Sermon - Book of Concord Study Group - Genesis 18 - Saved by Righteousness

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  Dear friends, how much righteousness is necessary to assuage God’s wrath?  How much does it take to prevent His great anger against sin?  That seems to be the question that Abraham is asking God.  “Lord if there are 50 righteous in Sodom, will you destroy them with the others?  What about 45, or 40, or 30, or 20?  Will you destroy even ten righteous ones along with all the unrighteous that fill the streets of Sodom?”

And God’s answer is an answer of grace and mercy.  “No.  If any righteous are found in Sodom, it will not be destroyed. 

FOR ALL IT TAKES IS ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN TO SAVE THE UNRIGHTEOUS.”

God, according to his conversation with Abraham, sends down two angels into Sodom, to investigate the depravity of the place.  Abraham’s nephew Lot sees them enter the city and invites them to spend the night in his own home, promising to care and protect them.  He fed them a meal, he cared for the angels.  And then the doorbell rang.  

The men of Sodom had too seen the angels enter town.  They saw their beauty, a beauty that comes only from being in the presence of God.  And they were envious of it.  And so they desired to sleep with the angels, to rape and gang-bang them all through the night, and thus defile what God had made holy.  In other words, they were sinners like us, jealous and self-concerned. 

God will not stand for this gross sin and lack of faith.  He sends Lot and his family out of the town quickly, and as they are climbing out of the valley, he rains down His judgment in the form of fire and brimstone.  Literally burning the guilt of the town away to the foundations.  God will not stand for any sin, not Sodom’s, not yours, not anyone’s; he will destroy it from before his face.  So God destroys Sodom, but Lot escapes due to righteousness, even as the Sodomites get their due reward for their unrighteousness. 

But wait a minute, isn’t this the same Lot who as they are camping on the edge of the valley over the ruins of Sodom drinks himself into a stupor?  Not once, but twice?  Isn’t this the same Lot who in his drunken state impregnates both of his daughters?  How can this man be righteous enough to avoid the condemnation of the Sodomites?  I mean if he’s an incestuous drunkard, he’s not really that different from the people of Sodom is he?  What is it that allows Lot to be saved, and all the others to be destroyed?

The answer is that the righteousness that saves Lot isn’t his own.  It’s a righteousness that comes from outside himself.  It’s not even the intercession of righteous Abraham in our text that saves Lot.  For Abraham himself wasn’t righteous based on his own work.  He lied, saying that his wife was his sister.  He failed to trust God, instead listening to his wife – impregnating Hagar instead of waiting for God’s work to bring about Israel through Sarah.  In fact, scripture tells us that Abraham’s righteousness wasn’t even from himself, but rather, that “Abraham believed in God, and God counted it as righteousness.” 

Abraham believed in a savior, he believed in a rescuer, sent by God, through whom the whole world would be blessed.  And so it wouldn’t be the righteousness of 50 that saved Abraham and Lot, or of 45, or of 40 or 30 or even of ten?  It would be the righteousness of one.  That one would be righteous, and his righteousness would count for all.  That one would take on our flesh, live perfectly, suffer and die for sin on a cross, rising again on the third day.  That One was Jesus.

So Lot was saved by faith in Christ, a faith he received by hearing the preaching of his uncle Abraham.  Lot was saved by hearing the word of God preached by those two angels, “Lot get out of here, don’t turn back.”  Hearing the words of God, and believing them, saved Lot.  He believed in a coming savior through the word of God, and by that faith, he avoided the wrath of God as it was poured out on the unrighteous of this world. 

Dear friends, that’s a faith we share as well.  It’s a faith we too have received by hearing preaching and His Word.  It’s a faith we understand even more clearly than Lot or Abraham, as we have seen the wooden cross outside Jerusalem, where our savior died.  We have been united with him through the waters of baptism, where we were clothed in the perfect and holy righteousness of Christ. 

