Trust in the One who raises the dead

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 16

Ephesians 3:13-21  +  Luke 7:11-17

So far in this Trinity season, we’ve considered two of Jesus’ healing miracles: the healing of the man who was deaf and mute, and the healing of the ten lepers. As we’ve seen, every healing miracle teaches both the identity of Jesus as the Christ, the all-powerful Son of God, as well as His great compassion. Today’s miracle is really the ultimate example of that.

This is the first of Jesus’ three resurrection miracles recorded in Scripture. After this, Jesus would go on to raise back to life the daughter of Jairus, and also His friend, Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. In all three of those events, the compassion of Jesus is evident. When Jairus was told that his daughter was dead, Jesus took him aside and assured him, “Do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be saved!” When Jesus saw Mary and all the people weeping over the death of Lazarus, Jesus Himself wept. Here in our Gospel, we’re told that, when Jesus saw the dead man being carried out of the city, the only son of his mother, who was a widow, He had compassion on her.

That comes as no surprise to us, given everything we’ve learned of our God from hearing and watching Jesus through the lens of Gospels. If God sent His Son into the world to save sinners, if God gave His Son up to torture and death on a cross to pay for our sins, if Jesus willingly accepted all the suffering so that we could be saved, how could God not have compassion? His compassion is well-known to us.

It wasn’t quite as well-known to the world before the time of Jesus. Yes, at various times God showed great compassion to His people Israel in saving them from their own rebellion and backsliding. But the fact is, death reigned in the world since the time of Adam. Every single human being, except for the two exceptional cases of Enoch and Elijah, eventually died, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes peacefully, sometimes violently. Where did God stand on death?

Well, we have to acknowledge the truth. God is responsible for human death. He’s responsible for it in the same way that a judge or a jury is responsible for a criminal ending up on death row. When He said to Adam, “In the day you eat of the fruit from that tree, you will surely die,” He didn’t force or entice Adam to do the thing that would lead to his death. But He did enforce His own words after Adam and Eve sinned. And He continued to enforce His righteous decree that the soul that sins shall die.

But, surely the young man of Nain, or the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, or Jesus’ friend Lazarus—surely they didn’t deserve to die? No, not at the sentencing of any human court. Of course not. But before God’s court? The soul that sins shall die. And so all died, because all were born in sin and spent their lives proving it.

So humanity might have wondered where God stood on death, if He was pleased by it, if He delighted in it, because those sinners deserve to die. Israel knew better, because they had the Scriptures at hand, where God spelled it out plainly through the prophet Ezekiel: I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies. But when God sent His Son into the flesh, He made it as clear as possible, both by the life of Jesus and, ultimately, by the death of Jesus. Our God is moved to compassion by the death that we die, moved to compassion most of all for the living who are left to deal with the death of a loved one.

That’s what we see in the Gospel: Jesus’ compassion for the widow, for this daughter of Israel, who had already mourned the death of her husband, and now was grieving the death of her only son.

“Do not weep,” He said. Then he came and touched the coffin, and those who were carrying it stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother.

Before this day, outside the city gates of Nain, it had been about 800 years since anyone had been raised from the dead, as far as Scripture records. That miracle was done by the prophet Elisha, after he cried out to the Lord for the power to perform it. Before that, only the prophet Elijah had performed a similar miracle, also praying to the Lord for the ability to do it. But you notice that Jesus didn’t have to stop and beg God in heaven to listen to Him or to step in and restore life to the dead man. Jesus did it by His own power, on His own authority—power and authority that were freely given to Him by God the Father, as Jesus says in John 5: For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

The fact that Jesus Himself can decide to restore life to the dead demonstrates that He is not just a prophet. He is the promised Messiah, the all-powerful Son of God. It teaches the world to honor Him just as they honor God the Father. And it serves as a warning to those who don’t want Him for a Savior, to those who refuse to call Him their Lord, because He alone is the One who gives life to the dead.

All right. Aside from helping us to identify Jesus as Son of God, in addition to helping us understand the compassion of our God, what is the point of this account for us? What else does it teach us? What does God want us to learn?

