The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #8 Father Who the Light This Day
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 #334 Let Me Be Thine Forever
The Faith of Christ
The Communion Hymn #316 O Living Bread
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 # 309 O Jesus Blessed Lord
In Our Prayers
- In treatment - Mary Howell, Christina Jackson, Rush Limbaugh.
- Our mission - Rice delivered, and parish laptop energized.
- The Veterans Honor roses are in honor of our veterans.
KJV Philippians 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation [ πολιτευμα, citizenship ] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
KJV Matthew 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. 16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. 22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Twenty-Third Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father: we thank Thee that Thou hast hitherto granted us peace and graciously spared us from war and foreign dominion: We pray Thee, graciously let us continue to live in Thy fear according to Thy will, giving no cause for wars or other punishment; govern and direct our magistrates, that they may not hinder the obedience due to Thee, but maintain righteousness, that we may enjoy happiness and blessing under their government, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Sermon on Philippians 3:17-23
The context for today's Epistle is the the righteousness of faith -
Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 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: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
αλλα την δια πιστεως χριστου την εκ θεου δικαιοσυνην επι τη πιστει
First of all, people tend to think of Biblical righteousness as the righteousness of the Law, which Paul practiced to perfection. However, that is not the Gospel and can never obtain eternal life. The true righteousness is the righteousness of the faith of Christ. In several places, here and also Romans 3, Paul writes about the faith of Christ, widely ignored.
If we truly understand the Two Natures in Christ, human and divine, we can see what Paul meant and the Holy Spirit inspired. The Gospel begins with The Faith of Christ. Because of His human nature, He could be tempted (Matthew 4) but He did not sin - because of His divine nature. He wanted the cup of sorrows, torture and crucifixion taken from Him, but in faith He prayed, "Not My will, Father, but Yours."
When the Gospel moves us to welcome this message of forgiveness and salvation, it begins with the righteousness of Christ and His faith, so that His faith moves us to faith in Him and His righteousness. Unlike the righteousness of the Law, which is never enough and never satisfied, the righteousness of faith in Jesus is enough and takes away all sins.
The Faith of Christ
Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
This section is one where Paul bragged about himself, but for a reason. People today find fault with his bragging without thinking what it means. The Judaizers, who are still numerous in the Church, boasted in Paul's time about themselves. Then as now, they believed their own merits made them great. And they included their fine ancestry with that, as they do today. Paul's resume mocks theirs because he has even greater claims and includes persecuting the Church with his perfection in the Law. He was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee, very strict in observing the Law, which is why he persecuted the followers of Christ.
So the Judaizers today do not openly deny Christ but within the Church claim one must have the attributes of Christ and do the works of law they prescribe.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
However, everything Paul might boast about were nothing compared to Christ at work in him. This is his way of discounting their merits and his as well, because they are detrimental in viewing their place in the Kingdom of God. The ultimate result of such boasting is to divide people and discount what Christ has done. The most dangerous kind of Christianity, one might argue, is to mix it with other elements or claims that do not belong.
Claims of ancestry always amuse me because we have nothing to do with the past. We did not pick our grandparents, our ethnic base, our early Christian education. Some want to lay claim for the right sect, the right birth location, the right parochial school. Our past is good to know. I mentioned one part of the family that could not make a living from free land. That encouraged them to move to Iowa, where they left their quasi-Christian cult for Protestantism. When my wife teases me about gardening, I mention both my grandfathers being farmers, and one earning his agriculture degree at the U. of Illinois. That was very rare. The farmer gene did not manifest itself until after graduate school, but it became dominant. It was George Washington's most prized title - farmer.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
None of that matters, says Paul, except for the surpassing value of knowing Christ our Lord. That does not mean academic knowledge among scholars who have no faith. Someone can earn a PhD in Biblical studies and simply know what the famous ones have said before. As I said before, that ancestry goes back to the rationalism at Halle University. Faith in Christ is side-stepped or mocked, and is not part of the actual dissertation (though there could be some exceptions).
John 17:3 - knowing Christ is salvation. That means faith in Him, a faith that lets go of human claims (rejecting the Virgin birth, accepting only certain miracles) and sees as its goal the best possible understanding of the Word itself. That includes a different kind of education, how the Word interprets the Word because the entire Bible is a perfect harmony.
