The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
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
One Source Alone for Spiritual Fruits
In Our Prayers
- Andrea is doing very well.
- Carl Roper, who is being treated and tested. His wife Lynda fell and broke her shoulder.
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - diabetes.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten plans to visit the Philippines. We will meet him at the Shraders in early October. Pastor Shrader continues his battle with cancer.
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.
Background for the Gospel - Understanding the Fruits of the Spirit from John 15
To understand Galatians 5, we can look at Jesus' I AM sermon - I AM the True Vine, so that is the introduction to Galatians 5.
When people mow the grass and trim their hedges, they see little of the cycle of nature (Creation) that illustrates so much of Jesus' teaching.
Jesus used the grapevine, and I use roses to illustrate the same point. If a branch of the rose does not flower, it is cut away to encourage growth and blooming.
Jesus said, If a branch in me does not bear, He takes it away (the farmer or the Father). But those that do bear fruit are cleansed so they bear even more fruit.
The comparison is to the members of the visible church where some are nominal Christians but do not bear fruit. They are taken away. But the fruitful ones are cleansed and consequently bear even more fruit.
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| Rugosa rose hips are full of Vitamin C. |
Earlier this summer I had rugosa roses growing and blooming. The roses turned into bright red rose hips (seed pods), and I cut them off for a vase. (Rose hips concentrate vitamin C, which is why vitamin C tablets taste like rose hip tea. They are the concentrated form of the seed pod.) Because I cleansed the branches of the rose hips, the fruit of the flower, the branches bloomed again and will fruit again this year.
Grape vines flower and fruit the same way. We have some vines a short walk from our house, and our house was earlier where the farmer grew his grapes.
Being fruitful in Jesus comes from this comparison. "You are indeed cleansed through the Word which I have solemnly spoken to you."
John 15:3 ηδη υμεις καθαροι εστε δια τον λογον ον λελαληκα υμιν
That means forgiveness is the cleansing that makes us fruitful. That does not just happen, but the cleansing comes from remaining (abiding) in Jesus through the Gospel.
In this parallel comparison we can see what Galatians 5 is teaching. No fruit comes from separation from the plant.
We abide in Jesus through the Word, the Means of Grace, and He abides in us. There is no fruit apart from abiding in the Savior.
One Source Alone for Spiritual Fruits
KJV Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
The Apostle disposed of the fad plaguing the Galatians, where they ignored the Gospel in favor of a set of rules that would make them real Christians - they imagined - like Jesus and His disciples.
This was a tough change for them, because it is easy to promote, adopt, and obey a set of rules added to the Gospel. I remember one WELS seminarian saying, in all sincerity that "the only real WELS pastors are in the State of Wisconsin." The same future pastor said Zwingli was right and Luther was wrong about the Real Presence.
Paul did not argue against the Law, only against the Law dominating and suppressing the Gospel. If the Law is exalted and powerful, how much greater is the Gospel?
The Gospel approach to the Law is to go beyond the letter of the Law and to fulfill the Law out of love rather than fear. For example, Thou shalt not kill is not limited to murder but includes protecting the life of others.
Walking in the Spirit means "in the Word." It should be a habit that we are thinking about and dwelling on the meaning of the Gospel at all times. People make that easy for me by sending in questions about various issues - others by forbidding me to discuss issues where they have tender toes and hair-trigger feelings.
Psalm 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the Torah (teaching) of the Lord; and in his Torah (teaching) doth he meditate day and night.
To emphasize and rely on commands and threats will be limited to making sin all the more evident. This can be seen in the Woke generation that is always commanding, condemning, and seething with anger about wrongdoing. PM Trudeau is a perfect example of one who even insists on "peoplekind" rather than "mankind" when the generic second term has always been inclusive. Only by stretching and bending the language does one conjure up offense in "mankind." So this was raised when Trudeau was found using blackface at least three times. Live by the man-made Law, die by the man-made Law.
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.
People like to wiggle around with Paul's language and get rid of the Law altogether. These Antinomians (Anti-Law) people want to do everything their own way and have no regrets about it. Paul's teaching is about emphasis. The Gospel moves us to deny our carnal nature and live according to the Promises of God. Likewise, living by the Law makes people do the minimum and claim that as their righteousness.
