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| Norma A. Boeckler |
The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
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 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 Hymn #297 The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Hymn #297 The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace
by Matthias Loy - Sermons to be published soon
Law and Gospel
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 Closing Hymn #123 Our God Our Help
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 Closing Hymn #123 Our God Our Help
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
In Our Prayers
- Andrea's first birthday was today.
- 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 recovering from Hurricane Dorian.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
KJV Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.
Twelfth Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast created all things: We thank Thee that Thou hast given us sound bodies, and hast graciously preserved our tongues and other members from the power of the adversary: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy grace, that we may rightly use our ears and tongues; help us to hear Thy word diligently and devoutly, and with our tongues so to praise and magnify Thy grace, that no one shall be offended by our words, but that all may be edified thereby, 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.
Luther on the Epistle text - Here
Luther on the Epistle text - Here
Background for the Sermon - Law and Gospel - 2 Corinthians 3:4ff
This lesson is like many in the New Testament, because a superficial reading of it is simply perplexing. People stumble over it and go on past - or they find creative ways to teach against it.
Letter and Spirit are another way of saying Law and Gospel. The Law exists whether man acknowledges it or not. The Declaration of Independence speaks of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God. Those two phrases are identical in meaning. What we see in Nature (Creation) has been set in motion by God, and God commands what is good for His Creation and also for us.
Some supposed Christians are Anti-Law (Antinomian) and claim the Law is obsolete. That by itself is absurd, but the message is appealing, to say it no longer has any meaning or force. People then do and say what they want because they neither know nor fear God. If they applied that to gardening, they would have all weeds or dead plants. As many have seen, even at this late date in science, many things happen and prosper in Creation that were only discovered recently, such as the potency of fungus in the soil and the power of beneficial insects. Their efficacy did not depend on man's knowledge or appreciation but upon their foundation in Creation and divine management thereafter.
Others, such as the extreme Pietists, are all Law. That is often called works-righteousness. They equate observing the Law, often their law, as Christianity. No one else is good enough, so the others must be shunned and hated. The Wheat Flour Messiah (Bishop's Hill, Illinois) was a good example. He said he had never committed any sin, but he had to keep explaining away his wanton behavior.
But the Spirit - faith in the Gospel - alone gives life. The Spirit conveys the Savior to us through the Word, and His message is grace, mercy, and forgiveness of sin.
Law and Gospel
KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Luther says this is a strange lesson, and it is another example of passages where the superficial reader will gain nothing from it. However, those who work at learning the meaning of the Word will never forget its lesson, or, lessons.
I discovered that 20 years ago when I tried to unravel why Lutherans had become so lost, weak, and confused. An obscure, sainted Lutheran (Egbert Schaller) challenged me to explain this strictly from the Scriptures. He correctly stated that Walther was quite weak in this area and often relied on dogmatic statements with Biblical statements added at the end.
The more I worked on this, the more I realized how this Biblical topic was completely neglected and actually taught against. To put it simply, Lutherans no longer relied on the power and effectiveness of the Word. That is why there is always another program, another method, another fad being tried (copied) from the Calvinists or from business. That effort ended up being Thy Strong Word, about 650 pages and now given away as a free PDF.
2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
So if we believe God's Word, as Paul says, then we know everything good comes from Jesus conveyed in the Word. The only way Jesus comes to people is through the Word, because the Spirit is at work in the teacher or preacher and also at work in those listen with sincere hearts. This effectiveness is also shown in the hardness and blindness of those who obstinately reject the Word, mock it, silence it, and persecute it. Therefore, our trust in not in ourselves but in Christ who does this work through the Spirit, as He promised He would in the farewell sermons of John's Gospel.
We should admire the eloquence of the KJV in this verse. We would say "toward God." But the KJV reads "through Christ to God-ward." Thus God becomes a divine adverb modifying "through Christ." Or it could be "God-ward through Christ" - emphasizing this work of the Spirit.
2 Cor. 3:4 πεποιθησιν (confidence, literally have been persuaded) δε τοιαυτην εχομεν, δια του χριστου προς (face to face with) τον θεον
This also emphasizes the divine activity of the Spirit, because the power of Paul's work and that of his associates is strictly from God.
He brought the Gospel to pagans and experienced their conversion to faith in Jesus.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
This word "sufficient" is just like the one we use all the time. Do you have sufficient funds for this? "Yes, not on our own, but we have a savings account, so we can pay."
Ever receive a bank statement with NSF? Insufficient funds! I knew that already, but what hurts is the $30 fee as punishment for the NSF.
So Paul and his associates are not enough and would never think or calculate they are enough by themselves. Their line of credit comes from God alone, because they know how little comes from themselves.
This is ignored and hated by those who depend on their synodical connections, personalities, and special methods to prove how good they are. Many were persuaded that a building would do their evangelism for them. Others thought decorations would be the final touch. Another easy method is placing a building on a busy road, like a car sales lot. The joke is this - Lutherans could not make one congregation work and the leaders said, "We can sell the building to Pentecostals. They don't care about location. They will come anyway." I thought, "Do you realize what you are saying?'
Notice all the splendid church buildings empty and hoping to be adopted by another denomination, that failing, a restaurant or theater owner. That says so much about man's sufficiency, because their plans, programs, and designs did not work.
