For the 2nd Sunday after Christmas in Series B, the three assigned readings are 1 Kings 3:4-15; Ephesians 1:3-14 and Luke 2:40-52. Chosen to preach on is the 6th verse of chapter 3 of 1 Kings, “And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great mercy to your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you…”

How else can this verse be interpreted except to conclude that because of David’s walking in truth, righteousness and uprightness, God showed great mercy to him? The goal of the sermon, then, would be to motivate the congregation to walk in a similar way so that they also might receive the mercy of God. But does that even make sense?

God would not be showing mercy to David if he walked in truth and righteousness. Mercy is not giving what a person deserves. How is God merciful to one who is already doing what God expects? In fact, is not such an interpretation completely contrary to the theme of the Bible that God shows mercy to those who are sinners; not to those who are righteous?

Every other religion in the world would agree with such a legalistic interpretation because every man-made religion is based on our works as that which persuades God to save us. But Christianity is totally different. God declares the ungodly to be godly while they remain ungodly! But then how does that agree with Solomon’s words about his father David?

First of all, after the Bathsheba incident, who would conclude that David had the reputation of walking in truth, righteousness and uprightness of heart? No David was a sinner who himself confessed that only by God being merciful to him by creating a clean heart and right spirit could David ever be considered as righteous.

Which is precisely the point. It is not that God was merciful to David because David was so righteous. No, rather David is regarded by God as righteous because God is merciful to him. To put it plainly, it is not David’s uprightness of heart that moves God to be merciful to him; instead, it is God’s mercy that declares David to be walking in truth, righteousness and uprightness. How doea that work?

What God does is first to create faith in those who were sinners deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment. Through that faith, believers now cling to the promises of the Messiah/Christ to take away the punishment of their sins. (See Psalm 23) God then accounts such faith as righteousness and uprightness because one’s sins are forgiven and one is wearing the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

The mercy of God consists in His not holding us accountable for our sins while the grace of God consists in His providing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (see Ephesians 1:3) In fact, verse 4 of Ephesians 1 reveals that God chose believers in Him before the foundation of the world and imputed to us that righteousness and uprightness of the Messiah that we should be holy and without blame in His sight.

So rather than interpreting these verses as every other religion living under the Law does, Christians recognize that their righteousness before God is only because He is merciful and gracious to us. We indeed, through faith in Jesus, live under the Gospel promises of being in the kingdom of God even while we are here on earth.

For the first Sunday after Christmas in Series B, the three assigned readings are Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Galatians 4:4-7 and Luke 2:22-40. The sermon text is Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

While there are many ways to distinguish between Law and Gospel, my favorite is the two columns entitled, “Living Under the Law” and “Living Under the Gospel.” The primary passage for this concept is Romans 6:14 which reads, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” These distinctions are different than those between the proper three uses of Law (curb, mirror and rule) and the Gospel.

Instead, “living under the Law” interprets one’s progress in life on the basis of one’s works. While there is some truth in that in regard to the temporal realm, it is not at all true in regard to the spiritual realm where one needs to get right with God. To live under the Law is to live with the assumption that your works make a difference as to whether you go to heaven or hell.

Another way of distinguishing these two views of reality is to speak of living under the law as salvation by works which we merit through effort while living under the Gospel is salvation by grace which we inherit through faith. Being “born under the Law” therefore means that the curse of the Law faces every human being which says, “In the day that you sin, death is the result.”

Jesus took upon Himself that curse to redeem those of us who were already under the curse. What He did on the cross was to complete the work of forgiving our sins which means that we are no longer held accountable for sins of thought, word and deed. Jesus took that punishment upon Himself with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

The result according to the Galatians reading is that we are no longer a slave to the curse of the Law but a son of God through Christ. That occured not through our works as we gain entrance to the family of God but by grace through faith as we enter into the family of God by adoption.

The 4th Sunday in Advent provides the following three readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Romans 16:25-27 and Luke 1:26-38. The verse chosen as the sermon text is Romans 16:25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…”

There are three primary comings of Christ the Church celebrates during the Advent season. The first, of course, is His coming in the Bethlehem stable and the last is His coming on the Day of Judgment. But the second coming refers to His coming into the hearts of human beings on the day of their conversion. Most Christians would agree that such an act of conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit who gets all the credit.

