The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
October 20, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Genesis
32:22-30 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Luke 18:1-8
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the epistle lesson,
especially this verse, “For the time is coming when people will not endure
sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves
teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the
truth and wander off into myths.” Thus
far our text.
Dear friends in Christ.
It’s been in the news over and over and over again since October
began. The Federal Government has been
shut down. And on every news story, the
Republicans are out there, telling their constituents exactly what their
itching ears want to hear – that it’s all the Democrat’s fault. And the Democrats come on next, and tell their constituents what they want to
hear – it’s all the Republican’s fault.
Both of them are telling their lies, louder and louder hoping someone
will believe them. Their only goal is to
tell their party exactly what their party wants to hear so that they themselves
will be reelected next term. And it’s
become a huge mess.
Our text today tells us that in this world, we too will be
bombarded with different messages, and many of them will be exactly what we
want to hear with our itching ears. But
in the midst of all these differing false messages, we also hear another
message,
THE WORDS OF GOD’S OWN BREATH, THE MESSAGE OF JESUS FOR YOU.
But often times that message is lost in all of the competing
messages of the world. Often we hear
other messages instead. And as our text
says, often these messages are really “exactly what we want to hear.” And often what we want to hear does not agree
with what God says.
God’s word says “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God.” But that isn’t what we like to hear about ourselves. We don’t want to hear about how we have
sinned against God in our thoughts, words and deeds, by what we have done and
what we have left undone. Instead our
itching ears like to hear about our own accomplishments. We like to hear how good we are, and how many
good things we have done. We like to pat
ourselves on our back, and ignore those times where we fall short. Our itching ears want to hear, “You’re not
that bad, it’ll be fine,” when God’s
word clearly says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one
point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
(James 2:10) Thus we are all
guilty.
God’s word says “You shall not bear false testimony.” This means God’s word tells us we shouldn’t
speak poorly of anyone, or speak of them behind their back. But our itching ears like to hear the gossip
that floats around town. They like to
hear about other people’s dirty laundry, and to spread it around. We like to know others problems because it
makes us feel better about our own selves.
“Sure I may have sinned this way, but it isn’t even close to as bad as that person.” But in opposition to what our itching ears
wish to hear, God says in the book of Proverbs (10:32), “The lips of the righteous
know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.” And we are often wicked in what we say and
hear.
What else does God’s word say? “You shall remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy.” God says, “Be in
church. Be in Bible study.” But that’s not what our itching ears want to
hear. Instead they want to hear the
Vikings game as it comes on. Instead our
ears want to hear the sound of pheasants flying away on an early Sunday
morning, or the sound of a trolling motor.
We would rather be somewhere else than to spend time receiving God’s
gifts here at church. We would rather
please ourselves than receive from God.
But God’s word is clear about these idols we make, “You shall not bow
down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments.”
(Exodus 20)
God’s word says “You shall not commit adultery.” But we hear on TV countless couples living
together in our favorite shows, casually going from sexual relationship to
sexual relationship. In addition in our
own midst we have couples who are living together out side of marriage. And we hear how we should ignore it. We hear of homosexual marriage being pushed
all around us. How it is ok, how we
should accept it for what it is, and live and let live. But God’s word says, “Marriage should be
honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the
adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
(Hebrews 13:4)
Dear friends in Christ, we are guilty. In each one of these things we truly are
guilty if we are honest with ourselves.
But that is part of the problem, we are not honest with ourselves. We do not pay attention to our sin. We do not pay attention to what God’s word’s
clearly says about our own horrible condition.
Instead we often listen to what our itching ears want to hear, the very
words of Satan, “Did God really say.”
Did God really say we are guilty?
Did God really say we have to live this way or that way? Did God really say obey these rules? Or can we just do what we want. Can we just live how we want? Which is the word of God, and which is our
itching ears listening to other voices?
On our own, we cannot control our itching ears. For our entire life here on earth, we will
struggle with the competing messages, as our text says, “The time is coming,”
and I would say is now here, “When people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own passions.” This is our world today,
this is our society today. But our text
also says, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly
believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been
acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
All scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness.” God’s word speaks a better word to you here
today, than those other voices we hear.
God’s word speaks to you of forgiveness, forgiveness given
to you through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness
that is earned by Jesus’ death and resurrection. For God’s word is clear about that gift to
you. Isaiah tells us, “Surely he has
born our iniquities… he was wounded for
our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” His stripes, made as he was brutally beaten
within inches of his life for you. All
four Gospels tell us that Jesus was crucified, that his hands and his feet were
pierced through with nails, and that he was left there to hang until dead, for
you. His blood poured out from his hands
and feet and sides, to make you whole.
God’s word tell us that he then rose again from the dead,
having laid in the tomb for 3 days. And
God’s word tell us that because of this miracle, you too have promises,
promises that are better than any your itching ears want to hear. Promises that in Jesus Christ you have life
and salvation. Promises that in Jesus
your sins, every one of them are taken away.
Promises that God loves you, and that he will surely be with you always,
even to the very end of the age. God
makes these promises as a blood pact, in the blood of Jesus, you can be certain
of them.
And in fact, today, we come to this altar to receive the
very body and blood of Jesus, the Word made flesh, for our very mouths to
eat.
Yes, God’s word condemns us for all of our sin and for our
short comings. But God’s word also says
to us poor sinners, “You are set free, you are mine, you are forgiven.” Often today we do hear other voices, and they
try to entice us, but they are not match for the eternal promises of God. God’s word says to you, that because of Jesus
you have this promise, “no longer will there be anything accursed, but the
throne of God and the Lamb (Jesus) will be in it, and his servants will worship
him. They will see his face, and his
name will be on their foreheads (in baptism).
This is your promise, here in the scripture breathed out from the very
mouth of Jesus, given to you. Peace to
you, promised in God’s very words.
Amen.