He would teach us that, although the miracles of Jesus were only for the people of that time when He walked the earth, the compassion of Jesus remains. We shouldn’t expect Jesus to come back down to earth and start raising the dead again before the Last Day, just as we shouldn’t expect Him to miraculously heal our cancers or our heart diseases or any of these consequences of the curse on creation. But we should expect Him to sympathize with us in our weakness, to care when we’re struggling, and to send the comfort and help we need in the face of suffering, sickness, and death. His compassion continues, even He reigns at God’s right hand.

What else should we learn? We should learn that, although the time has not yet come for the dead to be raised from their earthly graves, the time has come for Jesus to raise people to spiritual life from spiritual death. Jesus explains in John 5: 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. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

Even now the voice of the Son of God calls out: Repent and believe in Me! I offer you the forgiveness of sins! I will save you from sin, death, and the devil! I will give you eternal life! And as we believe His promise, He raises us from death to life, here and now. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, Even when we were dead in trespasses, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith.

That’s an awesome thing, pictured for us in all the healing miracles of Jesus, especially the resurrection miracles. But there’s more. The brief three-year window of physical healings and resurrections that Jesus performed on earth was also a sampling, a foretaste of the actual, bodily raising He’ll do on the Last Day. As He concludes in John 5: Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, believers (those who, as New Men, born again of water and the Spirit, did good in step with the Holy Spirit) to the resurrection of life, and unbelievers (those who did evil and had no faith in Christ to cover their evil) to the resurrection of condemnation. That resurrection is real—just as real as the resurrection miracle Jesus performed in today’s Gospel. Just as real as His own resurrection from the dead. It’s real. And it’s coming, sooner than we might think.

So trust in the One who raises the dead. His compassion and His power were proven in the past, and they continue into the present, and into the future. Trust in the One who called you to faith, who gave you life and gives it still. Trust in the One who will surely come and speak over your grave, Arise! And you will. And you’ll live together with the Lord, and with all those who believed in Christ, the Conqueror of death. Amen

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The wedding day will finally arrive

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 15

Revelation 19:1-10

It’s time to rejoice again this evening, not only because of the content of the text before us, but also because there’s nothing here that’s difficult to understand. It’s all very straightforward and full of joy. First, the true Church will rejoice in God’s judgment against the false Church (which we heard about last week). And then, the Church will rejoice even more. Because the Bridegroom soon will call us, and the great wedding day will finally arrive for the Lamb and His wife.

I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia!”

The great multitude in heaven, made up of both saints and angels, cries out, Alleluia! We’re so used to singing that word. It’s hard to believe this is the only time the word is used in the whole New Testament, four times here in this chapter. It’s a Hebrew word, Hallelujah!, used throughout the Psalms, but always just translated, “Praise the LORD!” Praise Yah, Yahweh, the only true God, the God who inspired the Holy Scriptures and who is described in the Holy Scriptures! John’s use of the Hebrew word of praise here in Revelation shows the connection between the Old Testament Church and the New, that it’s really one great Church—all believers in Christ, either before He came or after.

Why is heaven praising the LORD? Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

Glory, honor, and power belong to the Lord our God. But also “salvation.” He saves His people from their enemies. He saved us from sin, from death, and from the devil by Christ’s atoning death and by applying it to us through Baptism and faith. We already praise our God for that, day after day after day. But on the Last Day, the Church will praise Him for saving us from the false Church, the apostate Church, the great harlot, the Antichrist within the Church who “corrupted the earth with her fornication.” While pretending to teach the Christian faith, the apostate Church actually leads people to commit spiritual fornication, to trust in all sorts of false gods and a false version of Christ. Last week we heard about the final destruction of Babylon. Tonight we hear the Church’s response to that destruction. It’s one of joy and celebration. Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!

