The Third Sunday in Advent,
2011
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10
AM Central Time
The Hymn # 8 Father Who the Light 2.
20
The Confession
of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The
Gospel
Glory be to
Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #76 A Great and Mighty Wonder 2.2
Stewards of the Mysteries of God
The Hymn # 77:1-8 All My Heart 2.25
The Preface p.
24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 77:9-15 All My Heart 2.25
KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a
man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found
faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of
you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing
by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the
counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
KJV Matthew 11:2 Now when
John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye
do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the
gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be
offended in me. 7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes
concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken
with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft
raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than
a prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Third Sunday In Advent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst suffer Thy Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ, to become man, and to come into the world, that He might
destroy the works of the devil, deliver us poor offenders from sin and death,
and give us everlasting life: We beseech Thee so to rule and govern our hearts
by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may seek no other refuge than His word, and thus
avoid all offense to which, by nature, we are inclined, in order that we may
always be found among the faithful followers of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, and by
faith in Him obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true
God, world without end. Amen.
Stewards of the Mysteries of God
KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a
man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God.
This word for accounting is
also used for justification, forgiveness of sin. Sometimes that is translated
as reckon, still a favorite verb today – I reckon that will cost you $1500.
The words used in the New
Testament are simple, clear terms. The more we find ancient documents, the more
we understand their common use. But we also have the text itself to compare
words and concepts.
Lenski:
In the case of the stewards a
special genitive is needed, for they must administer property in order to be
classed as stewards. The genitive “God’s mysteries” names the property, namely
God’s gifts for our salvation as embodied in the gospel. These are mysteries,
for man’s wisdom knows nothing about them.
In both terms “attendants” and
“stewards,” the prominent idea is that of complete subordination to a master,
and in the latter also that of special accountability. A helper merely takes
his orders and at once carries them out without question. A steward also takes
his orders and carries them out in due process, and then returns and renders
his account. He works, as it were, by himself, in the absence of his lord, who
trusts him to this extent. But he is always and fully accountable. He dare not
deviate in the slightest from his orders, nor try to improve upon those orders
with wisdom of his own in order to please others.
Again, more people than just the
Corinthians should remember that truth. Too many stewards change their orders
to please themselves and their congregations; and too many congregations act as
though they owned these stewards and as though they are accountable only to
them. Because the day of reckoning has not yet come, all concerned feel secure;
but this security is a false security.
Since he is entrusted with
valuable properties, a steward naturally ranks higher than a mere attendant,
although both are slaves. This steward who is set over the mysteries of God
possesses a corresponding dignity with which men may not interfere, and, having
received his trust from God, even God thereby honors him as the incumbent of
this office. Thus “attendant” points to lowliness, and “steward” to dignity,
and both combined indicate how the Corinthians are to regard their ministers.
Yet both men are slaves, are owned by their Lord who uses them as he wills, to
whom all their labor and all results of their labor belong, and who, after
their services have been rendered, owes them neither wages nor reward.
[1]Lenski,
R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the
Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 162.
Steward is a word with a rich heritage in the English
language. My favorite is the steward as the substitute for the king or queen.
When the actual heir was too young to rule, or the blood line was missing – out
of the country for a crusade – a steward could rule with all the power of a
king. However, the steward was never the king and ultimately reported to the
king as faithful in his duties.
Mystery is a fine term for everything taught by God,
revealed by the Holy Spirit. That is why I called the series on Biblical
doctrine – The Mysteries of God. When people try to reduce the teaching of God
to a series of logical arguments, they are obliterating the concept of the mysteries.
The mysteries are so significant that they cannot be reduced to something man
can understand without the guidance and revelation of the Holy Spirit in the
Word.
All of man’s religion is the product of his imagination. He
imagines that God or the gods are angry and must be appeased. Therefore, he
also thinks he can provide the works to atone for sin. Anyone can see that in
all world religion and the occult. It does not take long to hear the “must do”
and the “have to do” list. In the fad movie about gurus, the male lead keeps
shouting at Julie Roberts, “Do the work.” It is never quite clear what the work
is, except it involves travel and meditation. They look for insight from
various gurus when real insight can be found in the Scriptures for a fraction
of the cost.
Recently one Lutheran said of the catechism, “It was written
so that a pastor does not need to explain it.”
I added, “The Bible was written that way too.” The Holy
Spirit speaks through the Word, so the teaching of God is available to everyone,
regardless of formal training. Moreover, the Gospel is meant to be spoken, so
the ability to read is not the key factor. Instead, Chemnitz writes about
preaching the Gospel faithfully and listening with sincere hearts.
