The Church still forces its way into the world

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation

Revelation 14:6-7  +  Matthew 11:12-15

On this Reformation Day, we turn our thoughts to the Gospel from Matthew 11 and make some applications to the past, present, and future of the Christian Church.

Those four short verses from Matthew 11 that you heard today are somewhat cryptic because they’re somewhat figurative. At the time Jesus spoke these words, John the Baptist was in prison, Jesus had just praised him as the greatest among the prophets. But He had also just noted that “the least in the kingdom of heaven” was greater than John. Why? Because John would not be around to see the kingdom of heaven coming in full force into the world.

John marked the end of an era. He was the last of the prophets to foretell the future coming of God’s kingdom into the world through the reign of Christ the King. He wouldn’t live to see Christ ruling as King from the cross, or risen from the dead, or beginning His reign at the right hand of God at His ascension, or the King’s sending of His Holy Spirit into the world to build His kingdom at the Day of Pentecost. No, John didn’t get to be a part of the New Testament era, whereas you and I and all believers since do get to be a part of it.

Still, although the kingdom of heaven hadn’t yet come in full force, it had been coming in force since the days of John, when he first began preaching his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, announcing that the Christ had come and was already in their midst.

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way, and forceful people are laying hold of it. The word we’ve translated “forcing its way” is one of three possible translations. God’s kingdom either forces its way, or exerts force or violence, or suffers force or violence. “Forcing its way” fits best with the parallel passage in Luke’s Gospel, where he explains how it’s “forcing its way,” in that the Gospel is being relentlessly and forcefully preached, in spite of opposition, doing “violence” to the norms of the day and to the false religion that had nearly overtaken the Church of Israel at that time. Even as the Church was being persecuted, even as John the Baptist sat in prison and was about to be put to death, Christ’s Church, the kingdom of heaven, was actually taking over, forcing its way into the world. The kingdom of God was actually winning, although it appeared to be losing.

Like the prophet Elijah before him, who faced strong opposition from King Ahab and from Queen Jezebel and from all the false prophets who were leading the people astray at that time, John the Baptist would preach to the people of Israel during times of opposition and apathy within Israel. John was a prophet who would have a powerful impact on the people, as God’s instrument for forcing His kingdom into this world that is under Satan’s control, a prophet who would preach seriously, earnestly: Repent! Your time is short! This is no time to sit back and relax. There’s no more time for business as usual. Because the Christ is here! And if you squander this opportunity, this chance to come into the kingdom of heaven through faith in Jesus the Christ, you will be sorry!

And forceful people were seizing the kingdom of heaven, were laying hold of it. What does that mean? Again, Luke explains: People are “forcing their way” into the kingdom of heaven, seizing it in the face of opposition, laying hold of it, and not letting go, people like the tax collectors and harlots and sinners of all kinds, who had once been alienated from the kingdom of God because of their impenitence, but were now eagerly rushing into it due to the force or the power of the Gospel; people like the Gentiles—the Canaanite woman, the Samaritan woman, or the centurion. Jesus is referring to the serious men and women in Israel who recognized: This is it! I can’t go on as I have been. I must change. I must turn my thoughts, no longer to a comfortable life in this world, but to the life that is with God. They laid hold of the kingdom of God by repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.

It’s a good thing for the Church to force its way into the world, and for forceful people to lay hold of it. In fact, Christians always get into trouble when the Church is at ease, when life for the Christian is comfortable and easy. St. Augustine saw that long ago, long before the Reformation. During the days of horrible torture and persecution of Christians, the Church suffered violence, but the Church also forced its way into the world. It held firmly to the sound doctrine of the apostles. And forceful people laid hold of the faith to the point that they were willing to be tortured and thrown to the lions rather than deviate even a bit from the confession of Christ. But then what happened? After Constantine turned the Roman empire into a friend of the Church in 312 AD instead of her enemy, it took less than a hundred years, according to Augustine, who lived at that time, for the Church to grow soft, complacent, comfortable, tolerant of sin, and willing to compromise in order to avoid even a little suffering. Then Rome itself fell, and Augustine interprets it as a warning and wake up call to the Church that had declined significantly when the times grew peaceful, when the Church grew comfortable, and when Christians no longer had to lay hold of God’s kingdom and cling to it for dear life.