However, not so unanimous in their opinion is how one remains in the faith. It is not unheard of that much responsibility is given to the saved individual to make sure that he remains in the faith. But God is Creator; we are creature. In heaven all Christians will answer with once voice as to who gets all the credit for our salvation. Answer: The Holy Trinity!

Thus, even our life of sanctification is credited to God and Him alone. That is why the text makes it clear that God establishes you according to both the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. Such preaching is a proclamation of the Word that goes way beyond transmitting biblical information. For it is not information but a transformation that saves.

Such salvation, as far as we humans known, comes through the Gospel, not the Law, and the preaching of Jesus Christ. And the Gospel is not a recounting of the history as revealed in the Bible. That is, one can believe that Jesus was born, died and rose from the dead and still go to hell. For the devils and the unbelieving Pharisees believed that.

What saves is the Gospel promises connected to the historial events of His birth, crucifixion and resurrection. Those promises always contain a “for you” element that the Holy Spirit takes not only to create faith but also to sustain such faith. Because sanctification involves proper motivation, one cannot “preach” sanctification in the sense of giving information to the hearer as to how to become more sanctified.

Rather, becoming more sanctified; that is, becoming established in the faith, takes place not by speaking of sanctification but by proclaiming the Gospel benefits of the passion of Jesus Christ which began with His birth. Once the Gospel promises are heard and believed, the works of sanctification develop spontaneously without effort on our part for they are indeed fruit of the Holy Spirit.

What better New Year’s resolution can a congregation make than to insure the establishment of faith in its midst by a proper liturgy and preaching that provides all the Gospel and sacraments necessary for the work of the Holy Spirit to prevail. Take away the pure Word and proper sacraments, and you have taken away the reason for the season.

For the 3rd Sunday in Advent in Series B of the 3-year lectionary the 3 readings are Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 and John 1:6-8, 19-28. Chosen as the sermon passage is Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

If you were to ask most Christians what is the benefit we receive because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ they would certainly answer with the “forgiveness of sins.” Yet that is only 1/2 of the primary benefit Jesus won for you. For there are two obstacles to our relationship with Almighty God since the fall of human beings into sin.

The first is the sins we commit. For that the forgiveness of sins is valid and proper. But what do you do with an individual who is aware of the many good works he is unable to perform as God demands? While the first reason for separation from God can be referred to as sins of commission, the second reason is referred to as sins of omission.

The faithful pastor, along with any Christian, will first listen to the attitude of the individual to arrive at a decision whether the broken relationship is due to an active sin of thought, word or deed or the inability to do a good work. For the former problem, the Good News is the forgiveness of sins. But for the latter problem, the Good News is Isaiah’s words of being clothed with the robe of righteousness.

That robe was given during the glorious exchange in baptism when we gave to Jesus our sins and He gave to us His righteousness. Not His intrinsic righteousness of being divine but those many good works He did while on earth. Those are transferred to us who, of course, do not deserve that robe anymore than we deserved the forgiveness of sins.

Law and Gospel distinctions first diagnose the condition of which kind of sin the person worries about. Then comes the treatment of the proper antidote of either forgivness for sins of commission or the robe of righteousness for sins of omission. In this way, the second 1/2 of the works of Jesus Christ are made available so that from God’s point of view, the believer is regarded not just as 100% sinner but also as 100% saint by grace, through faith on account of Jesus Christ!

The second Sunday in Advent for Series B has the following three readings: Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14 and Mark 1:1-8. The chosen text is Isaiah 40:2, “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned…”

The word for this week is “pardoned.” While it is a synonym for “forgiven” it provides a better insight into God’s good news than what most Christians understand by just the word “forgiven.” What is of first interest is that God is not speaking directly to His people but through the prophet Isaiah. God is a God of means and remains so today in speaking through pastors and teachers who are faithful in repeating back to the people of God what God has revealed in His holy Word.

How many funerals are there in which the only “good news” is a eulogy spoken by one or more of the relatives or friends. It may be that the person in the coffin was a nice man or woman but so often eulogies only work to bring comfort if people did not know the individual intimately. For an intimate knowledge of any person means you realize that no matter how nice, he or she still was a sinner deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.

