The Eighteenth 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 Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Law and Gospel
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 #651 Be Still My Soul
KJV 1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
KJV Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father: We are poor, miserable sinners; we know Thy will, but cannot fulfill it because of the weakness of our flesh and blood, and because our enemy, the devil, will not leave us in peace. Therefore we beseech Thee, shed Thy Holy Spirit in our hearts, that, in steadfast faith, we may cling to Thy Son Jesus Christ, find comfort in His passion and death, believe the forgiveness of sin through Him, and in willing obedience to Thy will lead holy lives on earth, until by Thy grace, through a blessed death, we depart from this world of sorrow, and obtain eternal life, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Sermon Introductory Material
Objective and subjective are two ways to view the Gospel. I saw the difference when we attended a Christmas concert for the men's choir here in Northwest Arkansas. I knew most of the songs, and they were sung well with a large group of musicians backing them, even a harpist. As the concert continued, I noticed - all the songs or hymns were about me. Yes, every single one was about how I feel and think. They were overwhelmingly subjective.
Hymns are not easily divided by these adjectives, subjective and objective. They are not M&Ms that can be put into distinct groups. However, there is a vast difference between the great objective hymns and the subjective ones. The purpose of an objective hymn is to teach the content of the Gospel as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
The hymns of Luther and Gerhardt have subjective passages, but the Scriptures - not feelings - dominate. The temptation to make everything me-centered will always lead to rationalism and worse.
This gets us to the question - is the Gospel about my faith or the faith of Jesus? Paul speaks very plainly about the faith of Jesus, in Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. Our era - in reaction against Jesus as only a man (The Last Temptation of Christ, which is the basic message of all modernist theologians) - places all the emphtasis up the divinity of Christ. That is true among the traditionalists. However, the humanity of Christ emphasizes the great, astonishing never-repeated miracle of God in the flesh. That is especially true when we recall Jesus the Son of God looked just like an ordinary man and yet had - and has - all the power of God.
That is where we can see subjectivism going astray. Someone says, "How can God pray to God?" and similar rationalistic questions. If that does not "make sense," they reject it and come up with a religion full of fabulous claims never revealed anywhere except in the thoughts of one person.
Everything about the Savior is objectively revealed by the Holy Spirit. What makes that so compelling is that we hear the truth and the Spirit plants and nurtures faith in our hearts.
All the books in the world do not equal the truth and power of that One Book, the Bible, and no book can refute it. My biggest emphasis in teaching online is to say, no matter what the class, "It's only a textbook. It is one step up from Wikipedia." That is true whether the class is education or Old Testament. But what matters most is Old Testament.
What is the content of the Old Testament? We read a lot of fascinating, bloodthirsty, dishonest, and lustful stories about the failings of the past. But they are the setting for the real story of God becoming man and dwelling among us, full of grace and truth. In the midst of all this history are the Promises of God.
And yet, many grow up thinking the Old Testament is all about the Law and the New Testament is nothing but Gospel. The amount of Gospel in the Old Testament is what makes the New Testament rather slim in comparison (1/3 the size). Someone in Old Testament recently wrote in class, "You are right. Psalm 22 is so graphic, it seems to be a description at the time the crucifixion happened. And Isaiah 53 makes no sense at all apart from the cross."
The stories of the corruption in the Christian institutions are only a hint at what is happening. Many are shocked. It was a major story in one news website I follow, because the editor is Roman Catholic. Nothing should shock someone who reads the Pastoral Epistles and 2 Thessalonians 2, which we just studied. Luther said succinctly, "The Gospel is thinly sown."
So the Scripture readings should always or mostly lead us to think of what God is saying to us. What are the objective truths? - which may not always appeal to us. If we have a good grasp of the basics, the cacophony of the world will not disturb us.
Law and Gospel
KJV Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
This section is called the Four Questions, which are used in the Seder Meal. This is the third. The fourth question is asked by the leader of the meal, who could be the head of the house or the rabbi in charge.
Catechism questions and answers have a long history, and the content depends on the answers given. In this case, the two-part answer was given by other rabbis. That makes some say, "Jesus was just another rabbi, like other rabbis." But that ignores the question He asked.
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
We call these the two tables of the Ten Commandments. The first relate to loving God; the second to loving our neighbor.
Catechisms can be good or bad.
Loehe - Good -
43) What may be the meaning of the two tables of the Law?
The human heart, in which the commandments of God ought to be written.
44) What may be the meaning of the first tables, which God Himself made?
The human heart, as it was created by God.
45) And of the tables which Moses made?
The human heart, as it was made by man through his fall.
God gave His Law to us so we can see that He commands what is good for us. Even the Deists saw that our world exhibits the features of a designed world. a reason behind the concept of right and wrong.