No matter what Paul seems to say to tickle the ears of false teachers, his teaching is based upon the eternal Law established at Creation, which is proven in Jesus alone being able to fulfill the Law, being perfect and yet paying the price for our sins.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations (hatred), wrath, strife, seditions (dissensions), 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.
This list is long, a rhetorical device to show how many ways people can go against the eternal will and justice of God to satisfy themselves. It is just as true now as it was then. The headlines are only an indication of all the pagan evils going on in our midst. Once people learn the symbols - the owl, red shoes, devil horns (hand) - the extent of it becomes truly horrifying. Evil has its own attraction and the Law itself is limited in being a remedy. It discloses but cannot bear fruit.
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.
A. Love, joy, peace.
B. Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness.
C. Faithfulness, meekness, temperance.
This list is nine-fold to reflect the Trinity, as all groups of three tend to do in the Scriptures. This is such a profound influence that many people today use groups of three in explaining their points. They could use two or four, but they favor three. There are hundreds of examples in the Bible, Old Testament and New, but the rationalists cannot find them in their blindness.
These fruits, by definition, come from the energy of the Spirit in the Gospel Word. I have had to learn some electricity terms because of our engineer. They do not say - in the business - we turned on the juice - but "the line is energized." I like that because energy is the modern version of God's Word working, being effective, and it means "working in" en-ergos just as the Greek for farmer, george, means "land-worker."
Love - The Gospel Word cleanses us from sin, and that energizes love, joy, and peace. As Luther wrote so many times, the Gospel shows us that God is friendly and loving toward us, gladly forgiving us our sins and protecting us. When we see and know the love of God, that translates into the love of others. We love God because He loved us first, and that love is channeled to those around us.
Joy is something far beyond happiness, because joy is not dampened by difficult times, opposition, and bearing the cross. One obvious example is the care of a child by a mother. The baby needs to be cleaned, so she is happy to do that. Hungry? Nothing is quite so charming as a baby being fed, smiling, and falling asleep. Of course God created babies so that they are the ultimate charmers, instantly sizing up their parents, and obtaining their desires long before they can talk. They are born with a PhD in psychology, which they gradually lose, some remaining in their teen years, and all of it gone with the first baby. Then the children patiently teach this to their parents, who are joyful their children are so savvy at such a young age. God's Creation at work.
Peace is that quality the entire world would like to have, and this is revealed to us in the Scriptures. In the Bible, peace is always connected (with a few obvious exceptions) to the forgiveness of sin and salvation. Nothing can save us from spiritual turmoil and pain without the Gospel of Forgiveness. As I say whenever asked, the only way people can stay together is with forgiveness. This does not come from within (our works) but from without (the energy of the Gospel).
The only way we can feel forgiven and have peace is to know that Jesus has died for our sins.
Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness
We see so many dramas where someone says, "I cannot take this any longer." Any difficulty seems to be too long at the time, but patient endurance makes it seem much shorter, even a blessing. What seems to be a shortage is often an abundance in another area. Children see our dog's missing leg and are struck by how happy she is. Adults see the gentleness and love in Sassy's face. Her difficulties led to us having a very special dog with a huuuuge fanbase.
Our sainted member Brenda had almost no abilities left as her body became weaker and less effective. She joked about her dependency on others and worked the Internet to help people in similar circumstances. People she never met sent flowers to her funeral. She was a good example of simply overpowering people with her concerns for them, though she also had a side-career as a covert helper for the police.
Faith, Meekness, Temperance:
Faith is used in this sense as faithfulness. The Word keeps us faithful, not our great virtue and strength. God's Promises give us those fruits which are desired by all mankind but cannot grow where the Gospel is lacking. Where people give up the Faith, their hearts harden against it and they become blinded with their hatred for it.
Against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Paul was not above twisting the nose of those who forgot the Gospel. There is no law against the fruits of the Spirit. When the Gospel dominates, so do the fruits of the Spirit.
