The pattern of forgiveness must not fail

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 22

Philippians 1:3-11  +  Matthew 18:23-35

The forgiveness of sins is at the heart of the Christian Gospel. But many people, including many Christians, don’t pay attention to how God forgives sins. They think that God just forgives everyone, because He’s an old softy and wouldn’t think of withholding forgiveness. And, because they think that’s how it is with God, they think that’s how Christians should be, too. Christians are sometimes scolded by atheists, in fact, if they don’t just forgive everything to everyone all the time.

But that’s not how it works. That’s not the Scriptural pattern of forgiveness. We’ve talked about this for the last several weeks. God is merciful toward all men. He wants to forgive everyone. He wants to be reconciled with everyone. He gave His Son to die on a cross so that all might be forgiven. But forgiveness is not the first step for God. God rebukes sinners for their sins. He calls them to repentance. And then, to those who repent, He offers the free forgiveness of sins won by Christ on the cross. Those who believe in Christ are forgiven.

It’s a simple pattern. God rebukes sin. He calls sinners to repentance. And He forgives the sins of those who repent. That’s the pattern God dependably follows. And, as we learn in today’s Gospel, it’s the pattern He expects His forgiven children to follow with one another. As Jesus said in another place, If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Simple, right? If your brother sins against you, show him his fault. If he repents, forgive him. If he won’t repent, then keep trying to get him to repent by confronting him with one or two others. If he still won’t repent, keep trying to get him to repent by taking the matter to the Church. And if he won’t listen to the Church, then, as Jesus says earlier in Matthew 18, “let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

Fine. The pattern is set. But then, in the words right before our Gospel, Peter suggests that there may be a loophole in the pattern. Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? In other words, what if this whole pattern plays out seven times. Seven times my brother sins against me, hurts me, causes me pain. Seven times I confront my brother with his sin. Seven times he repents. Do I really have to forgive him the seventh time? Haven’t I done more than enough in forgiving him six times? After that, should I (may I please?) tell him he’s reached his quota of forgiveness and then be done with him?

Jesus’ answer? I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. In other words, you shall never refuse to forgive your brother—if he repents! Far be it from you to withhold forgiveness from the penitent! And then He tells the parable that drives this pattern home.

The king wants to settle accounts with his servants. He brings in the one who owes him 10,000 talents—an astronomical figure, let’s call it the equivalent of $150 million. The king demands payment, and severe punishment if payment can’t be made. That’s the Law, telling the sinner he has sinned against God and must suffer eternal death, because he can never repay his debt.

The servant begs for patience on the king’s part and promises to pay it all back. That’s repentance. The sinner acknowledges the enormous debt he owes. He knows he deserves to be thrown in prison forever, because he can’t pay his debt. So he throws himself at the mercy of the king. In the parable, the man doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He asks for mercy, for a postponement of the punishment, for time to repay. The point of this parable isn’t to explain how Jesus would actually be the one who would offer His righteousness and His own blood as the payment for our sins, how He now says to us, “Here, use this! Use this to settle accounts with My Father, the King! He will accept this payment, because it’s the reason why I was sent in the first place, to give My life as the payment for sins, so that all you debtors might have something to pay back your debts with. Not with your own money, not with your own works, but with My works and with My blood.” That’s how God actually forgives sins. But the point of this parable is to show those who have been forgiven by God how they are to do with their brothers and sisters as God has done with them. And He doesn’t expect you to give your son into death for the sins of others. He does expect you to forgive the penitent as He has done.

The King in the parable has compassion and forgives the entire, enormous debt of that servant. The sinner no longer has to suffer anything in punishment for his sins. The sinner no longer has to come up with his own atonement, because the Father accepts the atonement made by Christ and applies it to the believer’s account. You no longer owe anything. You’re free to go, free to live as children of God. There it is: the pattern of forgiveness.

But the pattern breaks down when the forgiven servant leaves the presence of the king. It starts out the same; the servant finds a fellow servant—his brother in Christ—who owes him a hundred denarii—let’s say $5,000, which is nothing compared to the $150 million that the first servant owed the king. But the forgiven servant doesn’t just demand repayment from his fellow servant. He seized him and began to choke him. Already you see a great difference between the behavior of this servant and the behavior of the king. The servant is angry. He’s enraged. He isn’t simply settling accounts. He certainly isn’t desiring the repentance of his fellow servant, but wants to see him burn.

