{"id":7633,"date":"2022-01-24T09:48:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7633"},"modified":"2022-01-24T09:51:47","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:51:47","slug":"the-light-enlightens-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7633","title":{"rendered":"
The Light Enlightens Our Lives<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon on the Christian Life for the Season of Epiphany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the season of Epiphany we look at how the Word of God works. Today is about the Christian life. We begin with Matthew 5:1-10 where we find the nine blessings of the Beatitudes. Let\u2019s look at the middle blessing in Matthew 5:7: \u201cBlessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore those who are not merciful will not obtain mercy. This sets up a cause-and-affect situation. If you do this, then God will do that. That\u2019s a conditional clause in grammar. It\u2019s also a theological grammar that people find in the Bible. Perhaps not in the verse we just used in Matthew 5, but in Matthew 6 in what we call the Sermon on the Mount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Included in Matthew 6 is the Lord\u2019s Prayer. Matthew 6:12 reads: \u201cForgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.\u201d That\u2019s conditional. It\u2019s spelled out immediately following in Matthew 6:14 and 15. Following the Lord\u2019s Prayer, it states: \u201cIf you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you.\u201d  If, then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same thing is found in Mark 11:25 and Luke 17:14. Most striking is what comes later in Matthew 18. The disciples come to Jesus and ask: \u201cHow many times shall we forgive?\u201d Because the Rabbinic thinking of the time said not once but seven times. Then in Matthew 18:21 and 22 it says not seven times but 70 X 7! Immediately we compute that that is 490, but that doesn\u2019t mean that when we get to 490, we\u2019re off the hook. Of course it means forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parable that follows in Matthew 18:23-35 is about the man who owed a debt. He was a steward who owed 10,000 talents. That\u2019s approximately $20 million in today\u2019s money. He couldn\u2019t pay it. He went to the Master and asked if he could be forgiven. And the Master forgave him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then on his way home the steward met someone who owed him 100 denarii, about $40.00. The fellow begged him to forgive him, but the steward said, \u201cNot on your life!\u201d As the parable goes on, it says the Master heard about this, and he said: \u201cWhat in the world!\u201d The steward was thrown in prison, and then comes the famous punch line in Matthew 18:35: \u201cSo also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from the heart.\u201d That puts it very simply: \u201cFrom the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This goes well with other places in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:44 which says: \u201cLove your enemies.\u201d It doesn\u2019t say: \u201cLike them.\u201d It says: \u201cLove them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in Matthew 5:48: \u201cYou, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d If we put it in our language today, it would be: \u201cYou, therefore, must be holy, as your heavenly Father is holy.\u201d The same admonition is found in 1 Peter 1:16: \u201cIt is written, \u2018You shall be holy, for I am holy.\u201d Not just a little bit holy, but holy as your Father in heaven is holy. That raises the stakes to the \u201cnth\u201d degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not something that we can brush off saying: \u201cThose are just things that were said somewhere in a book.\u201d Salvation is at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we live with this 70 X 7! There have been pastors who have spoken to abused wives and said: \u201cYou have to forgive him 70 X 7. That\u2019s what it means to be a Christian.\u201d Really? No! What do we do about this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing we do is say to ourselves: \u201cWhat it really means is: Do the best you can.\u201d But that isn\u2019t what it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second thing we do is follow the French proverb: \u201cWhen in difficulty, distinguish.\u201d People say: \u201cI\u2019ll forgive, but I won\u2019t forget.\u201d That doesn\u2019t really do what forgiveness means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing people say is: \u201cYou just have to be human. You\u2019re human! You can\u2019t be anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of all, we say we have to be sincere. If we\u2019re sincere, then whatever is, is what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our worship service we regularly use the Confession of Sin. Am I supposed to confess all my sins from this week? What if I forget them? What if I don\u2019t confess them seriously?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Luther points out: That\u2019s where you have the grammar wrong. That\u2019s not what it\u2019s about. There are two major ways in which this goes wrong among us. The grammar of what salvation is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way we go wrong is to say: \u201cWell, I can\u2019t do it so it doesn\u2019t matter. I\u2019ll just go on and live.