That righteousness covers all our sin.  The sins of unbelief are gone in Jesus.  The sins of selfishness and of countless vices are covered and hidden by the righteous blood of Jesus.  God has made us alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

And so the righteousness of the one Christ, saved us, as it has saved Lot, and as it has saved Abraham and all believers in Christ.  It’s a righteousness from outside ourselves.  A righteousness that overcomes the sin of all, and promises eternal life to all who believe in the one who earned it for us.  In the Name of Jesus.

Proper 12 - G - 2013 - Thy Kingdom Come

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

July 28,  2013 - Pastor Adam Moline

Genesis 18:17-33                    Colossians 2:6-19                    Luke 11:1-13

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Old Testament lesson just read, along with these words from the Gospel lesson, “Your kingdom come.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  What is God’s kingdom, and how does it come?  As good Lutherans, we all think back to those good old (Or perhaps not so good) days when we were in confirmation class, where we were taught and learned in the words of the Lord’s Prayer that “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in [heaven for] eternity.” 

And spreading that kingdom of God has been the church’s mission since its very founding during the ministry of Jesus.  A few weeks ago, we heard how Christ sent out the 72 to proclaim the “Kingdom of God” to all the towns of Judea.  After His resurrection, Jesus sent the disciples into all the world to preach and teach and baptize for the purpose of making disciples.  That mission has been going on even to today, when there are over 800 missionaries from our own synod, preaching and teaching, to proclaim the kingdom of God. 

And it is good that there are still pastors and missionaries and members of our church body proclaiming the Kingdom of God in our world, because the truth is, there are still billions of people in our world who have not heard, and do not believe in the forgiveness of sins, earned by the death and resurrection of Jesus.  There are still people who are not Christian, who are not saved, and who face the eternal consequences of their sin.  And, furthermore, there are those who are in need of both the Gospel, and of the love and compassion of those who have much.

Dear friends, I’ve been in Africa with our district’s project 24 team, and I’ve seen those who wash their clothes in the same muddy water they drink a few hours later.  I’ve seen firsthand those who’ve struggled to afford the boiled cornmeal that was their meal for the day.  I’ve seen the young girls whose only clothes are the princess Halloween constumes sent from here in America.  I’ve seen the children whose parents have been killed by AIDS or malaria, or even hunger.  These people exist in our world still to this day, and really always will, as Christ our Lord says, “The poor you will always have with you.”

And so, dear friends, what do we do?  We live here in North Dakota, thousands of miles away.  And the truth is, we often are very uncomfortable with helping those in our own communities, let alone thousands of miles away.  We are most concerned with what’s happening in my life, in my family, in my own self-contained little world.  And this concern for self in us becomes so large that we lose track of those whom God has given us to actually care for, namely the individual in need. 

Dear friends – that’s sin, our sin, our guilt, and our shame showing itself in our lives.  God cares for every person in this world.  God cares for every sick person, for every poor person, for every child in Africa or in Hankinson who is in need.  God cares for all who are in His kingdom. 

Look how he displays it in our Old Testament lesson today.  God is set to destroy the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham says, Lord what if there are 50 righteous ones in the towns?  Will you destroy them with the sinners?  God answers “no.”  Abraham asks, “What about 45?”  God again responds “no.”  What about 40?  Or 30?  Or 20?  Or 10?  How many faithful people do there need to be to stop the destruction of this town?  And the Lord’s Response?  “No, I care for each and every one who has faith in me.  I love those who love me.  I care even for the one lone righteous one.” 

It’s the truth, dear friends, God cares for each person so much that he sent his Son to die for all in need.  He would have sent His Son if it was just you in need.  He would have sent His son if it was just one poor orphan in Kenya, or if it was just one sick woman in Fargo.  God cares for each, and every person so much that the bloody suffering and death of Jesus was not too much to pay to forgive them their sins.  In that death and in that resurrection you have the promise of forgiveness, life and salvation. 

