The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn # 200 I Know that My Redeemer Lives 1.80
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 # 384 How Great Is Thy Compassion 1.6
The Faith of the Publican
The Communion Hymn #236 Creator Spirit 1.9
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 # 514 God Moves in a Mysterious Way 1.81
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Eleventh Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we beseech Thee so to guide and direct us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not forget our sins and be filled with pride, but continue in daily repentance and renewal, seeking our comfort only in the blessed knowledge that Thou wilt be merciful unto us, forgive us our sins, and grant us eternal life; through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Faith of the Publican
KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luther:
1. Luke the evangelist explains to us this parable in his introduction, when he says: “And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and set all others at nought.”
2. In the Pharisees you see an example of those who have no faith, and yet because of their works they esteem themselves the most holy.
3. The Publican is justified without any merit on his part, alone through faith, by which he appropriates righteousness from God alone, and doubts not the goodness of our loving, gracious Father.
4. Therefore this parable shows that we are justified through faith alone without any work and merit whatever on our part.
Luke 18:9 is one of those remarkable introductions in the Bible where so much is said in a few words. In this case, one verse described those who trusted in their own works to make them holy while despising others. Thus we have works righteousness summarized (trusted in themselves) and the result (they despised others).
So we can assume that those who despise others really trust in their own righteousness and not in the righteousness of Christ - and they are unbelievers. The bad tree can only bear corrupt fruit.
The summary is so good - why do we need a parable? Centuries before Christ, Aristotle discovered and described that good literature edifies and delights. The edification is the content, which we have in one verse. Delight comes from stories and illustrations, because we love and remember both - the story and the graphic.
I learned through blogging that an illustrated lesson had much great impacted than words alone, though bloggers seem content with words alone. This also applies to picture words - metaphors, similes, and analogies. If someone can connect something tangible to the thought, the concept is easier to remember and recall. That is why I called the Peace rose the Secretariat of roses, since movie goers recall that racehorse as the standard for all horses since, the last winner of the Triple Crown, and the father of many champions afterwards (but none equal to him).
Ancient man did more than leave inscriptions. Emperors left stone monuments to their glory, with inscriptions about their conquests. Medieval churches told the story of the Bible in pictures, and that tradition was followed until recently, when movie theater churches made stained glass windows unlikely.
Christ is not following Aristotle, of course, but teaching in a way that He knew would be lasting. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican is well established in our culture, our artwork, and in general knowledge. A Pharisee makes himself holy through the Law but does not realize how inadequate self-justification is.
Instinctively, we react against someone trying to make himself holy by telling us how great he is, how horrible the criminal charges are against him. But - if he repents in public and seems to mean it, we are likely to forgive him or at least give him a chance to show the fruits of contrition.
Saying "I'm sorry" sticks in our throats but we like to hear it from others. In fact, we are likely to say it back if we hear it first. Publican humility is contagious, just as Pharisaical self-righteousness.
Luther:
Here again we have a picture and an example of the divine judgment on saints and good people. Two extraordinary persons are presented to us in this Gospel; one thoroughly good and truly pious; and one hypocritically pious. But before we take up the example and consider the terrible sentence, we must first notice that Luke here makes the impression as though righteousness came by works. For Luke is most accustomed to do this, as when we at present preach that faith alone saves, he observes that people are led to desire only to believe, and to neglect the power and fruit of faith. This John also does in his Epistle and James, where they show that faith cannot exist without works.
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
It is easy to see why this short parable is remembered so well.There are two figures. One is a good example. One is a bad example. One reminds us of the inner Pharisee in us. The other teaches us to be like Christ in humility. That means to receive in faith His righteousness rather than raking together a pile of our good deeds to stand on and crow about.
We cannot grasp the power of this parable until we see the Pharisee as he was in his time, with many examples in our time. He was revered as a holy, pious, man of God - a living saint, the kind everyone admires. Today we use the term only in negative terms, but that was not so when Jesus taught this parable. So we have to translate this into figures known and revered in the church today. The Pharisee of the parable is like one of those leaders.
The publican has a good figure to represent him today, since the tax collectors have worked hard to make themselves loathed for partisanship. Criminal cases are still in the works for the things done in the name of politics, and many have suffered terribly from it.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
We can see the hypocrisy of the image here, because thanking God for being so good is the reverse of Scriptural teaching. David wrote Psalms about his sinfulness. When others despised him, he admitted that he deserved it. Criminal clergy defend themselves by boasting about their works and denouncing their victims in various ways - and people listen with awe, agreeing.
In his thankfulness, he steps over the line and despises the person with faith, because that person is not one of the elite - as the Pharisee is. This happens so often that it is either a comedy or a tragedy. Healthy people despise the disabled. Rich despise the poor. The upperworld despises the underworld, although they depend on the underworld to provide the fruits of vice and even to settle some scores. I saw a famous author neglected at a book display because no one knew who he was. No one talked to him at all - until they saw him on stage as a celebrity author. Afterwards he was mobbed.
