No tolerance for those who think they’re fine

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon

Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Service Booklet

Sermon for Midweek of Reminiscere – Lent 2

Isaiah 45:20-25  +  Revelation 3:14-22

In the first six letters to the angels of the churches in Revelation, Jesus has praised pastors and people for various things: for faith and faithfulness, for love and works of love, for hard work, for enduring hardship with patience, for maintaining pure doctrine, for disciplining those who err. He has also rebuked and warned pastors and people for various things: for lovelessness, for pride, for tolerating wicked behavior and false doctrine, and for hypocrisy. This evening we consider the final letter, to the angel of the church in Laodicea, with its harsh rebuke of apathy, of indifference, a rebuke of people who think they’re doing fine. And we’ll consider Jesus’ earnest plea in this letter plea for pastor and people to repent, and His gracious promise to those who do.

First, Jesus emphasizes this about Himself: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God. You know that the word Amen means more that, “The prayer is over now,” or, “The sermon is over now. Wake up!” It comes from a Hebrew word that means, “Yes! Firm! Trustworthy!” Or as we say in the Small Catechism, “Yes, yes, it shall be so!” What Jesus says is perfectly reliable. What Jesus says comes to pass. He gave witness to the truth throughout Scripture and throughout His earthly life. St. Paul refers to Him as Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate. In what sense is He “the Beginning” of God’s creation? Not as “the first thing created by God the Father,” as the One through whom all things were made that have been made, as John describes in the first verses of his Gospel, as the word from the builder to “begin the house!” is the beginning of a house.

I know your works, He says to the pastor in Laodicea, that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold or hot! So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Neither cold nor hot. Some people think “cold” means an outright, loveless unbeliever and “hot” means an ardent and true believer. I don’t think that works with Jesus’ words, If only you were cold or hot! It also doesn’t agree with His threat to spit this pastor—and the people who were like him—out of His mouth. A cold drink is just as pleasant on a hot day as a hot drink is on a cold day. It’s the lukewarm drink that nobody ever wants.

The pastor or believer who is like a hot cup of coffee or tea has a fervent love for Jesus and for his fellow Christians. He’s eager and ready to serve. He has a faith that’s never satisfied with its knowledge of God but always has to be learning more, studying more, and boldly confessing the gospel of Christ in the world. When the world around is cold and uncaring, these believers remain zealous for the Lord. Jesus longs for His pastors and His people to be like that under such circumstances.

The pastor or believer who is like a cold glass of water or ice tea also loves Jesus, and when the world around starts heating up, in the midst of persecution and suffering and hardship, these believers have a refreshing stability about them, a tried and tested faith and demeanor that isn’t bubbly or overpowering, but that’s ready to soothe and refresh those who are frantic and worried over their sins or over the wickedness of the world. They offer quiet encouragement. They pray with a quiet trust. When life around them heats up, these believers stay cool, calm, and collected. Jesus longs for His pastors and His people to be like that, too, under those circumstances.

What He doesn’t long for is pastors or people who are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold.

He describes that lukewarmness a little bit further: You say, “I am rich and have become rich. I need nothing.” And you do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. To be lukewarm, then, is to lack true contrition, to feel confident and “secure” in yourself, to see yourself as doing fine, as needing nothing. There is nothing worse than for a Christian to say, “I’m doing fine. I have plenty of faith. God and I—we’re fine. If I hear the Word of God, it’s fine. If I don’t hear it, it’s fine. If I go to the Lord’s Supper, it’s fine. If I miss it, it’s fine. I have all the knowledge of Scripture that I need. I have all the strength I need. I’m doing fine.”

Now, to know that you, a poor, miserable sinner, are “fine with God” that is, safe and secure in Christ Jesus, because of His merit, because of His gracious forgiveness and promised protection, is one thing, is a good thing. To feel secure in yourself, though, is something else, something deadly. To view yourself, by yourself, as a not-so-wretched, not-so-poor, not-so-miserable sinner—or as no sinner at all—is nothing short of delusional. By nature, that’s what we all are! By nature, we’re impoverished when it comes to the righteousness of God, blind to the things of God, and shamefully naked before God, naked with all our selfish motives and shameful desires and words and deeds, without the covering of Christ’s righteousness. While we live in daily contrition and repentance, while we take refuge in Christ by faith, we’re covered with Him, even as we were first covered with Him in Holy Baptism, and we’re no longer seen by God as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, or naked. But if we step outside of the security of Christ and imagine that we’re “doing fine” on our own, or that we’re not so sinful anymore, or that we don’t need the constant nourishment of word and Sacrament and the powerful tool of prayer, then that’s the very definition of a false sense of security.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may be clothed and so that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen; and to anoint your eyes with eye salve so that you may see. No one is rich until God makes him rich with pure gold—with true humility, with true wisdom, and genuine faith. We “buy” it from God, not with money or good works, but with genuine pleading and prayer, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” The white garments are the righteousness of Christ which only covers us by faith, the only thing that makes us able to stand before God without shame. The eye salve is the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, to heal our blindness toward the things of God, and toward our own miserable condition without the white garments of Christ’s righteousness.