You see, God sends the one righteous one to save all the sinners.  The one righteous one, Jesus, saves all who trust in him.  Including you.  Including me.  Including the poor and weak and sick.  All are saved by Christ, and by Christ alone. 

So then, how do we live?  What do we do about all the poor in this world?  We care for them.  We show compassion on those in Kenya, working through projects, like Project 24 to care for their earthly needs, while we preach to them the saving news of Jesus.  We, like Abraham intercede for those who are need.  We pray to the Lord to help and have compassion on those in the kingdom of God in far away places.  We do missions to baptize, preach and teach where the Word has not been heard.  We ask God to send His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace, those in need throughout all the world would believe his word and lead godly lives here in time, so that we may one day see them there in eternity. 

And also we pray for ourselves in the prayer we are taught today.  We pray that we may always trust in the grace earned for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That we too may enter eternal life, and one day be at peace forever.  And dear friends, in that we can be sure.  It is God’s promise to us.  God’s kingdom is coming to us, each day we draw closer to inheriting it.  Bring us at last dear father in heaven to be with you in your coming kingdom.  And help us to proclaim that good news to all the ends of the earth, that all may be delivered from evil in your name.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.  

Proper 11 - G - 2013 - The Passive Reception of Christ

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

July 21, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Genesis 18:1-14          Colossians 1:21-29      Luke 10:38-42

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Today’s text is about worship, about how we interact with God.  What do we do in the presence of Jesus?  What do we do when Christ is close to us, what’s our response to his presence, what’s our posture of worshipping God incarnate?  In fact, what does true worship look like?  That’s the question that our text today answers for us. 

In our text, we see two sisters, who invite Jesus into their home.  Martha, the first sister, runs around the house getting everything ready.  She bakes the food, she cleans the dishes and more.  She’s the one who made sure the turkey was out of the freezer, she’s the one who made sure the china was cleaned.  She’s the one who put together the grocery list, and stopped at grocery store to purchase all the items.  She’s on the ball, she’s a go getter.

And then there’s the other sister, Mary.  Mary lets Martha do the cooking, the cleaning, and the serving of the food.  In fact she doesn’t help with it at all.  Instead, the text says that she sits at the feet of Jesus listening. 

Martha gets mad at her sister, and rightfully so!  How often have you gotten mad at a spouse, or coworker, or friend who wasn’t doing their fair share of the work load?  It happens all the time.  So Martha goes to Jesus and says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  Its as if she says, “Tell her to get up and stop being lazy, and help me!” 

But Jesus responds “Martha, Martha.  Relax.  Your sister Mary wants the one thing that’s necessary, she wants what I have to offer.  My Holy Precious Word.” 

It’s the Word of God that Mary wants.  That’s why she is sitting at Jesus’ feet.  Its why she’s not helping her sister, it’s why she’s not working at cooking, cleaning, or anything else.  She wants the Word of Christ, and nothing will take it for her. 

Dear friends, don’t you see, the same things is true for us.  We are distracted by so many things in this world.  How will I pay the bills?  Who will care for me when I’m sick?  What will happen to my mother or father?  We get stressed out.  We get overwhelmed.  Our blood pressure goes through the roof, as every day we try to find a way to make sense of all that needs to be done in this world.  This world, and its sin is exhausting!

And then, on Sunday mornings, we come to church, and what do we want to do?  We want to serve Jesus, we want to do something for Jesus.  We want to praise him, we want to cry out to Christ, we want to accept him in.  We come to church each week, wanting to do something.  Wanting to earn something as we do in every other aspect of our life, to work and receive our reward.

And yet, the truth is, dear friends, that Mary had the right idea.  The reason we come to church is not, and should not be to work, to do, or to serve at all.  At worship, we ought not be Martha’s but Marys.  We come here to this place to sit at the feet of Jesus and to receive from him.  Here in this sanctuary, our job is not to do anything, but instead, to passively hear his word, and collect his gifts. 

