Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Gems from Luther's Sermons, Volume 5


 The thankful leper - by Norma Boeckler



Gems from Volume 5

The Wicked – Justified by Works

11. They are really wicked people who become proud in external things, who desire to justify and make themselves pious by their works, as this lawyer here does. Behold, what a proud character he is, he presents himself in his own name, and thinks Christ will not rebuke him; yea, he allows himself to think that the Lord will extol and praise his life in the presence of all the people, and does not think of learning anything from the Lord, but only seeks his own praise. The ignorant pretender would have gladly heard a psalm of praise from the man whom the people esteemed, and at whom all men wondered. Thus all hypocrites do, who outwardly parade their excellent, great and noble works. They well say that they do not seek honor and praise, but inwardly in their hearts they are full of ambition, and desire all the world to know of their holiness, and smile very nicely when they hear men speak of it.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Our Glittering Lives

19. Therefore, what the Lord here says to this lawyer, he says to us all, namely, that we have not yet fulfilled the law, and still he requires us to do it. On this account all men are guilty of death, and are the devil’s own property. “All men are liars,” Psalm 116:11, vain and offensive. What they pretend does not avail before God. In our own affairs we are shrewd; how to scrape together money and goods, how to speak well of God before the people, and how to push ourselves ahead in a masterly manner. But what does God care for this? His will is that we should love him with all our hearts. This no man can do, and the conclusion is that we are all sinners, and especially those who walk in a beautiful outward show.
Therefore it is safer that we go and confess that we all are sinners, than that we have respect to our works and cling to our beautiful, glittering lives.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The High Mission of Christ

26. When he entered upon that high mission to prove that he loved God with all his heart, he laid down his bodily life with all he had, and said: Father, here you have all, my bodily life, my glory and honor, which I had among the people; all this I give as it is for thy sake, that the world may know how I love thee. My Father, let my wisdom perish, so that the world may look upon me as most foolish. Let me be the most despised, who was heretofore praised by all the world. Now I am the worst murderer, who before was friendly, useful and serviceable to the whole world. Dear Father, all this I despise, only that I may not be disobedient to thee.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Christ the True Samaritan

32. But Christ, the true Samaritan, takes the poor man to himself as his own, goes to him and does not require the helpless one to come to him; for here is no merit, but pure grace and mercy; and he binds up his wounds, cares for him and pours in oil and wine, this is the whole Gospel from beginning to end. He pours in oil when grace is preached, as when one says: Behold thou poor man, here is your unbelief, here is your condemnation, here you are wounded and sore. Wait! All this I will cure with the Gospel. Behold, here cling firmly to this Samaritan, to Christ the Savior, he will help you, and nothing else in heaven or on earth will. You know very well that oil softens, thus also the sweet, loving preaching of the Gospel gives me a soft, mild heart toward God and my neighbor, so that I risk my bodily life for the sake of Christ my Lord and his Gospel, if God and necessity require it.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Substance of the Gospel

36. Now here we have the substance of the Gospel. The kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of mercy and grace, in which there is nothing but a continual carrying of the lost. Christ carries our infirmities and sicknesses, he takes our sins upon himself and has patience when we fail. We still always lay about his neck, and yet he does not become weary of carrying us, which should be the greatest comfort for us when we are in conflict with sin.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Law Is a Mirror

40. Now find me a man who is chaste or otherwise pious with a burning passion and love; there is none such on the earth. We find ourselves much more inclined to anger, hatred, envy, worldly pleasures, than to tender heartedness and other virtues. And when I find in my inclination such a spark, it is all false, the law is not satisfied. But I find not only a spark in me, but a whole bake-oven full of the fire of evil inclinations, for there is no love in the heart, nor in any member of the body. Therefore I here see in the law as in a mirror, that everything I have is condemned and cursed; for not one jot of the law shall pass away but all must be fulfilled, as Christ says, Matthew 5:18: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.”
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Let the Gospel Drown All Other Sounds

11. In the same manner should the beautiful sound and the lovely music of the Gospel of Christ so engage and fill our ears, that we may hear nothing else, as when a great bell or a kettledrum and trumpet sound and resound, the air is so full that whatever else is spoken, sung or cried cannot be heard. So should Christ’s words constantly in all our lives and actions have the upper hand in our hearts through faith, and know of comfort, righteousness and salvation from none other. These would indeed be blessed eyes and ears that could thus make use of the blessed time or dispensation of the Gospel, and know what God has given them in it; for such eyes and ears God himself esteems as an excellent and precious treasure and a sacred and holy possession, which could not be purchased by the whole world even if it had many more and brighter lights and suns.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon


Gospel Doctrine, Power, and Treasure

43. Behold, this is the doctrine and the power of the Gospel and the treasure by which we are saved; which brings us to the point that we also begin to fulfill the law. For where the great unfathomable love and favor of Christ are known and believed, thence flows forth also love both to God and to our neighbor. For by means of such knowledge and consolation the Holy Spirit moves the heart to love God, and gladly does what it should to his praise and thanks, guards against sin and disobedience and willingly offers itself to serve and help everybody, and where it still feels its weakness it battles against the flesh and Satan by calling upon God, etc. And thus while ever rising in faith it holds to Christ, where it does not do enough in keeping the law, its comfort is that Christ fulfills the law and bestows and imparts his fullness and strength, and thus he remains always our righteousness, salvation, sanctification, etc.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

Faith Forms a Bright Vision and Refuge in God

5. In the first place it is a characteristic of faith to presume to trust God’s grace, and it forms a bright vision and refuge in God, doubting nothing it thinks God will have regard for his faith, and not forsake it. For where there is no such vision and confidence, there is no true faith, and there is also no true prayer nor any seeking after God. But where it exists it makes man bold and anxious freely to bring his troubles unto God, and earnestly to pray for help.
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Ten Hairy Shirts

30. Now study this example and incite your life that you may do your good works not only without harm to others, but also to their advantage, and not only to friends and the good, but consider that the greater portion will be lost, and that you will receive ingratitude and hatred as your reward. Then you will walk the right road in the footprints of Christ your Lord. Until you have accomplished this, you should not regard yourself a true, perfect Christian, it matters not whether you wear ten hairy shirts and fast every day, or celebrate mass every day, and pray the psalter, make pilgrimages, and establish churches or yearly festivals. For Christ wishes to have such works done, if they are done in the right spirit
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

When God Seems Farthest Away

37. Therefore observe that when God appears to be farthest away, he is nearest. This word of Christ reads as though we cannot know what he will do, he does not refuse nor promise anything, so that the lepers, who previously certainly relied on his kindness for all things, might have become offended at it, and begun to doubt, and taken quite a different sense of it than Christ meant. Christ speaks it out of an overflowing kindness that he thinks it unnecessary to tell them that they have already obtained what they want. But as the sense was not clear to them they might have thought he was entirely of a different opinion, and farther from them than before.
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Christ Should Fall Down and Praise Them

69. However, the false saints and murderers of Christ also now praise and extol with a loud voice God and his works, yea, they preach and cry more about God than the true saints do. As we even now see every corner full of preachers, who highly extol and praise God, that he alone is worthy of praise and honor, and use the very same voice and Word which the true preachers use. Why then is it not valid? Or what is the matter with it? Without doubt nothing else than that they with this leper do not fall down at the feet of Christ to thank him, but want Christ to fall down at their feet and thank them.
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Christian Life

72. From this we see how far a Christian life is above the natural life. First, it despises self; secondly, it loves and thirsts for contempt; thirdly, it punishes everything that is unwilling to be despised, by which it resigns itself to all misfortune; fourthly it is also despised and persecuted on account of such contempt and punishment; fifthly, it does not think itself worthy to suffer such persecution. Now from the very first part the world and nature flee, when then will they come to the last? But there is still another and a greater behind it, concerning the falling at the feet of Christ, which the priests neither understand nor want; for not every faith is sufficient for it, but the faith of Christ must be there, that truly humiliates us. Of this we will treat later under the spiritual interpretation. “And he was a Samaritan.”
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity




Indecisive Autumn


We needed several nights below freezing to for the trees to start turning color and losing leaves. I had some gardening plans on Saturday, but the cold discouraged everyone's outdoor ambitions and the remaining rose collars stayed in the limo.

The sun came out again, and roses began to bloom, so we took one in a bud vase to our chiro, who just had a baby girl. He also received two copies of the Creation Gardening Book. My favorite response to the photos is - "Those are your roses? You grew them?"

Yesterday evening, a slow drizzle began, to hurry the Halloween visitors inside.  More rain was falling this morning, so the leaves will rot faster. Water, bacteria, and mold conspire to reduce the leaves, a job finished by slugs, earthworms, and mites.

I said to one visitor, "In the old days, gardening experts made fun of leaves because they were mostly carbon and offered a low ratio of nitrogen. But now, they realize fungus is the key enabler in soil, and fungus needs carbon."