You want to talk about forceful men laying hold of the kingdom of God? Try questioning the doctrine and the politics of the pope in 16th century Europe, publishing 95 Theses (on this day in 1517) that you know will anger the people who have the power to excommunicate you, banish you from your country, and burn you at the stake. Try being summoned before the powerful Cardinal Cajetan, as Martin Luther was in 1518, threatened with excommunication and being burned at the stake as a heretic. And then summoned again to stand before the Emperor, Charles V, 500 years ago this year, with the threat of death hanging over his head. And then living under constant threat for the rest of your life, for another 25 years, hearing reports of other Christians being burned at the stake—Christians who believed the very same things as you. Imagine being the Electors of Germany in 1530 who had to defy their elected Emperor in order to continue to practice their Lutheran faith. Yes, it took forceful men to lay hold of the kingdom of God at the time of the Reformation, true heroes of the faith who led the way in rejecting the darkness of Rome’s doctrine and laying hold of the core teaching of Scripture: That sinners are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, for the sake of Christ alone.

But those who weren’t the main characters of the Reformation story were also heroes and “forceful people” in their own way, the members of the churches who heard the voice of their Good Shepherd in the preaching of Luther and who were willing to abandon centuries’ worth of traditions and allegiances and family ties in order to follow Christ faithfully.

And that’s what this forcefulness is about: following Christ, no matter what it means for your earthly life and wellbeing. Standing on the Scriptural truth that you are saved by faith alone in Christ Jesus and not by any other means or by any other merit. Standing on His Word in the face of powerful “experts” who assure you that they know better. Living according your conscience, informed by God’s Word, and not according to the mandates of earthly rulers. And being ready to suffer for it.

For a time in our country, Lutherans enjoyed relative safety and security in being Lutherans, in being Christians. Christianity, at least in a generic, external form, was celebrated here and recognized as something good, something right, something beneficial. American culture, more or less, used to line up with Christian values. You weren’t tarred and feathered for proclaiming that marriage is only between a man and a woman, or for recognizing God’s creation, or for acknowledging a male as a male and a female as a female. You didn’t even get in trouble for asserting that Christ Jesus is the only way to salvation. Not everyone believed it, but it didn’t make you a target to say it.

But that was a historical aberration. And as result, we grew soft, complacent in our religion, just as Americans in general have grown soft and comfortable and fearful of anything that might disturb our comfort. We began to think that the Christian life on earth is supposed to be this way, comfortable, easy, popular, acceptable—and that compromise is better than suffering.

Those days are over. God is calling on Christians once again to renew our zeal, to become forceful again. Not violent against our neighbors. Not forceful in fighting for our rights. But forceful about holding onto and holding out the kingdom of heaven, forceful about clinging to Christ and His Word in the face of opposition. Forceful about confessing the faith once for all delivered to the saints to a world that will hate what it hears, but it needs to hear it, so that the forceful few of the elect who remain to be converted may be converted and enter the kingdom of heaven.

How can we be so forceful? Because the Son of God has shed His blood for us and has taken up His life again to defend us against all sin, all guilt, all the devil’s accusations, and all the world’s fury.

How can we be so forceful? Because we have something firm to stand on. Not the theological musings of the theologians. Not the fickle feelings of popes or the decisions of councils that are so prone to err. But the Word of the Lord that endures forever.

How can we be so forceful? Because God has given you His Word. He’s given you His Sacraments. He’s given you His Spirit. He’s given you heroes to learn from and to imitate, Elijahs and John the Baptists, the saints and apostles, Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformers. Above all, He has given you His Son Christ Jesus as a Hero, as a Model, and as a Savior.

How can we be so forceful? Because we know, by faith, that the Church of Christ Jesus is winning and will win. It will continue to force its way into the world and throughout the world, . Seen or unseen, in ways big and small. And soon, when the Lord appears, the devil’s kingdom will crumble. But even before then, the victory is already ours. Or as the hymn says, “The kingdom ours remaineth.” Amen.

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The Third Article of the Creed, Part 2

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Sts. Simon & Jude (Small Catechism Review)

1 Peter 1:3-9  +  John 15:17-21

So you believe in the Holy Spirit. That is, you believe that you cannot by your own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, your Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and preserved you in the true faith, even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and preserves it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to you and all believers, and on the Last Day He will raise you and all the dead and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. That’s what you mean, isn’t ?, when you say you believe in the Holy Spirit. And you’re absolutely sure about it, aren’t you? Because to all this you say, This is most certainly true.

Last week we talked a little bit about the Person of the Holy Spirit, how He works through the Church and the ministry of the Word to call people by the Gospel and to enlighten them with His gifts. We noted that Luther called His work “Sanctification.” Let’s expand on that this evening.