The Pharisee uses "I" five times and refers to himself even more. His speech would be called a model of narcissism today. The new celebrity churches preach to those people today. Is this not the Age of Apostasy?
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luther:
5. He speaks of the publican as though he must have previously heard a word from God that touched his heart so that he believed it and thus became pious, as St. Paul says, Romans 10:17: “So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” When the Word falls into the heart, then man becomes pure and good. But the Evangelist does not indicate that he now first heard the Gospel here, but that he heard it somewhere, it matters not where. For he says: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” This knowledge is above the powers of reason. And yet it must previously have been known to him that God is merciful, gracious and friendly to all those who confess their sins, who call upon him and long for grace. As he heard that God is gracious by virtue of his very nature, to all those who humble themselves and seek comfort in him. But to preach thus is always the pure Gospel.
One example is a perfect parallel for this parable. When Peter heard Jesus preach from the boat, he worshiped as the Son of God and said "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." Faith in Jesus made Peter aware of his sinful nature, to such an extent that he did not feel worthy to be near the Savior.
The Bible gives us many examples like this. Men brought their friend on a litter to be healed. They even let the litter down through the roof. They did not say, "We believe!" Their actions showed they believed in Christ.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Which is better to possess - the righteousness of man, built upon the esteem of other fallible men, or the righteousness of Christ, won by Christ and honored by God the Father. Does God want us to be loved by men or to love His beloved Son?
The comparison is so obvious for believers. For unbelievers, it remains a mystery. That is why the Bible teaches us that the Spirit witnesses to our faith. We know these things to be true because they comfort and challenge us. They comfort us with the knowledge of justification by faith, and they challenge us not to follow the example of the Pharisee.
Luther often emphasizes that faith makes us good. That is, in faith we receive forgiveness of sin and we bear good fruit from that faith which God planted in us, creating a graft in the Old Adam so that the New Creation might grow and be dominant. The sinful nature remains, it is true, but the Gospel energizes us to care for our neighbor and to be patient with one another.
Luther:
11. This is why St. Luke and St. James have so much to say about works, so that one says: Yes, I will now believe, and then he goes and fabricates for himself a fictitious delusion, which hovers only on the lips as the foam on the water. No, no; faith is a living and an essential thing, which makes a new creature of man, changes his spirit and wholly and completely converts him. It goes to the foundation and there accomplishes a renewal of the entire man; so, if I have previously seen a sinner, I now see in his changed conduct, manner and life, that he believes. So high and great a thing is faith.
For this reason the Holy Spirit urges works, that they may be witnesses of faith. In those therefore in whom we cannot realize good works, we can immediately say and conclude: they heard of faith, but it did not sink into good soil. For if you continue in pride and lewdness, in greed and anger, and yet talk much of faith, St. Paul will come and say, 1 Corinthians 4:20, look here my dear sir, “the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” It requires life and action, and is not brought about by mere talk.
12. Thus we err on both sides in saying, a person must only believe, then he will neglect to do good works and bring forth good fruits. Again, if you preach works, the people immediately comfort themselves and trust in works. Therefore we must walk upon the common path. Faith alone must make us good and save us. But to know whether faith is right and true, you must show it by your works. God cannot endure your dissembling, for this reason he has appointed you a sermon which praises works, which are only witnesses that you believe, and must be performed not thereby to merit anything, but they should be done freely and gratuitously toward our neighbor.
13. This must be practiced until it becomes a second nature with us. For thus God has also introduced works, as though he would say: if you believe, then you have the kingdom of heaven; and yet, in order that you may not deceive yourselves, do the works. To this the Lord refers in John 15:17, when he says to his disciples: “These things I command you, that ye may love one another.” And previous to this at the supper he said, John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Quotations
"Now, that faith signifies, not only a knowledge of the history, but such faith as assents to the promise, Paul plainly testifies when says, Romans 4:16: 'Therefore it is of faith, to the end the promise might be sure.' For he judges that the promise cannot be received unless by faith. Wherefore he puts them together as things that belong to one another, and connects promise and faith."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, Justification, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 135. Tappert, p. 114. Romans 4:16.
"Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness is His sight. Romans 3 and 4."
Augsburg Confession, Article IV, Justification, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 45. Tappert, p. 30. Romans 3 and 4.
"Identisch mit der papistischen Lehre, dass der Glaube nicht als Mittel und nicht allein rechtfertige, ist die andere papistische Lehre, dass die Werke rechtfertigen." "Identical with the papistic teaching, that faith alone is not a means and does not alone make righteous, is the other papistic teaching, that works make one righteous."]
Adolf Hoenecke, Evangelisch‑Lutherische Dogmatik, 4 vols., ed., Walter and Otto Hoenecke, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1912, III, p. 386.
"The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness. No error is so mean, so clumsy, and so outworn as not to be supremely pleasing to human reason and to seduce us if we are without the knowledge and the contemplation of this article."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 703. June 1, 1537.
