Bethany and Concordia

When the apostle Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians, it’s clear that he had many problems to address. We sometimes hear about the problems in church organization and practice, but the more basic problems were personal. In 1 Cor. chapter 6, Paul began by explaining why Christians should not have to bring fellow Christians to court before a civil judge. We should rather accept wrongdoing from our fellow Christians, because we share the same Savior from our sins. It means we can joyfully forgive one another, and confidently rebuke those who are still caught up in sin, so that they might also repent and return to the same forgiveness.

You might wonder what happens after someone caught up in certains sins has repented and received God’s forgiveness. Is the forgiveness purely theoretical, affecting us only in some intangible way? Must that person continue repenting of the same sin for the rest of his life, enduring its shame while also suffering its worldly effects? Or is the forgiveness we receive from God powerful enough so that we never need to feel the shame of that transgression again? Are there certain sins which, even after we have received God’s forgiveness for them, somehow leave a lingering taint upon our status as Christians or our lives upon the earth?

In 1 Cor. 6, Paul urges his Christian readers to understand that their Christian faith in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ has changed them. Secular judges are important, but Christians should not need them to resolve their own differences, because unlike the secular world, we have received the most powerful gift: forgiveness.

But what about that particular sin, the one you suspect may leave a permanent smudge upon our character? You may be reminded of it in the way others look at you sometimes, or when you see the way other Christians worship, conduct themselves privately, or even serve God in some capacity at church. I’ve heard many times how some non-Christians think that the church is full of hypocrites, because they know the terrible sins that have been committed by the same people who find such joy and comfort when they attend church. In fact, they often know that some of those Christians continue to commit those sins, while seeming to pretend to be good people.

I can’t deny that there are hypocrites in the church, but it’s more likely that their favorite sins are the internal kind (envy, malice, anger, greed, pride, etc.) than the outward kind their neighbors would notice. Meanwhile, honest Christians must deal not only with internal vices, but also with frequent visible sins and temptations. Is it hypocrisy for such a person to come to church the following Sunday with a smiling heart and return home joyful and cheerful? Not at all. The forgiveness of sins makes the difference.

In fact, forgiveness not only creates a new status before God, but it creates and sustains a new character within us, willing and able to resist sin and to fight against temptation. Thus, St. Augustine, one of the most preeminent fathers of the Church, began his famous career as a pastor only after having broken off a marriage engagement, fathering a child out of wedlock with his first concubine, leaving her and a second concubine, and pursuing two of the prominent non-Christian religions in his day. As a bishop, Augustine later helped to lead the orthodox Christian church away from false doctrines, and he pointed generations to Jesus Christ alone as their certainty of forgiveness.

Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Do you have a crucifix nearby? If so, look at it closely. See how it represents the body of Jesus hanging upon a cross? That is what He truly did for you, and for every sinner. When we repent, whether it be for some peccadillo, a white lie, for fratricide or for genocide, we are asking God to place our burden of guilt upon His Son, whose flesh was hanging by those nails from two pieces of blood-stained wood. We are confessing that we deserve His mercy no more than any other individual on earth. We are asking Him to accept the death of Jesus in place of the punishment we deserve, so that we might receive the status that Jesus obtained by His perfect life. God grants this to you, to me, and to every penitent Christian. The Church gathers every week for no greater purpose than to receive this forgiveness.

Is it possible for a person to start over? With Jesus, it is certainly possible, and more than once. He takes away our sins, and He creates us anew through the rebirth of water and His Word. This is not only some theoretical, abstract kind of rebirth, but a true spiritual regeneration, resulting in a new creature with a new nature and a new character. Unfortunately for us, the old nature still fights to survive, but when we consider ourselves and our fellows as Christians, remember that our identity is no longer found in the sinful flesh. As Paul wrote in Col. 3, “you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” It is this new self, created by the forgiveness of sins, that will live eternally.

In our catechism we talk about the three ways that God uses His moral Law by using three metaphors or comparisons. Most importantly, He uses His Law as a mirror, which shows us our sinfulness and need for a savior. Also of great importance, He uses His law as a curb upon the evil in the whole world, since it is written upon the hearts of everyone to a limited degree. Finally, God guides Christians with His Law in the ways we are to live as His redeemed children. This is necessary because Christians still have the sinful flesh as long as we live, which obscures and confuses our knowledge of God’s will.