The GOOD NEWS as distinct from the eulogized good news is that God really has pardoned His people. But note well that being pardoned does not mean that you are not guilty. President Bush pardoned a farmer for killing bald eagles because he had poisoned certain animals that the bald eagles ate. While it was not his intention to kill the birds, he still broke the law and the pardon did not remove his guilt. What it removed was his punishment!

So also with the true God. The pardon or forgiveness He provides at no cost is not a removal of our sinful nature nor our guilt but a “get out of jail free” card. How can a just God do that? Because He took it upon Himself to pay the price of the curse of the Law at the cross with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Answer? “Because you have on your shoulders the sins of the whole world.”

People are prepared for this pardon not by doing good works, thoughts or words but by confessing that they are sinners in need of a Savior. That is the work of the John the Baptists in our day so that the Good News of the Messiah is received by grace, through faith on account of Jesus Christ. Believers in Christ are ungodly people whom God has pardoned (forgiven) for their sins while they remain ungodly and guilty for such sins. No other religion in the world comes even close to that Good News as revealed in the Christian faith.

We now begin the new church year, Series B with the three assigned readings from Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 and Mark 11:1-10 or Mark 13:24-37. Chosen to preach on is 1 Corinthians 1:8, “who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ask this question to any Christian, “Are you righteous and blameless enough to go to heaven?” The normal answer will be “no” which demonstrates the lack of spiritual understanding even among Christians. For even Christians get caught up defining words the way the world does rather than the way God does. Righteous means being very good in your works and blameless means no mistakes at all, according to the world.

However, the essence of the Christian message is that God takes ungodly people and declares them to be godly while they remain ungodly. Another way of saying that is the Christian is both 100% saint and 100% sinner at the same time. For under the Law we fail in all our works and thus are truly sinners. But under the Gospel we are forgiven all our sins and are dressed in the robe of righteousness.

This is not understood apart from faith. Thus, the purpose of every sermon is to help the listener begin to interpret reality the way God does. For the Bible is nothing other than a book explaining how God thinks which can never be figured out with natural revelation. Law and Gospel distinctions are necessary for proper understanding of God’s view of reality.

The essence of this message is that God’s understanding of being righteous and blameless is different for Adam and Eve prior to the Fall into sin and for Adam and Eve and you and me after the Fall into sin. How so? Prior to the Fall, God regarded Adam and Eve to be righteous and blameless in regard to His will because they actually were. They never sinned and obeyed God perfectly.

But that image of God was lost in the Fall. The Bible is clear that for fallen people there are two paths of existence. The one is the broad path that leads to destruction and the other is the narrow path that leads to life. While there are many analogies in the Bible in regard to these two ways (eg., self-righteousness and Christ righteousness) the essence of the two ways is the difference between unbelievers and believers.

Unbelievers follow the broad path by rejecting the grace of God choosing thereby to pay for their own sins with hell as their end. Believers by the power of the Holy Spirit are on the narrow path receiving the benefits of the forgiveness of sins and the robe of Christ’s righteousness by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Because of that gift of salvation, God recognizes believers as righteous and blameless in His sight for He now sees them through the cross of Christ.

From God’s point of view then, those before the Fall are regarded as sinless differently than those after the Fall. Adam and Eve before the Fall were declared sinless, righteous and blameless because they actually lived that kind of life. Those after the Fall will not live that kind of life until after the Day of Judgment. But the verse is clear. Prior to that Day you need to be righteous and blameless in God’s sight.

What is the answer to how sinners are regarded by God as righteous and blameless? While they cannot live a life of sinless good works they do live a life by the power of the Holy Spirit of repentance! Repentance is defined by Luke 15 as being carried back home by God. The act of repentance is done by God. The results of that action on His part in regard to us results in a life of contrition and faith.

The bottom line is this. Prior to the Fall, human beings were righteous and blameless because their works were. After the Fall, human beings are regarded by God as righteous and blameless because of repentance. The life of the Christian is one of repentance. We give all our sins to God which He exchanges for the righteous robe of Christ’s obedience and the gift of the forgiveness of sins. So that prior to the Day of Judgment, sinful human believers are regarded by God as righteous and blameless by grace, through faith, on account of Jesus Christ!

