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| Books by Norma A. Boeckler |
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 292 - Lord Jesus Christ
Selnecker, Concordist
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
The Sermon Hymn #370 My Hope Is Built
All Are Under the Scriptures - Secular and Religious Leaders, Clergy and Laity
The Communion Hymn #249 Luther - Isaiah Mighty Seer
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 #261 Luther - Lord Keep Us Steadfast
Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity
O mighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ didst mercifully help the palsied man both in body and soul: We beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy great mercy: Be gracious also unto us; forgive us all our sins, and so govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not ourselves be the cause of sickness and other afflictions; keep us in Thy fear, and strengthen us by Thy grace that we may escape temporal and eternal wrath and punishment, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
KJV Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Introductory Material for the Sermon
We should be thinking about the Reformation all the time, not just on a designated Sunday. One reason is that we are repeating the errors of the Medieval Age. The only way to escape them is to identify the errors and repudiate them.
There were two major Medieval problems. One was that the authorities were the law. That meant either the pope or the local ruler lived according to his own standards and applied a different set to those beneath him. That meant the highest honor was being a secular or religious ruler and no one else had as much honor in the eyes of God.
The other problem was one of religious authority. Aristotle was considered the chief philosopher and measure of all truths. Therefore, Aristotle and the Church were in harmony with each other. That seems strange to us today, but they would also find it odd that Fuller Seminary was the most influence theology school in America, easily quotable and definitely a career enhancer for all denominations and Rome, too.
Lombard's Sentences was the religious text of greatest importance. That meant Aristotle and Lombard were above the Scriptures and used to interpret the Word of God.
Eric Metaxas makes a very good point in that Luther considered everyone was under the Word of God equally. Unafraid, Luther was just as willing to cajole the rulers and pope as he was the local blacksmith. All were under the Scriptures, which were the only and the ultimate authority.
Each era has its own authorities. Some previous authorities, like Lombard and Aquinas, are mostly forgotten, but remain a force among those who still consider them to be pre-eminent. R. Bultmann was the celebrity New Testament "scholar" for the Left, though his reputation rested on repeating the original work of others. Bultmann considered the divine in the Bible to be mythological and called for the "demythologizing" of the Scriptures. The mainline denominations do not accept the truth of the Bible as God's revelation but use the terms (Son of God, resurrection, miracle) with a wink to the audience - "We know this never happened but the impression matters: it is part of our God-story."
Two of my Roman Catholic classmates at Notre Dame were furious that an Old Testament scholar considered OT stories as myths. "What about the New Testament?" He said, "No, that really happened." When a mainline leader speaks or writes about Biblical stories or narratives, he normally means myths, not actual events.
The beauty of this approach is maintaining an impression while using the Bultmann filter to make the Bible say whatever matters at the moment. For example, the ELCA women bishops spoke of the Holy Spirit as "She" who was being blocked by male chauvenists. "Get out of Her way!" and then they said, "She's out!" Actual words and the link can be found here.
The Bible clearly connects the work of the Holy Spirit to the Word at all times, and Luther called separating the two (making stuff up with Biblical words) - Enthusiasm, the root of all false doctrine. To witness the LCMS and WELS gladly working with such pea-brained Enthusiasts is proof that the "conservatives" are just as much Bultmann followers as ELCA is. Or - Thrivent money has anaesthetized any conscience left in their stony hearts.
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| Books by Norma A. Boeckler |
All Are Under the Scriptures - Secular and Religious Leaders, Clergy and Laity
KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation [GJ - conduct, manner of life] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Luther:
2. Therefore, the Gospel ministry is necessary in the Church, not only for instruction of the ignorant — such as the simple, unlettered people and the children — but also for the purpose of awakening those who know very well what they are to believe and how they are to live, and admonishing them to be on their guard daily and not to become indolent, disheartened or tired in the war they must wage on this earth with the devil, with their own flesh and with all manner of evil.
3. For this reason Paul is so persistent in his admonitions that he actually seems to be overdoing it. He proceeds as if the Christians were either too dull to comprehend or so inattentive and forgetful that they must be reminded and driven. The apostle well knows that though they have made a beginning in faith and are in that state which should show the fruits of faith, such result is not so easily forthcoming. It will not do to think and say:
Well, it is sufficient to have the doctrine, and if we have the Spirit and faith, then fruits and good works will follow of their own accord. For although the Spirit truly is present and, as Christ says, willing and effective in those that believe, on the other hand the flesh is weak and sluggish.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians is a general letter. a compact summary of his inspired teaching. His letters contain many gems in the course of his argumentation and his personal greetings and advice. But Ephesians is a concentration of gems and should be read in one sitting from time to time. We recently studied it during the Sunday class.
This is a general warning by Paul, that we no longer obey the societal assumption that the carnal life is "natural." That excuse has been used since the earliest days, that if we have desires, they should be satisfied. They are inborn, natural, so they should be obeyed - some people claim. This includes the obvious sins of the flesh, but also the more dangerous engine that drives or excuses it - the thoughts of the old man, the unconverted Old Adam.
