Sermon on the Augsburg Confession, Art. XI and XXV: Confession

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

(preached during the week of Judica 2014)

We’ve combined two articles of the AC this evening, Article XI and Article XXV. Both treat the same topic: Confession. Articles 22-28 specifically deal with some of the abuses of Rome that the Lutherans had corrected. Confession was one of those “abused things”—Private Confession, that is.

First, what are we talking about when we speak here of Private Confession? We’re not talking about confessing your sins to God in prayer, privately, at home or in some other place. We must certainly do that. We even quote the Church Father Chrysostom in Art. 25: Chrysostom is quoted, who says thus: I say not to you that you should disclose yourself in public, nor that you accuse yourself before others, but I would have you obey the prophet who says: “Disclose thy way before God.” Therefore confess your sins before God, the true Judge, with prayer. Tell your errors, not with the tongue, but with the memory of your conscience. Confessing your sins to God in prayer is good and necessary. But it’s not the Confession we’re referring to in these articles.

We’re talking about the human rite and practice of a baptized Christian going one-on-one to his or her pastor and confessing his sins in order to receive the absolution for them, spoken by the pastor, in the name of the Christ.  Now Baptism is necessary for salvation. We confessed that in the article on Baptism. And with regard to the Sacrament of the Altar, we hear Jesus’ words loud and clear, “This do in remembrance of Me.” But nowhere does Jesus issue the command to “Go and confess your sins to your pastor in private on a regular basis.” And so we insist in the AC that “Confession is of human right only—not commanded by Scripture, but ordained by the Church.”

And yet, what do we confess about Confession? Of Confession [our churches] teach that Private Absolution ought to be retained in the churches… Confession in the churches is not abolished among us… Confession is retained among us.

But we retain Private Confession and Absolution somewhat differently than the Roman Church practiced it. First, the Roman Church considered Private Confession to be a divine commandment and necessary for salvation. Not that they had a basis for that in Scripture, but to them, whatever the Church ordains and the pope approves is a divine ordinance and necessary for salvation. We reject that. We recognize that other things—like Baptism, like the Lord’s Supper, like keeping the Commandments—are divinely commanded. But Private Confession is not.

Second, the Roman Church said that the absolution is only good for the sins that you specifically mention to the priest. If you forgot to mention a sin when you were in the confessional, you’re not forgiven for it. But we reject that, too. …although in confession an enumeration of all sins is not necessary. For it is impossible according to the Psalm: Who can understand his errors?

Thirdly, the Roman Church made absolution conditional on the satisfactions or the works of penance you did. Whether the priest ordered you to fast, or to say ten Our Fathers or 5 Hail Mary’s, or to amend your sinful life, or to make reparations for your sins—those things were seen as making the absolution valid and certain. As we mention in Art. 25: Aforetime satisfactions were immoderately extolled; of faith and the merit of Christ and the righteousness of faith no mention was made. We believe and confess that Christ made full satisfaction for our sins, and that absolution cannot be earned by anyone or deserved by anyone. Faith alone in Christ is necessary.

Finally, Rome insisted on a certain schedule for going to Confession and wanted the Lutherans to make it a law that people had to go to Confession at least once a year. But in the Apology, we reject their mandate.

So, what is the Biblical basis for Confession and Absolution? What is the divinely instituted part? It’s all about what we call the “Power of the Keys.” Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” He said again to all of his apostles in Matthew 18: Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

This business of binding and loosing—what is it? Jesus explains it in even clearer words in John 20 when He says to His apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” To bind someone in sin is to refuse forgiveness to him. To loose someone from sin is to forgive him his sins, to release him from divine punishment, to restore him to God’s favor. This is “absolution.”

The Power of the Keys has been entrusted by Christ to the Church, who uses the Keys through her called and ordained ministers, to forgive sins to the penitent and to retain the sins of the impenitent. It’s a divine authority to act in God’s name, so that what the minister pronounces is not his own pronouncement, but God’s own voice, so that what is loosed on earth is, Jesus says, loosed in heaven. And what is bound on earth is bound in heaven.

We practice excommunication, when necessary. As we confess in the Apology, Excommunication is also pronounced against the openly wicked—those who live in manifest vices, fornication, adultery, etc., and against the despisers of the Sacraments. That’s one use of the Keys.

But if someone is coming to Confession, it usually means that he recognizes his sin and has repented of it and wants God’s forgiveness for it. So Private Confession is primarily about the “loosing Key,” as we call it. It’s all about Absolution, so that individual sinners can be sure that they are receiving God’s forgiveness for all sins, including the sins that trouble them most.

So Confession is retained among us on account of the great benefit of absolution, and because it is otherwise useful to the conscience. Our people are taught that they should highly prize the absolution, as being the voice of God, and pronounced by God’s command. The power of the Keys is set forth in its beauty and they are reminded what great consolation it brings to anxious consciences, also, that God requires faith to believe such absolution as a voice sounding from heaven, and that such faith in Christ truly obtains and receives the forgiveness of sins.

