{"id":8628,"date":"2023-01-30T16:52:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=8628"},"modified":"2023-01-30T16:52:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:52:26","slug":"he-works-outside-of-us-in-spite-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=8628","title":{"rendered":"
He works outside of us, in spite of us<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

A sermon on the sacraments for the Season of Epiphany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt 5:13-20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gospel lesson is pretty tough. We are to be salt of the earth, light to the peoples, and we\u2019re to keep every tiny detail of the law and commandments. It says every jot and tittle. That\u2019s the same as saying we must dot every \u201cI\u201d and cross every \u201ct.\u201d We must keep every commandment. At the end of Matthew 5:48, it says: \u201cYou, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d That\u2019s referring to Leviticus 11:44-45. It is also found in 1 Peter 1:15-16: \u201cHe who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written: \u2018You shall be holy, for I am holy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that it doesn\u2019t say you are to do the best you can. \u201cAfter all, we\u2019re only human, what can we do?\u201d It says: \u201cBe holy the way God is holy.\u201d The Old Testament text, Isaiah 58:1-9, says the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now where do we go? In 1 Cor 2:2 Paul writes: \u201cFor I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d That\u2019s the Gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Smalcald Articles Luther writes that there are the five ways God works. First, through the proclamation of the Gospel; second, through Baptism; third, through the Lord\u2019s Supper. Fourth, though the power of the keys, including the proclamation of forgiveness which we have at the beginning of every service; and fifth, through the mutual conversation and consolation of the faithful. (Smalcald III\/4; BC <\/em>Tappert, 310)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s Word is both audible and visible. St. Augustine points out that Baptism and the Lord\u2019s Supper are visible words. There are those things which are visible \u2013 water, bread, and wine \u2013 and those go with the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout this season of Epiphany, we ask: How does this work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, in terms of the one presiding at the service. One of the things they teach you at seminary is how to correctly make the sign of the cross. You raise your right hand high, hold your first three fingers together in a certain way and then go from top to bottom and then from left to right. And that raises the question, what about somebody who is left-handed? What about somebody who is dyslectic? What if you happen to do it another way? Does that mean it is not really effectively the sign of the cross?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same thing happens when we celebrate Communion. What if someone who is distributing the wine says: \u201cThe body of Christ broken for you\u201d? Did that mean that it\u2019s not truly the Lord\u2019s Supper? If we want to do it really right, should we use the Greek words in the text? Or should we be like Jesus and his disciples and use Aramaic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We celebrate Communion with wafers, and they had bread. Their wheat was different from our wheat. Then what about grape juice? Welch\u2019s Grape Juice has .01% alcohol in it. Are we going to be really the way it was? When they had a meal, they had three cups of wine. How can we do it rightly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some years ago there was a movement to have what was called \u201cclown communion\u201d because Paul writes that we should be \u201cfools\u201d for Christ (hilaritas<\/em>). Thankfully that movement didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does it make a difference if you use organ music or a guitar? Is watching a church service on TV the same as being there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are questions about the one doing it, the one officiating or celebrating. A true story: A Catholic family adopted a Lutheran boy. When that boy started confirmation in the Catholic Church, the priest insisted he be baptized again. The family went along, but if someone had called the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Office in Washington D.C., they would have said the boy\u2019s Lutheran Baptism was valid, that it doesn\u2019t depend on the one doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a great honor for pastors to be involved with baptisms, but the efficacy of Baptism doesn\u2019t depend on the pastor or priest presiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back at the time of Augustine there was a huge battle as to who could conduct Baptisms and the Lord\u2019s Supper because at the time of persecution a lot of bishops and priests caved in to the Roman government. After the persecution they said: \u201cWe\u2019re sorry. We repent and we\u2019d like to be able to act as bishops and priests as we did before.\u201d And someone named Donatus said: \u201cHow do we know we can trust you? How do we know you are sincere and don\u2019t have your fingers crossed behind your back?\u201d The decision of the church, which has been held from that time until now, is: It does not depend on the one doing it. It depends on the Word proclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there anything the pastor could do that would not make it happen? When you come down to it, whatever I do, I cannot truly preside correctly. What\u2019s the answer? There is the command and the promise. I am commanded to do it. And in Baptism and the Lord\u2019s Supper he does it. He gives life. That\u2019s what it\u2019s about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t want to talk only about those who are presiding. We also want to talk about those who are receiving. You who come forward for communion, how do you know whether you believe? How do you know whether you\u2019re worthy? How do you know whether you have repented? We get caught in thinking: \u201cHow can I do it? How can I be part of this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some pastors help out in mental hospitals by providing worship services and celebrating Communion. There are people there whose mental abilities are very limited, and there are those whose mental abilities are all mixed up. They surely don\u2019t know, believe, or repent in the ways we think of. But the Lord does it in spite of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same is true for those who are deaf. We proclaim that \u201cfaith comes by hearing\u201d (Rom 10:17), but for those who are deaf, the Lord acts anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same is true for that little infant being baptized who does not decide, does not know, and is not in any way participating consciously, but the Lord does it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Large Catechism Luther writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though a Jew should today come deceitfully and with an evil purpose, and we baptized him in all good faith, we should have to admit that his Baptism was valid. For there would be water together with God\u2019s Word, even though he had failed to receive it properly. Similarly, those who partake unworthily of the Lord\u2019s Supper receive the true sacrament even though they do not believe\u201d (LC, Baptism 4:54; Tappert 443).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord does what he does in spite of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We remember the Third Commandment in the Small Catechism: \u201cWe should fear, love, and trust God, and so we do not despise his Word and the preaching of the same, but deem it holy and gladly hear and learn it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are called upon to hear the command that we be baptized and receive the Lord\u2019s Supper. Obviously not despising them. The Lord comes to us in spite of us. It doesn\u2019t depend on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul writes in 1 Cor 1:21: \u201cIt pleased God through the folly of what we preach . . . \u201c And then he goes on in 1 Cor 1:28-29: \u201cGod chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.\u201d He comes in spite of us. He does it for us. That\u2019s his command and his promise. As Paul then writes: \u201cFor I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified\u201d (1 Cor 2:2). Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon on the sacraments for the Season of Epiphany<\/p>\n

Matt 5:13-20<\/p>\n

The gospel lesson is pretty tough. We are to be salt of the earth, light to the peoples, and we\u2019re to keep every tiny detail of the law and commandments. It says every jot and tittle. That\u2019s the same as saying we must dot every \u201cI\u201d and cross every \u201ct.\u201d We must keep every commandment. At the end of Matthew 5:48, it says: \u201cYou, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d That\u2019s referring to Leviticus 11:44-45. It is also found in 1 Peter 1:15-16: \u201cHe who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written: \u2018You shall be holy, for I am holy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Note that it doesn\u2019t say you are to do the best you can. \u201cAfter all, we\u2019re only human, what can we do?\u201d It says: \u201cBe holy the way God is holy.\u201d The Old Testament text, Isaiah 58:1-9, says the same.<\/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-8628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8628","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=8628"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8639,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8628\/revisions\/8639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}