Now, the fellow servant pleads for patience and time to repay, with the same exact words the first servant used to plead before the king. The man’s brother is sorry for having sinned against him. He admits his fault. He asks for a chance to make it up to him.

But the first servant refuses and throws his fellow servant in prison. No mercy. No compassion. No desire to forgive. And no forgiveness is given to the penitent. Understand what that means. Now the first servant, who was at one time penitent and believing, has fallen from grace, has returned to impenitence and unbelief.

What happens to that unmerciful, unforgiving servant? The king is informed of the servant’s behavior and is appalled by it. You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ And his lord was angry and handed him over to the torturers, until he should pay everything he owed to his lord. “So also will my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not—each one of you, from the heart—forgive your brothers their trespasses.”

You can’t reject the pattern of forgiveness toward your fellow Christian and at the same time keep enjoying the pattern of forgiveness for yourself. If you refuse to forgive the penitent, then you have fallen from grace. You have become impenitent and unbelieving. Now, your brother’s sins against you may be serious. They may hurt. (Or in other cases, they may not be very serious at all and yet you’re still inclined to take offense and stay angry and to refuse forgiveness!) In any case, Jesus puts it in perspective for you. Your sins against God cannot be counted, cannot be measured. They are far more serious than anything any man could do to you. Take the most heinous crime a human being can commit against another human being, and then realize, your crimes, your trespasses against God, in His judgment, are many thousands of times worse than that, to use Jesus’ analogy. Your only hope of salvation is in the mercy of God and in the pattern of forgiveness He Himself has established and embraced.

That pattern never fails, because God never changes. It must not fail for you, either. That means that, if someone has sinned against you and he isn’t sorry for it, forgiveness is not the step required of you at that point, but a heart of mercy still is, the readiness to forgive if that person repents—that’s required of you. And if the person repents, then forgiveness, from the heart, is the step required of you. Now, that forgiveness, when it’s given, may not mean that everything goes back to exactly the way it was before; there are sometimes lingering consequences here on earth for certain sins. But forgiveness must be given, nonetheless, or else you’re, in effect, turning toward Jesus and saying, “You are not my Lord! You are not my Master! My brother’s offense against me is greater than Your forgiveness toward me and more important than Your command.”

No, if your brother has sinned against you and you realize that you have no desire for your brother to repent, no desire to forgive him for the wrong he’s done to you, if you realize that you have been withholding forgiveness from your brother who is penitent, then recognize your own impenitence, and turn from it. Turn from your hardness of heart, before it’s too late, and take refuge in the blood of Christ, which was shed just as must for your sins as for your brother’s sins. Take Jesus’ warning seriously. Take the pattern of forgiveness seriously. Because already in Holy Baptism your immeasurable debts to God were cleared. And here in the Gospel, here in the Sacrament, full and free forgiveness of all your debts is offered to you again today. Go forward with it in peace, and take care to put it into practice with one another. Amen.

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Blessed are the saints on earth and in heaven

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for All Saints’ Day

Revelation 7:2-17  +  Matthew 5:1-12

Today we remember all the saints: the apostles, prophets, and martyrs of the Church of Christ, together with all the faithful who have gone before us: Old Testament believers in the coming Christ, and New Testament believers who were washed in the Baptism of Christ and made holy by faith in His blood, who bore the cross with patience, who persevered in faith until the end and have now received the crown of life. They are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation and are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. As it says elsewhere in the book of Revelation, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, for they will rest from their labors, and their works follow them. The saints above are truly blessed.

But so are we. So are we, if we have the qualities that Jesus describes in the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, that is, simply the qualities of a true Christian. Those who do, Jesus calls “blessed.”

The word for “blessed” used here in the Beatitudes means “happy.” It doesn’t mean they always feel happy. It means they have good reason to be happy, either because of something they already have and enjoy, or because of something they will most surely have and enjoy in the future. So whether we’re talking about the saints above or the saints below, those who have the qualities Jesus describes here have good reason to be happy.

Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit. What kind of poor people is Jesus talking about here? The poor “in spirit.” They may be the richest people on earth, or the poorest people on earth financially. That doesn’t matter at all. Rich or poor by earthly standards, they have good reason to be happy if they’re poor in spirit, that is, if they humble themselves before God, if they view themselves as beggars before Him—beggars in need of God’s mercy and grace.

