The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2017
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 Gospel Is Fruitful
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 #341 Crown Him with Many Crowns
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 #341 Crown Him with Many Crowns
KJV Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
KJV Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy blessed word and Thy holy baptism hast mercifully cleansed all who believe from the fearful leprosy of sin, and daily dost grant us Thy gracious help in all our need: We beseech Thee so to enlighten our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forget these Thy blessings, but ever live in Thy fear, and, trusting fully in Thy grace, with thankful hearts continually praise and glorify Thee; through Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Gospel Is Fruitful
KJV Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
As my neighbor often says, "I hate to tell you this, but..." St. Paul and Luther have two categories - Justification by Faith and Justification by Works. Those who deny Justification by Faith are welded to works, no matter what they say. Paul wrote Galatians in his own hand, quickly, to stop them from falling into Justification by Works, by the Law.
The Law is good and spiritual (from the Spirit) as Paul taught by the Spirit, but the Law is limited in its effect. The Law does not bear fruit and does not forgive or save. Those who repudiate faith are left with a law religion, because that is the only thing left.
For instance, if God is the Only True God, then all others are false gods. If there is only Justification by Faith, then anything else is the righteousness of works.
When Paul says "Walk by the Spirit," he is saying, living according to the Scriptures. Because the Spirit works only through the Word, there is no other explanation. He is not saying "Be Pentecostal," although genuine Lutherans are the true Pentecostals (identifying the Spirit's work with the work of the Word, and vice versa). The apostles argued the Gospel based on the Old Testament, which clearly teach Justification by Faith. Many nominal Christian denominations do not see that and do not teach it, including those that consider themselves fine, Evangelical groups. That is why I ask graduate students about Genesis 15 and Justification by Faith. He believed in the coming Messiah, who would arise from his true son, and therefore was counted as righteous by faith, not by works.
As Luther says, Abraham was a great man and highly respected, but that did not count toward righteousness. His faith received the righteousness of God. Therefore all the righteous in the Old Testament are believers in the coming Christ.
The lust of the flesh is an interesting term, that makes people think only of wasting money on slow horses and fast women. But our modern equivalent is "natural." The natural man in Paul's writing is one who neither knows nor fears God. If someone is of the world, the individual's entire being desires whatever is material - honors, money, the esteem of other unbelievers, and carnal sin as well. The promotion of degraded activities and the forced quotes for the same are sure signs of our materialistic and degenerate society.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
The Galatians who wanted to return to the Law were at war against the Spirit. Today we have people who would gladly do what is right and speak what is right, except it would hurt them in the eyes of others. They would be punished one way or another. So they silence and calm themselves even before being told to be still. They observe what has happened to others. There are all kinds of explanations for going along with what is wrong or doing and saying nothing, which is similar.
And yet an outcry means something. When a traitor was given a great honor at Harvard, one man resigned his position there amid a general outcry. Harvard backed down for once. But that was because the objections carried so much weight and were backed by someone sacrificing an honor.
Lutherans are largely living in apostasy because everyone has been so quiet about it for the last 30-50 years, though it started earlier. Now the situation is so obvious that people write and say, "Why are things so bad?" and I send them the doctrinal reasons for it.
To put it simply, referring to Luther - when the Means of Grace are denied, all kinds of foul errors enter in. There are other ways to express this, but our current age is best at denying the Gospel by replacing it with a subtle Universalism and the indifference that goes with it.
Our flesh, the natural man, always resists the Spirit, the Gospel, but we have this confidence - that the Word is always at war against our worst attitudes, desires, errors, and sins. The indwelling Spirit is like a gyroscope that continually points us in the right direction and makes us pleased to hear the Gospel.
We gave our grandson a little toy gyroscope, and he was impressed with its powerful pointing ability. It resisted him moving it the wrong way.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
This should not confuse us. The Scriptures teach us to act as led by the Shepherd, following Him out of love, not driven by the lash of the Law, the fear of punishment. One attitude is exactly opposite the other.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance *quarreling), emulations (rivalry), wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
One of the methods of writing is to make a long list, almost endless, which says - I could go on and on about this. This clearly shows that much of what we dislike about life is a work of the law, the natural man. As I have said many times, I routinely get clobbered by the law for innocuous things, like firing up the BBQ on "Earth Day." But those same people are indifferent about religious truth, because they do not believe. Replacing that, they have the Law - or any kind of law.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Love is the first fruit of the Spirit, because love and forgiveness go together. To be forgiven through Christ means being forgiven.
Joy is what the unbelieving world cannot see as they look for happiness, expecting it to come from Lord Mammon. Jesus said specifically that His work would fill the followers with joy. John 17.
Peace is not world-peace, but the peace that comes from forgiveness. In the midst of the worst troubles and afflictions, the believer can be at peace because the greatest desire of mankind - inner peace - has been won for us through Christ received in faith. This grace is not blocked by hospitals, nursing homes, poverty, disease, or confinement of any type.
Longsuffering is not just being patient, but enduring difficulties and burdens for years, even for decades. If someone realizes that this glorifies God as much as anything else done in faith, it is not a burden but a joy. When Brenda Kiehler's father took her on her power wheelchair walks, he was just as proud of her as if he were presenting her at a debutante ball.
Gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance - these characteristics are additional qualities that come from faith in Christ.
Creation Is Praised in This Comparison
For those who grow plants, fruits, and vegetables, the fruiting cycle is the obvious parallel presented here, the analogy that makes the lesson stick.
Where the plant is good, it will flower and bear fruit. Everyone likes roses because we keep them from fruiting - the hips being the fruit that contains Vitamin C and the seeds.
Beans flower and bear their fruit, which contain the bean sees. Nothing is more intriguing to children than opening seed pods and keeping all the dried seeds inside.
Even lawn grass flowers and fruits, bearing seed. We do not notice the flowers but see the seeds afterwards. My mother used, "Mow that lawn. You let it go to seed again?" GJ - But isn't that good? "No, it looks trashy. Mow it now."
Therefore, we do not need to put on a show, since people bear fruit differently as believers, but we remain confident - from John 15 - that remaining on the True Vine through the Means of Grace, we will bear fruit that glorifies God.
