The Christian’s responsibility to judge Christian preachers

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/444040754 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Trinity 8

Romans 8:12-17  +  Matthew 7:15-23

Ask a random person, “What are the basic tasks Christians are to be performing?” You’ll hear lots of different answers: “Feeding the hungry. Helping the poor. Being kind to people.” The more religious might say, “Christians are supposed to be praying. Going to church. Reading their Bibles.” All good things. Very few, I think, even among Christians, would come up with the basic task that Jesus gives His disciples in today’s Gospel: Christians are to be judging Christian preachers. And I don’t mean, judging them by how charismatic they are, or how cool, or how engaging. I mean judging them, as in, watching out for false prophets.

Now, Lutherans tend to get this, more than some other churches do, who happily and even proudly celebrate the diversity of doctrines that are tolerated in their midst. We tend to focus on doctrine and on making absolutely sure that what we believe, teach, and confess is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We’ve always told people that, by far, the most important factor in choosing a church is the doctrine that is taught and practiced in that church, regardless of any external trappings. Why are we so concerned about doctrine? Because of whose doctrine it is. It’s Christ’s doctrine, Christ’s teaching.

Of course, if you’re hearing the Word of Christ directly from the mouth of Christ, then you don’t have to worry about judging the preacher, do you? But none of us has ever had that opportunity. Christ never intended to stay on earth and preach and teach until the end of time. It was always His intention, as we see already here in the Sermon on the Mount, to call His sheep, to feed His sheep, to convict and to convert sinners, through the preaching and teaching of ministers whom He would send to preach and teach in His name until He comes again. But He also knew that many, many preachers calling themselves Christians would go out into the world not having been sent by Him, or if sent by Him originally, would end up spreading lies in His name, and so He issues this stern warning to His disciples toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, as one of the most basic tasks we are to be doing: Watch out for false prophets.

Why? Because they won’t come to you with a big sign on their backs saying, “False prophet.” On the contrary, they will claim that they’re speaking to you in Jesus’ name, that they’re telling you the truth about God and about His Son Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to come in “sheep’s clothing.” But inwardly they are ravenous wolves. If they get you to believe lies about yourself, to believe lies about God, to believe lies about how anyone can be saved from death and from eternal condemnation, then they have devoured you. They have robbed you of salvation. They have led you to believe in a fake Jesus, and a fake Jesus cannot save anyone.

How do you watch out for them? You judge them. You don’t judge them by the way they look, or by how educated they are by worldly standards, or by their personality, or by their sense of humor. You don’t judge them by the mere fact that they claim Jesus as Lord or wave a Bible around. You judge them by examining their “fruits.” By their fruits you will know them, Jesus says. Two things are included in a preacher’s fruits: his doctrine, and his life. In other words, whether he does the will of my Father in heaven in what he teaches and in how he lives.

How do you judge a preacher’s doctrine? How do you “test the spirits,” as St. John writes in chapter 4 of his first epistle, “whether they are of God”? Well, there’s only one way. You have to do as the Bereans did in Acts 17. You have to “search the Scriptures” to find out if what a preacher says is true. You have to know your Bible, study your Bible. There’s no way around it. It’s the only infallible source of truth, unchanging, unwavering, the inspired Word of God that remains forever.

It’s a big book. We’ve broken down its teachings and summarized them in six chief parts, as you know if you’re familiar with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, which is tremendously helpful for judging a Christian preacher’s doctrine.

Does his doctrine line up with the Ten Commandments? Does he point you to the Lord God alone as the only God and Savior, to fear Him, to love Him, and to trust in Him above all things? Does he teach you to honor God’s name and God’s Word? To honor your parents and those in authority over you? To guard your neighbor’s life, including the lives of the children waiting to be born? Does he teach you to honor marriage—the lifelong union between one man and one woman—and to keep the marriage bed pure? Does he teach you not to steal, not to give false testimony against your neighbor, not to covet what your neighbor has, but to be content with what God has given you? Does he show you that all have sinned against these commandments and have earned only God’s wrath and punishment? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge.

Does his doctrine line up with the Apostles’ Creed? Does he teach that God created all things in six days by His almighty Word, or does he teach the religion of evolution? Does he teach that Christ is true God from eternity and true Man, born of the virgin Mary? Does he teach that Christ has redeemed mankind from sin, death, and the power of the devil with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death? Does he teach that Christ rose bodily from the dead on the third day and lives and rules eternally at the right hand of God, and will return on the last day to raise all the dead and to give eternal life to all who have believed in Him? Does he teach that the Spirit of God is the one who, through the preaching of the Gospel, calls poor sinners from every race, tribe, language, and people, who brings people to faith through the message that is preached and justifies them by faith alone in Christ, that it is the Spirit who gathers His Church and preserves it through the means of grace—through preaching and the Sacraments? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge.

Does a preacher’s doctrine line up with the Lord’s Prayer, teaching you how to pray to our Father in heaven, to seek the glory of His name and His kingdom, and to look to Him as the Provider of all you need, from daily bread, to the forgiveness of sins, to strength to resist temptation, to deliverance from all evil? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge.

