Archive for February, 2006

For year two or year “B” in the three-year lectionary series for Sunday morning readings, the following readings are provided for Transfiguration Sunday: 2 Kings 2:1-12c (Elisha and Elijah); 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 (the veil of Moses) and Mark 9:2-9 (the Transfiguration). It may sound odd but the verse chosen for this Sunday is 2 Corinthians 3:16, “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

This verse was chosen because it fits the paradigm being used in recent sermons by which a verse is chosen that appears to contradict the message of Scripture. The Bible is clear that we do not chose Christ but He choses us yet it sounds like this verse is saying that the confusion in reading the Bible is taken away once we make a decision to turn to the LORD. This is really the foundation of all other religions in the world that speak of a personal divine being. He will be appeased once you turn to Him and that is up to you.

However, note how the Old Testament lesson of Elisha receiving Elijah’s mantle was in no way a decision on the part of Elisha. The sign that Elisha would get the double portion of Elijah’s spirit was whether Elisha would see Elijah when he was taken away in the firey chariot. That was not something Elisha decided; it was God’s timing and purpose for Elisha to be present. His seeing was a gift; not something he decided to do.

Similarly, the Transfiguration would be remembered as a great turning point for the disciples who witnessed it. Yet they did not choose to turn to witness it; it was by God’s grace that they were present for such a holy thing to occur. Certainly for a time they remained confused but then after the resurrection took place, all things fell into place.

A person turning to the LORD reminds me of the parable of the Lost Sheep. While the sheep made no choice in being found at all, it would be correct to conclude that the Lost Sheep was saved by turning home. It’s just that the turn was the responsibility of the Shepherd in taking care of that sheep. Verse 16 of 2 Cor. 3 is NOT a command. It is a promise. It DOES NOT say that you must make a decision and turn to the LORD and then the veil is removed. It says that once one turns to the LORD, the veil is taken away. The turning is not done by me anymore than I did my heart transplant required in Psalm 51. It was not my doing but a gift from God (Create within me a clean heart).

The sermon would hit those with Law who imagined that their coming to church, their involvement in church activities, their prayers, etc. somehow is the turning to God that merits the veil being removed. No, instead, our turning to God took place in the same way as it did with Paul on the road to Damascus–as a work of God which was a total surprise. Faith in the Gospel is indeed accomplished by the gift of the Spirit who continues since our baptism to remove the veil piece by piece until that time when we will finally see Him face to face!

On this 7th Sunday after the Epiphany the three readings are Isaiah 43:18-25 (God accuses His people); 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 (God is faithful) and Mark 2:1-12 (Jesus forgives and heals the paralytic). The verse selected to preach about is Isaiah 43:24, “You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.”

Finally, one of the verses in the Bible that demonstrates the essence of the purpose of the church; namely, to get your money. I challenge you again this week to ask the typical man-in-the-street how he would apply this text to his relationship with God and the answer will be clear. “The church indeed is interested in getting our sacrifices including our money.”

In one form or another, this is truly the message of all religions. God is expecting something from us before He will give us something from Him. That something from us may go to the extreme of human sacrifices to continual prayer to taking care of the less fortunate and the list goes on and on. The essence of all religion is that the mess in which we find ourselves is due to our neglect of serving God properly. He expects to be served not only with praise but with burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense (verse 23).

In most congregations the people will not agree with the need for burnt offerings and the like but they will regard it necessary to give God proper praise, prayer, time, talents and treasure. Some will deny that these are necessary in order to be justified but they will want to cling to them as assurance of remaining sanctified and worthy in His sight as well as a way of distinguishing Christian from unbeliever.

The preaching of the Law needs to be clear and unambiguous. No amount of our praise, prayer, sacrifices and helping the needy merit one second of eternity or any assurance that once saved, we will always be saved. Which at first hearing makes our condition before God even worse. On the one hand, it certainly sounds like He demands something from us but then He continues by declaring whatever we offer as being insufficient for salvation.

It is at the point of recognizing this fact that the true God of the Christian faith is revealed. For we know Him best not so much for His attributes of being all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful but for His work of creation. In a meaningful way His work of redemption is a form of re-creation. For what we ruined in regard to His first creation, He now re-creates by making a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (verse 19), as well as waters in the wilderness to give drink to His people (verse 20).

Who can not think of the Messiah, Jesus Himself, Who is the way (road) of life and brings waters of life to the thirsty that will quency thirst eternally? For God has again done what we cannot do. Out of nothing He once created the universe. Out of our lives of nothing filled with sins and iniquities, He creates life by blotting out our transgressions and no longer remembering our sins.

At this point in the sermon, the preacher will want to expand on how God did that through the life, work, death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. The epistle from 2 Corinthians reminds us that we are established in Christ sealing us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, not because of our wonderful works but in spite of our sinful nature and horrible sins. The Gospel from Mark 2 reveals that like the paralytic, we also have been forgiven our sins without merit or worthiness all because of the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Our sacrifices of praise and prayer then are evident from hearts responding in thankfulness for our re-creation and new life by the One Who foretold in Isaiah 43:19 that He will do a new thing. What an astounding God Who after declaring our works a burden to Him (verse 24) then goes on to announce that He will take care of our distressing situation by blotting out our transgressions and no longer remembering our sins. To God indeed be the glory alone!

