Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kerrville Texas

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus instructs His disciples about the approaching fall of the city of Jerusalem. None of these twelve will be in Jerusalem when it happens. Judas will have hanged himself because he despaired of God’s mercy. Herod would have killed James the brother of John with the sword (Acts 12:2). Peter would have been crucified by the Emperor in Rome. The rest would have either been ministering in distant lands or already martyred for Christ’s name. Even though none of them would be there to witness it, Jesus tells the Twelve of Jerusalem’s impending fall for the sake of those who believe in Him because of their testimony. When these things take place, Christ’s Christians would take heed and obey His words to save their lives.

He tells them, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” This had happened before in Judea’s history. In 167 B.C.—during the days when the Jews were under the authority of the Syrians, the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV subdued a rebellion in Jerusalem, build a fortress overlooking the sanctuary, and put the city under military rule. Then he ordered his men to set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar (1 Macc 1:54). Scripture often calls idolatry and crass sin abominations, so it is most likely that Aniochus’ abomination of desolation was an idol of Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks. In those days, however, the Lord raised up Mattathias and his sons—the Maccabees—who would retake Jerusalem, cleanse, and rededicate the temple, and eventually establish Judea as a semi-independent state. The difference between that and the desolation Jesus foretells is that the temple will not only be defiled, but entirely destroyed, so that not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matt 24:2). The Lord would not raise up another Mattathias, another Judas Maccabeus, another savior of the Jews. In fact, this desolation was coming upon the Jews because they would reject the Savior sent by God, not only for the Jews but for all people. This time the Romans would siege Jerusalem and level it, with all its inhabitants, to the ground.

This is why, when those who believed in Christ saw the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant belonged, they were to flee. What the abomination was this time, we don’t entirely know. The abomination may have been during the reign of Tiberius, when Pilate images of the emperor into Jerusalem by night, though he removed them to quell the upheaval this caused. The abomination may have been a rebellious band of Jews who took control of the temple just before the Roman siege and desolated it by committing murder in it. But if these were not signs enough to convince Christians that the end was near, Jesus says in Luke 21:20, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.”

When they saw Jerusalem’s desolation approaching, those who were in Judea—not just Jerusalem and its environs—were to flee to the mountains, and there was to be no looking back. Jesus told them, “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.” The things of this life can be replaced, and God has promised to give daily bread. They are not to like Lot’s wife, who looked back in unbelief as Sodom was destroyed, and turned into a pillar salt. Jesus also says, “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” These would be deterrents to moving quickly and without hesitation, and there was no time for sluggishness or lethargy, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. So fast and hot would Roman fury come down on Judea, that unless the Lord had cut it short, the entire Jewish nation would have been destroyed, and Paul reminds us in Romans 11:5 that there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Even among these Jews there were some who would repent and believe in the Messiah God had promised to their forefathers.

As if this desolation were not enough, a far more dangerous trouble would come upon those who escaped. Jesus warns them: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” By fleeing Jerusalem, they would save their lives. But then they must flee false messiahs and false prophets who would lead them astray. These false christs and pseudoprophets would even do great signs and wonders, miracles and works of power, that would be so convincing that, if it were possible, even God’s elect would be deceived and fall away from true faith. But they are not to follow christs or pursue pseudoprohets. When He returns, it will be evident to all on the earth, as lighting lights up the entire sky, and as carrion birds are drawn to a carcass, all will be drawn to Christ when He returns.

Jesus’ words came true when the Roman army demolished Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. Many Christians fled across the Jordan River to a city by the name of Pella and saved their lives. And many false christs and false prophets arose in those days as well, leading many astray, and even bringing about the second Jewish revolt that brought about Judea’s end. We read in the histories how Christ’s words were fulfilled and how His Christians heeded His warning. But the question remains, “What does this have to do with us?” The answer is: “everything.” Jesus tells us of the coming destruction of the Jerusalem and the signs that would come before it as a prototype, or a microcosm, of the end of world. And what He wants us to take from it is this command: Flee.

As we await the world’s end and Christ’s return in glory to judge the living and dead, we are to flee abominations that bring desolation—idolatry of every kind. There is the outward, crass idolatry of prostrating ourselves before false gods, but much more of a threat is the subtle idolatry which takes place in the heart. How often are we tempted to fear the things of this life—wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, civil unrest, cultural deterioration—more than we fear God? How often are we tempted to love and value the things of this world—our homes, our possessions, our achievements, our prestige—more than God? How often are we tempted to trust in all these things more than we trust in God, so that as long as we have them, we imagine we have a God who is good and gracious to us, but if they are taken from us, imagine we have God who is evil and vindictive? Every form idolatry takes, externally and internally, we must flee. To where do we flee? The mountains, to the Rock of our Salvation, our Lord Jesus, for in Christ Jesus we have a good and gracious God in spite of our sin and whatever happens to us in this life.

Just as we flee sin and temptation through repentance and vigilance, we also flee false christs and false prophets. The world is full of false christs who promise a better life, perfect health, or better society in this life or the life of the world to come in we place our trust in them. The world is full of false prophets who claim to speak for the Lord, but their teachings are contrary to the word of Lord—Scripture. They look and sound like true preachers of God, but instead of repentance they preach peace to those who live in sin, strengthening them in their sin and leading them to hell. Others turn Christ’s gospel of free forgiveness and new life for those who repent into a list of works—religious and social—to do to accomplish one’s own salvation. Many of them even claim to see visions, hear God’s voice, and do great works of power, so that many people go after them. But you, if you would endure unto the end and be saved, are to flee from these. False christs and false prophets only lead souls astray with false words about God. They lead away from repentance of sin and trust in Christ and His merits alone. They lead away from the sure and certain Word of God to the uncertain words of men and the evolving emotions of the heart as if they were God’s word. Christ tells us all this beforehand, so that we who live in these last days of the world may flee all this and flee to Christ each day in repentance and faith, so that no matter when the end comes, we endure until then. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

This servant is in deep, over his head, in fact. The king wants to settle accounts with his servants and this man owes ten thousand talents. A talent is a lot of money. It’s six thousand denarii. You may remember from the parable of the workers in the vineyard that the original day laborers agreed to a denarius for a day’s work. A debt of one talent—six thousand days’ wages—would take just under sixteen and a half years of working seven days a week to repay. That’s for one talent. He owes the king ten thousand talents. If a talent is six thousand days’ wages, and he owes ten thousand talents, there is no way in the world he would be able to ever repay such a loan. The servant is brought to the king and when he doesn’t have the money, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. Payment must be made, even if it’s with this servant’s life, the life of his wife and children, and all his earthly possessions.

Confronted with this terrible judgment, the man does the only thing he can do. He falls before the king and cries out, “Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” He knows there is no way he can pay back this loan, not six thousand days’ wages ten thousand times over. The king knows this as well. But this is not a promise to repay the loan. It’s a plea for mercy.  His master is moved with compassion and has mercy on him. He releases the servant. No longer is he to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. His master forgives him the loan, the entire amount. He cancels the debt and absorbs enormous the loss himself. The servant, who had entered the king’s accounting burdened with an insurmountable debt. He leaves with a clean ledger, not owing part of the balance, not even a penny.