You see, you can certainly confess your sins to God in prayer. But He does not absolve you of your sins through prayer. Instead, He sends you to Christ, who has authorized men to speak for Him and who gives His Spirit in the Word and Sacraments. Does He forgive sins in Holy Baptism? Yes, and you can always rely on His baptismal promises to you throughout your entire life! But you only receive that Means of Grace once. Does He forgive sins in Holy Communion? Yes! And you receive that Means of Grace together with the assembled Church when the Church assembles. But God has also attached His promise to the spoken Absolution of the pastor, and that is available to you, individually, privately, whenever you want it.

See how richly God has showered His grace upon us in all of these Means of Grace, so that you never have to go around wondering what God in heaven really thinks about you, or what verdict He really has in store for you. He has given His Son for you, who gave His life for you and earned the forgiveness of sins for you. As the Apostle John says in his first Epistle, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. f we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so Confession is retained among us. The four catechumens will each be given an opportunity for Confession and Absolution right here next week before they begin communing on Easter Sunday, because, as we say concerning our practice, it is not usual to give the body of the Lord, except to them that have been previously examined and absolved. That pastoral examination and absolution isn’t required before every celebration of Holy Communion. But it is offered and available to you at any time as a continual gift from Christ to His Church on earth, until we leave this sin-filled world and slough off our sin-infested flesh and join our heavenly Bridegroom in the sinless life of heaven. Amen.

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Jesus’ vindication assured, but postponed

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for Judica – Fifth Sunday in Lent 2014

Genesis 12:1-3  +  Hebrews 9:11-15  +  John 6:46-59

We hear the voice of Jesus in the words of today’s Introit: Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation. The nation of Israel, as a whole, had become an ungodly nation. Now, all people are ungodly by nature, wicked, sinful, turned against God—sometimes, even while imagining that they’re worshiping God. All people are sinners; all people are terminally ill with this disease. Remember that, so that you never fall into the sin of pride or arrogance toward the Jewish people—or toward anyone! You are just as ungodly as they, by nature. And Jesus Himself was a Jew.

But the ungodliness of the Jews was not just in their sinfulness. It was in their refusal to recognize their sin and turn from it. It was in their rejection of the Savior from sin. All people are sick, but the Jews in Jesus’ day were like sick people who insisted they were healthy, who refused the cure—which is the blood of Christ—and who wanted to get their one and only God-given Healer run out of town, or even killed. And so He cries out to God in the Psalm, Vindicate me, O God! Judica me!

God is the true Judge who would try the case of the Jews vs. Jesus. And in our Gospel, Jesus gives a powerful testimony in His own favor.

The trial begins in our Gospel with Jesus calling for evidence against Himself: Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? Both Jesus’ life and Jesus’ doctrine were pure in every way. As Peter says, He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth. Every word of His was in accord with Scripture, every deed in accord with love as love is defined in God’s Word. He preached love and He showed love. All the evidence was in His favor and was staring the Jews in the face. And yet, they still refused to believe Him.

Jesus tells them why: He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. They didn’t believe Him—they didn’t hear God’s Word with faith and trust in Jesus as the Christ, because they were not God’s people, for as much as they claimed to be. God’s people hear and believe God’s Word. If someone does not believe the Word of God, he is not from God.

The Word of God from Jesus was simple, that both Jews and non-Jews were sinners, condemned by the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments. The Law does not serve to save anyone, but only to show sinners their sins, so that they may be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. The one who has faith in Christ turns from sin on a daily basis, takes comfort in Jesus’ mercy and in His blood shed for all people, and receives forgiveness of sins. And that faith bears fruit in his heart and life, so that he walks in the Word of Christ and strives to imitate the righteousness of Christ in all things. If anyone will not repent of his sins, if anyone will not look to Christ for healing, if anyone will not walk in the Word of God, he is not a member of the true Church; he is not of God.

That angered the Jews, of course. Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” They still had no evidence against Jesus, just anger, because He had told them the hard truth about their ungodliness, and no one likes to hear that. It often makes people angry, for example, when they go to the doctor and he tells them they’re overweight, or worse. They sometimes get angry at the doctor and refuse to go back to him, and they go out looking for a doctor who won’t dare to be so critical of their lifestyle or of their health. In the same way, it makes people angry to hear someone telling them they’re outside of God’s kingdom, even though it said so that they might repent and be cured.

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.” See, the Jews claimed to worship God the Father. They just denied that Jesus was the Father’s Son. They claimed to worship God the Father, they just wanted to honor the Father without honoring Jesus. All non-Christian religions in the world try to do the same thing—worship God, without worshiping Jesus as the Son of God and the only Savior. Impossible. The very first and foremost decree of God is that He only be worshiped and that He only be honored through the person of His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Anyone who dishonors Jesus through unbelief worships the demon, not God.

And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death. That’s an incredible claim Jesus makes, for Him to claim that His Word is more powerful than death, that faith in Him overcomes death. To those who believe in Him, these are some of the most comforting words in Scripture. Of course, Jesus is speaking first about the death of hell and eternal punishment for sins. We have already died the death we deserve—through Holy Baptism! Through Baptism we have been united with the death of Christ, who already died for our sins. Christ has tasted death once for all. Baptized believers in Christ will never ever see that death, the death of punishment for sins, the death of God’s condemnation. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, says the Apostle Paul.