Strictly speaking, the Ten Commandments as found in the Bible were given to the children of Israel, and not to us. However, Jesus confirmed that they describe the way God would have us live, with the exception that the Third Commandment no longer requires a specific day of the week as the Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists object to this, wishing to retain the meaning of the Third Commandment as it applied to the Israelites. They fail to understand that this aspect of the Third Commandment is not part of God’s universal will for all people (moral law), but His instructions for the worship life of the Jews (ceremonial law), and as such it is fulfilled for us all by Jesus Christ and superceded by faith in Him (Colossians 2:16-17). That does not make it wrong to observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, but it is wrong to insist that every Christian do so.

So in the distinction between the ceremonial and moral law, we can see a difference between God’s will for the behavior of Israelites and for Gentiles. Still, a similar difference also exists in connection with the Ten Commandments. Since Jesus has fulfilled all of them in our place, our righteousness before God is found entirely in Him. Since He gave His life to suffering and death in payment for our disobedience, the Ten Commandments have no more power to condemn those who trust in the Gospel. So Jesus has not only separated us from the ceremonial law, but also from the moral law, though in a different way. It means that Christians can understand and use the Ten Commandments without fear of punishment or condemnation. In Jesus, we no longer have any guilt. He has freed us to live without the intolerable burden of God’s conditional favor: “If you obey My commandments, I will consider you to be righteous.” Now, we are already righteous, entirely through the obedience of Jesus.

With the freedom we have from the Law, we now have a different relationship to the Ten Commandments. They become more precious, because they describe the will of a gracious and loving God. We can approach them with a confidence that as long as we remain in our baptismal grace, they cannot condemn us. So when God says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” we can see more clearly, and more readily admit those times when our personal behavior has not met His righteous expectations.

In Jesus Christ, we can say, “Yes, I have taken God’s name in vain today. I have cursed another in my heart and used His name to decieve another person. Moreover, I have relied upon my own strength in time of trouble, failing to call upon His name, and I have thanklessly taken the credit for my deliverance from trouble. For these things I need God’s forgiveness.” Such an admission is what we call repentance. It’s possible for Christians only because we know that Jesus has obtained forgiveness for us, and God is ready to pronounce that forgiveness upon us at any time we need it.

Sometimes, we may feel the terror of God’s condemnation upon our guilt, but repentance is not necessarily like that. Often, the terror of our guilt is still far away because we still know that Jesus is our savior from sin and death, and the accusations of the devil cannot penetrate our faith in that fact. It may seem unnecessary, in that case, to acknowledge our faults and repent of them, but repentance is always necessary. Faith in Jesus exists only inasmuch as we trust that He is our savior from sin — from the guilt of our own sins. That’s the essence of the Gospel. So in order to have faith in Jesus, to be a Christian, we need to repent. In order to repent, we must have some guilt to acknowledge. God builds our faith with the Gospel, which can only be received through repentance, which in turn can only exist where there is guilt. Understanding this, we can be confident that Jesus has delivered us from God’s wrath, while simultaneously and freely repenting of our many sins that should have incurred that wrath.

When we fail to acknowledge our sins before God, claiming or thinking that we have actually kept one or more of God’s commandments, then we have not rightly understood the demands of His Law in relation to our thoughts, words, and deeds. In that case, we become self-righteous, and that excludes faith. We become unbelievers again, and are in peril of eternal punishment if we should die during that time. An important duty of a pastor is to remind his congregants of their sins, and even to confront those who may have become impenitent with the real danger of God’s punishment in hell. Naturally, we don’t enjoy hearing such a message, but only through that message can we recall our utter need for a Savior.

Beside the spiritual application of the Ten Commandments, Christians also find that they describe a blessed life on earth. Though we can’t keep any of the Commandments as perfectly as they demand, many people (even unbelievers) can live righteous lives outwardly to some degree. Those who do become a blessing to other people, and are themselves blessed in many ways. Those blessings do not equate to “the easy life,” because Christians always live under the shadow of Jesus’ cross, bearing crosses of their own. However, it becomes clear that those who disregard God’s commandments create much more trouble and suffering for themselves and others. So the Ten Commandments, as a summary of the way God would have people live, describe an excellent foundation for a civil society. One does not have to be a Christian or a Jew to see this, or to benefit from it, because God has hidden an echo of His Law in the heart of every human being.

To help you continue to grow in faith, I recommend that you read the Large Catechism on the Ten Commandments, where Dr. Luther explains in detail what each commandment means. You might read about only one commandment each day, and meditate upon Jesus’ fulfillment of that commandment for you, and the ways in which your life continues to make His work necessary for your salvation. You might also wish to think about the way each commandment might be a blessing upon civil society on earth when its members endeavor to live outwardly moral lives, according to God’s will.