It is the last Sunday of the Church year. The listed readings are Ezekiel 34:1-16, 20-24; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 and Matthew 25:31-46. Selected to preach on is verse 41 of Matthew 25, “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

And what was the apparent reason for the goats being cursed? Because they did not give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty among others? Who in their life has not given something to eat and drink to those in need of it? Parents do so for their children; spouses for one another and the list goes on. And how do we understand the apparent conclusion that salvation for the sheep is because of their works?

How does one preach this text without giving the impression that works are the basis for salvation? Perhaps the following analogy might be helpful. School kids are walking home from school. Two of them leave the group as they walk up a porch, take out keys, open the door and go in. One of the other students says, “I didn’t know that they were the children of those parents.”

Now what made them “children of those parents”? Was it that they had keys? Was it that they could walk into the house? No, it was because they had been either born or adopted into the family. The keys and ability to walk into the house were only evidence of their already having been children of those parents through no contribution of their own.

So also, when Jesus points out the “works” of the sheep, in reality those “works” are evidence that the sheep were members of the family by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, they are not their own “works” at all but “fruit of the Holy Spirit.” The difference between the two (works and fruit) is motivation. Good works are motivated through self-centered motivation while fruit of the Holy Spirit are motivated by love of Christ. Goats (unbelievers) can never do fruit because they reject the Spirit.

The real difference between the sheep and goats is that the sheep are believers and the goats are unbelievers. The sheep have the evidence of being members of the family because as Romans 11 reveals, they were grafted on to the vine. As Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Without Me, you can do nothing.”

While the Law of the sermon would demonstrate our inability to do the works perfectly that are necessary, the Gospel is the good news that God’s judgment of us occurs as we have been forgiven all our sins and are wearing the robe of Christ’s righteousness. We are not assured of our salvation because we see the evidence of spiritual fruit as God is able to do but because we have been baptized (adopted) into the family of God through Word and Sacrament.

For the second last Sunday in the Church year, the three assigned readings are Zephaniah 1:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and Matthew 25:14-30. The text chosen to preach on is Matthew 25, verse 25, “And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.”

As we have noted elsewhere, a parable is not talking about what it is talking about. So if the parable is talking about shepherds and sheep, it’s not about sheepherding; if it talks about money, it’s not about money. While the parable of the talents appears to be about our use of money and other gifts given to us by God, we therefore conclude that cannot be the application.

The other important L&G principle is that when God criticizes someone, it is not only because of sin but specifically because of unbelief. And conversely, when God praises someone it is specifically because of faith. Thus, we need to discover the promise which the faithful servants believe and which the unfaithful servant does not believe.

The 19th chapter of Luke has a similar parable which helps to fill in some of the blanks in this parable. But the bottom line is that the promise found in this parable is that the lord will return. Therefore, the parables in this chapter deal with the End Times and specifically the Day of Judgment.

The disciples are under the impression that Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem to bring in the new kingdom of God. Little are they aware of the predictions from the Old Testament that Jesus is going to die, rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven not to return until He is ready.

The parable, therefore, is whether we believe that Jesus will return as He has promised. Those who regard God as a cruel Judge demanding the harvest from which He has not sown seed are those who do not have proper faith in the God of mercy and grace. Therefore, they get an eternity with the god in which they trust–the devil himself.

It is not that the servants have been profitable in what they did (The “done” of verse 21 and 23 is not in the original Greek). Rather, they have been faithful (same verses) in believing the promise that He will return and in His own good time. The gain in trading refers to the fruit of the Holy Spirit that those of faith spontaneously exhibit and which God looks for on the Day of Judgment as the evidence that the believer has truly been grafted on to the vine. (See next parable)

As we near the end of the Church year, the lessons assigned for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost speak of the Day of Judgment: Amos 5:18-24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Matthew 25:1-13. Preaching this week will be on Matthew 25:8, “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’”

The normal interpretation of this parable is that the key ingredient in getting into the wedding banquet is to have sufficient oil. Such an opinion has led to all kinds of odd spiritual synonyms for the oil such as our works or our faith. The point is then made that you had better not fall asleep as the disciples did in the Garden of Gethsemane by seeing to it that your obedience to God’s command does not fall short or else you will not get into the banquet.