We can even see that in our domestic pets. Some will do what is natural for them, in grabbing whatever food is close enough to snatch away. We had a cat that ran up my mother's easy chair and pulled the lump of chicken out of her chicken sandwich, ran away, and ate it. We said, "How cute is your cat now, Mom?" Our mother was shocked and outraged. Our dog Sassy has been quite self-controlled, but one time she was near a plate of bones. I looked away and the bones were fewer and her look was one of pure guilt.
The Roman Empire was very much like our society today, a minority of believers in the midst of self-serving paganism. We have many people who go to the foundation of paganism and deal in Satanism with all of its implications. People seldom hide their involvement but brag about it whenever possible. Some are somewhat out in the open with their symbols, costumes, and habits. When I taught world religion, some students told the others they were pagan priestesses. Two became instant friends when they both confessed the same doctrine.
Because this conduct of the Old Adam is so common, we must consciously remove it from influencing us. "Putting off" and "putting on" are the verbs used for dressing. My wife hastens to remind me that garden-wear is not suitable away from the garden. It is often taken off near the washing machine to reduce the contamination of mulch, soil, bits of dead weeds and leaves.
The Old Adam urges us in the wrong direction, so we cannot blend that with the Christian Faith. As many have noticed, every pagan religion wants to hitch a ride with Christianity: Zen Christians, etc. One cannot serve two masters at once. If the unique witness of the Word is blended with something else, that will begin a loyalty to the other. Nothing else can be considered the witness of the Holy Spirit, no matter how much it is honored by an institution.
For example, Aquinas is highly honor among some Roman Catholics, but his work has little Gospel in it. His verbose volumes are dependent on the philosophy of Aristotle.
Luther knew philosophy quite well, and he opposed giving Aristotle any credit in teaching the Bible. Later, that came back with the final stages of Lutheran scholasticism, which taught people so many Latin categories that had to be named to explain the Bible. How did the Evangelists and Paul manage without the "non-reciprocity of the second genus?"
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
This action of putting off the Old Adam and being renewed is the work of the Gospel Word - Ephesians 2:5. The danger of switching from the Biblical view to the modern do-it-yourself perspective is everywhere. But since all the verses of the Bible are One Truth together, we do not ignore the supporting passages in order to create some new dogma, as often happens.
In this age of feelings - mostly injured feelings - where the feelings are the master and prince, the judge of all actions and thoughts, it is good to consider the Biblical emphasis on the mind.
God gave us brains to use them, not to formulate excuses like "I was in the moment." So many explanations flow from that, as long as we make feelings dominate over thought. But the appeal to feelings is hollow, even if popular. I was angry - for good reason - that my favorite clippers were gone during gardening. I was sure they were nicked from our front yard, since I was in and out of the house. That emotion stayed with me until I found them the following day, where I left them. So the emotion came from my own mistake, seeing without seeing the clippers in the grass.
What renews our mind is the Gospel. The Law can tell us where we fall short, but the Gospel urges us to honor God's will from love and respect.
Here is an obvious example. If we leave soil alone, weeds will grow, brought in by the wind or birds. They quickly take root, germinated by the warmth of the sun and rain. In a well tended garden, weeds are even more productive, with ideal soil and extra watering. One way to combat weeds is to promote the growth of good plants with dense roots, such as mint or hosta. The good plants leave little room or sunshine for weeds, but still the weeds find little niches for growth. So a gardener can mostly solve the weed program by displacing them, but still has to cast off the weeds. Weeds are natural; a tended garden comes from the Creation of God and some muscle power.
The Old Adam remains but we are renewed by the Gospel of forgiveness and always given a new start.
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Since the verbs for wearing and taking off clothing are used, some are reminded of the baptismal gown that adults would wear for their baptisms. In that respect, people put on Christ when they are baptized, and they wear the righteousness of Christ. That is also what the Parable of the Wedding Feast teaches. Some may be at the feast but wearing their own clothes (their glittering vices, as Augustine wrote), not the righteousness of Christ.
The new man is created by the Holy Spirit at work in the Means of Grace. By granting total forgiveness, it gives us true holiness. This is Gospel motivation. Many have mistakenly beaten people down with the condemnation of the Law, with no emphasis on forgiveness and the new life in Christ. That is precisely the definition of an alien religion and not Christianity. We stand condemned already from lack of faith. God shows us His holy will in the Ten Commandments and His complete forgiveness in the Gospel of the risen Christ.
How can all of my sins be forgiven? That is answered by How can a crucified and impaled man rise from the dead? The risen Christ is the answer to our doubts. Nothing is more miraculous than that, except perhaps to say that God become man to make that so.
It is not a matter of "feeling forgiven" as the Enthusiasts like to say. They may even torture a soul longer to make the feeling of exaltation that much greater, but that is manipulation, not the Gospel. Jesus did not do that, but said, "Your sins are forgiven, rise up and walk."
