This verges on the "random" but ...
They say this online "quiz has been taken 8589 times with an average score of 47%" as of just now when I took it.
(which blog includes stuff about hiking, backpacking, The Appalachian Trail, and The Long Trail, as well random photos, jottings, scribblings, scraps of writing, miscellanea, facetiae, addresses, sermons, essays, journal entries, notes, memoranda, und so weiter. Sort of an online personal archive.)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
I Never Knew You
I.N.I.
A sermon to be preached at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Arlington, Virginia, on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (a.k.a. 1 June 2008) and to be based on a part of the Holy Gospel for the Day Matthew 7:15-29, specifically Matthew 7:21-23
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord,
The text for this morning's sermon is those verses from the middle of today's Holy Gospel, St. Matthew 7:21-23.
Dear Friends in Christ,
At first blush, this is one of those readings that might make us wonder “Gospel? Where's the Gospel in this? What is the 'good news' in a lesson that tells us that Jesus will reject people who call on him on Judgment Day?
The context of this lesson is that it comes at the end of one of the most famous, if not well known, longer passages in the New Testament: the “Sermon on the Mount”. Jesus here is wrapping up three chapters of teachings – mostly moral and ethical teachings and interpretations of the Jewish law – that had started back at the beginning of chapter 5 with the “Beatitudes.” Of course, the Lord ended the Beatitudes by turning the concept of blessedness on its head with the puzzling “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.” Then much of the rest of chapter 5 flips the Law around with Jesus saying “You have heard it said ... but I say to you....” and thereby explaining to his hearers that God wants out of us a much harder but a deeper path to fulfillment of the Law.
Now, after preaching about prayer, and fasting, and trusting God, Jesus warns his hearers to beware of false prophets coming among them in sheep's clothing. And he says that “Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.” One way of interpreting this verse that is our text would be to attach it firmly to what goes right before, that is, to make it an expansion on or explanation of the reference to false prophets. Jesus could here be giving a further explanation of what it means to be a false prophet disturbing the flock.
We can see that the false prophet at first appears to be one of the sheep. And we can see that it might take some time, a whole growing season perhaps, to tell clearly whether that prophet dressed in questionable clothing is false or not, because it just might take that long for the false prophet's bad fruit to appear. But eventually, Jesus says, it will become clear that those false prophets are inwardly ravenous wolves. The only plan those prophets have is to disturb and destroy and decimate the flock. It will have no peace in the end with a wolf in its midst.
And ultimately, Jesus explains, the false prophet/ravenous wolf has no peace either. He can be the one who cried 'Lord, Lord' on the last day only to have the gates of the kingdom of heaven swing shut in his face. That prophet is the one who may have done some works in the name of Jesus, but without his authority. That prophet is the one who put himself ahead of the Lord, who made himself the focus of attention, who grabbed for power on his own behalf. Yes, he may have mentioned God from time to time, but that false prophet's fruit is so very bad that it is clear in the end that he never knew Jesus, and worse, that Jesus never knew him.
That's one way of looking at these unsettling verses: they apply to and explain the earlier verses about the false prophets in sheep's clothing who disturb God's flock.
Another way of looking at them could apply the verses to the members of the flock. This makes them again more unsettling because these words of Jesus could then refer to any of us, even those of us who are not prophets (false or otherwise). As Christians we want assurance that we will spend our eternity with the Lord. But these words from the end of the Sermon on the Mount describe some fellow sheep who don't, in the end, make it into the kingdom on heaven despite all the sound and motion of their being constantly busy with what look like spiritual things. What's up with that?
The way to unravel this puzzle is to understand that there are really only two options when it comes to enjoying a close relationship with Jesus. Option A is the option of the Law; and Option B is the option of the Gospel. Most or all of you have heard this before, but it bears highlighting again in explanation of this text.
How does the Law Option work? Well, if you open your Bibles to the Old Testament Lesson for today in Deuteronomy 11 you'll see that the Lord made a pretty clear and simple offer to his people as they were about to enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 11:27-28: “...the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God ... the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” Couldn't be much simpler.
It was verses like this that motivated A.J. Jacobs, the author of the recent bestseller titled “The Year of Living Biblically; One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible”. Except that when you read his book you find that a lot of what he did was either 'pick and choose' or 'once and done' following the laws found in the Bible. That is, under the 'as Possible' escape clause of the last two words in his subtitle, he often picked one law to follow in a particular week (leaving others unfollowed), or he made an extraordinary effort to fulfill one law once and then ignored it the rest of the year. [as a footnote, it's perhaps instructive that while the Library of Congress classified the book under 'Bible interpretation,' his publishers suggest on the dust jacket that it should be shelved in the 'Humor' section.] Perhaps that's the way most people seek to live according to the Bible. But I, for one, can't see that we can use that plan when following human laws – imagine telling the state trooper on the interstate, 'but officer, I followed that law about a speed limit last week, this is the week I'm being extra particular to obey the laws about parking and using turn signals.' And if we couldn't get very far like that with mere human laws, how can we expect to follow God's Law that way?
In case you want some more specificity, jump up to one of the verses our reading skipped, verse 22, where the Lord spells out “If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways” then the promised blessing will flow. God expects us to follow ALL his commandments if we're trying to live under Option A, the Law Option.
The other path is to follow Option B, the Gospel Option. Here we can turn to this morning's Epistle for a review of what that option entails. Saint Paul writes to the Roman Christians of the first century that “the righteousness of God has been manifested [made clear and obvious] apart from the law ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift ... For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:21, 23, 28). And what applied to people then applies to people now. Paul is coming out and admitting that Option A, while a theoretical possibility, simply won't work. That Option promised God's blessings to everyone who followed ALL the commandments ALL the time. But it won't work for any of us because of what you know in your hearts without Paul bringing it up: we all have sinned, we've all fallen short, we're all stained. Every single one of us has tried to use the A.J. Jacobs escape clause of living as biblically as possible and hoping that it is good enough. Jacobs came up with a funny book, but our lives of sin are the complete opposite of funny.
All we can do to be that wise person who builds a house upon the rock is to hear the words of God and act on them. If we would happen to flood our lives with God's word – in the manner suggested in the beginning of today's Old Testament lesson, perhaps, or in other ways – then we will see what it is that God wants of us and what he doesn't. He doesn't want us to be that false prophet in sheep's clothing bearing bad fruit at the end of the season after decimating the flock. He doesn't want us strut around boasting 'hey, look at me, I prophesied and I cast out demons and I did many deeds of power'. Jesus wants us to be the person who is justified by grace as a gift, the one justified by faith apart from works of the law. Jesus is offering us the Gospel option as our way to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Our lives then will be lives built on the solid rock. If we don't act on the words of Jesus, but instead insist on laying siege to Heaven by attempting to keep all the commandments on our own, we will be laying our life's foundation on loose sand.
We want to be the people building on the perfect life of Jesus that freed us from the restrictions, the compulsions, and the guilt of the Law. We will be the people able to love our neighbors, to love our families, and to love our enemies, in ways that are creative and beneficial for all. We will be living out the love of Jesus in this world. We will be bearing good fruit. It really is a freer, easier life that is more “blessed” (in the sense of those Beatitudes) than trying to struggle our way into the kingdom of heaven through the Law.
Those of us who live in grace, justified apart from the works of the Law, are the ones building on the Rock. On that last day we will say things like 'did You not give us words to say, Lord? Did Your power not cast out demons? Did You not do many deeds of power?' When that day comes and we cry 'Lord, Lord' Jesus will invite us to enter the kingdom of Heaven. What a great and wonderful day that will be.
Then eternal peace that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
S.D.G.
A sermon to be preached at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Arlington, Virginia, on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (a.k.a. 1 June 2008) and to be based on a part of the Holy Gospel for the Day Matthew 7:15-29, specifically Matthew 7:21-23
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord,
The text for this morning's sermon is those verses from the middle of today's Holy Gospel, St. Matthew 7:21-23.
Dear Friends in Christ,
At first blush, this is one of those readings that might make us wonder “Gospel? Where's the Gospel in this? What is the 'good news' in a lesson that tells us that Jesus will reject people who call on him on Judgment Day?
The context of this lesson is that it comes at the end of one of the most famous, if not well known, longer passages in the New Testament: the “Sermon on the Mount”. Jesus here is wrapping up three chapters of teachings – mostly moral and ethical teachings and interpretations of the Jewish law – that had started back at the beginning of chapter 5 with the “Beatitudes.” Of course, the Lord ended the Beatitudes by turning the concept of blessedness on its head with the puzzling “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.” Then much of the rest of chapter 5 flips the Law around with Jesus saying “You have heard it said ... but I say to you....” and thereby explaining to his hearers that God wants out of us a much harder but a deeper path to fulfillment of the Law.
Now, after preaching about prayer, and fasting, and trusting God, Jesus warns his hearers to beware of false prophets coming among them in sheep's clothing. And he says that “Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.” One way of interpreting this verse that is our text would be to attach it firmly to what goes right before, that is, to make it an expansion on or explanation of the reference to false prophets. Jesus could here be giving a further explanation of what it means to be a false prophet disturbing the flock.
We can see that the false prophet at first appears to be one of the sheep. And we can see that it might take some time, a whole growing season perhaps, to tell clearly whether that prophet dressed in questionable clothing is false or not, because it just might take that long for the false prophet's bad fruit to appear. But eventually, Jesus says, it will become clear that those false prophets are inwardly ravenous wolves. The only plan those prophets have is to disturb and destroy and decimate the flock. It will have no peace in the end with a wolf in its midst.
And ultimately, Jesus explains, the false prophet/ravenous wolf has no peace either. He can be the one who cried 'Lord, Lord' on the last day only to have the gates of the kingdom of heaven swing shut in his face. That prophet is the one who may have done some works in the name of Jesus, but without his authority. That prophet is the one who put himself ahead of the Lord, who made himself the focus of attention, who grabbed for power on his own behalf. Yes, he may have mentioned God from time to time, but that false prophet's fruit is so very bad that it is clear in the end that he never knew Jesus, and worse, that Jesus never knew him.
