own personal comfort, safety or wealth. He truly has the Christ-like concern for those who have come to faith in Christ and for those who have not.

        Can it be said of us that we would endure everything for the sake of the elect? Or, are we likely to be cool toward mission work when there is a personal cost or sacrifice? Are we willing to forsake our own life for the lives of those outside of Christ, just as Paul did? I’m sure that the answer to the question is no, we aren’t willing to preach the Gospel if a personal cost or sacrifice is needed on our part. Even if we are not, there was one who was willing to preach the Gospel, regardless of a personal cost or sacrifice.

        Jesus Christ, willingly preached the Gospel. He was, is, and always will be the Gospel. He is the Good News sent from God the Father. He came to bring life when we were meant to inherit death. He came to bring salvation when we were meant to inherit wrath. He knew the risks involved in His mission, that of the Father, to bring all mankind to Him. He knew that this would require people to reject Him. He knew that this would require Him to be beaten and scourged. Ultimately, He knew that this would end in His death, yet He continued to do the Father’s will.

        We persevere in our faith, just as Christ Jesus persevered in His. We persevere because of the final words of St. Paul: “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him…” We have the faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord, given to us by the Holy Spirit at our Baptism. Let this be focus of our lives, for now and for all eternity. 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 20C 2007