The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 2016
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
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 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
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Word of God, Not Simply about God
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 # 50 Lord, Dismiss Us
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 # 50 Lord, Dismiss Us
KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
KJV Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.
Twelfth Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast created all things: We thank Thee that Thou hast given us sound bodies, and hast graciously preserved our tongues and other members from the power of the adversary: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy grace, that we may rightly use our ears and tongues; help us to hear Thy word diligently and devoutly, and with our tongues so to praise and magnify Thy grace, that no one shall be offended by our words, but that all may be edified thereby, 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 Word of God, Not Simply about God
KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
The reason people have such a thin knowledge about the Scriptures is the basic attitude toward the Word of God. The modernists, starting with Karl Barth, began treating the Bible as containing God's Word. They did not teach or understand the Bible as the Word of God, His direct revelation.
They distrusted the "fisherman's voice of the Holy Spirit" and wished to show off their eloquence and great learning. So, increasingly, they used the Bible as a springboard for their own opinions, seldom really touching upon the message. The Bible loses its power when no one regards it as having power, though it still has the power to blind and harden those who directly oppose the Word of God.
Paul's argument here is that he needs no commendation or praise, and cannot even praise himself. His only goal is to be faithful to the powerful Word of God. He does not try to fix the Gospel to make it more appealing to the masses and take credit for his salesmanship. Since the Word belongs to God, he trusts that God will work His gracious will through that Word. If we thought we could figure out God, Isaiah 55 should fix that conceit - Our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts.
As we can see from the quotation from Gerhard that Jacobs copied into his book, the purer the Word of God, the greater the effect. When the Word is corrupted and marketed like laundry soap, the Church becomes corrupted by the corrupted word of man.
I mentioned Karl Barth because he is the main theologian who is held up to students of Fuller Seminary. Barth did not write most of his works - his mistress did. And they were loyal adherents to Marxism, a fact well established by a scholar I met long ago - who now teaches at Princeton. I worked at the Yale Medical Library with his wife at the time he was doing his research.
If the Bible is only a book about God, then it is no different from any book in the religion section at the bookstore. In fact, many people think of religion that way. All truths are God's truths, all roads lead to God. I asked someone, "Then a cannibal is worshiping the same God as Christians." An awkward pause followed.
So Paul is saying his complete trust is toward God, not himself, although he was as obsessive compulsive as they come, a perfectionist as well. So he knew his limitations and flaws, including when he fell into boasting. He capped his boasting by saying, "But not I, the grace of God within me."
The other equation is easy to figure out. If we trust in statistics, the numbers tell us how we are doing. That is why modern churches are lazy about doctrine and fanatical about numbers. This is a terrible addiction and must be avoided.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Paul's argument is against the false teachers who are trying to raid his congregation. They are praising themselves as the real answer and want to draw all the attention to themselves. Jesus taught a parable about this, John 10, where the thieves and brigands break into the sheep fold to get at the sheep. Moreover, the wolves scatter and murder the sheep while the hired hands run away.
We know little personally about these false teachers, but Paul's inspired letter has remained for 2,000 years. If we attribute history and circumstances to God, then God certainly preserved His truth, even in an era of persecution, where leather and paper copies could easily be destroyed.
So everything that matters in his work belongs to God. The natural man, before conversion, cannot do anything from the power of God, because he lacks the Spirit within Him and the guiding of the Word. For those longing for peace and forgiveness, this Gospel message is very appealing, since they hunger and thirst for God's grace. But for unbelievers, the Word is annoying, so they find the person who teaches the Word equally annoying, often someone to drive away or silence.
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Paul had experiences as remarkable as the other apostles, for he saw the risen Christ and was taught by the Lord. So that is his claim of authority. Christ elected him to do this and gave him the power of the pure Word of God. Modernists criticize Paul and attack him, saying he was a strange guy who hated women, etc.
Paul, as a minister of this new testament, knew from his days as a Pharisee how glorious this message would be to those who felt the weight of the Law but no forgiveness, no relief from sin.
