The Fourth Sunday after
Trinity, 2012
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 452 The Son of God 1:10
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 #531 Come Ye Disconsolate 1:15
Expectation for the Truth Revealed
The Communion
Hymn # 308 Invited Lord 1:63
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 # 413 I Walk in Danger 1:67
KJV Romans 8:18 For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of
him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but
ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body.
KJV Luke 6:36 Be ye
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall
not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye
shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your
bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to
you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind?
shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his
master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother,
Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself
beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first
the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the
mote that is in thy brother's eye.
Fourth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who art merciful, and through
Christ didst promise us, that Thou wilt neither judge nor condemn us, but
graciously forgive us all our sins, and abundantly provide for all our wants of
body and soul: We pray Thee, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt establish in our
hearts a confident faith in Thy mercy, and teach us also to be merciful to our
neighbor, that we may not judge or condemn others, but willingly forgive all
men, and, Judging only ourselves, lead blessed lives in Thy fear, through Thy
dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy
Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Expectation for the Truth To Be Revealed
Lenski:
For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present period are not worthy to be compared with the glory
about to be revealed in us.
“For” = in order that you may
understand the better what has just been said about our suffering together with
Christ and our also being glorified together with him. All of this will become
clearer when we view ourselves in the midst of the entire suffering creature
world which longs for our glorification at the last day. Do not occupy your
mind exclusively with the little suffering which you individually endure but
see this vast creature world groaning, and we with it, but having all its hope
centered in us as the sons of God, centered upon us and on our deliverance.
This is a mightier thing than the deliverance of us Christians only; and the
more we see its vast proportions and the way in which God has bound up the
whole creature world with us, his sons, the truer, surer, greater our own hope
and assurance will become. “I reckon,” Paul writes and expresses his own
personal conviction with the purpose of implanting the same conviction and
insight into his readers.
From our suffering together with
Christ, from the cross, the suffering we endure for Christ’s sake, Paul turns
to our suffering in general, much of which is not for Christ’s sake, some of
which is due only to our own sins and our faults which necessitate chastisement
(Heb. 12:4–11), some of which is due to evil men, and some of which is
incidental to our earthly existence. The only kind of suffering in which we
glory (5:3) and can glory is that endured for Christ’s sake.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The
Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Columbus, Ohio :
Lutheran Book Concern, 1936, S. 529.
This epistle teaches us about the paradoxical nature of the
Christian faith. A paradox is a seeming contradiction. There are many passages
about peace in the Bible, almost every single one referring to the peace that
comes with forgiveness of sin. Many people strive for that kind of peace, so
why would the Gospel talk about and promise suffering?
Paul is talking about suffering and the cross. Lenski has
divided the topic of suffering into three categories:
- Suffering
because of the Word – the cross.
- Suffering
because of our own sins and mistakes, which bring chastisement (Hebrews
12:4-11. Peter distinguishes between this and the cross in 1 Peter.)
- Suffering
from evil people, which is part of living in this sinful world.
KJV Romans 8:18 For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
The current measuring stick
for congregations is now entirely material. Are the bills paid and the budget
big? Is everyone happy? Are the numbers always improving?
Rob Bell became famous for having one of those huge
churches, but he had to resign once his denial of Biblical truths became known.
I published about him but had to look up his name. He was trained at Fuller
Seminary.
Some obvious flaws in Bell’s thinking are found here:
Luther wrote about this topic, showing that the Bible does
not teach about glory, but about the cross. The message of the cross, suffering
because of the Word, is a constant in Luther’s sermons, just as it is central
in the message of Jesus.
That is the contradiction. People want success for their
denomination or parish, but the foundational requirement from God is
faithfulness to His Word, which brings the cross.
Doubtless everyone thinks that being a Christian in a
Christian country, with freedom of religion, should be rather peaceful. But
that is not so.
The reason is plain. As soon as the Holy Spirit takes root
in a person, through faith, Satan wants his original disciple back. Children
may experience this. Adolescents do, and adults never stop experiencing this
warfare. Luther called it Two Kingdoms – the battle between Christ’s Kingdom
and Satan’s.