There are two uses of the word “sanctification” in Scripture. We talked about the first one last week. The very first sanctifying act of the Holy Spirit is when He brings a poor sinner to faith in Christ, separating him out of the devil’s kingdom and setting him apart in God’s kingdom. In that sense, “sanctification” is really a synonym for “justification” and “reconciliation” and “regeneration” or “rebirth,” which are all synonyms for the forgiveness of sins. That’s why we confess “the forgiveness of sins” in the Third Article of the Creed, because while Christ earned the forgiveness of sins for us, it is the Holy Spirit who has to bring us to faith, so that our sins can actually be forgiven. Because without faith in Christ, no one stands forgiven before God.

This is the problem with “Objective Justification” or “Universal Justification.” Those who believe that God forgave all people when Christ died on the cross or rose from the dead are removing the Holy Spirit from God’s act of justification, whereas Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit is directly involved in that act of forgiveness. Paul writes to the Corinthians, You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. That’s because it’s the Spirit of our God, working through the Church, who calls sinners by the Gospel and brings them to faith in Christ Jesus, in whom we have the forgiveness of our sins.

Justification is an act. It’s a declaration on God’s part. It’s a state in which the believer stands as God regards us as perfect saints, as He chooses to judge us through Christ, being covered with the perfect righteousness of Christ. But the more common use of the word “sanctification” involves more than justification. In the narrow sense, “sanctification” is the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of helping the saints to live like saints, carefully avoiding sin and zealously doing good works. It’s synonymous with the term “renewal,” the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of helping God’s children to live like God’s children, nurturing the New Man to live a new life of obedience to God.

Both parts of sanctification are summarized in one verse from Hebrews 10: For by one offering He (that is, Christ) has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. He “has perfected,” that is, he has justified, those who “are being sanctified,” that is, in the ongoing renewal that the Holy Spirit is working in us.

This ongoing renewal is also sometimes referred to as “new obedience.” Why is it “new”? How is it different from the “old” obedience?

The “old” obedience was the obedience the Old Testament Law required, unfailing, unflinching, strict obedience to every detail of the Law of Moses, whether it was a moral law or a ceremonial law or a civil law. In fact, that obedience was part of the Israelites’ part of the covenant. “We will obey,” they promised. It was the obedience that was required to keep the covenant, to avoid punishment. It was the obedience that, in the end, resulted from fear and coercion.

The “new” obedience is described by Jeremiah as he prophesies the New Testament of Christ: Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” When the Holy Spirit brings people to faith in Christ, He also write God’s law in their minds and on their hearts, making them willing imitators of God, willing servants. Love is still God’s commandment, and His Ten Commandments are still guides for us to understand what “love” looks like. But our motivation is different than it was under Law. We love Him because He first loved us. We don’t obey God’s commandments in order to earn forgiveness, but because we have been freely forgiven through faith.

And so St. Paul urges us to “walk with the Spirit,” as the Spirit pulls and prods and encourages us to say “no” to sin and “yes” to righteousness, to love, even when it’s hard, and to show mercy to others, because of all the great mercy we’ve been shown by God.

That’s sanctification, and it won’t be complete in this life, because we still carry around our Old Adam, our sinful flesh, who’s always fighting against the Spirit and the New Man. As Luther once wrote, This life is not godliness, but growth in godliness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way; the process is not yet finished, but it has begun; this is not the goal, but it is the road; at present all does not gleam and glitter, but everything is being purified. Or, if you will, “sanctified.”

Now, before we finish our discussion of the Third Article and the Holy Spirit’s work, we have to mention that other work of His called “Preservation.” The Preservation of the First Article was God’s preservation of His creation and His protection of His children from harm and danger. The Preservation of the Third Article is the Holy Spirit’s work of keeping us or preserving us in the one true faith, keeping us with Jesus Christ. How does he do that? It all comes back around to the means of grace. To the word and sacrament. Those are the Spirit’s special tools for keeping us in the Holy Christian Church. Without his ongoing help and preservation, we would quickly fall away. We would quickly give in to our flesh. We would quickly, or at least eventually, stop relying on Christ alone for our salvation, and the devil would have us back.

