The three readings assigned for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost are Leviticus 18:1-5; 19:9-18; Colossians 1:1-14 and Luke 10:25-37. The text chosen to preach about is Luke 10:28, “And he said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.’”

It’s known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan which makes it wrong on two counts. First, it is NOT a parable. Parables are about what happens in the kingdom of God with Jesus as the primary person of the parable. Now there have been those who attempt to make Jesus the Jewish person who was attacked, the Samaritan who helped him, the animal upon whom the Samaritan placed the Jew and so forth. Furthermore, the real point is not about loving Samaritans or Jews but it is an answer to the question of the deceptive lawyer. How so?

The lawyer asks what he is to do to inherit eternal life. Think about that for a moment. If someone were to ask you about what they needed to DO to get to heaven, would you not tell them, “Nothing?” Would you not point them to Jesus as Savior Who died to take away the punishment of sin and Who rose to affirm that His mission was successfully accomplished? Look what Jesus says!  “What is written in the Law?” Jesus points to the Law as the way of salvation? Why did He do so?

Being the top theologian of His day, Jesus knew well the distinctions between Law and Gospel With the lawyer Jesus realizes that the man imagines that he can be good enough to merit salvation. So Jesus not only points him to the law but when the lawyer correctly quotes Deuteronomy 6 as part of the Jewish Shema, Jesus responds, “Do this and you will live.” “Do this and you will live!!!!” Has Jesus forgotten that a man is saved by grace through faith and not byworks of the Law? Or, is there something else going on here?

Of course there is. Jesus knows that when you are speaking with someone who imagines that they can merit their way to heaven, you demonstrate to them where they fall short. So the reason for a story about an enemy being a good person in helping out someone in need. The point is clear. Jesus is simply telling the lawyer one area of his life where he falls short of the glory of God. There really is NO GOSPEL in the entire passage. It is all Law. Because as Jesus said, it is wrong to give pearls to the swine. That is, it is bad theology to proclaim the Gospel to someone who imagines that they are not as sinful as God regards them.

To show that this is NOT a parable, simply go to a parallel conversation in Mark 10 with the rich man. The SAME QUESTION is asked but this time the problem is love of money which Jesus points out. When the disciples ask Jesus who can be saved, He answers that it is IMPOSSIBLE  with man but not with God for with God all things are possible. Jesus is making the point that even with the help of God it is impossible for a man to contribute to his salvation. No, as an unbeliever, he is dead in sin and therefore cannot possibly respond. The response comes only when the Holy Spirit creates faith and good works follow after a person is totally saved.

In both Mark 10 and Luke 10 conversations with the lawyer/rich man, Jesus speaks no Gospel for each of them needs to hear the Law in all its severity. While both passages give no indication whether either of the men ever came to faith, we know that because of Jesus’ Law and Gospel preaching some Pharisees, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, did come to faith trusting in the promises of the Gospel connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The three assigned readings for this 6th Sunday after Pentecost are Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18 and Luke 10:1-20. The text upon which the sermon is based is from Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

If you look up the word “Karma” on the Internet, you will find that some sites find the teaching of Karma not only in Buddhism and Hinduism but also in Christianity! In fact, they use this verse from Galatains 6 as evidence that Christians also believe in Karma. Karma can be summarized by the notion that “what goes around, comes around.” It is the idea that in the long run, people get what they deserve. In Buddhism and other such religions, Karma is tied to the teaching of Reincarnation which is the belief that human beings today have had past lives and actions that have an effect on what kind of life they have today.

If they were evil in a past life, then they are reincarnated into a body–not necessarily human–in which they make up for their past sins. Karma then becomes a teaching that attempts to resolve why bad things happen to good people. One can break out of a cycle of being reincarnated into an inferior being by being more ethical in the present life so that in the next body one is elevated to a higher level.

The worse effect of Karma is that because people need to go through purification in the present life, there is not much motivation to help the needy, the poor, the sick and so forth because then you get in the way of the purification process.  As an aside, this is one of the reasons why the unbelieving Pharisees were angry with Jesus for healing lepers and the demon possessed. He was in essence removing the deserved consequences of their sin attributed to them by God. Jesus was therefore getting in the way of God’s justice.

And that is the primary reason why Christianity does not believe in Karma as taught by false religions. For the Christian God is not a God of justice in giving everyone what he or she deserves. Rather the holy Trinity is a merciful God in not giving people what they deserve and a gracious God in giving people what they do not deserve; namely, the forgiveness of sins, the robe of righteousnses and eternal salvation.

