The Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
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 Righteousness of Faith
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 #283 God's Word Is Our Great Heritage
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 #283 God's Word Is Our Great Heritage
In Our Prayers
- Andrea had retina surgery this week.
- Pastor Palangyos' daughter and father-in-law were having medical difficulties. Her name is Jeshra.
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten is doing well and appreciates your prayers.
- Carl Roper will have another growth treated.
Sixth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we confess that we are poor, wretched sinners, and that there is no good in us, our hearts, flesh and blood being so corrupted by sin, that we never in this life can be without sinful lust and concupiscence; therefore we beseech Thee, dear Father, forgive us these sins, and let Thy Holy Spirit so cleanse our hearts that we may desire and love Thy word, abide by it, and thus by Thy grace be forever saved; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
KJV Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Background for the Sermon, Matthew 5:20ff.
The key term in the Gospel is righteousness. Jesus said in the Beatitudes - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Satisfied is the word used for fattening cattle. Those who enjoyed the miraculous Feeding of the Multitude were "satisfied," completely full so they wanted no more - and more was leftover than they started with.
But what is righteousness? Our initial response would be perfection, being able to obey all laws, all rules to perfection, to leave people in awe. Children are told to be "good" with a great emphasis on "good." We were visiting a pastor's family when the oldest, a girl, said to her brother, "TRY to act normal!" That was the funniest admonition I had ever heard.
Paul explored various forms of righteousness in Romans, such as obeying traditional rules, obeying the religious laws. No one can claim perfection in those areas.
Our tendency is to think in terms of what we do. The Pharisees were a good foreshadowing of how people today put on a show of outward righteous works, but that is not what Jesus is teaching.
To say, your righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees! that sounds arduous, impossible, and unlikely once someone has had a major disaster of some type.
But the righteousness of the Gospel is the righteousness of faith. That is so different and powerful that people - even Lutheran pastors - rail against it and try every possible way to return to being work-saints and work-salesmen.
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| "Satisfied" after the Feeding of the Multitudes |
The Righteousness of Faith
KJV Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Initially, I saw the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees to be unattainable. And here, there is this great threat, that someone must exceed their righteousness to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
The natural response to this - often carried out in various denominations and sects - is to lay down rules and regulations making their man-made righteousness something only a few - the elite - can attain. Certain families can do no wrong and certain schools are the only ones worthwhile, no matter how flea-bag they might be. Conformity is the rule - a perfection in conformity to man-made rules is is their holiness.
That cannot be what Jesus means, because He taught, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That represents a genuine desire for spiritual food, not something to be condemned by God. The "because" is is a great Promise of the Gospel - "for they shall be satisfied." That does not mean merely fed, but fed the way the multitudes were in those great miracles, so much they had baskets of leftovers.
Paul argued against the man-made forms of righteousness in the early chapters of Romans. No matter what standards are set up, even one's own, they cannot be met. Everyone is condemned by any form of the Law, even - and especially - those who make up their own standards.
So there must be another righteousness when the Old Testament and Jesus speak of it. And there is - the righteousness of faith. I wish those poor, deluded souls who teach absolution without faith would grasp that. Because they are blind, they cannot see what is meant by Jesus, Paul, and the Formula of Concord, which they claim to honor.
Faith is not a decision we make but a change caused by God's Word. Spiritual matters are a battlefield where Satan battles to keep his own thralls in darkness - and to confuse and conquer those who believe the truth of God's Word.
Faith sees God as He is, especially in that special view - seeing Jesus and hearing Jesus as the true representative, the beloved Son of God. One with God, He speaks and acts in harmony with God the Father.
When we study the entire Gospel of John again in Greek, it will be even more apparent how the wording of the Fourth Gospel teaches that harmony, grace, and forgiveness so patiently.
Ranger Bob teaches by drilling - all the time. He was being trained in the Army as a young teenage and took all kinds of training as an Army Ranger. He often describes any effort in steps to be taken, and he repeats those steps often, even parking the car and setting the emergency brake.
The Gospel of John shows how Jesus taught the same way, looking at these spiritual topics from every possible direction. Luther did the same. The result is that - in the Scriptures - we can look at these topics within the entire Bible, in many setting, sometimes with parallel words, to learn what God means.
So righteousness is often talked about but seldom taught correctly.
Jesus made it clear in John 16. The Holy Spirit (meaning the Word, the preaching and teaching of the Word) will condemn/convict the world, because it does not believe.
That is why plain, simple posts or essays or books about the Word of God are so maddening to many who call themselves Lutheran but are really on the fringes. They belong so they can stand on the perimeter and disrupt, accuse, and throw rocks.
That is not all bad, because sometimes their anger drives them to the Word, and the Word convicts them of that sin - unbelief. But the Spirit is always doing that, always correcting us and taking away our man-made filters, our errors, even our blindness in certain areas.
The Spirit convicts us of our unbelief so He can convict us of our righteousness.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
I could not understand this shattering statement for the longest time. Verse 9 was tough too, cryptic until it is seen for what it is.
"i go to My Father..." That could only be true when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. That is the ultimate foundation of the Faith - the Son conquered sin and death - proof not only at the empty tomb but also in His post-resurrection teaching, speaking to the disciples and 500 brothers.
The Christian Church began in stages, among believing Jews before He was born, among Jews and Gentiles during His public ministry, and established in the post-resurrection time of teaching as the Risen Lord. When Ascended, all the preparation of the Word was completed and the preaching of the Apostles converted thousands.
One became a dozen disciples, a dozen disciples became 500 witnesses of the resurrection. The 500 witnesses established the truth of the preaching so that thousands were converted, many were persecuted and chased away, even more heard the Word.
To do this, every faithful Christian took away the false comfort in man-made righteousness and replaced that with the Gospel, the righteousness of faith.
People struggle with that today, which is good. The struggle clarifies the truth and dismisses error. I wrote one little piece on the way Romans 4 is summarized by Romans 5:1-2. The person who asked thanked me. Some anonymous person emailed me to call me more names and "explain" to me and condemn me, based on his complete lack of understanding. The anger means the Spirit is at work convicting, but getting past pride and blindness is hard work, even for the Holy Spirit.
The truth is always met with opposition. Our righteousness mus be better than than of the scribes and Pharisees. Faith means we trust not in ourselves but in God. Moreover, we trust in God being in charge of all events.
Someone said to me the other day, "You never know what the future holds."
I said, "True but we know Who holds the future." God can change things in a moment and make everything so different we know that it could only have come from God.
Luther made references to the "holy, precious cross" which Christians must bear. I found his language strange and even repugnant. But in time I could see that the truth brought on the cross and ended false friendships, security.
God replaced that with true friendship based on faith and an insecurity that was always balanced with miracles big and small, most of all the satisfaction of being able to write to a mixed crowd - those who love the Gospel, those seeking the peace of the Gospel, and those bitterly opposed to the righteousness of faith.
In two days, there were 4,000 views of the blog, which is good, because we cannot afford a nave that big. The bill for coffee and donuts would be a king's ransom.
Here is another aspect of the faith taught by Jesus - always looking outward means thinking first of the needs of others. It is not a virtue (in the old civic righteousness sense; celebrity charities are fund-raisers or worse). The Gospel multiplies the blessings of others because everyone (ideally) is looking to another's needs and not to the self.
