Archive for March, 2006

In our area the time change takes place this Sunday, April 2, 2006. Therefore, we spring forward into the three readings assigned for this 5th Sunday in Lent. They are Jeremiah 31:31-34 (the new covenant); Hebrews 5:7-9 (the Son learned obedience) and John 12:20-33 (Thunder from heaven). Keeping in mind to choose a verse that at first glance contadicts Christian teaching and doctrine, it was Hebrews 5:9 that jumped out. It reads, “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

For those of you who have been reading this Blog faithfully since November, are you not surprised how often there is a least one if not more verses in the readings that appear to go against Christian teaching that we are saved not by works but by grace through faith? And here again we have a verse that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to whom? Not to those who trust or believe in Him but those who obey Him! Do you begin to understand why it is so difficult to convey the essence of the Christian faith while there appear to be so many verses that say the opposite?

For those who live under the Law the passage is interpreted in this way, “Jesus only saves those who obey Him.” However, upon closer reflection, does that not reverse the sense of the statement? For the verse does not say that “Jesus saves those…”; rather, it says that Jesus became the author of eternal salvation. Stop and meditate upon that for a moment. If He is the author, then he completes the product. Here is the insight into this verse. It is not that He gave eternal salvation only to those who begin to obey Him; no, instead, He is the author in the sense of taking His enemies and creating within them a faith that results in obedience to Him!

For those under the Law, the sense is that first we obey and then this salvation which Jesus has authored becomes ours through works. But for those under the Gospel–which means understanding reality from God’s point of view–first Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father which results in His becoming the author or creator of those who receive eternal salvation for they now obey Him through faith given by the Holy Spirit.

Keep in mind Matthew 25 and the Judgment Day of sheep and goats. Recall that the sheep are unaware that they are considered by God to have obeyed His will. This took place on the one hand through the fruit of the Spirit that spontaneously is borne by those in faith and on the other hand by receiving the robe of righeousness from Jesus’ 33 years of perfect obedience here on earth in His state of humiliation.

The bottom line is that Jesus did not become the author of salvation and therefore those who obey Him get saved. No, instead, Jesus became the author of those who do obey Him through faith given by the Holy Spirit. During the sermon I might give the impression for a time that only those who obey Jesus get salvation. When that line of preaching becomes obvious that there is no one who can obey Jesus and merit their salvation, then the proper understanding of the text would come into play with the Gospel good news that Jesus is not just the author of salvation; He is also the author of those who obey Him through faith.

The one verse that springs to mind is Ephesians 4:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Jesus indeed is our Savior and Author of our salvation!

I have received a number of emails asking whether the sermon I preached on Wednesday, March 22, at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana might be posted. Also, last night on the “Law and Gospel” radio program, I shared the kind of thinking that went into this particular sermon. You can listen to the archive of that program by going to the AM 850 KFUO website at kfuo.org and click on Law and Gospel listening to the March 23 broadcast. You can also access the site by clicking the radio link found on this blog. The title of the sermon is “Scripture Fulfilled” and the text is Mark 14:49.

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and our LORD Jesus Christ.

Two assignments face the preacher in sermon preparation. The first is to interpret the text; the second is to apply the text. Only to do the first may provide a great Bible study but no sermon. To skip the first and only do the second is to drive the train of evangelical principles of life until you reach the caboose and realize that the engine is at the other end.

Interpretation and Application. The first is the realm of the exegete with the principle of “Scripture interprets Scripture.” The second is the realm of the systematician with the principle of “Law and Gospel.” The systematician builds on the work of the exegete, not vice versa or else you end up with eisegesis, not exegesis. This is not to ignore the historian who keeps us from reinventing the wheel of applicable doctrine nor the practician who helps us to deliver the message in a way that can be heard by contemporary ears.

Some texts are difficult to interpret such as Paul’s reference to the “baptism of the dead” which at last count, had over 20 different understandings. All texts are difficult to apply because it necessitates the Holy Spirit and experience. For example, it’s easy to interpret Jesus’ words to the rich man that to inherit the kingdom of heaven he must give away all his goods and follow Him. However, the ridiculous application that comes about by those who imagine that this is a stewardship text can fill volumes.