Whomever I love, I rebuke and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. If you think you’re doing fine on your own, if you see any of this lukewarmness or carnal security in yourself, for the love of God and for the sake of your own salvation, don’t brush Jesus’ words aside. Don’t go away brushing aside His rebuke. He rebukes those he loves, not to harm, but to save. If he didn’t care about you, he’d let you be. He’d let you go on in your self-destructive indifference. He’d let you keep living under the delusion that your faith is alive and well when it’s actually lukewarm. But He does care, and so He pleads with you to be zealous and repent. Get serious about your spiritual life, about your soul, about your deep and desperate, constant need for Christ.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have supper with him, and he with me. He knocks with His Word. He’s knocking right now. You open the door of your heart, not by your own natural powers, but by listening to His Word. Those who don’t dismiss or stubbornly reject what they hear will have Jesus come in and dwell with them and make a home with them.

To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. Further incentive to watch out for and to set aside deadly apathy and carnal security and lukewarmness toward God and the things of God. Not only do you get Jesus as a dinner guest in your heart, but you get to sit with the King on His throne for all eternity.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I hope that our review of the seven letters to the seven churches has been an encouragement to you, to keep hearing the warnings and the praises of Jesus, the threats and the promises, the urging and the inspiring. There’s much more to come in the rest of the book of Revelation! With the tool of His Word, the Holy Spirit will continue, on the one hand, to demolish everything that threatens your faith, and on the other hand, to build you up in faith and love, and to keep you steadfast until the end. May His Spirit keep you hearing and heeding, today and every day. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on No tolerance for those who think they’re fine

Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, March 8th

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 15:11-32

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’

20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”

In the 15th chapter of Luke Jesus told three parables to the tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees and scribes. In the first one the point is that when the sheep that was lost is found there is great rejoicing in Heaven. In the second one, the same is true when the lost coin is found. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

In the third one, the parable of the loving father (the assigned text for today), again there is great rejoicing at its conclusion. In this parable of the two sons, Jesus pictures the grace of God in a wonderful manner, as being ever ready to pardon the repentant sinner. It is as if God were constantly watching the road for the return of the repentant one.

Through the parable Jesus creates a picture of the pardoning grace of God so strongly because man’s convicted conscience must not doubt that God really intends to forgive. That’s what God-created faith does, it flees to Christ who’s blood secured the forgiveness of sins. God sends out His pastors, His Word, His Sacraments to call and win us lost sinners back to Himself through Christ.

As His Word has spoke and as Christ has fully demonstrated how so He has loved the world, nothing in God should make us hesitate to come to Him. It is only our own blindness which does that. In Christ we have been called into His Kingdom, the Church. In this Kingdom He cleanses and nourishes His believing children with the milk of the Word. He feeds us with His Body and Blood. And He keeps us unto eternal life. We certainly do have a loving Father.

Let us pray: O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, March 8th

Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, March 7th

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 14:25-35

25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

There will always be those people who apply a literal understanding to Holy Scripture where Christ is utilizing a figurative language. And then, not surprisingly, those same people will apply a figurative understanding when Christ meant it literally. Let’s be clear with this text! Christ is not commanding a literal hatred toward father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even to your own self. He is making the point that all of those (or anything, for that matter) must not come before Him.

In faith we know that nothing should be allowed to keep us from following Him. You can’t count on anyone else! Nor can you count on yourself! The world, your flesh and the devil will all dupe you into thinking that you can take care of you. Or, that you are all taken care of simply because you have a loving family and lots of friends. To be sure, they have their place, God works through them, and much love will come from them to you. But when it comes to spiritual matters (namely, salvation), they, and you, cannot get you saved. Nothing should get in the way of Christ being the most important in your life. Once He gets replaced by some false god (idol) and your trust gets placed in it for your comfort and happiness, rather than in Christ, you have lost Christ, which means you’ve lost salvation.

Thankfully Christ’s fully atoning merits for the forgiveness of sins are the foundation upon which saving faith gets created and sustained through God’s Word and Sacrament ministry! Christ is your foundation! Christ has already won the war! Thanks be to God, Christ is your salt!

Let us pray: O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, March 7th

Each Day in the Word, Monday, March 6th

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 13:1-17

13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”

10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

“What about sin in the world?” There was the murdered Galileans, or the Galileans on whom the tower fell. There was the fig tree not bearing fruit and the women suffering an infirmity for eighteen years. Did these things happen because they were worse sinners than others? According to the One who is the Word made flesh the answer is, “No!” He says that when we see the effects of sin in the world, it should remind us of the sin in our own lives, and how we need to repent.