As I write this, the coming Sunday will be our celebration of Reformation. The Sunday after that is All Saints. At Reformation, we remember those who stood upon scripture alone, over against all the contrary opinions of men. On All Saints Day, we rejoice in God’s blessings upon the departed believers, who are made holy by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Reformation Day reminds us that we live in the Church militant, still struggling against the devil, this evil world, and our own evil and worldly nature. All Saints Day reminds us that we are also made holy in God’s sight through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.

We carry these two aspects of Christian life into the rest of the year, too. Usually, evil rears its ugly head within a Christian’s relationships with other people, sometimes originating in ourselves, and sometimes in others. It can happen in any season, and in any place. It even happens between Christians, and even within the same church. It is never more important to remember that we live in the Church militant, and that every Christian is a saint in God’s sight by faith alone, without having deserved it in the least.

Our God and Lord provides much guidance for dealing with life in the Church militant. He is not always gentle, because much of the time, we need to hear the Law. In Matthew 18, Jesus has several points to make. Verse 35 warns, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” That leaves two questions: (1) What will He do to us? and (2) What kind of forgiveness does He mean?

You can answer the first question by reading verses 23–35. You will see that anyone who refuses to forgive is not considered to be a Christian. That should make us all think back to any unanswered grievances we may have had with another person. Did I express my grievance to him, as a Christian should, or did I hold it in and savor its foulness, as a dog chews on an old bone? Perhaps my awkward conversations with someone today can be traced back to an unknown, unrepented, and/or unforgiven sin in the past.

You can answer the second question by reading Matthew 18:15. Don’t reveal your grievance to anyone else, until you have spoken to the offender. Why not? Because you would be asking another to break the 8th Commandment, and sit in judgment over the one who has offended you. Instead, let the offender hear your grievance in full, so that he might repent and ask for your forgiveness. We fail in this so often because even those who are offended have a sinful flesh, which likes to chew on a grievance so that sin may grow.

Jesus is so concerned about the way we deal with one another’s offenses that He even commands us to work them out as Christians instead of participating in worship. (See Matthew 5:23-24.) Worship can wait, because its benefit is easily spoiled when our hearts are poisoned and distracted by unforgiven sins. In the ancient Christian Church, it was even customary to demonstrate the mutual forgiveness between Christians at worship by pausing the service briefly so that those in attendance could bestow the “kiss of peace” upon one another.

Every group of Christians on earth will experience disagreements, and offenses. After all, though we are saints, we are also still sinners. Yet God commands us in His Word how to deal with it: individually, and personally. The greatest offense ever given was my sinfulness against God’s will. Yours too. Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ bore our sins in His body upon the cross. He paid that greatest price so that He could say to penitent sinners, “Your sins are forgiven.” No strings attached. No special merit required. In that knowledge, we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

You already know that Jesus lived a sinless life. That means that He made full use of the synagogue meetings, and also faithfully made the journey to Jerusalem for the feasts of Unleavened Bread (Passover), Weeks (Pentecost), and Tabernacles (the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur). It was on one of those journeys to Jerusalem that Mary and Joseph mistakenly left Him behind and began their trip home to Nazareth. They returned in a panic, searching for days. When they found Him in the Temple, He innocently asked them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). His Father’s business was naturally at the Temple, where God had promised to be found by His people (1 Kings 8).

Jesus attended synagogue on the Sabbath, at whatever synagogue He was near. He began his ministry with a visit to the synagogue in Nazareth, where He performed the office of a rabbi, or teacher, by reading from the Bible and commenting on it. This pattern of teaching was repeated at other synagogues, sometimes accompanied by miracles to demonstrate that what He taught about himself is true.

At Nazareth, the Bible verse He read to announce His ministry was Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then, when all eyes were fixed upon Him, He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, Isaiah wrote those words to describe what Jesus was doing at that moment. In fact, the Lord continued the same activity at every synagogue meeting, and for all who came to be with Him.

Then Jesus died. For obvious reasons, that usually means a person will no longer be attending Church. Not so in Jesus’ case. The night He was betrayed, He established a gift for all Christians: the meal of His body and His blood. “This is My body,” He said. “This is the New Testament in My blood, shed for many for the remission of sins.” His command was to “do this,” including the eating and drinking, “in remembrance of Me.” Afterward, Christians knew that every time they celebrated the Lord’s Supper, Jesus was in attendance, just as surely as He was there at the Last Supper.

Jesus also defeated death and rose from the grave. This is the key fact that upholds Christianity. Without it, we may as well believe anything that interests us. Without it, we may as well skip church on Sunday in favor of other commitments: social activities, work, sleeping in, etc.