Why do they have good reason to be happy? For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. No matter how much or how little you possess on earth, it will sooner or later be destroyed. It won’t be yours forever. It won’t last. What will last forever is the kingdom of heaven, where Christ reigns as a good and just King over His subjects, where Christ provides free forgiveness of sins and every grace and blessing, where all the members of the kingdom are dearly loved children of God the Father. This kingdom belongs only to the poor in spirit, making them the richest people on earth. And, after this life, the souls of those who were poor in spirit here now live with Christ in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Blessed are those who mourn. Now, there are two kinds of mourning. There’s a mourning over your sins, which we call contrition, grieving over the countless ways you’ve sinned against God. And there’s a mourning over the effects of sin in the world: pain and loss, suffering and death, other people’s hatred, or mistreatment, or injustice, to watch as wickedness prospers and as righteousness is defeated. True Christians mourn for all these reasons, because of their own sins and because of the tragic effects of sin in the world. They know better than to blame God for any of it. They blame themselves for their part in it, they blame sin, and they blame the devil who dragged our race into it. And they mourn over it.

Why do those who mourn have good reason to be happy? Because of Jesus’ promise, They will be comforted. Already here and now those who mourn over their sins are told the comforting truth: The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Already here and now, those mourners who confess their sins hear God’s own absolution spoken by the pastor: Your sins are forgiven you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Already here and now those who mourn over all the sad effects of sin in the world are comforted with the fact that Christ reigns at the right hand of God, and with the knowledge that God works all things together for good to those who love Him. Already here those who mourn the death of a fellow Christian are comforted with the sure promise of the resurrection and eternal life, and that’s good reason to be happy, even in the midst of mourning.

How much more are the saints above comforted! As John described them in his vision, They will no longer hunger and no longer thirst; neither the sun nor any heat will strike them; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living springs of water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Blessed are the meek. Also translated “gentle” or “lowly.” It’s that aspect of love that St. Paul described to the Corinthians, love that does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked. It’s the attitude of Jesus, who said, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle (meek) and humble of heart. To be meek doesn’t mean that you can never be forceful or never take a stand. It just you’re not overbearing and arrogant and self-seeking.

Why do the meek have good reason to be happy? After all, they are often the ones who finish last here on earth. Their happiness lies in Jesus’ promise. They will inherit the earth. They will “inherit” it because they have been given the right to become children of God through faith in Christ. And as all things belong to Christ, so all things belong to those who are in Christ. Now, neither the saints in heaven nor the saints on earth have received this inheritance yet, but it’s there, waiting. As Peter says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just as there were two kinds of mourning, so there are also two kinds of righteousness for which people hunger. There is the righteousness before God, and there is righteousness or justice among men.

Why do those who hunger and thirst for righteousness have good reason to be happy? Because already here and now, those who believe in Christ and who have been baptized into Christ have His righteousness as a robe to wear at all times. That’s the righteousness that counts before God and that makes us righteous in his sight.

As for righteousness or justice among men, we won’t see much of that here in this life. On the contrary, we’ll continue to see injustice grow, and we’ll continue to struggle against our own unrighteous flesh. But according to God’s own promise, we will see perfect justice in the Day of Judgment, which is coming soon, and in the next life, where the saints above now see it. We’ll be rid of all sin forever, as the saints above are now rid of it.

Blessed are the merciful. Those who are truly merciful, who truly look on their fellow man with mercy and compassion and pity, are just imitating their Father in heaven, as Jesus told us to do, Be merciful just as your Father also is merciful. They’re merciful toward others because they already know God’s mercy toward them in giving His Son into death for those who were, at the time, His enemies. They’ve already received God’s mercy.

Why do those who show mercy have good reason to be happy? Because they will be shown mercy. Believers in Christ, who have received God’s mercy in the forgiveness of sins, will now show mercy toward others, and, God, in turn, will show them even more mercy, as He no longer judges our deeds according to the strictness of His Law, but instead looks mercifully at the works we do from faith in Christ, and accepts them, and even rewards them in His mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart. A pure heart is genuine, sincere, and honest with God and with men. It doesn’t pretend. It isn’t hypocritical. It doesn’t have false motives, but seeks God in genuine repentance and faith and shows genuine love to our neighbor. It’s the heart of the New Man that has been created in Christians, even as we still drag around with us the impure heart of the Old Man and struggle against it. But if we walk according to the Spirit, if the pure heart of the New Man dominates within us, then we are said to be pure in heart.