Does a preacher’s doctrine line up with the Bible’s teaching of Holy Baptism, that it is a water of life, rich in grace, and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Spirit, and that it works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge.

Does a preacher’s doctrine line up with the Bible’s teaching about the office of the holy ministry? Does he teach that Christ calls men, through the call of the Church, to be His ministers, to use the keys of the kingdom of heaven in His name, to forgive sins to the penitent in the stead of Christ and to deny forgiveness to the impenitent in His name? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge.

Finally, does a preacher’s doctrine line up with the Bible’s teaching about the Sacrament of the Altar? (This has been a main sticking point separating Lutherans from most other non-Roman-Catholics for 500 years.) Does a preacher preach that the body and blood of Christ are truly present under the bread and wine of Holy Communion, and that Christ’s body and blood are truly received by all communicants—for the forgiveness of sins to those who believe, and for judgment to those who disbelieve? Or does he teach something else? You be the judge. If a preacher’s fruit—his doctrine—is good, if it lines up with, not just some, but all of these teachings of Scripture, then receive him and believe him. If it’s bad, then “avoid him,” as Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 16.

Then you also have the preacher’s life as part of his fruit, how he behaves, what he does. It’s important, but it’s secondary, because it’s knowing Christ rightly and trusting in Him that will save you, not the preacher’s life, and we know that every preacher is sinful, so don’t waste your time looking for a one who never sins. You won’t find one. But do look for someone who practices what he preaches, which includes repenting when he sins. Judge his life with mercy. Judge him with love. But do judge his life to see if he fulfills the requirements St. Paul set forth for preachers in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus chapter 1. For example, if he preaches that stealing is wrong, and yet regularly helps himself to a portion of the offerings, watch out! If he preaches that the doctrine of Christ is all-important, but runs away in fear when the wolf comes, watch out! Or if he practices open Communion, allowing people to commune together at the Lord’s altar, without first making sure that their confession of faith lines up entirely with the truth of God’s Word, watch out!

In the last part of today’s Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that none of this is a question of a preacher’s sincerity. These false prophets against whom Jesus warns think they’re serving the Lord Christ. They call Him, “Lord! Lord!” And they’re surprised on the last day when He rejects them, saying, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers! They thought they knew Jesus, and they preached the Jesus they thought they knew. Some even did miracles, (supposedly) in Jesus’ name. But it turns out they didn’t know Him, and so the Jesus they preached was a false one. They allowed themselves to be led away and deceived by Satan and his doctrines of demons, which they then echoed in their preaching. It was Satan’s power behind their miracles, even as Scripture says that in the last days the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.

So don’t judge a preacher by his sincerity or even by miracles he performs. Judge him by his fruit—by his doctrine and by his life. It’s one of the most basic tasks given to Christians by Christ. Because you don’t want to arrive at the day of your death or at judgment day and only then find out that you didn’t actually know the real Jesus. He doesn’t want that to happen, either! That’s why He has given you His Word, and His warning, but also His Holy Spirit in the Word to “guide you into all truth,” as He promised His disciples, to guide you and to teach you, and to keep you from being deceived. And when you have judged that a Christian preacher is actually bringing you the Word of Christ, then hear him, believe him, and put the Word of Christ that he preaches into practice. Then you will be, as Jesus says at the end of the sermon on the mount, like the wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain came down, and 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.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Christian’s responsibility to judge Christian preachers

A better kind of slavery

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/441826518 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Trinity 7

Romans 6:19-23  +  Mark 8:1-9

Slavery is coming up in conversations again these days here in our country. Who took slaves, who owned slaves, who should receive reparations for the slavery that ended in our country 155 years ago—strangely, there has not been much talk about who fought to abolish slavery or who sacrificed their lives to end it. Why do I bring this up in a sermon? Because St. Paul talked about slavery in today’s Epistle. Now, understand, there is more than one kind of slavery. Different kinds have existed throughout the world for most of its history, some worse than others. In Old Testament Israel, a person could enter into slavery willingly in order to pay off a debt, or in order to avoid dying on the streets from poverty. At other times, slavery was used as a punishment for crimes committed, or sometimes conquering nations would make slaves out of the peoples they conquered. The slave trade in Africa in the 17th century was especially heinous, because people were simply kidnapped and then sold by African slave-traders and shipped off to Europe or to North or South America, where some were treated better and others far worse, depending on the kind of owner they had.

And that’s really what slavery is: Being owned by someone as their property. It certainly isn’t how God created human society to be. But then, He also didn’t create human society to have murderers like Cain or adulterers like David. He didn’t create human society to allow babies to be killed in their mothers’ wombs or for anyone to have sexual relations outside of marriage. He didn’t design human society for spouses to fight with one another or for marriages to be broken or for children not to have both their mom and their dad in their home. But ever since the Garden of Eden, the corruptions of God’s good creation have been growing, and growing worse.

And this is what we need to understand: Since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, God’s plan for the human race has never been to create a better, more just society on earth, and Christianity has never existed in order to see to the creation of a better society. God’s plan for the human race has been to deliver us all from a slavery that is far worse, far more damaging and far more dehumanizing, than any form of slavery that men have ever invented, and Christianity exists in order to preach the Gospel that delivers people from that slavery. It’s the slavery St. Paul talked about in today’s Epistle: the slavery to sin, the slavery to uncleanness and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. It’s the slavery in which the devil himself is the true slave master. This kind of slavery produces suffering and turmoil here on earth, and at the end of the day, it ends in death, both temporal and eternal.