And as we hear Jesus’ words, and as we sit here at the feet of Jesus, the gift we receive is forgiveness of sins.  We receive life.  We receive salvation.  All while not working or earning a thing, but instead sitting here and hearing God’s Word. 

Martin Luther put it this way, coming to worship is like coming with an empty bag.  As we hear God’s word, we receive into that bag, forgiveness of sins.  As we receive the Lord’s Supper, we fill the bag with life and salvation.  As we remember our baptism, and as we hear the sermon, our bag is filled even more, all from sitting at the feet of Jesus, and hearing his word. 

Then when we go out into the world to do our daily work and struggle, we run into sin at every corner.  We get in a fight with our brother or sister, and we reach in the bag, and pull out forgiveness to share with that person.  We swear on accident when we get caught speeding, and we reach in and pull out forgiveness.  And as we go through out our week, we empty out our bag, and need to return to church to receive from Jesus again, to sit at the feet of Jesus with Mary. 

You see, that’s what this faith is, its not working for Jesus, it’s not serving Jesus, but rather hearing his word, and being forgiven.  That’s why we’re here.  That’s what we do.  And when we hear his word, we are connected to his cross.  We get what he earned by his own death and resurrection.  We get what he earned by shedding his blood.  We are washed clean, all by hearing his word, and believing it. 

So what do we do in worship?  What do we at the feet of Jesus?  We sit and receive?  Why do we come to church?  Not to give, but to get.  What’s our worship posture?  To open up our arms, and get from Jesus.  There’s nothing better than receiving from Jesus, no amount of work can overcome it.  Amen.  

Proper 10 - G - 2013 - Like a Good Neighbor Jesus Is There

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

July 14, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Leviticus 18:1-5, 19:9-18                    Colossians 1:1-14                    Luke 10:25-37

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Dear friends in Christ.  As we’ve all learned in Catechism class, the entire law can be summed up into two parts, love for God and love for neighbor.  And it sounds simple doesn’t it?  It seems like it should be easy to love God, like it should be easy to love our neighbors, and yet, there is something else that we love, something else that we cherish.  It’s not God.  It’s not our neighbor, but instead its ourselves that we love. 

That’s the very definition of sin, being turned inwardly upon oneself.  Loving oneself, caring most for oneself.  It’s been that way since sin entered our world.  The very reason we have sin is because Adam loved his own ideas more than he loved God’s. 

And it’s the same thing in our text today.  A lawyer comes to test Jesus.  He wants to see if Jesus is a true Jew, and if he understands what the Scriptures say about how to be saved.  “What must I do, Jesus, how can I inherit eternal life?” the man asks.  Jesus looks him square in the eye, and asks him, “What does the bible say?  Haven’t you read them?”  The man responds, “Of course Jesus, I know how, You are to love, both God and your neighbor.  Love is the way to save yourself.  All you need is love, perfect love, and if you can love in such a way, you will deserve heaven. 

Jesus responds, “You are correct, If you do this, you will live.”  The man looked over his life, and decided he’d loved as best as possible.  He’d loved God, after all he went to church as often as one could honestly be expected to, at least more often than the other people at synagogue.  So he must have the “Love of God” down.  But what about others.  Had he loved his neighbor?  He felt like he’d certainly shown care for those in his town, he’d been kind, he’d been courteous.  But what about those Roman occupiers?  Did he have to ‘love’ them?  What about the people living in Parthia?  Did he have to love them?  What was a neighbor? 

And so he asked Jesus, seeking not an answer, but rather, our text says, to justify himself.  Who is my neighbor, Jesus?  Who do I have to love, because I don’t have time to love everyone. 

Jesus responds with our famous parable.  A man was robbed along the road and left for dead.  A priest walked by, ignoring him in his time of need.  A little while later, a Levite, one of the holy house of Israel also passed by, also ignoring him.  But finally, a Samaritan, one who was despised by Jews, one who was hated because of their different worship, he stops to help the injured man.  He gives up his own money to help the man.  He pays for the best doctors available, he promises to care for all of his needs.  And in the parable we learn who a neighbor is. 

