The three readings for Series A for the 1st Sunday after Christmas are Isaiah 63:7-14 (Remembering Moses); Galatians 4:4-7(Redeem under the Law) and Matthew 2:13-23 (Herod kills children). Selected to preach about is Galatians 4:5, “to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

What exactly does it mean to be “under the Law.” It must be important in light of what Paul writes in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Clearly, being under Law means that sin has dominion over us. How so?

Part of our answer is found in 1 Corinthians 15:56 which reveals that “The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.” What does that mean? Sin in and of itself has no strength. Its strength comes from the consequences of sin. Not just temporal consequences, mind you, but the spiritual consequence as revealed in what is referred to as the curse of the Law, “In the day that you sin, you shall surely die!”

That curse of sin does not result in temporal death but spiritual separation from the holy Trinity. Being “under the Law” refers to the consequence of eternal death for any and every sin we do. For we deserve nothing but temporal and eternal punishment. How then, did Jesus, redeem us from the Law?

In essence, He did so by taking upon Himself the punishment you and I deserved. The culmination of that punishment took place on the cross when these words were spoken, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Through a mystery that humans cannot fathom, God deserted God so that now those in Christ will never be forsaken by God.

The adoption we received was that of becoming sons by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And just what does a baby do to get adopted? Answer: nothing. So also, because of Jesus Christ, the elect need never again fear God because they no longer live under the Law but under grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

For the 4th Sunday in Advent on December 23, 2007 the assigned readings are Isaiah 7:10-17 (Virgin shall conceive); Romans 1:1-7 (Paul, an apostle) and Matthew 1:18-25 (The birth of Jesus). Chosen for the sermon is Romans 1:7, “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.”

Once again we find a passage that can be taken in two ways–the wrong way and the right way from a Law and Gospel perspective. The wrong way is the thinking of the Theologian of Glory; the right way is the thinking of the Theologian of the Cross. Here is how the THOG interprets this verse: “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to become saints.” Note the difference in the word “become” instead of “be”.

The natural man as well as the Old Adam of the Christian cannot fathom the notion that a Christian is at one and the same time both sinner and saint. It must be an either…or, not a both…and. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? First, we realize that we need to regard the phrase not from our point of view but from God’s. That’s why it is called theology and not manology. (“Theos” is the word “God” in the Greek.)

When God regards even the Christian from the point of view of whether we are obeying the Law perfectly, then the conclusion is that we are sinners at all times. However, when God regards the Christian from the point of view of the Gospel, both the forgiveness of sins and the robe of righteousness given to us by grace through faith result in the conclusion that we are sinless saints.

A parent might say to the children, “To all who are in this house, beloved by father and mother, called to be our children…” Note that “children” is not something that they need to become by working on it; rather, they are children by the fact that they have either been born or adopted into the family which lives in this house.

My former copastor, Peter Kurowski, has the practice of referring to members of the congregation as “Saint Fred” or “Saint Ruth” as he distributes the holy Eucharist. As an aside, Dr. Kurowski has also written the first of 5 novels in a series about the Angel of the LORD being Jesus in the Old Testament. The first book is now available at lawgospel.com and is entitled, “The Everlasting Angel: The Mountains of Fire.”

During this Advent/Christmas season, we can rejoice that the baby born in the stable was born in order to die FOR YOU! It is why you are now regarded by God as a holy saint by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is His gift to you. The only thing that God now wants from you is your sin. It’s called repentance.

For the 3rd Sunday in Advent on December 16, 2007, the 3 assigned readings from Year A are Isaiah 35:1-10 (Highway of Holiness); James 5:7-11 (Patience) and Matthew 11:2-15 (Baptist asks Jesus). The selection chosen to preach about is Matthew 11:6, “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

There is a knock at the front door. You are given an envelope. When you open it you find a Christmas present of a $500.00 check from your mother. Immediately you go to the phone, call her and say that you were greatly offended by such a gift. Sounds ridiculous, does it not? Yet that is what the world does to God as they are offended at the gift of Jesus Christ. Why?