But if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then why would we ever want to miss out on the Divine Service? The body and blood of the living Christ — the One who defeated death — are there as His blessings to us. He is really there for us! Even now, Jesus is in attendance at Church for our benefit every time the Lord’s Supper is offered. I shudder to think what it must mean if we prefer to be somewhere else.

Yet Jesus’ Church attendance is even better than that. Before He ascended to heaven, He also promised in connection with His Word and Baptism “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 19-20). The evangelist Mark describes how things went for the infant Church after that (Mark 16:20): “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” Since the Divine Service has always focused and centered upon the Word of God, specifically the message of Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23), we may be certain of Jesus’ promised presence every Sunday, wherever the Gospel is preached and His Word is taught, especially where this is done faithfully and accurately.

So we should ask ourselves — we, who must still struggle with our sinful nature, and are so good at excusing ourselves from God’s blessings: where is the best place for me to be? Should I be in the gracious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who faithfully attends Church even now, in order to bless me with His forgiveness? Or should I allow other things to rob me of the opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet and receive the blessing I need (Luke 10:40-42)?

It may seem like a no-brainer, but then why do we often make the other choice? Are you really convinced that you need Jesus’ gracious presence? Are you convinced that Jesus has truly risen from the dead, and now bestows upon us the favor of God and the medicine of immortality? Maybe that’s the problem: we don’t firmly believe these basic truths that define the Christian faith. But then, that would mean we are “wavering between two opinions,” like the unfaithful Israelites in Elijah’s day (1 Kings 18:21).

If we were truly convinced that we are hell-bound sinners, but also that the Son of God died and rose again to redeem us from the grave, and that He attends the Divine Service every week to provide us with the forgiveness of our sins, then the Divine Service would be our own highest priority. Since it is not always our highest priority, but just another thing we’d like to do when convenient, we must conclude that our faith and eternal life are in grave danger.

What can we do? Take comfort in this fact: Jesus is still there for you in the Divine Service, week after week. He’s there for you, even when you’re not. Like the prodigal son, you have the opportunity to repent and return to the arms of your loving Father. Take advantage of that opportunity, while it lasts. Jesus still invites you to receive His Word of forgiveness, the bread of life. He still wants to feed you with His own body and blood, the price of our redemption. Because He loves you, Jesus’ own Church attendance is perfect.

When you awaken in the morning, you may already know why you should get up. Then again, you may not know why. The warmth of your blankets is comfortable. Sleep is pleasant. Do you have a purpose today that would draw you out of bed, get you dressed, breakfasted, and ready for action? Not everyone is the same.

Some days you may wonder what is the point of living, of caring, of finishing your work. It seems that at a certain age between 13 and 20, we begin to ask this question, sometimes with a bitter or sarcastic spirit: “What is my purpose?”

If you have asked this question, it may be some comfort to know that you are not the first. The holy Bible was written by the hands of many men, but all of those writings were intended by God to teach us, even now. One of the writers was a powerful King, who had many flaws of his own. You may know Solomon as the king who settled a dispute between two women over a baby. Solomon ordered the baby cut in half for them, and the woman who was not its mother was willing to let this happen.

King Solomon also applied his wisdom to our question of purpose. The result is the Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon considered all the things in the world that are precious in the sight of human beings: property, family, friends, the natural world, society, amusements, work, and so forth. His conclusion: all of it is mere vanity in the end, filled with no enduring value, like a puff of wind. Though we may enjoy some things for a while, they will soon fade away, and even the memory will be forgotten.

We want to have some meaningful purpose in our lives. Yet Solomon wrote that the best we can do is to find pleasure in our work, knowing that it will not endure beyond the grave. Maybe that’s enough to get you up and going each day, and maybe it isn’t.

What we really need is to know that our lives can have value beyond the pleasure of the moment. Can they? Yes, they can. While our own efforts and pleasures always lead to nothing in the end, God’s works always endure, despite appearances. For example, the Christian Church has survived thousands of years, outlasting mighty empires, though most of the time it seemed on the brink of collapse. It will outlast this world. So if we want meaningful purpose and value, we will find it in the purpose and will of God.

The Bible’s chief message is twofold. First, it shows us human beings that we have been born into a great rebellion against God. It’s not hard to see when we honestly consider our own hearts. Do we always submit to the will of God, or do we sometimes prefer our own ways? I find that my own heart always prefers its own ways, resulting in many other inward and outward sins. Already in Genesis 6:5, God perceived this condition in mankind.

