Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2021
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central
Savings Time
TLH - Online
The
Hymn #377 Salvation Unto Us Has Come Speratus
The Order of Vespers
p. 41
The Psalmody 5
p. 123
The Lections
The Passion History
Hymn
#149
Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain
The Sermon – Chapter Six –
Luther’s Galatians
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for
Grace
p. 45
Hymn #660 - Heaven Is My Home
Prayers and Announcements
Medical Care – Christina Jackson, Pastor Jim Shrader,
two brothers.
Our nation, DEP Trump, lawmakers, and military
justice.
1. Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in
the spirit of meekness.
If we carefully weigh the words of the Apostle, we perceive
that he does not speak of doctrinal faults and errors, but of much lesser
faults by which a person is overtaken through the weakness of his flesh. This
explains why the Apostle chooses the softer term “fault.” To minimize the
offense still more, as if he meant to excuse it altogether and to take the
whole blame away from the person who has committed the fault, he speaks of him
as having been “overtaken,” seduced by the devil and of the flesh. As if he
meant to say, “What is more human than for a human being to fall, to be
deceived and to err?” This comforting sentence at one time saved my life.
Because Satan always assails both the purity of doctrine which he endeavors to
take away by schisms and the purity of life which he spoils with his continual
temptations to sin, Paul explains how the fallen should be treated. Those who
are strong are to raise up the fallen in the spirit of meekness.
This ought to be borne in mind particularly by the ministers
of the Word in order that they may not forget the parental attitude which Paul
here requires of those who have the keeping of souls. Pastors and ministers
must, of course, rebuke the fallen, but when they see that the fallen are sorry
they are to comfort them by excusing the fault as well as they can. As
unyielding as the Holy Spirit is in the matter of maintaining and defending the
doctrine of faith, so mild and merciful is He toward men for their sins as long
as sinners repent.
GJ – The
great danger of the ecumenical movement has been a refusal of the Protestants
to face the manifest evils of the Church of Rome. Heirs of the Reformation have
been charmed to ignore their own traditions and to view the papacy with warmth
and more than a little coveting. Earth-shaking scandals may soon be revealed to
expose this folly.
The Pope’s synagogue teaches the exact opposite of what the
Apostle commands. The clerics are tyrants and butchers of men’s conscience.
Every small offense is closely scrutinized. To justify the cruel
inquisitiveness, they quote the statement of Pope Gregory: “It is the property
of good lives to be afraid of a fault where there is no fault.” “Our censors
must be feared, even if they are unjust and wrong.” On these pronouncements the
papists base their doctrine of excommunication. Rather than terrify and condemn
men’s consciences, they ought to raise them up and comfort them with the truth.
Let the ministers of the Gospel learn from Paul how to deal
with those who have sinned. “Brethren,” he says, “if any man be overtaken with
a fault, do not aggravate his grief, do not scold him, do not condemn him, but
lift him up and gently restore his faith. If you see a brother despondent over
a sin he has committed, run up to him, reach out your hand to him, comfort him
with the Gospel and embrace him like a mother. When you meet a willful sinner
who does not care, go after him and rebuke him sharply.” But this is not the
treatment for one who has been overtaken by a sin and is sorry. He must be
dealt with in the spirit of meekness and not in the spirit of severity. A
repentant sinner is not to be given gall and vinegar to drink.
1. Considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
This consideration is very much needed to put a stop to the
severity of some pastors who show the fallen no mercy. St. Augustine says:
“There is no sin which one person has committed, that another person may not
commit it also.” We stand in slippery places. If we become overbearing and
neglect our duty, it is easy enough to fall into sin. In the book entitled “The
Lives of Our Fathers,” one of the Fathers is reported to have said when
informed that a brother had fallen into adultery: “He fell yesterday; I may
fall today.” Paul therefore warns the pastors not to be too rigorous and
unmerciful towards offenders, but to show them every affection, always
remembering: “This man fell into sin; I may fall into worse sin. If those who
are always so eager to condemn others would investigate themselves, they would
find that the sins of others are motes in comparison to their own.”
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest
he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12.) If David who was a hero of faith and did so many
great things for the Lord, could fall so badly that in spite of his advanced
age he was overcome by youthful lust after he had withstood so many different
temptations with which the Lord had tested his faith, who are we to think that
we are more stable? These object lessons of God should convince us that of all
things God hates pride.
2. Bear ye
one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
The Law of Christ is the Law of love. Christ gave us no
other law than this law of mutual love: “A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another.” To love means to bear another’s burdens. Christians
must have strong shoulders to bear the burdens of their fellow Christians.
Faithful pastors recognize many errors and offenses in the church, which they
oversee. In civil affairs an official has to overlook much if he is fit to
rule. If we can overlook our own shortcomings and wrong-doings, we ought to
overlook the shortcomings of others in accordance with the words, “Bear ye one
another’s burdens.”
