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| Illustration by Norma Boeckler |
Oculi, The Third Sunday in Lent, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Mid-Week Lenten Services are Wednesdays at 7 PM.
The Hymn #175 Hamburg 2.43
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 Ephesians 5:1-9
The Gospel Luke 11:14-28
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #172:1-5 Herzlich tut mir 2.55
The Stronger Man Is Jesus
The Hymn #172:6-10 Herzlich tut mir 2.55
The Hymn #172:6-10 Herzlich tut mir 2.55
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 #151 Christ the Life 2:78
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 #151 Christ the Life 2:78
KJV Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Third Sunday in Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast sent Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks unto Thee for Thy merciful help, and we beseech Thee to attend us with Thy grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Thy Holy Spirit to keep us in Thy word and Thy fear, that unto the end we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
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The Stronger Man Is Jesus
Someone wrote recently that the sermon posted was "very positive" and being shared with frineds of his. A sermon should be, because the purpose of the Bible is to proclaim the Good News of Christ, to plant and sustain faith in Him.
People should ask, "Why are sermons taken so lightly, that pastors are encouraged to steal them from other sources?" and "Why does the word sermon have negative associations?" or "Why does the term preach sound so bad in today's conversations?"
Jesus and the Apostles converted people solely by preaching the Word of God. They did not have clever entertainments or useful programs. They did not promise to transform society by getting out the vote for a progressive agenda (difficult to do in the Roman Empire). They did not offer prizes and other incentives for bringing someone to the preaching service.
As one Pentecostal minister's wife said, "We have kite day. Everyone who brings a friend gets a kite."
When the friends of the paralytic opened up the roof and let down their friend on a stretcher, did Jesus first say, "Give them each a kite"?
Preaching has a bad name because congregations and denominations use it to make people feel guilt instead of telling them about the Savior. They imagine that, whatever their definition of sin, speaking against it will eliminate or subdue it. What a notion that is. They should read Pilgrim's Progress, where preaching the law raises up a choking dust storm.
If preaching the law by itself did any good, then it would changed America by now. Long ago, a Lutheran a Union Seminary in New York said that most sermons were all law. That was when the denominations were first absorbed in changing society through politics and new laws.
It reminds me of a new wave of dangerous illness caused by extreme physical training. The coaches work people so hard that they start to have kidney failure (rhabdo) from excess muscle breakdown. What begins as a good idea can end in death.
We are seeing the death of denominations and schools, all from good intentions - or at least in the name of good intentions.
The Parable of the Stronger Man is a good remedy for this problem. It is so short than many overlook it, simply because it is rather obscure in meaning - at first. When we read it closely, the parable is the story of the Bible.
Luke 14:21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
We have to distinguish the good from the bad in this story. The wording makes us rethink the plot, because it uses what is now called a red herring. We are led in one direction, which is false. That makes us think harder about the real direction of the story.
A strong man in a palace should be left alone and in peace. That is what we think at first.
22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him...
This sounds like robbery, which seems bad. Who is this villain?
He taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
But the point of this story is that Satan is the strong man in his palace. He is the prince of this world and the master of a thousand arts.
Jesus is the Stronger Man, who takes the castle away from Satan and divides the spoils among His followers. The Bible uses typology, where there is an old version and a new version of the story. Adam lost Paradise to Satan, so Milton's epic poem is called Paradise Lost. Jesus won Paradise from Satan, by dying for the sins of the world. So Milton's second and less famous poem is called Paradise Regained.
This brief story or analogy is told to encourage faith. By itself it would be difficult to understand. But the Bible consists of simple proclamations of the Gospel and many forms of explanations for that Gospel message.
The simple message is - Jesus died to give us forgiveness of sins, received through faith, and eternal life.
This analogy teaches - Satan reigned over earth as a powerful prince until Jesus came and proved Himself stronger. Jesus, by dying on the cross, proved himself the Hero and Savior, taking away the power and dominion of Satan and dividing the spoils of earth among believers.