But already in this one verse, Paul describes the situation
and offers Gospel promises. The suffering now (the cross) is nothing compared
to the glory to be revealed.
19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Even in our sinful state we wait for the time when all truth
will be revealed. This is a burden, to belief in this truth and to see it case
aside with such scorn and hatred. Where we want to see faithfulness to that
truth, we find rejection.
I have learned to spot atheistic posts on the Net. I read a
few to see what their line of thinking is. But they are all too predictable and
a pitiful lot at that. Their Father Below rewards them for now, but he will
have his harvest soon enough.
The hard part, as Luther observed, is to find this same
attitude among the great and wise leaders of the church. Luther was a
nothing in the church at the time,
easily stopped and killed – like Huss, Tyndale, and Robert Barnes.
Lutheran orthodoxy is clearly defined in the Augsburg
Confession, which is little more than a booklet. Anyone can grasp all the
important parts. Some later articles are not too interesting to us, because
they involve the Medieval Church. But the basics are expressed with child-like
simplicity, in brief but powerful statements.
People know that, but where is that taught among the great
and wise today? That is part of the suffering today, not only to experience the
blindness, but to feel the hatred and scorn for the truth. The Lutheran papacy
is no better than the Roman papacy of the Reformation.
Once people worried about keeping their pastors, because
they saw that as a good thing. Now a minority can work with the district
presidents or bishops to get rid of the faithful. This is a regular occurrence.
And it is no different, among the Episcopalians, the
Baptists, the Methodists, and the rest.
I do not agree with them, but I see the same basic battle –
faith versus unbelief, the obvious confessions or documents of that group
versus the obvious apostasy of the leaders. And they richly reward their
apostates with money from…the faithful.
Meanwhile we can easily see a massive retaliation against
the Christian faith world-wide, whether in Africa or China. As one member said
long ago, “In the West, the persecution takes the form of indifference.”
Although we wait for the manifestation of the truth, the
fact remains that this truth will come out at the end.
KJV Philippians 2:6 Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
This great confession and
hymn and poem in Philippians is clearly expressing the end of time, when every
truth will be revealed for all to see.
This is the paradox – that everything
in this world was created by Christ the Creating Word (Genesis 1 and John 1).
That is what everyone loves – what they see. But they do not like the Creator
and scorn the Messiah.
Although the Son of God
became flesh to reveal the grace and mercy of God, He was met with rebuke, suffering,
and the cross.
When the Holy Spirit has
revealed this to people through the Word, everything makes sense, from the
beginning of Creation until now. However, we are still weak and frail, easily made
timid or confused the difference between the truth we know from the Word and
the things we see around us.
When people say they are
disillusioned by the visible church, I say, “Good! It was an illusion. Now you
see the truth.”
Others would rather have the
false peace of protecting the illusion, which leads to ever more absurd
statements, such as, “The Holy Spirit appointed him, so I cannot disagree. That
is like arguing with God Himself.” That reasoning comes straight from Roman
Catholicism but it is current today among Lutherans – and also rewarded by them.
(Likewise – Pope Pius IX punished everyone who argued against his infallibility,
except his son – the cardinal, and rewarded all those who promoted his divine status.
The Ultramontanes, as they are called, have been in control ever since.)
20 For the creature was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
It seems shameful, that the minority must defend the basic
Gospel, justification by faith, in the face of opposition. But there are only
three main attacks against the Christian faith:
Against the divinity of Christ.
Against the humanity of Christ.
Against justification by faith.
Many of my counterparts, in various denominations, are arguing
the divinity of Christ through the authority of the Scriptures.
Lutherans supposedly have no issue with the divinity of
Christ, but the leadership opposes justification by faith (while pretending to
teach it).
In either case the defenders have the opportunity to see the
Word tested and defined, their own trust in the Scriptures growing with each
battle.
Salesmen call it The Takeaway. Tell people, “You cannot afford
this,” and they say “Yes we can!” Tell them, “You are not ready to decide,” and
they will say, “I have decided.” Salesmen even pull the item or the contract
away while saying those words.
The Takeaway works with the Gospel, the liturgy, the Creeds,
the hymns. When someone takes away what we took for granted, we hold onto it all
the more.
