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| Norma A. Boeckler |
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2018
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
Gospel Energy - Spiritual Fruits
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.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Background for the Sermon
I have worked through the Gospel of John the last two weeks, verse by verse, almost finishing a first draft on The Gospel of Faith: From John, The Disciple Jesus Loved. Two themes basic to the Fourth Gospel are - faith in Jesus as the One Sent from God, witnessing to that faith. The two go together, and the Gospel keeps going back to the source - God the Father sent God the Son to do this work of teaching and performing miracles, to gather the flock and teach the disciples.
In the last decades, witnessing has really meant - we need more members. From that carnal need came lower and lower standards about evangelism. Now it is just a question of which gimmick works. The one qualification is missing - faithfulness to the Word. Instead, some count new adult members. According to Change or Die! - everyone can learn from ELCA pastors, whose sect is undergoing a complete nation-wide collapse, not unlike the others, just moving a lot faster downwards.
One issue excludes the other. If truth must be taught, then the carnal needs are neglected. If someone thinks success is a new building and measured results, then the truth is going to be neglected. Someone is always offended. The original word was scandalized - not as in a gossip magazine scandal - but as setting off a death trap by touching the trigger of the trap - the skandalon.
I was told not to include infant baptism in a sermon when an infant was baptized. The reason - Babtist relatives were offended so they went to council president (WELS). Claiming the truth is not very convincing when it is abandoned so readily.
Infant baptism and infant faith are directly related to the efficacy of the Word. If we hide the truth of infant faith, which is clearly taught in the Bible, then we are necessarily giving up on the Real Presence and the truth of absolution.
If error is introduced to Scriptural truths, then that error is either repudiated or protected for additional growth. The LCMS never had an official teaching on Objective Justification, only the Chief Article, Justification by Faith. Now under McCain-Harrison, the LCMS has two official books teach Objective Justification, their massive and unreadable dogmatics book and their Talmudic, useless "Small" Catechism.
The Gospel Word is not fruitful because of buildings, locations, personalities, or entertainment, but only because of the Word. Only a hopeless Calvinist could think we can improve upon or make more effective the Word of God.
Here is an interesting story about an LCA church about to be closed. I knew the parish and the pastor and his wife. The mission board said, "Nobody can find it. We put it in a bad location where the LCA pastors have trouble getting there. We'll sell it to the Pentecostals. They have no trouble with a bad location." He was saying the LCA prospects would no go to that location (one of the eternal verities of building missions) but the Pentecostals would.
That is why a liberal, apostate church will say, "We have all these programs to help the community" while they hide their actual doctrine. The apostate Church Growthers say, "We have all these appealing things, a praise band, fun groups, and all." They are two versions of the same thing.
The apostles only had the Word. They had very little else for establishing the Christian Church. One key asset was - the Old Testament. It was very expensive, so they had copies made to teach the Old Testament Gospel as a foundation for the ministry, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
Gospel Energy - Spiritual Fruits
KJV Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Paul quashed the Galatian's flirtation with the false teachers, a problem that gave us the best short essay on Justification by Faith. As he did with Romans, Paul moved from the Justificaiton by Faith issue to living the Christian life, - sanctification.
Walk in the Spirit
The Bible often uses either the Word or the Spirit, since the two are always together. As Hoenecke wrote, "The Word never without the Spirit, the Spirit never without the Word." When the mainline Lutherans abandoned the truth of God's Word and its efficacy, some adopted the teachings of the Pentecostals or charismatics. That was a reaction to denying - or not teaching - the miraculous, the divine in the Bible. Miracles have not stopped. God continues to work and has ultimate power to do so.
Walk in the Spirit is the same as walk in the Word. The phrase is a good one for emphasizing the way we live according to what we believe. Walking in the Word displaces walking according to our natural instincts.
Anyone can see this in gardening. The good plants can displace the bad ones, but the bad ones, when allowed to thrive, can easily overwhelm the good and productive plants.
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.
So when people become captivated by something new, what follows is this displacement. One offsets the other. One gambling staffer asked why the computer convention did not spend anything on their machines. I said, "They are computers, which are easy to rig." He said, "At least go to a show."