The other part of the Bible’s chief message is the main point of the whole Bible. God has reconciled rebellious mankind with Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. His demanding justice was met, and all our guilt was punished. We are restored to Him, and will live eternally. You and I have been freed from the power of death, and are invited to participate in God’s work even here on earth. His work is meaningful, and His purpose is to bring the blessings of Christ to our neighbors on earth.

God calls us to many vocations: in the family, in society outside the home, at our churches, and elsewhere. Those callings — as long as they are godly callings and don’t contradict His Word — are the purpose of our lives here on earth, and our life in heaven is the conclusion.

You can see how rich are the gifts that come from the cross of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we have a reason to get up each day. Because of Him, we can lie down each night, content that we have done something meaningful. Thanks be to God.

The Word of God Endures Forever. VDMA

God doesn’t tell us exactly how we should use His Word through the week, but it’s clear that we should. This leaves us open to finding whatever fits best into our lifestyle. Since God covers this already in the third commandment, it’s safe to say that it’s quite important to Him. He says (in the wording of our current catechism):

You shall keep the day of rest holy.

We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.

Anyone can see that this applies to the divine service on Sunday morning.
It also applies to confirmation classes, Bible studies, Sunday School, and other opportunities we have to hear and learn God’s Word publicly.

What we often forget is that the Third Commandment also applies to our own private or family lives. It would be easy at this point for me to say that you must do this or that, and then you will have kept this commandment, but that would not be a God-pleasing way to teach it. Instead, remember first that we can’t keep it, no matter how hard we try, but that God credits us with keeping it through faith in Jesus Christ. He kept this commandment in our place — even in His private or family life. (See how many times He went off by Himself to pray!)

There are a number of resources available to help us in our family devotions.
I recommend the Book of Family Prayer, but I have also used several other books. I have found it most useful when the book follows the same topics we are covering in the Bible readings Sunday morning.

Every quarter or so, we receive a supply of Meditations booklets, a Wisconsin Synod publication that provides a brief devotion for every day based upon a short Bible text. This is similar to Portals of Prayer from the Missouri Synod.

There are also prepared devotional books written especially for various categories of people. I saw a devotional for moms at the Northwestern Publishing House web site. The Missouri Synod has also published My Devotions, a seasonal booklet of devotions for children.

Of course, there is also the devotional insert that you’ll now find in our church bulletins every week. This includes brief excerpts from the Small and Large Catechisms, parish prayer requests, the current Sunday School lesson (for discussion at home), and Bible readings for morning and evening through the week. You can use as much or as little as you like, so long as it remains doable.

If you would like to include young children in your devotions (which I recommend doing), here is a suggestion that you may not have considered. Use your family hymnal. (You have a hymnal at home, don’t you? You should!) If it’s the old blue or red hymnal, which we call the TLH, I suggest that you use either the Morning Suffrages or the Evening Suffrages on page 115-116. When that would be too long, you can begin with the Morning Prayer or the Evening Prayer on p. 118. In either case, I suggest adding a devotional reading, which could be any Bible text, a devotion from the Book of Family Prayer, or from the bulletin devotion insert. If the children in your family need to have things explained to them, it’s a very good thing to pause and take the time — good for them and for the whole family. Don’t be afraid of answering questions. Just stick to what you know the Bible (and your catechism) says, and contact the Pastor (that’s me) if you need to.

The reason I suggest using a simple order of worship for your home devotion, especially with children, is that the repetition is very helpful for learning. It teaches the things you repeat every day, like the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed. It also teaches the importance of hearing God’s Word and responding in an appropriate, respectful way. It even provides a chance to sing hymns together, which is a great blessing in itself. I admit that even the pastor’s family finds this hard to keep up in our own household, but we also know that Christ has cleansed us of all sin, so we need not feel overwhelmed by guilt for the times we forget. Instead, we appreciate all the more that sweet forgiveness He provides us every time we remember.

If you have the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (ELH) at home instead of the TLH, then I suggest that you use either The Office of Prime on p. 108 for devotions in the morning, or The Office of Compline on p. 128 for devotions in the evening. Just replace the Chapter with the devotional reading for the day. You can skip the Hymn, or even try to sing your favorite hymn from the previous Sunday.

Some days you will have less opportunity for devotion than others. Remember that God has made no law about this, so you can skip a day when necessary. You can also vary the devotions from time to time. When you have a strong habit of daily devotions, you may find that you really miss it on days when you had to skip. That helps you to appreciate God’s Word all the more the next time you hear it.