What’s their reason for happiness? They will see God. Not because they deserve to see Him, but because their hearts have been purified by faith. As John writes: Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Blessed are the peacemakers. The children of God seek to make peace—peace with God by speaking the Gospel of peace to their fellow man; and peace with men, by living at peace with all men, to the extent it depends on us. Sometimes war and fighting may be necessary, but the Christian’s goal is always peace.

The peacemakers have reason to be happy, because they will be called sons of God. Our God is a God of peace, not chaos, not disorder, not strife or contention. He is a God who yearns to be reconciled with sinners through Christ. So those who carry out the ministry of reconciliation, and the Christians who work to maintain peace in His Church are rightly called His sons.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. This one He repeats and elaborates on: Blessed are you, when for my sake they insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you.

That sounds horrible, to be treated that way by the world. It is horrible! It hurts! It’s painful! It’s unfair! It’s unjust! How can Jesus call us blessed when we are mistreated for the sake of His name? What reason could we possibly have to be happy about that? Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who came before you. More than that, in the same way they persecuted the Lord Jesus. A servant is not above his lord. He shouldn’t expect to be treated better than his master. But if we share in His sufferings here, then we will also share in His glory there, even as the saints above do already.

If all this is what we already have here or what have to look forward to above, then truly we are blessed, with more reasons than anyone else on earth to be happy, to be blessed, now and forever. Blessed are the saints in heaven! Their race is finished. Their victory is won. And blessed are the saints on earth, who are still running our race, for our victory is guaranteed. May we strive to finish our race in faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, nurturing all the qualities mentioned by Jesus in today’s Gospel that make us truly blessed, with all the saints. Amen.

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Remain in the truth of grace, faith, and Scripture alone

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation

Galatians 2:16-21  +  John 8:31-36

Lutherans traditionally stick to the ancient lectionary of the Christian Church, going back over a thousand years for most Sundays of the Church Year. But for almost 500 years, Lutherans have taken one Sunday out of the Church Year to thank God for the Reformation of the Church that He graciously brought about in the 16th century. Yes, we thank God for the Reformation, although many people curse this event in history, out of ignorance, or out of spite. We should thank God for it, not because it made the Church on earth perfect. It certainly didn’t do that. No, the Lutheran Reformation of the Church was about nothing more and nothing less than telling the truth, the very truth that Jesus spoke about in our Gospel, the truth that sets men free. The Lutheran Reformation was about telling the truth boldly, telling the truth courageously, telling the truth steadfastly, no matter what the consequences might be, because the truth sets men free, while error, falsehood, is poison to the soul. The Reformation was about standing up to popes and rulers and church councils, and demonstrating that they had not been telling the truth, that they had introduced poisonous lies into the Church, lies that needed to be exposed and eradicated. It meant turmoil in the Church and turmoil in society. It meant men like Martin Luther risking their reputations, their livelihoods, and their lives. And it meant congregations all over Europe having to choose between the glory and the prestige and the cultural heritage of Roman Church, on the one hand, and the truth as taught by a humble German pastor, on the other. What could cause men to take such a stand? What could move congregations to follow them—to give up so much, to sacrifice so much, including earthly peace? Only the power of the Truth and the strength of Spirit-worked conviction.

The truth that was revealed by the Reformation has been neatly summarized in three simple phrases (which Luther didn’t actually use, by the way, but which certainly describe his teaching): By grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone. That is the Truth in which we, the heirs of the Reformation, must remain.

We’ll begin with Scripture alone, the Word of God, because that’s where we learn about the grace of God toward the human race, and the faith by which sinners are justified before God.

Jesus spoke in the Gospel “to the Jews who had believed Him.” There were many who disbelieved Him, but these believed. How had they come to believe Him? It certainly wasn’t because the Church—religious leaders of the day—told them to! Quite the opposite! The Church told them that Jesus was a heretic who deserved to die. No, they believed by hearing the word of Jesus. They had heard from the Old Testament Word of God that the Messiah was coming to save them from their sins and to bring sinners into His eternal kingdom. They had heard Jesus’ word calling them to repentance and faith in Him, the promised Messiah—the Christ. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is always at work in the Word, they had believed Him.

Now Jesus says to them, “If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” What does it mean to remain in Jesus’ word? It means to go on hearing it and to go on believing in, depending on it, hanging onto it for dear life. It means to stick with what Jesus says, no matter what anyone else in the world might say. It means to stay firmly rooted and planted in Jesus’ word, not as a part of your life, but as the very source of your life, for now and for eternity. Those who remain in Jesus’ word are truly Jesus’ disciples. They are the ones who know the truth. They are the ones who are set free.