Ironically, there are two extensions of the Antichristian Church that often teach opposing lessons, both of which are wrong. On the one hand, you have people within the Church who are vindictive, who love to mock and ridicule and take haughty pleasure in the downfall of those whom they consider to be enemies. They may even seek to take revenge themselves against those who have wronged them. That’s wrong and unchristian. It’s a false version of Christianity. On the other hand, you have others who are so wishy-washy, so “evangelical” that they reject any notion of vengeance, any idea that God will actually punish His enemies. That’s equally wrong and unchristian. Here in this reading, we have the truth presented very simply. The saints and angels in heaven have been praying for judgment and for God’s vengeance on those who persecuted the saints. Back in chapter six the souls of the martyrs were crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Here in chapter 19, their question is finally answered. God will judge and take vengeance on the great harlot. And the Church in heaven will not mourn over it. It will rejoice, not arrogantly, not spitefully, but justly. Because God is just and demands justice. The only way to escape His just judgment is to take refuge in Christ Jesus, but the Antichristian Church taught people not to take refuge in Christ alone, and so the true Church in heaven will agree with God’s judgment against the Church that deceived people into disbelieving in His Son.

And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”

The twenty-four elders, you recall, represented the whole Church of the Old and New Testaments, and the four living creatures represent the teachers of the Church. The Church in heaven praised God for judging the harlot, and the whole Church in heaven and on earth responds, Amen! Alleluia! The Last Day will not be a day when Christians are mourning over the destruction of the wicked. In the perfection of holiness, we will be rejoicing over the destruction of everyone who stood against our God.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!

More praise and rejoicing on the Last Day, even louder than before. Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! That is, He alone reigns. Now, for a time, the devil has a kingdom here on earth. He is the “prince of this world.” Now, for a time, darkness reigns, and the kingdom of the Antichrist prospers, and the Church on earth has to put up with living in enemy territory. But not forever. In the end, God alone will reign, and the devil and his allies will have no power at all.

The believers continue, Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

This is the long-awaited wedding banquet that Jesus talked about in His parables, the feast that the Father prepared for His Son, the wedding hall where the ten virgins waited with their lamps to receive the Bridegroom and His bride, the holy Christian Church. This is the resurrection of the dead, when Christ comes to take His believers to Himself in heaven. John again refers to Jesus here as the Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb who shed His blood in order to cleanse us from our sins so that we could stand beside Him forever in this perfect “marriage.”

St. Paul talks about this marriage in Ephesians 5: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

John pictures that spotlessness and holiness here, too: And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. What are the “righteous acts of the saints”? That’s not a good translation, actually. Literally, it’s the “righteousnesses of the saints.” The saints, believers in Christ, have a twofold righteousness. We have the righteousness of Christ that is given us in Holy Baptism, by faith, through the forgiveness of our sins. That is the righteousness by which we are justified. But we also have the beginning of righteousness that we call “sanctification,” righteous thoughts and intentions, righteous words and deeds, patiently bearing the cross and enduring the suffering that comes with being a Christian in an unchristian world. The Church will be forever dressed in that twofold righteousness, fine linen that God gave to her and enabled her to wear, not that she manufactured herself.

Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

Blessed are those who are called! Now, when Jesus told that parable about the wedding banquet, many were called, but few were chosen, because many who were called didn’t want to come! But here the angel telling John to write down this trustworthy saying of God is talking about those who are called and who actually come, who actually believe in Christ and persevere in faith until the end. Blessed are they!, he says. Because this marriage supper of the Lamb is the best thing you can imagine, better than the best thing you can imagine. This is Paradise. This is what “going to heaven” is all about, the coming together of all believers of all times with Christ, the Lamb of God, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord.

And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!

John isn’t allowed to worship the created angel. Only God is to be worshiped. We should view the holy angels as fellow servants of John and of “his brothers who have the testimony of Jesus.” In a direct sense, that refers to the ministers who have been entrusted with preaching about Jesus as witnesses. In that regard, heavenly angels and human “angels” have the same task, to proclaim, not our own ideas, but the Word of God, and to proclaim, in particular, the Lord Jesus—His life, His words and teachings, His compassion, His atoning death, and His glorious resurrection. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. That is, it’s proclaiming Jesus that is the heart and soul of prophecy, of all proclamation about God. If the preaching doesn’t revolve around Jesus, then it isn’t Christian preaching at all.