After 28 years as pastor of Saint James Lutheran Church (LCMS)in University City, Missouri, USA, I am now the Director of Development with Concordia Mission Society. CMS not only supports missionaries and medical vans in Kazahkstan and Kyrgyzia but also is affiliated with the “Good News” publication.

For the last 10 years I have hosted a radio program on Synod’s AM 850 KFUO in Saint Louis MO entitled, “Law and Gospel.” Recently the time of the broadcast has been changed to 1:00 pm through 3:00 pm Monday through Friday. You can access the station on the Internet at kfuo.org. This blog is an attempt to answer the request from listeners and others to continue the radio conversation.

You can also order materials from the webpage at lawgospel.com including two Bible studies lasting ten weeks on different metaphors for justification such as “adopted” and “redeemed.”

For those who prefer not to add comments to this Blog, you can email me at lawgospel@lawgospel.com.

As Director of Development I also am available to provide seminars, Bible studies and preaching anywhere in North America at no charge through Concordia Mission Society. The seminars, usually held on weekends, point out not only how to understand the tremendous distinctions between Law and Gospel but also their applications. Now that my new hours are during the day, I am also available for Bible studies and seminars on weekday nights within a 150 mile radius of Saint Louis, Missouri. Email me or phone 314-395-5050 for further details.

For the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany, the three readings are 2 Kings 5:1-14 (Naaman, the leper); 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (Running the race) and Mark 1:40-45 (Leper cleansed). Once more there are so many good passages to choose but the winner is 1 Corinthians 9:24b “Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”

Here again we read a verse that appears to contradict the very essence of the Christian faith and give strength and ammunition to all those contemporary evangelicals whose motto is best summed up with, “God helps those who help themselves.” Too harsh? I think not. Using our test of asking the typical man-on-the-street his understanding of this text, what do you think you would hear? Clearly, the answer would be, “If you run the race of salvation properly, then you will not obtain a perishable crown but an imperishable crown!”

Then comes the $64.00 question, “And what is the essence of this run of salvation?” Answer? “My good intentions; my good works; my helping the needy; my humble life; my repentance; my asking Jesus into my heart…my…my…my.” Don’t kid yourself. It is the answer not only of all the false religions in the world; by and large it is the answer of the typical Christian who still hasn’t understood the distinctions between living under the Law and living under the Gospel.

For sure Christ Jesus has saved us from living under the Law (Romans 6:14) so that we are now saved not by works but by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, our old Adam can’t let go of the inbred attitude that we contribute to our salvation in some way. Therefore, running the race means that we are accomplishing something to merit that “imperishable crown.”

Yet the verse does exist as 1 Cor. 9:24. How can we get around the commonsensical conclusion that winning the race of salvation is up to me? Before moving to that subject, the sermon needs to make clear that not even a Christian filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit can take credit for his salvation. How then do we reconcile this passage which appears to encourage us to run the right race to be saved with the countless other passages that give God all the credit for true life?

Context is the king of interpretation. What does that mean? The reader of God’s Word needs to keep his eye on the context of the passage. For example, how come atheists don’t have the passage that says, “There is no god” written above their doorways? Because they read the context which says, “‘There is no god’ says the fool in his heart.”

The big question involves the context of this verse, “Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” If running means a work you do, then we have a problem. But the context rescues us with three phrases. The first is verse 23 which is found just before our reading, “Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” Of what is Paul speaking? The race he is running is not for his own salvation but for the salvation of others. He is willing to be temperate in the sense of becoming a Jew to the Jew, being weak to the weak; that is, in becoming all things to all men that he might by all means save some. (9:22)

The second phrase is in verse 27 in which Paul is speaking of disciplining his body and bringing it into subjection. This is not as an unbeliever but as a believer in order that “when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” His point is to practice what he preaches. But is that not another way of saying “do good works”?

This is where the third phrase is most important as found in verse 26, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.” There is your $64 word. The opposite of running properly is to run with uncertainty. Who are those who are uncertain? Those without confidence. In the temporal realm one’s confidence is in regard to oneself that I am the kind of athlete that can win the race. But in the spiritual realm, my certainty, my confidence, my trust, my faith is in Another Who has run the big race for me.

I have no need to make something of myself for Christ the winner has made me His own with God as my Father. The race which Paul is speaking of is not the race to win my salvation. That already has taken place on a wind-swept hill outside of Jerusalem called Calvary. The race I now run is for winners only who can choose to run as though they have not won or as though they have already won.

Those who run as though they have something yet to merit will be like the Pharisees expecting God to regard his works as meritorious and even thanking him for not being like others. Those who run as though they have already won will be like Paul who chooses to become all things to all men that he might win others for Christ. I am willing to permit nothing to stand in the way of making Jesus more important than me. For you see, I have no need to make myself important; I am already regarded as a saint because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for me. I am not even worthy to tie his sandals.

Yes, we are running a race. But it is not the race to become justified. That already took place at the cross and our baptism. It is the race to live the sanctified life which needs all the certainty and trust in our Savior that is necessary to become a slave to others in order that they might also be partakers with us of the imperishable crown. How does that come about. By running with certainty and faith in Jesus Christ. Why we do we continue to need such trust. Because appearances are deceiving and at times we feel like we are losing. But through faith, we know that we have already won and the only question is how many more will Jesus make winners by using us?