But you know how crafty the devil is. He is constantly casting the Scriptures into doubt, always sending people back to their own reason and strength, back to their own human philosophies and traditions, back to what fallible men have said, in order to obscure the pure light of the Holy Scriptures, to keep men captive in his kingdom of darkness, or to bring the children of the light back into his darkness.

But the Word of God will never be silenced. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said, but My words will never pass away. The light of the Gospel will never go out. And for those few, for us few who believe God’s word and promise, the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation.

The Reformation principle that Luther helped to restore was “by Scripture alone.” Not “by Scripture and church tradition.” Also, not “by Scripture alone and we don’t care what the Church has ever taught before.” But by Scripture alone God has revealed Himself and His saving purpose and plan to mankind. By Scripture alone we learn to know God the Father, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent. By Scripture alone the Holy Spirit teaches us the truth and enlightens our hearts to believe in Jesus. From Scripture alone all doctrine is to be drawn. And by Scripture alone we judge all doctrines, to see which are from God and which are from men. Men can err. Popes can err. Councils and theologians and priests and pastors and seminaries and synods can and do err. But the Word of the Lord remains forever. And those who remain in it will know the truth, according to Jesus’ own promise.

That truth centers around God’s grace in Jesus Christ. By Grace Alone, another Reformation principle.

Grace is God’s free favor and love toward mankind. It’s God’s willingness and desire to be kind and good and merciful to those who do not deserve it. Grace, by definition, cannot be earned, cannot be purchased, cannot be bartered for. Grace is always a gift, intended for those who can’t earn it, which is why no one who tries to earn it will ever receive it.

That was the case with the unbelieving Jews in the Gospel. When Jesus promised that those who remain in His Word will know the truth and will be set free, they answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. Now, a slave does not remain in the house forever. But a son remains forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. You see, Jesus was offering them a gift, the gift of Himself, the gift of His sacrifice as payment for their sins, the gift of His righteousness as the replacement for their unrighteousness, the gift of freedom from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. He was the Son of God, the Son in the house who has the authority to set the slaves free. He was offering it as grace to needy sinners, but the sinners who stood before Him didn’t view themselves as needy, didn’t view themselves as slaves who needed to be freed. And so they remained slaves.

That’s why the Apostle Paul spends about two whole chapters in the Epistle to the Romans demonstrating from God’s Law that all flesh, all people, Jews and Gentiles, are sinners, condemned by God’s Law to death and sentenced to suffer God’s righteous wrath for all eternity. The main purpose of the Law is that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Why, then, does God justify anyone, if no one deserves it? Why, then, did God send His Son to redeem the lost and condemned human race, to be the propitiation, the sacrifice whose blood paid for all sin and whose righteousness satisfied the righteous requirements of the Law for all sinners? The answer is grace, grace alone.

Luther fought the battle against the Roman papacy, defending “by grace alone,” because the papacy had turned grace into an infusion of power by which God makes them able to earn God’s forgiveness and to merit eternal life. People do the same thing today when they think they are somehow worthy to be God’s children, worthy to be in heaven, deserving of God’s love and favor. But we hold to the Reformation principle that all people are, by nature, damned sinners, not worthy of a single favor from God, much less the free favor of eternal salvation and blessedness won for us by Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved from damnation, are justified, are made heirs of eternal life by grace alone.

That’s the reason why God saves and justifies sinners. How, then, are sinful human beings saved? How does God apply grace to people and to whom is it applied? How are sinners justified—counted righteous by God? You know this Reformation principle very well: Sinners are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

That’s what Jesus had been repeating over and over and over throughout the Gospel of John. You’re probably most familiar with what He says in John chapter 3: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

It’s what Paul says throughout Romans 3, 4 and 5. It’s what you heard in today’s Epistle from Galatians 2. The righteousness of God is not something we have to perform or a standard we have to live up to. It’s a promise that God makes, something He promises to give, something that faith alone receives.

And if God counts you righteous, what good thing can you possibly lack? If God counts you righteous, then what does it matter if the whole world thinks badly of you? If God counts you righteous, what does it matter if you are rich or poor or smart or simple or famous or a nobody, if you have lots of friends or not a friend in the world? You have Jesus, His blood, His righteousness, His place as the Son in God’s household, His love, His friendship, His power, His strength, and His promise to see you safely through this valley of the shadow of death into His eternal mansions. That’s what you have by faith, my friends. See what a precious gift faith is!