But St. Paul gives us reason to hope: I am confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. In other words, the Holy Spirit won’t abandon you after He brings you to faith. He will preserve you. But He insists on doing it through means, through the instruments of Word and Sacrament. Through those means, He’ll continue to preserve you in the faith and to help you stand under the cross, in times of persecution and hardship and doubt and fear. There will be the Holy Spirit working in you until you’re complete, that is, until the Last Day, when He will raise you and all the dead and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. Then, and only then, will His work of sanctification finally be done.

This is most certainly true. That’s what you confess at the end of each article of the Creed. Now remember that it’s all certainly true, and live and believe accordingly! Amen.

 

 

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The faith part of the whole armor of God

Posted on October 24, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 21

Ephesians 6:10-17  +  John 4:46-54

In today’s Epistle, St. Paul gave us that beautiful analogy of the Christian as a battle soldier, fighting, not against our fellow man, but fighting a spiritual battle against the devil and his demons and against their influence in the world; as a battle soldier, equipped, not with firearms or physical weapons, but equipped with the spiritual body armor that God provides, and with a spiritual weapon. The battlefield is your every-day life in this world that’s destined for destruction. It’s not for nothing that we call the Church on earth the “Church Militant.”

Among the spiritual pieces of body armor that God provides is the shield, and that shield is said to be faith, faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Since today’s Gospel focuses specifically on the faith of the nobleman who came to Jesus, we’re going to have a look at the faith part of the whole armor of God, which is essential for standing and withstanding in the battle that is raging all around us and in which God has made us all battle soldiers.

Jesus had performed a single miracle up in Galilee so far, His first miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Then He had gone down to Judea and had performed many miracles there. And many of the Jews from up in Galilee had seen those miracles, because they had also gone down to Judea to attend the feast of Passover. Now Jesus is back in Galilee, back in Cana. And a nobleman from the town of Capernaum—about 16 miles away from Cana—has heard that Jesus is back from Judea. He either heard of Jesus’ miracles there or he himself had been there to see them. Either way, he believed that Jesus could help his dying son. He went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

There’s faith there. A little faith, at least. Faith in Jesus’ power and willingness to cure an earthly disease. It isn’t necessarily saving faith—faith in Jesus as his Savior and Redeemer from sin—but at least the nobleman believes Jesus can help. He also assumes, apparently, that Jesus has to come with him, has to be there in the room with his son to perform the healing.

Jesus’ first response is a warning, and an expression of righteous frustration on God’s part. Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe. Believe what? That Jesus can do miracles? Well, they already believed that, after seeing all the miracles He had performed in Judea and after hearing about changing water into wine right there in Cana. But this is important. Jesus is just beginning His ministry, and He has done several miracles. But those miracles were not the purpose of His coming. They were to be signs confirming His teaching. They were to be signs confirming that He had been sent by God, that He was the promised Christ, and that He was to be their Savior from the enemies of sin, eternal death, and the devil. That’s what the people were supposed to believe, and not primarily because of the miracles, but by the power of Jesus’ teaching, that is, by the power of His Word, both the Word written in the Old Testament and the Word that He and John the Baptist had spoken. In summary, they were supposed to believe Jesus’ words and promises.

But hardly anyone believed in His words and promises. Their faith was limited to what He could do for them to improve their earthly lives. And even that faith was built on the foundation of what they could see with their eyes.

The nobleman was still in that category. But he was desperate, and he did believe Jesus could help his son. Lord, come down before my little boy dies!

Jesus was willing to help, but not to come down with the man to his house, not to give the man an outward proof to hang his faith on or to cling to. No, Jesus simply said, Go! Your son lives. Nothing to look at, nothing to see. Just a word and a promise to cling to, a word to believe.

And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went. Just the word and promise of Jesus. And the nobleman believed it. And because he believed it, he acted on it. He stopped begging for Jesus to come with him or to help. He left, believing that Jesus had helped him, even though he couldn’t see it yet. He left, expecting to get back and find his son healed. It may not have been a perfect faith; there may have been shadows of doubt in his heart. But Jesus’ word had given him faith, and had given his faith something to cling to.

He started walking those 16 miles back to Capernaum, had to spend the night somewhere along the way, because the miracle took place in early afternoon, and he could only walk so far before sunset. But he got up the next morning, still hopeful, and continued his journey. Then his servants met him along the way and told him his son had been healed the day before, at the same time Jesus had spoken that almighty word. Then we’re told that he himself and his whole house believed. Believed what? That Jesus had healed his son? That was no longer a matter of faith, but of sight. No, the man and his household now believed in Jesus Himself, that His word was powerful, that His word was true, that He had come from God, that He was the promised Christ, that their lives and their very souls were safe in His hands.