Of course, it is important to remember it is the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of faith, not the righteousness of deeds. All good works glorifying God start with faith in Christ and they are energized by faith in Christ.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Paul addressed a style in our society, in our churches, which is very disturbing and destructive. We can create favorable outcomes (from our perspective) by lying to people. Many clergy leaders take great pride in their ability to deceive, to deny what is obviously true, to hide what they do not want others to find out. To claim it is for the good of Holy Mother Church is quite a stretch. There is no injunction to protect institutions from the truth. Satan is the father of all lies, so how does one honor Holy Mother Church by lying, often by protecting unrepentant felons?
People can engage in the same kind of lying, and for example, in declaring they know the motivations for others. Everyone who says the Synodical Conference has its weak points is "bitter." That by itself is a violation of the Eighth Commandment, as it is to call a correction of false doctrine "slander."
Luther:
19. Lest there might be one who failed to understand the meaning of the old and the new man, or of true and false righteousness and holiness, the apostle now proceeds to give an example or two, making it easier for us to grasp the idea. All sin comes under one of two classes: First, that of the devil’s own making, such as murder and deceit; for by lies he establishes all idolatry, error, false faith and holiness, and among men he creates faithlessness, deceit, malice, etc. Secondly, those sins which he instigates man to commit against man; deeds of wrath, hatred, vengeance and murder. Paul combines these two classes.
20. Now, when a man does not deal fairly with his neighbor, but practices dishonesty and deceit, be it in matters spiritual or temporal (and the world is ever deceitful in all transactions), then certainly the old man holds sway and not righteousness nor holiness, however much the man may effect a good appearance and evade the courts. For such conduct does not reflect God’s image, but the devil’s. For the heart does not rely on God and his truth, otherwise it would war with fraud and deception; but its object is to clothe itself with a misleading garb, even assuming the name of God, and thus to deceive, belie, betray and forsake its neighbor at the bidding of every fiendish whim, and all for the satisfaction of its avarice, selfishness and pride.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.
Anger is an emotion, a thermometer, that often moves upward, sometimes for imaginary reasons. But Paul commands us to be thermostats. We can control the anger and what we do about the anger. Wrath means trembling with rage, and we read about many police reports where some minor commotion caused someone to erupt in wrath and do something foolish. That becomes habitual, too.
The second part is pure spiritual wisdom. When we hold onto anger, it distorts our thinking, because anger is an emotion that becomes a filter on so many things in our lives.
One cure for anger about an incident is to consider, "Am I any different? Have I ever been thoughtless, snippy, difficult?" Or we can ask, "Is this worth getting upset about?" We waited in line for a rental car. The younglings were all in a hurry, but each one asked, "You have to see my driver's license?!" Yes. We thought it was increasingly funny. The cashier said, "You were prepared and said nothing. You get a free upgrade."
To be angry about trivia is exhausting, and many times it is easy to be angry about important matters. But we do have a mind to consider the whole issue and not stew about it. God gives us answers when we think about problems and apply Biblical solutions. Suggesting the right course of action with a big smile has devastating effect on obstinacy in stores, online concerns, and government agencies.
Haste in being angry and clinging to anger gives place to the devil. Once that process begins, we can easily make excuses for more of the same. One man added up points for his frustrations in life. When he reached the magical number, he went on multiple day alcoholic binges, which were ruining his life.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Synods dole out millions of dollars. I remember one committee saying "We have $50,000 to spend," and that was when it was a lot of money, over 20 years ago.
The lazy and greedy like to divert money to themselves, to oversee programs that necessarily spend a lot without doing anything. The treasurer for the Episcopalian Church diverted millions to herself and her clergy husband, years ago.
Doing nothing and expecting support is no better. Time and again we see that people enjoy working and having something to share with other. How does one measure just one person learning the true nature of the Gospel, after being propagandized by the great and the wise with a false view of God's Word?
And that Gospel naturally moves people to help their neighbors in the normal needs of life. There is nothing like giving a shivering person a winter coat and seeing him burst into tears of gratitude. Perhaps a lot of foolishness led up to that lack of comfort in winter, but why not share what is not even missed?
Luther:
33. When the apostle says, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need,” he indicates the true fruit of repentance, which consists in abandoning and utterly abstaining from evil and in doing good. He at the same time attacks and reproves the sin of theft so common in all walks of life. And them who idle away their time and neglect their duty of serving and helping their fellow-beings, he calls — and rightfully — thieves in God’s sight.
34. For the right interpretation of the commandment, Thou shalt not steal, is this: Thou shalt live of thine own work, that thou mayest have to give to the needy. This is your bounden duty, and if you do not so God will pronounce you not a Christian but a thief and robber. In the first place, because you are an idler and do not support yourself, but live by the sweat and toil of others; in the second place, because you withhold from your neighbor what you plainly owe him. Where now shall we find those who keep this commandment? Indeed, where should we dare look for them except where no people live? But such a class of people should Christians be. Therefore, let each of us beware lest he deceive himself; for God will not be mocked nor deceived. Galatians 6:7.
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| Books by Norma A. Boeckler |
