Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:3<\/p>\n
A Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n
In this season of Pentecost, we\u2019re asking how does Christian faith work with its feet on the ground? Today we take up the Bible itself because \u201cbeing practical\u201d is a matter of how we use the Bible and why we treasure it.<\/p>\n
To see the problem, let\u2019s start with a controversial verse: \u201cFaith without works is dead\u201d (James 2:26). That claim from James seems logical. If it doesn\u2019t work, what good is it? If it doesn\u2019t change things, doesn\u2019t produce, what\u2019s the point? As they say, if you talk the talk but don\u2019t walk the walk, you\u2019re a hypocrite.<\/p>\n
If you ask people on the street: Do you know any Bible verses? Chances are they know John 3:16 and this verse\u2014 \u201cfaith without works is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thus, it\u2019s counterintuitive when we read Paul, and he writes: Salvation is by faith alone, without works.<\/p>\n
We know that the Bible is not equally valid in all its parts so how do we know how to sort it out?<\/p>\n
When Luther put out his first edition of the New Testament in 1522, he took four books\u2014Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation\u2014and put them in an appendix, separated by an empty space from the other material, and he didn\u2019t number these four books in the Table of Contents.<\/p>\n
He did this because he took Scripture seriously, so seriously he could deal with its problems.<\/p>\n
Regarding James, he said it\u2019s \u201cdirectly against Paul and all the rest of Scripture, it ascribes righteousness to works and says that Abraham was justified by his works\u201d (LW 35:396).<\/p>\n
In our Genesis text today, it says: \u201cAbraham believed the Lord and it was reckoned to him as righteousness\u201d (Genesis 15:6).<\/p>\n
But in the Book of James, it says something different. It says: \u201cWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?\u201d (James 2:21). It goes on to say we are justified by faith and works not by faith alone. James also says that \u201cAbraham was called the friend of God\u201d (James 2:23).<\/p>\n
In contrast, Paul says in Romans 4:3: \u201cAbraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteous.\u201d The same as Genesis 15:6. And in Romans 4:4-5, Paul writes: \u201cTo one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Paul Abraham is not \u201cthe friend of God\u201d (as in James), but represents the ungodly:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void\u201d (Romans 4:13-14)<\/p>\n
Thus, there is this huge difference between Paul and James concerning what is meant by Abraham and what is meant by good works. Consider also how James and Paul differ on the law and sin:<\/p>\n
James 1:25 says: \u201cHe who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
James 2:8: \u201cIf you really fulfill the Royal law, according to the scripture, \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself,\u2019 you do well.\u201d In other words, you can fulfill the law.<\/p>\n
But in Paul it\u2019s all very different. The law has a different purpose:<\/p>\n
In Galatians 3, Paul writes that the law is like the servant who was a private tutor and disciplinarian raising the boy of the family until he reaches maturity.\u00a0 Then roles were reversed. The young man became the master and the servant returns to being his servant. The law is like that servant. It was \u201cthe master\u201d for a time, but with the coming of Christ, the law returns to being a servant not a master.<\/p>\n
In Romans 10:4 Paul writes: \u201cFor Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.\u201d Here the context shows it means \u201cend\u201d as termination. It\u2019s easy to remember Romans 10:4, because in radio talk, 10:4 means the end, out, and over.<\/p>\n
Finally, in 1 Corinthians 15:56, the law is one with sin and death. As Paul writes: \u201cThe sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, Paul takes an exact opposite view of what the law is about and what it\u2019s for.<\/p>\n
Paul and James differ on sin, too. In James, there is that famous verse at the end of chapter 1:27: \u201cReligion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.\u201d In short: You can do it. This is what you do. This is confirmed by James 2:8 which we have already mentioned: \u201cIf you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself,\u2019 you do well.\u201d You can fulfill the law and you should. Sin is not so serious.<\/p>\n
But Paul, in Philippians 3, points out that if anybody did good, he did. He was a better man than even the best Pharisees. He goes on in 3:7 to say (paraphrase): \u201cI count it all as refuse, as trash, because of what Christ has done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same is true about what he writes in 2 Corinthians 12 (paraphrase): \u201cI boast of my weaknesses because in my weaknesses is his strength\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).<\/p>\n