But Christ came to redeem mankind from the slavery to sin at the price of His own precious blood and to bring us into the glorious freedom of the sons of God by bringing us to repentance and faith, to make us God’s children through Holy Baptism and heirs of eternal life. But you have to understand that sometimes the Bible refers to that very freedom of the sons of God also as a kind of slavery, though a much better kind.

Now, even St. Paul says that “slavery” isn’t a perfect analogy here; he says he’s speaking in human terms, using an earthly analogy that we’re somewhat familiar with because of “the weakness of your flesh.” There is a sense in which the term slavery applies both to unbelievers and to believers.

A slave is owned by someone else and must serve someone else. And unless you’re the Creator of the universe (and you aren’t), you aren’t now and can never truly be your own master. People don’t like to hear that and they’ll deny it loudly, but it’s the truth. So by right, God, as the Creator, should be the Master of everyone. But our race sold itself into the slavery of sin. Jesus says in John 8, “Whoever practices sin is a slave to sin.” That’s the natural state of every human being. Those who are slaves to sin are free from righteousness, free from goodness, free from godliness. They are instead bound to lead unholy, unrighteous lives, some more than others, some more outwardly, others more inwardly. They think they’re free, but actually, they’re owned by their own sin as they serve it and serve its purposes. The slavery to sin looks like fear. Anger. Jealousy. Hatred. Injustice. Laziness. Selfish ambition. Self-absorption. Homes full of tension and empty of forgiveness. Families that are destroyed or dismantled. Sexual depravity that is praised. False gods, disappointment with life, despair, and finally death and the never-ending fires of hell that come after death, when sin’s wages are finally paid out. We see it in the world all around us, this slavery to sin.

Then there’s that other kind of slavery St. Paul talks about, the “slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” This is the slavery of those who have been “freed from sin and made slaves to God.” But this is a good kind of slavery with a good Master, our dear Father in heaven. It’s a slavery in which we aren’t beaten for our disobedience, but Christ was beaten and abused for us. It’s a slavery in which we don’t work to make our Master happy with us, but He gives us His favor free of charge, apart from our works. As Paul writes, the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The connection between Paul’s discussion of slavery in today’s Epistle and the Gospel of Jesus feeding the 4,000 may not be obvious, but it’s there. What is it like to live as “God’s slave”? What kind of Master is He? Well, as we see here, He is a good Master who has compassion on His people and always takes loving care of His own. His is a better kind of slavery.

In the feeding of the 4,000, we have this beautiful account of the care and compassion of Jesus for the needs of His people, for His “slaves,” who, unlike the 5,000 who were fed on a previous occasion, who spent only part of one day listening to Jesus—these 4,000 had spent the last three days out in the wilderness, hanging on His every word.

We see that compassion in our Gospel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have already remained with me for three days, and they have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away to their homes without eating, they will faint on the road, for some of them have come a long way.”

You see, it’s a slavery of sorts, this slavery to righteousness; you aren’t “free” to believe whatever you want, but you are bound to believe what Jesus teaches. But that’s a good thing, because what Jesus teaches is the saving truth. You aren’t free to go off and live in unrighteousness. But that’s a good thing, because while unrighteousness may bring momentary pleasure, it wrecks lives, both here and hereafter. You aren’t “free” to live your life apart from Jesus and His Word. But again, that’s a good thing. Because where Jesus is, there is a compassionate Savior, one whose compassion led Him to die on the cross for our sins, one whose compassion still leads Him to give special care even now to those who follow after Him.

His disciples didn’t know where they could get bread to feed over 4,000 people out in the wilderness. God’s ministers today often don’t know how Jesus will ever take care of His people in their great needs. Sometimes it seems hopeless. Sometimes it seems like there’s no way He can. But we foolishly forget, as the disciples forgot, that He has done it before, that He has always done it. He fed the 5,000 before He fed the 4,000. He has kept sustaining the members of His Church, both spiritually and bodily, since the beginning, and He always will.

In our Gospel, Jesus took seven loaves of bread, for which He gave thanks, and then broke them and gave them to His disciples to distribute to His people. He did the same with a few small fish. And everyone ate and was satisfied, and seven baskets were needed to collect the leftover pieces. In the same way, Christ sends out His ministers with His grace, with His mercy, with His forgiveness, even with the bread and wine that are His true body and blood, which He multiplies in order to serve His people with the spiritual food they need. And He also works in countless ways, even miraculous ways if need be, to make sure His slaves have their bodily needs taken care of, too.

That’s how Jesus, the gentle slave master, took care of His “slaves,” His beloved disciples, while He was with them on earth. He not only gave them reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of their sins as a gift, but He also rewarded them with earthly care and compassion. It’s an illustration of what He said in Matthew 11, Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Those who walk under Jesus’ yoke, those who serve as His “slaves” are loved as children of God and are cared for as children of God, both here on earth in our weakness, and forever in heaven in glorious strength.

Does that mean that Christians have no needs here on earth? Or that Jesus will rush in to heal our every sickness or prevent all suffering for us? Not at all. What it means is that, sometimes, when He knows it’s best, He will prevent us from getting sick or from suffering. Sometimes, in His mercy, He will lessen our suffering. Always, we can be absolutely sure that if we suffer, it’s only because He allows it to happen for our good. And always we can be sure that He will give us all the strength we need to get through the times of suffering and need.

And so, because of the great compassion and care of Jesus for His people, the Lord is calling out right now to every unbeliever, to those who are still slaves of sin and slaves to uncleanness. He says, “I have paid the price to end your slavery to sin. I want you to serve Me, not sin. I want you to live and not die. See how I care for My own! Repent and believe in Me! Be baptized (if you haven’t been already) and so become a slave of God and an heir of eternal life!”

And then, once you are freed from sin and enter God’s kind of slavery, you are also called on to live under this better kind of slavery. Paul says to the Roman believers, now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. What does that look like? It looks like trust in God, no matter what terrible things are going on around you. It looks like peace. Patience. Kindness. Self-control. Love—the fruit of the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5. It looks like focusing outwardly on helping others instead of focusing inwardly, on how to serve yourself or on how others treat you. It looks like the grace of patiently putting up with the sufferings of this life and the persecution of the devil, the world, and our flesh. It looks like forgiveness for the past. It looks like confidence for the future. In short, it looks like offering your whole self in service to God, each day, in all you do, with thankfulness in your hearts.

I can’t think of any kind of slavery here on earth that sounds good, and the slavery to sin is truly terrible. But God’s kind of slavery is entirely different and infinitely better. In His slavery, you have your fruit leading to holiness, and the end is eternal life. Amen.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A better kind of slavery

Baptism is essential

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/439774793 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Trinity 6

Romans 6:3-11  +  Matthew 5:20-26

Do you remember how we began the Trinity season? We began with Jesus’ astonishing response to Nicodemus: “Unless a man is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

In today’s Gospel, we hear the same thing stated somewhat differently by Jesus. Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. At the beginning of the Trinity season, we learned about Baptism as the divinely chosen path to enter God’s kingdom because of the original sin with which we’re born. In today’s Gospel, we don’t hear about Baptism at all. What we hear about is our great need for someone else’s righteousness to be applied to us, because if we’re judged according to the Law, according to the Ten Commandments, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s why today’s Epistle from Romans 6 is so fitting. There St. Paul gives us the solution to the problem presented in the Gospel. Today we learn that Baptism is essential. It’s essential because we are not righteous on our own. It’s essential because it gives us the righteousness of Another. And it’s essential, because it strengthens us to walk in the new life that St. Paul spoke of in today’s Epistle, the righteousness life that Jesus also described in the Gospel.

First. Baptism is essential because we are not righteous on our own.

Let me repeat Jesus’ words: I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. The scribes and the Pharisees were not violent men. They didn’t go around vandalizing stores or beating up or killing their fellow citizens. They went to synagogue faithfully. They prayed more than most people prayed and tithed more than most people tithed. They obeyed the Ten Commandments outwardly as well as a person could.

But that’s not good enough, according to Jesus. Your righteousness has to be better than theirs. He goes on to give some examples from the Ten Commandments, focusing in our text on the Fifth Commandment, You shall not murder. Are you guilty of murdering someone? If not, that’s good! But not good enough, Jesus says. What about getting angry at your brother in your heart, where no one else can see but God? Are you guilty of that? What about calling your brother a really horrible name with your mouth? Are you guilty of that? What about saying something as trivial as, “You’re a fool! You’re stupid!” to your brother? Are you guilty of that? If so, then as God sees it, as God judges, you’re guilty of breaking the Fifth Commandment. With that one act of obedience, whether in the heart, or on the lips, or with the hand, you’re subject to hellfire. The fires of hell. You’ve earned death. Eternal death.

Jesus goes on after our Gospel to talk about the Sixth Commandment, You shall not commit adultery. You’re not guilty of having an affair or of sex outside of marriage? If not, that’s good! But not good enough, Jesus says. What about looking at a woman to lust for her? Are you guilty of that? What about being slow to show compassion to your spouse, or slow to listen, or slow to forgive? Are you guilty of that? Then you’ve also broken the Sixth Commandment and are subject to death and hellfire.

Jesus could have made reference to all the commandments with the same result, showing His listeners, whoever they were, whoever they are, that no one is righteous before God if his or her life is judged according to the strictness of God’s commandments. No matter how well you’ve kept the commandments on the outside, everyone is guilty of breaking the commandments in less obvious ways, whether on the inside, or with harmful or unloving words, in one way or another falling short of the perfect attitude and the perfect behavior of selfless love that God requires, that God Himself has toward mankind.

And in case anyone thought that you could bring a sacrifice to God, bring a gift to His altar, make up for your sins on your own, or do some good work that God will accept in spite of your sins, Jesus slams that door in your face, too. If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. In other words, you can’t approach God at all until you’ve taken care of your sins. He won’t accept your sacrifice. He won’t accept your gift, or any of your virtues, or any of your works. He won’t accept you, if you’re not righteous first.