The answer is clear to those who have eyes to see as the distinctions between Law and Gospel are utilized. While the gift of money from your mother is an analogy that makes those who reject the gifts of Jesus ridiculous, the following analogy helps us to understand why people take offense.

You are out with your best friend, Bob. You tell him that you have a gift for him. He excitedly asks what it is. You take out of your pocket a breath mint and hand it to him. Does he react with, “Thank-you, thank-you. I forget mine and this is a life-saver because I have such bad breath.” I think not.

Instead, Bob will have an attitude somewhere between upset and incensed at such a gift. Why? Because the gift of freshening up your breath is given with the assumption that his breath is so bad that he needs it. Of course, most people can’t smell their own breath, so Bob will not be as happy with the gift as you were in giving it.

God is not giving us a breath mint but a life-giving gift of the forgiveness of sins. Behind the gift, though, is the assumption that we are poor, miserable sinners deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment. Some of the Pharisees were so incensed at the message of the carpenter from Nazareth that they crucified Him.

The message from Jesus that “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” is misread if one imagines that by not being offended that somehow we are really going to be blessed. No, the point is that the blessing is having received the attitude from the Holy Spirit in not being offended when being told we have bad eternal breath.

The only apologetic (defense) of the faith is the one Jesus gave the disciples of John. “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk” and so forth. By quoting from Isaiah 35:5-6, Jesus affirms that He and He alone fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament which would point to the One Who has come to take away the bad breath of the world. Only the believer is not offended in recognizing not only the need for salvation but also the precious gifts of salvation given to those who in no way deserve it as they are saved by grace through faith on account of Jesus Christ.

This coming Sunday, December 9, 2007 is the 2nd Sunday in Advent with three readings assigned: Isaiah 11:1-10 (Wolf dwell with lamb); Romans 15:4-13 (Hope) and Matthew 3:1-12 (John the Baptist). Chosen to analyze is Matthew 3:3b, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”

One can probably find no greater prophet in the Scriptures who is a vivid reminder of the proper distinction between Law and Gospel than John the Baptist. In fulfillment of the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, John is setting the stage for the coming of the Messiah. The assignment given to him from God is also our assignment. How so?

What is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? It is NOT the historical events of His conception, birth, sufferings, death and resurrection. Rather, the proclamation of the Gospel is the announcement of the forgiveness of sins because of the events that have transpired in regard to the Christ.

However, good news will not be received properly if the recipient is unaware of the bad news. And what is the bad news? Not just our sin but the curse of the Law that demands death for sin. That curse is made known by the proclamation not of the Gospel but of the Law!

As the forerunner of the Messiah, the Baptist is to proclaim the law in its fullness. For what good is honey to a man who has just finished eating a huge banquet? So also, until the Law does its work in mirroring our poor, miserable sinful self before an Almighty God, the Gospel will fall on deaf ears.

In fact, Jesus even commands not to share the Gospel with those who are unprepared with the statement, “Do not throw pearls to the swine.” Hungry pigs might turn on you who throw them pearls rather than food. Many of the Pharisees and scribes, steeped in the theology of the Law, could not stand the message of Jesus Christ Who proclaimed their need for salvation.

John’s baptism of repentance was not a sacrament as was the Pentecost baptism. John’s baptism instead was a ceremonial action in publically confessing one’s sin and unworthiness before a just God. But as John prophecied, the One coming after him; that is, Jesus, the Christ, would baptize not just with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire. Law and Gospel. While the Gospel is the only means of grace, the Law is necessary to be proclaimed to prepare hearts to receive the forgiveness of sins and the robe of righteousness with joy and thanksgiving.

Received a phone call and asked about what to say to someone who is grieving over the suicide of a friend. The immediate tendency is to attempt to react with some kind of comfort by saying something alone the line of “Not everyone who commits suicide goes to hell. God is gracious and merciful and even the sin of suicide can be forgiven.”

