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| Norma A. Boeckler |
The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The melodies are linked in the hymn title.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
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 Faith of Jesus
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 # 309 O Jesus Blessed Lord
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 # 309 O Jesus Blessed Lord
KJV Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast caused us to come to the knowledge of Thy word. We pray Thee: graciously keep us steadfast in this knowledge unto death, that we may obtain eternal life; send us now and ever pious pastors, who faithfully preach Thy word, without offense or false doctrine, and grant them long life. Defend us from all false teachings, and frustrate Thou the counsels of all such as pervert Thy word, who come to us in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravening wolves, that Thy true Church may evermore be established among us, and be defended and preserved from such false teachers, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for Sermon
Jesus ended His sermon by warning against false teachers, which Luther considered (properly) a good model to follow. However, that is seldom done, as proved by the Reformation.
Luther did not "discover the Gospel," as some say mistakenly. He was quite weighed down with the burdens of the Law. His spiritual advisor helped him see the Gospel, which was taught here and there throughout history. By that time, the Gospel witness was very weak. However, Luther was thrust into an opportunity to grasp the Scriptures by virtue of his doctoral studies as a teacher of the Scriptures.
Unlike today, few people had the chance to open a Bible or any other work before the printing press was invented in the West by Gutenberg. Any book was hand copied and very valuable. I once held the very first printing of Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The price was $40,000. Do you think I paged through it or used a banana peel as a bookmarker? No, I opened it gingerly and put it back in the locked cabinet. Harry Potter and Princess Bride were even more valuable, because of demand.
So Luther was counseled on one side by Staupitz to see the Gospel and he studied it at the same time. That gave him an enormous comprehension of the entire Bible and the key way of understanding the faith. If the Gospel does its work through the Means of Grace (the Word and Sacraments), then we must identify what is good and what is toxic.
A counterfeit Gospel may have many characteristics in common with the true Gospel, but key traits will be missing or mis-shapen.
As they say with counterfeit money, there are special signs of good money and plenty of signs of bad money. The best counterfeit operation in the past even had the right paper, but they had to double the paper for the right feel. So it looked and felt right, but it peeled into its two sheets in humid weather.
As we know with produce and food, the spoiled has to be removed from what is good. Look at the piles of grain bags in a store, it will say, "Rotate to prevent infestation." Left alone, the rice and wheat, even when reduced to flour, will sprout those prolific flour moths by the hundreds.
So when someone identifies a false Gospel within a religious setting, it is good but creates a storm of opposition. The false teachers want to remain undercover agents. They condemn but do not compare what is good with what is bad.
Although Jesus was full of grace and forgiveness, that did not prevent Him from warning against the false teachers. This is a very stern, even terrifying, message for false teachers. That is also why Luther is shunned today by Lutherans - his warnings fall on very sensitive ears. The false teachers know he is speaking against them, and they want to slaughter and scatter the sheep in peace.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Luther did not "discover the Gospel," as some say mistakenly. He was quite weighed down with the burdens of the Law. His spiritual advisor helped him see the Gospel, which was taught here and there throughout history. By that time, the Gospel witness was very weak. However, Luther was thrust into an opportunity to grasp the Scriptures by virtue of his doctoral studies as a teacher of the Scriptures.
Unlike today, few people had the chance to open a Bible or any other work before the printing press was invented in the West by Gutenberg. Any book was hand copied and very valuable. I once held the very first printing of Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The price was $40,000. Do you think I paged through it or used a banana peel as a bookmarker? No, I opened it gingerly and put it back in the locked cabinet. Harry Potter and Princess Bride were even more valuable, because of demand.
So Luther was counseled on one side by Staupitz to see the Gospel and he studied it at the same time. That gave him an enormous comprehension of the entire Bible and the key way of understanding the faith. If the Gospel does its work through the Means of Grace (the Word and Sacraments), then we must identify what is good and what is toxic.
A counterfeit Gospel may have many characteristics in common with the true Gospel, but key traits will be missing or mis-shapen.
As they say with counterfeit money, there are special signs of good money and plenty of signs of bad money. The best counterfeit operation in the past even had the right paper, but they had to double the paper for the right feel. So it looked and felt right, but it peeled into its two sheets in humid weather.
As we know with produce and food, the spoiled has to be removed from what is good. Look at the piles of grain bags in a store, it will say, "Rotate to prevent infestation." Left alone, the rice and wheat, even when reduced to flour, will sprout those prolific flour moths by the hundreds.
So when someone identifies a false Gospel within a religious setting, it is good but creates a storm of opposition. The false teachers want to remain undercover agents. They condemn but do not compare what is good with what is bad.
Although Jesus was full of grace and forgiveness, that did not prevent Him from warning against the false teachers. This is a very stern, even terrifying, message for false teachers. That is also why Luther is shunned today by Lutherans - his warnings fall on very sensitive ears. The false teachers know he is speaking against them, and they want to slaughter and scatter the sheep in peace.
The Faith of Jesus
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
All the mentions of sheep and shepherding are a unified theme in the Scriptures. Jesus comes as the Good Shepherd (John 10, Luke 15) and we are the weak and often bumbling sheep (Isaia 53, Psalm 23).
The primary attributes of the Good Shepherd are:
1) Knowing us by name.
2) Leading us to pasture.
3) Protecting us from predators.