And since no one is righteous, all are guilty, all are sinful, and all must die.

But that’s why Baptism is essential. Baptism is God’s offer to mankind of another way to die, and another way to become righteous in God’s sight.

What was it Paul wrote to the Romans in the Epistle? Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Jesus’ death on the cross was a true sacrifice. He gave His life willingly, and His life is worth more than your life or my life or all the lives of all men who have ever lived, because He’s the sinless Son of God. His death truly pays for sins.

But not for His own sins, because He had no sin. His death paid for the world’s sins, for our sins. As the prophet Isaiah wrote long ago, The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity—the unrighteousness—of us all. Or as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

It’s Baptism that binds us to the death of Christ and to the righteousness of Christ. When Peter said to crowds on Pentecost, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, he wasn’t giving them yet another work of the Law that they had to fulfill. He was offering them the means by which God would connect them to the death and to the righteousness of Christ. And covered in that righteousness, sprinkled with the blood of Christ in Holy Baptism, through faith, you are forgiven and justified.

As we confess in the Small Catechism. Baptism works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this.

So when God’s Law rightly accuses you of breaking God’s commandments, whether outwardly with the mouth or with the hands, or inwardly with the heart, when Satan himself throws your sins in your face, you have this truth on your side: You’re a baptized Christian. (And if someone is not yet a baptized Christian, repent and become one! And if someone was once baptized but fell away from the faith through apathy, or through willful sin, repent and return to the faith of your Baptism!) As a baptized Christian, you already have the blood still clinging to you that made atonement for your sins once for all. As a baptized Christian, you already have the righteousness covering you that stands before God, the only righteousness that saves. For that reason, Baptism is essential.

But finally, Baptism is also essential because it strengthens us to walk in the new life that God has given us.

Paul wrote in the Epistle, we were buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we, too, should walk in a new life. We weren’t only buried with Christ through Baptism into death. We were also raised with Christ to new life through Baptism. It’s that new life that Jesus was talking about in the Gospel. God’s commandments first accuse us all of disobedience. Through them, the Holy Spirit shows us our sins and sends us running to Christ and to His Baptism for forgiveness. But then, for God’s forgiven children, for baptized Christians, the commandments serve also as a guide. And through them, the Holy Spirit teaches us how to live a new life, even as Christ was raised to new life from the dead.

So returning to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit guides His baptized Christians. He guides us not to murder, which includes guiding us to turn away from anger and hatred, guiding us to turn away from harsh words, and from demeaning words spoken against our brothers, because words can also hurt. He guides us not to allow offenses to fester and grow into bitterness or resentment, but instead to reconcile with “our brother,” that is, with our fellow Christians, if you know your brother has something against you. Reconcile. Make peace. That’s what God demands of us.

But we’re weak. We’re forgetful. We’re lazy, because we still drag around this Old Man, this sinful nature that keeps us from obeying God’s commandments, even though we’re baptized Christians and disciples of Christ. But here Baptism comes back in and serves this other purpose. As Luther says in the Small Catechism: Baptism signifies that the Old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die, with all sins and evil desires, and that a New Man, in turn, should daily emerge and arise, to live forever before God in righteousness and purity.

When God calls on you to keep His commandments, to flee from sin and to pursue righteousness in how you live, don’t think, “I have to dig down deep inside myself to find the strength and the will to obey.” No, instead, think, “I’m a baptized Christian. And while I know there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to obey, it’s God who gave me new life. It’s God who united me with the death and resurrection of His Son. It’s God who now works in me, to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With the strength He provides, say No to sin and Yes to righteousness. And pray for the help that He promises to give to all of His baptized Christians.

Without Christ’s righteousness, you have no hope of entering the kingdom of heaven. But with His righteousness applied to you through faith and Holy Baptism, you have everything you need to enter the kingdom of heaven. And with the power Baptism provides, you also have everything to need to walk in the new life God has given you, always in great weakness, but also always with God’s goodwill and good pleasure, with God’s comfort and help, as He smiles upon you, His own child whom He accepted and adopted in Holy Baptism, whom He has promised to accompany and to lead all the way through this life, and finally to welcome into His heavenly home. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Baptism is essential

God’s call to some of the called

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/437641307 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Trinity 5

1 Peter 3:8-15  +  Luke 5:1-11

Every week so far in this Trinity season has taught us, based on the appointed readings, how the Lord builds His house, how He expands His kingdom, how He gathers His Church. Every week, a different aspect. If you recall, last week we heard about some of the rules of the house, rules which begin and end with being merciful as our Father is merciful. Today, in the Epistle, St. Peter picks up on some of those rules as well. Finally, all of you, be of one mind. Be sympathetic. Show brotherly love. Be compassionate. Be friendly. Do not repay evil with evil or insults with insults, but on the contrary, pronounce a blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. You were called to this, he says. All Christians have that calling from God, the calling to unity with one another, the calling to kindness, the calling to imitate Jesus, which, as Peter also says, includes imitating Him in suffering patiently. But it also includes not being afraid of those who cause suffering for us, and not being troubled by it. Finally, we are all called to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. All of us here have been called to that.