As we struggle with the world in these last days, prepare for the celebration that’s coming. It isn’t quite time yet for the full-blown, untainted rejoicing to begin. It isn’t quite time yet to celebrate. But we can anticipate the celebration, because it’s coming. When we know something awful is coming, we certainly know how to dread it ahead of time. But we know that something wonderful is coming: God’s final victory over the Antichrist and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Knowing that, let us continue to hear the call to attend the wedding supper of the Lamb. Let the certainty of that supper get you through the difficult days ahead. And let us not allow anything in this world to get in the way of our arrival at that feast. Amen.

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The path of Mammon vs. the path of God

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 15

Galatians 5:25-6:10  +  Matthew 6:24-34

Picture a fork in the road, where the road divides in two directions. You can either take the road on the left or the road on the right. You have to take one. You can’t take them both. Which one do you choose? Well, it helps to know what you’ll encounter in each direction, what each road looks like, where each road leads. Jesus describes two roads, two paths for us in today’s Gospel from the Sermon on the Mount. The road on the left is the service of Mammon. The road on the right is the service of God. The roads are very different, and they end in very different places. And you can only take one of them. Obviously, it’s the service of God that Jesus urges His disciples to follow, and He gives us many good reasons for it in our text.

First, let’s look at the context. This is from the Sermon on Mount, early in Jesus’ ministry, where He’s teaching His early disciples, with multitudes of people listening in. He’s talking to Jews who already believed in the true God and who wanted to be instructed by Jesus. That’s important to remember. He’s not talking to pagans or atheists, but to “church members.” He’s not trying to convert unbelievers to the true faith by asking them to choose to believe or not. He’s teaching believers what it means to believe and encouraging them to live a life that’s consistent with what they believe.

No one can serve two lords, He tells them. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is the Aramaic word for wealth, the abundance of material possessions. Jesus personifies it here, as if material things were a god that people served. And in a very real sense, it is! It is like a lord or a master demanding to be worshiped, honored, and served.

What does such service look like? Let’s try for a moment to put ourselves in the shoes of Jesus’ disciples, if we can. Jesus’ hearers were average Jewish citizens at that time. They weren’t rich, In fact, we would consider them poor, by our modern American standards, although “poor” back then meant something far different. These people weren’t homeless, or jobless, or beggars. But neither did they have mansions or pensions or health insurance. There was no welfare, no social safety net. Their jobs were largely dependent on how well the farms produced in a given season, or how many fish they could catch. And many of them were simply day workers, who lived off of what they earned each day, without much potential for climbing the economic ladder.

For such people, to serve Mammon was to live their lives with the goal of getting wealth, acquiring an abundance of things, even basic things like food and drink and clothing. Every day, Mammon cried out, “You need me! I will provide for you! I will give you safety and security and peace of mind! So seek me! Work to get me! Trust in me!”

What about for the average modern American?  When was the last time you worried about having enough to eat today? Or having anything to wear today? The average American has already acquired more Mammon, more abundance of possessions, than anyone before in world history. And yet, Mammon still cries out, “Not enough! Not enough! You need more to feel secure. You need more to be happy. And if your level of abundance, if your standard of living should ever drop below what it is right now, it would be the end of the world! So, you still need me! I will provide for you! I will give you safety and security and peace of mind! So seek me! Work to get me! Trust in me!” So, to serve Mammon is to live one’s life with the goal of getting more wealth, acquiring more abundance, and, just as importantly, holding onto the abundance you currently have!

Except that, if that’s your goal, then you cannot be a servant of God. No one can serve two lords. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Because each one demands your devotion. Each one demands your trust, even as each one promises to provide for you and claims to be worthy of your trust. But it’s one or the other, Jesus says. You can be devoted to and trust in God, or you can be devoted to and trust in Mammon. But you can’t serve both. As the First Commandment says, You shall have no other gods.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on to illustrate the foolishness of serving Mammon and the wisdom of serving God! Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? If Mammon is your god, if you’re living your life to gain material things, even basic things like food, drink, and clothing, then your road looks like constant worry, constantly being anxious over getting those things (or keeping those things). Wealth says, “I’ll give you peace of mind if you get enough of me!” But it’s an empty promise, because there’s never enough. You get enough for today, then you worry about tomorrow. You get enough for tomorrow, then you worry about the next day, and week, and month, and year, and into old age. And what if something happens to your finances? What if something goes wrong? You need more to feel safe. You need more to feel secure.