But even physical death has been changed by Jesus into something minor, something temporary for those who believe in Him. Death has been changed into sleep for the body, and into a simple doorway for the soul of believers to enter into Paradise. That’s the meaning of Jesus’ words for believers.

But the Jews in our Gospel didn’t believe. Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” Now they think they have Him. He has promised the impossible. He has promised something that none of the great men of God could do. In fact, all the great men of God died. Are You greater than they, Jesus?

Of course, they expect Jesus to say, “No, no, I’m not claiming to be greater than Abraham.” Who could ever claim such a thing? But that’s not what He says. Here’s His reply: Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.

In answer to their question, “Jesus, are You greater than Abraham? Are You greater than the prophets?” Jesus basically tells them, “Why, yes I am!” He adds, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. What? The Jews thought of Abraham as the greatest man of God, ever, and yet here Jesus claims to be one in whom Abraham rejoiced. He claims that Abraham saw His day. How so? Because when God promised Abraham long ago that all nations would be blessed in his Seed, Abraham believed God. He saw Jesus by faith.

Of course, that was foolishness to the Jews. Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

And here we have the ultimate claim, the ultimate confession. Jesus not only claims to be greater than Abraham. He claims to be the God of Abraham, the LORD, Yahweh, the great I AM.

The Jews’ response? Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The Jews finally got what Jesus was saying about Himself; there could no longer be any doubt. His claim was: “I am God, and there is no other. Yes, the Father and I are distinct Persons, but we are also inseparable. I am very God of very God. You can’t have God the Father without Me. In fact, I am your way to Him, and there is no other way.” The Jews understood Jesus’ claim, but they neither believed it nor put their trust in Him.

As we enter Holy Week one week from today, remember Jesus’ claims about Himself and His promises to those who believe in Him. For all the world, it will look like God, the Judge, abandons Jesus and supports the Jews in their ungodliness, consenting to let the powers of hell crucify His Son. But the reality of Easter Sunday is a given. Yes, Jesus will taste death, but He will taste it in our place, so that we never have to taste it. And He will rise from the dead on the third day to give justification and eternal life to all who believe in Him. That is the final verdict of the Judge in the case of the Jews vs. Jesus. Jesus is vindicated. And all who believe in Him—both Jew and non-Jew—share in His victory over sin, death, and the devil. Amen.

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Luther Sermon for Lent 5

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

SERMON FOR JUDICA, FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

by Martin Luther

TEXT: John 8:46-59 (KJV)

CHRIST’S DEFENSE AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.

1. This Gospel teaches how hardened persons become the more furious, the more one teaches them and lovingly stirs them to do their duty. For Christ asks them here in a very loving way for a reason why they still disbelieve, since they can find fault neither with his life nor with his teaching. His life is blameless; for he defies them and says: “Which of you convicteth me of sin?” His teaching also is blameless; for he adds: “If I say truth, why do ye not believe me?” Thus Christ lives, as he teaches.

2. And every preacher should prove that he possesses both: first a blameless life, by which he can defy his enemies and no one may have occasion to slander his teachings; secondly, that he possesses the pure doctrine, so that he may not mislead those who follow him. And thus he will be right and firm on both sides: with his good life against his enemies, who look much more at life than at his doctrine, and despise the doctrine for the sake of the life; with his doctrine then for the kind of life he leads and will bear with his life for the sake of his teaching.

3. For it is indeed true that no one lives so perfect a life as to be without sin before God. Therefore it is sufficient that he be blameless in the eyes of the people. But his doctrine must be so good and pure as to stand not only before man but also before God. Therefore every pious pastor may well ask: Who among you can find fault with my life? Among you, I say who are man; but before God I am a sinner. This Moses also boast in <041615 Numbers 16:15 that he took nothing from the people and he did them no injustice. Samuel did likewise in 1 Samuel 12:3 also Jeremiah and Hezekiah, who rightly boasted of their blameless life before the people, in order to stop the mouths of blasphemers. But Christ does not speak thus of his doctrine, he says not: “Who among you can find fault with my doctrine”; but “If I tell you the truth.” For one must be assured that his doctrine is right before God and that it is the truth, and accordingly care not how it is judged by the people.

4. Hence the Jews have no ground for their unbelief than that they are not the children of God; therefore he passes judgment upon them and says: “He that is of God heareth the words of God; for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God,” that cannot mean anything else than that you are of the devil.

5. The Jews could not stand this, for they wished to be God’s children and people; therefore they are now raging and slander both Christ’s life and his doctrine; his doctrine, in that they say: “Thou hast a devil,” that is, thou speakest moved by the devil and thy doctrine is his lie; and they slander his life, in that they say, “Thou art a Samaritan,” which sounds among the Jews worse than any other crime. In this way Christ teaches us here the fate that awaits us Christians and his Word; both our life and our doctrine must be condemned and reviled, and that by the foremost, wisest and greatest of earth. Thus one knows the corrupt tree by its fruits, as they, under the pretense of being good, are so bitter, angry, impatient, cruel and mad as to condemn and pass sentence, when one touches them at their tender spot and rejects their ideas and ways.

