Sunday, June 24, 2018

Snowden Sims - Who Role-Played a Gay GA Pope - Is Now Michigan District President, WELS

Pastor Snowden Sims, St. Paul, Columbus, Ohio -
where Floyd Stolzenburg started his evil, little Church Growth Agency, breathlessly announced as "the first Church Growth agency in WELS." When I witnessed the GA hazing event at the WELS seminary, he was chosen as GA Pope and played it gay. I last saw him on the staff of DP Buchholz' church in Tempe, Arizona.
 How small is St. Paul now?
Tim Glende got his clown church ideas from the source.

Later, when I was in Columbus, St. Paul hosted the CG speaker at their church. I attended and wrote it up for CN.

From Mirthless Mark Schroeder
Two of the districts elected new district presidents. Rev. John Seifert, who has served as the president of the Michigan District, is retiring later this summer. He has served as the Michigan District president since 1994 and was the longest serving member of the Conference of Presidents. Rev. Snowden Sims, serving at St. Paul’s, Columbus, Ohio, was elected to succeed Seifert and has already begun to serve as district president. Rev. Charles Degner has served since 2008 as president of the Minnesota District and has also announced his retirement. Rev. Dennis Klatt, serving at Holy Trinity, New Hope, Minn., was elected to succeed him and has also begun his work as the Minnesota District president.
We thank God for the faithful service of Seifert and Degner, and we ask for his gracious blessings on Sims and Klatt.
100th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod
2018 marks the 100th anniversary of our sister synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). The ELS traces its history back to 1853, when the first Norwegian Synod was organized in the midwestern United States. In 1917 the Norwegian Synod merged with two other Norwegian groups. A small group of pastors and congregations were opposed to the merger for doctrinal reasons; they met to form a new church body that was called the Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church. The name was later changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
The ELS comprises approximately 20,000 baptized members with approximately 150 congregations. The ELS operates Bethany Lutheran College and Bethany Lutheran Seminary in Mankato, Minn.
We join our ELS brothers and sisters in thanking God for his blessings on our sister synod.
Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder
 I remember John Seifert dumping pastors whose sin was criticizing Church Growth. Not allowed. And his CG district is in the dumper after his long leadership.
He was known for using the Judas goat method perfected by Ted Jungkuntz - encourage someone to say something, then leave him twisting in the wind.

Talking to Gideon: Finding the Treasure Often Means Scraping Away a Lot of Debris


Taking some time from fighting the Midianites, Gideon sent me a note about Luther's discovery of the Gospel.

That prompted a post I was considering for a time. As he said, Luther had to become disturbed by his study of the Scriptures and teaching them. The dogma of the Church did not match the Bible at all, and he could find ancient (Augustine) and current examples (Staupitz) of Gospel teachers.

The worst false teachers like to speak of their lineage, their family's time in the synod, as if ordination is a fine wine, aged in oaken barrels. Others work their way to the top as a snitch, as Stalin (a former seminary student) did. Once he was done betraying his friends to the police, he was the top terrorist.

Whether clergy or laity, sound doctrinal attitudes come more from scraping away and rejecting the debris from the past. I was criticizing Church Growth from a Disciples of Christ member - Donald McGavran - when a WELS seminary professor's son, Jon Balge, asked, "Didn't you belong to the Disciples, Greg?" - as if that neutralized what I was saying. For someone who lived and studied at Mordor, it was a mortal blow, because everything is family, aged like fine wine,  limburger cheese, and surströmming.

My parents had me baptized at a Congregational church and immersed at the Disciples of Christ church in Moline - now closed nota bene. Yes, the Disciples converted me - I loathed the superficiality of that church so much that I got out of the family car one Sunday and went to the Augustana Synod church across the street. I never came back. I was not happy seeing WELS drawn to the happy-clappy gimmicks I witnessed at First Christian in Moline:
 Rev. Charles Willey

  • Rev. Willey riding a motorcycle down the church aisle.
  • Rev. Willey wearing a chaplain's helmet and coming to church on a firetruck.
  • Rev. Willey giving non-sermons with no content.
 First Christian in Moline, now closed,
is the canary in the coalmine. They were early with CG gimmicks and clowning.


Many have observed the same obsessions in WELS, though WELS is shrinking faster than bacon on a hot griddle.

Luther grew up in Medieval Germany and was trained first in law and then in Augustianian monasticism. As a priest and monk, he had all the wrong training, but getting a doctorate in the Scriptures and teaching the Word redirected him.

He admitted in the Galatians Lectures (Kregel edition, about page 90) that his Roman training still stuck to his bones.

I was brought up with evolution, not dogmatically, but generally the idea behind science. There was excitement about Luther when I joined Salem in Moline (still open). They took the Augsburg Confession for granted, as Pietists, but they did mention it as part of membership. Oddly, the conservative pastor taught The Mighty Acts of God, by Robert Marshall, a 100% historical-critical method book.

Augustana is Latin for Augsburg, as in the Augsburg Confession, but the Quia Marias of the Synodical Conference are just as indifferent to the Augsburg Confession as we were in the Lutheran Church in America, which digested the Augustana Synod.

I became interested in the Social Gospel when studying at Notre Dame, and that led to my dissertation about the Social Gospel professor at the Augustana Seminary - A. D. Mattson. That research necessarily got me more interested in the history of Lutheran synods in America. Clearly, the Social Gospel was not Lutheran doctrine, but it was the key motivating idea in Robert Marshall's LCA. Marshall - the failed PhD in Old Testament - became the successor to Franklin C. Fry.

 How could JP Meyer be wrong? He taught in WELS for 50 years! President Panning edited this pile of rubbish, endorsing its content by reprinting it at their little publishing house.

In spite of many fine words, WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC have these two passions in common:

  1. The Church Growth Movement
  2. Justification without Faith - UOJ.


But no one wanted to fight for liturgical worship and Biblical doctrine. Nevertheless, they certainly woke me up with their CG tasers and UOJ bludgeons. 

As Gideon indicated, the disturbances take us back to the Word, to the clear, plain message in the Scriptures.

 "Tell President Schroeder this district is peaceful again."
"I will, President Seifert."

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2018. Romans 5 - Justification by Faith

This should be read carefully and remembered - one of the great statements about the Scriptures. Besides that, it is very important for those impressed by Biblical "scholars" who love to market their theories.


The Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson



The melodies are linked in the hymn name. 
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.


The Hymn # 452                      The Son of God  
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 #657 Beatiful Savior

Romans 5 - Justification by Faith

The Communion Hymn # 308       Invited Lord  
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 # 413                     I Walk in Danger  

KJV Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

Fourth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who art merciful, and through Christ didst promise us, that Thou wilt neither judge nor condemn us, but graciously forgive us all our sins, and abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: We pray Thee, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt establish in our hearts a confident faith in Thy mercy, and teach us also to be merciful to our neighbor, that we may not judge or condemn others, but willingly forgive all men, and, Judging only ourselves, lead blessed lives in Thy fear, through Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.



 By Norma A. Boeckler

Introduction
Two weeks ago I used Romans 4 for the sermon and posted it separately here. 

That exposition is essential for understanding Romans 5. The fanatical sects build their dogma on one verse or part of one verse, but the Holy Scriptures are one unit, one unified truth. Isolating a phrase, verse, or half-verse will always contradict the the Bible as the Book of the Holy Spirit (Luther).

Chapter 4 of Romans establishes Father Abraham as the example of being justified by faith, before he was circumcised. Thus he is an example for Jews and Gentiles alike, his later circumcision serving as a seal of what justification by faith had already accomplished.

Romans King James Version (KJV)

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Paraphrase - Genesis 15 was not written for Abraham's sake alone, that he was counted forgiven (righteousness was imputed).
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Paraphrase - But Genesis 15 was written for us too, and we will be counted forgiven, if we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Paraphrase - He was betrayed for our sins (Atonement) and raised again for our justification by faith.


  By Norma A. Boeckler

Romans 5 - Justification by Faith

Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:


The first two verses are a summary of Romans 4 and a transition to the meaning of a Christian's faith. And Romans 5 leads to Romans 6 as an essay on the Christian life, which is called sanctification.
"Therefore" is an important bridge between Abraham as the example of the righteousness of faith, Romans 4, and not righteousness through the Law. We can see how significant that was to Paul's audience, both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews thought of themselves as children of Abraham - their great claim, which seemed to exclude the Gentiles, no matter what. The Pharisees used this claim against Jesus in John 8.
But Paul shows from Genesis - and emphasizes in Romans 4 - that Abraham unites both groups through the righteousness of faith. The Law does not save either group because no one can be perfect through the Law. The Law is limited in that regard, but still the work of the Spirit and useful for all.
We have peace with God through Jesus Christ because we are justified by faith. The phrasing is wonderful, because Paul leads with justification by faith as the cause of peace with God through Christ. Word order is used for emphasis and the first word is - Since we are justified by faith...
With this one word (having been justified by faith -  (δικαιωθεντες) everything that has been said in 3:21 to 4:25 is concentrated and predicated directly of Paul and of the Roman believers
Lenski, Romans, p. 332.
Our peace is with God, because a guilty conscience plagues us and we feel God condemning us. The strongest person cannot bear the accusations of a guilty conscience, so peace and forgiveness always go together in the Bible. Peace is and has always been sought after, because emotional pain is the worst kind. That can keep someone from doing anything or thinking of anything else. That is because lacking faith in a gracious, forgiving God, our mistaken faith (really blindness) sees Him and angry, vindictive, and punishing - so He becomes what we imagine, though it is a false view, a blinding and stupifying view.
This peace with God comes through the agency of Christ. The little preposition dia has a lot of meaning. I used to wonder exactly what it was supposed to mean when I read in Light from the Ancient East that it was a common expression, for example, to send something dia (through) another person. Peace with God comes through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. He is the Person who made that possible. And His resurrection remains the ultimate proof of His divinity and victory over death.

Having been pronounced righteous by God means that God has established peace for us objectively, the condition of peace, shalom, Heilby removing all our sin and our guilt; all of his wrath is turned from us, all of his grace rests upon us. God is at peace with all the righteous, the justified. 
Lenski, Romans, p. 332.
 By Norma A. Boeckler


Access by Faith into This Grace
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This clears up the confusion caused by mainline Universalists and Lutheran UOJists alike, who claim that everyone receives God's grace, without the Gospel Word or faith. The word for access is very simple and can be used as entrance or approach. Is someone approachable? God is, because of Christ - through Him we have access to God's grace.
Faith and Grace Not Opposed, Except among False Teachers
We do not stand on our merits or works but the grace of God, faith in Christ. One is not opposed to the other. The modernist, rationalist theologians warn people, "Do not create a contingency, an if, for grace. No, grace must be without an if we believe." Who else warns that way? The UOJists, who say, "You are not a Christian. Your faith is not in Christ. Your faith is in faith. You are a faithian." That comes from the "conservative" Concordia, Ft. Wayne Seminary. 
We have faith in Christ because He died for our sins and the Gospel teaches this. That is why Luther and the Book of Concord used the term - Means of Grace, or Instruments of Grace for the Word and Sacraments. Grace does not just happen, except in UOJ-land and liberal theological books. The Spirit conveys Christ and His Grace through the invisible Word of preaching and teaching, the visible Word of the Sacraments.
Because of this grace we rejoice in the hope of everlasting life. In Christ we have heaven and earth, the blessings of God that overflow into all aspects of life.
 By Norma A. Boeckler

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
The Holy Spirit connects this glorious grace with glorying in tribulations, because difficulties must accompany faith in Christ. Luther said, "The Christian does not look for the cross. It is already on his back."
Tribulations work patience; patience works experience (dokime) - The word for experience is also used for the conditioning of a soldier, tried and not wanting, as Lenski says.  Going through the difficulties of the cross make a believer more patient, more conditioned, and this conditioning leads to hope of eternal life, which becomes far more important as we age and lose loved ones.
And that hope will never leave us ashamed.
James said almost the same:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
"We are not ashamed seems an odd turn until we think about the hopes that were dashed and left us disappointed, embarrassed, ashamed, etc. But this is not true about eternal life because the Gospel is efficacious in converting us and filling us with a love of God, knowing (as John shows so often) that Jesus is the voice and will and face of God the Father, working in perfect harmony with Him. To love the Son is to love the Father, and this is conveyed to us by the Spirit.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

Verse 6 confuses the weak-minded, who ignore context and the content of Romans, not to mention the entire Bible. Romans - all the epistles - are written for Christians, so there is always an assumption of faith, even among the rather conflicted and dysfunctional Corinthians.
Christ died for the ungodly. - This simply affirms that Jesus died for sins of the entire world, for all time, not the absolution of the world - without the Gospel - for all time. For some reason the UOJ salesmen glory in unfaith and making the absence of the Gospel...their twisted Gospel for their little world. If someone is confused about this, he only need refer to Romans 4 - 
4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
This also seems to wind people back, at least to the Atonement, but even back to Adam and Eve. The atoning death if Christ is universal, but that does not make this verse a doctrinal statement in favor of Universal forgiveness and salvation. The point is God's grace and our lack of merit, certainly a major emphasis when the inclinations of Pharisaic Judaism were so strong. And that is good because the visible Church falls back into the same Pharisaical attitudes - look at my family, look at my synodical positions, look at my programs, all the good I have done.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

What changed was Christ dying for the world - we were reconciled to God through the Savior. As Luther wrote so eloquently and the Confessions repeat, this Treasure of the Gospel remains true for all time. But the Treasure must be distributed by the Holy Spirit for us to have it for our own. Thus Gospel preaching distributes the Treasure, sin and death are vanquished, eternal life springs up.
"Receiving" is often used as a synonym for believing, trusting. The Atonement is the act of God, which moves us to faith, receiving the Treasure as intended for each and every one of us.

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

One can only marvel that people who claim, "I studied Greek!" would get this wrong. "Many" does not mean "all" but "many"! Greek is precise and eloquent. 

16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift [came] upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here is another place where the best and brightest try to insert Universalism into Paul's message. If so, that means the Apostle veered away from a clear message of individual Justification by Faith into an implied doctrine of Universal Objective Justification.
That reminds me of many a liberal Biblical scholar marveling at how poorly written and slanted various new Testament books were. Good thing they could explain to us deplorables. 
If the UOJists are briliant, then Paul is confused and addled. But if Paul is brilliantly clear (as the Word always is) then they are mixed up, dishonest, and lazy-crazy.
Verse 18
the free gift [came] upon all men unto justification of life.
The verb is in brackets because it is not present in the text. Instead, various translators insert a verb, and any verb is someone slanted when none was present.
This is done for emphasis, so what is being emphasized? The free gift = justification of life, anarthrous, so more like free-gift-all-men-life-justification. This is nothing less than the Gospel being for the entire world, all peoples. How is that mysterious to the faux-professors on Mt. Zion, at Mordor, at the Copper Top Chapel, The Fort?
To reduce confusion and restore clarity, these mixed-up beta-men should study Romans 10 and see the plan of salvation for themselves in Paul's Means of Grace chapter. It is so clear than no one uses it at the leadership level. 

Luther's Sermon on Mercy


Painting by Norma A. Boeckler


FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.



Text. Luke 6:36-42. Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned’ forgive; and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom, For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.

And he spake also a parable unto them, Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest there the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me east out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Their hypocrite, east out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

A LESSON IN MERCY. THE MOTE AND THE BEAM.


1. This Gospel describes the works of love to our neighbor in temporal things. The Lord here describes these in few words, for he had just said, we should love our enemies, do good to them that hate us, bless them that curse us, pray for them that despitefully use us; if they smite us on one cheek, we should offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. All this he here condemns in a short conclusion, and in summing up all, says: “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Here you see described as in a nutshell all the good works we are to do to one another, as our heavenly Father has done to us and still does without ceasing.

2. You have often heard that we need not do good works to God, but to our neighbor. We cannot make God stronger nor richer by our works, but we can make our neighbor stronger and richer with them; he is in need of them, and hence they should be directed to him and not to God. This you have often heard and you have it now in your ears; I would to God, that it might come also into your hands and feet.

3. Therefore observe here what a perversion it is for man to exercise himself in doing works to God, which should be done to his neighbor; and then centers his faith in men and saints, which he should center alone in God. Turn this around, and then it is right, thus: faith must belong alone to God, whoever receives the divine works, God alone does them, and the same works of God we receive alone through faith. Then we should apply ourselves to our neighbor and arrange all our affairs to the end that they serve our neighbor. Before God all should be done in pure faith alone. The reason of this is because no one can help us but God, and what we have in body and soul we have alone from God, and in him alone should we anchor our heart.

4. Now, they turn it around thus, so that they center faith, which is due to God, upon themselves and other people and they fall down before their own devised idols, and what the great masters have invented, and place their confidence in them. Is not that very satan and death? as God in Jeremiah 2:13f. says: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Again he says in verse 35 to the people: Thou sayest, I shall turn my anger from thee, thou hast not sinned. “Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.”

5. First he says, that the bride has become a harlot and has turned from God; the living fountain from which flow life, salvation and all good, they have forsaken. Secondly, they turn to their own invention, and make their own fountain, in which there is no water. Thus also the Papists build upon their own inventions, saying mass, fasting, praying and the like; they indeed appear very much as though they were a fountain, as though they would draw from it life and salvation, yet it cannot hold any water; and they forsake God, the living fountain.

6. In this manner God says: They boldly rise up against me; I shall not be angry with them, they insist their ways and doings are right and enter into judgment with me. Behold, this is their other sin, that they are determined to defend their own doings. Therefore God says: I will enter into judgment with you and show you, how base you have become, in that you have continually gone your own way.

7. See, thus faith belongs to God alone and it should acquire for us from God alone what we need in temporal and spiritual matters; and it should acquire all in a way that it does not think it has merited it. This same faith should later again flow forth from our heart’s depths to our neighbor freely and unhindered in good works; not that we wish to rest our salvation in them; for God will not have that, but wishes the conscience to rest in himself alone. Just like a bride must cleave to the bridegroom alone, and to no one else, so does God require also from us that we confide only in him.

8. This Luke explains when he says: “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Here my conscience must be disposed toward God as a gracious, merciful father, and in harmony with this, go out to my neighbor and be also merciful to him. I must bring faith into my heart and up to God; and works out of my heart down to my neighbor. Thus Abraham did, when he went up on Mount Moriah to God, he left his servants and ass down at the foot of the mountain and took Isaac alone with him, Genesis 22:5.

So should we also do: when we wish to ascend to God, we should come with Isaac alone, that is, with Christ through faith; the servants and ass, that is, our works, we should leave below.

9. Now this has been said of faith and works as an introduction to our Gospel lesson, namely, that the motion of faith is inward and upward, of works outward and downward. For thus are we righteous before God and men, in that we honor God and look direct to him and believe according to his Word, and in love do sufficient for our neighbor. Let us now consider the words of today’s Gospel in their order. “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

10. Now how is God our heavenly Father merciful? Thus, in that he gives us all things, natural and spiritual, temporal and eternal, gratuitously and out of pure goodness. For should he give unto us out of and according to our merits, he would have to give us only hell-fire and eternal condemnation. Therefore what he gives us in our possessions and honor, is given out of pure mercy. He sees that we are captives of death; but he is merciful and gives us life. He sees that we are the children of hell; but he is merciful and gives us heaven. He sees that we are poor, naked and exposed, hungry and thirsty; but he is merciful, and clothes, feeds and gives us to drink, and satisfies us with all good things. Thus, whatever we have for the body or spirit, he gives us out of mercy, and pours his blessings over us and into us. Therefore Christ says here: Imitate your Father and be also merciful, as he is merciful.

11. Now this is not a common mercy, nor one that reason teaches. For that is selfish: it gives to the great and learned and those who merit it; loves those, who are beautiful; gives to those from whom it has some benefit or advantage. That is a political, beggarly, shaggy, piece-meal mercy. For if I give to him, who merited it, or if I regard beauty and friendship, then it is duty and debt and not mercy. This is also what the Lord meant, when he just before this Gospel in Luke 6:32-34 says: “And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them.

And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much.” However, Christian mercy should not seek its own; but it should be thus: it must be round, and open its eyes and look at all alike, friend and foe, as our heavenly Father does.

12. And where this mercy is not, there is also no faith. For if your heart is in the state of faith that you know your God has revealed himself to you to be so good and merciful, without thy merit, and purely gratuitously, while you were still his enemy and a child of eternal wrath; if you believe this, you cannot refrain from showing yourself so to your neighbor; and do all out of love to God and for the welfare of your neighbor. Therefore, see to it that you make no distinction between friend and foe, the worthy and the unworthy; for you see that all who were here mentioned, have merited from us something different than that we should love and do them good.

And the Lord also teaches this, when in Luke 6:35 he says: “But love your enemies, and do good unto them, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.” Thus we have considered the first part of this Gospel.

13. Further one may say here: Have you not now taught that our works avail nothing before God in paying him for anything: how is it then that here the very contrary stands written, as Christ says: “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” All these sayings sound as though we should appear before God with our works and merit by virtue of them God’s mercy and forgiveness; although you have nevertheless heard that faith does all.

14. Now note well, St. Paul and the holy Scriptures here and there teach this; for they emphasize that man must believe and appear before God with pure faith alone. Therefore the sayings, as they are here, are to be understood that works are only the test and confirmation of faith, so that if I believe, I must be merciful, not judge, not condemn, give and forgive my neighbor. Genesis 22:5f. is an example of this. What did Abraham, when he was called to offer his son? He was obedient to the commandment, and was about to sacrifice his son, and drew the sword to do it. What happened? The angel of Jehovah restrained him and said unto him: “Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.”

15. Thus here also; we must first receive before we give; before we can do acts of mercy, we must receive from God mercy. We do not lay the first stone; the sheep does not seek the shepherd, but the shepherd the sheep; therefore it is also with our works, that we obtain nothing by them from God, but that we acquire all that we do acquire without any merit on our part. Thus in the prophet Isaiah 65:1, God says: “I am inquired of by them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not.” And at the end of the same chapter he says: “And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

For before we seek him, he finds us; before we ask for him, he has us. The same Paul says to the Romans 3:22-26: “There is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season’ that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.” And in the following chapter, Romans 4:4-5. he says: “Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.” “For if it be by grace it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace,” as Paul writes later in Romans 11:6.

16. In the second place the works are a sure sign and like a seal stamped on a letter, by which I am assured that my faith is right. The reason is: Do I feel in my heart, that my works flow forth out of love, then I am assured that my faith is genuine. If I forgive, then my forgiving assures me that my faith is genuine, and it seals and proves my faith, that God also has forgiven me and daily forgives me; but if I do not forgive, then may I at once conclude that I am lacking in faith. So it was also with Abraham, his works made known to him his faith. God well knew that Abraham believed; but he had to know and prove it.

17. Therefore the works are only continual spontaneous fruits and proofs of such faith. For of what use were it to me, if I had already strong faith and did not know it? As, if I had a chest full of gold and knew it not, it would be of no use to me; but when someone makes it known to me, he then does me as great a service as if he donated it to me. Just so, if I have faith, and know it not, it is of no use to me. Therefore faith must blossom forth and become known to me through the works following faith and these are then signs and seals that faith is present in my heart. St. Peter also teaches the same when in 2 Peter 1:10-11 he conclusively says of the works of love and the virtues of faith: “Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” He does not say, do good works that you may be called; but that you may make your calling and election sure, to your own satisfaction.

18. Therefore the Scriptures guard you well from blundering into them and fortifying your works by such passages. For works are rejected in Scripture, that we should not think of becoming righteous through them; but they are honored and praised in Scripture in that they are needed by our neighbor and are signs and fruits of our faith.

19. See, I had to make this explanation in order that I might not strengthen the interpretations of the Papists, all of whom err in their understanding of this Gospel. Now, therefore God often places such passages against one another, as we and reason are apt to imagine, in order to exercise us in reading the Scriptures, and that we may not think we know the whole Scriptures, when we hardly know a passage. Some passages convey the spirit and teaching, how we are to appear in God’s presence, with nothing but our faith; as the passage: “Being justified freely (undeservedly, without merit, gratuitously, Ed.) by his grace.” Then later in order that the body outwardly might not lie around lazy and become sluggish, we have also passages, which direct and exercise the body; as those above. “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you;” and the passages in Matthew 25:42f. , where our Lord Christ says, he will require works of us on the day of judgment, when he will say to the condemned: “I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not,” and so on. These passages the ignorant and fickle spirits wish to cram together and murder, and construe everything to refer to works; and that is wrong. But those who are spiritual refer them only to their body and stand before God also only in spirit: that is right and also necessary; for man is made up of two parts, spirit and flesh. Therefore some passages refer to naked faith in the spirit, others to naked works done to the body; for a passage of Scripture cannot refer at the same time to the spirit and also to the body.

20. Here we should also speak on the attitude we are to take to our neighbor with respect to our temporal possessions. With regard to his possessions one should act thus: he should part with some to others, should loan and give to his neighbor, where and when he will. And for doing this we have rigid commandments and not only words of advice, as they explain them who teach, that whoever wishes to be perfect should do them. Consequently those wishing to live thus, have retired into monasteries and have desired to become perfect. Hence all monasteries are founded upon the filth of the devil. For there are no people more avaricious and less benevolent than just those in the monasteries. Now, if one wishes to be a Christian, he should loan to others, to the extent of his ability, freely without any writing. Again, if we see one has nothing with which to pay us back, we should freely donate it to him and cancel the debt, as Nehemiah did, as is recorded in the fifth chapter of II Esdras (Nehemiah 5). For God has given this to you, he can indeed give you more, if you believe differently. Further, if one takes anything from us, we are not to demand it to be returned; but our neighbor is to intercede for us and help to restrain injustice and to enter a complaint against the authorities, in order that we may not suffer too much.

21. Now observe the monks and priests have entirely and completely twisted these works, that they should be only advisable. And in this way they have drawn all other persons from them, who then, having done no Christian work during their whole lives, provide for the saying of masses or leave other legacies when they are about to die, by which all is fulfilled and accomplished. But you hear now: If we wish to be Christians, we must loan, give and part with our possessions, or we will be deficient in our faith.

22. Therefore thoroughly ponder and grasp this Gospel, in order that you may not deal with God in any other way than through naked faith and let good works gush from such faith that they may serve only your neighbor.

This has been said of the first part of our Gospel text. Now. let us see what follows further, since the Lord himself explains what kind of mercy he means. He says: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you.”

23. Here the Lord divides mercy into thee parts, that we may know what mercy is which we are to exercise toward our neighbor. First, we are not to judge or condemn; second, we are to forgive our neighbor, if he has offended us; third, you are to come to the help of the needy: this is what the word “mercy” means, when used in the Scriptures.

24. And all this must flow out of an upright faith so that it be done without hypocrisy and without guile, and that we may have no respect of persons.

For if you would wish them well, who wish you well; or benefit those, who benefit you; or harm those, who harm you, that would be a great error. But you should do to him as Christ here just preceding our Gospel text says:

You should imitate your heavenly Father and love your enemies, do good to those who do harm to you, forgive him who offends, you, loan to him who is in need, and so on, as you have heard.

25. Now, to speak of the first part, how we should not judge nor condemn, we remark that God has appointed the sword of the state to punish public crime, only that care must be taken that it be not used contrary to God’s precept and command, for example, that we do not murder one when he is innocent. For when the judge does injustice, he is at the same time as much a murderer as others. Of this judgment the Lord here does not speak; he has in mind Luke 12:14, where he said to him who wished he should say to his brother that he should divide the inheritance with him: “Who made me a judge or a divider over you.” For Christ’s kingdom is not concerned about outward matters.

26. But the Lord speaks here of another judgment, namely, that one esteems another good or bad because of that which one does not see on the outside, which judgment belongs to God alone. For it can happen that you see your neighbor sin to-day whom God receives to-morrow. You can indeed also be pious in your own eyes and not think of your own sins. Such judging Christ has forbidden, for no love or unity can be where people thus judge and condemn. To judge or condemn one another is nothing but to have a beam in your own eye; as all hypocrites have in their eyes. For those who regard themselves righteous, take offense at their brethren; whatever they do displeases them, and they will not behold their own sins.

But it so happens that you will not discover the beam in your own eye, if you behold continually the sins of others, and thus fall under the judgment of God. From this it follows then, that you, who judge another, art a greater sinner before God, then the lowest villain or the worst harlot, for God alone knows who shall be saved or condemned; all sin is nothing compared to your judging.

27. The same hypocrites are adepts in rejoicing over and taking pleasure in having an opportunity to gossip about the fall and crime of a neighbor, and to stir up his filth. And what other persons do, they always construe in the worst light, and no one can do anything to please them; and although they themselves cannot at once do this, they nevertheless gladly hear others speak of it. If you were a godly person you should cover up and help to quiet such things, as much as it may be possible for you. And it generally happens that the worst harlots, even according to the flesh, also judge and pass sentence; yea, they judge not only human beings, but also God himself.

28. Therefore, is thy brother a sinner, then cover his sin and pray for him.

Dost thou publish his sins, then truly thou art not a child of your merciful Father; for otherwise thou wouldst be also as he, merciful. It is certainly true that we cannot show as great mercy to our neighbor, as God has to us; but it is the true work of the devil that we do the very opposite of mercy, which is a sure sign that there is not a grain of mercy in us. All this is the meaning of the text of this Gospel, when it says: “Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit?

The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thy eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.”

29. As if the Lord would say: You think thy Brother is blind and will punish him, that is, you wish to guide others and you are blind yourself.

You hold him as a sinner and think you are righteous. What difference is that than that your heart is so disposed as to think you are better than he?

This means nothing more nor less than that you wish to guide others, and?t you are blind yourself; and whoever follows you will fall into the ditch with you. Concerning characters who imagine they are better than others and would that the people followed them more than the Word of God, Paul says to the Romans 2:#23 17:23: “But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth; thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples? thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou God?” Therefore he says also at the beginning of the same chapter to the hypocrites: “Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”

30. I call that telling the truth to the hypocrites who understand to show others the way, which they themselves do not know, and guide others along with themselves into the ditch. Therefore the Lord says: “The disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is perfected shall be as his teacher.” It is a common proverb to say: I cannot learn more from my teacher, than he knows. Why did the Lord utter this saying? Because of two kinds of teachers: the first is blind; if I follow him, then I also will be blind; if he falls into the ditch, so will I. The other teacher is the merciful Father, from whom we should learn mercy; follow we him, then we also will be merciful, even as he is merciful; and if we were merciful all the time, then we would be perfect, even as he is perfect; but that does not fully take place while we are here in this life.

31. The second part of mercy is that we are to forgive those who offend us. A Christian can never be so greatly offended, that he should not forgive, not only seven times, but seventy times seven, as the Lord spake to Peter in Matthew 18:22. Therefore God also forgives a Christian his sins or infirmities, so that he may forgive others their infirmities. This Christ pictured just before in a beautiful parable, which he closed with the words: “So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not everyone his brother from your hearts.”

32. And we pray for this also daily in the Lord’s Prayer, when we pray the petition and say: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Is not that something great, when I a poor sinner forgive my neighbor his sins or failings, that God will forgive me also my sins and infirmities? Had one murdered my father, what would that be compared to my sin, with which I have offended and provoke God to anger.

33. The third element that belongs to mercy is, that we should give to the poor and needy and come to their help. Concerning this John in his first Epistle,1 John 3:17, says: “But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, doth the love of God abide in him?” For where the love of God is, it must manifest itself. To this the saying of Christ in Matthew 5:7 refers: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Therefore the Lord adds here in our Gospel a promise, and says: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom.” And he further says: “For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.”

34. This is sufficient for the present on the three parts of the mercy we are to show to our neighbor. To this end should the saying of Christ in Matthew 7:12 especially stir us. After he spoke so much about Christian love and how we should show our brother such love, he concludes and says: “All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

Now everyone is always so disposed, if he be sick, that he wishes the whole world would come to his help. Am I a poor sinner, steeped in shame, have I a heavy afflicted conscience: then I ought to wish for the whole world to comfort and help me, and cover my sins and my shame.

Just such should my attitude be to my neighbor, not to judge and condemn, forgive his failings, help him, counsel, loan and give to him as I would that others should do to me, if I were overwhelmed with anxiety and want, with misery and poverty.

35. And just in this way does the world take knowledge of Christians, how they live among themselves and show one another such acts of mercy. This the Lord Christ also taught his disciples in the Lord’s Supper when in John 13:34-35 he said: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Such is the explanation of this Gospel; let us pray to God for his grace.