Sermons

What is preaching? St. Paul writes in Romans: “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14-15)

Therefore our Lutheran Confessions state: “It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain forever. This is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.” (Augsburg Confession VII:1-3)

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Trinity 27 2011 – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:1-13

20. November 2011
Trinity 27
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:1-13

“Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” The cry rang out in our Lord’s parable of judgment. The virgin companions trimmed their wicks, rose, and went to meet the bridegroom.

It used to be that weddings were held at night. The party was the wedding. From the bride’s house, she and her companions were escorted by the bridegroom to the wedding hall, for singing, joyous celebration, gladness, and great food. You never knew quite when the bridegroom would come but you had a pretty good idea.

Oil is stored, wicks are trimmed, and all wait. The kingdom of heaven though is likened to the night of prayer in Gethsemene. Three times Jesus left His disciples to pray and three times they fell asleep. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Like the blessed disciples who lost track of their prayers, ignored their Lord’s word, and fell asleep, so also is the case for these ten virgins.

Some think you can’t fall asleep on the Christianity job and go into the kingdom. If that’s the case, then the disciples are outside the kingdom. All ten virgins are excluded. None of them stayed awake. None of them watched and prayed as they ought to have.

Instead, they got bored, drowsy, and drunk with sleep. They got tried of waiting. Things were too quiet. Nothing to do but go about watching and praying, trimming wicks and waiting.

Thus the Christian life is about passively waiting. It is also true that Christianity is about actively working. I should not have to tell you to love one another, whether friend or foe, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

Loving one another is difficult business. We sin against God and each other daily. We let the stupid insult slip across our lips. We do not help each other in our need. We dislike the idea of cherishing only what God has given us. We greedily seek what is not ours.

The worst is inactivity. We sit on our bums, twiddling our thumbs, acting as if its all been taken care of. Truly, your salvation has been taken care of. Jesus died for you and your trespasses. He has redeemed you from death and hell by his bloody death.

This great love is a living and active love. Given to you, it does not die but brings to new life love for neighbor. Because you are justified in Christ, you are being made holy, or sanctified, to love both God and neighbor.

I urge you, brethren, that you increase in love more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. 

Knowing the day is coming, we do not sit idly, simply waiting for the bridegroom. Instead, we wait in active and hopefully expectation. Each day we cry our “Come, Lord Jesus,” not knowing if today is the day. Each day, we go about the work our Lord has given us to do, singing and giving thanks.

You have heard it said and know it to be true that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman.

Nothing good can come of idleness. Let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. What is sober watchfulness? How do we not fall into temptation, sleeping as those disciples or the ten virgins pure? Simply this: be equipped with faith, hope and love. These are freely given to you. God is a gracious God. He loves you, cares for you, and wants you to inherit heaven for the sake of His Son. Receive His gifts of love.

You know Jesus is the only hope you have. This you know and believe is true and trust is for you. You hope and watch, all the while encouraging each other, warning those who are unruly, comforting the fainthearted, upholding the weak, and being patient with all. You see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 

You do this because He first loved us. It is love to watch over the little ones. It is love to warn those who err. It is love to comfort the faith and uphold the weak. It is love to be patient and kind. Thus, we labor while the day is still upon us, before the night when no one can work.

From the parable, we know that some Christians miss the boat altogether. They are like the five foolish virgins, hypocrites to the core. They go through all the right motions but fail to receive and cherish the one thing needful. They receive the robes of righteousness, fit and tied for the wedding feast. They frequently listen to the voice of instruction and promise. They show up to the party, lamp and oil. But in the end, they are not prepared.

This was their fault only. For God has not destined [them] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. If five do not enter the wedding hall, finding only later the door shut, no one is to blame but them.

Jesus is teaching us that tomorrow may be the end. Don’t think you’ve got it all together because you have a baptism certificate, you went graduated from confirmation, and you pay your dues to the church regularly. The kingdom of heaven is not about a piece of paper, an eighth grade rite-of-initiation, or an annual giving statement.

That’s the difference between the five wise and the five foolish. The foolish do not wait in faith, hope, and love. They take our Lord’s promises, receive them, but do not cherish them. That is, they know Jesus died for their sin. They know it is true. But they do not trust that in Jesus only will they enter the kingdom of heaven.

True and saving faith is the oil needed for the journey. It is living and active, just like love. It keeps the fire burning until we enter the wedding hall. It shows the way to the feast. Without this oil, our way would falter, our hope lost, and our love die.

Faith gives hope and hope produces love. All three go together. It is faith in the Word that gives knowledge, truth, and trust in God. Yet, too many Christians think like those five foolish virgins, saying: I have my lamp, I have my wick, I have the festal garment, and I’m in the right place at the right time. That surely will be my ticket when Jesus comes again. Wrong. Going through the church motions doesn’t save you.

For example, we have rightly emphasized the necessity of Holy Baptism, the reception of the Sacrament at First Communion, and the Rite of Confirmation of Holy Baptism in our practice. But we have also done a great disservice to them by giving some the impression that they save merely by doing them.