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Literally - Paul has taken the verb for sufficient, ministers of the new testament, not of the Law but of the Gospel.
Paraphrase - God has qualified us (made us sufficient or able) to be ministers of the new testament...
This is not boasting by Paul but boasting about the power of God. Of course, people will always revert to snide remarks about Paul, the worst being those rationalist pastors who are constantly irritated by Paul (do we wonder why?).
Minister here is "servant" so that is hardly a personal boast. The modern word based on the term is "deacon."
This is an important distinction - servants of the new testament, servants of the Spirit. Judaism had lost its power as the forerunner of the Messiah. Jesus cursed the fig tree, which symbolized that Judaism would become hardened against Messianic prophesies and concentrate on the Law. The Talmud embalmed the Law in layers and layers of tradition.
The LutherQueasies do the same by carefully going over layers of theological tradition, in their own peculiar way, trying to prove their anti-Gospel and anti-Law theories. One could amass a library of books that favor them - Zwingli, Calvin, Servetus, Huber, and Robert Schuller.
Paul does not reject the Law or the power of the Law - the Law kills. If someone only listens to or follows the Law, the only message is that of sin and death. No one can fulfill the Law, and that is the most powerful step toward realizing the need for the Gospel, faith in Christ, who alone was sufficient to fulfill the Law by paying with His suffering and death.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
This is the argument from the lesser to the greater, which we use today. If you thought the college planetarium was great, wait until you see the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Or as the Swedes said when landing in New York City, "If this is NYC, what must Lindsborg, Kansas be like?" (Lindsborg was and is a destination for Swedish Americans, but not exactly a world city.)
Moses' face was so radiant when he received the Ten Commandments that no one could look at him directly. This is not a denial of the Law or a rejection of the Law. That Law is stamped on Creation and continues to this day, as Jesus said - "all must be fulfilled." The Law teaches us the basics of God's Creation so we acknowledge and submit ourselves to these truths, especially when the rest of the world says "Do as you please" - the motto of the occult leaders, Satanic leaders of this world.
The power of the Spirit in the Law is such that we realize and know that it is the truth of God, and also that we cannot call ourselves perfect under the Law. The power of the Law is also so great that the world as a whole feels the burden of guilt and sin, though it is perverted in many ways by false notions, including the idea that we alone can atone for our sins and please God.
If the Law is so glorious, then how much more glorious is the life-giving Gospel, which pronounces us forgiven through faith in Christ?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Paul repeats himself, not unlike the Gospel writers at times, but that is for emphasis. The point is not to deny the Law its glory but to show how much more glorious the Gospel of Faith in Christ.
Paul himself was a slave to the Law, fulfilling it in every possible way. He went beyond expectations and persecuted the Christian Church, so he was an example of the worst for the early believers. That he had to repent and believe was difficult for him, and so was the rejection of him as a johannes-come-lately.
The irony is this - man has not given up his addiction to the Law, if not to the Mosaic Law, then to man-made law. "You must do this" is always followed by actions to be fulfilled in order to qualify.
But the Gospel is receiving rather than giving. We received the grace and forgiveness of God through faith in Christ. Believing in Him is forgiveness. That is a power always being renewed by the Gospel itself.
How This Applies in Church and Daily Life
The reason so many congregations are failing is simply this - they have no Gospel, no food for the soul, no comfort. For instance, pastors are ordained to be successful for their denomination, to make those people look glorious.
That is what most Boomers grew up in - they saw their own denominations grow and build because so many people came to church. Various people were held up as examples because they drew people to church, so that became the rule.
I know when plants are doing well because their flowers feed the bees, insects, and hummingbirds. The criterion is not outward beauty or size, but food. Bloom and they will buzz right over for nectar, pollen, and insects.
But now the officials are frozen in their mythologies. I recall one who bragged about how sufficient he was, how glorious he was. His congregation simply evaporated around him.
The anxiety is natural. We see nothing and imagine nothing will happen, but the power of the Gospel is so great that those who want and need the Gospel will find it. And when we wonder how this or that can be done, God shows how that much more can be done and many times over, not on our schedule but his.
Shock comes from opposition. Not one good thing, ever so minor, without someone being angered, offended, or moved to mock it. As one author said, her worst opponents about Lutheran doctrine came from the conservative side, not from the liberals. They were depressing to her.
But that should be encouragement. Satan is not aroused to anger unless there is danger to his kingdom. So much the better if his opposition comes from where it is least expected.
So too in our daily lives. One can belong to one squad or another. The worldly one seeks vengeance for all mishaps, and this is only getting worse. Vengeance is expressed in shunning, so people are made invisible. I have gone to many gatherings where long-term acquaintances have looked through me as if I were not six feet away, so I said hello and went out of my way to shake hands and smile - just for the discomfort registering.
The other squad is becoming increasingly rare. That is where people are friendly, welcoming, and always overlooking minor problems and offenses, many of which are unintended anyway. The best cure for holding grudges is to say, "Have I done anything like this?" If the answer is yes, then it is not worth applying the law to another and absolving oneself.
Showing appreciation and gratitude is no different than the blooming and fruit production of flowers. They are attractive and come from the power of the Gospel. The repentant and forgiven are most likely to be forgiving. The forgiving habit becomes addicting and it leads to anticipating needs and helping in many different ways, which are enjoyable - not a burden.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