That servant leaves the king’s presence—much lighter on his feet than when he went in, —and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. This fellow servant owes him the equivalent of one hundred days’ wages. That’s no small sum. It wasn’t pocket change. But neither was anything like the ten thousand talents the first servant owed the king. He laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!” His fellow servant falls down at his debtor’s feet and pleads for mercy, even using the exact same words as the first servant had done before the king, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” But the first servant would not have patience. He had no mercy for this fellow servant. He can only think of what is owed to him. He threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. The master’s mercy had not penetrated this man’s heart. He could thankfully accept the master’s pity and the complete forgiveness of all his debt, but as soon as he stepped back out into the world, he took it for granted. He refused to show the same mercy to his fellow servant who owed him far less.

This man’s behavior greatly troubled his fellow servants, and they report it to the king. He is summoned back into the king’s presence, where the king judges him according to his deed. “‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” Of course, he should have done that very thing. He should have had compassion for his fellow servant. Rejoicing in the forgiveness of his own debt—an enormous, unpayable amount—and moved by his master’s pity and generosity, he should have forgiven his fellow servant’s debt. But he could not. He had hardened his heart against both the master’s compassion and his neighbor. The fate that he had initially been spared, he then suffers. The master, angry at this man’s utter lack of appreciation and love, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

Then comes the explanation. It is a parable, after all, by which Jesus wants to teach us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He says: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” The point of the parable is straightforward. You, dear Christian, member of God’s kingdom, are to forgive your neighbor from the heart. If you do not forgive your neighbor from the heart, God the Father will do you as the king did to the servant.

Why do you forgive your neighbor when they trespass against you? Because God your heavenly Father has forgiven you. And not only has your heavenly Father forgiven you, but He has forgiven you an insurmountable, unpayable debt. When Jesus teaches us the Our Father in Matthew 6[:12] He teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts” because our sins are debts in God’s sight. We owe for them. They must be paid for, one way or another. We owe for each and every sin we commit. If we were tally our wicked thoughts which we entertain, our sinful, self-serving words by which we excuse ourselves and judge others, and every deed of ours which is not fully in line with God’s law, we would find the debt calculator adding up fast. When we consider that the sinful impulses, desires, and thoughts that arise from our flesh—even if we don’t let them linger or entertain them—are also sin, we the leger fill up even faster. We should say with David in Psalm 38[:4], “My iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” Who among us can know all his or her sins? Who among us can know every thought, word, and deed by which we have offended God and merited for ourselves everlasting punishment. It is impossible for us to repay any of what we owe. Our good works can’t be placed against our mounting debt because our good works are owed already!

We can only do what the king’s servant initially does; plead God’s mercy. This is more than simply saying, “I’m sorry,” with the mouth. This is true repentance which acknowledges our sin, that we have offended God, and deserve punishment—both in this life and in eternity, and that we genuinely want to be rid of the sin. The final part of repentance is to believe that God will be merciful to us, not for our own sakes, but for Jesus’ sake. Jesus paid the debt which we are unable to pay. He suffered greatly and gravely for our many sins and transgressions against God’s law. And He paid for all sins, for as you know, debt can be cancelled on the ledger, but someone somewhere always must pay for it. God the Father delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. And He does just that, for before He dies, Christ says, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Atonement is made. Forgiveness is won, so that all who repent and believe in Him receive all His finished work of atonement. By faith in Christ’s death and merits, God the Father releases us from our debt, forgiving the entire, insurmountable, uncalculatable, unfathomable amount.

Those who receive this by faith are fully forgiven and will freely forgive those who trespass against them. Not without repentance though. Just as God does not forgive our sins until we repent, so we do not forgive our neighbor when they sin against us until they repent. Jesus says in Luke 17:3, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” God does not forgive our sins apart from repentance, nor does He expect us to forgive our brother when he sins against us without repentance. To forgive without rebuking them only baffles them, so that they ask, “What did I do?” To forgive without repentance on their part only emboldens them to continue sinning against you. Just as God is ready to forgive us as soon as we repent and wants to forgive us as soon as we repent, so we are ready to forgive our neighbor as soon as they repent. We want to forgive them because we want their repentance and restoration. If, when our neighbor sins against us and repents, we refuse, then we must do some soul searching. We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our forgiving of others when they sin against us and repent is a sign of consolation and assurance that we are truly forgiven, for when we joyfully receive God’s grace for Jesus’ sake, we gladly forgive our brother who sins against us and repents. If we do not, then we must examine ourselves to see whether we truly believe we are sinners in need of mercy each day.

Jesus is serious when He says, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” This is how seriously He wants you to acknowledge your sins and your sinfulness, so that you might also acknowledge His compassion, pity, and mercy, and live in them each day. God our Father forgives us daily and fully because we daily repent of our sins and believe the gospel that Christ has paid the debt we owe God, which is a debt far greater than ten thousand talents. Keeping this in mind each day, we forgive from the heart. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This has been the case since the Garden of Eden. The Lord gave His word to Adam and as long as Adam remained in God’s word, Adam was free to live as the creature God had created him to be. But when Adam and Eve consented to the serpent’s temptation to set aside God’s command and step away from His word, they became enslaved to sin, death, and the power of the devil, for whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. But God gave Adam and Eve another word—the gospel that Eve’s Seed would crush the seed of the serpent—and if they remained in that word, they would be free sin’s guilt, God’s wrath, eternal death, and the power of the devil. This was the beginning of the church, the assembly of those who looked for the coming of the Promised Seed, the Messiah, the Savior. Every generation of the church, as the body of believers, is to remain in God’s Word; His word of law which shows us His holy, eternal will, and how far we fall short of His will because of our sinfulness, and His gospel, which shows us how he has loved the world by giving His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16). Beginning with Adam and Eve, then their children, then their children’s child and down the line to today, believers have forgiveness, life, and salvation through the gospel, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.

But we also see throughout human history—and our own family histories—that not everyone abides in God’s word. Adam and Eve’s firstborn son, Cain, allowed his sinful desires to rule over him instead of the other way around. He murdered his brother Abel, then went out from the presence of the LORD (Gen 4:16), leaving God’s church and word to forge his own church based on his own word that came, not from God, but the imagination of his sinful heart. So Lamech, five generations from Cain, could take God’s promise to Cain, “Whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Gen 4:15), and warp it. “If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold” (Gen 4:24). This is what the sinful flesh does. It says it remains in God’s word, but mutilates it so that it’s no longer God’s word, but their own word under the cloak of God’s word. The sinful flesh inherited from Adam and Eve’s fall is not contend with God’s law, so it makes up its own laws. It is not content with the gospel that that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, so it injects its own works, merits, and superstitions into the gospel. It wants the law to be a ladder to heaven and the gospel to be what puts one on the ladder so that he can climb to heaven himself, with perhaps a boost every now and then. Since the time of Cain, men have sought to add abide in their own word while imagining they are abiding in God’s word, even calling themselves ‘church,’ and persecuting the faithful remnant who, by faith, abide in God’s word.