6. What does Christ do here? His life he abandons to shame and dishonor, is silent and suffers them to call him a Samaritan; while he takes pains to defend his doctrine. For the doctrine is not ours, but God’s, and God dare not suffer in the least, here patience is at an end; but I should stake all that I have and suffer, all that they do, in order that the honor of God and of his Word may not be injured. For if I perish, no great harm is done; but if I let God’s Word perish, and I remain silent, then I do harm to God and to the whole world. Although I can not now close their mouth nor prevent their wickedness, I shall nevertheless not keep silent, nor act as if they are right, as I do about my good life, so that they retain their right. Although they do me injustice at the time, yet it remains right before God. Further, Christ excuses himself, and says: “I have not a demon,” that is, my doctrine is not of the devil’s lies; “but I honor my father,” that is, I preach in my doctrine the grace of God, through which he is to be praised, loved and honored by believers. For the evangelical office of the ministry is nothing but glorifying God, Psalm 19:2: “The heavens declare the glory of God” etc. “But you dishonor me,” that is, you call me the devil’s liar, who reviles and dishonors God.

7. Why does he not say: I honor my father, and ye dishonor him; but says: “Ye dishonor me?” Impliedly he proves by this, that the father’s and his honor are alike and the same, as he and the Father are one God; yet along with this he also wishes to teach that if the office of the ministry, which God honors, is to be duly praised, then it must suffer disgrace. In like manner we will also do to our princes and priests; when they attack our manner of life, we should suffer it and show love for hatred, good for evil; but when they attack our doctrine, God’s honor is attacked, then love and patience should cease and we should not keep silent, but also say: I honor my Father, and you dishonor me; yet I do not inquire whether you dishonor me, for I do not seek my own honor. But nevertheless be on your guard, there is one who seeks it and judges, that is, the Father will require it of you, and judge you and never let you go unpunished. He seeks not only his honor, but also mine, because I seek his honor, as he says in 1 Samuel 2:30: “Them that honor me I will honor.” And it is our consolation that we are happy; although the whole world reviles and dishonors us, we are assured that God will advance our honor, and therefore will punish, judge and revenge. If one could only believe it and persevere, he will surely come. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my word, he shall never see death.”

8. By these words he spoils it entirely, in that he does not only defend his doctrine as right and good, which they attribute to the devil; but also ascribes such virtue to his teaching that it becomes a powerful emperor over Satan, death and sin, to give and sustain eternal life. Behold here, how divine wisdom and human reason conflict with one another. How can a human being grasp the thought, that a corporeal, an oral word should redeem forever from death? But let blindness run its course; we shall consider this beautiful saying. Christ is speaking here not of the word of the law, but of the Gospel, which is a discourse about Christ, who died for our sins etc. For God did not wish to impart Christ to the world in any other way; he had to embody him in the Word and thus distribute him, and present him to everybody; otherwise Christ would have existed for himself alone and remained unknown to us; he would have thus died for himself.

But since the Word places before us Christ, it thus places us before him who has triumphed over death, sin and Satan. Therefore he who grasps and retains Christ, has thus also eternal deliverance from death. Consequently it is a Word of life, and it is true, that whoever keeps the Word shall never see death.

9. And from this we may well understand what Christ meant by the word “keep;” it does not refer to such keeping as one keeps the law by good works; for this word of Christ must be kept in the heart by faith and not with the fist or by good works, as the Jews in this case understand it; they fearfully rage against Christ, that Abraham and the prophets are dead; they know nothing of what it is “to keep,” “to die” or “to live.” And it is not called “to keep” in vain; for there is a conflict and battle when sin bites, death presses and hell faces us; then we are to be in earnest in holding firmly to the Word and let nothing separate us from it. Thus see now how Christ answers the Jews and praises his own teachings. You say, my Word is of the devil and wish to sink it to the bottom of perdition; on the contrary I say to you that it has divine power in it, and I exalt it higher than the heaven of heavens, and above all creatures.

10. How does it then come to pass that man does not see nor taste death, and yet Abraham and all the prophets are dead, who notwithstanding had the Word of God as the Jews say? Here we must give attention to the words of Christ, who makes the distinction that death is a different thing than to see or taste death. We all must face death and die; but a Christian neither tastes nor sees it, that is, he does not feel it, he is not terrified before it, and he enters death calmly and quietly, as though falling asleep, and yet he does not die. But a godless person feels and experiences death, and is terrified before it forever. Thus to taste death may well be called the power and reign or the bitterness of death, yea, it is the eternal death and hell. The Word of God makes this difference. A Christian has that Word and clings firmly to it in death; therefore he does not see death, but his eyes are filled with the life and the Christ in that Word; therefore he never feels death. But the godless possess not that Word, therefore they see no life, but only death; and they must also feel death; that is then the bitter and eternal death.

