Theological distinctions between Law & Gospel

5
Jan

Sermon A: Epiphany: Mt 2:11b

Posted by Tom Baker

Apologies for the late blog for this coming Epiphany, January 6, 2008 due to just getting back from vacation. The three readings are Isaiah 60:1-6 (Gentiles come to Jesus); Ephesians 3:1-12 (Gentiles are fellow heirs) and Matthew 2:1-12 (visit of the Wise Men to Jesus). The text to examine is the entire Gospel reading from Matthew with special attention to Matthew 2:11b, “And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

The first 12 verses of Matthew 2 dealing with the visit of the Wise Men makes for a very difficult sermon to preach. Why? Because there is such a temptation just to tell the story without executing Law and Gospel. What does that mean? There is the tendency on the part of pastors to have difficulty in leaving the classrooms of the seminary. How many times have insights been provided in these classrooms that intrigue us as students? However, the sharing of exegetical insights does not a sermon make.

For a sermon is not simply the retelling of the story, even with new insights. Rather, a sermon is the execution of Law and Gospel. Preaching Law and Gospel is also not achieved because the Ten Commandments are mentioned and the content of the Gospel is somehow brought into the sermon. Instead, proclaiming the Law means to execute the proper use of Law (accusation) and proclaiming the Gospel is to actually confer the benefits of the Gospel to those who have just been killed by the Law.

In regard to this text, a sermon has not been preached even if one mentions that one of the gifts from the Wise Men was embalming fluid pointing to the fact that this Baby was born to die. Good insight but still not preaching Law and Gospel. Moreover, a sermon has not been preached by pointing out how many Old Testament Bible verses were fulfilled in regard to the visit of the Wise Men.

How then does one use this true story of Wise Men from the East coming to the Baby Jesus and worshiping Him to proclaim and execute Law and Gospel? One first has to find the Law handle in each passage of Scripture which is then executed against the hearers followed by the Gospel which reveals how God takes care of the accusation against us.

The following is only one example of such an execution of Law and Gospel on the basis of this text. It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them. Perhaps it is because of some sin they have done or some good work they have not done. At any rate, access to God in their minds is limited. They wonder how they might get on God’s good side again.

The Wise Men certainly should not have had access to the holy God. First of all, they were not even of Israel. They were Gentiles. In every other religion of the world, access to their gods is by good works, sacrifices or offerings. It is of utmost importance to realize that the Wise Men first received access to God in the cradle before giving him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Law is executed against the hearers of the sermon by accusing them of attempting to get access to God by our works of coming to church, reading the Bible or giving offerings. What we don’t realize is that access to God does not take place by our somehow meriting our way into God’s presence but by God Himself coming into our presence. The Lost Sheep was not found by looking for the Shepherd; the Shepherd looked for, found and carried the Sheep back home.

The Gospel promise is that through faith in the promises of the Bible–which the Wise Men had–access to God is available by grace. For the peace which the angels proclaimed to the shepherds is now seen working itself out in that Gentiles, mind you, also have access to the Prince of Peace.

Other executions of Law and Gospel could proclaim that like Herod, each of us do not enjoy having Jesus as our King. That is plain by our daily sins of thought, word and deed because of which we really deserve temporal and eternal punishment as we forsake the King of kings, the Lord of lords. However, the Gospel is the good news that because we are adopted into the family, our behavior no longer has the effect on the part of God to forsake and leave us.

These are only two possibilities of at least six I can think of at this time as to how a story of Wise Men coming to the Christ-child can be made into a sermon that executes both the Law of accusation and the Gospel of salvation. It is the difference between a Bible study and a sermon; a lecture and proclamation; a talking about Law and Gospel rather than the execution of the same.

Category : Law & Gospel

One Response to “Sermon A: Epiphany: Mt 2:11b”


Larry KY January 5, 2008

Dr. Baker,

“It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them”.

This “little” fact dawned on me three weeks ago when reading “Let God Be God”. It dawned on me as an outcome of that book outlining Luther’s theology that ALL questions boil down to this is some form or another, “what is God’s will, heart or disposition toward me the sinner…” or some variant of that. That from this without Christ ALL is idolatry, stunningly enough, contrived from other qualities of God be it sovereignty, righteousness, that He is and so forth. But none of those answer the “what is God’s disposition toward me”. Luther likens it to a man we know some things about but not his disposition toward us, ill or good, so we “make it up an assessment of that man” (like idolatry) that is fallen. We say, “if I was God…”. Yet, when we see Christ FOR US/ME in the Word and Sacraments, then we have God’s heart and disposition toward sinners…we actually HAVE and KNOW for real THE GOD that is and not the idol of Him we’ve made up out of other essences of Him. To know His selfless love via the revelation of Christ FOR US, Gospel, is to know God and be known by God. Or as Luther put it “loose the revealed God, loose the hidden God also”. It’s a stunning thing!

In the book they ask why Satan couldn’t see the deity behind the incarnate flesh. Because the devil being the archtype of fallen man, that inherent doer and legalist of the law being UNDER the Law couldn’t see that THAT could be God…because his, and our, fallen love “assessment” of God with some retention of His other attributes would be a God that would punish and not forgive, much less give Himself over for the unlovable and unattractive, the sinner. BUT in paradox THAT IS God! If Jesus had come to punish sinners then, He would have been exalted AS God because that fit the bill of Satan and fallen man’s religion, a “love” that loves only that which is lovable and attractive, selfish love. But God’s love is altruistic and utterly devoid of self love and is selfless purely. Thus, when Jesus said He came to forgive sinners, well that surely could not have been God according to Satan and Satan’s children, the merit mongers.

All our struggles boil down to that: “It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them”, what’s His will and disposition toward me? That’s why we need afresh weekly Christ in Word and Sacrament, to KNOW THIS Gospel and God for me. Then I can go on and cheerfully serve my neighbor throughout the week in all my callings. If God’s revealed disposition is “I forgive you and have done all for you”, then what need do I have of my works? None! Pass them on to the neighbor! That question, “It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them”, EVEN lurks under the terror I once struggled with in deep deep darkness for years, “Am I predestine/elected.” After reading that book it dawned on me that THAT is the same question just being asked differently, “Am I predestined/elected” = “It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them” = “What is God’s will, heart and disposition toward me”. That’s at the VERY root of it. Outside of Christ, one cannot know, but fixed on Christ in Word and Sacrament that comes TO ME, God’s work (it’s crucial to see it as God’s work via the pastors hand not the pastors or mine), then I have the answer and predestination and election serve the Gospel. Again, as Luther says, loose the revealed God and you loose the hidden God with Him.

I begin to see more and more Luther’s point on the sacraments even above say Calvin on this as I grow older in the faith. The sacraments as an expression of God’s will TO YOU is powerful Gospel, very powerful, in fact life giving and sustaining. In a sense when we ask “what is God’s will, heart and disposition toward us” the answer can almost be simply said, “What more would God have had to say than incarnate His Word which is His heart and spoke through the Word and Sacraments to the same end”, what more would you (or I) have Him say to us/me to know His will?” It’s simple, but hard to “get in the blood”! Well, it’s impossible without the Word and Sacraments continually coming to us.

EVERY day in this life we are constantly asking in our minds and hearts either explicitly or implicitly, “It is a fact that Christians often feel that God is not close to them”, or “What is His will, disposition or heart toward me EVEN now/today…seeing how I still failed yet AGAIN!”

Blessings,

Larry KY