It does not take a genius in theology to realize that such interpretations and applications are Law. The parable is then regarded as something like Aesop’s fables in which there is a lesson to be learned and practiced in one’s life. The Bible is then seen as a book of principles of life with parables providing some of the best principles.

However, falling asleep cannot be the problem because even the wise virgins fell asleep. Yes, the foolish had not brought sufficient oil but what possibly could the oil represent on the part of our needing to bring something in preparation for the Day of Judgment?

Parables are about the way God works in the kingdom of God on earth; namely, the holy, Christian Church. This parable is not a directive as to what we are to do, say or think so we have enough oil. The lack of oil is simply a symptom of the far greater problem that the foolish virgins had.

A L&G principle is that whenever God criticizes someone, the criticism is not just directed toward the sin but the unbelief behind that sin. And conversely, whenever God praises someone, the praise is not just directed toward the good work but the faith behind that fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since God is criticizing five of the virgins there must be something lacking in their faith that is at fault.

In fact, it is not something that is lacking; it is something that is non-existent! They are not called wise and foolish in the Bible comparing smart people to dumb people or intelligent people to ignorant people or anything like that. The Bible is clear. Wisdom is a synonym for those who have faith; foolish (moron in the Greek) is a synonym for unbelievers.

It is not that the oil was insufficent. It only was a symptom of the larger problem in that the foolish virgins did not believe that the groom would be so late. They had a view of him that did not necessitate additional oil because he would come within the time frame that they regarded as appropriate. The wise, on the other hand, knew that the bridegroom was not one who could be put into a box. Therefore, they were ready for whatever decision he made.

The parable is simply differentiating that those who are ready for the return of the bridegroom are those of faith while those who are not ready are those of unbelief. There is no preparation one can make for that return on one’s own. Instead, the children of God are already prepared for the return of the Savior because faith has been planted in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.

To make it clear: the parable is not advising any of us as to how to prepare for the coming of the Judge as though we can have enough oil–whatever that is–to be counted worthy to enter the banquet. Instead, God is revealing to us that those who are ready for Judgment Day are believers while unbelievers are not ready. From God’s point of view that is clear by the way each group has or does not have the faith to trust the groom rather than attempt to put him in a box that sounds reasonable and acceptable.

All Saints Day to be held on November 2, 2008 directs us to the following three readings: Revelation 7:2-17; 1 John 3:1-3 and Matthew 5:1-12. Chosen to preach on is Revelation 7:10, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Two problems arise in this verse. Does not salvation belong to people who are sinners? Salvation does not belong to God, does it? And the second problem is that the verse appears to make a distinction between God who sits on the throne and the Lamb who, of course, is Jesus Christ. How do we resolve these apparent problems.

When a child is adopted as an infant, the good works that he begins to do is to eat the food he is given, sleep in the bed he is provided and wear the clothes in which he is dressed. Now while it is true that the clothes now belong to the infant, it is also true to state that they belong to the parents who bought and paid for them.

In the same way, salvation belonging to God is understood that God and God alone is the source, the foundation the essence of our salvation. Salvation is from God Who alone won it for us. And He did so not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. This understanding that our salvation has its source in God and Him alone decimates any kind of decision theology or any contribution of works on our part toward our salvation. As newborn infants in the Church, we thank and praise Him Who alone gets all the credit for saving us.

The second problem is that the verse makes it look like God is on the throne and then there is this other Lamb who may or may not be God. Here we look to the Reformation principle of Scripture interprets Scripture. One only has to return to chapter 5 of this same book of Revelation. In a number of verses there is no distinction between the worship and honor given to the Lamb and to the One on the throne.

In point of fact, verse 13 reveals that all creatures give blessing and honor and glory and power not only to Him who sits on the throne but also to the Lamb! Are we not reminded of Daniel 7 when the One Who sits on the throne–the Ancient of Days–sends the son of Man to save the world? Chapter 5 of Revelation is the return of that son of Man Who died so that we will never really die and Who lives so that we live eternally. And chapter 7 is a revelation of all the benefits that those saints who have gone on before us now enjoy in the company of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.