What Galatians 6:7 does not mean by “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” is some unbreakable principle of karma. Instead, it refers to God’s plan that those who are believers reap the free gift of salvation while those who are unbelievers reap what they hope for; namely, an eternity without the true God. The Christian faith does not permit, therefore, the commonly held notion that when something bad happens to us and we can complian, ”What did I do to deserve this?” We believe, teach and confess instead that what we truly deserve is nothing but temporal and eternal punishment. Anything short of that is a gracious gift from a loving God Who became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.

On the 5th Sunday after Pentecost the Series C three readings are 1 Kings 19:9b-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25 and Luke 9:51-62. The text chosen to preach about is Galatians 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Two of the primary understandings of the Christian faith in the United States are Evangelicals land Reformation thinkers. The main difference is that Evangelicals–and in this case we would include Roman Catholics–beleive in a decision theology of sorts. In other words, Evangelicals believe that the natural man is not so fallen that he cannot cooperate in some way with God’s grace either to take the first steps in his salvation or to invite Christ into his heart. Reformation Christians, on the other hand, teach that there is nothing an unbeliever can do, say or think in order to become saved. To put it bluntly, God is not able to teach an unbeliever what to do, say or think in order to become saved. Instead, salvation is a gracious gift from God given to those who do NOT deserve it!

These two views of Christian theology have different understandings on many doctrines. Galatians 5 speaks of the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. For Evangelicals walking in the Spirit means to keep from sinning. The indication that a person is walking in the Spirit is that he has changed his life, he is more at peace, he feels God’s presence, he is blessed more and more. This is in stark contrast to the Reformation view that walking in the Spirit is what a believing sinner does in that he lives a life of repentance, not sinlessness. For the Reformation believer, walking in the flesh is not simply committing sin but enjoying it, practicing it and refusing to repent of it.

These differences are made clearer by what each means by not being “under the law” as verse 18 reveals. Reformation theology teaches that being under the Law means that a person imagines he can contribute to or cooperate with God to become saved. Such living under the Law results in living under the curse of the Law which God promised would lead to death. Living under the Law is living according to the thinking of Satan while living under the cross is living according to the thinking of the Triune God.

It is not surprising to find congregational members concluding that by going to church, praying a lot, helping out the neighbor and so forth that they are making sure that they go to heaven. But the Reformation revealed that if Christian’s motivation to do good works is for the purpose of staying saved, that is sin. God would prefer a dish of dirt rather than your works as a way of meriting your salvation. The Reformation Christian will do fruit of the Holy Spirit but not with the purpose of sealing salvation. God does not need or appreciate works done with such a motivation because it takes away the glory of Jesus and replaces it with our own. To some degree then, Evangelical thinking today stems from a theology of self-glory in contrast to Reformation theology which stands squarely on the theology of the cross.

The three assigned readings for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost are Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-4:7 and Luke 8:26-39. Chosen for the sermon text is Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

The interpretation and application of this verse all depends on how one understands the Greek word for “tutor” which is also our English “pedagogue.” Different translations use “guardian,” “pedagogue,” “tutor” and the King James has “schoolmaster.” Unfortunately, most of these have the concept of the office of a teacher as though the Law was teaching us how to get to the real teacher, Jesus Christ. However, of the options provided the closest to come to the real sense is “guardian.” For this individual was a trustworthy slave of either a wealthy Greek or Roman family. His task was not to teach the young boy but to guard and supervise his morals. In fact, the boy was not even permitted to step out of the house without this guardian until he reached manhood.

Not only was the Law a guardian in that is made us aware of sin (Romans 3:20) but it also had a curbing use to keep us from doing sin. For most young men this guardian was not so much a friend as a jailer keeping in check the behavior of the boys. By means of the motivation of either fear of punishment or hope of reward, the Law worked on the basis of the self-interest of the individual to keep him in check. The guardian was not so much a friend of the boy as a watcher and judge over all that he did.

The Law as a teaching tutor therefore is a total misunderstanding if one has the sense that it teaches us how to be saved. For no teaching is possible–even by God Himself–to help the natural man become saved. The Gospel of Christianity is NOT a set of teachings as to what you are to do in order to become saved. There are no steps to salvation that anyone can follow; there is no possibility for an unbeliever to make a right choice or provide an invitation to God to come into his life.