Paul’s argument is this – He is only a steward of the
mysteries of God. Christ appointed him an apostle and taught him directly. Paul
even received insights greater than any man could imagine or hope to realize –
truly the wisdom of the ages.
I mentioned this before – When people feature their homes on
Extreme Homes, they say, “My purpose in life is to preserve this building for
the next generation.” That is always said with great reverence. What they want
to do with decaying buildings is far more worthy with respect to the Gospel.
Jesus used the figure “treasure,” a concept often used in
the Book of Concord and by Luther. The treasure hidden in the field was a real
possibility in those days. If someone was traveling or afraid of invasion, he
would bury his treasure in the soil. Some people died on their foreign travels.
Others were killed or driven away by invasion. A large treasure of gold,
silver, and gems might rest in the ground for a long time. A man who discovered
treasure hidden in the field would be happy to sell his meager goods to own
that field – and the treasure.
If everything can be sold at a quick garage sale to buy
treasure in a field, how much more valuable is the treasure of the Gospel?
If the Gospel is a treasure, is it valuable enough that we
can give up the esteem of the world, friends, and family to keep this treasure?
We watched a British special on the Tower of London, which
included a show about the fabulous collection of crowns, jewels, and special
treasures there. Sometimes a city put together silver, gold, and jewels to
offer a gift to royalty. The king and queen do not keep the treasures for
themselves but preserve them in the Tower. In addition, certain officials work
full-time to take these treasures out of their cases and clean them with utmost
care for every detail. The king or queen are stewards, and the employees of the
Tower are stewards, because these creations are important for history and the
enjoyment of all visitors.
Imagine some curator saying, “I would like to replace the
diamonds with zircon, the silver with aluminum, the gold with brass.” They
would look for the nearest cell to keep him away from the treasure.
Yet man in his vanity will say, “This part of the Bible is
good, but I will redecorate the rest with my own ideas, my dreams, my illusions,
my brilliance.”
That is why a faithful Bible translation matters so much.
For Tyndale, it mattered enough that he – as an Englisman – traveled to Germany
to study under Luther and Melanchthon. He translated the Bible from Hebrew and
Greek with that guidance, creating the English language in the process, just as
Luther created the German language. They did not invent the language but
established the norms for their own country, simply by the power of expression
and the clarity of the terms used.
Tyndale cared so much about this translation work that he
labored constantly to bring the English Bible to his people. Once all his
Bibles were bought up and burned. He said, “That is good. Now I can afford to
print even more copies.” And he did. The treasure was not in his bank account
but in the Word of God. Eventually he was betrayed by a friend – imagine that –
and burned at the stake. His final words were, “Dear Lord, open the King of
England’s eyes.” The next king allowed the Tyndale Bible to become the King
James Version, 400 years ago.
There are two foundation stones for the English language –
the Tyndale KJV and Shakespeare (Earl of Oxford). Oddly, in both cases another
person gets the credit for the work. And today – no Lutheran church body in
America will get behind the King James Version, not even in the modern
versions. They are more than willing to give up the treasure mined by Luther
and Tyndale for gold in the publishing house coffers. I understand the LCMS has
about $26 million in the bank. One Shrinker demanded a $1 million check from
WELS Northwestern Publishing House, so they must have some coin there, too. A
church body can have money in the bank and still be bankrupt.
2 Moreover it is required in
stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Faithful means trustworthy –
someone who will not substitute something false for something true or good. One
of our friends, long ago, went to a church with a woman pastor. He was supposed
to be conservative, but the Pentecostals were the first to have women pastors.
He said, “She explained that the verse does not really mean that a woman cannot
preach.” The mainline churches caught up with the Pentecostals and the cults
(Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventists) and said, “Women can be and should
be ordained pastors.” Now the “conservative” Lutherans are saying the same
thing – including John Brug at Mequon.
Being found faithful is pure
Gospel, because it means everything depends on the God’s will through the Holy
Spirit in the Word.
Distribute the Word and God
does the work.
Because God does the work,
there is nothing to keep us from the free distribution of the Word.
It is a requirement, because
the Word belongs to God alone, but it also gives us the freedom and the motivation
to follow His gracious will.
After all the will of God is
not to condemn, but to convert, to forgive, to save, and to keep us in His
flock.
Therefore He constantly
surrounds us with His grace through the Instruments of Grace, the Word and
Sacraments. He gives us faithful teachers. He prepares soldiers of misfortune,
who have battled against many opponents and received their training in helping others.
He gives us individualized
crosses to bear, to purify our faith and help us understand the price paid to
redeem the world from sin.
So Christ constantly speaks
this Gospel Word to us – Your sins are forgiven through the cross. Receive this
forgiveness in faith and enjoy the peace that passes all understanding.