Because we were working on John 15 (I AM the True Vine), I was thinking about this as I chose the flowers for the altar today. Another bunch went to the grace of an Army Ranger veteran. As I pruned and cut at the same time, removing dead wood, I realized that newbies would think, "No I will leave more canes on, even the brown ones, to keep it strong." That is how I thought at first. But I learned. Pruning is health and energy for the rose - and the grape vine. The pruning of John 15 is that cleansing of forgiveness. The more forgiveness, the more power, energy, and healing in a believer's life.
Too easily we fall into the attitude of the Pharisee, measuring sins and our perfection against sins - held them back, overcame them, suppressed them, but still have them, still regret them. The lash of the Law does not help or give relief in any fashion. But the more we are exposed to the message of forgiveness through Christ, the more relief and healing and energy we experience. Besides that, we bear fruit for the Kingdom, since the primary fruit of the Spirit is love. Jesus also said in John 15 - love one another as I have loved you. That means complete, not partial forgiveness, since Jesus died for the complete forgiveness of His disciples. He foresaw what would happen during His Passion, and yet "loving them, He loved them to the end."
The Spirit gives life - means the Holy Spirit gives life in the Gospel Word when
We have all experienced that but we return to the mode of the Pharisee easily, counting accusations (ours, theirs) rather than grace in forgiveness (ours, theirs).
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
This was written for those who knew the Old Testament, but it should be that much more relevant to us. Most of our lives are under the ministration of the law - rules, regulations, requirements, time sheets, reports, salary tables, and so forth. A computer program posts if I have graded assignments late, and I cannot talk back. DO NOT REPLY.
And many live and continue under this ministration of the Law forever. And they take pride in exceeding the numbers of others. This kid I used to see in the halls of our high school is now a rich man and a philanthropist. Whatever he did, he prospered. But as glorious as they seems, like the lonely guy who became a Hollywood star (John Getz), the ministration of the Gospel is more glorious. Various classmates have taken the message of God's grace around the world, personally, just as we do electronically.
The ministration of the Gospel seems more important as we grow older, because the numbers mean so little as we see how temporary everything is.
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
This diakonia (deacon comes from the Greek) is the teaching, preaching, and practice of the Gospel - the righteousness of faith.
The teaching and preaching of the Law is also the work of the Holy Spirit, but it can only produce contrition (sorrow for sin) and serve as a guide for Christians. The Law's role in condemnation cannot produce fruit and tends to stir up sin. As Luther observed, even if we are bound in chains, we still sin in our thoughts, hating those chains. The Law in limited in its application.
But using the Jewish tradition - from the lesser to the greater - Paul says, "if the greatest event in the Old Testament, the giving of the Law, was so glorious, then the giving of forgiveness through faith is even more glorious."
Most of us experience that Law all the time, from society. We do not have enough solar power and use the BBQ too much. We have a lot of plastic bottles - and the ultimate accusation - we do not care about Planet Earth. I could go on and on, because the outrage is so selective. And the decades long expressions of condemnation have not made our society a bit better. If anything we are more wasteful, crude, and thoughtless.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Here is a good place for a warning against false teachers. The Antinomians (anti-Law) love verses like this. They say, as one WELS pastor did before becoming an open atheist, "The Law is obsolete. There is no more Law."
Since we have the entire Bible and not just one verse, we know their fanatic adherence to such notions is wrong. Jesus said as much in the Sermon on the Mount, which should satisfy anyone.
Paul gloried in the Law, as he stated more than once. He was the perfect Pharisee, better at being a Pharisee than all the rest of the Pharisees. So he persecuted the Christians until the Gospel of Christ converted him through the risen Christ. Then he was able to measure everything only according to God's grace. As he told the Thessalonians - You know and have experienced the efficacy of the Word.
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Paul had experiences as remarkable as the other apostles, for he saw the risen Christ and was taught by the Lord. So that is his claim of authority. Christ elected him to do this and gave him the power of the pure Word of God. Modernists criticize Paul and attack him, saying he was a strange guy who hated women, etc.