But how exactly has God called us to that? How does He call people into His kingdom and teach them to behave as His children? You remember a few weeks ago, we heard how the master of the house in Jesus’ parable of the great Supper called or invited people to His Supper. He sent out His servants to bring them in. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we heard how the Lord described Himself as the One who went out to seek the one sinner who was lost. Well, which is it? Does the Lord go out Himself to call and to bring the lost into His kingdom, or does He send people out to do it? And if so, whom does He send? In today’s Gospel, we learn that the Lord chooses certain men from among those whom He has called, and calls them, sends them out exactly where He wants them. But at the same time, He is the one who is working through them to call and to gather the lost into His kingdom. Today we learn about God’s call to some of the called.

We see Jesus by the Sea of Gennesaret, better known as the Sea of Galilee, where He (intentionally) comes across some fishermen by the shore. Now, St. Luke tells us much more about this event than Mark or Matthew do. Your Bible will probably have a note referring you to Matthew’s and Luke’s account. But if your Bible has a little note telling you that this is the same event that happened in John chapter 1, ignore it. That was a completely different event that happened right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, in a different place, when He first called Simon and Andrew, James and John, and a few others, to “come and see” what He was all about. He called them first to hear His Gospel and follow Him as a regular disciple, as laymen, or perhaps as seminary students. But He hadn’t yet called them to follow Him into His preaching ministry. That’s the first thing to note. The first call Jesus issues is (virtually) always to be a layman in His Church, someone who learns to know and believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, with all the duties we just talked about a few moments ago.

So He was no stranger to Simon Peter when He approached his boat and asked him to put out a little way from the shore, so that Jesus could use the boat as a pulpit to address the crowds on the shore. But He had bigger plans for two of the fishermen in that boat, for Simon Peter and for his brother Andrew. He was about to call them into what we call the office of the holy ministry. He was about to call them (along with James and John and eight others) to leave behind their earthly life—their (extended) families, their careers, their dreams of building any kind of life on earth for themselves—to follow Him into His own preaching ministry, to call men to repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and to face rejection, persecution, and death for carrying out such a ministry, just as Jesus Himself was about to do.

Let’s stop and consider what kind of men Jesus called. Some of the Twelve had other occupations, but at least the four we hear about in the Gospel and possibly up to eight of them were fishermen before they were called to go and “catch men” or to be “fishers of men.” What does that tell us? It tells us, first, that you don’t have to be an “important person” or have an impressive background in order to be called into the ministry. He chooses the unimportant, actually. Average, working Christian men, with all kinds of personalities and talents, sinful men, with plenty of flaws (as we see in all the apostles at various times and as Peter confesses about himself toward the end of today’s Gospel). But they are men who are penitent, who trust in Christ for forgiveness. They are men who are able to be taught, able to be trained and directed and who will follow His directions, men who can, after training, become “able to teach,” as St. Paul requires of ministers in his instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3. They are men who love Him and who have a desire to serve Him and to seek the lost with some measure of the zeal that Jesus Himself has, although no one will ever really match His love and devotion to mankind, or His sacrifice for mankind.

Now, since Luke is the only Evangelist who includes the miracle connected with the call to the ministry, let’s pay close attention to what he reports. After preaching to the crowds from Peter’s boat, Jesus told Peter to Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. Now, this was all for the sake of the lesson Jesus was teaching them about the ministry to which Peter, Andrew, James, and John were about to be called, and to teach us about the ministry, too.

He tells them first where to go. “Out into the deep.” Later, He would simply say, “Go into all the world.” That’s the general command. But as He reigns from the right hand of God, Jesus also sends and directs His ministers to specific places in the world, not with some nebulous feeling, not with some inner whispering, but by the outward call of a group of Christians who call a minister to preach the Gospel in their place, in their midst, as I was called here, by this congregation, some 13 years ago.

Jesus also tells the fishermen how to fish. “Let down your nets for a catch.” This isn’t bait-fishing or fly-fishing, where you try to fool the fish into biting on something that either isn’t real food or that’s intended to harm them, not feed them. No, it’s simple net-fishing. Spread the net over the waters and wait for the Lord to bring the fish into the nets. So it is with the Gospel. We preach Christ crucified. We preach the whole story of Him, from the six-day creation of the world to the real Adam and Eve to the plunging of the human race into sin. From the first promise of Christ given to them, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Moses and the Law at Mt. Sinai, to David and to all the dealings of God with Israel. From the birth of Christ to His suffering, death, and resurrection. From Christ’s ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit, to the entire body of doctrine that has been passed down to us by His holy apostles. We preach Christ crucified. Without gimmicks. Without salesmanship. Without bribery. Without apology. In other words, we spread the net of the means of grace, the preaching of the Word of God and the administration of the Sacraments of God. And then we wait for the Lord to bring the catch He wants to bring.