Those who fail to do so expose their lack of understanding
of the law of Christ. Love, according to Paul, “believeth all things, hopeth
all things, endureth all things.” This commandment is not meant for those who
deny Christ; neither is it meant for those who continue to live in sin. Only
those who are willing to hear the Word of God and then inadvertently fall into
sin to their own great sorrow and regret, carry the burdens which the Apostle
encourages us to bear. Let us not be hard on them. If Christ did not punish
them, what right have we to do it?
3. For if
a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Again, the Apostle takes the authors of sects to task for
being hard-hearted tyrants. They despise the weak and demand that everything be
just so. Nothing suits them except what they do. Unless you eulogize whatever
they say or do, unless you adapt yourself to their slightest whim, they become
angry with you. They are that way because, as St. Paul says, they “think
themselves to be something,” they think they know all about the Scriptures.
Paul has their number when he calls them zeros. They deceive
themselves with their self-suggested wisdom and holiness. They have no
understanding of Christ or the law of Christ. By insisting that everything be
perfect they not only fail to bear the burdens of the weak, they actually
offend the weak by their severity. People begin to hate and shun them and
refuse to accept counsel or comfort from them.
Paul describes these stiff and ungracious saints accurately
when he says of them, “They think themselves to be something.” Bloated by their
own silly ideas and schemes they entertain a pretty fair opinion of themselves,
when in reality they amount to nothing.
4. But
let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
In this verse the Apostle continues his attack upon the
vainglorious sectarians. Although this passage may be applied to any work, the
Apostle has in mind particularly the work of the ministry.
The trouble with these seekers after glory is that they
never stop to consider whether their ministry is straightforward and faithful.
All they think about is whether people will like and praise them. Theirs is a
threefold sin. First, they are greedy of praise. Secondly, they are very sly
and wily in suggesting that the ministry of other pastors is not what it should
be. By way of contrast they hope to rise in the estimation of the people.
Thirdly, once they have established a reputation for themselves, they become so
chesty that they stop short of nothing. When they have won the praise of men,
pride leads them on to belittle the work of other men and to applaud their own.
In this artful manner they hoodwink the people who rather enjoy seeing their
former pastors taken down a few notches by such upstarts.
“Let a minister be faithful in his office,” is the apostolic
injunction. “Let him not seek his own glory or look for praise. Let him desire
to do good work and to preach the Gospel in all its purity. Whether an
ungrateful world appreciates his efforts is to give him no concern because,
after all, he is in the ministry not for his own glory but for the glory of
Christ.”
A faithful minister cares little what people think of him,
as long as his conscience approves of him. The approval of his own good
conscience is the best praise a minister can have. To know that we have taught
the Word of God and administered the sacraments rightly is to have a glory that
cannot be taken away.
The glory which the sectarians seek is quite unstable,
because it rests in the whim of people. If Paul had had to depend on this kind
of glory for his ministry, he would have despaired when he saw the many
offenses and evils following in the wake of his preaching.
If we had to feel that the success of our ministry depended
upon our popularity with men we would die, because we are not popular. On the
contrary, we are hated by the whole world with rare bitterness. Nobody praises
us. Everybody finds fault with us. But we can glory in the Lord and attend to
our work cheerfully. Who cares whether our efforts please or displease the
devil? Who cares whether the world praises or hates us? We go ahead “by honor
and dishonor, by evil report and good report.” (2 Cor. 6:8.)
The Gospel entails persecution. The Gospel is that kind of a
doctrine. Furthermore, the disciples of the Gospel are not all dependable. Many
embrace the Gospel today and tomorrow discard it. To preach the Gospel for
praise is bad business especially when people stop praising you. Find your
praise in the testimony of a good conscience.
This passage may also be applied to other work besides the
ministry. When an official, a servant, a teacher minds his business and
performs his duty faithfully without concerning himself about matters that are
not in his line he may rejoice in himself. The best commendation of any work is
to know that one has done the work that God has given him well and that God is
pleased with his effort.
5. Every
man shall bear his own burden.
That means: For anybody to covet praise is foolish because
the praise of men will be of no help to you in the hour of death. Before the
judgment throne of Christ everybody will have to bear his own burden. As it is
the praise of men stops when we die. Before the eternal Judge it is not praise
that counts but your own conscience.
True, the consciousness of work well done cannot quiet the
conscience. But it is well to have the testimony of a good conscience in the
last judgment that we have performed our duty faithfully in accordance with
God’s will.
For the suppression of pride, we need the strength of
prayer. What man even if he is a Christian is not delighted with his own
praise? Only the Holy Spirit can preserve us from the misfortune of pride.
6. Let him
that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good
things.