But God, in His mercy, does not forsake His disciples who remain in His word. He preserves a faithful remnant and at times. He sends reformers to call the people to forsake their own word and return to the pure fountain of Israel—God’s word. He does this in the antediluvian—the pre-flood—world through the faithful patriarchs, Seth, Enoch, and with Noah he cleanses His church once again through a remnant of eight souls aboard an ark. Later, it’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, and all the prophets, calling Israel back to God’s word. The first lesson we heard read this morning tells us of one such reformation of the church. The church had languished under the apostasy of king Ahaz. He had led the church astray with idolatry so that people turned their backs on the Lord. They abided in the word of Ahaz, not the word of the Lord. But his son, Hezekiah, In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them (2 Chron 29:3). He gathers the Levites whose names we heard read, and tells them, “Sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place” (2 Chron 29:5). These men cleanse God’s house and His worship. They cast out the idolatrous superstitions Ahaz had introduced, superstitions which could save and works that obscured faith in the Promised Seed. This debris is cast out. The divinely instituted articles for worship they sanctified and restored to their proper place, so that Israel could once again hear God’s word purely taught, and by believing in it and remain it that word, be set free from their sins and have everlasting life.

You see where this is going, and more examples in both the Old and New Testament could be given. So could examples from the history of the church in the New Testament period. Falsehood is introduced, sometimes by otherwise faithful teachers who speak too carelessly about God’s word, something through false brethren who have entrenched themselves within the church. Yet God raises up men who would reform the church by casting out the debris of man-made doctrines and bad practices which obscure—and in some cases, destroy entirely—God’s word of law and gospel. Today we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation, not out of a misguided sense of triumphalism, not as a cultural relic for people of Northern European descent, but to give thanks to God that once again, He gave His church men who would reform it. Luther was not the first reformer of the church by any stretch of the imagination. Even in the century before he posted the Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church in the small town of Wittenberg, men called for reform of the Roman church. They inveighed against a corrupt curia, a fornicating priesthood, and a political papacy. While Luther shared these concerns, he was given grace to see that these were merely symptoms of the real issue. Where there is bad practice there is bad doctrine. If the church is acting like the world, it is because the church has ceased to abide in God’s word and chosen to abide in its own word instead.

That word does what man’s word wants to do to God’s word in every generation: It makes the law to be a ladder to heaven and the gospel to be what puts one on the ladder so that he can climb to heaven himself, with perhaps a boost every now and then. Rome taught—and sadly, still teaches—that man is justified by faith and good works. For Rome, “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man” (CCC 1989). From this word comes a host of beliefs and practices that do not set men free from sin’s guilt, but keep them in doubt as to their salvation, since it is a combination of historical knowledge and good works. But this is not the gospel that was given to Adam and Eve, preached by the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The root of the Reformation—every single bit of it—is summarized in Paul’s words from today’s epistle: “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.” Man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ and his own works, as if faith in Christ is insufficient. Man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ and works of any law—mosaic law, moral law, or church law. God raised up the Reformer to call the church back to this word of God, that we are justified, not by works of law, but faith in Christ alone. Being justified by faith alone means that it is faith alone that apprehends Christ’s merits. Faith alone means that our sanctification, inner renewal, and good works don’t contribute to our justification. God forgives our sins freely for Jesus’ sake and imputes His perfect righteousness to us, so that we should no doubt that our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

What does this to good works? We are justified by faith alone, but faith is never alone. Love for others, good works, self-control, and the like, are the fruits which true faith produces. Faith produces good works of love because faith receives all that God promises in the gospel. Faith rejoices in the forgiveness of sins and wants avoid sinning. Faith rejoices in Christ’s work done out of love and so wants to do good works out of love for one’s neighbor. Faith rejoices to receive God the Holy Spirit and the new identity as a son of God, so that the old life of sin might daily be put away and a new life of purity and righteousness put on; not to earn God’s favor, but because we have received God’s favor for Jesus’ sake by faith. This is the truth that sets us free from the guilt of sin because it forgives sins to all who are truly penitent. It is the truth that sets us free from the slavery to doubt that we have done enough to merit everlasting life by our good works, because it gives us the complete righteousness of Jesus as our own by faith. This is the word of Jesus, the word in which His true disciples will abide and persevere. There will always be the temptation to abandon this word for our own, or the world’s word, rather than abide in it. There will always the false church in this life, tempting many with a false Christianity that appeals to the flesh’s desire for self-righteousness. By God’s grace, those who would be disciples of the Lord Jesus will avoid both temptations, and abide, remain, and persevere unto the end in His Word, the only word that sets us free from sin. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet during Holy Week. The chief priests and some pharisees have confronted Jesus about His authority to teach. Since this is the last conversation that Christ will have with these men, He doesn’t hold back. Even at this last hour, Jesus hammers at their hard hearts so that some of them might turn from their spiritual pride, repent, and be saved. He tells them three parables, telling them bluntly after the second, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matt 21:43). Their obstinate unbelief and their continual rejection of repentance and its fruits will lead only to judgment. The kingdom of God will be taken from the Jews and given to another nation, one that believes Jesus is the Christ, repents of its sins, and bears the fruits of repentance. The chief priests and pharisees are perceptive enough to know Jesus speaks of them. They want to seize Him right then and there but cannot because of the multitudes in the temple for Passover, multitudes that took Jesus for a prophet.

Having just told them that the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to another nation, He tells the parable we hear today. The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. The marriage is the incarnation of the Son of God. God the Son unites with human flesh, becoming fully human, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, so that He can take a bride for Himself, the church. He washes His bride with water and His word, cleansing her of every sin, so that all who are members of His church are holy and without blemish in His sight. All that is His—His innocence, righteousness, and blessedness—He shares with His bride, because He gives Himself fully to her, so that the church says of Christ, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song 6:3). This is the marriage banquet to which God called Israel through Moses and the prophets. The ceremonies Moses gave Israel and the sermons the prophets preached all pointed to this marriage which God the Father would one day bring about. God the Father sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. It wasn’t that God wasn’t sincere in His invitation or that He harbored some secret will that they not enjoy the banquet. Israel was unwilling. So, God sent His servants again, saying, “Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.’” God’s call went out, promising Israel free grace, every mercy, and eternal life. They didn’t have to provide anything themselves.

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. Many willfully rejected the promise of the gospel because they preferred earthly possessions. Others preferred earthly business to partaking in the wedding banquet prepared for God’s Son. They received the call with apathy. The rest received it with acrimony. They seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. These Israelites hated God and the wedding banquet for His Son so much that they treated the prophets with contempt, even to the point of murdering them so that they wouldn’t have to listen to the gospel call anymore. Why would anyone do such a thing? Who turns down an invitation to a banquet at which all things are freely given and generously provided? Israel rejected the invitation because it a call to acknowledge one’s sins, to sincerely repent of them, and receive forgiveness and righteousness as a gift. But Israel didn’t want to be given those things. Paul says in Romans 9:31-32, “Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.  Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.” Many in Israel were Epicureans and atheists, living only for earthly pleasure. Many more sought the kingdom of heaven and true righteousness, but they missed both because they the kingdom of God and true righteousness aren’t attainable by works of the law. They are attainable only by coming to the wedding banquet. Only at the wedding banquet would they receive all that God had promised them. But they rejected the call and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life. The king’s response to their rejection was fury. He sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city, which is precisely what happened nearly forty years after Jesus spoke this parable to the Jews, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem and razed it, and everyone in it, to the ground. The wedding was ready, but those who were invited were not worthy by their rejection.