And finally, in St. Luke’s account, we see the miraculous catch of fish that happens only by the power and working of Jesus, by means of the net which the called fishermen had let down. That’s a promise for the ministry, a promise that the Lord will bring the catch, by His working, by His own power, through the means of grace, through the preaching of the Gospel by those who have been called to it. It isn’t a promise that every sermon will bring in a large number of people or that every gathering of God’s people will be large. It is a promise that the Lord will be the One bringing the people in, where and when it pleases Him, whatever that number ends up being.

In the early days of the Church, that number was relatively large. But don’t forget that Jesus also foretells of a great falling away in the end times, of the love of most growing cold, of people turning away from the true doctrine to listen to what their “itching ears” want to hear, as St. Paul warns Timothy. But the number of fish, or of men, in the catch doesn’t change at all what the fishers of men are to do. Let down your nets for a catch, and trust the Lord to do the work of filling the nets.

So, in summary, we’ve seen that God builds His Church and grows His kingdom by going, not to all people, not to all Christians, but to some men whom He has made Christians, and then calls them into the office of the holy ministry. And now, through those men, the Lord gathers His flock, feeds His flock, protects His flock, and comforts His flock throughout this life.

Before we finish today, though, we should consider how the Lord Christ goes to those men to call them.

Just as the Lord is going to all of you right now in the Gospel, teaching you, comforting you, strengthening your faith, and guiding you, all of you, to kindness and love, so He is also going to all the young men here and calling you to do something. He is not calling you to the ministry right now, but He is calling you to think about the ministry, to consider whether or not you have the gifts required for the ministry. Again, those gifts include faith, but also a desire to be one who goes out and seeks the lost and shepherds the found. They also include a willingness to be trained, and at least the potential for teaching others. Finally, they include a willingness to be called by Christ through His Church, to leave everything behind and follow Him, not only into the pulpit, but possibly also to the martyr’s place. Not all Christian young men are so gifted for the ministry; they aren’t all supposed to be. The world needs strong Christian men in all walks of life. But all Christian young men should think about it, consider their gifts, and whether they have the desire to prepare themselves to become candidates for being called into this holy office.

Those who are so called follow in the steps of great men like Peter and Andrew, James and John and will receive a prophet’s reward, if they remain faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. Those who are not called into the ministry still have the great calling that all Christians have to faith and to love, to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope that is in you, to follow Christ as your good Shepherd and to support the shepherds or the pastors whom He has given to you. As we heard last week in Bible class from Matthew 10, He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. Amen.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on God’s call to some of the called

The Christian life begins and ends with mercy

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/435519443 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Trinity 4

Romans 8:18-23  +  Luke 6:36-42

We’re once again confronted today with that most famous of Bible passages, “Do not judge!” Amen. Sermon’s over. You can go home now.

Right? That’s what many people seem to believe the Bible’s only message to be. “Do not judge!” But you know better. In fact, that little command of Jesus has nothing to do with most people who quote it. It has nothing to do with unbelievers. They have no business even citing it. It wasn’t spoken to them. It was spoken to believers, and it’s a part of what it means to be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. It’s part of the broader teaching in today’s Gospel as Jesus teaches His disciples to have mercy like the mercy of your Father in heaven.

Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Notice the phrase, “your Father”? Jesus is talking to the children of God here, to Christians. And when I say Christians, I’m including the faithful Jews of His day who were trusting in God’s promise to save them from sin and death through the promised Christ. He is talking to those who are already in a covenant relationship with God—through circumcision for the Jews of His day, or for us, who are in a covenant relationship with God through the New Testament form of circumcision, which is Holy Baptism. He’s talking to the Jews of His day who were practicing their religion, and to Christians of our day who are practicing ours.

If that’s not you, then the rest of Jesus’ words aren’t meant for you either.

For those who are still outside of God’s baptismal covenant, He has no teaching about judging or condemning or forgiving or giving. No teaching about beams in your eyes or specks in your brother’s eyes. None. For those who are outside of Christ, God has one message: “You are already lost and condemned as you are now. And there’s not a single thing you can do to change that. No command you can obey. No instruction you can follow. Already you have despised the true God in your thoughts, words, and actions. Already you have selfishly failed to love your neighbor as God commands. You don’t know Me at all, and I have no part with you.” But, as we saw in last week’s Gospel, God wants to have a part with the lost; He wants them to be found, to know Him and believe in Him; He is willing to be their God. He has gone WAY out of His way to make atonement for their sins and to purchase entrance into His kingdom for them and to have His Gospel preached to them. So after telling them the truth about their sins and their lostness, He also calls out to them in His Word to repent and believe in Christ and to be baptized in His name so that they do come into a covenant relationship with Him, where He is their God and they are His people.

So if anyone ever tries to throw Jesus’ words in your face, Do not judge! You can answer, “Oh, I see you want to talk about the Son of God and mankind’s only Savior, Jesus Christ, and His instructions for His holy, blood-bought Christians. Are you one of His disciples, too?” If they say, “No,” then insist on talking first about Jesus’ message to unbelievers: “God’s judgment is coming, and there is no one righteous before God. So repent and believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, so that you will not perish eternally in the judgment!” If they have no desire for that, then don’t waste your time arguing about the commands Jesus gives to His own disciples. People who don’t want to live in God’s house have no right to throw the rules of the house in the face of the people of the house.