Finally, I’ll mention an important caveat. The prepared devotions like we find in the Book of Family Prayer or in the Meditations are very helpful, and often provide important insights that we may not have found elsewhere. However, anything that is not inspired by God — anything that is not Holy Scripture itself — can also be wrong or misleading from time to time. Read, but read with your eyes open, remembering what you have been taught in your catechism.

If you have any stories about the benefits of devotions, or the struggle to maintain them on a regular basis, feel free to include those as comments to this post.

(This is also over at the sermons page.)

Forgive as Forgiven

The Gospel can be shocking and offensive. It sees no difference between people on earth, while most people see a difference
between the good and the evil.

Sinners love to sin. Gossipers tell their stories. Cruel people delight in hurting others. Promiscuous people please themselves
without regard for what is proper. Theives always have an eye out for the next prize,

But most sinners also think that they are not bad people. It’s easy to excuse our own little vices and indiscretions, because there are clearly other people much worse.

Sinners also assume that God thinks the way we do. So He must wish to punish the worst sinners first So He also must wish to forgive the best people first

But now the Gospel message rings clearly from God’s Word: Every one of us is covered and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. The apostle wrote:

For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

On one hand, you and I needed this as much as terrible sinners we know. On the other hand, they are now forgiven as completely as we are. The sinner in us cries out that this is not right,

But the Gospel lumps us all together, and as God’s speaker today, I have to say: Get over it! We were condemned, but are now justifed.

Reaching or losing eternal life is not really about the number or wickedness of our sins, nor about how hard we may try to be good people.

it’s about whether or not we receive God’s forgiveness. It’s about whether we reject our Savior
by clinging to any of our sins and refusing to repent.

So today, Jesus instructs us in the art of forgiveness. It’s part of being a Christian and belonging to Him.

Our theme: Forgive as forgiven. So that the truly impenitent must hear about it. So that the penitent always receive forgiveness.

Matthew 18:15–22 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that `by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

So that the truly impenitent must hear about it

We do wrong every day: against God, and against others.

Through the Gospel, we receive God’s forgiveness when we repent and believe the Gospel.

But how can we be forgiven by our brothers and sisters on Earth?

Christians want to know when we’ve sinned against others, so that we can repent and set things right.

But Christians are not simple creatures. We are saints who want what God wants, and We are also sinners, who do not want what God wants.

We have a spiritual nature, a new man created by the Gospel; and the old wicked nature, the sinful flesh or old Adam.

Both of these work in us at the same time, so that St. Paul wrote: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)
nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

We need to know about and repent of our sins against others, but Jesus teaches us about the other side of the coin here: when our fellow Christians sin against us.

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Jesus doesn’t say here that we must forgive our offending brother. But that’s exactly what He means with the last part: If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

When someone sins against us, our sinful reflex is to strike back; but Jesus gives us the Christian response:
to confront the offending brother privately and finally, to forgive.

That’s hard, isn’t it? It’s always hard to overcome our own sinful flesh. It’s especially hard to forgive.

But forgiveness means nothing to someone who does not know his offense.

So the first step is to tell him his fault, privately. Tell nobody else at all, or you will break the 8th Commandment.

Even if you’re sure that the person has sinned, telling another soul makes you a false witness.

Though you are so certain, you may yet be wrong! So protect your brother’s reputation by keeping it private.

Nobody likes to learn that we have sinned. But sometimes we already know, and are not sorry about it.

So we need to be told about it, or our impenitence will rob us of God’s forgiveness, and even of faith in Christ.

When someone else tells you that you have sinned, let God’s Word be the deciding judge, not the desires of your own heart. So if God’s Word says that you have not sinned, you can explain the matter with confidence. But if you have sinned, you can immediately ask to be forgiven.

Sometimes our hearts are so stubborn that we will not admit our guilt. Jesus says: “if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that `by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”

See how Jesus still protects the reputation of the offending Christian! Bring along only two or three with you. Perhaps elders from the church, or the pastor. Perhaps mutual, respected friends.

What if nobody will agree to go with you? Then you have to drop the matter, because you may be wrong.

Don’t be a false witness!

When we are told by more than one respected Christian that we have sinned, it should make us consider the matter very carefully.

One fellow Christian might be mistaken about us, but two or three are more likely right.

But again, the Word of God must be the judge: compare your conduct to His commandments, and see where you may have done wrong.

Even then, the offending Christian may remain stubbornly defiant, or may even remain convinced of his own innocence.

Job was accused by three of his friends, that he had somehow offended God to deserve his great sorrow and suffering.

But their accusation was mistaken; Job was innocent! He was vindicated by God Himself.

Some matters of sin can’t be resolved in private.

So Jesus says: if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.