God then told His servants, “Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.” God sent not only prophets, but apostles as well. Once the Jews considered themselves unworthy of everlasting life and rejected the call to the wedding feast—the gospel—the apostles invited the gentiles. And that call goes on this very day. God’s servants continue to invite all people to come to the wedding banquet. That includes the Jews. Paul tells the Roman Christians that even as there was a remnant of true believers during the days of Elijah, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Rom 11:5). In every age there are Jews who hear the gospel, believe it, and find eternal life through faith in Christ. The call includes those whom the world thinks of as good but it also includes those whom the world thinks of as bad. Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. St. Paul says something similar to the Corinthians, and his words are true in every age, “You see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Cor 1:26).  God the Father wants His banquet hall full with those who accept His invitation, who are called by the gospel, repent of their sins, and trust in God’s mercy for Jesus’ sake.

But it’s not enough to be in the building, the banquet hall, that is. When the king comes to see the guests, he sees a man who isn’t wearing the wedding garment that he had been provided upon entry. He had taken it off once he was admitted and changed back into his own clothes. This is the person who enters the Church and initially enjoys Christ’s blessings in true faith, but then willfully goes back to His sins. The wedding garment is Christ. Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To put on Christ is to put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). The wedding garment is Christ. Having put on Christ, we know God’s will and we want to live in it. But this man has entered the wedding banquet and then put off Christ and put on the old sinful nature instead by living according the passions and desires of the sinful flesh instead of fight against them. The one, who outwardly is part of the church but inwardly lives for himself and his own desires, will, on the Last Day, be bound foot and hand and cast into the outer darkness of Hell where there is eternal weeping in sorrow and the gnashing of teeth in regret.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Israel imagined that since they had been called, they were chosen no matter how they responded to the gospel. Many in the visible church think the same. They imagine that they can make light of the gospel call—treating it as a small or insignificant thing—and go their own way of relishing in the possessions, business, or self-righteousness. The chosen—the elect of God—are those who not only hear the call, but heed it, and not only once, but daily, and persevere in faith unto the end. St. Peter tells us, “Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure” (2 Ptr 1:10). We make our calling and election sure—not to God but to ourselves—by hearing God’s Word as often as we’re able since God calls us to faith through His Word. We make our election sure by adhering to God’s word in faith, praying diligently, abiding in God’s goodness, and faithfully using the gifts we have received from Him (FC SD XI.21). Or, to put it another way, we make our calling and election sure by daily wearing the garment God has given us—Christ and His righteousness. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Rom 13:14). This is why Paul tells us in today’s appointed epistle, “Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming—or making good use of—the time. The days in which we live are evil because they are full of temptations to put off Christ and put on our sinful desires instead. In these evil days we walk circumspectly, we are careful as to how we live, since we “understand what the will of the Lord is.” We don’t have to search for it. Christ has told us in the parable. Come to the wedding and wear the wedding garment, so that we are meditating on God’s word and speaking it to one another, so that we are giving thanks to God for the forgiveness and righteousness He gives, so that we are submitting to one another, serving one another in love. Many are called, but few are chosen. Make your calling and election sure by attending the wedding banquet in the garment God has given you—Christ Jesus and His perfect righteousness. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?” It’s easier to tell someone their sins are forgiven them than it is to tell them to get up and walk. If any of us told a paralytic to arise and walk it would become immediately evident that we have no ability or authority to tell the paralyzed to walk. It’s much easier to tell someone “Your sins are forgiven you” because, unlike paralysis, there’s no physical demonstration whether you’ve actually forgiven them their sins. We can forgive our neighbor when they sin directly against us because we are the wronged party. Jesus tells us in Luke 17:3-4, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” But no man one has the authority to forgive sins committed against other people and especially sins against God. This is why, after forgiving the paralytic, some of the scribes present said within themselves, “This man blasphemes!” St. Mark adds that the scribes also said in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). While can forgive the sins of the one who sins against us and repents, no man has the ability or authority to forgive the sins of others as Jesus does with the paralytic.

What the scribes fail to recognize—or rather, refuse to recognize—is that that Jesus is not like other men. He is man, born of Mary. But He is also true God, the eternal Son of God the Father, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person (Heb 1:3). As the eternal Son of God, He is fully God with all power and prerogatives of His Father, which includes the ability and authority to forgive sins of all who hate their sins, repent them, and want to be rid of them. God the Son takes on human flesh and becomes like us in every way except sin, and yet remains God. This is why, when these men bring this paralytic to Him, Jesus says to him, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” Anyone with eyes could see that the man sought healing from paralysis. But Jesus, who knew what was in man (John 2:25), sees the paralytic’s heart. He sees the man’s repentance, that he knows his sins, is burdened by them, and wants to be free of them. So his friends take him to Jesus and he hears words that are far sweeter than any physical healing: “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” In one sentence Jesus bestows three great blessings on the man. He calls him Son. Jesus saw the faith of the man, that he believed Jesus was the Christ and that Jesus could unburden his conscience. Jesus tells the paralytic that he is a son God because he believes in Jesus and trusts Him for mercy. Jesus tells him, “Be of good cheer.” Jesus tells him to take heart and rejoice. Why? Because he has a gracious God in Jesus, who does not delight in the death of sinners, but that they turn from their sins and live. Jesus tells him, “Your sins are forgiven you.” They are removed as far as the east is from the west. They are drowned in the depths of the sea of God’s mercy. They are blotted out as a thick cloud, and God remembers them no more.

God alone can forgive sins like this. If Jesus were a mere man, then He would blaspheme. But Jesus isn’t a mere man. He turns to the scribes and puts the question to them, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” — then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’” He does the more difficult—the impossible—to show them that He has authority on earth to forgive sins. It is as if He said, “Since you cannot believe I can forgive men their sins with My word, I will heal this man with My word. If My word can heal him instantaneously, then you have no reason to disbelieve that My word forgives him all his sins.” And it was so. He arose and departed to his house. The paralytic rises to new life, physically and spiritually. He rises on new legs and firm feet. The Shulamite could have been describing this man when she said in Song of Solomon 5:15, “His legs are pillars of marble Set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, Excellent as the cedars.” From now on walks on new legs, strong and powerful. From now he walks with a bright and lively countenance, his heart rejoicing that his sins are no more and that He is a new creation in God’s sight. This forgiveness and the new life it brings can only be given by God, which is why Jesus gives it to the penitent paralytic: He is God who forgives sins and raises to new life.

Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. God first gave this power to man by becoming man in the incarnation. But the multitude marvels and glorifies God for giving such power to men, not just the man Jesus of Nazareth. By becoming man, God the Son shares this authority with His human nature. But He is rich in mercy and gave this authority to others as well. He promises Peter and the eleven, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt 16:19). He tells them all again in Matthew 18:18, “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.” Then on the evening of His resurrection from the dead, He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22-23). Those men then went into the world, preaching the gospel and forgiving the sins of all who were truly penitent. By Christ’s authority they spoke that same absolving word as Jesus had spoken to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.” And those men appointed other men in cities to do the same work and speak the same word to all who were truly penitent, believed in Jesus for mercy, and intended to order their lives according to God’s commandments.

God still calls men into His ministry to do that very same thing; to bind the sins of the impenitent on them so that they see their lost condition and repent, and to forgive the sins of the penitent so that those sins are removed from them. Christ’s ministers are men who, of themselves, have no authority to forgive sins. But they are men whom Christ has called and placed into His office, His ministry, His service, and given such power to them. Through His minister’s absolution, Christ calls all who repent, Son, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” as St. Paul writes in Galatians 3:26. As God’s adopted sons, you have “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away” (1 Ptr 1:4). Through His minister’s absolution, Christ bids you be of good cheer and to take heart, because you have a gracious God for Jesus’ sake, who doesn’t want your death but wants you to live eternally with Him. Through His minister’s absolution, Christ says to you, “Your sins are forgiven you.” Christ removes them as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12). They are drowned in the depths of the sea of God’s mercy (Mic 7:19) and they are blotted out (Is 44:22). The minister speaks in the stead and by the command of Christ, so His absolution is to be heard as if it were from Christ Himself. For in that absolution Christ says to you “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:2).

Through the minister’s absolution, Christ says to you, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” As the paralytic rose on new legs as pillars of marble and feet of fine gold, so you go forth from this place with new legs and feet to walk in the newness of life. This new life, which Christ began in you when He rebirthed you in baptism, He increases in you so that you  continually put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Paul gives several examples of what that looks like; putting away lying and in its place speaking truth with our neighbors; not sinning in our anger but committing it to the Lord who judges righteously; and putting away stealing and pursuing industriousness instead, so that we may help others. These are illustrations of what this new life of true righteousness and holiness looks like. It means putting off sin and pursuing its opposite virtue, in thought, in word, and in deed. This is what it means that Christ tells us—as He told the paralytic—“Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Arise to new life by faith in His absolving word. Take up your bed, the former sins, no longer lying in them, and go to your house, the vocations to which God has called you. Do this as a son of God, with a bright and lively countenance and your heart rejoicing that your sins are no more and that you are a new creation in God’s sight. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today’s gospel lesson takes us to Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus had just silenced a group of Sadducees who tried to trip Him up. When the Pharisees heard this, they move in try the same. One of them, a lawyer, a man knowledgeable about the Law of Moses, tests Jesus. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Of the hundreds of commands that the Lord gave Israel in the books of Moses, which one is the great one, the chief one, the most important one? Jesus answers, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Love for God and love for neighbor, these are chief commandments. Everything God commanded at Sinai, every law, statute, and ordinance given through Moses, instructed Israel on how they were to love God and how they were to love their neighbor. This is what the prophets preached as well. Through them God threatened to punish Israel because they hadn’t loved God with all their heart, soul, and mind, nor had they loved their neighbor as they loved themselves. The prophets threated punishment and held out the promise of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and new life for those who truly repented so that they could order their lives according to God’s commandments. God commanded Israel to fear, love, and trust in Him above all things and He commanded Israel to love their neighbors as themselves.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day heard God’s commandments and thought they did them pretty well. They assumed they were loving God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and their neighbors as themselves. They could say, “Of course, I love God with everything that’s in me. God commanded us to bind His word on our hands and have them as frontlets between our eyes (Deut 6:8), and I do that. I wear God’s word on my hand and head as He commanded. God commanded us to put tassels on the hem of our garments and look at the size of my tassels! God commanded us to pray to Him, and everyone can see that I pray for long periods of time. God commanded us to tithe our animals, so I go above and beyond. I tithe from the mint and anise and cumin in my kitchen (Matt 23:23). They thought that setting their hearts, souls, and minds on the law and how to fulfill each command in an over-the-top way, was how they loved the Lord their God with all the heart, soul, and mind. In reality, their laser-like focus on the outward ceremonies of the law was really a love for their own righteousness Their hearts, souls, and minds weren’t directed toward God. They were directed towards showing others—and themselves—how righteous they could be. When it came to love for their neighbor, they couldn’t hide their self-righteousness to the same extent, but had to ask Jesus on another occasion, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29), because they understood that they didn’t love everybody they encountered as they loved themselves. Yet they remained confident in their own righteousness and excelled at all God had commanded in His law.

But the law—which is summarized in the command “love”—is first and foremost a matter of the heart. The Pharisees worked strenuously on the outside but neglected the inside. They mistook the outward performance of the law for true love of God. What does it mean to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind? It means to cling to Him alone in good days and in bad, in health and illness, in happiness and suffering. It means to expect only good things from God, and trust that everything we receive from Him is truly good, even if it seems evil and troublesome. It means to take refuge in Him alone in every adversity, so that if we know we have a good and gracious God, then we have all we need in this life. To love God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind is to set God before one’s eyes in this faith and to set His will before our eyes so that we walk in His ways. The second commandment is like it. What does it mean to love your neighbor as you love yourself? It means wanting good for them in this life and helping them toward those good things as you’re able. It means being patient and kind, being humble and gentle with others. It means being merciful, not just in action, but from the heart. The Pharisees only saw the law as a tool for sharpening their self-righteousness. They could not let the law do what the law was intended to do: show them their inability to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and their neighbor as themselves.

But for as much thought and focus as the Pharisees had given the law, Jesus asks them a question that shows them how little attention they’ve given to the gospel. He asks them what they think about the Christ—Greek for ‘Messiah.’ “Whose Son is He?” He asks. They answer partially correct. He’s the son of David. But Jeus wants to get them to a better understanding. “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’?  If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” David said in the Spirit, that is, by divine inspiration, that the LORD—God—said to his Lord, the Messiah, that he will sit at God’s right hand till He makes His enemies His footstool. How can the Christ be David’s son and David’s Lord, the one to whom David the king would bow? David’s son would have to also be God’s Son, which is what David confesses in the Spirit. It’s also precisely what Jesus had told the Pharisees about who He was. The crowds on Palm Sunday had confessed Jesus to be the Son of David, the Messiah. Jesus accepted their praises. Jesus had told the Pharisees Himself that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). Not only does David prophesy in the Spirit that his Son would also be his Lord—God’s Son—but that his Lord would reign over His enemies, putting them under His feet. All who rejected Him, all who refused His teaching, would be put under His feet. The Pharisees seem to catch Jesus’ drift, so they make no reply.

The Pharisees could not accept Jesus’ teaching because that would mean they were wrong about the law. They would have to confess that they did not love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, or their neighbors as themselves. They would have to admit that they were not—in God’s eyes—good, holy, and righteous, but that they, like the Tax Collectors and notorious sinners, fell short of God’s law. They would have to confess that Jesus is David’s son and David’s Lord, God Himself in human flesh, and repent of their sin and unworthiness. This they refused to do. They preferred the illusion of their own righteousness and blamelessness to Christ’s righteousness and blamelessness which He freely offered to all who repent of their sins and look to Him for mercy. David’s son and David’s Lord had come to earn full forgiveness for their sins and give out that forgiveness to all who confessed their sin—that they do not love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind, or their neighbor as themselves. The Pharisees wanted to be righteous by their outward acts. Jesus wants to declare sinners righteous, covering them with His innocence, righteousness, and blessedness, which not only forgives sins but gives a new heart and the Holy Spirit. When the heart apprehends Christ as its only Savior and Mediator with God, it finds rests. The heart begins to truly love God. The heart covered with Christ’s righteousness and made new by the Holy Spirit also begins to observe the law—not only outwardly worshiping, praying, and hearing God’s word, not only the outward actions of love for one’s neighbor. The heart made new by faith in Christ sees that its doing of the law isn’t perfect. Our love for God and neighbor will not be perfect in this life because we still have the sinful flesh. But the heart made new by faith in Christ knows that it pleases God because it believes in Christ as Savior.

Look how St. Paul describes those who are justified by faith in today’s epistle: “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The testimony of Christ—that He is David’s son and David’s Lord, true man and true God—is confirmed in believers as God daily and richly forgives our sins and raises us up to new life in His Holy Spirit, new life in which we grow in love for God and neighbor each day. We eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus—His return in glory to judge the living and the dead—because on that day He will confirm us as blameless by raising us from the dead in glorified bodies, without the taint of sin, so that what we have now by faith—Christ’s innocence, righteousness, and blessedness—will be ours to see and experience for eternity. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus dines at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were very strict about the observation of the ceremonial law, the law that dictated how they were to live as people set apart from the Gentiles. Observing the Sabbath was part of that ceremonial law because it dictated when and how Israel was to worship. They were to rest from physical labor on the seventh day of the week so that they might devote themselves to hearing God’s word and reflecting on it. This ruler of the Pharisees—no doubt a man held in high esteem among the Pharisees—invited Jesus and others to dine at his home. Everyone reclining at the table with Jesus watched Him closely because He was not, according to their standards, as strict about observing the Sabbath. Perhaps they had heard what Jesus did on another Sabbath while He was teaching in a synagogue. There was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up (Luke 13:11). Jesus called the woman to Him and said, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” He laid His hands on her and immediately she straightened and began to glorify God. The ruler of the synagogue becomes indignant. He even tells Jesus, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day” (Lk 13:14). Jesus castigates the head of the synagogue, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound — think of it — for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”

This is why this group of men reclining at table with Jesus on this particular Sabbath watch Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy—edema. Knowing that everyone is watching Him closely, Jesus answers their thoughts. He asks them, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” “Do you consider it work to heal a man on this day? Do you think it worthy of a man of God to help His neighbor in need if He has the ability, even if the need occurs on the day of rest?” They remain silent. Of course they think it’s work. Of course healing a man is unlawful in their estimation. So heals the man. He restores his health, saves the man’s life, and then sends him back to the life to which he had been called. Then He defends Him to the Pharisees. “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Once again, they remain silent. Every one of them would do precisely that. If their animal, their farm implement, fell into a ditch or pit on the Sabbath, they would work with all their might to get it out. If the Sabbath law yields to one’s animal, how much more ought it to yield to their fellowman? And that was the problem. The Pharisees loved the ceremonial law because ceremony is all outward observance. But the law also says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). Love is first and foremost of matter of the heart. If you love your neighbor you help your neighbor in their need as you’re able to help. If these men had truly loved their neighbor—in this case, the man with dropsy—they would have brought him to Jesus and asked Jesus to heal him. But they valued the ceremonial law as more important than the law of love. Jesus shows them the opposite is true.

By healing this man, and so many others, on the Sabbath, Jesus shows how He fulfills the Sabbath. God sanctified the seventh day—Saturday—and commanded Israel to do the same. How is anything sanctified? St. Paul, a former Pharisee, tells Timothy, “ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4-5). Israel was to rest from all work on the Sabbath so they could hear God’s Word, meditate on it, apply it to themselves, and devote themselves to prayer. The rest God commanded was not the purpose. They were to rest from work so that they focus on God’s word. They were rest from work so that God could work in them through His Word. And here is Jesus, God’s Word in human flesh, come to bring true rest to souls. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30). The Sabbath was a sign that taught Israel what to look for in the ministry of Jesus.

That’s why the Sabbath law is no longer in force. It is part of the ceremonial law that was a prefiguration of Christ’s work. Paul tells the Colossians, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance—literally, the body—is of Christ” (Col 2:16-17). Dietary and clothing laws, laws for public and private worship, all these were given to Israel to set them apart from the other nations so that they might be an incubator for the world’s Messiah. They were also given to Israel to teach them about the person and work of the Messiah. The Sabbath prefigures the rest Jesus brings to the conscience burdened by sin, because His gospel forgives all sins and detaches them from the sinner. The Sabbath prefigures His gospel in that it bid Israel to leave aside all work and meditate on God’s Word. Jesus bids us leave behind our works with which we try to earn God’s favor and the forgiveness of our sins, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law (Gal 2:16). Christ is risen from the dead in the brightness of His divine glory and melted the shadows established through Moses which pointed to Him. Those who insist on maintaining the Sabbath, whether Jew or Judaizing Christian, are like those who prefer a photograph of their loved one to their love one’s actual presence with them.

Jesus unburdens us from the ceremonial law given to Israel, the ceremonial which pointed to Him. He still wants us to set aside a day to hear His Word, mediate on it, apply it to ourselves, and devote ourselves to prayer. The apostles chose Sunday for that purpose, as a sign against the legalists who demand observe of the ceremonial law, and as a confession that we worship the One who rose from the grave on the first day of the week. Unburdening us from the ceremonial law, and unburdening us from the guilt of our sins, He sends us forth with His love so that we might love our neighbors as ourselves. Love isn’t ceremonial. Love takes on outward manifestations and actions, but love is a matter first and foremost of the heart. By forgiving us our sins and cleansing our consciences, Jesus gives us new hearts with new movements and motivations. Believing the gospel, we begin to love God more and more. We begin to love our neighbors as ourselves, so that we want their good, that we look our for their interests in the same way we look after our own interests. This law, the law of love which Christ writes on our hearts, knows no limit. It isn’t confined to certain days of the week or seasons of the year. Love sees the neighbor and says, “How can I help?” “What does this person truly need?” St. Paul writes in Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” This also means that we must open to receiving charity of others. If we refuse other’s help and loving actions, then we deny them opportunities for Christian charity.