Luther makes this comparison to encourage our study of the Word (BOC) - If Satan is the master of a thousand arts, then the Word is the master of 10,000 arts.
Look at it this way. Satan's troops have a thousand tricks to use, and they never tire of applying them. But the Gospel Word has given the followers of Jesus ten or 100 times as many ways to defeat him.
The almost extinguished band of Jesus followers expanded to reach every corner of the world. They did not do that through defeats, but through victories. Persecutions made them form new congregations in new areas. Doctrinal conflict made them separate the good from the bad, just as we throw out the wormy and rotten food from the unspoiled.
Satan's buddies like to use threats. They love to bully and slander people, to make them afraid. But have you seen their faces when faced with the truth? They run away like little girls, like DPs, and sob about being picked on. They turn white in the face and go silent. They look around for dishonest ways to save themselves, by offering bribes and flattery. They pound their chests and roar like gorillas do when threatened and afraid.
Satan's allies are very smart. The best are intellectuals with great personalities. They make sure they all get the honors of the world and great acclaim. When I first studied the American Humanist Association and its "creeds," I was astonished. I knew all of them by reputation. They were the stars of higher education and the media. Steve Allen? - the man who invented late night TV?
Bill Nye the Science Guy?
And yet, an ordinary believer armed with the Word can easily topple these inflated egos and burnished PR heroes. And this is what enrages Satan, as Luther recognized. A mere mortal, a frail and flawed human being, armed with the Word of God, is more powerful than the Prince of This World. And that is why Satan rages at believers today.
Just as the taunting crowd cried out during the crucifixion, "Where is His God?" so Satan's followers do today. The Stronger Man appears to be weaker, but that is only an appearance.
By allowing the forces of evil to crucify Him, Jesus took on the sins of the world. Evil people unknowingly carry out the plans of God, especially when they think they are doing the opposite.
That is why we always look to Jesus as the Stronger Man, no matter what happens to us.
He has taught us that
These are some of the spoils that Jesus has taken away from Satan, and this story is told so we have faith in Him rather than fear of the devil and his evil powers.
Besides this, the taunting comes from the blindness and hardness of unbelievers. They cannot see anything good coming from faith in Christ, so they loudly identify what is wrong with unbelievers.
In doing so, they call attention to their many short-comings. They stand out as fools and knaves, something anyone can see. The only ones who cheer them on are fellow unbelievers.
Meanwhile, believers, who are stronger, can use this opposition to open up the Gospel to their opponents and the uninformed. Many people went to see Erin Joy to cheer her up in the hospital, but she cheered them up and made them rethink reality. Someone can be impossibly weak and yet blessed, because Jesus is the Stronger Man. God perfects His power in weakness, to show that His grace is sufficient.
Even little conflicts can be used for the Gospel. One Christian friend knows almost nothing about Luther, but he is engaged in world-wide ministries. I told him I carry Luther's sermons with me, to read when I am waiting. He laughed (good naturedly) in my face. I said, "It would do you some good, too." We talk often, so it will be an opening for a better understanding of the Gospel.
Jesus went to the opposition and He preached to the sick, sinful, and needy - not to the strong, perfect, and powerful. We can do that too because Satan is strong, but Jesus is the Stronger Man.
Weak people want to go only where they have friends and supporters, because they are primarily weak in faith. That easily flies out the window when there is any danger or opposition.
We still feel weak, because we are, but we stand beside the Stronger Man.
I used to play a little tag with blond twins in the church hallway. I towered over the boys because they were young. When they thought I might win, they stood next to their dad, who was a giant, definitely the stronger man. They had a look of defiance on their faces. Each one had a hand on his calf. They had nothing to fear. They had faith in their defender.
So this tiny parable or analogy encourages faith in believers. The battle was won for us that we might enjoy the spoils distributed by the Stronger Man, Jesus.
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