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| Norma A. Boeckler |
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
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
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Samaritan Is Jesus
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 #660 I'm But a Stranger Here
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 #660 I'm But a Stranger Here
In Our Prayers
- Andrea's second birthday is today.
- In treatment: Christina Jackson, Randy Anderson, Mary Howell.
- Diagnostics: Pastor Jim Shrader.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
KJV Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
KJV Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Click here for Luther’s Sermons on the Good Samaritan
Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Thy holy gospel, know Thy fatherly will, and behold Thy Son, Jesus Christ! We pray Thee, most merciful Father: Let the light of Thy holy word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Thy word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal salvation; 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.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Background for the Gospel Sermon - The Good Samaritan
This parable proves that people see without seeing and hear without hearing. No parable is so clear and no parable is so misunderstood and taught with gross errors.
First error - this is taught as a do-gooder sermon, shaming everyone for not doing enough. The solution, of course, is to organize some people and carry out virtuous works. But that is not the point of the parable and completely misses the point.
Second error - the Social Gospel people always stressed activism through the government and making the world a better place. Rauschenbusch and all his followers say, "Is the point binding the wounds of the person left for dead - or - making the road to Jericho safe?" That is even worse, because the parable has nothing to do with social activism, though many today can only find that in each lesson.
The parable teaches faith in Christ and shows His mercy and continued blessings on us after He has rescued us. He is the Good Samaritan.
The Samaritan Is Jesus
25. This Samaritan of course is our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who has shown his love toward God and his neighbor. Toward God, in that he was obedient to him, came down from heaven and became man, and thus fulfilled the will of his Father; toward his neighbor, in that he immediately after his baptism began to preach, to do wonders, to heal the sick. And in short, he did no work that centered in himself alone, but all his acts centered in his neighbor. And this he did with all his powers, and thus he became our servant, who could have well remained in heaven and been equal to God, Philippians 2:6. But all this he did because he knew that this pleased God and was his Father’s will.
KJV Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
This teaching given to the disciples should always be in our minds. We are blessed simply to see the truth of the Scriptures and to hear the voice of the prophets and Jesus. Because there is only one Truth, taught to us in the Scriptures, no one can obtain wisdom apart from the revelation of the Scriptures. The Bible is so rich in spiritual treasures than we can never exhaust the supply, no matter how much we study and how long we live. At the same time, God speaks so clearly that the youngest child can hear and understand the Gospel.
And yet, without faith, the very words of Scripture are all darkness. They see without seeing and hear without understanding. The lawyer is a good example of this at that time. We can experience it around us. For most, the Good Samaritan is a lesson from Jesus about serving others. It might even be an example to see how the religious do nothing but avoid the needy person while the Samaritan immediately helps and continues to tend to the man robbed and left for dead. Many sermons have been built around shaming people for not doing enough. How much is enough? Never enough! is the answer.
Little do Protestant leaders know that they are borrowing from the Roman Catholics, making acts of love needed besides faith (fides formata, or faith formed by love) for forgiveness. This leads to a constant uncertainty and sense of guilt. Countless sermons have poured forth to leave Catholics and Protestants heavy with guilt. This example is choice, for guilt and for tickling the inner Pharisee - A school asked seminaries to preach a sermon on the Good Samaritan. Each one would be taped, so a schedule was set up. They posted an actor along the way as the victim, then told each seminarian that they needed to get there sooner. All the seminarians rushed by the victim so they could give a sermon on the Good Samaritan on time. Pause for the congregation to smile sheepishly or to be angry. "Would you have done the same?"
I would call this a deception, a pack of lies, to get the desired result. That is why so many seminaries do not teach faith at all - only good works. There is nothing left except good works, and this craving to fix everything has not only made things worse, but has also established schools that teach against faith and in favor of the worst radicalism. The good tree of faith has been chopped and with it, the fruits of faith.
The next level of distortion is to find an implied lesson that was never there. The Social Gospel people, 100 years ago, the first stage of the Woke people, the humorless reformers, asked, "Is this parable about binding the wounds of the afflicted? or making the roads safe?"
The answer was clearly - to get government to make the roads safe. Franklin D. Fry said this at a conference, so I asked him about the Social Gospel Movement. He was against that, he said. I said, "Funny. You quoted their favorite story."
Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
This is one of the great (modern) secrets of the Bible, hidden in plain sight - an emphasis on the faith belonging to Jesus. There are many examples of faith in Jesus, but the gems about the faith of Jesus have been altered in traslation and therefore covered over. Two additional examples are in Romans 3 and Philippians.
Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
This faith of Jesus is implied in all we say about the Savior and His human nature. The Scriptures emphasize - this is most clear in John - the will of God the Father and the willingness of Jesus to obey the Father, to follow the Father's schedule, to teach exactly the same as the Father. That expresses the faith of Jesus in walking steadfastly toward Jerusalem, where torture, death, and betrayal awaited Him. The faith of Jesus led Him to atone for our sins and rise from the dead. In other words, the faith of Jesus is the Gospel seed that gives us the righteousness of faith. Paul teaches Justification by Faith everywhere, just as Jesus did.
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
This part of the parable is definitely an example of emphasis - by contrasting salvation by works with the righteousness of faith. The lawyer was testing Jesus, which was and is a rabbinical tradition. This leads to a back and forth dialogue that informs everyone. The lawyer knows the summary of the Law, so Jesus said, "Do this (which is impossible by yourself) and you will live." The lawyer, trying to justify himself, (declare himself righteous) needs to know the limits of the definition - "my neighbor." The parable supplies the answer.