A neighbor is not just the person living in the property immediately abutting yours.  A neighbor is not just someone living in your town.  A neighbor is not just your fellow Hankinsonians.  But a neighbor is something more.  It is anyone who has mercy upon you, or really by extension, anyone you have mercy upon. 

Now, dear friends, when we hear this, there are two options of where we can logically go from this understanding.  We can say, “O yes, I am so holy and perfect, I care for all people, everywhere.  I love and care for those in Africa and China, I love and care for those, even in such places as Lidgerwood or Great Bend.  I love all my neighbors, and thus I fulfill the law. 

Or we can tell the truth, and be honest with ourselves.  We can tell the truth and say, “I love mostly myself.  I love mostly my own desires.  I, like the Levite in our parable, drive by on the other side of the road when someone I don’t know has a flat. I like the Priest turn a blind eye to those in our world who are really truly in need.  We haven’t fulfilled the law.  We haven’t been perfect, in fact, we’ve even ignored those people in our town itself who are in the most need. 

You see, we cannot inherit eternal life on our own merit.  There’s nothing we can do to save ourselves.  We even confess that “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.”  I can’t do it, because my love for self is too great.

But there is one who truly loves, even more than the Samaritan in our text today.  The Samaritan gives to the injured man of money and care, but the one who loves us gives even more.  He gives us his life.  He gives us forgiveness, he gives us salvation.  And this one who loves us is none other than Jesus Christ, who spurned not the cross for us. 

You see there’s the whole point of our text today.  It’s not a tome telling us to go and serve others, but rather it shows us how Jesus serves us first.  How he gives for us first.  How he takes away our sin by suffering, bleeding, and dying on your behalf.  And in His care, you are made well.

He pours not oil on your wounds, but instead water, washing away your guilty.  As he pours water on your head, he takes away your guilt forever.  He buys food for you, not mere bread and wine, but instead his own life giving body and blood, so that you might live and have life to the full.  And he promises to take you, not to the local inn, but instead to a heavenly, eternal mansion, where he will care for you as his own brother or sister, wiping away every hurt and pain that you have faced in this world. 

Because Christ has had mercy on us, we too do have mercy on those around us, those in Lidgerwood and Great Bend, and yes even those in Africa.  Not to fulfill the law and earn God’s grace, but instead because Christ has had so much mercy upon us that we can’t but share it with those around us.  WE can’t help but love and care for those for Whom Jesus has also died. 

Dear friends, its in our text today.  What must you do to earn eternal life?  You can either Love perfectly – and impossible feat because of our sin.  Or you can be loved perfectly by Christ, and his grace, and his perfect mercy, shown to you in baptismal waters, and in body and blood eaten for forgiveness.  Who has shown you mercy?  The crucified and risen Jesus.  He is your good neighbor, he is your good Samaritan.  He is the one who has compassion upon you.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Proper 9 - G - 2013 - The Kingdom of God Has Come Near

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

July 7, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 66:10-14           Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18           Luke 10:1-20

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”  Thus far our text for today. 

Dear friends, In our text today, Jesus sends out 36 pairs of his followers into all the towns of Judea.  They go forth to bring peace, to heal the sick, to visit homes, all of it while preaching this simple message, “The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”  It’s the message that Christ had been preaching in his own ministry since he was baptized.  It’s the message of salvation.  That Jesus himself is the gate to the kingdom of God.  It’s the message of the cross, for you, and for your sin.

But Jesus is very clear as he sends out those 72, that their task won’t be easy, that there will be those who do not want to hear their message, who don’t want to believe it, and who won’t listen to it.  There will be some who reject the message of the cross and the kingdom.  Who will not receive God’s peace, who will not hear the blessed Word of God as it works through the Holy Spirit. 