11. Now Christ means here that whoever clings to his Word will in the midst of death neither feel nor see death, as he also says in John 11:25: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me though he die, yet shall he live,” that is, he will not experience real death. Here we see now what a glorious estate it is to be a Christian, who is already released from death forever and can never die. For his death or dying seems outwardly indeed like the dying of the godless, but inwardly there is a difference as great as between heaven and earth. For the Christian sleeps in death and in that way enters into life, but the godless departs from life and experiences death forever; thus we may see how some tremble, doubt and despair, and become senseless and raging in the midst of the perils of death. Hence death is also called in the Scriptures a sleep. For just as he who falls asleep does not know how it happens, and he greets the morning when he awakes; so shall we suddenly arise on the last day, and never know how we entered and passed through death.

12. Let us take another example. When Israel marched out of Egypt and came to the Red Sea, they were free and experienced no death, but only life. However when King Pharaoh arrived behind them with all his forces, then they stood in the midst of death, then no life was in sight. For before them was the sea, through which they could not pass, behind them King Pharaoh, and on both sides of them high mountains; on all sides they were seized and enclosed by death, so that they said to Moses: “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?” Exodus 14:11, so completely and wholly did they despair of life. Just then Moses came and brought them God’s Word that comforted them in the midst of death and preserved them alive, when he said in verse 13: “Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” They clung to this Word and held out until victory came; through it life appeared in the presence of death, because they believed the Word, that it would come to pass, and relying upon it they marched into the midst of the Red Sea, which stood on both sides of them like two walls. Then it came to pass that nothing but life and safety were in the sea, where before there were only death and danger.

For they would have never become so bold as to go into the sea, had it divided a hundred times, if God’s Word had not been present, which comforted them and promised life. Thus man triumphs over death through the Word of Life, if he cleaves to it and believes, and marches into death with it.

13. Likewise Christ also says here in replying to the Jews, that Abraham and the prophets still live and they never died, but have life in the midst of death; they however only lie and sleep in death. For “Abraham,” he says, “rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” Thus, the prophets also saw it. Where and when did Abraham see it? Not with his bodily eyes, as the Jews interpret it, but with the sight of faith in the heart; that is, he recognized Christ when he was told in Genesis 22:18: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Then he saw and understood that Christ, born of his seed through a pure virgin, so as not to be cursed with Adam’s children but to remain blessed, should suffer for the whole world, cause this to be preached, and thus overwhelm the whole world with blessing etc. This is the day of Christ, the dispensation of the Gospel, that is the light of this day, which radiates from Christ as from the sun of righteousness, and shines and enlightens the whole world. This is a spiritual day, yet it arose at the time Christ was on the earth in the flesh, a day like Abraham saw. But the Jews understood nothing about such a day because of their carnal minds, and hence they reviled Christ as a liar.

14. Therefore Christ proceeds farther and gives the ground and reason why it is just his Word and not the word of anyone else, that giveth life, and says it is because he was before Abraham, or in other words, because he was the one true God. For if the person who offered himself as a sacrifice for us were not God, it would not help or avail anything, even if he were born of the Virgin Mary and suffered a thousand deaths. But the fact that the Seed of Abraham, who gave himself for us, is also true God, secures blessing and victory for all sinners. Therefore Christ speaks, not of his human nature that they saw and experienced; for they could easily see he was not yet fifty years of age, and did not live before Abraham. But with that nature by which he existed long before the time of Abraham, by which he existed also before all creatures and before the whole world. Just as he was man according to his spiritual nature before Abraham, that is. in his Word and in the knowledge of faith was he in the saints; for they all knew and believed that Christ, as God and man, should suffer for us, as is written in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever;” and in the Revelation of John, 13:8: “The Lamb of God that hath been slain from the foundation of the world.” Yet now he is speaking here especially of his divine nature.

15. But here reason is terribly offended and becomes mad and furious because God should become man; this reason cannot harmonize and understand. And this is the article of faith to which the Jews still in our day can not reconcile themselves, hence they cannot cease their throwing stones and their blasphemy. But Christ also continues on the other hand to hide himself from them and to go out of their temple, so that they cannot see nor find him in the Scriptures, in which they search daily. Again, this narrative is not a little terror to all who are so foolhardy about the Scriptures and never approach them with a humble spirit. For even in our day it happens that many read and study in the Scriptures and yet they cannot find Christ, he is hid and has gone out of the temple. And how many there are who say with their mouth that God is become man, and yet they are without the Spirit in their hearts; who whenever tested, prove that they were never in real earnest. This is sufficient on this subject.

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Sermon on the Augsburg Confession, Art. X: The Lord’s Supper

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

(Preached during the week of Laetare 2014)

Building on the feeding of the five thousand which we heard about on Sunday, Jesus speaks those beautiful words that we heard this evening in the Gospel: All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

Jesus speaks of Himself—His very flesh—as bread and life. In the next verses He would insist that anyone who wants to live must eat His flesh and drink His blood. What is He talking about there—eating His flesh and drinking His blood? Maybe your first thought is tonight’s theme from the Augsburg Confession, Article X: The Lord’s Supper.

