The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
We have thought of Thy loving-kindness, O God: in the
midst of Thy Temple.
According to Thy name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the
ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness.
Psalm. Great is
the Lord and greatly to be praised: in the city of our God, in the mountain of
His holiness.
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Grant to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the Spirit to think
and do always such things as are right, that we, who cannot do anything that is
good without Thee, may by Thee be enabled to live according to Thy will;
through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth...
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Good Tree Alone Bears Good Fruit
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 #511 Jesus Shall Reign
In Our Prayers
- Pastor and Mrs. Palangyos' daughter, Jeshra.
- The flowers are in memory of Bethany and Erin Jackson.
- Carl Roper, who is being treated for more occurrences.
- Christina Jackson completed her radiation; Randy Anderson is completing his soon
- Mary Howell is on chemo-therapy.
- Pastor Jim Shrader and Kermit Way - diagnosis and treatment.
- Our country's leaders as justice is served to the criminals and traitors. Over 60,000 indictments.
KJV Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast caused us to come to the knowledge of Thy word. We pray Thee: graciously keep us steadfast in this knowledge unto death, that we may obtain eternal life; send us now and ever pious pastors, who faithfully preach Thy word, without offense or false doctrine, and grant them long life. Defend us from all false teachings, and frustrate Thou the counsels of all such as pervert Thy word, who come to us in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravening wolves, that Thy true Church may evermore be established among us, and be defended and preserved from such false teachers, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Gospel Sermon, Matthew 7:15-21
Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
I am going to emphasis this now as background material, and concentrate on the good tree - faith - in the main sermon. Both parts are essential to understand. I have many kinds of fruits in my garden, so I could collect baskets of poke berries and beauty berries, but they are not for humans (great for birds). I wanted to bring in one Joe Pye bloom tonight, but three kinds of bees and many types of tiny butterflies claimed it for their own. In contrast rose fruit (hips) are valued by humans and birds alike.
This example is more like the poison ivy and poison hemlock that grows so well around here. I watched the hemlock with great interest and caution until I identified it from the red markings at the bottom.
The corrupt tree represents what is done "for the Gospel" without faith.
- For example, marketing methods might bring people in, but only by being ashamed of the Gospel.
- If we hide the Gospel behind our rock group and their me-centered lyrics, we can turn them into Christians later.
- If we covet the material success of false teachers, we are likely to become just like them, so why emulate them? A prominent clergy couple is on the crash and burn edge right now.
- Harvesting from the corrupt tree is like gathering crab grass seed (which was once used as a grain, believe it or not). Crab grass is magnificent in growth and seeding, hardy enough to grow in every spot in the garden, every crack in the sidewalk. We look on it as abundant yes, but worthless and a constant annoyance.
The four examples above show that hiding the true Gospel message - the Son of God dying for our sins - is rejecting the Biblical truth because of shame, fear, or a lust for instant success.
The long-term results will never be good, even if the hero of the moment is on the cover of magazines. As Luther has written, God is delighted to work with the poor, the overlooked, the weak, the sick, to show His grace is sufficient.
The Good Tree Alone Bears Good Fruit
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Everyone should note the the Sermon on the Mount ends with Jesus warning against false teachers. One boy told me while I was visiting homes years ago, "Our preacher does not talk about doctrine. He just preaches Jesus." Doctrine is another word for teaching. The original doctors were those trusted with teaching theology and philosophy. The Dr. title was borrowed by physicians in recent times for more prestige, followed by lawyers becomeing Juris Doctors and clergy becoming DMins (pronounced Demons) - previously bachelors of medicine, law, and divinity.
Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine.
There is not a lot of difference between preaching (proclamation) and teaching (in more detail). There is no essential difference if the speaking and writing are conveying God's Word.
The age of rationalism, which blossomed at Halle University, held God's Word at arm's length and decided which parts the professors believed and which parts they ridiculed. Calvin is very much the same, so he ridiculed the Real Presence and taught that everyone was born predestined for eternal life or eternal damnation, with no reference to the Means of Grace or faith.