That's one way of looking at these unsettling verses: they apply to and explain the earlier verses about the false prophets in sheep's clothing who disturb God's flock.
Another way of looking at them could apply the verses to the members of the flock. This makes them again more unsettling because these words of Jesus could then refer to any of us, even those of us who are not prophets (false or otherwise). As Christians we want assurance that we will spend our eternity with the Lord. But these words from the end of the Sermon on the Mount describe some fellow sheep who don't, in the end, make it into the kingdom on heaven despite all the sound and motion of their being constantly busy with what look like spiritual things. What's up with that?
The way to unravel this puzzle is to understand that there are really only two options when it comes to enjoying a close relationship with Jesus. Option A is the option of the Law; and Option B is the option of the Gospel. Most or all of you have heard this before, but it bears highlighting again in explanation of this text.
How does the Law Option work? Well, if you open your Bibles to the Old Testament Lesson for today in Deuteronomy 11 you'll see that the Lord made a pretty clear and simple offer to his people as they were about to enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 11:27-28: “...the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God ... the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” Couldn't be much simpler.
It was verses like this that motivated A.J. Jacobs, the author of the recent bestseller titled “The Year of Living Biblically; One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible”. Except that when you read his book you find that a lot of what he did was either 'pick and choose' or 'once and done' following the laws found in the Bible. That is, under the 'as Possible' escape clause of the last two words in his subtitle, he often picked one law to follow in a particular week (leaving others unfollowed), or he made an extraordinary effort to fulfill one law once and then ignored it the rest of the year. [as a footnote, it's perhaps instructive that while the Library of Congress classified the book under 'Bible interpretation,' his publishers suggest on the dust jacket that it should be shelved in the 'Humor' section.] Perhaps that's the way most people seek to live according to the Bible. But I, for one, can't see that we can use that plan when following human laws – imagine telling the state trooper on the interstate, 'but officer, I followed that law about a speed limit last week, this is the week I'm being extra particular to obey the laws about parking and using turn signals.' And if we couldn't get very far like that with mere human laws, how can we expect to follow God's Law that way?
In case you want some more specificity, jump up to one of the verses our reading skipped, verse 22, where the Lord spells out “If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways” then the promised blessing will flow. God expects us to follow ALL his commandments if we're trying to live under Option A, the Law Option.
The other path is to follow Option B, the Gospel Option. Here we can turn to this morning's Epistle for a review of what that option entails. Saint Paul writes to the Roman Christians of the first century that “the righteousness of God has been manifested [made clear and obvious] apart from the law ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift ... For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:21, 23, 28). And what applied to people then applies to people now. Paul is coming out and admitting that Option A, while a theoretical possibility, simply won't work. That Option promised God's blessings to everyone who followed ALL the commandments ALL the time. But it won't work for any of us because of what you know in your hearts without Paul bringing it up: we all have sinned, we've all fallen short, we're all stained. Every single one of us has tried to use the A.J. Jacobs escape clause of living as biblically as possible and hoping that it is good enough. Jacobs came up with a funny book, but our lives of sin are the complete opposite of funny.
All we can do to be that wise person who builds a house upon the rock is to hear the words of God and act on them. If we would happen to flood our lives with God's word – in the manner suggested in the beginning of today's Old Testament lesson, perhaps, or in other ways – then we will see what it is that God wants of us and what he doesn't. He doesn't want us to be that false prophet in sheep's clothing bearing bad fruit at the end of the season after decimating the flock. He doesn't want us strut around boasting 'hey, look at me, I prophesied and I cast out demons and I did many deeds of power'. Jesus wants us to be the person who is justified by grace as a gift, the one justified by faith apart from works of the law. Jesus is offering us the Gospel option as our way to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Our lives then will be lives built on the solid rock. If we don't act on the words of Jesus, but instead insist on laying siege to Heaven by attempting to keep all the commandments on our own, we will be laying our life's foundation on loose sand.
We want to be the people building on the perfect life of Jesus that freed us from the restrictions, the compulsions, and the guilt of the Law. We will be the people able to love our neighbors, to love our families, and to love our enemies, in ways that are creative and beneficial for all. We will be living out the love of Jesus in this world. We will be bearing good fruit. It really is a freer, easier life that is more “blessed” (in the sense of those Beatitudes) than trying to struggle our way into the kingdom of heaven through the Law.
Those of us who live in grace, justified apart from the works of the Law, are the ones building on the Rock. On that last day we will say things like 'did You not give us words to say, Lord? Did Your power not cast out demons? Did You not do many deeds of power?' When that day comes and we cry 'Lord, Lord' Jesus will invite us to enter the kingdom of Heaven. What a great and wonderful day that will be.
Then eternal peace that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
S.D.G.
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