The season of Lent is a season of repentance. Christians aren’t supposed to give something up during Lent in order to please God. We do it to remind ourselves of how sinful we are; how easily we worship the created things of the world as opposed to the Creator. By denying ourselves, we can concentrate on the things of God and how He has taken care of us, both temporally and spiritually.

Sometimes evil happens to people because they sin and reap consequences thereof. But evil also happens simply because we live in a broken world and we cannot avoid the cascade of others’ sins. God uses all these things for His greater good as He teaches us the most important thing, which is repentance and forgiveness in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Properly “remembering” the Sabbath day brings us to be focused upon and rest in God’s promises assured to us through the fully atoning merits of Christ Jesus so that we may grow in His righteousness according to faith, and that we may help others in their sufferings.  The sabbath was never meant to vanquish works of love, but centered on, and through, Christ acts of love necessarily happen.

Let us pray: O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Posted in Devotion | Comments Off on Each Day in the Word, Monday, March 6th

Racism has no place in a Christian worldview

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Sermon (audio)
Download Sermon

Service(video)
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/804926115 w=540&h=360]
Download Service Download Bulletin

Sermon for Reminiscere

1 Thessalonians 4:1-7  +  Matthew 15:21-28

In our racially charged environment, where the color of a person’s skin seems to be one of the most important things to notice about a person, and where we are being taught by society to make no judgments about a person because of their race in some cases, and to make lots of judgments about a person because of their race in other cases, today’s Gospel about Jesus’ encounter with the non-Jewish woman from Canaan gives us the opportunity to say a few things about “race” from a Christian perspective.

First, let’s define racism—properly, not according to the demonic, Marxist definition where, if you’re white, you’re an oppressor and if you’re not white, you’re oppressed. Real racism is the hatred of a person or the mistreatment a person or the assumption of the worst about a person simply because of the color of his or her skin, that is, who that person is descended from. And that’s the key for the Christian. We know very well that we’re all descended from the same man and woman—from Adam and Eve, and again from the same man and woman—from Noah and his wife. And we also know very well that we have all inherited the same sinful, fallen nature from Adam and Eve, the same disease and corruption of our being; that we are all—all human beings—lost and condemned creatures by nature; that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; and that, because of that sin, we all are under the devil’s oppression by nature, and we all die. Black, white, brown, whatever color you want to brand someone. We all die.

But Christians also know that God’s promise to Adam and Eve to send the “Seed” or the Offspring of the woman to crush the serpent’s head and to save sinners from death and from the devil is a promise of salvation for all people. And we know that God’s promise to Abraham is for all people: “In your Seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” We know that Christ sent His apostles out to preach the Gospel to “all creation,” and that they were to make disciples of “all nations,” and that there will be people from every nation, tribe, language, and people standing around the throne of God and worshiping Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the—world! So, regardless of the false teachings that have been spread throughout history, and regardless of the unchristian behavior of some who have called themselves Christians, there is simply no place for “racism” in the Christian worldview.

At the same time, we recognize from Scripture that, for a time—for about 2,000 years of the world’s roughly 6,000 year history—God did make a distinction among men. From the time of Abraham until roughly forty years after Christ’s ascension into heaven, God showed special favor to the people of Israel, to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are sometimes referred to as the Jews. It wasn’t because of the color of their skin. It wasn’t because their race was superior to other races. It wasn’t even that their race was more godly or righteous than other races. No, it was simply due to God’s gracious choice of Abraham to be the father of the nation that He would teach to know Him rightly by giving them His Word in the Old Testament Scriptures, the people whom He would train and prepare to be the cradle of the Christ, the society and culture into which His beloved Son would be born, so that He could suffer and die for our sins. And for that to happen, He had to keep the people of Israel separate from the other nations until the Christ was born, suffered, died, and rose again from the dead. That involved some strict, burdensome ceremonial laws, and it also involved some special privileges and promises and advantages over the other nations.

For 2,000 years God had been preparing the people of Israel for the birth of His Son, and He had promised to send the Christ to Israel first. That’s why, when Jesus sent out His twelve apostles to go ahead of Him (in Matthew chapter 10), He told them, Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Salvation through faith in Christ was to be preached first to the Jews.

That’s the context in which our Gospel takes place, five chapters later in Matthew 15. But you’ll notice something a little strange right from the beginning. Jesus did come first for the Jews. In fact, His entire ministry was spent in the land of Israel, with only one real exception, which we see in today’s Gospel, where Jesus traveled north of Israel, to the region of Tyre and Sidon, Gentile territory—although it’s likely that there were also Jews living there, as there were Jews living in practically all the cities of the Roman empire. It may have been primarily for those scattered Jews that Jesus traveled to Tyre and Sidon. But as we see, they would not be the only recipients of His grace.