And Jesus the Son of God speaks a very clear word to those who will not hear the message.  ““Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hell.”

For those who reject God’s word, the Son of God proclaims only woes, only hellfire, only damnation.  It will not be good for those who reject the Kingdom, who reject its ruler, enthroned on the cross to rule God’s people forever.

That doesn’t mean that if we met those people of Chorazin and Bethsaida that they would be thugs or murderers.  They were people, just like you and me.  People who had family they loved, who went to work every day, who struggled to make ends meet, who smiled at people on the street and who were kind to those around them.  They didn’t wear their sin on their sleeve for all to see.  They didn’t brag about “Murdering six people this morning, and then stealing candy from 3 babies.”  They didn’t look hell bound at all.  If we saw them walking down the street, we’d probably think nothing of it, because they were people just like us.  People with worries and feelings and emotions.  And yet, Christ declares woe to them, not because of their outward appearance, but because of their rejection of God’s Word about God’s Kingdom. 

Dear friends in Christ, will you hear the Word of God?  Will you believe the message of the kingdom?  God brings it to you in the same way he brought it to those people so long ago.  In our text Jesus sent 72 disciples to proclaim the kingdom, and today he sends so many more to preach and teach the kingdom to you.  He has sent some great ones here to you, as well. 

|He sent Pastor Jording to lead you for 20 years.  He sent Pastor Cordts/Klausler to shepherd you for a time.  These weren’t special men in their own right, but were great because they proclaimed the Word of God to you.  They baptized you, as God combined Water and Word to wash away your sins, and bring you out of death into eternal life.  They gave you the Lord’s Supper, not as magicians who with a wave of the wand turned bread and wine into body and blood, but rather who spoke God’s Word, and let God do the work of saving you through that word. 

And through these things, God’s kingdom was brought to us sinners.  It was proclaimed to us, it washed us, and we ate it.  And through all these things, and through all these ways connected to the Word, we heard that the Kingdom of God was close to us.  It was close because Christ saw our sin, and died for it.  Christ saw our weakness, and became weak to take it away.  He went to the cross, to shed his blood, to suffer, and to die.  And because of that our sin is forgiven.  No longer are we in woe.  No longer are we hellbound.  No longer are we guilty and ashamed before the Holy Lord God Almighty.  But instead, we stand forgiven. 

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;  rejoice with her in joy.  For thus says the Lord:  “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;  and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.  As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;  you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.   You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;  your bones shall flourish like the grass;  and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants.  The Kingdom of God is near for you.  You belong to the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  You are saved in his name, and that message has come to you, here, today.  Amen. 

July Newsletter Article - Supreme Court Rulings

Dear Friends,

I am sure many of you saw the Supreme Court ruling on both the Defense of Marriage Act, and also California’s Proposition 8.  DOMA was overturned, and Proposition 8 was sent back to the lower court where it was over turned as well. 

Both of these actions by the Supreme Court further what seems to be the inevitable growth of homosexual marriage in our country.  Many churches today either turn a blind eye to the whole situation or warmly applaud and welcome these changes.  Our church body is one of the few that still calls a sin a sin in our world today.

So what is at issue?  God’s word says, “You shall not commit adultery.”  Luther’s explanation of this from the catechism says, “We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife, love and honor each other.” 

In other words, God prohibits any kind of sexual act that takes place outside of His divinely instituted marriage.  This includes premarital sex, affairs, pornography, and more.  Any sexual act outside of marriage, God clearly calls sin.  Scripture makes it clear, “The wages of sin is death.”  Romans 6:23 

Believe it or not, homosexuality falls under this prohibition as well.  As Christ says in Matthew chapter 19, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 

Those are the words that define what marriage is.  Christ is quoting Genesis chapters 1 and 2.  When God instituted marriage, He did so to join together man and woman until death do they part.  Marriage is intended by God that man and woman may find delight in each other, that they be companions for each other throughout their days in this world, and that children may be born as God wills. 