Isn’t life more than that?, Jesus asks. More than running around after your next meal, after your next set of clothes? And, no, by “more than that,” He doesn’t mean running around after bigger things, either, like the next house, the next car, the next luxury item, the next material thing. Life is more than that, too. The word translated here as “life” is actually the same as the word for “soul.” Human beings were created to live with God forever, to contemplate and to engage in what is good and right and beautiful, and to do good with our body and soul. We’ve sinned against God and ruined much of His original design, but even in a fallen, sinful world, life is more than food and clothing and acquiring material possessions. It’s, above all, learning to know and to believe in God, who offers a far better path than service to Mammon.

Look at the birds of the air! They do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? On the road of service to Mammon, you’re on your own. Everything depends on you, how hard you work, how cunning and clever you are, and how lucky you are. Even then, so many things are out your control that you can never have peace of mind. Contentment is forever out of reach. But on the road of service to God, there is a heavenly Father, the one who created all things and cares for His creation, the one who has adopted you through Holy Baptism and through faith in Jesus, who has taken it upon Himself to see to it that you have the things you need for this life, so that you can spend your time concentrating on more important things, like His kingdom and His righteousness—things that last beyond this life.

As proof of this, Jesus offers the example of the way our heavenly Father provides for the birds of the air, without any worry or care on their part. Not that they just sit in their nests and wait for food to drop down out of heaven. They go and get it from the ground or from the air. But God our heavenly Father sees to it that the food is there for them to get, and that they know how to get it. They’re His creatures, just as we are, except that, according to Jesus, we’re much more valuable than they. Human beings were created in God’s image, created to be like Him in true righteousness and holiness, created to live forever with Him in His kingdom. But more than that, Jesus shed His blood for us and redeemed us from sin, death, and the devil. And we should conclude from that exactly what St. Paul tells us to conclude: He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Jesus also points out another reason why it’s foolish to walk the path of worry in service to Mammon: Which of you by worrying can add one foot to his stature? Or one hour to his life? Worrying won’t get you anywhere. But on the path of service to God, you have a heavenly Father who is capable of providing help for every need.

Then, as another proof that the road of serving God is better than the road of serving Mammon, Jesus offers the example of the flowers. And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin. And yet I tell you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today stands and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? God cares enough about the soul-less vegetation of the earth to make it look beautiful. Learn from that, Jesus says. Learn to understand that He cares much more about you who are His children and will see to it that you have what you need to clothe your body.

You of little faith, He says. He says it, not as an angry outburst, but as a gentle rebuke of those who should know better, and yet still sometimes stray over into the path of worry in service to Mammon. Knowing that, He gives us this instruction: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles (that is, the unbelievers of the world who don’t know God) chase after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. It is enough for each day to have its own trouble.

And isn’t that the truth? The path of Mammon has you gazing off into the future, wondering how you will ever get what you need down the road. The path of God has you focused on today, on your daily bread, because tomorrow doesn’t depend on your worry to figure it out. You have a heavenly Father who holds yesterday, today, and tomorrow in His hand, who is watching out for your tomorrow, just as He’s taking care of your today.

As Christians, you’ve already put your faith in the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You’ve already committed to serving Him alone. So repent for the times you’ve strayed over into the path of service to Mammon, worrying about tomorrow, as if God your heavenly Father didn’t exist, or as if He didn’t care. And recommit to God’s service. Trust in Him. Cast all your worry on Him, because He cares for you. And then, instead of worrying about your next meal, spend your thoughts and your efforts seeking His kingdom, pursuing His righteousness. Because down that road, there is true safety, and security, and peace of mind. There is the loving care of a heavenly Father. And at the end of that road is eternal life in your Father’s heavenly home. Amen.