A woman from that territory found out that Jesus was staying there. Her daughter was being tormented by a demon, by one of those fallen angels who had followed Satan in his rebellion against God. We don’t know how they were affecting her, but it was obvious, and it was painful. This woman, although she was a Gentile living outside of Israel, had somehow heard about Jesus. And the word she had heard was enough to convince her that He had power over the demons. So she comes to Him and begs Him, O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is dreadfully tormented by a demon.

What did this woman know about Jesus? She called Him “Son of David,” which is a very Jewish term, since David was king of the Jews a thousand years earlier, and the “Son of David” was the common title for the Messiah, the promised Christ and King of Israel. That’s far more than the people of Israel were confessing about Jesus. Did she understand Him to be the Seed of the woman promised to Eve? Did she know of the Old Testament prophecies that the Christ would bring salvation to both Jews and Gentiles? We don’t know! But she knew enough to seek mercy from Him.

That’s why it’s a little striking that Jesus didn’t answer her right away. He said nothing. Now, there were two ways for her to interpret that silence. Either, “He doesn’t think I’m worth a reply; He won’t help me,” or, “He’s not sending me away! He’s allowing me to keep asking for mercy, so I will!” And that’s exactly what she did.

Then Jesus’ own disciples asked Him to send her away. Send her away! She is crying out after us! Why would they do that? Was it because she was making a scene with her begging and crying out? Or was it because she wasn’t a daughter of Abraham, and they recalled how Jesus had told them to go only to the people of Israel?

Jesus’ reply seems to reinforce that idea. He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” As I said earlier, Jesus essentially spent His entire ministry among the Jews (and we can a few encounters with the Samaritans, who had some Jewish blood). He had been sent by His Father only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, in the sense that He was to spend His entire earthly ministry seeking them out and ministering to them, and not to focus on the Gentiles. God had promised Israel this kind of special treatment, and He was certainly going to keep that promise to them.

But the woman still hoped that Jesus would extend grace to her. Did she know that He had already helped a Roman centurion earlier in His ministry? Maybe she did, which would have given her hope that Jesus’ mission to Israel wasn’t exclusive. She certainly knew that He had come into her territory. And so, still trusting in His goodness, she knelt before Him and said, Lord, help me! She showed the very persistence that Jesus once taught His disciples to practice. Here she was, a Gentile, doing it all on her own.

Jesus’ reply could sound like a definitive “No!” Or even like an insult. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. For the moment, the children were the people of Israel, and the little dogs were the Gentiles. (Although in just a matter of months, that would all change!)

In reality, Jesus was leaving the door wide open, on purpose, for this non-Jewish woman to put all the Jews to shame with her faith-filled reply: Yes, Lord. But the dogs do eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. She could handle being counted among the little dogs, if it meant she could have the crumbs from her master’s table. What humility! She has no sense of entitlement. No chip on her shoulder. She’s looking up to Jesus as her master, as a dog looks up happily to its master, for a little bit of grace from the God of grace, and she was sure that He would give it.

And He did, along with a word of praise. Oh, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish. Only two people in all of history received this high praise from the Lord Jesus. Both of them were non-Jews: one man—the Roman centurion—and this woman.

Here we see a foretaste of what was to come, of the fulfillment of God the Father’s words to His Son spoken through the prophet Isaiah: It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. Soon there would be no distinction between Jew and Gentile. After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, He sent His apostles to preach the Gospel to all creation. They were to preach it first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. But now that the Gospel has gone out into all the world, all distinctions have been removed. The righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, has been revealed from heaven to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference—no distinction! For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Through the centuries, the devil has taken advantage of the fallenness of our race, prodding people of every race to find things to hate about one another, each one seeking not the good of his neighbor but of himself, each one giving himself a reason to look down on other people. There is racism in the world, and it is practiced by people of every race. And there are also false charges of racism being thrown about left and right. But the message of Christianity is diametrically opposed to racism. For God’s so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Today’s Gospel is just another example of that. We see His faithfulness to the Jewish people as part of His plan to rescue the human race from the power of the devil. We see the Gentile woman’s humility before God and man, and her unwavering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in spite of apparent rejection. We see her persistence in prayer. And we see the grace and goodness of Christ Jesus, which is now extended to the whole world, without any distinction on the basis of race. Go forth with that Christian worldview, and live your lives accordingly, with unshakable faith in Christ, with the recognition that everyone in the world, including you, is a sinner who needs saving, with the understanding that Christ died for the sins of the world, and with the conviction that God wants all men, including you, including your neighbor of a different skin tone, to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Amen.

 

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Racism has no place in a Christian worldview