Homosexual unions cannot fit this mold.  The Bible cannot recognize gay marriage, even if the government does.  Why?  In homosexual marriage there is no biblical man and woman union, but only non-biblical unions of man and man, or woman and woman unions.  There is no ability to conceive children naturally.  Two bodies of the same gender also may not as easily and naturally find delight in each other (Romans 1).  In fact, the only way that homosexuals can fit the concept of biblical marriage is in companionship, and even a pet goldfish fits that criterion. 

So in the end, homosexual relationships do break the sixth commandment, as they can never take place according to God’s Word about marriage.  We must place it with the host of other sexual sins outside of God’s designs.  As we do so, we need to be honest with ourselves as well.  For just as a homosexual has broken God’s sixth command, so too have we if we have ever ogled someone of the opposite sex, if we have ever slept around, if we have ever looked at pornography (or, let’s be honest, many TV commercials), or more.  Jesus says in Matthew, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman (or man) with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

As with all sin, including ours, it is sin that kills faith in Christ.  It is sin that separates us from Him, that turns us inward upon ourselves, and comes between us and our salvation. 

In that sin there is nowhere to turn.  We cannot save ourselves.  We need a savior, we need Jesus.  So God sent His Son into the world to die for our sin, even our sixth commandment sins.  Jesus suffered, and shed His blood for you and for all homosexuals and for all mankind, so that we might no longer be killed by sin, but instead that we may be free of it. 

Yes, you heard (read?) me right, Jesus died for sexual sins – even homosexuality.  That forgiveness belongs to all who repent of sin and receive Christ by grace alone through faith alone.  He has earned forgiveness and given it freely to all in His church through baptism.  Those who belong to Christ are defined by this forgiveness, and have His name emblazoned upon their forehead by water and the Word. 

Therein lies our concern for so many of our homosexual friends.  They spurn the forgiveness Christ has earned for their sin.  Instead of saying, “I am a sinner.  Lord, have mercy upon me,” they say “God created me this way, and I am not in sin!”  Instead of repenting, they tell God what they are doing is correct – or even worse God pleasing!  Instead of striving to live free of sin, they embrace it, and use it to define who they are. 

So what do we do as Christians?  We pray for them.  We proclaim God’s Word to them, both the difficult-to-hear Law, and the wonderful blessing of Gospel.  We should not shirk from the truth about these matters.  We ought to confess our own sexual sins alongside homosexuals.  We ought to look to Christ and Him alone for forgiveness. 

Furthermore, we need to honestly think about marriage in regards to church and state.  I believe either one of two things must happen.  Either the church ought to get out of the “state-licensed” marriage business and only bless civil unions, or the state should leave marriage to the religious organizations and treat all individuals, married and single, the same way.  After all, marriage is a religiously instituted estate, which has been around for thousands of years before there was a USA.  It is only used by the government for tax purposes.

Perhaps also our congregations should include in our constitutions a clause that states our opinion on homosexual marriages, so that we are never forced into choosing between our tax-exempt status and God’s clear Word (We’d have no choice but to lose our tax status). 

If any of you have any questions about these topics, let me know.  I’d be happy to talk with you about them, or if there are enough interested, perhaps we could talk about it at Sunday Bible study. 

I also think perhaps we should host a circuit-wide “marriage” conference.  We could invite Pastor Tom Eckstein to talk about these issues in more depth, and host the other local congregations as well.  Let me know if this would be of interest to you.

In Christ,

Pastor Moline

Proper 8 - G - 2013 - Eyes Set to Jerusalem

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

June 30, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline

1 Kings 19:9b-21        Galatians 5:1, 13-25                Luke 9:51-62

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  In our text today, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem.  From here on, he is very clear about why he is here in this world.  To suffer upon a cross.  To die for sin on a Friday we call good.  And as Christ makes his was to that fate, there is nothing that can distract him from his purpose.  He has made up his mind to go to the cross to die for sin. 