While there is nothing inherently wrong with that statement, might it not send a wrong message to those who are contemplating suicide? Perhaps it is because I am on the radio every weekday that I have become sensitive to the many kinds of listeners out there. For some, the thought that they will go to hell if they commit suicide can become a deterrent to making that decision but if the impression is given that most people who commit suicide go to heaven, are we not then responsible for that action?

It has been a teaching of the Church for centuries that a person who commits suicide will go to hell unless there are extenuating circumstances. What kind of circumstances? For example, a girl is slipped a drug into her drink at a party. She hallucinates and imagines that she can fly. She jumps through a three-story window falling to her death. Though technically it is a suicide, it is clear that she was not in control of her senses.

However, to argue that anyone who commits suicide is out of control is an error in judgment. For there are those who are so fed up with life, who are so angry at the god they thinks exists or who are atheists, that committing suicide could result in an eternity in hell.

Our dilemma is the following. On the one hand, we do want to give comfort to a person who is grieving over another’s suicide but one the other hand, we do not want to give the impression that God is so merciful and gracious that every act of suicide is forgiven. The problem is we cannot read hearts and so are rarely aware of the level of faith, if any at all, of a person who commits suicide.

I normally have two responses to those asking about the fate of a person who commits suicide. The first is to another pastor or theologian when asking whether the person who has committed suicide should be given a Christian burial and the second response is when talking to someone who needs to be comforted.

I am a pastor of the public ministry, not the private ministry. I absolve, confirm, marry and bury someone on the basis of a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, the absolution in the liturgy begins, “Upon this, your confession…” And pastors ought not confirm someone who denies teachings of the Christian faith.

Thus, there is a two-step process I follow when a person has committed suicide and I have been asked to give them a Christian burial. First, is there any evidence that the individual is a Christian? If there is none, then I will not conduct the burial. That does not mean I will not speak to the relatives. But to conduct a Christian burial is only possible when the pastor can give the assurance that the individual who has died is indeed in heaven.

However, in regard to a person who commits suicide, I do not believe it is sufficient to give a Christian burial simply because he or she was a member of the congregation or a believer in Christ. For example, if the individual was being pursued by the police because he had molested a child and then shot himself rather than be arrested, it would be wrong to give that person a Christian burial.

On the other hand, it may be that God does bring that person into heaven because He is able to read the heart in a way I cannot. Therefore, I will not insist that anyone, including a person who commits suicide, is definitely going to hell. I am not God and am able only to make such a judgment about a Christian burial on the basis of the public evidence.

However, as mentioned earlier, if the person who committed suicide was a Christian and either a physician or psychologist can provide evidence that due to drugs or a mental illness the person was not himself, then I would have reason to conduct a Christian burial.

For example, I would conduct a Christian burial for a person who in his last days on earth was swearing at his children and wife. How could I do that? Because the physicians had diagnosed him with dementia. He had simply lost his ability to keep down the old Adam. In fact, during his more lucid moments, he was most anxious to receive the holy Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood.

In regard to the second point of comforting those who are grieving because of a friend or relative who committed suicide, I disagree with the notion that I can point to the mercy and grace of God and say the person is in heaven. But then, what comfort can I provide? Theology take place by making distinctions and the most important one is that between Law and Gospel.

Is it not true that when a person asks about the suicide of another, behind the question is the nature of the God we worship. From a Law and Gospel perspective, you give Law to those who are secure in sin and the Gospel to those who are truly in fear of God’s wrath. In the scenario I have provided, this person needs the Gospel, not the Law. But how to do so?

I disagree that the Gospel should be on the basis of whether the person who commtited suicide is going to hell or not. The focus should be on the promises of God instead. But I’ve already pointed out that we cannot provide the promise that the person is gong to heaven. Then what other promise is there?

Keep in mind that it is the faith of the person who asks the question, not the person who committed suicide, that is important in providing an answer. While what follows is not the only Gospel that can be provided, it is what I have found both to be comforting and in agreement with God’s holy Word.

There are really two sides of God. The one is the God we know as revealed in the holy Bible. The other is the God we don’t know who has kept hidden from us the answers to many of our questions. I believe that Christians need to respond a lot more with, “I have no answer to your question.” For when we provide an answer to a question that has not been clearly revealed in the Bible, we are talking about the hidden God Who has chosen not to reveal Himself or His decisions.