But to you who are members of the house, disciples of Christ, children of the heavenly Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, baptized into His family and into a covenant of grace and forgiveness of sins, then Jesus does have something to teach you here in today’s Gospel, as you learn the rules of the house and how to become imitators of God.

It begins and ends with mercy. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Mercy is pity for the wretched. Mercy is charitableness for the needy. Mercy stands above someone who has been knocked down, whether by their own fault or by someone else’s, and instead of ignoring that person, instead of trampling that person deeper into the dust, mercy seeks to help. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be placed into your lap. For with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Do not judge. That isn’t a blanket prohibition from ever doing any judging, any deciding if something is right or wrong. Christians are to do that every day. No, it means, don’t stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong, to jump into other people’s business if your vocation doesn’t call for it. Don’t pretend to know other people’s thoughts or motives, as if you could see into their hearts. Don’t assume the worst of your neighbor’s words or actions or silence, but assume the best. Don’t make yourself the judge of other people, if you have not been called to that position. Would you want other people to sit in judgment of you? Would you want your heavenly Father to judge you according to the strictness of His Old Testament Law, constantly pointing out your every flaw, your every errant thought, your every inexact word? I don’t think so. And to those who are in Christ, He doesn’t. He isn’t constantly judging you, weighing the perfection of every thought, word, and deed. You are accepted in Christ Jesus, so that even your imperfect good works are still considered good for His sake. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Do not condemn. If you are not to judge, you certainly are not to condemn. Our sinful flesh has a tendency to expect perfection of others. We see it on display in the statue demolitions and school renamings. If people find what they consider to be an egregious fault in someone who lived decades or centuries ago, then, of course, they have to be condemned. Their memory erased. Their good deeds all branded with the stain of their misdeeds. It’s just another manifestation of the sinful tendency to view yourself as flawless, or mainly flawless, and to condemn any who don’t reach your standards of goodness.

But we also see it in the home. And in the church. And in discussions on social media. Notice a flaw in another person, and it’s ready, aim, condemn! But that’s not what your Father in heaven does. He could rightfully condemn every single one of us. He could be condescending toward us, He could write us off as incorrigible and hopeless. Instead, He shows us mercy, each and every day. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

What does God, in His mercy, do with us, His beloved children in Christ? He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers in Christ. So forgive. Forgiving is the opposite of condemning. Again, this isn’t a blanket command to forgive everyone all the time. There are times when God Himself does not forgive, when a person remains impenitent. But where there is repentance, God gives forgiveness. He doesn’t keep holding a person’s sins against him. In His mercy, He absolves. He forgives, for Jesus’ sake. He intentionally overlooks our flaws. He smiles a fatherly smile on the penitent, and He expects His children to do the same.

And also to give, free of charge, to the one in need. Be generous, not just on the outside, but from the heart. Again, that’s what your Father in heaven does. It’s what Jesus did here on earth. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

To all these commands, Jesus attaches promises of great rewards. You will not be judged. You will not be condemned. You will be forgiven. And to you it will be given in the same measure that you give. Those are incentives God offers, because He knows that we carry around our Old Man, who fights against us to keep us from obeying God’s commands. These incentives to obedience are just another part of God’s mercy to us as He helps us and pushes us along to be more like Him.

Jesus concludes His instruction in the Gospel with some short parables, starting with the insanity of a blind man trying to lead a blind man. In order to be of use to someone else, you have to be able to see. So make sure you know the Lord’s will from His holy Word. Make sure you know what’s right and wrong, and also what’s wise. Your personal opinions may or may not be correct. But if you walk by the light of God’s Word, then you can help your neighbor and your brother.

A disciple is not above his teacher. A disciple doesn’t get to do more than his teacher or less. He doesn’t get to condemn more or less. He doesn’t get to be more forgiving or less. He also doesn’t get to suffer less, either. At best, he becomes like his teacher. So study the life of your Teacher, Jesus, to see how He helped others, how He didn’t go around pointing out everything that was wrong in society, even though He is the Judge of all; how he didn’t condemn sinners nearly as often as He could have. And He freely gave forgiveness where there was even a hint of faith. And He freely gave, not money, but of His time, of His attention, of His compassion, of His teaching, and of His healing. If you’re a disciple of Jesus, then learn to be like Jesus.

Finally, we have the parable about the foolishness of trying to remove the speck from your brother’s eye while you have a large beam in your own eye. Before you ever go to help your brother in Christ fix a problem, always begin by examining yourself, to make sure you’re not guilty of an even greater sin. The Pharisees criticized their brothers for the tiniest thing, for taking a few too many steps on the Sabbath, for not fasting properly, or for picking grains of wheat to eat as people were walking. But they missed the bigger things they themselves were guilty of, especially the grievous sin of not showing mercy in the first place.

It really does begin and end with that. God’s mercy went out and sought you and found you and brought you into His house, like a shepherd finding a lost sheep. Like a woman finding a lost coin. Now He teaches you in the Gospel how to show mercy to others as you yourself have received mercy from Him. God grant us all His Holy Spirit to mold us more and more into the merciful image of our Brother Jesus, and of our merciful Father in heaven. Amen.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Christian life begins and ends with mercy