False teachers are not sent by God - they invite themselves. They are not shepherds but hungry wolves who pretend to be soft, cuddly, and lovable. The declare themselves by their false teaching. Degrees, education, honors, denominations, districts, circuits, and DNA make no difference. They are discerned by their preaching and teaching -
their fruits - and the minor error quickly becomes the major error, then their destruction, finally the destruction of thousands.
Jesus' comparison is hilarious. "Do men harvest grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?"
This made one Mequon professor very angry, because he said Church Growth was "spoiling the Egyptions" taking the precious wisdom of Fuller Seminary in gleeful larceny. But that school has always taught the Scriptures are fallible (limited infallibility) and rejected Scriptural inerrancy completely as Church Growth began to take root. The faculty was saying, "Pay no attention to the Word of God. Listen to us instead!"
Notice the fruit - Jesus never said that borrowing from false teachers was just like spoiling the Egyptians (Exodus 12:36), which the Israelites accomplished when leaving slavery. Besides, the Israelites plundered gold and jewelry, not the Egyptian garbage. (Face to face, the professor's face darkened with anger when I made that comparison. The shun button was pushed at the conference.)
Jesus' comparison is hilarious because anyone looking for food will obtain it from the plants that provide the food. Thorns and weeds grow with great vigor, with rain or drought, and they have an important role in God's Creation. But no one expects to find grapes growing on thorny plants or figs growing on thistles! This is the kind of observation that would have made people in the crowd chuckle and elbow their neighbors.
Lenski, Interpretation of Matthew, p. 302:
"Grapes and figs picture true spiritual food which grows on the Word alone not on the briars and the thistle stalks of man’s own wisdom. Every man who presents false doctrines is to that extent a briar and a thistle."
As I said, borrowing from Lenski's commentary, fruit is what the false teachers proclaim, defend, and promote. The fruit of the false teachers is always - "put down your Bible and listen to me." Or even worse - "This is what it really means." One Pentecostal defended women's ordination because "Our minister is a woman, and she said the passage does not teach that." That is what leads to these extreme but popular claims:
- The Bible is full of contradictions.
- Jesus never taught He was the Messiah.
- The Trinity is not in the Bible.
- The Virgin Birth is not in Paul or John.
- Creation can be harmonized with Evolution (and Benedict Arnold could be given the Medal of Honor posthumously).
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
On the Gospel side, this is the key message from Jesus. He certainly condemns false doctrine in the clearest possible way. However, the Promises are overwhelmingly powerful and should be seen in that light. The Promises in these two verses make the losses from false doctrine all the more pitiful.
The only possible way to get good fruit is from a good tree. That represents, in a metaphor, the righteousness of faith in Jesus. That is why the crowd was astonished at His doctrine. That is why they said "not like the Scribes and Pharisees." Jesus taught the righteousness of faith, not works. The good works, the fruits, come from the tree.
This took me some time to unwind, but let's look at it backwards. We do not seek the fruit but the trees. For example, when I get into discussions about gardening with Moliners, they will bring up the plant itself. With apples, it is the famous Honey Crisp. My classmate said, "I have a Honey Crisp tree." Notice, she did not say, "I pick apples," but "I have the source." To have fresh apples, we need the tree. No one would say, "You need HC apples! Get them!" The gardener would say, "You need the Honey Crisp tree. Here is where it is found."
The Pietists want to dazzle everyone with their works, which they imagine justifies them. It might be "We pray four hours a day" or "We never even look at dancers or dancing." Or - "Do you know who my father was!?"
The good tree can only produce good fruit. Simply put, faith in Christ is the access to God's grace, forgiveness, and salvation. Someone can have an encyclopedic knowledge of theology, but if the Chief Article is missing, nothing matters.