Then what can we say that God has promised? To the one grieving over a person who has committed suicide I say something like the following: “Your question really is asking whether you will be with your friend in heaven. While I cannot answer that, I can say the following. When you get to heaven, God promises you will be in bliss which means not only no death or sickness but also no grieving. If your friend is in heaven, you will be in bliss. If he is not in heaven, your bliss will not be diminished. I do not understand that promise from God but I believe it. Perhaps we will understand more of the mind of God and whatever are His decisions in regard not only to your friend but also to all our loved ones, will be accepted by us. For we live by faith, not by sight.”

While only scratching the surface of this important topic of suicide, these thoughts may at least result in additional responses from you as together we grapple with that part of God which is hidden from us but which will be fully revealed as we enter into our heavenly home forever and ever.

December 2, 2007 begins the new church year and the 1st Sunday in Advent with the following three readings assigned: Isaiah 2:1-5 (Mountain of the Lord); Romans 13:8-14 (Love fulfills the Law) and Matthew 2:1-11 (Wise Men to Bethlehem)or Matthew 24:36-44 (Judgment Day hour). The text for the sermon is Romans 13:10, “Love does no harm to the neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

It is our custom to point out that every theological passage in the Bible can be understood in two ways–the wrong way and the right way. The wrong way is the way of the Theologian of Glory who desires to be in authority in contrast to the right way of the Theologian of the Cross who bows to the authority of Jesus Christ. The two theologians understand love differently.

Ask the world about love and it will speak of married couples falling out of love which means a divorce. No such concept of love is found in God Who loved you prior to your being converted (John 3:16). God’s love is not dependent on something in us but rather is part of His nature. In contrast to the world that considers love to be an emotion, God’s love is an attitude that does not wane or disappear on the basis of his objects of love being so unloving.

In every other religion of the world, the goal is to appease or placate a god that is not in love with you so that it might begin to love you and choose you to be saved. In Christianity, God already loves you. There is no need to appease His wrath by merit but only to recognize that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s love pours out toward us in forgiveness, peace and eternal life.

While a superficial reading of the text might lead one to conclude that a loving action takes place when one does no harm to a neighbor, such a conclusion has it backwards. For love is not defined by how we treat the neighbor but rather whether or not our actions are in line with God’s Will (the commandments as verse 9 clarifies). If one obeys God’s will, then by definition whatever one does is an act of love. Love, therefore, is not some nice thing we do that results in our keeping the commandments but rather the opposite. Keeping the commandments is in reality the only way that the true God defines love.

Every action of Jesus was therefore, by definition, an act of love whether it was feeding the 5,000 who still didn’t get it or chasing out the money changers from the temple with a whip. But the greatest act of love was His death for you. Indeed, those determined steps to Jerusalem and the cross resulted in the Father expressing His love towards His Son with the words, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased!”

For the Last Sunday in the Church Year, the three assigned readings are Malachi 3:13-18 (complaints about the wicked); Colossians 1:13-20 (Delivered from darkness) and Luke 23:27-43 (Fall on us!). Chosen to preach on is Malachi 3:14, “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God, what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance?’”

As the Last Sunday in the Church Year emphasizes the Day of Judgment, the text echoes the thoughts of many Christians that there is not much of an advantage (profit) in serving God. Take a look around the world and often the proud appear to be more blessed than the Christian, those who do wickedness are raised up and those who tempt God go free! God Himself quotes these words from some in the nation of Israel as examples of those who, as He says, “have been harsh against Me.”

This is a common problem for the Theologian of Glory who lives under the Law and views all reality through the lens of “me first.” Such a self-centered attitude looks around and finds that it appears that there is little advantage in being a Christian. For the unbelievers appear to have as many benefits (blessings) as do Christians and in fact, seem to get away with murder.