The text assigned for today presents difficulty in both interpretation and application. The words are, “But the Scripture must be fulfilled.” First, how does one interpret or understand what that means? Though the original Greek is absent any quotations marks, we will forego the notion that these words are not those of Jesus but the writer Mark. Either way, the precise question is “What is the Scripture that is being fulfilled?”

The queen of exegesis is context, which means to expand your analysis to the surrounding verses, chapters and so forth. Perhaps the previous verse 48 will provide us with some insight as Jesus asks, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?” This may be a reference to Isaiah 53(:12), “and He was numbered with the transgressors.” In fact, that sounds viable in light of Jesus’ own words at the Last Supper from Luke 22(:37), “For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

However, the phrase that “the Scriptures must be fulfilled” might instead refer to the next verse 50, “Then they all forsook Him and fled.” John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, attached the following to Jesus’ words in chapter 18(:8), “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,” that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”

Or…the fleeing of the disciples reminds us of Zechariah 13:7, “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Jesus Himself makes that connection in Mark 14:27, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

Or…Jesus may be referring to the hour of power, and I’m not referring to the Schuller Glass Cathedral. We are speaking of our Lord’s words in Luke 22(:53), “When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your HOUR, and the POWER of darkness.”

“But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” How can one move from interpretation to application until we are clear as to which Scripture is being fulfilled? On the other hand, I’m prepared to plead a more radical notion that from Jesus’ point of view, there was very little in his Hife that could not be understood as a fulfillment of the Scriptures.

The passage that substantiates this concept is John 18:4, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, ‘Whom are you seeking?’” “That the Scriptures must be fulfilled” means more than isolated events such as being treated as a robber, not losing any of the elect, his disciples being scattered or the hundreds of other specific fulfillments of Old Testament prophecy.

“That the Scriptures must be fulfilled” always directs us to the heart of the supreme fulfillment as revealed by the prophet Isaiah (53:6), “and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Every other event is tangential to both mountain top experiences of the Golgotha cross and the Ascension into heaven of the resurrected Christ.

To conclude that Jesus knew all the details that would come upon Him as though He was omniscient in regard to the number of stripes, the number of steps to Calvary, the number of jeers He would receive, is to go too far. Rather, in His state of humiliation, though some details were specifically promised, He knew the outline of the required death. And that was sufficient to conclude that whatever happened to Him was part of the plan for the purpose that “All Scripture must be fulfilled.”

Which leads us to application. Superficial preaching of the Law to a congregation might accuse them of not realizing that their sins have been forgiven. Then the Gospel comes on board proclaiming loud and clear that the Scriptures have been fulfilled and your sins were laid on Him! Superficial, not because it is untrue, but because they have heard it a thousand times. What is required in every sermon is a radical, uncommonsensical, unique application of Law and Gospel that leaves the hearers saying among themselves, “We never heard that before.” Or, “He preaches with such authority.” So here goes. First—the Law.

Every Christian has experienced sleepless nights due to worry, tragic events, death of loved ones, yesterdays that cannot be forgotten, tomorrows that are feared. For those at a seminary, that could translate into concerns about grades, course work, spouse, vicarage, children, the first call, tenure, and the list continues. The Law does its work not only through accusation of sin but reminders of powerlessness, inadequacy, things out of our control.

How to apply the Gospel? Listen to the words again, “But the Scriptures must be fulfilled!” That verse does not just apply to Jesus Christ. It applies to every one of His disciples. That verse is FOR YOU. Like Jesus, you have an outline of the big picture but with even fewer of the details revealed. Our Lord’s big picture was the determined walk to the accursed tree to be forsaken by His Father. Your big picture is the determined walk to the tree of life to be welcomed by your Father.

Everything that occurs between your baptism and death can be regarded as the Scriptures being fulfilled. For what else are the Scriptures than the Word of God as revealed in the numerous promises from the Father to His beloved, both Christ and you? And we are not simply speaking of your baptism or receiving the Lord’s Supper as a fulfillment of the Scriptures. For the apostle Paul it included shipwrecks, famine, imprisonment and whippings—all for which He gave thanks to God.