Now the Apostle also addresses the hearers of the Word
requesting them to bestow “all good things” upon those who have taught them the
Gospel. I have often wondered why all the apostles reiterated this request with
such embarrassing frequency. In the papacy I saw the people give generously for
the erection and maintenance of luxurious church buildings and for the
sustenance of men appointed to the idolatrous service of Rome. I saw bishops
and priests grow rich until they possessed the choicest real estate. I thought
then that Paul’s admonitions were overdone. I thought he should have requested
the people to curtail their contributions. I saw how the generosity of the
people of the Church was encouraging covetousness on the part of the clergy. I
know better now.
As often as I read the admonitions of the Apostle to the
effect that the churches should support their pastors and raise funds for the
relief of impoverished Christians I am half ashamed to think that the great
Apostle Paul had to touch upon this subject so frequently. In writing to the Corinthians,
he needed two chapters to impress this matter upon them. I would not want to
discredit Wittenberg as Paul discredited the Corinthians by urging them at such
length to contribute to the relief of the poor. It seems to be a by-product of
the Gospel that nobody wants to contribute to the maintenance of the Gospel
ministry. When the doctrine of the devil is preached people are prodigal in
their willing support of those who deceive them.
We have come to understand why it is so necessary to repeat
the admonition of this verse. When Satan cannot suppress the preaching of the
Gospel by force, he tries to accomplish his purpose by striking the ministers
of the Gospel with poverty. He curtails their income to such an extent that
they are forced out of the ministry because they cannot live by the Gospel.
Without ministers to proclaim the Word of God the people go wild like savage
beasts.
Paul’s admonition that the hearers of the Gospel share all
good things with their pastors and teachers is certainly in order. To the
Corinthians he wrote: “If we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great
thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (1 Cor. 9:11.) In the old days when
the Pope reigned supreme everybody paid plenty for masses. The begging friars
brought in their share. Commercial priests counted the daily offerings. From
these extortions our countrymen are now delivered by the Gospel. You would
think they would be grateful for their emancipation and give generously for the
support of the ministry of the Gospel and the relief of impoverished
Christians. Instead, they rob Christ. When the members of a Christian
congregation permit their pastor to struggle along in penury, they are worse
than heathen.
Before very long they are going to suffer for their
ingratitude. They will lose their temporal and spiritual possessions. This sin
merits the severest punishment. The reason why the churches of Galatia,
Corinth, and other places were troubled by false apostles was this, that they
had so little regard for their faithful ministers. You cannot refuse to give a
penny who gives you all good things, even life eternal, and turn around and
give the devil, the giver of all evil and death eternal, pieces of gold, and
not be punished for it.
The words “in all good things”: are not to be understood to
mean that people are to give all they have to their ministers, but that they
should support them liberally and give them enough to live well.
7. Be not
deceived; God is not mocked.
The Apostle is so worked up over this matter that he is not
content with a mere admonition. He utters the threatening words, “God is not
mocked.” Our countrymen think it good sport to despise the ministry. They like
to treat the ministers like servants and slaves. “Be not deceived,” warns the
Apostle, “God is not mocked.” God will not be mocked in His ministers. Christ
said: “He that despiseth you, despiseth me.” (Luke 10:16.) To Samuel God said:
“They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me.” (I Sam. 8:7.) Be
careful, you scoffers. God may postpone His punishment for a time, but He will
find you out in time, and punish you for despising His servants. You cannot
laugh at God. Maybe the people are little impressed by the threats of God, but
in the hour of their death they shall know whom they have mocked. God is not
ever going to let His ministers starve. When the rich suffer the pangs of
hunger God will feed His own servants. “In the days of famine, they shall be
satisfied.” (Ps. 37:19.)
7. For
whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
These passages are all meant to benefit us ministers. I must
say I do not find much pleasure in explaining these verses. I am made to appear
as if I am speaking for my own benefit. If a minister preaches on money he is
likely to be accused of covetousness. Still people must be told these things
that they may know their duty over against their pastors. Our Savior says:
“Eating and drinking such things as they give; for the laborer is worthy of his
hire.” (Luke 10:7.) And Paul says elsewhere: “Do ye not know that they which
minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which
wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained,
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” (1 Cor. 9:13,
14.)
8. For he
that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth
to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
This simile of sowing and reaping also refers to the proper
support of ministers. “He that soweth to the Spirit,” i.e., he that honors the
ministers of God is doing a spiritual thing and will reap everlasting life. “He
that soweth to the flesh,” i.e., he that has nothing left for the ministers of
God, but only thinks of himself, that person will reap of the flesh corruption,
not only in this life but also in the life to come. The Apostle wants to stir
up his readers to be generous to their pastors.
That the ministers of the Church need support any man with
common sense can see. Though this support is something physical the Apostle
does not hesitate to call it sowing to the Spirit. When people scrape up
everything they can lay their hands on and keep everything for themselves the
Apostle calls it a sowing to the flesh. He pronounces those who sow to the
Spirit blessed for this life and the life to come, while those who sow to the
flesh are accursed now and forever.
9. And let
us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not.