 

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Babylon will surely fall

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 14

Revelation 18:1-24

We talked about Babylon last week. Let’s review. (Much of this will sound similar to what we talked about last week.) Babylon was the name of the actual city that persecuted the Church of Israel during Old Testament times, the city that actually conquered the people of Israel, destroyed Jerusalem, and held them captive for 70 years. Here in the Book of Revelation, “Babylon” is the symbolic name for the city of Rome, which was the actual city that persecuted the Church after the time of Christ, both from a secular angle as well as from a spiritual one.

And then Rome itself became symbolic of the Roman papacy and of the whole apostate Church, whether located in Rome or not. For nearly three hundred years, the Roman emperors persecuted the Christian Church, openly threatening, brutally torturing, and killing Christians by the thousands. After that, the Church got in bed with the Roman government, and for a time the outward persecutions ceased. But over the centuries the spiritual corruption and persecutions grew. And the Roman Church used the power of the Roman Empire to squash dissent, to commit every form of wickedness, to burn heretics at the stake, to silence the Gospel, and to bring a corrupted form of Christianity to the New World during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Around the same time, the Church of England was formed, outwardly in opposition to the Roman Church, but in reality it shared many of the same false doctrines and false practices. They were and are part of the apostate Church, tied to the government, and they, too, put Christians to death. Other churches began to form, supposedly in “protest” against Rome, and yet they, too, were inspired by the glory of Rome and imitated many of her false practices. (The Lutheran Church, by the way, was not immune to the false ideas of the apostate Church, but they never put dissenters to death. But they have, at times, wrongly excommunicated teachers of the truth.) The Thirty Years War was waged in Europe in the 17th century, still within the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire. And the Spanish Inquisition, which started already in the 1400’s and resulted in the torture and death of tens of thousands of people, lasted until 1834—less than two hundred years ago. Then you had other atrocities committed here in our country and in other parts of the world in the name of Christ, or under the cover of the Church, many of them committed against children. We’ve seen governments all over supposedly acting in the name of Christianity, committing atrocities, from Nazi Germany, to modern Russia, to the United States of America as it pushes abortion and LGBTQ agendas, not only here, but in foreign countries as well, all while still clinging to a veneer of Christianity, with our Roman Catholic president and most of our congress (nearly 90%!) being made up of men and women who identify as Christian.

Look at the havoc that has been wreaked in the world and the blood that has been shed in the world in the name of a false Christ as the Antichristian Church and the Antichristian government have worked hand in hand to corrupt the true Christian faith, to silence the saints, to punish those who hold to the true faith, and even to persecute unbelievers unjustly while acting in the name of Christ, thus giving a bad name to Christ and to His true Church!

What we see in tonight’s vision, very simply, is a prophecy of the imminent ruin of the apostate Church that is responsible for all this.

Just as in the previous chapter, John paints Babylon as rich, luxurious, glorious, engaged with all the nations of the earth, engaged in both politics and in business. She thinks of herself as a queen. No one can compare to her. No one can ever bring her down. She’s the envy of everyone.

That certainly fits with the Roman Church. It fits with the megachurches, too, and with the televangelists, and with all of the churches that have promised or taken pride in earthly size, wealth, prosperity, and strength.

But her plagues will come in one day. She’ll appear to be going strong until that day comes, and then she’ll receive the Lord’s judgments all at once. She’ll be burned with fire. Because strong is the Lord God who judges her…because in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.

In our time and place in history, we may not feel the weight of the apostate Church crushing us as other Christians have over the centuries. We don’t see in our modern times the burning of heretics at the stake, or the selling of indulgences, or any physical harm being done anymore by the Church, at least, not on a large scale. And the wealth that has always characterized the apostate Church isn’t as exclusive as it used to be, isn’t as drastic of a contrast as it used to be. There’s lots of wealth going around these days, especially in our country. But the harm done to souls by false doctrine and by false ideas of heaven, of hell, of the devil and his demons, of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, and of what it means to be a Christian, is as great as it has ever been. And the lack of physical persecution simply lulls people into a false sense of security, as if you no longer had anything to be watchful for or leery of.