For me the drive from Saint Louis to Fort Wayne to preach and teach is a fulfillment of the Scriptures because every promise from God is in effect and continually being fulfilled. God never left me nor forsook me. The Word I preach and teach will NOT return empty.

Yesterday was the ninth anniversary of the death of my second son Philip in a motorcycle accident. That was a fulfillment of the Word of God as found in holy Scripture, for God kept His promise and Phil is now with Jesus. If on the way back to Saint Louis today, I die in a car crash, the Scriptures must be fulfilled. Heaven will be getting filled with one more believer. On every believer’s tombstone it can be written, “The Scriptures continue to be fulfilled!”

What joy to realize that the promises of God in the Scriptures in regard to our Savior’s life continue in regard to your life. Though you may not have specific events prophecied, you, the elect, receive the fulfillment of every Gospel promise whether you deserve it or not. Now that’s something for which we can give thanks and praise, serve and believe. Amen.

May the promises from the Holy Trinity that simply surpass all understanding, continue to be fulfilled because of Jesus Christ our Lord forever and ever. Amen.

As some of you are aware, I work full-time for Concordia Mission Society. CMS supports missionaries overseas, has two 18-wheel medical vans in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzia but is probably best known for its affiliation with the “Good News” magazine edited by Wallace Schulz. The latest issue, #24, is now being distributed entitled, “Worship.” It is a fascinating look at how worship is not something we do for God but something which God does for us! That’s right.

If you want to know how God thinks, think commonsensically and then…reverse it! Every religion in the world, except for Christianity, looks to worship as means of placating or appeasing some god who appears to be angry with us due to our sin. This issue of “Good News” has articles about whether all worship pleases God, the heart of worship, forgiveness as worship, what is vain worship, the kind of worshipers God desires and the worship assembly as a protection from evil.

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For 2006, the fourth Sunday in (not of) Lent falls on March 26. The three assigned readings from the lectionary are Numbers 21:4-9 (fiery serpents); Ephesians 2:4-10 (saved by grace through faith) and John 3:14-21 (For God so loved the world). Though you may be surprised that John 3:16 has not been chosen, we have decided to preach on Numbers 21:9, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

While the epistle from Ephesians 2 certainly reveals that nothing we do can save us (we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves), at first reading it appears that Numbers 21 says that the people who were cured from the fiery serpents were those who took action and looked at the bronze serpent put on the pole by Moses. It is with this in mind that we are reminded of the singular call of most evangelicals today in regard to Decision theology. In summary it teaches that God has done all He can; now it’s up to you to make a decision.

That certainly appears to be the case in Numbers. Through Moses God had erected a bronze serpent. But if the people did not take the effort to look at it, then they would die. Their healing was due to their looking. So also with Jesus, they say. He did all He could do; now it’s up to you to make the effort and invite Him into your heart; make Him the LORD of the throne of your life, decide to believe in Him.

In theological circles this is called the confusion between justification and sanctification. In other circles it refers to putting the cart before the horse. Which is to say that upon closer reflection on the verses in Numbers 21, the people did not become believers by looking at the bronze serpent; they already were believers when they pleaded with Moses to ask the Lord to take away the serpents.

It is a common mistake found also in Revelation 3:20 and Jesus knocking on the door. This message is not to unbelievers but to the Church at Laodicea. “If anyone hears my voice” would make no difference to an unbeliever because in the Bible to hear the voice of God is to believe in God. How many parents use that understanding when they confront a disobedient child with, “Did you not hear what I told you to do???”

That through faith and not by works we do, clearly is the point of the bronze serpentIt is also found in the passage in which Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever BELIEVES (emhasis mine and the Holy Spirit’s) in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The bronze serpent, therefore, was a type of Messiah or Savior in the physical realm in contrast to Jesus in the spiritual realm. It was NOT looking at the bronze serpent that healed as it was believing that the promise of God was sure that whoever did look was healed.

Thus, not just John 3 but also Numbers 21 agrees with Ephesians 2 that salvation is not by any kind of work we do. And for those who imagine that “faith” is a work they do, listen to the end of verse 8 and beginning of verse 9 after “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast.”