The bottom line is that the Law cannot teach anyone how to be saved because its purpose is to make natural man aware of his total inability to do, say or think anything that will help him to be saved. And the Gospel is also not a teaching of how one is saved. Instead, the Gospel is the announcement that your sins have been forgiven at the cross of Christ and that effort on the part of Jesus was absolutely successful in light of His resurrection from the dead. 

It is NOT that Christianity doesn’t teach. It’s just that the Christian faith doesn’t teach anyone how to be saved. Rather, the faith reveals how you have been saved. Only after you are totally saved does the faith begin to teach you. It teaches you how God and God alone became a human being to save you; it teaches about the mercy and grace of God; it teaches all the gracious promises of God for the believer in Christ and it teaches about the celestial heaven after the Day of Judgment. Yes, Christianity teaches. It just doesn’t teach an unbeliever how to be saved. God is not capable of providing you with a 4-step plan as to what you are to do in order to be saved.

Indeed, salvation come by grace through faith on account of Jesus Christ. And that came about for many because the Law made them aware of the impossibility of being able to do anything to get saved. Instead, salvation is a gift from God that comes not through hearing instructions as to how to be saved but through hearing the revelation from God Himself as to how God saves you without any contribution or cooperation on your part.

For the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, the three assigned readings are 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-14; Galatians 2:15-21; 3:10-14 and Luke 7:36-8:3. The text that will be used as the basis for the sermon this coming Sunday is Galatians 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).’”

Some passages of Scripture really hit the nail on the head in regard to the essential teaching of the Christian faith. This is one such passage. For while there are passages which appear at first reading to contradict Christianity when works are said to be what gets one into heaven, this passage from Galatians 3 reveals the true purpose of the cross of Christ. The sermon may begin by asking the hearers what they consider to be the true purpose of the cross. For some, the cross is an example we are to follow in setting aside our desires for the needs of another person. Others may speak of the cross as the event when my sins were taken away.

It has been my experience that even the answer of the forgiveness of sins as a benefit of the cross is not properly understood. For example, I recently heard a theologian speak of the idea that because of the cross, we are now innocent. That can be confusing. For it leads to the following analogy in a court room. The jury comes back and indicates that the evidence has not been sufficient to find a person guilty and therefore makes the judgment of “not guilty.” But that is not the message of Christianity. There is more than sufficient evidence to find each of us guilty as poor, miserable sinners deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.

Then what is a more appropriate court room analogy? You are arrested for going over the speed limit. The judge declares you guilty and the sentence is either a $100.00 fine or ten days in jail. Now you have no money at all. However, your brother is in court and offers to pay the $100.00 fine. Will the judge accept the payment from someone other than  you? In such a case, he would. Having had the fine paid, you are free to go but are you innocent of the crime? The answer is no. You are still guilty; it’s just that the penalty was fulfilled by someone other than you.

The Christian faith reveals that from our conception, every human being is under the sentence or condemnation of eternal death because of our sins. At the cross, Jesus did NOT take away  your sins as though you no longer sin. What He did was pay the penalty of the curse of the Law. How did He then buy or redeem us from eternal death? The verse is clear, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).’”

The concept of forgiveness does not mean that our sins disappear nor does it mean that suddenly we are now innocent. Insead, forgiveness can be be defined as God declaring that we are no longer held accountable for our sin! And the reason God does this is in light of Jesus Christ becoming your substitute and being held accountable for your sin. He was forsaken by God the Father at the cross so that the believer in Jesus will never be forsaken!

Just as God declared what seemed impossible to be true about Jesus; namely, that He became the worst sinner on earth because He carried every sin to the cross, so also God now declares what seems tobe impossible about you; namely, that you are no longer held accountable for any sin and therefore are regarded by God as a sinless saint. Thus, the paradoxical nature of the Christian faith is as follows:  From the point of view of the Law you are a 100% sinner deserving eternal death. From the point of view of the Gospel, you are a 100% saint receiving not only the full forgiveness of sins but also the robe of Christ’s righteousness in the sacramental waters of holy baptism.