Which brings us to second part of today’s gospel lesson. Jesus teaches the Pharisees humility, which is part of faith toward God and love toward one’s neighbors. The Pharisees sought the most honorable seats at the table. But this is not the way of love. This is the way of vainglory, which only serves one’s ego. Paul says in Romans 12:3 that one should not think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. He says elsewhere, “In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil 2:3). This doesn’t mean we think poorly of ourselves or depreciate ourselves. It means we think of ourselves as God thinks of us in the gospel. As we humble ourselves before God by daily repentance and reliance upon His grace, He says, to us, “Friend, go up higher.” He exalts us with His gifts and seats us at His table as sons and daughters of God because we believe in His only-begotten Son. As dear children of God, we aren’t worried about our honor or glory. We have the ultimate honor anyone could desire and no one earth can give: the honor of being sons and daughters of God through Holy Baptism. Acknowledging that brings joy. It also brings humility because we know we are undeserving of such honor. In that joyful humility that rejoices in the Sabbath rest God gives our souls, we can walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ as Paul bids us in the epistle, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes understanding guard your hears and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

The widow at Nain surely suffered greatly. When Jesus came near the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. She had already buried her husband. Being a widow, she had placed all her hope in her son to provide for her in her age. Now her son has died, and she goes to bury him. The pangs of death surround her. The Lord has taken away the husband whom He had given her. He has taken away the son whom the Lord had given her, and with his death, the Lord has taken her financial security from her. The widow at Nain reminds us that the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. None of us are strangers to this. The Lord gives health and takes health when He allows illness and disease to attack our bodies and minds. The Lord gives wealth and possessions yet takes them through the changes and chances of life which are beyond our control. Moses says in Deuteronomy 8:18, “It is He who gives you power to get wealth,” the ability to work. Yet He also takes that ability away through disease, an accident, or the deterioration of age. The Lord gives us the good things of this life to enjoy but takes them away, sometimes as quickly as He gave them. And of course, there is death, the bitterest way our loved ones are taken from us. Like the widow at Nain, the very midst of life we are in death.

When hardships hit, when suffering strikes, and when afflictions arise, our sinful flesh has two responses. The first is to make the hardship, suffering, and affliction go away, and if we can’t get rid of it, then the flesh does everything in its power to dull the pain. The second response is to doubt God’s goodness. Christ tells us our heavenly Father gives good things to those who ask Him (Matt 7:11), yet when God takes away those good things that He has given us, the flesh believes that God is not good. He’s evil and He hates us. St. Paul says, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be’ (Rom 8:7). This is always true, but it is especially true in trials and hardships. Philip Melanchthon wrote, “The flesh distrusts God, trusts in present things, seeks human aid in calamities, even contrary to God’s will, flees from afflictions, which it ought to bear because of God’s commands, doubts concerning God’s mercy, etc.” (Ap V:49). That strikes close to home. When calamities strike, we distrust God and trust in present things instead—things of this life. We seek human aid in calamities—both people and substances—rather than God’s aid, even though God tells rely on Him in every trouble. God is the one who lays afflictions on us. The psalmist says in Psalm 66:11, “You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs.” When we try to flee from the afflictions God lays on us, we sin, because it is God’s will that bear up under them in patient endurance which trusts in His promised mercy. The sinful flesh, however, is incapable of this, since it, by nature, distrusts God and doubts concerning His mercy.

Just as our flesh cannot raise itself from the dead, it cannot raise itself to faith. Jesus alone, working through His word, does both. Jesus comes to this suffering widow. He has compassion on her in her suffering. He tells her, “Do not weep,” not as if giving a command but as offering comfort. By His compassion Jesus wants to silence the sinful flesh’s distrust of Him. He teaches her—and all who will believe—that He is very compassionate and merciful (Jam 5:11). He does not want her, or anyone, to doubt His mercy, to disbelief His compassion for sinners. His compassion so moves Him that He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Not only is the Lord gracious and compassionate. He is powerful, mighty, and able to resurrect this young man to new life. By presenting the young man to his mother, Jesus shows her His mercy, creating faith in her heart which trusts His promised mercy. Jesus teaches us that He is with us in our sufferings. Though we are hard pressed on every side, though we are perplexed, or persecuted, He will deliver us at the time that He knows is best for us. If He allows us to be struck down by disease, misfortune, even death, He will deliver us from every evil. In fact, sometimes it is by taking us out of this life that He delivers us from every evil. He teaches us this so that we do not despair of His mercy in our afflictions, sufferings, and death, but so that we mighty love Him, pray to Him, expect aid from Him, and obey Him even in our afflictions.

Since the sinful flesh can’t do this of its own power—and wouldn’t do this if it had the power—Christ does for us what we are unable to do for ourselves. He raises us from the dead. St. Paul writes: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Eph 2:1-3). We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were once sons of disobedience, living according to our flesh’s lusts and the desires of our minds. We were as spiritually dead as the young man in the box at Nain. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:4-7). By the Law He shows us our sinful nature and inability to rise. By the gospel He raises us to new life, forgiving us our sins and giving us new hearts in which the Holy Spirit dwells so that He may bear His fruit.

And part of the new life we now live by faith in the gospel is that we suffer the right way, not the way flesh’s way. The flesh looks to God in suffering and distrusts Him and curses Him. The new man says with the Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). The flesh looks for human comforts in the midst of sufferings. The new man says with the Psalmist, “This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life” (Ps 119:50). Whatever affliction God sends, no matter how difficult it may be or how different from anyone else’s, God promises help, aid, and mercy to all who come to Him humbly seeking Him. The flesh throws up its hands and thinks it will die in hardship. The new man says with the Psalmist, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction” (Ps 119:92). The flesh cannot endure hardship with joy. The new man can because his new heart is animated by the Holy Spirit. The flesh grouses about every trial and tribulation. The new man says with St. Paul, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). Knowing that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away—and that He gives and takes away for our eternal good, we can endure every hardship in patience and trust until He delivers us from them. Whether God gives or takes, we know how to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need as Paul says. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:12-13).

This is why Paul tells the Corinthians in today’s epistle, “do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” Don’t lose heart when hardships hit, when suffering strikes, and when afflictions arise. But pray with St. Paul to be strengthened with might through Christ’s Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. That is a pray God loves to hear, because He inspired Paul to pray it for the Corinthians and for all Christians. Christ promises that God the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, and the Holy Spirit is given to strength you in the inner man—the new man. How is the inner man strengthened? By the gospel. By faith Christ dwells in our hearts so that we may daily grow in our comprehension of His love for us. We grow in our understanding of His love as He richly and daily forgives all our sins. We grow in our comprehension of His love as He strengthens us to endure every hardship, bear up under every trial, and suffer all things in patient trust. We grow in comprehension of the love of Christ which passes knowledge as we believe more and more that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away not out of spite, or punishment, or hatred for us, but that all He does is for our eternal good, that we may remain steadfast in faith, persevere till the end, and be saved. This is how we suffer. This is how we die. By Christ’s strength and love. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon is riches, money, and wealth of all kinds. Mammon is just part of life. It takes money to live. Jesus doesn’t condemn possessing money and riches. The patriarchs were wealthy men. So was King David. Christ himself used money in his earthly life. He even had a money box that Judas was in charge of. Having money, wealth, and riches isn’t sinful in itself. David says in Psalm 62:10, “ If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them.” Solomon writes in Proverbs 11:28, “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.” And St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” The entirety of Scripture teaches this: God gives wealth and riches us. He tells Israel in Deuteronomy 8:18, “It is He who gives you power to get wealth.” It is serving mammon that is sinful. We serve mammon by setting our hearts on it, pursuing it, and overworking ourselves for it. We serve mammon by trusting that if we have it, then we have all good things and everything we need.