Dear Christian, it is true—baptism now saves you, that is, the washing of rebirth with Word and Spirit that creates faith to know, assent, and trust in this Word.  Yet, a mere washing of water with family and friends present, before joyous congregation, with all the right fixings does not make baptism. No, it is the Word of God that promises and grants faith to believe this Word.

Or another example—the Holy Communion is Christ’s living body and blood, giving you forgiveness, life, and salvation. But, it is not merely a special meal with friends, dining on special wafers of unleavened bread, sweet wine, at the altar rail that makes a holy communion. There is only Holy Communion with these words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” and faith that knows, agrees, and trusts that these words are for you.

So it is in the church. Going through the motions isn’t a ticket to heaven. Receive the Lord’s gifts, yes, but receive them in faith, knowing that they are true and for you. Receive God’s means of grace that your faith may increase and you love and cherish them more and more. Fill your lamps and your extra vessels with faith.

Trust in your baptism because the Father said by that water: you are my beloved child. Trust in the Holy Supper because Jesus said of the bread and wine: this is my body and blood for you for your forgiveness. Trust in Holy Absolution, knowing our Lord’s forgiveness is declared when that pastor, as instrument of God, lays his hands on your head and says: “by the stead and in command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins…”

That’s how the church rolls. That’s how the bridegroom and her virgin companions prepare to be led to the king. They take up the gifts of God and accept them fully. These gifts of Sacrament are bound to faith. Both are received and are grown. This faith does not sit by idly, only to mold and decay from disuse. Faith does not receive thinking the mere act of doing saves. Faith breaths and lives trust, bringing hope for your tomorrow and love for all.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Christians, be sober and vigilant. Watch yourselves, lest you forget the faith necessary for the journey. Watch each other, lest any fall into temptation. Watch family, knowing that simply going through the motions isn’t good enough. Love and hope, encouraging one another to receive these gifts in living faith and for the upbuilding of faith until the end.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana

Second-last Sunday of the Church Year 2011 – Matthew 25:31-46

13. November 2011
Second-last Sunday of the Church Year
Matthew 25:31-46

When our Lord and savior Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, He took with Him the flesh he assumed from the virgin Mary. This flesh is no ordinary flesh. It is joined in union with Jesus’ divine nature. Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is true God and true Man, ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father.

We confess this fact each day in the Apostles’ Creed and each week in the Nicene Creed, boldly asserting that Christ’s death was accepted by the Father, who raised His Son, and called Him home to heaven. This is essential for us. For if the Father had not found the life and death of His only-begotten Son righteous, if Christ had not obeyed His Father perfectly, then all is lost. His death would have been for nothing. His witness would have been a fraud. His teachings would have been the mad ravings of a lunatic.

This is most certainly not the case. Jesus has died for our sins and the sins of the whole world. His death is our only hope for forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. Just as He promised, everyone who comes to the Father through Him is saved. He is the Way. His Word is truth. His body, dying for our sin and rising for our life, is the Life.

Yet, how often do we desire to see Jesus in the flesh? How do we long to see Him face to face? For some Christians, Christ’s ascension is not a source of great comfort but rather great fear. They believe our LORD is absent, leaving us to fend here on earth for ourselves. He has only absently equipped us with the Bible, a weapon to be sure, but nothing to our victor King leading us through the present battle with Satan and his unholy host.

For these Christians, life’s struggles and pain are fought only knowing that Jesus is watching. Their every decision is fraught with despair as they fear unknowing. They ask themselves, “what would Jesus do?” only never finding quite the answer in their Bibles. Everything is done in agonizing doubt, hoping for forgiveness, but never quite knowing.

They are thinking of the next line in the Creed: “from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” Judgment is the word of fear. Judgment means there is a verdict. Some are guilty and others not. Some are sheep and others goats. Some cared for Christ and others neglected Him.

This is the stuff of Jesus’ end time discourse. After prophesying of the destruction of the Temple, as [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age.” 

Last week’s Gospel answered the first question. When will this take place? On that day false prophets and false Christs appear, leading many astray. Meanwhile the temple once established not by hands but by God, that is, the temple of the Holy Spirit in the church, will become the abomination of desolation. The church herself will be rent asunder by schism and heresy.

Our Lord will come like a thief. No one will know the day or the hour. Yet, no one will doubt that Lord has come. The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

No wonder many Christians despair and worry. No wonder many doubt that Jesus will come in grace and mercy as we confess. For that day will be great and terrible. All nations will mourn their sin. The earth that they love will be shrouded in darkness.

The funny thing is, this is precisely the truth. Our earth is covered in deep darkness. Wickedness and evil abound. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion. Demons haunt and deceive in their master’s name. False prophets and anti-Christs are seen on newsstands, in bookstores, and on the TV. This world must be destroyed.

The heavens will pass away with a roar, and heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved… the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 

Christians do not put their hope and trust in this world, despite our glorious triumphs and creations. Nor do they hope or trust in their flesh, despite our good intentions. Obedience to God is good but never good enough.

Our world seems beautiful until we peer underneath and see great rampant adultery, murder of unborn children, theft from neighbor, cheating government of lawful taxes, and pervasive greed. Sin is around every corner, in every school, under the bedsheets, and in everyone’s heart. How could we ever hope on that terrible and awesome day in ourselves or humanity’s accomplishments? Everyone and everything is saturated with evil.