If someone thinks, I could leave here a millionaire, he forgets he is working against a programmed machine, owned by the managers. He would be better off learning tax law.
The Gospel is very powerful in our lives, if we let the Gospel nurture us. It reaches such a point of satiety in some that the treasure of the Gospel fades in importance. Most of my Old Testament students have gone through a lot of turmoil, grief, and trouble. They look at the Bible from the perspective of putting their lives together again. It is like that experience that Newton had on the slave ship. They were hauling bouyant cargo, so that cargo kept him afloat so the he lived, repented, became a Christian, and wrote famous hymns, like Amazing Grace.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Doing what we have to do is Law. But the Spirit - the Gospel Word - means doing what we want to do. The Galatians were given an easy but misleading formula - submit to the Law and be just like Jesus and the disciples. Jesus and the disciples observed Jewish Law so real Christians had to do the same. That is an easy equation to teach and follow, but deceptively so. The Gospel Promises were given to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. The foundation of the New Testament is the Old Testament. Going back to Old Testament principles is the same as being under the Law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance (fights), emulations (jealousies), 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.
It has always been tempting to identify the worst and most obvious sins. Sometimes they branch out into many other areas, such as the sin of scouting, or dart-ball (a dart game banned by the ALC in Ohio, once). Obsession with the Law can easily displace the Gospel so there is no Gospel at all.
Paul identified sins of the flesh because the Roman Empire was full of temptations. Christianity was an unapproved minority perspective, as it is today.
Jesus said about the Spirit, that He would send the Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
1. Sin;
2. Righteousness;
3. Judgment.
• Sin is not believing in Jesus.
• Righteousness is the righteousness of faith, relying on the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord.
• Judgment means Satan is condemned.
The foundational sin is not believing in Christ, so the remedy is knowing the Gospel better, hearing the Gospel with sincere hearts.
Righteousness is the righteousness of faith because of the empty tomb and ascension of Jesus. What nurtures our faith more than anything else - faith in the risen Lord and knowing He rose that we might have eternal life too. Nothing is more convincing of the divinity of Christ than His resurrection.
The judgment of Satan is especially important today because he is the Prince of this world, but he is condemned under the Law and Gospel. There are many Satanic cults and practices today. Many have found it appealing but almost impossible to escape. Worst of all is conceding the power to Satan just because he runs the media and the schools. He is all the more active today because his time is so short. Satan is only as powerful as the Word is silent. If no one weilds the Sword of the Spirit, Satan will triumph. But his castle has been taken and his treasures removed by a Stronger One than he. There is no reason to concede to him.
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.
Most importantly, this fruit comes from the energy of the Gospel. See John 15. Take away the Means of Grace and the fruit cannot form. The fruit is not the result of programs but of hearing the Gospel and appreciating the Visible Gospel - our Baptism and our Holy Communion. These various ways of applying the Word of Jesus to our lives are the source of the fruits of the Spirit.
God has done all this for us. That is why we should say the Creeds with force and conviction and think about each phrase. The Fourth Gospel teaches - believing and witnessing to that faith.
Let's look at two of the fruits of the Spirit.
Peace is the peace that comes from the forgiveness of sin. As Lenski says in his commentary on John, the Gospels give so much space to Peter's denial of Jesus is this - that is the ultimate sin. He promised to die for Jesus but denied Him three times. That he was absolved of his sin is the ultimate message of the Gospel, just as the resurrection is the ultimate proof of the divinity of Jesus.
Longsuffering goes with this peace, because it means putting up with aggravation, pain, medical crises, self-denial, persecution, all manner of evil with great patience - not just for years but for decades. It means trying to be faithful and seeing no results forever and ever, because that too is part of God's plan.
Longsuffering comes from realizing that with the Gospel we have both heaven and earth. If God has taken care of our spiritual needs, then He surely will care for our material needs, which are no great task for Him. It is easy to think, "Why couldn't I..." as we see something so easily given to a rogue, a louse, a monster. But that is not for us to decide.
Belonging to Christ means crucifying our natural reactions and substituting God's wisdom. The hymns and the Psalms (the hymns of the OT) are ideal for this.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