The Reprobate
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
In the first part of the parable, a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and encountered thieves. They took everything he had, leaving him naked and half-dead on the roadside. A priest went down the same way but passed over on the other side of the road to avoid him.
The priest saw a man in great need but valued his own needs more.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
The Levite was no different. He saw the suffering of the man and avoided him. It was the man's fault, not his.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
The Samaritan was a reprobate among Jews, beyond redemption. The relationship would be like comparisons between denominations - a certain affinity (Samaritan Five Books of Moses) but also a great difference. Jesus is teaching faith in this parable, and it could not be more obvious. That is the reason so many apply their filters and do not see this truth at all.
Saying this parable is about faith in Jesus is like tossing firecrackers into a henhouse. Feathers will fly and wild fearfulness will be expressed in loud cackles. Jesus is the reprobate among the unbelievers. There are many excuses, many half-way steps. They would like the Jefferson Bible, where he removed anything about the divinity of Christ, because he was a rationalist. Or the main goal is material success, not faithfulness to the Word.
What are the details given? They in a very short parable for a reason.
Jesus has compassion on the frail, the weak in spirit, those tempted by unbelief during a terrible personal crisis. In fact, the gospel is only for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The satisfied do not stop for a moment. This parable is for each and every one of us. We have all been pulled away from the truth at times. We have wavered during a crisis and wondered why we have been robbed of money and health, friends and associates. I would give a sermon on how we are all Selneckers. He wavered and Chemnitz brought him back. It was the crisis about truth that made him faithful to the Word, so much that he wrote about those struggles. Four hymns in The Lutheran Hymnal.
"Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide"
by Nikolaus Selnecker, 1532-1592
Translated by composite
1. Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide,
For round us falls the eventide;
Nor let Thy Word, that heavenly light,
For us be ever veiled in night.
2. In these last days of sore distress
Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness
That pure we keep, till life is spent,
Thy holy Word and Sacrament.
3. Lord Jesus, help, Thy Church uphold,
For we are sluggish, thoughtless, cold.
Oh, prosper well Thy Word of grace
And spread its truth in every place!
4. Oh, keep us in Thy Word, we pray;
The guile and rage of Satan stay!
Oh, may Thy mercy never cease!
Give concord, patience, courage, peace.
5. O God, how sin's dread works abound!
Throughout the earth no rest is found,
And falsehood's spirit wide has spread,
And error boldly rears its head.
6. The haughty spirits, Lord, restrain
Who o'er Thy Church with might would reign
And always set forth something new,
Devised to change Thy doctrine true.
7. And since the cause and glory, Lord,
Are Thine, not ours, to us afford
Thy help and strength and constancy.
With all our heart we trust in Thee.
8. A trusty weapon is Thy Word,
Thy Church's buckler, shield and sword.
Oh, let us in its power confide
That we may seek no other guide!
9. Oh, grant that in Thy holy Word
We here may live and die, dear Lord;
And when our journey endeth here,
Receive us into glory there.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #292
Text: Luke 24:29
Author: Nikolaus Selnecker et al., 1611
- First Jesus had compassion on him. Jesus came to the man, not the man to Jesus. He had nothing to exchange for healing and forgiveness - naked and half-dead,
- He bandaged the wounds and poured on wine and oil. They can be seen as Law and Gospel. The sting of the Law, the healing nature of oil. This is how we are rescued by the Word. We remember or we are taught the Scriptures, the Law showing us what we really are - like a mirror. The Gospel shows us Christ atoning for all our sins.
- Set him on His own beast, took him to an inn, cared for him. This is how the Savior set up the Christian Church (inn) where a person is cared for, needing the guidance of the Law and the forgiveness of the Gospel.
- The innkeeper, local pastor is supported in his work. The innkeeper does not need to worry about the bill being ignored. The Savior will provide. As one person said, "I know He will provide. But will He provide until He provides." Missionaries can easily worry like that, because they are on a tightrope without a visible net. But there is an invisible net that protects and provides.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Some of my rationalist friends will say, How do you get Jesus into this? Jesus gave parables in public and explained them privately to the disciples. The parables preserved the truth but did not give everything away to the scoffers, the eavesdroppers, the dabblers.
Jesus was saying, "Go and be like Me. Have faith in Me and you will have compassion for your neighbor.
The Believer as Reprobate
There is no possible way to escape being treated as a reprobate when one is a sincere believer. Jesus was crucified as a reprobate, a sinner beyond all redemption. The Roman government hated and feared Him. The religious leaders hated and feared Him. Popularity turned into hatred and jeering.
All those who followed Him during the Passion and after the Resurrection were reprobates as well. I think of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. The last thing they needed to do was identify with Christ the criminal. But they did, in faith.
One funny episode was a famous Lutheran professor writing a letter of appreciation to me, from his seminary. I responded using that address. He wrote back saying, "Use my home address from now on." I felt like I was poison - even my return address on an envelope was dangerous - but it was a compliment... in a way.
Superficially, we resent the pain of the cross, being reprobates in the eyes of so many. But the slivers of the cross, especially when they are painful and enduring, are better than the medals worn on so many. Those are reprobate medals, and they remind us how much Jesus accomplished so we might bear the cross daily.