Creation Gardeners, who often operate under other names - Carbon Cowboys, Cover Croppers, Organic Gardeners, Lasagna Gardeners - spend their time and energy facilitating God's own Creation and engineering - not to mention His divine management.

I had to remove the hoses from the outside faucets, due to the freezes, and worried, "How will I get water to the new plants, if it stays dry?" But now I have moist soil, a wheelbarrow full of rainwater, and various barrels and buckets overflowing.

Ranger Bob is itching to weed-eat my front yard. I said, "Nope. I have Hosta planted. Everything can wait until spring. Then I will have a lot of cover crops like Daisies  and Hostas, in-between the roses."



A landscaper like Ranger Bob sees the ideal as flowers separated by attractive mulch. However, our weather patterns almost neutralize mulch, acting as steroids to push weeds through the saturated cardboard and shredded wood.

The new farmers - Carbon Cowboys - argue for cover crops

  • To build up the soil through growing roots, 
  • To hold rain and snow-melt in their deep root systems, and
  • To host a wide variety of beneficial bugs and spiders.
I look at the front yard as a mass of roots feeding the soil. I truly despise Bermuda grass for its invasive nature, but the plant has carpeted the rose garden fairly well for now. Like the traditional lawn, the grassy weed has the potential to return its storage of food into the soil. 

Several nights of 20 degrees left the entire crop of Buckwheat deader than a WELS conference on the Book of Concord, where the only attendees would be a few who wanted to make their own wine. So the Buckwheat is rotting into the soil and its seeds are dropping onto the soil, the largest bird-feeder in the area.

 A classic - this will convert the weed-hater.


Another soil improver, created and designed by God, is the Hog Peanut plant, a legume with deep roots and nitrogen building capacity. I used to say, "There it is again," and try to yank it out of the ground. No luck. I even used Roundup on my neighbor's plant, and it grew back! Now I snip it off at the base and let it grow again.

Soil does not build overnight, an expectation fueled by magical fertilizer compounds which who such names as Miracle-Gro. Thus science doffs it hat to Creation, seeking to imitate what it cannot duplicate. A nitrogen compound will make a plant greener and is likely to spur growth while impeding the production of fruit. But too much fertilizer not only stuns the soil creatures, driving them away, but also burns the plant by drawing moisture out of the cells through osmosis. 

Compare the results of a rainstorm or snowmelt, greening the plants and providing seed for the sower and bread for the eater - Isaiah 55.


Soil Building
So I use autumn and winter to build the soil and dream about the spring. Bags of leaves will go somewhere in the gardens. For example, I put all our cardboard boxes in the bird-feeder area, to rot down into the soil. I can cover them with leaves for added food for the Butterfly Bushes and Poke. 

Aside - I hated and cut down Poke until I realized it was the best bird feeder around - and free. Besides, the deep roots are great for breaking up and building the soil.

The birds sit on their swing and poop weed seeds into the area, various grains, so I let the grains grow all summer too. The mass of greenery is covered with BB flowers, Poke flowers, birds, butterflies, and climbing squirrels. 

The logic of the wild garden is to let the plants that love that setting thrive. I learned that from the growing area farthest back. I kept trying to introduce sun-loving plants there, but native weeds kept taking over. Since my goal was to screen the backyards and  loud dogs behind us, feeding or sheltering birds, I let Creation take its course and claim the area - with some editing.

Logs - Let Them Rot
The logs, which I  left on the ground for fencing and marking new plants,  are now in a state of half-rot. Some are soft like cardboard already, since rain and soil creatures worked them over. Every log is a savings and loan bank, storing food and gradually letting it be released into the soil. But it is also attracting and feeding soil creatures, which draw birds and toads to their location for an easy meal. 


Years go, our Crepe Myrtle was a pathetic shrub.


The Mother of All Crepe Myrtles
My year-around project is to feed the soil under the MACM. That area beneath has grown in area with the plant. First I anointed the soil with red wiggler earthworms, the kind that bend Creature toward compost loving plants. Next I began adding every kind organic matter I could find, from Mushroom Compost to green globs of lawn grass from the bottom of the mower. More ingredients were - shredded wood, pine needles and cones, rotting wet leaves, all CM trimmings and flowers and twigs. And lo - that enormous pile of organic material has been devoured by the Crepe Myrtle time after time. The area beneath is flat, but the soil beneath teams (note the spelling) with soil creatures and the biggest, best earth movers - moles.

The result is a plant that radiates flower beauty all summer and blooms again just to show off (after pruning). Now the plant is covered with the blessed fruit of the flowers - CM seeds, a delight for all birds feeding in winter.