It is true that no one can escape the final judgment. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 

The fear of Christ’s judgment is expected. For He will raise the dead and judge all nations. The verdict has already been declared. Those who are in Christ are justified. They are the redeemed from every nation. They live not in fear or trepidation but in hope and confidence in Jesus’ blood.

Those who refuse to receive His gracious death and resurrection are damned. They too are from every nation. They live in fear and hopelessness. They find no comfort in Jesus’ blood and merit. The cannot accept His Word nor believe the forgiveness spoken by the pastor. Baptism is plain water and the Holy Communion merely bread and wine.

To these damned—or as Jesus calls them, the goats—the church is a sham. Its all smoke and mirrors. Hypocrites in the pews. Preachers targeting pocketbooks. False smiles and empty ritual and ceremony. They don’t see anything that looks like Jesus is truly here, delivering on His promises, making good on His mercy.

They are different from Christians who doubt but only by a little. The fine line between fearing the judgment and ignoring the warning is easy to jump. If everything is doom and gloom, eventually you’ll give up hoping and live the life your flesh wants anyway. If you think of the church as merely a kingdom of believers, then the hypocrisy will eventually get to you. If you think you need more instruction for your living, nothing is to stop you from running to Dr. Phil for better and simpler advice.

The problem with those who hate the church and those who fear the church while remaining in the church is this: neither places their hope completely in Jesus. Actually, both stops at the end of the second article of the Creed, “from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.”

But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget the Third Article! I believe in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that grants faith to trust in the Word. But what Word is it that we need? What do we need to know and trust or all else is lost? Keep going. Keep confessing the Creed. I believe in the Holy Christian church.

This same Holy Christian church is also called the body of Christ. The bridegroom will soon call us, “come join the wedding feast.” We are the bride of Christ, joined inseparably in a one flesh union with the bridegroom. If we are His body because we and He are joined, then there is no way Christ is absent from us. By water and Spirit we were baptized into His blood, adopted as sons and daughters of the King, made coheirs with Christ.

The King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” 

But when have we done such things? Christ has not been here. He has not visited us, asking of us these fleshy things. We have not seen our Lord in His body. How could we see Him ask of us bodily things? The answer is that He is not absent. He is here, in His very flesh and blood. For we are His workmanship, the very image of God.

This body is creedal stuff. As we say, I believe … in the communion of saints. We are joined to Christ in one, holy, apostolic, and mystic sweet communion. All the redeemed of God are joined together with Christ to share in His sufferings death, and all the more, to share in His resurrection.

No one neglects a part of his body. So also, no Christian rooted in the body of Christ neglects another Christian in need. It is beyond our telling, both amazing and beautiful. Thus, on the last day, even the saints of God will be surprised. Lord when did we see you hungry?… 

The King answers us, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” When you care for the church, especially her members in need, you are caring for Christ’s body. Food and drink, a friendly welcome, clothing, visitation of the sick and imprisoned—these are all the stuff of Christians. And this is not done out of guilt or obligation. Rather it is done in faith within the body of Christ.

We aren’t the only ones surprised. So, also, for the goats. Those who will hear the verdict of guilty and damned will be surprised. For many think that there is life outside Christ’s body. They think the church is nothing but a imaginary fellowship of like-minded people. They are wrong, dead-wrong. The church is Christ’s body. Those who live outside this body will die eternally.

Then He will say to those on the left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” For you did not care for my body. You ignored the me in my hunger, thirst, nakedness, sickness, or imprisonment.

These goats know nothing of the true body of Christ. They look at the church and see a sham and scam. They know nothing of caring for Christ’s body because they did not care for the church and her members. They may have even boldly asserted that they are Christians with no need the church, only infrequently hearing God’s Word and even less frequently communing with our Lord. Yet, like any dismembered body part cut off from its source of life, this member withers and dies. Faith dies when one is outside the fellowship, the body, of the Son.

There is life in this body of Christ, this holy communion. Yet, when one thinks they have life apart from the head, Christ, they die. When one thinks they can sin against the rest of the body, they are cut off and cast away. Better to lose one eye and go into heaven without depth perception than follow the sinful eye into hell.

Dear Christians, do not neglect the one in need in this body. Admonish the sinner. Encourage each other. Welcome the stranger. Feed and clothe the needy. Visit the sick and imprisoned. For we are joined to them as one body in Christ, bride to bridegroom. When one member suffers, all suffer.

Dear Christians, do not neglect to care for your faith and life. Read God’s Word in daily prayer and devotion. Study God’s Word with your pastor. Diligently hear God’s Word every Lord’s day. Daily die to sin and rise to Christ in your Holy Baptism. Receive the life giving body and blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.

Christ is not absent in His body. Today we see His body in glory, shared among the holy communion of saints. Today we see our Lord face to face. Eat and drink the flesh and blood of your savior. In this blessed sweet communion are all the blessings of the Son, true God and true Man. You are forgiven. You have life. Your are eternally saved. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana