The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 2019

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 2019

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Liturgist, Zach Engleman, M.Div.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central  Daylight Time

The Hymn # 200     I Know that My Redeemer Lives    

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 # 384       How Great Is Thy Compassion             

A Parable about Faith

The Communion Hymn #199            Jesus Christ Is Risen Today (trumpet)                    

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 # 514             God Moves in a Mysterious Way     

In Our Prayers

• Andrea, whose eyes will need careful, patient help.
• Carl Roper, who is being treated for more occurrences.
• Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
• Those looking for work and a better income.
• Glen Kotten hopes to visit the Philippines. The English mission booklet is going to press this week.
• Those facing the hurricane's destruction.

Norma A. Boeckler

KJV 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Eleventh Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father, we beseech Thee so to guide and direct us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not forget our sins and be filled with pride, but continue in daily repentance and renewal, seeking our comfort only in the blessed knowledge that Thou wilt be merciful unto us, forgive us our sins, and grant us eternal life; through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

 After the 2009 ELCA, a storm did this, at the church where they met.

 Dore

Background for the Sermon, Luke 18:9-14, Pharisee and Tax Collector

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8."

So much confusion is caused by people missing the concept of the Bible - which is simply to teach faith in God through the ministry and Person of Christ Jesus. 

Those who teach salvation by works are the true Pharisees of today. They belong to the right denomination, have the right titles, and are known everywhere for all the right reasons. When they are not praising themselves for their virtues - which they signal to everyone - they are condemning those scoundrels who are not fit to be nearby.

Those who teach salvation by faith in Christ are the rarest of birds, but not prized, because they do not fit the norms of society. This is because man's reason always likes to shade the meaning of faith. The Bible is quite clear about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the Virgin Birth of the Son, the miracles of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, His atoning death and His resurrection.

Those who toy with words like to change things around to suit themselves and appear as intellectuals. But Jesus said, "You must believe as a child" with perfect trust, in concrete terms. 

This faith in the Savior is difficult for the intellectual and the class leader in seminary. They tend toward the profound and the popular, but away from the Biblical.

The Bible teaches us the kindness, patience, and love of God through Christ, who ate with open sinners and found Himself confronted by works-saints. This parable shows the difference between faith in God and faith in Self. 

A Parable about Faith

KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

The introduction to the parable is not to be skipped over, because these words tell us exactly what this parable teaches. Nothing summarizes the teaching of Jesus so well as this comparison, because it is a departure from accepted wisdom then and certainly attacks the basic error of mankind.

One wealthy young businessman said, "I think all religions are alike." I said, "I agree" and watched his face light up. Then I added, "Except for one thing." Then I waited. He said, "What is that?" I provided the exception, "All religions teach that man must give to God in some way. But Christianity is the only one where God gives to man." He agreed and seemed deflated.

That is related to this parable. Religion is based upon man's virtue and works - or something else entirely. 

certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

That is another way of saying - righteousness is inside of us, based upon how good we are, which makes us despise others who are not so good. That is the normal way people think and act, so this under attack in this parable.

Luther:

1. This Gospel brings two extraordinary persons to our notice, or two kinds of people from the multitude called the people of God, who would be God’s servants and come before him seeking righteousness. And the two kinds of righteousness, which are found on earth, are also represented; the one, which makes a great show before all the world and in the eyes of men, and yet before God it amounts to nothing, and is therefore condemned; the other, which is not known among men, and yet before God it is called righteousness and is pleasing in his sight. The one is that of the beautiful, proud saint, the Pharisee; the other, that of the poor, humble, sorrowing sinner, the publican.

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee was not a bad person but a model of behavior. The reason for their opposition to Jesus was two-fold. One was that He dismissed their claims of righteousness based on their works. The second reason - He taught the people that He was indeed the Promised Messiah, that they should believe in Him, which was true righteousness. 

Proof of this difference is in all the books of the theological libraries, in the way Jesus has been taught and is taught today. The vast majority change the Biblical picture so that Jesus reflects them and their values, not their sole trust in Him. The latest version has been brewing over a long period of time and has a history of its own. ELCA has declared that Jesus is not the only way of salvation, and they scold everyone who disagrees with this. 

This follows the almost comical saga of the "quest for the historical Jesus," where one author after another presented a version of Jesus that appealed to him, substituting his "scientific" view for the plain, Biblical words of the Gospel.

One side of this debacle is saying the real mission of the Church is to redeem society by getting laws passed to make everything right. Jesus is not the Savior - the government is. They do not trust in God Incarnate, but they trust in man-made laws. This view is entirely material and judged by its results. 

The other side of this debacle is saying the real mission of the Church is to grow. "God wants His Church to grow." (Donald McGavran, Disciples of Christ liberal, advocate for Planned Parenthood). 

Both examples have a law-based way of measuring progress. Thus the Pharisee says about his righteousness.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

In case we forget, Paul was a Pharisee and he considered himself the best of them. People of often see his boasting as irritating, but Paul in those passages is comparing his old self to one where he can only boast of the cross, Christ crucified for our sins.

This example of a Pharisee is judging everything by the Law, by the Ten Commandments, and his record is very good. He is thankful for adhering to the Law and not engaging in the open, obvious sins represented by this tax collector. The tax collectors gathered the money for the Roman Empire to pay for such expenses as keeping the Roman soldiers there to remind the Jews they were captives and not free. In addition, as in all tax farming situations (France before the Revolution), the taxes were farmed out so that the collector did better for himself by forcing more money out of his victims. The threat of force was always behind the publicans. 

They were so despised that Jesus used the tax collectors as  visual examples of those on the outside.  

Matthew 18:17: “And if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.”

The Pharisee is thankful he is not like the tax collector, so the last part is especially sharp. The Pharisee fasts twice a week and tithes everything. In short, "Look at all I do, compared to the tax collector, and the extra I do besides."

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

The comparison is clear - 

• pride in himself versus humility, 
• faith in God's mercy to sinners versus works-righteousness. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5, Beatitudes)

The Pharisee had great, shining works to offer, and that is still greatly admired today. The tax collector was not offering himself and his works for God's approval, but asking for forgiveness in abject humility.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

I hesitate to use these words, because they make so many nominal Lutherans angry - in this parable, the tax collector was Justified by Faith.

Like Lazarus in a similar parable. the tax collector was nothing and had nothing in the eyes of the people, so his righteousness had to come from the outside, not from within - from God's works, not from his own works. 

This was all so strange and different that the disciples did not put it all together until the resurrection teaching of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in bringing to remembrance all Christ did and taught.

The events had to happen for them to integrate them with the Old Testament, and then absolute truth of Jesus' ministry was proven in the Word over and over. 

Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing [the report], and hearing [the report] by the Word of God.

16 αλλ ου παντες υπηκουσαν τω ευαγγελιω, ησαιας γαρ λεγει, κυριε τις επιστευσεν τη ακοη ημων

17 αρα η πιστις εξ ακοης η δε ακοη δια ρηματος θεου

Paul quoted Isaiah 53 - "Who has believed our Report?" which is a reference to the atoning death of Jesus predicted in Isaiah 53. Faith comes from hearing this report.

Isaiah 52
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:


15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.


12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.



The Good Tree of Faith, The Evil Tree of Unbelief in Christ

The fate of the visible Lutheran Church is now sealed in this country. ELCA has officially declared its rejection of Scriptural teaching, as it has in so many ways before, but this time so clearly.

ELCA officially teaches that Jesus is not the only way of salvation, and yet WELS-LCMS-ELCA will gather for a Change or Die! conference where two ordained ministers (ELCA and LCMS) will teach those synod members how to change their congregations.

In addressing false doctrine, Jesus taught in Matthew 7 that the good tree of faith can only bear good fruit, the evil tree of unbelief can only produce corrupt fruit.

The Pharisee uses works which are perfectly good on their own to promote his merit, which means his faith is in himself and his works. In contract, the tax collector trusts in God alone for his forgiveness and salvation.

Faith in the Savior comes from hearing the Gospel Report, which runs through the Old Testament but is taught in perfect clarity in Isaiah 53. Faith receives or welcomes the cause of this gift - God Himself, Who is the effective power of the Word. 

Faith welcomes the blessings of the Gospel, and God dwells in the believer to bless that person in many different ways. \