In a sermon I would point out to the listeners how often they thought that the burden of getting God’s ear was on them or how often they thought what they did mattered as to whether or not God would keep His promises to a believer. Then the Gospel would clarify how not just faith is a gift but so also the bronze serpent and the Lord Jesus Christ are gifts as they were lifted up from the ground for all to see (believe) for healing and salvation.

For the third Sunday in Lent the three appointed readings are Exodus 20:1-17 (Ten Commandments); 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 (Jews request sign; Greeks wisdom) and John 2:13-22 (Temple cleansing). This week the choice is the Old Testament reading of the Ten Words with Exodus 20:3 as the specific text, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

It is impossible to understand this chapter properly from any English translation. The reason? Using our “man-in-the-street” principle, what would be the usual reply to the question as to what mood are the commandments written? “Mood” refers to the grammatical form of a verb such as the indicative, subjunctive, imperative, etc. I can almost guarantee, since most individuals would regard this chapter as containing the 10 commandments from God Himself, they would choose the imperative or command mood as their answer.

Now that may be true in every other religion of the world which regards God from the point of view of being “under the Law.” What we mean by that is the tendency of every religion to teach that your behavior here on earth will make a difference as to whether or not you will be saved. Therefore, from that point of view, commandments are given to us by God so that we can know how to please Him and thus appease or placate His wrath against our sin.

“You want God to be your God. Then, obey His commandments and He will respond with love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness and salvation.” It’s even difficult to write such a statement because of the obvious ridiculous nature of its logic. God’s love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness and salvation are dependent on your behavior? If mercy can be merited, then it really isn’t mercy!
Like the mother who begged the general not to punish her son who as a soldier was afraid to fight the enemy. “Have mercy” she pleaded. “He doesn’t deserve mercy,” the general replied. “If he deserved it,” she continued, “it wouldn’t be mercy!”

What is so disheartening is how the context of these words from God are lost in the race to interpret these “commandments” in such a way to make it possible for them to be obeyed by our own abilities. The context itself contradicts the notion that by obedience to God’s will, we can make Him our Lord and God. Instead, the context is clear. First, God becomes your Lord and second He demonstrates it by bringing His people out of the bondage of Egypt.

Then why the ten words or commandments? If God is already our Lord, why the need to obey Him? Ready for a shocker? We don’t need to obey God to get Him to become our Lord. The ten words from God are not meant to inform us what we are to do to get God to become our Lord. They are revealed to inform us how we will spontaneously obey when we believe what He has done in delivering us from bondage without charge, without cost–except for the cost He paid!

The ten words–or “decalogue” in the Latin–are not written in the imperative. They are in reality future indicatives revealing not what NEEDS to happen by us to get God to love us but rather what WILL happen by us because we now realize how much God loves us. Due to our sin, the future indicatives do become imperatives reminding us of how often we fail to believe and fall into all kinds of mischief and rebellion against the One who redeemed us with an outstretched hand both at Mt Sinai and at Mt Calvary.

Unlike most religions that assume the commandments are written to encourage proper behavior so that God will be moved to love us, Christianity teaches that such behavior becomes a spontaneous outpouring of gratitude as we believe indeed that “we did not choose God but He chose us from before the foundation of the world.” The world always puts sanctification ahead of justification as though the verse read, “I am the Vine; you are the branches through obedience” rather than, “I am the Vine; you are the branches–without Me you can do nothing.”

For ancient Israel God proved He was their Lord by leading them through the Red Sea to the promised land. For modern Israel; that is, the holy Christian Church, God proves He is your Lord by leading us through the cross of Christ to the promised land of heaven which we receive not by works through merit but by grace through faith. And why did God have to do it that way? Because none of us deserve grace.

The three assigned readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent are Genesis 28:10-17 (Jacob and the ladder to heaven); Romans 5:1-11 (He died for enemies) and Mark 8:31-38 (Rebuking Peter). The text we choose to analyze is Mark 8:34, “And when Jesus had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross, and follow Me.”

This is the season of Lent. How do you imagine most people will understand Jesus’ words to “deny himself”? For many, the season of Lent is synonymous with denying oneself some pleasure in life whether eating chocolate or going to movies. “Giving up something for Lent” becomes the theme for the season as those who do so are often unaware of the true spiritual significance of their decision.