Actually, that’s not directly what Jesus is talking about. What He’s talking about directly in John 6 is simply faith! He’s talking about a spiritual eating of His flesh and blood, about the “eating” that happens when we hear His Word and believe in Him—His Word in which Christ, true God and man, is presented to us, together with all benefits that He has purchased for us by His flesh given into death for us, and by His blood shed for us, namely, God’s grace, the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life. To eat His flesh and to drink His blood is to firmly rely and abide in this consolation: we have a gracious God and eternal salvation because of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Formula of Concord:SD:VII). That’s spiritual eating. All who hear and believe the Gospel of Christ eat His flesh and drink His blood in this way.

But there is most certainly also another type of eating of which Jesus speaks, an oral eating or a sacramental eating. And that is the theme of AC:X:  Concerning the Lord’s Supper it is taught that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present in the Supper, under the form of bread and wine, and are there administered and received. The opposite doctrine is therefore rejected. Let’s take a few moments to consider this short but important article of our faith as Lutherans, that is, as Christians.

Concerning the Lord’s Supper…

Those words alone should make us stop and think. We have other names for the Lord’s Supper. We call it Holy Communion. We call it the Eucharist. We call it the Sacrament of the Altar. All valid names. But here we call it “the Lord’s Supper,” as St. Paul does in 1 Corinthians 11. It belongs to Christ the Lord. It was instituted by Him. It is regulated by Him. This Supper of Holy Communion isn’t for us to do with whatever we want. It’s to use according to Christ’s command and institution. It’s His Supper. He is the Host, and even more, He is the Meal.

It’s called a Supper, because it was instituted, not at breakfast time or lunch time, but at supper time during the Passover supper of Maundy Thursday as a replacement and as an amplification of the Passover meal. The Passover meal commemorated the blood of the Lamb that once rescued Israel from the destroying angel. The Lord’s Supper not only commemorates the blood of Christ once shed on the cross, but also applies His blood to those who receive it. No matter when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper—morning or evening, it’s always a Supper, because it’s always connected to that first institution, on the night in which Christ our Lord was betrayed into the hands of sinners, during that 24-hour period in which the Son of God was beaten, scourged, mocked, crucified and died. “This do in remembrance of Me,” Jesus said. Each and every time we celebrate this Supper, we remember that night in which Jesus faced the hatred of men and the wrath of God, all for us.

Now, our Small Catechism goes into the blessings and the benefits received in the Lord’s Supper, and where the power in this Sacrament comes from. The AC, on the other hand, focuses on only one thing: the essence of the Supper. Very simply, what is there? What is present in the Supper? What is handed out by the minister? What is received?

It is taught that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present in the Supper under the form of bread and wine and are there administered and received…

There it is. Short and sweet. You have to love this about the Lutheran Church. We do not waste our time trying to figure out things that are not revealed in Scripture. Jesus took bread and said, “Take; eat. This is my body.” He took a cup of wine and said, “Drink of it, all of you; this is my blood.” What is there in the Lord’s Supper? The body and blood of Christ, under the form of bread and wine.

We say that Christ’s true body and blood are “truly” present, meaning that they are not symbolically present, as if only bread and wine were truly present as symbols of the absent body and blood of Christ. No, just as truly as the bread and wine are present, so the true body and blood of Christ are truly present, right there in the room, right there on the altar after the Consecration, and administered with the minister’s hand, and received in the communicant’s mouth. We eat the true body and blood of Christ with our mouth, not in a cannibalistic way, but in a true, sacramental way that we don’t pretend to understand.

Now, in this article, there was no disagreement with Rome. Rome actually approved Article X of the Augsburg Confession, as Melanchthon summarizes in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession. Just like the Roman Church and the ancient Greek Church, Lutherans confess the real presence of Jesus’ real body and blood in the Sacrament, just as the Christian Church has always confessed and believed.

Still, Rome has this nagging love of human reason and philosophy and this nasty tendency to go beyond the Scriptures. So in the 1540’s and 1550’s and 1560’s, during the Council of Trent, they codified for the first time the philosophical language of “transubstantiation.” That’s their philosophical doctrine that the bread and wine stop being true bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper.

That we reject in the Formula of Concord, the papistic transubstantiation, when it is taught in the Papacy that in the Holy Supper the bread and wine lose their substance and natural essence, and are thus annihilated; that they are changed into the body of Christ, and the outward form alone remains.

In fact, we reject any and all attempts to explain how Christ’s body and blood are present, and concern ourselves only with the what. We refuse to speculate on foolish questions that the Scriptures don’t answer, like at what precise moment Christ’s body and blood are present, or for how long they are present. If you ask, what is on the altar before the consecration? We would answer, bread and wine. If you ask, what is on the altar after the consecration? We answer, the body and blood of Christ with the bread and wine. What does the pastor hold in his hand as he distributes Communion? What does the communicant receive? The body and blood of Christ with the bread and wine. That’s all we’re concerned about, because it’s all Jesus talks about. That’s all we’re concerned about, because Jesus hasn’t given us anything else to be concerned about.