For the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, the three assigned readings are 1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-24 and Luke 7:11-17. The text for preaching is Galatians 1:12, “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Few would disagree with Paul’s point that his knowledge of Christianity did not come from or through human beings but through a special revelation given to him during his three years in Arabia. The point of the sermon is not simply to help the hearer understand the text (Scripture interprets Scripture) but also to apply the text (distinctions between Law and Gospel). The L&G handle would be the key difference between Judaism and true Christianity. Paul considered himself a top notch follower of Judaiam but a persecutor of the Church of God. What is the difference between the two?

It is a difference that Christians still make today as they turn the religion of grace into a religion of obedience. Judaism appeared on the scene around the time of the Babylonian captivity when the temple was replaced with synagogues; priests with rabbis and sacrifices with reading of the Law. As with Judaism today at your neighborhood synagogue, there is a great emphasis on one’s works becoming worthy of salvation. The Pharisee’s prayer of Luke 18 thanked God for not being like the sinner. How sad.

The old Adam within each Christian attempts to make us eat of the forbidden fruit of works righteousness and to regard Jesus as only Example rather than Savior. Some do so by imagining that their frequent attendance in worship, taking the Lord’s Supper and hefty offerings are what pleases God to save us. Of course, all such works are said to be motivated by the Holy Spirit thinking thereby that the charge of doing works out of self-interest would be bypassed. But no such luck.

For Paul, proper preaching of the Law consists of three parts:  God’s demand; it must be perfect and no one can fulfill it. However the Gospel may be in its specificity, it always comes down to this point–What man could not do by the law because we are weak in the flesh, God did and then transferred all the benefits of the cross and empty tomb to the undeserving who receive them by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Law is so subtle in its temptation that even the notion that I am well considered in God’s eyes because I know I am a sinner and give all the credit to Jesus becomes a form of legalism. That is why the life of the Christian is not one of increasing goodness but a sense of the need for an increase in repentance. The danger is that we become boastful of our humility and our better understanding of doctrine than other Christians have.

The text is a wonderful opportunity to remind each of us that our conversion was exactly like that of St. Paul’s. A conversion against our sinful will as God transplanted a new heart and a right will on our road to Damascus. A conversion not by man but through the power of the Holy Spirit Himself as He sanctifies us through the Word and keeps us in the one true faith forever and ever.

Having just completed the holy festival of Pentecost, we now enter into the second half of the Church year with the festival of the Holy Trinity. Assigned for Series C are the following three readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:14a, 22-26 and John 8:48-59. The text chosen to preach on is John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’”

There is no doubt that Christians regard Jesus as the fulfillment of the promised Messiah (in Hebrew) or Christ (in Greek). They would also agree that He is the Son of Man promised in Daniel 7 to be sent by the Ancient of Days (the Father) to save sinners from eternal damnation. They also refer to Him as Savior. But on this holy Sunday there is another dimension to the personhood of Jesus that needs attention. Jesus is God!

For Christians today there is not much difference in referring to Him as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of Man, the Redeemer, the Savior and God. However, the teaching that Jesus of Nazareth is God Himself was most hard to accept. No, it was impossible to accept by the unbelieving Jews. The text has them accusing Him of being a Samaritan and having a demon because of what they considered to be His blasphemy.

They must have torn their hair out–if not tear their robes–when in verse 58 Jesus used the name of God for Himself. It is not that easy to recognize the name of God being used in the English translation of “before Abraham was, I AM.” In this translation, at least the I AM is capatalized. For in Greek, the personal pronoun is part of the verb form. However, Jesus in reality says, “Before Abraham was, I, I AM.” The double “I” is a reference back to Exodus 3 when God reveals to Moses His name, “Yahweh” which is literally “I AM WHO I AM.”

The closest we have in our literature to what this means is in the comic strip, Popeye, the Sailor Man. He and Bluto are arguing over who is going to take out Olive Oyle. Bluto says, “Who’s going to stop me from taking her out?” and Popeye replies, “I am who I am” puffing a few times on his pipe as he speaks. The best way I have found to understanding that is to say, “I fulfill what I promise.” In other words, I have made a promise and I will make sure it is kept!

While there are references in the Old Testament to the Messiah being God Himself, almost 70 passages make it clear that the Angel of the LORD is the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ Himself. For more info on this, examine the book “The Angel of Angels” written by Pastor Peter Kurowski available from www.lawgospel.com. That the man Jesus is also true God means that His promises are always sure and never failing. We can be assured of our salvation as we recall the blessed promises given to us through the waters of baptism. It is indeed a washing of regeneraion resulting in an eternal salvation beginning right here and now.