With that kind of faith, the nobleman was prepared for what was to come, both for himself and for Jesus. Regardless of the miracles Jesus would do over the next few years, most of his countrymen would never believe in Him. Many would follow Him for a time, but then turn back when He didn’t perform signs on demand, like they wanted. But the nobleman and his family had been brought to a faith that was stronger than that, faith in the word and promise of Jesus that didn’t require sight anymore.

That’s the kind of faith we all need. That’s the kind of faith God is looking for in each of us. That is to say, it’s the kind of faith God is working to create and to build up in each of us. God isn’t looking to create faith in you by showing you any other signs but the ones He has already given. He isn’t looking to bring you to faith or to strengthen your faith with bright lights or shiny visions or spectacular miracles, and certainly not with the testimonials that other people might give of such things. He gives you His Word, recorded in Scripture, preached by a pastor in His name. And He expects that to be enough.

He gives you His word that the water of Baptism saves. You can’t see it washing away sin. You can’t see it giving new birth or sealing the new birth of faith. You can’t see the Holy Spirit working in it. But Jesus speaks the word that Baptism is a washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, and He expects you to believe it. He expects His word to be enough.

He gives you His word that “this is His body” and “this is His blood” in the Sacrament. You can’t see anything but bread and wine. You can’t see or taste the body that was sacrificed on the cross or the blood that was poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. But Jesus speaks the word about His holy Supper, and He expects that to be enough.

Of course, it isn’t enough for our sinful flesh, for our fallen human reason. We demand to see a sign of God’s love and faithfulness, to see a sign that tells us, “God is truly on our side!” Or, “This is the right church and not that one.” Or if we don’t demand it, we simply refuse to be comforted by God’s promises, we go on living in despair, as if the world is as out of control as it seems, although, according to God’s word, Christ still reigns at the right hand of God and is still working all things together for good to those who love Him.

No, you need to repent of your reliance on human reason and what your eyes can see. You need to repent of the despair and the hopelessness that your experience tells you is all too reasonable. And you need to listen to Jesus again, just to Jesus, just to His Word, and cling to it for dear life, whether it’s His Word about Baptism or the Lord’s Supper, or about the final victory of His Holy Christian Church, or about the raging spiritual battle in which you have been made a battle soldier.

With the shield of faith, He says, you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. What are those flaming arrows? They’re attacks on your soul—spiritual attacks. They come in the form of temptations, for example. Temptations to sin against any of the Ten Commandments. Temptations to go along with the world in order to avoid persecution, to be silent when you know you should speak, to ridicule when God calls on you to show mercy, to hate when God calls on you to love. Temptations to despair, or to disbelieve God, or to forfeit the peace and joy that God offers in His Word. With the shield of faith, you’ll be able to extinguish those flaming arrows.

Those arrows also come in the form of persecution itself, and the many forms of injustice and mistreatment by others that threaten to make you bitter and angry and sorrowful. With the shield of faith, you’ll be able to extinguish those flaming arrows, too.

Those arrows also come in the form of lies, lies from false teachers and false prophets about who God is and what God’s will is, lies from government officials, lies from “scientific experts” to support demonic agendas, lies from your own neighbors and from your own culture about what is right and wrong anymore. With the shield of faith, you’ll be able to extinguish those flaming arrows. That doesn’t mean the lies go away, or the persecution goes away, or the temptations go away. It means they won’t be able to harm you. They won’t be able to get to your heart or to your soul to destroy you.

Faith is powerful protection in this battle—not the only protection, as Paul mentions other pieces of armor—but still powerful. Keep your faith focused on the word of God alone. Believe what He says, no matter what things look like. And don’t waste your time looking for signs. You have the word of God. And that is enough. Amen.