So, what do we do with any leftovers after everyone has communed? We do the only thing Jesus has given us to do. Eat and drink. Either the pastor or other communicants consume any leftovers, either during the service or immediately after. And we don’t worry about the things that our Lord hasn’t answered.

That is our simple, straightforward confession regarding the what of the Lord’s Supper. And as we say, The opposite doctrine is therefore rejected. The opposite doctrine that was being taught in 1530 by non-Lutherans was that only bread and wine are present in the Sacrament, as mere symbols representing the absent body and blood of Christ. “They said that the body of Christ, because He has ascended to heaven, is not truly and essentially present here on earth in the Sacrament.” We reject that false doctrine as it is still taught today by Baptists and Methodists and Pentecostals.  It’s a wicked, evil doctrine that denies the word of Christ.

Some years after the Augsburg Confession was drafted, John Calvin came along claiming that the body and blood of Christ are “spiritually present,” which means, not truly present in the bread and wine, but still up in heaven. But, he taught, believers in Christ are raised up to heaven by faith and commune with Christ spiritually, while still only receiving bread and wine with the mouth. As for hypocrites—unbelievers—who might receive the Sacrament, Calvin taught that they don’t receive Christ’s body and blood at all—just bread and wine. We reject that false doctrine as it is still taught today by the Presbyterians and Anglicans and Episcopalians and Reformed churches. Jesus didn’t say, if you believe in Me, then this is My spiritual body and blood. He said, “This is My body and blood.” And St. Paul says that those who eat and drink unworthily receive the body and blood of Christ—to their judgment.

This simple article on the Lord’s Supper was and remains the primary doctrine that separates us Lutherans from the so-called Protestant sects around us. Don’t be ashamed of that. Luther wasn’t. These are the very words of Christ we’re dealing with. This is the very Sacrament we’re talking about in which Christ gives Himself to us. Don’t let anyone rob you of this treasure! And don’t ever pretend that it’s just fine to join one of those churches and to sit at the feet of those who deny Jesus’ words and who mangle His Supper and twist it into something other than what He instituted it to be. Especially now in this season of Lent, let us cling to Christ’s words all the more, just as they stand, without going beyond them, and without reinterpreting them. This is My body, given for you. This is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Let us receive His Sacrament with joy, for our eternal comfort. And let us praise the Lord Christ for the treasure of His Real Presence with us in His Holy Supper. Amen.

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Lessons from the lesser to the greater

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for Laetare – Fourth Sunday in Lent 2014

Isaiah 49:8-13  +  Galatians 4:21-31  +  John 6:1-15

There is more to life than what you see and experience. There’s more than getting up, eating, working, eating, studying, eating, doing stuff, and going to bed. Much more! There is a heaven and there is a hell. There is God and His holy angels, and there is a devil and his unholy demons. There is sin and spiritual death. There are greater spiritual realities all around us and divine truth to be learned. But we don’t see those things. We see earthly things, lesser things.

So God reaches down to us men and uses earthly things to teach us about heavenly things, and He doesn’t leave us guessing about the things we’re supposed to understand; His Word reveals exactly what He wants us to learn and know.

Look at the Old Testament. God used simple, earthly things to point people to greater spiritual realities. That forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden—such a small thing that God should command the man and woman not to eat of this one tree. But by their simple obedience to that small command, they would have shown something much greater: love for God and trust in God. By their simple disobedience to that commandment, they showed something greater, too: that love for God was replaced with love for self, and trust in God was replaced with unbelief.

We could go through practically every page of the Old Testament and find these lessons from the lesser to the greater. Noah’s flood—a great event in and of itself in which eight people were saved through water—symbolizes the greater event of salvation by Holy Baptism through which God saves us from death and hell. The Passover lamb and its saving blood point to the much greater salvation worked by the blood of Christ.

Or take our first two Scripture Lessons for today. Isaiah prophesies how God would first punish Jerusalem through the Babylonian captivity, which was to point them to the greater punishment their sins had deserved—the punishment of hell. But then in our first Lesson, Isaiah prophesies how God would rescue them out of captivity, which was to point them to the greater rescue of the Messiah, who would rescue Jerusalem from Satan’s captivity and save her from her sins and from everlasting destruction.

In the second Lesson, the Epistle for today, St. Paul does the same thing. He goes back to the Old Testament story of Abraham and shows how the son of the slave woman Hagar symbolizes the greater slavery of the Law given on Mt. Sinai and of all those who wish to be saved by keeping the Law, which included the earthly city of Jerusalem that rejected Christ and crucified Him. But Isaac, the son of the free woman Sarah, symbolizes the freedom of the Gospel and of all those who trust in Christ to be saved, which is us, the New Testament Church, the Jerusalem above. The earthly city of Jerusalem itself points to something greater, the Church of Christ throughout the whole world.

Now we come to today’s Gospel, the feeding of the five thousand, and we see the same thing—lesser, earthly things that point to greater, spiritual things—or, at least, they’re supposed to alert us to greater, spiritual things. But the blindness of unbelief often leaves people dense and dumb, like cattle staring at a new gate.