Paul, as a minister of this new testament, knew from his days as a Pharisee how glorious this message would be to those who felt the weight of the Law but no forgiveness, no relief from sin.
Because we were working on John 15 (I AM the True Vine), I was thinking about this as I chose the flowers for the altar today. Another bunch went to the grace of an Army Ranger veteran. As I pruned and cut at the same time, removing dead wood, I realized that newbies would think, "No I will leave more canes on, even the brown ones, to keep it strong." That is how I thought at first. But I learned. Pruning is health and energy for the rose - and the grape vine. The pruning of John 15 is that cleansing of forgiveness. The more forgiveness, the more power, energy, and healing in a believer's life.
Too easily we fall into the attitude of the Pharisee, measuring sins and our perfection against sins - held them back, overcame them, suppressed them, but still have them, still regret them. The lash of the Law does not help or give relief in any fashion. But the more we are exposed to the message of forgiveness through Christ, the more relief and healing and energy we experience. Besides that, we bear fruit for the Kingdom, since the primary fruit of the Spirit is love. Jesus also said in John 15 - love one another as I have loved you. That means complete, not partial forgiveness, since Jesus died for the complete forgiveness of His disciples. He foresaw what would happen during His Passion, and yet "loving them, He loved them to the end."
The Spirit gives life - means the Holy Spirit gives life in the Gospel Word when
- taught,
- preached,
- read, and
- remembered.
We have all experienced that but we return to the mode of the Pharisee easily, counting accusations (ours, theirs) rather than grace in forgiveness (ours, theirs).
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
This was written for those who knew the Old Testament, but it should be that much more relevant to us. Most of our lives are under the ministration of the law - rules, regulations, requirements, time sheets, reports, salary tables, and so forth. A computer program posts if I have graded assignments late, and I cannot talk back. DO NOT REPLY.
And many live and continue under this ministration of the Law forever. And they take pride in exceeding the numbers of others. This kid I used to see in the halls of our high school is now a rich man and a philanthropist. Whatever he did, he prospered. But as glorious as they seems, like the lonely guy who became a Hollywood star (John Getz), the ministration of the Gospel is more glorious. Various classmates have taken the message of God's grace around the world, personally, just as we do electronically.
The ministration of the Gospel seems more important as we grow older, because the numbers mean so little as we see how temporary everything is.
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
This diakonia (deacon comes from the Greek) is the teaching, preaching, and practice of the Gospel - the righteousness of faith.
The teaching and preaching of the Law is also the work of the Holy Spirit, but it can only produce contrition (sorrow for sin) and serve as a guide for Christians. The Law's role in condemnation cannot produce fruit and tends to stir up sin. As Luther observed, even if we are bound in chains, we still sin in our thoughts, hating those chains. The Law in limited in its application.
But using the Jewish tradition - from the lesser to the greater - Paul says, "if the greatest event in the Old Testament, the giving of the Law, was so glorious, then the giving of forgiveness through faith is even more glorious."
Most of us experience that Law all the time, from society. We do not have enough solar power and use the BBQ too much. We have a lot of plastic bottles - and the ultimate accusation - we do not care about Planet Earth. I could go on and on, because the outrage is so selective. And the decades long expressions of condemnation have not made our society a bit better. If anything we are more wasteful, crude, and thoughtless.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Here is a good place for a warning against false teachers. The Antinomians (anti-Law) love verses like this. They say, as one WELS pastor did before becoming an open atheist, "The Law is obsolete. There is no more Law."
Since we have the entire Bible and not just one verse, we know their fanatic adherence to such notions is wrong. Jesus said as much in the Sermon on the Mount, which should satisfy anyone.
Paul gloried in the Law, as he stated more than once. He was the perfect Pharisee, better at being a Pharisee than all the rest of the Pharisees. So he persecuted the Christians until the Gospel of Christ converted him through the risen Christ. Then he was able to measure everything only according to God's grace. As he told the Thessalonians - You know and have experienced the efficacy of the Word.
1 Thessalonians 2:13King James Version (KJV)
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
This Gospel plants faith in our hearts and sustains that faith.