The days of casual Christianity are over, where it’s a small part of a person’s life, a background reality, a family tradition, nothing more. Our opening hymn had each of us asking ourselves the pointed question, “Am I a soldier of the cross?” You need to be! We have to be so vigilant that we don’t become part of the apostate Church, knowing God’s Word better each day. And to those who are linked to a false-teaching Church, the Lord calls out in earnest, Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. And as you’re being vigilant, also rejoice, because the false Church is about to fall, and the people of God will soon be safe from all her threats, from all her tricks, and from all her temptations. Babylon will surely fall, and those who live by faith in Christ Jesus will surely stand forever. Amen.

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The importance of giving thanks to God in the right place

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 14

Galatians 5:16-24  +  Luke 17:11-19

We have another healing miracle before us today, the healing of the ten lepers. It was just two weeks ago that we considered the healing miracle of the man who was deaf and mute. And you remember what we said that every healing miracle teaches us about Jesus? First, that Jesus is the promised Christ, the Son of God, sent by God into the world, and, second, that Jesus, and therefore, our God, is not only all-powerful, but also full of compassion.

But what does this particular healing miracle add to that? Well, there’s a lesson here about thankfulness. And not just thankfulness, but thanksgiving, and not just thanksgiving, but giving thanks in the right way, in the right place. Let’s turn to the text.

Jesus was passing between the territories of Samaria and Galilee on His way down to Jerusalem. So it shouldn’t surprise us to find at least one Samaritan among that group of ten men with leprosy. Now, we talked about Samaritans a little bit last week. They were foreigners as far as the Jews were concerned, but their territory was right in between Judea and Galilee, both of which were Jewish territories. They didn’t normally interact with one another. But this group of ten men had that terrible skin-disease called leprosy, which, not unlike death, was the great equalizer. They all had to live away from society and away from the worship of God in His temple, because God’s Law demanded that they live apart.

But these ten men had heard the word about Jesus, that He had power over the human body, to heal every kind of disease. And they had heard that Jesus was merciful and compassionate and willing to help. That simple word about Jesus created faith in their hearts, at least faith that He could and would heal them of their leprosy.

That faith led them to approach Him, from a distance, and to cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” A simple but meaningful request. A request made in humility and in recognition of Jesus as Master. He was above them and above nature itself, as He was able to speak a word and nature had to obey.

He did have mercy on them. But instead of cleansing them right there on the spot, He had something to teach them, and to teach every generation after them. So He simply said, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” The Old Testament Law had some elaborate requirements for those whose leprosy went away, starting with going to the priest in Jerusalem so that he could examine them and begin the rituals and the sacrifices so that they could legally be pronounced clean and reenter society.

They clearly understood from His words that Jesus would heal them, and they believed, so off they went. And, sure enough, before they got too far away, they realized that their leprosy was gone. Their skin was restored. They were clean! All ten of them. But this is what made the one different from the other nine: The nine kept going toward Jerusalem. The one returned to where Jesus was to give praise and thanks to God.

Now, it may well be that the other nine uttered a prayer of thanksgiving to God as they kept going toward Jerusalem. It may well be that they said a silent prayer of thanks in their hearts. But Jesus expected more than that. Jesus answered, “Were not all ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found to return and give glory to God except for this foreigner?” You see, God is present everywhere. As the Psalm says, Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into the heavens, You are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there! And surely God hears prayers in every place, in every language, including the prayers in our hearts that don’t even make it past our lips. But at the time this miracle took place, God stood in a single place on earth, in the Person of Jesus. He made Himself available to the world in the place where Jesus was, so that a person could go to Him and receive help from Him, and so that a person could return to Him to give thanks to Him “in person.” The nine healed lepers had approached Jesus in person to ask for healing, but they neglected to thank Him in person, while the one Samaritan did, prompting Jesus’ favorable reply. Your faith has saved you.