Great multitudes had followed Jesus to this mountain on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. John informs us why they followed Him: because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. Now, right there, you see two earthly things that were supposed to signal greater things.

First, disease itself. All human bodily disease points to the greater human malady of sin—sin that infects us all, sin that makes us sick and needy before God, in need of God’s healing which is the forgiveness of sins. The diseases of the people were to point them to their sin, so that they may repent.

Then, Jesus had been going around healing all these diseases. His healings are called “signs,” because they point to something greater. They point to Jesus as the divine Healer of the soul, as the One who came to heal sinners of their sins—not by getting rid of our sinful flesh in this life, but by applying to us the remedy of His blood which covers our sins before God, if we believe in Him. The people saw the signs of Jesus’ healings and followed Him to see what He would do next.

What He did next is such a gracious and compassionate thing that it endears us to Jesus all the more. He saw a bodily need that the people had, a need that wasn’t life-threatening or permanent, but a need, nonetheless. They had followed Jesus out to this mountain, and they had no food to eat. So Jesus took it upon Himself to satisfy their need. He multiplied the five loaves of bread and the two fish so that there was enough bread and fish to feed all five thousand men, plus the women and children, with 12 baskets-full of pieces leftover. But Jesus Himself didn’t hand out the food to the people with His own hands; He commanded His 12 apostles to be His ministers in handing out the food. What signs are we to find here, pointing to greater things?

First, we should take note of the Apostle John’s words that connect this miracle with the Jewish Passover: Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near, John says. That’s a sign in and of itself, pointing the Jews and now pointing us to recognize that the Passover itself was pointing to something greater, to Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, whose blood cleanses us from all sin.

Second, hunger and the need for food—that’s a sign. That was a sign already for Adam and Eve before they sinned, pointing to the fact that we creatures of flesh depend on God to provide for us, and not just once, but constantly, repeatedly, every day of our lives. We need to eat, and God provides the food. But especially for sinners, physical hunger is to point us to our sin. We are creatures not only of flesh, but of sinful flesh that always rebels against God. We need the food of God’s forgiveness, and we need it constantly, or we will surely die.

Third, we see Jesus’ compassion in this small matter of the people’s need for bread. That signals His far greater compassion with regard to our sinful souls. He is willing to provide forgiveness and healing of our sin, even before we are aware of our need. He is compassionate and willing to help.

Fourth, we see Jesus’ powerful act of salvation in this small matter of bread. It was a great miracle, but it points to something far greater. It points to Jesus, who would say to the Jews on the very next day, My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. This same Jesus would shed His blood on the cross as payment for the world’s sins. By His life and by His death, Jesus became for us the food that forgives our sins, the food that saves us, the food that gives us eternal life, over and over again, and there’s enough for everyone in the world.

But this food must be handed out. There’s another sign. Jesus hands out the bread through the ministry of the 12 apostles. That points to the greater truth that all called and ordained ministers of the Word, all those who still carry on this apostolic ministry, are charged with handing out the Bread of Life in Word and Sacrament. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish, He didn’t just make it appear in people’s stomachs. He gave it out through the apostles for the people to eat.

There’s yet another sign. The people ate “as much as they wanted” of the bread and the fish. The bread not only has to be handed out, but also eaten. That points to the greater reality of faith. When the ministers of the Word preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, there is plenty of God’s grace and forgiveness for everyone, as much as anyone wants. To “eat the bread” is to repent of your sin and trust in Jesus’ promises of eternal life to all who believe.

Finally, there’s the sign of the joy and wonder of the multitudes when they had eaten the food provided by Jesus. That points to the greater joy of believers in Christ who receive from Him forgiveness and life and peace with God. That’s why today we celebrate Laetare Sunday! Rejoice with Jerusalem, all you who love her! Rejoice with the Church, all you who love her, who have been brought into the “Jerusalem above” by faith in Christ! Rejoice, because God has given His Son; His Son has given Himself on the cross, and now gives Himself to you through the ministry of the Word, and the result for you is peace with God and eternal life.

Those are the signs God has given us to notice in this Gospel. But tragically, the crowds who actually ate the bread Jesus provided never saw beyond the bread. They became so fixated on the miracle, on the bread itself, that John tells us they were about to come and take Jesus by force to make Him king. Why? Because all they wanted from Jesus was bread for their stomachs. They didn’t believe in Him as the One sent by God to heal them from sin. Sin? What sin? Eternal life? Who cares about that? We just want a king who will make this life better, who will satisfy our cravings in this life, who gives us free food and healthy bodies, and lets us do what we want.

Don’t miss the Holy Spirit’s urgent warning for you in this Gospel. You have come to Jesus; He is here in the ministry of the Word. What have you come for? If you have come only for some feeling of fulfillment, for some earthly blessing, if your sin doesn’t trouble you, if His salvation from sin doesn’t mean anything to you, then you will die of hunger—spiritual hunger. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal. Jesus has come to give you greater things, spiritual blessings, heavenly blessings. If you come to Him in sorrow over your sins, looking to Him for those things, you will never be disappointed. There is more than enough of this Bread of Life for everyone. Amen.

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