To preach that to deny oneself is to cease from sinful pleasures and from sin itself both confuses Law and Gospel and in fact reverses the intention and purpose of Lent. For not only Lent but the entire church year is to have one focus and it is not on my works! The focus of every season is on the works of Jesus Christ including His suffering, death and resurrection. But then what does Jesus mean to deny oneself if He is not referring to stopping from sinful pleasures?

Think about it. What is the greatest sacrifice a human being can make? It is not to stop from eating McDonald’s hamburgers for 40 days; it is to die on behalf of someone else. While that sacrifice is usually thought of as referring to soldiers, firemen or police, in the spiritual realm God is referring to the death of self. Verses 35 and following in Mark 8 are clear that to deny onself is to lose one’s life, take up the cross, and regain the soul. How is that done?

The spiritual term for that is called “repentance.” Repentance is a turning from oneself as the source of all life to Another Who Himself is the way, the truth and the life. To deny oneself is to put oneself to death. It is a synonym for spiritual humility. Paraphrasing Robert Kolb, “Every human being will die eternally. He will either die in the fires of hell or in the waters of baptism.” The denial of self is spiritually a turning from becoming self-righteous to looking to Christ as our source of righteousness.

From the context in which Jesus had to rebuke Peter, note well that Peter was attempting to befriend and defend Jesus from certain death in Jerusalem. “Get behind me, Satan!” was addressed to Peter who was putting his own self-interests ahead of those of God the Father! To deny onself is another way of believing in the LORD Jesus Christ. Such faith is not simply believing that He existed or even that He died and rose. It instead is a trust in the promises of God in spite of the evidence to the contrary. It is placing God’s interests above others. That is how we deny ourselves and are put to death.

Proper fasting or denying oneself at Lent can be done but with the understanding that such a decision is a statement to our bodies and our self interest that “I am not in charge of my life.” Yes, you can attempt to save and defend your own life as did the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees at the time of Jesus who thought more highly of themselves than they should of. They had no need for the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.

But the believer denies himself through faith in looking back at his baptism as an adopted child looks back at his adoption papers. For in baptism, God confers His promises of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), which, by the way, is also for children (v. 39). In summary the denial of self is not a choice we make originally as God creates in us true faith which trusts the One Who indeed brings eternal life. As Paul says in Romans 5:1, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The season of Epiphany has come to a close as we enter the season of Lent. Readings for the 1st Sunday in Lent are Genesis 22:1-18 (Sacrifice of Issac); Romans 8:31-39 (Who shall separate us?) and Mark 1:12-15 (Wilderness temptation of Jesus). The text chosen is Genesis 22:18 which reads, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

For those of you new to this blog, our practice has been to select a Bible verse that upon first reading appears to contadict the message of Christianity. Genesis 22:18 is a good example as it appears to give the impression that because of Abrham’s obedience, a blessing is coming to all the nations of the earth. This would contradict the theme that Abraham’s faith accounted to him righteousness, not his obedience.

The Law and Gospel distinction that helps us is the following. Those who live UNDER the Law in the sense of thinking that they are saved by their works, invent a god who either applauds or criticizes his followers on the basis of what they do (works). Thsoe who live UNDER the Gospel in the sense of believing that they are saved by the works of Christ, trust in the true God who either applauds or criticizes His followers on the basis of what they trust (faith).

So while it appears that God blesses Abraham because of his obedience, in reality, his obedience is a fruit of his faith. Now how can that be proven? The evidence that Abraham believed that Issac was truly the one from whom the Blessed One would come even though Abraham was about to put him to death, is found in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, verse 19. It reads that Abraham was about to offer up Issac “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” The latter part of the verse is referring to the conception of Issac from the dead womb of 90 year old Sarah.

So upon further reflection, the phrase in Genesis 22:18 “because you have obeyed My voice” does not refer to the cause of God’s blessing but the evidence that Abraham had received from God the gift of faith to believe His promises in spite of the evidence to the contrary. So also, during the season of Lent we are moved to believe that the One Who overcame the temptations of the devil in the wilderness not only obeyed but had perfect faith in His Father to the point of the cross knowing that He also would rise from the dead in three days.