On earth, the Church makes the last decision about matters of sin. If someone sins against you, and will not repent after both preceding steps, it’s your responsibility to bring it to the Church.

It may be that the Church will decide in favor of the accused, but if the Church sees that a real offense has happened, a sin against God’s commandments, and the offender has not repented,

then the Church must confront the sinner.

As Christians, we want to forgive as God has forgiven us. But first, those who sin must hear about it.

Forgiveness means nothing to those who don’t acknowledge their sin, even when they think that they are good Christian people.

God’s Word says in Galatians 6: For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

Only God’s commandments can say what’s right and wrong, but sometimes we need to be told by other Christians.

Sometimes we are so stubborn that it takes the whole Church to show us our sin.

What if all of that doesn’t work? even from the Church?

Jesus says: let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. An unbeliever. A prospect for evangelism.

That’s true excommunication, to bring an impenitent sinner to his senses, so that he may receive God’s forgiveness, and be restored as a child of God.

It’s not about how terrible the sin may be, but about saving the person’s soul from stubborn impenitence.

The Gospel forgives us all, but those who do not wish to receive forgiveness, can’t.

This is part of a Christian life: forgive as we are forgiven, so that the truly impenitent must hear about it.

So that the penitent always receive forgiveness

As hard as it may be to believe that we are guilty when we are told by another person or two or even the whole Church,

It can be even harder to believe that we are forgiven.

Some people can’t imagine that sinful humans like us have any authority to bind or to forgive sins at all.

In a sense, they are right. We don’t have that authority in ourselves.

But Jesus Himself said, Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

So Christians do have the authority to bind sins, not on their own, but according to God’s will.

That’s why it’s so important that we allow God’s Word to judge matters of sin.

Christians also have the authority to forgive sins: we can all give our own forgiveness to those who have wronged us. but we can also give God’s forgiveness
according to His will.

That means that we can all speak for God to forgive our fellow Christians who repent.

We can also tell our unbelieving friends that Jesus has won forgiveness for them, too.

When two or three Christians agree about something, and it’s in harmony with God’s Word, Jesus tells us here that the Father will do what they ask.

Jesus Himself is present with those who are gathered in His name. Jesus Himself!

He’s here in His Word. He’s present in the Sacrament of the Altar, just as He said. He’s here according to the promise in our text.

It doesn’t matter what size the group is, what other people may think of them, what sins they may have committed in the past.

He’s here to forgive us to comfort us with His Word to train and instruct us in righteousness to make us His representatives in the world.

At this moment, He would have me tell you as His minister that His blood was shed for you, to forgive you all of your sins.

Jesus wants us to regard and love one another as brothers, equally disobedient, equally forgiven.

Peter asked Him an important question. Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

It’s hard to say “I’m sorry,” but harder to say, “I forgive you.”

What is it that your brother or sister in Christ has done to you? Is it so terrible compared with your own iniquity before God for which He has now punished His only-begotten Son?

What is your grievance? Do you know? Just as important: does your brother or sister know? You have to bring it up! Just as you have been forgiven in Christ, so now it is your responsibility to forgive. If you refuse, then you are also refusing God’s forgiveness.

Peter knew that sometimes a person keeps making the same mistake. It’s frustrating. He was willing to forgive,
but at some point there has to be a limit.

How about seven times? Seven chances to learn better.

But God has forgiven us so many times that we’ve lost count.

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” In other words: there is no limit.

If we recognize our own guilt before God, then now we also see how deep is His love for us, and how perfectly precious is the death of Jesus Christ.

This is how God handles our sin, and so it’s also how we, His Church, handle the sins of each other: forgiveness, without limit.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

An important story has come to my attention in the last two weeks through two different channels. It seems that the homosexual agenda in Oregon is getting some traction among state lawmakers, who are proposing to make homosexuality a civil right. We’ve heard this sort of thing before, but I don’t know if it’s reached so far. Not only do some think that this might actually become state law, but the law itself even seeks to remove the constitutional freedom of churches to operate according to their faith. It is feared that this law would require churches to provide equal opportunity employment for homosexuals in church positions that are not directly related to the church’s purpose. Apparently, this judgment call would be made by the judicial branch of government, not by the churches themselves.

The erosion of our freedom of religion is significant. Lutheran fantasy/sci-fi author Lars Walker has written about a future when the U.S. Congress has passed a “Definition of Religion Act.” While maintaining freedom of religion in name, this fictional scenario allows the government arbitrarily to decide which churches should receive protection under the First Amendment and which should not. The net result is that the United States loses true freedom of religion. While fiction, the future described by Walker is ominously similar to the current state of affairs in Oregon.

