Each Day in the Word, Thursday, August 11th, 2022

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

2 Corinthians 1:1–24 (NKJV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. 12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end 14 (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus. 15 And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit—16 to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. 17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. 20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 23 Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. 24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.

Paul writes in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” In today’s reading he explains two ways in which God works even our afflictions for our good.

First, although while suffering any affliction we feel the sentence of death hanging over our heads, we learn to daily trust in God who raises the dead. In the midst of our sufferings, tribulations, and crosses the Holy Spirit wants to lead us to deeper faith in the gospel. Though we might even despair of our very lives because of hardship, Christ uses our sufferings to show that His strength is made perfect in weakness, just as it was during the days of His earthly life.

Second, God comforts us in our afflictions so that  as we receive heavenly comfort, we might turn around and comfort those in our lives who need the comfort of the gospel. This is not a generic comfort. It is the comfort of the Holy Ghost working through the Word of God to give us Christ. The word comfort is the same word used to name the Holy Ghost the Comforter in St. John’s gospel. The comfort which the God of all comfort offers to Paul in His tribulation is that of the Holy Ghost, who calls to His mind the perfect peace Jesus brings by forgiving sins, bestowing righteousness, and the ability to do all things with the strength Christ provides.

This is the comfort that Paul, and all the faithful, offer to each other in the midst of their afflictions. It is the comfort that as our Lord suffered while in the flesh, so must His baptized suffer. But as Christ was vindicated by the Father on the third day, so all the baptized will be vindicated from their sufferings, if not in this life, then on the Last Day at the resurrection of the dead, so that nothing lasts forever except the comfort, peace, and joy of the gospel.

Let us pray: Lord God, grant us the holy comfort of Christ’s peace and strength in our afflictions, so that, rejoicing in your comfort, we may comfort others with the same. Amen.

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Evaluating the ministers of God

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 8

Jeremiah 15:19-21  +  Acts 20:17-38  +  Matthew 7:22-29

We pick up the theme established in Sunday’s Gospel of evaluating those who come to you as prophets or ministers of Christ. Watching out for false prophets, and evaluating the fruit of every minister, to know it he’s a good or a bad tree.

We have before us two ministers this evening, in addition to Jesus Himself: the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and the New Testament apostle Paul. Let’s spend a few moments studying the pattern set by these two good trees and learning what to look for in a minister.

Jeremiah was a true prophet, charged with possibly the most difficult task any prophet has had to carry out: to warn Israel, as a nation that was simultaneously the people of God, at their lowest point in history—their spiritually lowest point, that is. They had completely abandoned the Law of Moses and the God who gave it, and Jeremiah had to announce the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Israel as a consequence of their idolatry and impenitence. He was left practically all alone, denouncing the sins of Israel and foretelling their doom. Jeremiah was a true prophet producing good fruit, accepted by God—but rejected and hated by the people.

And it got to him. The words you heard in the First Lesson weren’t spoken by God to Israel, but to Jeremiah. If you return, then I will bring you back. Return from what? Well, right before that, Jeremiah had been praying, I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, Nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because of Your hand, For You have filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed? Will You really be to me like an unreliable stream, As waters that fail? In other words, I did what You sent me to do, Lord, and I’m lonely and rejected because of it. Why do You make me suffer so? Will You really prove unreliable in the end?

Even a true prophet can slip, and Jeremiah did. Not too terribly, not too far, because the Lord called him back before he could slip any further. But even a prophet who is suffering unjustly at the hands of wicked people doesn’t get to insinuate that the Lord is treating him unjustly or that the Lord is unreliable.

So Jeremiah is called to return, to repent. And when he does (and he did) the Lord promises to bring him back, to speak for the Lord again. But he’s warned not to go running back to the people for comfort or expecting their friendship or their support. Instead, they are to return to Jeremiah. They are to look to him to speak God’s Word to them, and they are to believe him when he does.

But they won’t, and God knows that. So he promises to make Jeremiah a fortified bronze wall, able to withstand all the attacks and opposition of the people. They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you.

Now, no Christian preacher will be exactly in the position Jeremiah was in. But there will be some similarities. In every time and place, ministers of Christ are called upon to denounce sin, both of the world and of the Church at large and of an individual church. Sometimes it will just be a few people who grow angry with him and oppose him. Sometimes he will end up practically all alone in his denunciation, to the point that everyone else hates him.