Now, God is the Source of every good thing and has provided abundantly for all people, for which all people owe Him thanks and praise. But what good would it be to give thanks to God for daily bread and daily blessings while failing to give thanks for His greatest gift—for the gift of His Son, given to the world to die for the world’s sins, so that, through Him, sinners might be reconciled to God, turned from His enemies into His dear children, and made heirs of eternal life? If you don’t, above all, want to give to thanks for Jesus and to Jesus, then God the Father doesn’t even want your thanks for the other things. He won’t let you approach Him except through His beloved Son.

But if you do want to approach Him through Christ, if you want the healing of the forgiveness of sins earned for you by Jesus, if you want to give thanks to Jesus for His mercy and for shedding His precious blood for you, then, where do you go to find Him? The leper knew where to find Jesus. There was only one place he could go. What about you?

Well, again, God is present everywhere and hears all the prayers His children offer in Jesus’ name. It’s absolutely appropriate to give thanks to God in your heart and in your personal prayers. Jesus encourages believers to pray on their own, to pray often, and God absolutely hears and accepts those prayers. But Jesus has made Himself present on earth and expects people to seek Him where He promises to be present. And where is that? Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them…and behold, I am with you. Take, eat; this is My body. Take, drink; this is My blood. When unbelievers encounter the preaching of Christ, they encounter Christ. When Christians gather together in Jesus’ name, to hear His Word preached by the ministers He has sent, when they gather to worship Him together, to receive His Sacrament of Holy Baptism and His Sacrament of Holy Communion, He is there. He is there in a way that He isn’t there everywhere. He’s there to teach. He’s there to guide. He’s there to forgive sins. And He’s there to receive our prayers, our thanks, and our praise.

And, yes, in the closest way possible, Jesus is present in the Sacrament of the Altar. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? And so Christians come together, as Jesus told us to do, to do this in remembrance of Him, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and to know and believe that He is present with us under the bread and wine, where He offers us the forgiveness of sins, and where we offer Him our humble thanksgiving, just as the leper did as he fell down at Jesus’ feet. Remember, the Church has a special name for the Lord’s Supper. It’s called the Eucharist, which means, the Thanksgiving.

Just as Jesus wanted the lepers to return to where He was to give Him thanks, so He wants His Christians to keep coming to Him, to keep coming together in His name, both to receive healing from Him and to give thanks to Him. And if the Lord hasn’t provided a faithful, orthodox pastor near where you live, if watching and listening online is the best you can do, then do that, and do it, whenever possible, with other believers, even if it’s only two or three gathered together in His name. As for those who think they can just say a little prayer in their heart and intentionally not come to where Jesus has made Himself present on earth, they will receive the same rebuke that the nine received in their absence.

So it’s fitting and right that you’ve come here today, or, if you live far away and you’re watching online, it’s fitting and right that you’ve set aside this time and gathered with others, not only to hear the Word of God, but to give thanks to God, in the right way, in the right place, where the saints are gathered in Jesus’ name, around the preaching of His Word.

But there is another way of giving thanks to God that doesn’t involve gathering together for worship. It’s the worship of the rest of your life, which is also necessary, and which actually takes up far more of your time and effort.

Paul wrote this to the Romans in chapter 12: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Not a sacrifice to pay for sins, but a sacrifice of thanksgiving, with your whole life. Or, as Paul put it to the Galatians in today’s Epistle, offer up your bodies, every day, not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, but to walk with the Spirit of God, in true righteousness and holiness. That’s your daily sacrifice of thanksgiving.

But that daily sacrifice requires fuel, if you will. It requires hearing the Word of God regularly, so that the Holy Spirit can build you up in faith, guide you in what is right, and strengthen you to do it. And so, once again, we’re back to the importance of gathering together, in Jesus’ name, to receive mercy from Him, to give thanks to Him, and to receive from Him the strength to make every day of our lives a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the One who has washed away our sins and made us clean, able to stand before God the Father with a clear conscience through faith in Christ Jesus, and worthy to inherit eternal life. Amen.

 

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