Christians have pointed out that many Oregon legislators have bought the argument that homosexuals can’t choose their sexual orientation, just as we can’t choose our skin color. Some say that this is flat wrong. From a practical point of view, it is flat wrong. Homosexuals choose their own lifestyle, the same way everyone chooses whether to incorporate exercise and a healthy diet into their lifestyles. Yet we must also appreciate the biblical doctrine of original sin. Ages ago, “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Those are strong words, but they are as true now as they ever were. We all have our weaknesses, which are actually sinful tendencies that deserve God’s punishment. For some, the tendency to steal or covet is stronger. For others, it’s rebellion against authority. The list goes on. But there are also many whose sinful tendencies are sexual in some way. All of original sin is deserving of God’s punishment, and His perfect justice demands it. We must all repent, or we will perish eternally.

What good is repentance? It helps only because God is merciful in Jesus Christ. Jesus, God’s perfect Son, died for the sins of the world — even for homosexual sins. Now, everyone who repents and looks to Him for mercy will find it. We are forgiven. Jesus rose from the dead, so we know that we will not be punished eternally. All who receive His forgiveness in faith will rise to eternal life, just as God has promised. This is our message for all sinners, including the members of Bethany and Concordia.

It’s always a matter of opinion to say a certain hymn is better than the next one, so it might be dangerous for me to write this. But if you’ll consider it to be only my opinion, then you can see if what I say seems to be true. You can leave a comment below the post.

There are two ways that Christian music appeals to me. One of them is appeal to sentiment (that’s a tough guy way to say “feelings”). The other is when the message speaks to my basic human need for a loving, merciful God and Savior.

One of my favorite hymns is “Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart”. It illustrates these two appeals pretty well. As you can tell from the title, The hymn is a prayer. But despite what you might think from the title, very little of the hymn is focused upon me, the one praying. Rather, the focus is on Lord Jesus as my merciful Savior. Yet throughout the hymn, Jesus is closely connected to me, showing that He is completely relevant to my life. More than relevant, this hymn says that He is essential to my life. This is a pretty sentimental message, so the hymn wins both ways. I find it particularly comforting in a heart-wrenching way when I consider that the gracious blessings I’m praying for in the hymn are already bought for me by Jesus’ death, and promised in His Word.

What else might Christian hymns or music be like? Some hymns are not so sentimentally appealing. Maybe they don’t seem very well connected to us, or maybe we don’t really like to hear the message. That’s not always a bad thing, because some good messages are like that, for example, God’s law. The Law always condemns us for not keeping it at God’s standard, which is perfection. It’s not a message we enjoy hearing, so any song expressing God’s moral Law would be hard to like for its sentimental qualities.

Sometimes a message like the Law can be offset by a catchy tune. You probably know of several songs that are memorable not because of the message, but the tune alone. You may not even know what the words really say, but the more you hear the song, the closer you get to learning them. It’s a good way to teach the Bible’s doctrine on subjects that don’t have much sentimental appeal.

A catchy tune is also sometimes joined with a message that’s not so good. You may actually like some songs in spite of a message that’s spiritually harmful. I’ve enjoyed and played quite a few songs like that. So every Christian needs to be aware of the messages we receive, and how they can affect our faith. Even music that refers favorably to God or Jesus doesn’t necessarily teach a message that builds our faith. Listening to harmful songs is the spiritual equivalent of playing with matches.

The best Christian hymns and songs not only have a sentimental appeal, but they also edify us with their message. I’ve heard people talk about how they like uplifting music, but that’s not what I mean. I see a difference between edifying and uplifting. Edifying music shows me, or at least reminds me of my Savior, and has me place my trust completely in Him and His gracious Word. Uplifting music simply makes me feel better about something. I like uplifting music, too, but that alone doesn’t make a religious song great in my book.

So that we’re not only thinking about hymns, consider a couple songs from a band I’ve recently been listening to quite a bit, called Lost and Found. All their lyrics are on their web site. Some of their songs are more for pure entertainment value than religious messages, but here’s a good example of their “Christian” songs. The message is basically a paraphrase of what the Bible says. Other songs are like this comforting song or this one, which is similar, but spoken from the standpoint of Jesus himself. For something quite different, have a look at this sarcastic song. I like it because I understand and sympathize with the sarcasm. It’s a sentiment of a different kind, but closely tied to the Gospel.

If you have an example of good Christian music, feel free to respond to this post with a comment. Include a link or a quote from the lyrics, and explain what about the song leads you to call it “good.”