He’ll also be hated for preaching the Gospel, that Christ alone is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind, that His doctrine is true and reliable, that sinners are justified solely by faith in Christ. Even that message angers those who won’t believe it.

In either case, when a preacher is persecuted for preaching God’s Word, then the preacher also has God’s promise of help and deliverance. If he is left alone, then God will be his companion. If he needs to be a fortified bronze wall, then that’s what God will make him. Only he must guard himself against sin, especially the sin of despair and of accusing God of any sort of unfaithfulness.

Then we come to the apostle Paul in the book of Acts as he met one last time with the elders of Ephesus, and we see again what a good tree looks like, what a faithful Christian minister does. As Paul says, you know how I served the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials. Humility is a mark of a true preacher. And Paul’s tears of sorrow for those who remained in unbelief and his tears of joy for those who believed were evidence of his genuine concern. And the trials he willingly underwent proved that he actually believed what he preached.

I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ… I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Expect a minister to teach you everything, the whole counsel of God, the parts you find important and the parts you think of as insignificant. Preaching publicly and also from house to house where appropriate. Testifying to Jews and Greeks and to every skin color and race that he encounters, without despising or looking down on anyone. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ—that summarizes the heart of the good preacher’s message. Repentance and faith. Sin and grace. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Again, Paul’s willingness to face real suffering and real pain sets the pattern for all who would be good trees, and that willingness to suffer loss for the sake of the Gospel is some of the good fruit you should be looking for in every minister. But notice that he isn’t devoid of joy, but wishes to finish his race with joy. There should be joy in a minister, too. Not perkiness, not a smile always glued to his face. But the joy of the Gospel has to be there, just as the Gospel of the grace of God itself has to be there as the focus of his preaching.

Then Paul warns about the false prophets, just as Jesus did in Sunday’s Gospel. After my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. You always have to be paying attention. No synod is safe forever. No church body, no individual church is automatically safe from false teachers rising up. Pastors have to watch out for it in themselves and in other preachers. Laymen have to be keeping watch, too.

Would you believe that this verse including St. Paul’s warning was recently applied to me and the members of the CLM who left the ELDoNA? “Speaking perverse things, drawing away the disciples after themselves.” I don’t know what the “perverse things” are supposed to be, since no one ever explained. And it seems that the encouragements we have given to those still within the diocese to leave it behind because of the dangerous path that it’s on—those are seen as “drawing away the disciples after themselves.” The thing is, we don’t want disciples for ourselves. We just want to be faithful ministers of Christ and faithful overseers over the flocks entrusted to our care.

But so be it. We know the truth. You know the truth. And most importantly, God knows the truth, and He is able to strengthen His people in the truth. So the faithful minister commends his people to God with confidence, just as Paul did: I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Finally, and this is especially appropriate in our day and age, Paul shows us the faithful minister’s attitude toward getting rich off the ministry: I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel…Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

When ministers walk in the footsteps of Jeremiah and Paul, they do well. And when you, the people of God, expect ministers to walk in their footsteps, judge them to be good trees, and then do what they tell you in God’s name, then you also do well. That’s part of building on the rock, as you heard in Jesus’ parable this evening. When you put His words into practice, including His word to evaluate the ministers who come to you in God’s name, then you are like the man who built his house on the rock, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Amen.

 

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Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, August 10th, 2022

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

1 Corinthians 15:58–16:24 (NKJV)

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. 5 Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). 6 And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 10 And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11 Therefore let no one despise him. But send him on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren. 12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however, he will come when he has a convenient time. 13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love. 15 I urge you, brethren—you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints—16 that you also submit to such, and to everyone who works and labors with us. 17 I am glad about the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking on your part they supplied. 18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. 19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 The salutation with my own hand—Paul’s. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come! 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Paul’s closing exhortation is to faith and love. He exhorts the Corinthians—and all Christians—to faith when he writes, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” Faith keeps watch against temptation, knowing the devil’s devices. Faith stands fast in The Faith, firmly believing the apostles’ doctrine. Faith is brave in that it trusts God’s promises to be true and certain no matter how the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh attack or entice. Faith makes us strong against all  our enemies because by faith we have Christ’s strength to overcome every temptation. If we fall to temptation and consent to sin, faith remembers “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Paul teaches us love when he writes, “Let all that you do be done with love.” The faith that watches, stands fast, being brave and strong in the gospel promises, works through love. Everything we do ought to be done with the motivation of love. Without love all our good works, charitable deeds, and service to God and others are clanging cymbals and sounding brass. When lethargy tempts us to be sluggish in our callings, Paul’s words remind us to do the work of our vocations in love. When selfishness creeps in to our motivation so that we help others with the thought of getting something in return, Paul’s words recall us to the motivation that Christ had in sacrificing Himself for His bride, the Church.