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The Third Article of the Creed, Part 1

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Festival of St. Luke

2 Timothy 4:5-15  +  Luke 10:1-9 + Small Catechism Review

Our celebration of the Festival of St. Luke coincides quite well with our focus this evening on the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed. We’ll see how in just a moment. To the First Article of the Creed, you recall, Luther added the title, “Creation.” To the Second Article he added the title, “Redemption.” And to the Third Article, he added the title, “Sanctification.” We’ll review this article over the course of two weeks (although we could easily take ten). I’ll read it, as printed on the back of your service folder:

I believe in the Holy Spirit; a holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and preserved me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and preserves it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers, and on the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

Who is the Holy Spirit? He’s a “Person,” which isn’t the best term for any of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, but it’s the best we can do. He’s a distinct personality within the Holy Trinity who “subsists of Himself,” as they say. In other words, He is not the Father. He is not the Son. He is His own “Person.” If that were ever in doubt, the words of Jesus as He commissioned His disciples should dispel all doubt: “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

As we confess in the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit proceeds or “goes out from” from the Father and the Son. Beyond that, we don’t try to comprehend or visualize the Spirit, just as we can’t really visualize the wind. We know the wind by its effects on us and on the world around us. So, too, we know the Spirit by His effects on us and on the world around us.

The Holy Spirit is the One who makes the Father known to us, who makes the Son known to us. And how does He do it? He does it through the Word of God. And how does the Word of God come to us? It comes to us through the Church, through those who have received the Word of God, from the Prophets, to the Apostles, to those who received the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, to all who have believed and been baptized ever since. There is the Spirit, working through the Word that is preached and that is attached to the Sacraments. There is the Spirit of God, performing His work called “sanctification.”

To sanctify means “to make holy,” to set someone (or something) apart for a sacred, special purpose. When you and I were born, we were not sanctified in any way. We were born dead in trespasses and sins, born as members of the devil’s kingdom, born as part of the mass of the unbelieving world, common, ordinary, profane. Even though Jesus had already come long before we were born and lived and died and rose again, we were still part of the profane, unbelieving world, as all people are by birth, flesh born of the flesh, and children of wrath.

And so we confess in the explanation of the Third Article, when we say that we “believe in the Holy Spirit,” what we mean is: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel. He has called me out of the mass of common, ordinary humanity, out of the world that is perishing and destined to perish. He has called me through the Gospel as it was preached by someone, or by many someones, whom He had previously called by the Gospel, and so on, and so on, back to the Day of Pentecost. And faith came by hearing, as it always does.

Faith is the very first gift that the Holy Spirit gives to a person, as we say, He has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and preserved me in the true faith. Before, I sat in darkness, not knowing God, not believing in God, under the devil’s power. But by working faith in our hearts, the Holy Spirit has sanctified us in the first sense of the word; He has set us apart from the perishing world and placed us as members of the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. He has set us aside and marked us as “holy to God.”

Then, along with faith, the Holy Spirit continues to enlighten us with still more gifts. Some of those gifts, especially during the apostolic era, were obvious, visible gifts: healing, prophesying, speaking in tongues. But His most important gifts have never been the external ones. They’re the gifts mentioned in Isaiah 11: Wisdom, including sound judgment and discernment; Understanding: of God, of His Word, and of His creation; Counsel: including comfort, encouragement, guidance, and the ability to preach and teach God’s Word; Might, including courage to confess Christ before the world boldly and strength to stand against the devil and the world; Knowledge: knowing God and His works and His ways; and Fear of the Lord, including reverence for God, a firm faith in God, and zeal to lead a godly life. With all of these gifts, the Holy Spirit enlightens those whom He has first enlightened by saving faith in Christ Jesus.

Now, how does all this fit in with the Festival of St. Luke? Well, first, consider our Gospel this evening. Why did Jesus send out the seventy? He sent them to preach the Gospel, to call people by the Gospel. Because His plan for Israel, like His plan for the rest of the world, wasn’t to magically zap faith into people’s hearts from heaven, or to nurture their faith without means. The only way God brings people into His Church is through the ministry of the Church, which is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Why would those seventy go on this mission? Because the Holy Spirit had already brought them to faith in Christ through the Word, had already called them by the Gospel and enlightened them with the gift of faith. And how could they possibly go out as “lambs among wolves”? Where would they get the courage from to do that? Only being enlightened by the Spirit’s gift of Might. And with His gifts of Wisdom and Understanding and Counsel they would be equipped to preach and teach. And with the Spirit’s special, outward gift of healing, they would heal the sick there, as a sign that truly the kingdom of God had arrived in the Person of Jesus Christ.

What about St. Luke himself? From what we can tell about Luke from the Scriptures, he was a Gentile, a Greek from the city of Troas, a doctor, a physician, until Paul, Silas, and Timothy arrived in Troas, on their way to Greece for the first time. Luke doesn’t mention himself in the book of Acts, but before Paul arrived in Troas, it was “they did this” and “they went here and there.” After Troas, it’s “we departed” and “we went here and there,” indicating that Luke, the author of the book, suddenly became a participant in the story. And the Spirit worked mightily in Luke, granting him the gift of knowledge so that he could compose that precious third Gospel and the book of Acts. The Spirit also worked in him great zeal and love and loyalty to the Apostle, so that he alone was there with Paul when Paul faced the executioner’s block.