The Fourth Gospel mocks the great scholars who do not believe. The great lessons of the Gospels are summarized and explained in John's Gospel in the simplest possible words and grammar. As one reader said, that Gospel became (and not by accident) the ideal way to learn a new language. Its German and French is just as easy as its Greek. I studied John in French to pass a French test. Not passing meant dropping out of graduate school. Notre Dame gave me a passage of John to translate into English - and somehow I passed.
Everyone subordinates. One thing is more important than another at the moment. Some ideas are more important. True knowledge of Christ means subordinating the claims of man and welcoming the plain revelation of God, the unique truths of the Scriptures - really one harmonious truth.
That can be compared to a garden, where many plants grow together, flowering and fruiting at different times. Birds come and go according to their engineering, and their calendars match up with the plants. Some are great bug eaters, but others like seeds. Whatever is happening, they have a role to play. Late in the season, when most plants are done providing food for them, berries and seedpods appear to get them through the difficult times.
We are like the squirrels, who love food placed for them but want the best and most for themselves. I noticed in New Ulm, Minnesota that the squirrels could be very snooty about the food they wanted most, such as fat sunflower seeds rather than corn kernels. But when we had the ultimate ice storm, coating everything with heavy ice, the squirrels had a different attitude. They saw corn kernels embedded in the thick ice on the home's ledges outside. Starving, they worked hard for each kernel, prying it loose to get those calories inside to keep them warm.
The true knowledge of Christ means knowing His natures, divine and human, united in One Person. People can talk all day and read tons of books, but if they do not know what the Word reveals, they are still in darkness.
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:
Most translations write "faith in Christ," and I used the RSV and NIV until rather recently, the last 20 years. I was reading a lesson to the congregation from the New KJV, and it said "faith of Christ," which appears here, in Romans 3, and Ephesians. I looked at and thought - is this in the original. And it is. And I learned a couple of people wrote about this as "the faith that belongs to Christ."
One studied under my favorite and best Scripture scholars, who were at Yale when I was there. He wrote the book, The Faith of Jesus.
Faith is not a factual conclusion or a decision, even though it has been taught that way. This phrase makes us think of Jesus' human nature, which is only right. The Church has always confessed His human nature. He was conceived, born, and died - all attributes of humanity, though in a miraculous, a unique way.
One LCMS pastor yelled, "Christ was incapable of sinning," a typical error of those who shout rather than study. Jesus was tempted to sin, but did not sin. His human nature is emphasized in the temptation in the desert. He was hungry. He could defy his human nature and be borne up by angels. He could be Master of the Earth by worshiping Satan. The temptation and the crucifixion of Christ are the unforgettable examples of His human nature.
Jesus the Word Incarnate had (and has) faith - from the point of His becoming flesh. All the commands, teaching, miracles, and fulfillments of the Old Testament were obeyed because of His faith. He faced torture, betrayal, and death because of His faith in God the Father. The Trinity is a mystery revealed by the Spirit and so is this concept of the Son's faith.
There is no escaping the meaning of the phrase, which the KJV alone retains. What does that say about translations? They have not been ashamed to drop other important doctrines, like the Virgin Birth (early RSV).
Paul sought man-made righteousness, the righteousness of the Law, and he was a master of that thinking and doing. But the true righteousness comes through the faith of Jesus, What He accomplished and taught came from His trust in the Father's will, compassion, and grace.
Notice this is the familiar phrase of the Reformation, Justification by Faith, which was first articulated in Genesis 15:6 - he believed and it was counted and righteousness.
Our righteousness comes from the faith of Christ. The faith of Christ is the agent (the doer) of our forgiveness and salvation. From the faith that belongs to Him, we receive faith in Him, the righteousness of God by faith.
Paul said it in Romans 3, 4, and 5 too, using the "faith of Jesus" in chapter 3. So this is another example of teaching us the same truth in various ways so it sinks into our hard heads.
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Many things trouble us through life, and many remedies are offered. Some are practical and good, such as understanding our birth order (Kevin Leman) and what vocations we would be good at or enjoy. But we can also run into false messiahs and false solutions that try to replace the Christian Faith with their often suddenly discovered truth (You Must Enroll in Our Program!)
Nothing is more stabilizing and healing than knowledge of Christ. That transforms and even elevates our suffering. There are many kinds of losses but in this Christ is our Redeemer and Savior.