The interpretation is clear for the day of Malachi. However, how do we apply this message today? The same attitude is found in Christians who imagine that the more they obey God, the more blessings they will receive. And it is found in those who decide to do a good work to please God. Such motivation is in reality a form of manipulation on our part to get God to bless us more.

That Christians are confused over their blessings is apparent when asked this question, “Think of three blessings you received this past week.” Then ask them to raise their hand if they are NOT thinking of something positive. Few, if any hands, will be raised. Why? Because Christians understand blessings differently than did the apostle Paul who listed as blessings being shipwrecked, imprisoned, alone, hungry and so forth.

The fact is that because God is working out all things for the good of the Christian believer, there is really no time here on earth that God is not blessing us. Even discipline according to Hebrews 12 is a blessing from God. Of course, the greatest event in His story (history) is the cross of Christ. While not recognized by the disciples at the time as a blessing, their minds certainly were upgraded to God’s mind three days later.

The sermon should help the listener realize that while the Theologian of Glory lives by interpreting his experience, the Theologian of the Cross lives under the Gospel in trusting in the promises of God for which there is no evidence except the Word of God. Indeed, for the Christian that great and terrible Day of Judgment that the world fears is coming, will instead be the great blessing of being transferred from this vale to tears to an eternity of bliss and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the 3-year set of readings, the readings for this coming Sunday, November 18, 2007 are Malachi 4:1-6 (Sun of Righteousness); 2 Thessalonians 3:1-13 (Lord is faithful) and Luke 21:5-36 (Fall of the Temple). Chosen as the text for the sermon is Luke 21:13 which reads, “But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.”

The theologian of glory not only assumes that salvation is by works that please God but also that he can figure out God’s attitude toward him by what he is experiencing. That makes Luke 21 for hard reading as Jesus prophecies that the future holds wars and commotions, nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom, great earthquakes along with famines and pestilence along with persecution and death to the faithful.

Doesn’t sound like a very rosy picture, does it? But the theologian of the cross refuses to decipher God’s attitude about himself by examining what he is experiencing. That was the problem with three of Job’s “friends” and his wife who could not understand that apparently bad things do happen to good people.

Many in the congregation are experiencing similar events in their own lives and wonder whether God has left them. That is why verse 13 which explains God’s reason for such calamities is so difficult to comprehend. It reveals that all these things will happen so that Christians will have an occasion for testimony. Sometimes we can create such occasions; other times God places them in our laps.

An example of the former is a truck driver who, after listening to the Law and Gospel radio broadcast on Maundy Thursday (kfuo.org), affixed the following sign to his 18 wheeler. “Hoc Est Corpus Meum” Translated as “This Is My Body” it refers to the teaching of Jesus Himself that in, with and under the forms of bread and wine are the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. We can only imagine the multitude of truck-stop conversations in regard to the Lord’s Supper due to that sign.

Calamities and tragedies are opportunities for testimony but not about us. Proper witnessing focuses on Jesus and Him alone as the hope for the future. For what hope was held out to those who witnessed the crucifixion on Friday only to be jolted back to reality in regard to the events of three days later?

As we near the end of the church year for 2007, the 24th Sunday after Pentecost for November 11 provides these three readings: Exodus 3:1-15 (Burning Bush); 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17 (Coming of Jesus Christ) and Luke 20:27-40 (God is God of the living). The sermon text is Exodus 3:14, “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.”

You can understand Moses’ reluctance to return to Egypt to free Israel from bondage when he has a price on his head for murder. First he tells God that he is not capable of doing this himself. God replies that He will certainly be with him. Moses realizes that the people of Israel will ask who gave Moses these orders so he asks God what is His name. God replies, “I AM WHO I AM.”

From a L&G point of view, the task of the preacher is to indict every member of the congregation with the accusation of Law that all are like Moses. But what exactly is Moses’ problem? Is it really that he does not think himself capable of bringing the people out of Egypt? No, his problem is that at this time he doesn’t believe that even God is capable of bringing His people out of Egypt.