All of that was by the working and guiding of God’s Holy Spirit, who called Luke by the Gospel, just as He had called Paul by the Gospel, just as He has called you and me by the Gospel and made us members of His Holy Christian Church. We say we “believe” in a Holy Christian Church, because we can’t actually see it. In fact, when we look around us, it seems like there can’t possibly exist a Holy Christian Church throughout the world. But by faith, we know it’s there. We believe it exists, and that Christ is quietly building it, stone by stone, soul by soul, through the Spirit’s sanctifying work.

Tonight we’ve considered the Spirit’s call through the Church and the Spirit’s enlightening as the first part of sanctification. Next week, with God’s blessing, we’ll consider the other part of the Spirit’s sanctifying work. Now, may He who has called you by the Gospel preserve you by the same Gospel and preserve you with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. Amen.

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Ponder the parable about predestination

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 20

Ephesians 5:15-21  +  Matthew 22:1-14

The Church Year is arranged in such a way that all the chief doctrines of Christianity are covered, throughout the year at least in a basic way. Today it’s the doctrine of election or predestination that is presented to us in the parable of the wedding banquet, presented so simply that even a child can understand it. Many are called, Jesus says at the end, but few are chosen. Few are “elected.” So ponder the parable with me this morning, the parable about predestination.

Who is Jesus telling this parable to? Once again, it’s the scribes and Pharisees. It’s Holy Week. The Pharisees are ready to have Jesus put to death, but instead of backing off, Jesus hits them with one parable after another, condemning their stubborn unbelief.

A king prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king represents God the Father. The son obviously stands for Jesus, the Son of God. The bride isn’t mentioned in this parable. In various passages of Scripture, Jesus is called a Bridegroom, and it’s usually the Church that is His holy Bride. That may be the case in this parable, too, although wise Church fathers have suggested an alternate possibility which fits very well with the teaching of Scripture. The wedding is the “wedding” of the two natures in Christ, the divine and the human. The Person of the Son has always existed, but when He became “incarnate,” when He took on human flesh in the virgin’s womb, that’s when the two natures were “wed,” so that there is now one Christ made up of two natures, as a marriage is two people who become “one flesh.”

Now, God had been planning this “wedding,” the sending of His Son into human flesh to live and to die for sinful man, even before He created mankind, before the foundations of the world were laid. He knew that some of the angels He would create would rebel against Him. He knew that the devil would tempt Eve. He knew that Adam and Eve would sin. He could have chosen not to create us in the first place, but instead, He chose, not only to create us, but to wed His Son to our race, so that He might earn our redemption and reconciliation by His death on a cross.

He told Adam and Eve about it already in the Garden of Eden, about the Seed of the woman—true Man—who would crush the serpent’s head, as only true God can do. But it was the people of Israel, the Jews, whom the Father invited to the wedding banquet. For hundreds of years, He told them through the Prophets that the day would come when the Christ would come to Israel. That’s when the wedding itself would take place.

But the invited guests were unwilling to come. They disregarded [the invitation] and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. Some of the Jews paid no attention to Jesus, or they followed Him for a while, and then walked away disappointed. Then there were others, like the Old Testament Jews who murdered the Prophets, like Herod, who beheaded John the Baptist, or like these very scribes and Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking who would call for His crucifixion later that week and then persecute His Apostles and believers in the decades to come.

When the king heard about it, he was angry. And he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Now, God knew how the Jews would receive His Prophets and Apostles and how they would treat His Son. But He let them do what they wanted to do and used their evil intentions to fulfill His good and gracious will. And then, a few decades after the Jews killed Jesus, God “sent His armies” in the form of the Roman armies, and they did destroy those murderers and burn up their city in the year A.D. 70.

The king speaks the verdict: He said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.’ Not worthy. Why not worthy? Were they such bad people that the king didn’t want them? No, it wasn’t that. They were not worthy, because they didn’t want to come. They rejected the invitation. They resisted God’s Spirit, and yes, the Spirit of God can be resisted, as Stephen the martyr accused the Jewish Council: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Just as the will of God can be rejected, as St. Luke writes in chapter 7: The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves. Stubborn unbelief makes people unworthy to share in feast of God’s salvation.