Faith was under attack at the time of the Reformation. Rome taught that sinners are justified by faith plus works, with the emphasis on works. No one could be sure if he had enough works, and so, no one could be sure he had any of those blessings that God promises. But Luther taught the simple truth of Scripture, that sinners are justified by faith alone in Jesus, apart from the deeds of the Law.

You know that this battle goes on still today, the battle to preserve this saving truth that faith is the how of justification, that sinners are justified by faith in Christ Jesus and in no other way, certainly not by works, and certainly not by the absence of faith.

Many Christians through the ages have shed their blood defending this simple truth. They’ve faced homelessness and imprisonment and the sword—in some cases, at the hand of the Roman Church itself—for taking a stand on the Reformation principles of grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. Will we be less willing than they to take a stand? Will we be content to hide out and escape persecution and trial and hardship by keeping our mouths shut, by going along to get along? May it never be so! God has graciously preserved us in His truth and will preserve us still, if we remain in His word. Even that is something we can only do with the help of His mighty, Holy Spirit who will continue to strengthen us through Word and Sacrament, in every trial, in every hardship, in the face of every challenge. Let us remain in the truth, together with Luther, and with the apostles and prophets, and with all the saints in heaven and on earth. Let us remain in the truth of Jesus Christ, in the truth of the Reformation: by grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone. Amen.

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The Books will be opened

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 20

Revelation 20:11-15

Over and over again in the book of Revelation, we’ve been guided through the whole New Testament period, and we’ve already reached Judgment Day several times. By the time we get to the scene described in tonight’s reading from chapter 20, the millennium is over. The devil was released for a short time, but then defeated by God Himself at His coming. All the trials and tribulations for the Church are over. All that remains is for judgment to be meted out. And that judgment is depicted for us in tonight’s reading in a series of books that are opened.

Daniel was the first to describe these books of judgment day. Here’s what it says in Daniel 7:

“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.

And he adds in chapter 12:

At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.

Sounds a lot like what you hear in Revelation 20, doesn’t it? Now, Daniel, like Revelation, like most prophetic writing, uses a lot of figurative language. But it’s clear what we’re talking about. On the Last Day, God will come to judge the earth. That judgment is pictured like a human courtroom, with the judge seated on his throne (we might say behind his bench).

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

In the end, there won’t be an earth or a sky or a sun or moon or stars. Judgment day on earth will be the end of this present universe. And God’s presence will take over everything. This is very similar to how Jesus described that day in the Gospels: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him. We’ll talk more about that text in a few weeks.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

As we’re told throughout Scripture, God will raise all the dead on the Last Day, so that everyone who has ever lived will stand before Him. It doesn’t matter if they were lost at sea, or burned in a fire, or buried in the ground. Just as God formed the first man out of the dust of the ground, so He will remake the bodies of those who have died. The souls of those who have been resting in heaven will have new bodies made for them. And the souls that have been suffering in hell—in Hades—will also have new bodies made for them. But for them, that won’t be a good thing. It won’t be a resurrection to life, but a resurrection to condemnation.

They were all “judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Jesus says something similar in John 5: All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. So the things written in the books are the complete record of a person’s works, from birth until death. And remember, “works” in the Scriptures refer not only to the things a person has done, but to the words of the mouth and the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. But God won’t have to stop and check what’s in the books for each person. He already knows all those things. And He’ll come ready to pronounce sentence.

That’s a frightening thing, by itself, because the Scriptures are very clear that “all have sinned,” and that by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So how will any escape from the sins that are recorded in the books?

That’s where that other book comes in: the Book of Life. St. Paul mentions that book once in Philippians. Otherwise, it’s only mentioned here in Revelation, and it’s mentioned seven times. In some places it’s called “the Lamb’s Book of Life.” If your name is found written in that book when Christ comes again, then you go to eternal life, regardless of the sins recorded in those other books. If your name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, then you go to the second death, to everlasting death in hell, regardless of any good deeds recorded in those other books.

So what is the Book of Life? Jesus spells it out in the Gospels. We heard it just a few weeks ago. He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. The names of believers in Christ, and only believers in Christ, are written in this “Book of Life.” We heard the same thing on Sunday when we looked at Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet. Specifically, the man who wasn’t wearing the wedding garment—he was bound and tossed out in the end. As we said, you have to still be clinging to Christ in faith at the end of your life, or at the end of the world, whichever comes first, in order for your name to be found there when Christ returns. What a comfort for believers! And what a terror for unbelievers! And, also, what an important reminder for believers in Christ! There’s no such thing in Scripture as “once saved, always saved.” Through faith in Christ your name is currently written in the Book of Life. But it can be blotted out, if you choose to neglect the Means of Grace, choose to cling impenitently to sin. And so we pray that God will sustain and preserve us in the faith until the end! And we diligently use the Means of Grace as God’s tool for preserving us.