Thus, if there is Gospel in this text, God’s answer must hold the key. How is the name of God Gospel? First, what does “I AM WHO I AM” signify. Just as most names have some meaning–my last name Baker probably originates with someone who baked bread–so also the name of God has important significance. The preacher’s task is to help the members of the congregation understand the significance of God’s name for their lives.

Does “I AM WHO I AM” simply refer to the fact that God exists? So what? To answer that question is really the goal of a sermon. The listeners are asking “So What” to your sermon because what good is it if it has no relevance to life? They already know that God exists so providing that meaning for the name of God is not helpful. The task of each sermon is to supply an analogy that clarifies what at this point is somewhat unclear.

There is a cartoon character that comes to mind who uses a similar phrase to the name of God. His name is Popeye. First time I heard him use it was when Olive Oyle had agreed to go on a date with Popeye but then Bluto, the big bully, said he was taking her out instead. Popeye replied, “No you are not.” Bluto said, “Who is going to stop me?” Popeye retored, “I yam who I yam!” puffing on his pipe with great vigor.

What did he mean? Popeye was telling Bluto that he had already promised Olive Oyle that he was taking her on a date and no one, including big bad Bluto, was going to stop him from keeping his promise. The name of God is not just for the purpose of having something to call upon in prayer. It means that God will keep His promises.

The “I AM WHO I AM” is a form of the copula verb “to be”. It is the word “Yahweh” with a guess that the vowels are “a” and “e” because the original Hebrew was without vowels. A bad transliteration is the word “Jehovah” which is the result of not realizing that the vowels finally put over the 4 consonants were from the word “adonai” which means small capital “lord.” The Israelites were so hesitant to use the name for God that the vowels for “adonai” were put there instead reminding them to say “adonia” rather than the real word “YHWH”.

The paraphrase I find helpful is “I fulfill what I promise.” For behind the name is the promise of God to Abraham that the people of God would populate the promised land of Canaan. And no one, including big bad Pharoah, could possibly get in the way of God keeping His promises. What is so interesting is that the sign which God gives to Moses that God will keep His promise is that Moses will return to this mountain (Sinai)AFTER the people are freed!

The members of the congregation, like Moses, daily sin much deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment primarily because they do not believe that God will keep His promises. That needs to be flushed out during the sermon depending on the particular personality of the congregation and how sin commonly raises its poisonous head in a way common to these people. Then the signs of God’s faithfulness connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ need to be stressed which, of course, are the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In this way, both the accusation of Law and the good news of the Gospel are applied during the sermon.

As the church calendar year normally has it, the Sunday after Reformation is All Saints Day with the following three readings: Revelation 7:2-17 (The five angels); 1 John 3:1-3 (We are children of God) and Matthew 5:1-12 (Beatitudes). The text for preaching is 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.”

At first reading it appears that we have a contradiction while on the one hand the text says “we are children of God” but then it says “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.” Is it that in time we will no longer be children? No, that isn’t the case for Christians will always be children of God. However, there are two kinds of children. The first are those who are begotten. But we are not begotten children of God since there is only One Who is the only-begotten of God and His name is Jesus.

Instead, we are adopted children. We are living in a society that finds its purpose and meaning by our works. For many, including every other religion except Christianity, the goal is to become right with God which translates to do right things for God. As at the time of the Reformation, many today are deluded into thinking that becoming right with God means that we have to do right things for God!

That is why a far better Biblical analogy for the concept of salvation is being a member of the family. And that occurs through adoption. Adopted children do not become more or less adopted depending upon their behavior. The relationship is not based on works but on whether the parents truly adopted the child.

So also with the holy Trinity Who through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ brought us into the Family as children of God. When Christ spoke the words, “It is finished” it meant that what really separated us from God; namely, the curse of the Law, has been paid. No longer does sin result in damnation. The new paradigm under the new covenant is whether one has faith. Sinners who are unbelievers go to hell; sinners who are believers go to heaven.

Yes, we will always remain children of God but we will soon be transformed at the coming of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ Who will change our vile body to be like His without spot or sin. Then, we will not just be declared righteous but become righteous by grace in the heavenlies forever and ever.