As he makes his way towards Jerusalem to die for sin, He prepares to enter a Samaritan village.  He sends some disciples to prepare the way, but they are turned away.  “We don’t have time for a God going to the cross.  We don’t have time for Jesus who will die.  We don’t want Him if he has set his eyes on Jerusalem.”  So Jesus doesn’t enter the town, but with his face set towards Jerusalem, he continues on to die.

Some of the disciples don’t care for the attitude of the town!  How dare they turn away Jesus?  How dare they fail to welcome us, with our Holy message, with our greatness.  They’ll regret it!  “Let’s get ‘em Jesus!”

But Jesus turns to them, his trusted disciples, and he rebukes them.  “You foolish disciples, we are going to Jerusalem, where I must die, and nothing will pull me from my path, not judgment, not your pride in yourself.”  So Jesus’ face is set to Jerusalem, and he continues on. 

They run into a man who shouts out, “I’ll follow you Jesus, wherever you go.”  But Jesus replies curtly, “Foxes have holes, and bird’s have nests, but I have no place to lay my head, except in a tomb in Jerusalem, for that’s where I’m going, my face is set.” 

Another man Jesus calls out to, “Follow me.”  The man replies, “Yes, Lord, but first let me go and bury my dead family member.”  But Jesus replies, “Leave the dead to bury their dead, my eyes are on Jerusalem where I go to die for all the dead, Go and proclaim this message.”

And finally further down the road, another says, “I will follow you Lord, but first, I must say good bye to my family.  And Jesus looking only ahead to his own fate, replies, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.  I’m not looking back,” Jesus said, “I go to my fate, to make all things new.”

So what’s this all mean pastor?  It means this.  Nothing is going to come between Christ and his desire to save you.  Nothing will distract him, nothing confuse him, nothing with take his eyes off the prize – dying for your sin.  He is completely and totally committed, no amount of taunting, or pain will stop him.  Your sin will be paid for.

But Christ also demands from you a similar dedication.  Look how he responds to those in our text today who follow him conditionally.  I’ll follow you Lord, only if I can first do xyz.  I will follow you if I can say good bye.  I’ll follow you as long as you bless my life now and make me wealthy.  And Christ does little more than walk away, with his face set to Jerusalem. 

Dear friends, does that sound like us sometimes.  I’ll follow you Lord, if you do this for me.  I’ll be a Christian, if you heal my loved one’s cancer.  I’ll come to church if the pastor is interesting, and if I’m not fishing that week, and if I got enough sleep the night before.  I’ll follow you Lord on my terms, and my terms alone.

At times we even take it further than that.  “I follow my own God, one who does what I want him to.  I follow a God that says my sin is ok, that my sin isn’t wrong, and that I should embrace it because its what makes me unique in this world.”  I’ll believe my way.  I’ll do it my way.  After all its really all about me, Jesus.

And we say that to Jesus, as he goes to die in our place.  His face is set.  He will forgive us by his own bloody death.  He will suffer for our guilt and our shame.  He will take our sin away as far as the east is from the west!  It’s where he’s going!  Repent dear friends.  Trust not in your own understandings or opinions, but trust only in Christ and in his mercy.  Trust that he will accomplish your salvation.  Trust that he will set you free from sin death and the power of the devil. 

And having repented receive his blessings in Word and Sacrament.  Hear what he has done and believe it.  He died for you and your wandering ways.  He died for you and your sin.  He went to the cross.  He shed his blood.  And now you have life in His name. 

It’s a name given to you in Baptism.  It’s a name poured out upon you generously as your sin is taken away.  It’s a name shared with you in his word.  And in his name, you have life and life to the full. 

Today Jesus sets his mind on what he has to do, because He will save you.  He sets his face to Jerusalem, and prepares for the cross.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.