Trinity 11 - G - 2017 - Mercy or Works?

Trinity 10 - G - 2017 -

Trinity 9 - G - 2017 - Justice v Unjust

Trinity 8 - G - 2017 - Luther Sermon

Eighth Sunday after Trinity

8/6/2017

26

Jeremiah 23:16-29

Acts 20:27-38

Matthew 7:15-23

 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸ For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
    to see and to hear his word,
    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
¹⁹ Behold, the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹ “I did not send the prophets,
    yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they prophesied.
²² But if they had stood in my council,
    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
    and from the evil of their deeds.

²³ “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?²⁴ Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹ Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.²⁸ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. ³² And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, ³⁸ being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

This morning’s sermon is from Martin Luther, preached in 1532 at the Town Church in Wittenberg.

From this Gospel lesson, especially, we who want to be Christians should learn that Christ, our dear Lord, earnestly exhorts and admonishes that we be attentive and willing hearers of God’s Word, always on guard against false prophets.  He appeals to us as his dear children.  We have God’s Word now.  Let us see to it that we receive and hold onto it.  If we don’t, it will eventually be taken away and we will be left with the devil’s word.

No other alternative exists for a person who refuses to hear Christ.  Whoever is unwilling to learn the way to salvation and true godliness from the Word of God will end up leaning shame and mischief from the devil.  God’s Word teaches us the way to heaven; the devil teaches a person the way to hell.  The former inculcates peace and every good; the latter, grief and misery.  Our dear Lord understood this, and that’s why he admonishes his discples and us to hearken to God’s Word faithfully and gladly while we still have it.  When we do this, things will go well for us; if we refuse, the time will come when we will wish that we should hear the Word, if only we still had it.  As said, our dear Lord Jesus Christ forewarns us very earnestly in this lesson to treasure God’s Word and learn from it.  If we do, things will go well for us; but if not, we will be forced to listen to the devil. 

Now, there’s no one really who would want to be listening to the devil, the master of lies and murder, whose only purpose is to throttle, mislead, and burden people with great misery, as indeed is true even now for mankind.  Already at the beginning, through the fall of Adam and Eve, he brought death upon all mankind.  He caused the fall from the blessed estate in which man had been created, bringing us into death, under sin’s dominion, and made subject to the wrath of God.  That is what that troublesome spirit did for us, making us sinners and children of wrath, and subject to death. 

This should certainly put us on notice that we ought to pay attention to God’s Word, not the devil’s.  What Christ wants us to understand is that when we refuse to hear God’s Word it is by his ordaining that we must listen to the devil’s, even as by Adam and Eve’s transgression we have all come under the death and wrath of God.  Like them and all their descendants we have become sinners and subject to death.  But Christ also tells us, I have nonetheless rescued you from that misery and freed you from sin and death already now.  That’s why I have given you my Word.  Hold tightly to it and I will take your place in the suffering and pain and struggle of sin caused by the Word of the Devil. 

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Christ admonishes us very earnestly to remain with God’s Word, hear it gladly, and zealously learn from it.  If you do this, Christ promises to be with you with his grace.  If not, then, Christ says false prophets and wolves will come and devour you.  Therefore, have a care that you hold firmly to my Word, so that the devil cannot mislead you; for if you let my Word go, you will again be duped. 

This is a true-blue admonition that should certainly move us to hear and learn from God’s Word.  But it avails little for the many who say, “Oh, I’ve already learned the Gospel, understand it well and have no immediate need for it.”  Many indeed blurt out that they no longer require pastors and preachers, since they can read the Word for themselves at home.  But the fact is that they don’t do it.  Or if they read it at home, the Word is not as productive, nor as dynamic, as it is when publicly proclaimed through the mouth of the preacher whom God has called and ordained to do such preaching for them.  Christ warns these people:  Be careful, you will be misled; false prophets will come to you, and they will do so in sheep’s clothing.  You need not think that a false prophet will come admitting that he is a deceiver who intends to pull the wool over your eyes and bring you to the devil.  Hardly!  Every false prophet’s approach is in sheep’s clothing.  That is why your false security is disastrous.  Be on guard, because you are like schoolchildren whom the devil wants to dupe.  Because you don’t apply yourself to the Word of God, you should realize that the devil already has his foot in the door!

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This is the reason why things are so bad in the world today, why people find it impossible to get along – the old, the young, the household servants – and why there is so much robbing, stealing, disobedience and failure to trust.  For everyone who despises God’s Word and listens instead to the devil and his prophets, both in the church and in the homes.  As a result it is impossible for true faith toward God to exist, also genuine dutifulness among people, true love, and trust.  And where true faith toward God and obedience among men are lacking, there wil be pestilence, famine, hunger, war and every kind of evil.  Such is the reward when God’s Word is despised. 

Accordingly, everyone ought diligently take heed to God’s Word and say, “I want to remain faithful to God’s Word, believe and obey it, be steadfast in faith, obey my mother and my father, and serve my Lord faithfully.  Everything that is not in harmony therewith, I will not follow or obey, sweet though it may try to sound.  This is what I know for sure:  If I abide in God’s Word, believe in God, and am obedient to my parents, and so forth, I know I have a gracious God, and the devil cannot destroy me.  Even though I may have to suffer because of it, I will not be ashame, for it is better to endure something at God’s hand, than to be torn to pieces by the devil.  Therefore I go on, cling to the Word, proclaim it faithfully, and tend to my calling.  Though I must suffer because of the Word and my calling, it matters not.  It is better when, for Christ’s sake, I suffer, rather than to deny Christ and be damned with the devil.”

There are the lessons, therefore, which we ought learn from this Gospel:  whoever will not hear God in his Word, must hear the devil;  and therefore we should learn to obey God in his Word, so that we are not destroyed, and look to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, in whom alone we have forgiveness, life and salvation.  IN him, and in his Word, we have hope, so that we are not destroyed and may have good days here now, and hereafter, everlasting salvation.  May God our dear Father, grant us this through his Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ, our Lord’s sake.  Amen.