That\u2019s an entirely different take on the Christian life than in James. It\u2019s not about us and our works, because even our best works are broken and sinful, but it\u2019s about Christ who died and rose for you and me.<\/p>\n
When we look honestly at James and Paul, we see that we cannot put them together.<\/p>\n
In history it\u2019s very difficult to find a formal contradiction. You can find it in math and science because those are abstract worlds. But here we have a formal contradiction in history. They can\u2019t be put together.<\/p>\n
Then what do we do?<\/p>\n
People will say: \u201cBut it\u2019s inspired!\u201d But that doesn\u2019t mean it is a perfect unity to which the faithful response is submission. In the early church \u201cinspiration\u201d not only applied to all scripture, even writings outside of the developing canon, but also to the Christian communities as they bore witness to Christ. Only heretical writings denying Christ were considered non-inspired because they were contrary to this witness.<\/p>\n
We know, too, that the canon developed gradually over a process of 250 years and that the Book of James is quite late and obviously misinterprets Paul. Jesus is only mentioned twice, in James 1:1 and 2:1. The Letter of James is sub-Christian, which is why Luther put it in the appendix rather than with the other New Testament materials.<\/p>\n
Who decides what\u2019s authoritative, and how is it decided?<\/p>\n
We are not like Catholics who sort out such difficulties through the Pope.<\/p>\n
Some have said what we need to do is go to the best Biblical scholars. That is useful to some extent, but even they don\u2019t agree with each other.<\/p>\n
Some say that the Reformation meant that each person interprets Scripture for himself\/herself. That\u2019s not true. It\u2019s even a trick of the evil one to think that I alone, or me and my Bible study group can sit down and say: \u201cWhat does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? How do you feel about it? What\u2019s your experience?\u201d<\/p>\n
Still others say the Bible needs no interpreters: \u201cIt is clear, plain, simple and self-evident.\u201d But they are either not aware of, or not honest about, how they read into a text their own understanding. They may think: The Bible is clear about this or that because I think it\u2019s clear. At that point we\u2019ve each become our own Pope.<\/p>\n
And some say we are not to think, but bow in submission. Luther was not like that. He tackled problems in the Bible and even said: \u201cIf opponents use Scripture against Christ, then we use Christ against Scripture\u201d (WA <\/em>DB 39:1, 47). And: \u201cWhat does not preach Christ is not apostolic, even though St. Peter or Paul taught it; again, what preaches Christ is apostolic, even though Judas, Annas, Pilate, or Herod did it\u201d (LW 35:396).<\/p>\n The question we ask when we pick up the Bible is: What is the Gospel? How does the text we are dealing with direct us to Christ and him crucified? Or does it not?<\/p>\n The test is the cross. As Luther said: \u201cThe cross alone is our theology.\u201d And Paul: \u201cFor Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:22-23).<\/p>\n That is the test that sorts out what Scripture is about and how it is to be used. That\u2019s how we sort it out. Luther:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lord thereby shows us the right way to interpret Moses and all the prophets and gives us to understand that Moses with all his stories and images point to him and belong to Christ and signify him, namely, that Christ is the point in the circle around which the entire circle is drawn, and looks toward him, and whoever directs himself to him belongs also in the circle. For he is the central point in the circle, and all stories in the sacred scriptures, if they are correctly read, go to Christ\u201d (WA <\/em>47:66, 18-24).<\/p>\n Using this Book by oneself, or with others, or in worship services gives us a sure hope. It is the cradle which holds the Christ child. Here is the message of eternal salvation.<\/p>\n At the same time, we don\u2019t want to get caught by a small group, or by ourselves, or even by a pastor. On Sunday morning you should ask yourself, not do I like the pastor, or was the sermon interesting or entertaining, but did he or she point us to the cross and resurrection? That\u2019s the test because that\u2019s a matter of life and life forever.<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:3 A Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost In this season of Pentecost, we\u2019re asking how does Christian faith work with its feet on the ground? Today we take up the Bible itself because \u201cbeing practical\u201d is a matter of how we use the Bible and why we treasure it. To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10876"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10887,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10876\/revisions\/10887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}