So, if it’s the Book of Life that actually determines who ends up in heaven and who doesn’t, what’s the point of the other books?

Well, for the unbelievers, it’s the reason why they’re condemned. The books reveal that they have not loved the Lord God will all their hearts and have not loved their neighbor as themselves. Those are the conditions set by God’s law for gaining life and for escaping condemnation. The Gospel offers another way to be saved, but unbelievers didn’t take that way, so they have to answer according to the Law. And the books will reveal just how well-deserved is the condemnation that will be pronounced upon them.

For believers, the books have a purpose, too. The Book of Life determines their entrance into heaven. So the sins recorded in the other books are forgiven. And the good works recorded there, good works that God Himself called them to do and worked in them to accomplish—they will be recognized by God, and rewarded. And God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

So look forward to the day when the books are opened! It will be a very good day for believers in Christ. Just make sure you’re doing the things God gives you to do to remain faithful until that day. Stay close to Christ! And seek all your certainty of salvation in Him alone! Amen.

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Baptized believers in Christ are the chosen people of God

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 20

Ephesians 5:15-21  +  Matthew 22:1-14

Once again the Church’s lectionary, our annual schedule of weekly Scripture readings, is very relevant to what’s going on around us. Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet teaches a powerful lesson, for example, about the things going on today in Israel. But not only in Israel. It has a powerful lesson for everyone in this room. In His grace, God prepared a wedding banquet for His Son, and He invited the people of Israel to attend, but they didn’t want to come. Now He sends out invitations to all people. Who will come to the wedding? And who will be properly dressed for it, so that they are allowed to stay? May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to understand and to heed His message: It’s baptized believers in Christ who are the chosen people of God.

Jesus told the parable of the wedding banquet during Holy Week, just days before He would be crucified. He was teaching some final lessons to the people in Jerusalem’s temple. And included in those lessons were also some stern warnings, because He knew what the Jews were about to do to Him, and why. So He tells the parable of the wedding banquet.

A certain man, a king, arranged a wedding banquet for His Son. This is God the Father, who arranged from eternity to send His Son into human flesh, to redeem fallen mankind by giving His Son as the perfect sacrifice for the world’s sins. True God, true Man, the perfect Substitute for mankind, the perfect Mediator between God and man, the perfect Savior, who makes all who believe in Him heirs of eternal life, fit to live with God forever in the new heavens and the new earth after this earth is destroyed in judgment.

Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, God had been sending out invitations to celebrate the future arrival of His Son into the world. But eventually, after practically all mankind had become corrupt and unbelieving, after the nations all went their own ways after the flood and the tower of Babel, God focused on one nation in particular, one people: on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants who became the people of Israel. And God cultivated them as His people and trained them and taught them and sent His prophets to them to give them His Word, not only orally, but also in writing. They were the guests whom God invited beforehand, before He sent His Son into the world.

Then, finally, He sent His Son into the world. The Savior had been born! And the servants of the king—the shepherds of Bethlehem, Simeon and Anna, and the wise men, among others, were sent out to call the invited guests to the feast. “Jerusalem, this is your time, the time of your visitation!” But few paid attention. Still, the king had it proclaimed again, Tell those who are invited, “See! I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding!” For three years or so that message kept going out in the land of Israel. The promised Savior stood among them and taught among them. John the Baptist, Jesus’ disciples, Jesus Himself kept on announcing that the kingdom of heaven was at hand!

But they disregarded it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. That was how Israel, as a whole, reacted to the preaching of the Gospel. John the Baptist was imprisoned and then beheaded. Jesus was crucified. Stephen was stoned to death. James, the brother of John, was killed by the sword. St. Paul himself was, at one time, responsible for persecuting the servants of the King, and then, after his conversion, Paul and the other Christians were persecuted constantly by the Jews who refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, to the point that, in the book of Revelation, Jesus refers to the Jewish synagogue as the “synagogue of Satan.”