\u201d That\u2019s the common way of going wrong because it\u2019s impossible. We can\u2019t, and we don\u2019t, and we know it if we are honest with ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or we cling to our sincerity and forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We don\u2019t think of that. We just rely on our sincerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s really bad is taking the grammar of salvation and turning it around to elevate what we do. The grammar of salvation says we are saved by what Christ does, not by what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luther speaks to this in his Large Catechism:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe urge you, however, to confess and express your needs, not for the purpose of performing a work but to hear what God wishes to say to you. The Word or absolution, I say, is what you should concentrate on, magnifying and cherishing it as a great and wonderful treasure to be accepted with all praise and gratitude.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way we get the grammar of salvation wrong is by throwing the law out the front door, and then sneaking it in the back door. That\u2019s wrong because Moses is not the way to salvation, but Jesus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We bring Moses in the back door when we say: Well, yes, what Christ did is more important, but to make salvation work, we also have to do this and this.\u201d We are tempted into thinking that there is a particular shape as to what the Christian life is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are \u201cevangelical counsels,\u201d and \u201cgospel imperatives,\u201d which say: \u201cHere\u2019s the gospel then here\u2019s what you have to do because this is the way it\u2019s got to be.\u201d The old \u201cif, then\u201d pattern. And there are all kinds of ideas about what we have to do to be Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the grammar of salvation about? The grammar of salvation is not \u201cif, then,\u201d but \u201csince, therefore.\u201d Basic to salvation is that the Lord has done it. He has saved us. One Bible verse we often mention and many of us have memorized is 2 Cor 5:21. As Paul writes here: \u201cFor our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be legitimate to substitute the word \u201choliness\u201d for \u201crighteousness\u201d in 2 Cor 5:21: \u201cFor our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the holiness of God.\u201d It\u2019s done. It\u2019s not a kickstart, but Christ has given us his holiness and taken our sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two basic points that underlie all of this. First of all, we are totally sinful and totally righteous at the same time. And second, it is hidden from us. To have faith means to deal with God\u2019s hiddenness. Hiddenness means God is doing it. And faith means God is doing it; he has done it, and that makes all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Testament has specific help for the Christian life. First of all, because the Lord has done it, it doesn\u2019t depend on us. It\u2019s certain because the certainty doesn\u2019t depend \u201con anything we ask, think, say, or do.\u201d[2]<\/a> This means there\u2019s a freedom to be what the Lord would have us be. What is that? The best way to describe this is that at the foot of the cross all people are equal. The Biblical image that is used by Paul in 1 Cor 8:11 and Romans 14:15 is: Remember that each one is \u201cone for whom Christ died.\u201d That makes all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second is, as Paul discusses in 1 Cor 6:19-20: \u201cYou are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.\u201d That changes everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the third place, with regard to the question: How does this work? In Romans 13:8-10 Paul takes up the command: \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d He lifts up individual commandments: Don\u2019t steal, don\u2019t covet, don\u2019t bear false witness, and says they are all summed up in \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d And then comes the key to it all in Romans 13:10: \u201cLove does no harm to the neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law\u201d (Hippocrates). Love means minimizing harm to the neighbor. We have this task as we deal with life, as we deliberate together about how to minimize harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t claim or be sure that what we are doing is what the Lord wants. We can\u2019t just say: God and I are doing this together. We use the best thinking we can, and we live by forgiveness. He can take the wrong notes we play and rewrite the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we let God be God. He is the One who runs this world and the next. As Luther writes in his explanation to the Third Article of the Creed: The Holy Spirit is the one who \u201ccalls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies.\u201d He\u2019s the one who does it. Therefore we can we certain, free, and thankful. We are then free to live for others as we sort out how what it means not to do harm to our neighbor. As Luther concludes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIn this Christian church day after day
He fully forgives my sins
And the sins of all believers.
On the last day he will raise me and all
     the dead
And give me and all believers in Christ
     eternal life.
This is most certainly true.\u201d
Amen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Large Catechism, Confession, 22 (Tappert 459; Kolb\/Wengert 478).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Smalcald Articles, Part III\/III, 36 (Tappert 309; Kolb\/Wengert 318).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sermon on the Christian Life for the Season of Epiphany<\/p>\n

In the season of Epiphany we look at how the Word of God works. Today is about the Christian life. We begin with Matthew 5:1-10 where we find the nine blessings of the Beatitudes. Let\u2019s look at the middle blessing in Matthew 5:7: \u201cBlessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7633","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=7633"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7659,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7633\/revisions\/7659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}