But the parable isn’t only about the Jews who rejected Jesus and who refused to come into His Holy Christian Church. It’s also about all those who did heed the call. The king commanded his servants, Go into the streets and invite to the wedding whomever you find. So those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good, and the banquet tables were filled with guests. The Gospel would go out after the Jews rejected it. It would go out to all nations and to all the people within those nations, regardless of who they were descended from, or what kind of people they were, regardless of how godless and sinful they had been. Repent and believe the good news, that God sent His Son into human flesh to redeem mankind! Trust in Christ! Be baptized into Christ! Come into His holy Church, where there is grace and abundant salvation, at no charge, as God’s free gift!

Many people over the centuries have come into the Church, have been baptized, have gathered around Word and Sacrament. Not all who are called come in. No, not at all. Most people hear the Gospel and still turn it down, just as they did at the time of Jesus. Obviously they are not among the chosen. They are not among the elect. They will not spend eternity celebrating the banquet of God’s salvation in Christ, because even when they were pushed and prodded by God’s Spirit, calling them through the Gospel, to take refuge in Christ, they were unwilling, and therefore unworthy. But many have believed and been baptized. Many have become Christians.

Still, being once baptized, being once a believer, even being a lifelong, active member of a Christian church isn’t all the King is looking for among His guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who was not wearing a wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Being baptized is essential. Becoming an active member and gatherer with the Christian Church is essential. But wearing the wedding garment till the end, when the king comes to inspect the guests, is also an essential part of being among the chosen, of being among the elect.

What is the wedding garment? It’s the righteousness of Christ which covers us by faith. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Notice, it’s not baptism without faith, but baptism together with faith by which we have put on Christ. And while baptism is a one-time event, faith is not a one-time event. It isn’t an “event” at all.” It’s an inner “taking refuge in Christ.”

As you know, if it’s storming outside, if it’s windy and rainy and there’s thunder and lightning, you’re safe as long as you’re taking shelter. If you enter a shelter and then leave the shelter to go back out into the storm, you’re no longer protected. So, too, the wedding garment of trusting in Christ must be worn at all times, not just by external membership in a church, not just by physically attending the services, but by actually relying on Christ in your heart, taking refuge in Him against the storm of your own sinful record, and the storm of the devil’s accusations, and the storm of God’s wrath.

Too many over the centuries have preserved the outward trappings of Christianity without the wedding garment of faith in Christ. Too many will be found, at the time of their death or at the time of Christ’s coming, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, as Christ accused the church in Laodicea of being in the book of Revelation.

But it isn’t for the guests to make that judgment, is it—whether a person has genuine faith in his heart? The guests didn’t kick out the man without the wedding garment. It was the king who saw it when he came. It’s God and only God who sees the heart.

So don’t go around evaluating your fellow members, judging whether you think they’re wearing the wedding garment or not. No, this parable about predestination isn’t about judging others. It’s about making sure you’re not turning down God’s gracious invitation. It’s about making sure you’ve been baptized, making sure you’re living in daily contrition and repentance, making sure you’re not only an outward member of the Church, but an inward member, believing in the Gospel, hoping in Christ, using the Means of Grace He’s given you to preserve your faith, praying for the Spirit’s help against doubt and unbelief, and living as one who is being sanctified in love.

Those whom God finds persevering in faith until the end are the ones who will spend eternity in His kingdom. They are the chosen. They are the elect whom God predestined in eternity to spend eternity with Him, because He planned in eternity all He would do for them and give to them for their salvation, and He foresaw in eternity that these chosen ones would be brought to faith by His Spirit and would use all the tools He would provide to remain faithful.

And so this parable keeps us from falling into the ditch on either side of the road. It keeps us from becoming secure on the one side. “I’m confident I’m among the elect, so I could never fall away.” As Paul warns the Corinthians, If anyone thinks he stands, let him be careful that he does not fall! And it keeps us from despairing on the other side. “I want to be among the elect, but I can never know if I am!” Here’s how you can know: Have you heard the Gospel call to believe in Christ Jesus, who was wed to our humanity and who earned redemption and reconciliation for you? Have you been baptized? Do you trust in Christ for forgiveness? Are you determined to keep using the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacrament, that God provides? Are you determined to keep praying for God’s help and strength? Are you determined to walk with the Holy Spirit, to struggle against sin and to live in love? Then you are doing exactly what St. Peter encourages you to do:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brothers, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

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