And so, when the king heard about it, he was angry. And he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. The Father had given His greatest gift to Israel, and had prepared them for it in advance, and Israel stubbornly rejected it. Not all of them, of course, but the nation as a whole. And so, as Jesus predicted, because Jerusalem was not willing to come to the banquet of God’s salvation in Christ, Jerusalem was eventually burned up and destroyed by the Roman armies. The previously invited guests missed their chance to come to the banquet.

So please don’t let anyone convince you that the modern city of Jerusalem belongs to any people by divine right. God had that city burned down long ago as the capital of His Old Testament people Israel, and as far as their rejection of Christ goes, nothing has changed since that time. That doesn’t justify the horrific atrocities being committed against those who seek peace, atrocities which are being committed, by the way, by people who are just as Christ-less and lost as the unbelieving Jews. But the punishments God sends against any nation are meant to serve not only as punishments, but as calls to repentance, because for the Jews, for the Muslims, and for the American unbelievers, too, it isn’t too late, yet, to repent! It isn’t too late to come to the wedding!

What did the king do after ordering his servants to burn down the city of those who murdered his servants? He said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the streets and invite to the wedding whomever you find. So those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good, and the banquet tables were filled with guests.

God still desires that all people should be saved. He gave His Son into death for all sinners, that all should come to repentance, believe in Christ Jesus, and receive the forgiveness of all their sins. After Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, the same Lord Christ sent out His apostles into all the world, to preach the Gospel to all nations. No longer was His invitation sent out to Israel only, as it essentially was in the Old Testament, but now His invitation goes out to every creature, to every ethnicity, to every person: Come to the wedding! That is, Repent and believe in Jesus, the Christ who was crucified and died in payment for your sins! Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins! Come into the Holy Christian Church that Jesus is still in the process of building! The call goes out to both Jews and non-Jews, to anyone and everyone, to “the good and the bad,” Jesus said in the parable. Here is the forgiveness of sins! Here is life! Here is salvation! Here at the wedding! Here in Christ Jesus!

The invitation has been going out for 2,000 years and will continue to go out until the Church (which is the new Israel, the spiritual Israel) is finished being built. The wedding hall, the Christian Church, is filling up, and only God knows when it will be full, and then the Last Day will come, and Christ will return to take His beloved Church to Himself.

But Jesus adds an important detail to this parable that we shouldn’t overlook. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who was not wearing a wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

What does this wedding garment represent? Why is it so important for the guests to be wearing it, so important that, if they’re not wearing it, they don’t get to stay at the banquet, they get tossed out into the darkness? Well, remember, the king didn’t require good works of anyone in order for them to be invited to the feast. What is the thing He requires? St. Paul writes to the Galatians: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

See how St. Paul ties together faith and baptism. You are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You put on Christ when you were baptized into Christ. You were clothed with the robe of Christ and His perfect righteousness through Baptism, where God held it out to you, and through faith, where you, by God’s power, put it on. But faith can’t just be put on once and then you’re automatically wearing it for the rest of your life. Faith in Christ, trusting in Christ Jesus, is a continual thing. It has to be. Church membership without faith in Christ is worthless. Calling yourself a Christian without faith is dishonest. When the King comes in to inspect the guests, He will not ask who your pastor was, or which church you or your family belonged to, or how many offerings you gave. He will look to see if you’re still clinging to His beloved Son in faith. And where He doesn’t find that, a person won’t be allowed to stay.

But God will provide everything you need to sustain your faith! Faith still comes by hearing. He’ll keep sending out His ministers to preach His word and administer His Sacraments! He’ll keep calling you to repentance when you go astray, and He’ll keep forgiving you your sins when you repent. Because He wants you there, in His wedding hall. He wants you to be among His chosen people—which is not the physical nation of Israel, but the number of those who believe in Christ Jesus and thereby escape the condemnation that is coming on this wicked world.

Many are called, but few are chosen. That’s how Jesus summarizes the lesson in the parable of the wedding banquet. Many have heard the Gospel invitation, and God sincerely wants the many who hear to believe and be saved. He wanted it for the Old Testament Jews. He wants it for all who hear. But “the chosen people,” the elect, are those who actually enter into His Christian Church by holy Baptism and who remain true members of the Church by faith in Christ Jesus. That means that you, who believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, are the chosen people of God. Now continue in that faith, wearing the robe of the righteousness of Christ every day. And, as those who already wear Christ by faith, do as St. Paul said to the Ephesian believers in today’s Epistle. Watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Make the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, which leads to reckless behavior, but be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

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