These two table sum up what anyone should know. Obeying one does not negate the others. The atheists always talk about what fine fellows they are, far better than the rest. In essence, they keep the second table - in their own eyes. One might have a few doubts about this - as I do - but they are convinced.
Others think that their loyalty to their church means they do not need to help their neighbor, because they love God or Jesus is first in their lives. Our doctor also served as a parish minister in a poor section of a major city. He called on an enormous, rich church to contribut toward the medical care of people in that city. The senior minister of this enormous parish said, "We don't do anything for the poor, not even for our own members." The doctor/minister was staggered by this, especially since he had poor congregations in his group that put their nickels and pennies together "for the needy."
The Law also serves as a mirror to reveal as we really are. As Luther said, we cannot get through the first table without being condemned by it.
Some would say, "But I do love God," and that is true, but our battle is often with trusting in Him in all things. In the midst of temptations, trials, and afflictions, do we trust Him above all things?
The corruption of our society is shown in how the second part is treated by the California modernists. Robert Schuller said that God commanded us to love ourselves (a commandment easily obeyed by everyone; even dogs love themselves and make sure they do not give up a small bone if they can get a larger one - Adam Smith). Schuller called it a modern Reformation to teach people this, and it took over so completely that little hide-bound sects that called themselves old-fashioned championed the same thought. I heard one old pastor shouting it at a convention of the CLC.
Errors in one area can show us the foundational error. Those who are anti-Law are mixed up about the Law. Some claim the Law is obsolete, which clearly goes against the teaching of Christ. He came to fulfill the Law by dying for our sins.
Another part of the anti-Law thinking is that since everyone is born forgiven in the UOJ catechism, the Law is obsolete, citing Galatians, the Law is a tutor that leads us to Christ. That only proves that any Scripture can be cited and yet used entirely against the Bible. Simply citing it, especially with a false assumption, is not only bad teaching but apostate teaching, destroying faith in those who have it.
My experience with anti-Law pastors is that they are pathological liars. It is true that "all men are liars" but they look at that verse as the 11th commandment, and smirk about their ability to deceive others. How does one harvest good fruit from a corrupt tree? Jesus said that cannot be done. Luther said some earthy things about that.
The Law is not a tool for measuring who the true saints are, and mankind naturally (without the Holy Spirit) falls into that frame of mind. Thus we live in a world of condemnation where there is constant condemnation. The only escape is found in the second part of this Gospel.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
Jesus began with their point of view, which does not work with this verse from the Psalms. In the olden days, when seniority meant something, it was impossible to imagine that someone younger could be superior to the older person - the father, grandfather, or the earlier person in history.
For example, this still prevails among Asians. The older person is automatically superior. The very old are venerated. My mother loved going to Chinese restaurants where the owners literally bowed before her, seeing her white hair and advanced years. She lived past 90. She made something with bird feathers for one restaurant in New Ulm and it was accepted like it was a relic from a saint.
So we have to suspend the American assumption that the junior executive knows all.
How can the great King David refer to anyone as Lord in his Psalm? How can the Messiah, the Christ be the Lord over King David?
That we see this to be obvious makes the question mysterious to us, so we have to step back and see the word-play as a litmus test for believers. Those who expected the Promises to be fulfilled were amenable to the teaching of Jesus, and many Jewish leaders believed in Him. The turmoil in the synagogues after the resurrection of Christ is best explained by how powerfully the apostles taught - until they were expelled.
The entire pagan world was looking for the Savior, and so many were drawn to Judaism by the Greek Old Testament. Imagine the pagans coming to Christ through the Bible - that happened. The Jew had the advantage of knowing these Scriptures. The outsiders hungered for true righteousness, faith in the Truth.
We have quite a strange thing going on in this world -
- The Third World welcomes the Gospel.
- Western nations are bored with Christianity and everyone wants to be Buddhist, Taoist, or even Satanic.
- Western Christian leaders are even less favorable to the Scritpures than were the Deists like Jefferson.
But it was all predicted.
46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Sometimes the only thing we can do is silence people, who then wonder about what the Scriptures really say. The silence shows the power of Jesus' teaching.
We live in a world where everything is measured, often not honestly. So how did Jesus do in this exchange? We have no particular statistics, but we do know that the foundation was laid for everything that happened from that time on. Some believed for a moment and fell away. Some were opponents and began to believe.
My ongoing theory is that many people described in the miracles were known in the early church as foundational members. They would have been the eye-witnesses to back up the apostolic preaching of Jesus as the Son of God. Their extended families could say, "Yes, we remember when he was born blind" or "When she died."
And yet, those were not the decades of great comfort and wealth, but persecution and hardship. I suggest to students that they not look for those visible signs of success but simply remain faithful to the Word and continue in those little steps of living day by day.