Some people would identify love as allowing anything, but the shepherding kind of love means warning against dangers and even the settings of danger. Jesus' kindness is shown in providing us with the spiritual knowledge that will make us aware of counterfeits in Christianity. That began immediately in the Apostolic Age, when Simon (for instance) wanted to buy into the plan and become a miraculous healer. That is where we get the term "simony" from - buying a church office, which was common in the Reformation. A man who bought a position for his son could be guaranteed a hefty annual salary for that office. No one wanted to meddle with that, whether wealthy buyers or the church officials selling the titles.
Knowing our tendency to rely on the righteousness of the Law, Jesus taught everyone that their righteousness could only come from faith in Him.
I need to provide an academic digression here, but it is really important. Once I recognized the unusual phrase "the faith of Jesus" in Romans 3:22, in Galatians and Philippians, I began doing some research on it and found a book written around that research topic.
The Faith of Jesus by Richard Hays
I agree with the author - We are justified by the faith of Jesus - that emphasizes Jesus as the starting point, the foundation of being forgiven and saved. Like a good writer, the author says too much emphasis is placed on the individual (faith in Jesus exclusively) and also in avoiding faith altogether (mainline apostasy).
You may have noticed Protestant gimmick sermons on the Woman at the Well - all about the woman; or sermons about the apostles or characters in the Bible. That devolved into the cult of Mary and the veneration, the virtual worship of saints.
Nothing about this excludes the imporance of faith in Jesus, not at all. But where does Christianity begin? - In the Person and the mission of Jesus the Messiah.
Every single aspect of the Son is vitally significant in the Bible:
- As the Second Person of the Trinity
- As the Creating Word in Genesis 1 and John 1
- As the object of faith in Genesis 15 by virtue of the binding of Isaac, a foreshadowing of the Atonement
- As born of the Virgin Mary, Isaiah 7 and 9
- As Teacher, Rabbi
- As miracle worker unlike any other
- As having power over Creation - storm, miraculous abundance, walking on water
- As raising the dead
- As triggering the Passion by raising Lazarus from the dead
- As dying as the innocent Lamb of Passover - for the sins of the world
- As rising from the dead and ascending to heaven
- As returning at the end of time for Final Judgment.
When we look at the sermons and letters of the Apostles in the New Testament, these matters are the content of their messages, often in part. But the sermon is always Jesus rather than The Demographic (need more friends, more time, less stress, some entertainment, popcorn, soda, multi media presentations?)
Therefore, Jesus preached at the end of His sermon that we should avoid those who pretend to be harmless sheep but are in fact wearing a disguise and really act as hunting, grasping wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Teaching Jesus as the Son of God is always going to bear good fruit. Too bad that the doubting professors, enjoying their ease and luxuries, cannot teach that simple truth.
Although this is a warning sermon, it is also an encouraging one. Teaching the truth of God's Word will always bring good fruit, no matter how many difficulties may come along. I told a Facebook friend I can sit in our garden pulling weeds, and rabbits walk by, cats sneak by, birds cautiously approach. I can see Japanese beetles shamelessly sitting in rose blooms they have destroyed, and many other problems, Yet in the midst of every creature eating and being eaten, the good plants bloom and bear fruit.
When the true Gospel is taught, that is, a true message about Jesus the Savior, then good fruit will come from it. Although the following is known well to gardeners, it bears repeating. A good tree can only bear good fruit - so a good tree does not produce junk or trash the way a bad tree does. Likewise, a bad tree will never produce good fruit. The same is true of plants, seed, bushes. What we take for granted in gardening is forgotten in Christianity.
I talked to one Lutheran pastor, excluded for teaching the truth. I said "You don't need a synod to validate you. Start a Bible study and see if they want to have a church." But he thought about the organization, not the good tree bearing fruit. Very sad.
Notice that Jesus repeats the formula to the point of distraction. That is to exclude wrong conclusions from both sides. A good tree has to produce good fruit. A bad tree has to produce bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.
So often people look at a big, Big, BIG church and say, "They must have the answers. We have to be like them."
And they look at a small congregation and say, "They are no good because they are small." (They overlook many details to maintain their pity, their fake sadness.) God's effective Word blinds them and as 2 Thessalonians says, "They rejoice in their evil."
Recently I was mocked by the junkyard dogs of UOJ. I send out Luther's Sermons each week, but I am "not Lutheran." There is nothing to posting public domain sermons - except no one else is doing that. I know Luther is the good tree always teaching the truth in a clear and compelling way. For that reason I assume that posting those sermons and posting them again on Facebook bears fruit.
One person said to me at a reunion, "Greg, I read your blog every chance I get." Long-time family friends happened to be Lutheran. They said the same thing and were very encouraging. I always knew them as gracious people, good friends.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
That is a pretty clear warning from Jesus. One may live in luxury and a false peace, but there are so many cases of the bad tree leaving nothing behind except a fading memory.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Notice that the pleas offered have nothing to do with teaching truth versus teaching falsehood. Look at what we have done! and - in Your Name! How clearly he predicted what would happen. Even now some Lutherans are rejoicing over this or that, but opposing the teaching of the first six letters of their names.
It is easy to be kidnapped by the thoughts of this world. I was told, "When this millionaire gives money, he expects results!" I could see the thinking behind this, which was entirely wrong. One man told me he got his job, which required 600 dial-ups per day, and was glad for it. They know 600 dial-ups will get results, no matter what.
However, Jesus did not found a business that would boom and later be forgotten, like those ghost amusement parks and Olympic sites around the world. He founded an everlasting Kingdom of Grace, built upon Him.
"On this Rock-Ledge, I will build My Church." Not on Peter, the little rock, not upon the Papacy, not on Peter's confession of faith, but upon the Savior Himself, an everlasting foundation of Truth.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