I have noticed and published that the Lutheran discussion sites never deal with Justification by Faith or anything substantial. They are forever discussing trivia or protecting their friends. Lacking faith, they cannot approach the mysteries of God and thus avoid them.
I written pastors individually and publicly that all they need to do is to gather a group for a Bible study and to watch what develops from teaching the simple Gospel. They do not need a synod or a building to make them legit.
From teaching faith in the Savior will come the fruits of the Spirit. That is absolutely certain. It is like the Mark 10 passage assuring people of losses being replaced - and persecution added - to show the reality of the situation.
The abundance is divinely promised and it is realized in God's time. One medical missionary was crushed because he thought his years of teaching the Gospel, a small part of his work, never took root. Many years later they discovered that the people organized their own Christian teaching network based on his work. He planted the seed but expected a quick harvest. That is up to God.
In contrast - you need this program. This program will really work. It has worked all over. "It didn't for us." Answer - You did it wrong. If you had done it right it would have worked. Now we have this other program that is just for you.
Looking at our rose garden, I have examples incredible growth in plants. Disappointments happen. Ranger Bob is sad that only one Rio Samba rose grew. The other did not. I had similar examples. But Easy Does It came back after a ferocious, disciplined attack by Japanese beetles.
The only rule for success, which works for clergy, teachers, and laity is this - plant in faith each day, confident (meaning "with faith") that God will work His results in His time.
Someone I barely knew from 50+ years ago was in contact with me about 7 years ago. It had to do with a doctrinal book. Now the interest is great to read Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, which I published about 30 years ago. That came from hosting an adult study on Catholic and Lutheran doctrine. People phoned me and yelled at me, "You HAVE to write a book on this." So I did.
I thought Thy Strong Word was forgotten and ignored. Then I learned that a group of laity busted up a plan to promote Objective Justification among a group of churches. The clergy wanted OJ and the laity, who read TSW, defeated all their arguments. That is about all I know concerning this, but it shows how something started in one place - and beaten like a rented mule - can have a life of its own.
The lesson learned from publishing is that the effect takes a long time. Since we are all playing the long game, reaching into eternity, we have to think of generations in the future. If nothing is planted or preserved now, what will be left except worn out game consoles and copies of ancient conference brackets.
We know God's Word will always have an effect. It never returns to Him void. It is always productive and always accomplishes His will.
In many instances, it makes people furious and eager to punish. He can turn that for good also, and often does before our eyes. And we know the effect is going to be surprising. Why? Because it is God's will to do things His way and not ours. And He does so with great abundance - He prospers His will.
The synods do not have money problems - they have faith problems. They believe their wisdom - and the help of highly paid consultants - will solve the problem. But they have been cruelly but justly disappointed. Money is so weak a god that it does not even solve money problems. They grow worse.
After centuries of technology and medical advances, we still have the same basic problem. How are we forgiven and saved? That is more basic than - How do we find peace of mind, no matter what the circumstances?
The right medicine is the basic Gospel without man-made additions, sugar-coating, or dilution. It is not Jesus and Buddha, but Jesus along. It is the Christ without the cross, but bearing the cross with Christ, following the same path. It is not happy-slappy-yappy time, but certainly one of joy and contemplation.
When I was looking for the best fully blooming Joe Pye to add to the roses, I was struck by the dozens of insects around and in its bloom, many tiny florets. I started counting bees and kinds of bees, butterflies and kinds of butterflies, some as tiny as bees. "Where is the control tower for this airport? Everyone is feeding and moving in each other's space." Multiply that by about 70 similar blooms, rabbits below, birds above.
God's world is like that, and He gives the best of all He has to offer. Faith in Christ is full of paradoxes. What appears to be bad in the eyes of others is really quite good, exceptionally good. We know of a grandson in another region who is so very fragile. Everyone knows him via Facebook. There is a photo of him and his grandmother hugging. They both seem to be in heaven, and they are - it is that special love when we realize God's grace is sufficient.