Walking in faith, we are to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. This is the labor of watching and standing fast. It is the labor of loving our neighbors in our vocations. No matter the labor to which Christ has called us, no matter the field of service, we know that our labor is not in vain because it the labor He has given to us to do.

Let us pray: Strengthen our faith in Your promises, Lord Jesus, so that we might stand fast in the faith against all temptations and do all we do for others out of love for them and you. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, August 9th, 2022

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

1 Corinthians 14:1–40 (NKJV)

1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification. 6 But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? 7 Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? 8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. 12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. 13 Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. 16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? 17 For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. 20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. 21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord. 22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. 26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. 36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The speaking of God’s Word should always be done for the edification—the building up—of those who hear God’s Word. Speaking in tongues, that is, speaking in another language, only edifies people’s faith and love if there is a translator. Otherwise, the only one who understands the tongue is the Lord who gave that gift to the speaker. It doesn’t edify the believers and it drives away unbelievers, confirming them in their unbelief. Paul doesn’t discourage tongues, but he makes it clear that prophecy—the speaking of God’s Word—excels tongues, because “he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.”

Five intelligible words that speak of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the new obedience of faith are far better than then thousand words no one can understand. This preaching—which is prophesy—speaks clearly of Christ and His salvation for everyone’s benefit. St. John writes in Revelation 19:10 that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” All prophecy has to do with Jesus, His perfect life lived in our stead, His death died with all our sins imputed to Him, His resurrection which make justification available for all who believe and trust His atoning work. St. Paul commands that the message of Christ be proclaimed clearly for the edification of all the church.

Paul also forbids women from speaking in the church. This speaking is the authoritative, public preaching, and does not include the singing of hymns and psalms or responses, nor does it exclude speaking the gospel to others in their vocations. This is not because women are inferior to men, after all, not all men are are qualified to be preachers. Rather, this reflects the order in which God created man and woman. Christians are to do all things decently and in order, especially according to what God has ordered in Scripture.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, we give you thanks for ordering all things to reflect your good creation and the gospel so that we may be edified and built up in your will. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Monday, August 8th, 2022

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

1 Corinthians 12:12–31 (NKJV)

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

Each of us have only one body. But our one body is made up of many different parts. Each part has its own own unique function and operates inseparably with the other parts. If one part of our body suffers the entire body suffers. If one member of our body is is honored, the entire body—we ourselves—are honored.

So it is with Christ. His body, the chur  ch, is one yet consists of as many members as there are believers. The Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ’s body and gives us of Himself to drink for our spiritual nourishment. He does this through God’s Word and sacraments. But this equality does not mean that we are all the same part. Feet cannot be hands. Ears cannot be eyes. Within the church God has appointed some to be apostles, prophets, and teachers. In Corinth God had also appointed miracles, gifts of healing, and a variety of tongues; gifts which He no longer gives to the church.

Within Christ’s body we do not seek those things which God has not appointed for us, nor do we puff ourselves up because of what God has appointed to us, for “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” Every individual is a member of Christ’s body and works best when he or she works for the honor of the body, which is Christ’s, and serves the other members, our brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what God has appointed for you in Christ’s church, whether pastor or hearer, “the members should have the same care for one another.”

This is why we are to “earnestly desire the best gifts.” What is the best gift? The next chapter answers that. The best gift is love because it has countless opportunities to serve other members of Christ’s body, not matter what member of the body God has appointed you to be.

Lord God, as we drink from the Spirit through your Word and sacraments, teach us true love for the other members of Your Son’s body, so that we selflessly serve them. Amen.

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