If we begin serving mammon—thinking that with enough wealth we’ll be safe and secure—we usually don’t realize it precisely because we try to serve two masters. We may hear Jesus’ words about loving and being loyal to the one and hating and despising the other and think that that is how we tell if we’re serving mammon. “I don’t hate God, therefore I’m not serving mammon.” But hate in the Scriptures doesn’t always mean an absolute hatred of someone or something. More often than not it means thinking less of someone or something. Jesus says in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Jesus doesn’t want us to actively hate our family. He put us in our families and commanded children, “Honor your father and your mother.” Jesus warns us against love and loyalty for family taking priority over love and loyalty to Him and His Word. It’s the same here. If we serve mammon—thinking that with enough wealth we’ll be safe and secure and ordering our life and thoughts around obtaining mammon—we prioritize riches and our pursuit of them, and demote God, thinking less of His promise to provide daily bread. This is what trusting in riches and setting our hearts on them looks like. This is what makes serving mammon such a subtle temptation. It’s not like bowing down before an idol of silver or goad. It’s daily living of life in which we use mammon that mammon calls out to us to serve it, to set our hearts on it and believe its false promise that with enough of it we’ll be safe and secure.

Jesus points us to the chief way we serve mammon: Worry. Isn’t that what we do as we exchange our riches for goods and services? We worry if there will be enough. We worry about the cost of things. We worry that things cost a lot more than they used to and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. If we have money in the stock market we see the daily up and down and worry about whether or not we’ll outlive our retirement savings. The pandemic revealed just much people worry about mammon and set their hearts on it. People panicked at the sigh of half-empty shelves and bought things they didn’t need. The most bizarre example of people setting their hearts on mammon was the hording of toilet paper. That was driven by sheer worry for tomorrow. Comparatively, Jesus’ examples of “What you will eat or what you will drink . . . and what you will put on” may seem elementary to twenty-first century disciples. After all, we have food in our pantries and freezers—typically enough to live on for quite some time. We have clothing in our closets. So we don’t worry about these. But look closer at why you don’t worry about what you’ll eat or drink tomorrow and why you don’t worry about what you’re put on. Is it because you trust your Father in heaven will give you all things as He’s promised or because your panty and closet are already full? Even in the twenty-first century first world, for all we have, we are still tempted to serve mammon, thinking that if we have enough of it, we’ll be safe and secure no matter what comes tomorrow.

The First Commandment is “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Dr. Luther explained that this means, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” That is precisely what Christ is inviting us to do in today’s Gospel lesson. He knows how mammon tempts us to fear, love, and trust in it instead of our Father in heaven. He first warns us against making an idol out of any earthly wealth when He says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” But then He gently chides us with the examples of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. The birds of the air are such a great example! They don’t sit in their nests and wait for God to rain down insects and seeds on them. They fly about, working for their daily bread, gathering it for themselves and their young. And the Lord provides for them. Like the birds of the air, God gives us our daily bread through our work and labor and through the work and labor of others. And while we should sow, reap, and gather into barns, we do so trusting that through these means God is providing daily bread for us. The birds teach us about our bellies. The lilies of the field teach us about our bodies. Look how God clothes them! There is nothing so beautiful in nature as a blooming flower, tree, or vine. The drought has taught us this, hasn’t it? If the heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air each day, and clothes the flowers of the fields and ditches, won’t He feed and clothe you? You are, after all, much more valuable to your heavenly Father than birds or flowers. He made these  for you and your enjoyment. He made them as illustrations and examples of His provision for you.

God will provide daily bread. He uses the ordinary means of our work, our savings, and a whole economic system. And in any of that should bend, break, or shatter entirely, God will use extraordinary means to provide daily bread. He rained down Manna on the  children of Israel six days a week for forty years. The Lord commanded ravens bring bread to Elijah during the drought. He provided oil for the widow and her son when they had only enough for their last meal. He fed multitudes in the wilderness with only a few loaves and small fish. He provided His and Peter’s temple tax in the mouth of a fish. One of God’s means that should never become extraordinary though is Christians. He even provides daily bread for us through the generosity of others. St. Paul says at the end of today’s Epistle lesson, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” So it is that we, as children of the heavenly Father and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ are means through we He provides daily bread to others in need. There is no reason to worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear, and not because our pantries and closets are already full. That’s how the unbelieving Gentiles think, and in their thinking they serve mammon. But you who are baptized children of God, “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Instead of worrying about the things of this world and whether or not there will be enough of those things for tomorrow, Jesus redirects our hearts to fear, love, and trust in the true God above all things. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Don’t seek wealth, money, and riches so that they are your priority. Prioritize God’s kingdom and righteousness. Prioritize—seek in the first place—the blessings Christ gives you in the gospel. Doesn’t He clothe you with His own righteousness, with His very self, since we are to daily put on Christ and put off the old man? Doesn’t He give you Himself to you to eat and drink? We eat His flesh and drink His blood spiritually when we hear or read His Word, believing it and applying it to ourselves. We eat His flesh and drink His blood orally in the Sacrament of the Altar? These things—His Word, His Gospel, His forgiveness, His righteousness, His Holy Spirit, His peace—these are the things we are to seek first and prioritize above all earthly things because these are the food and clothing that equip us for the life of the world to come, eternal life beyond all worldly things.  Jesus promises that, seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness first, “all these things shall be added to you.” Therefore do not worry about the things of this life, but seek first the riches He gives you in His Word and gospel, for these are our true life. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Christian’s three great enemies are the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh. These three enemies work inseparably to tempt us to sin, and when we have sinned, to tempt us to justify ourselves and defend what we have done so that we can keep on doing it. The devil tempts us chiefly in spiritual things. He tempts us to think God’s word doesn’t apply to us so that we either fall into despair on the one hand or false security on the other. The world tempts us to disregard God’s word and follow its example so that we prioritize the things it praises and seek the things it esteems. Then there is the sinful flesh. Luther calls the flesh the Old Adam “who exerts himself and incites us daily to inchastity, laziness, gluttony and drunkenness, avarice and deception, to defraud our neighbor and to overcharge him, and, in short, to all manner of evil lusts which cleave to us by nature” (LC III:101). What makes the sinful flesh so insidious is that is our own flesh. The devil and world are external to us. But when the flesh tempts us to think ungodly thoughts, to say ungodly things, or act on our sinful inclinations, it comes across as something natural, and the argument goes that it something is natural then it has to be morally neutral. Then the world swoops in with its mantra of “everyone’s doing it,” followed by the devil’s suggestion that God’s word doesn’t really condemn whatever it our flesh wants to do at any given moment. The flesh’s temptations are so insidious that many people professing to be Christians live according to the flesh. They surround themselves with friends—the world—who affirm that they aren’t sinning, and the devil opens the door to false security.

But we must be on guard against the sinful flesh with its insidious and deceptive suggestions. The Spirit and the flesh aren’t on the same team. St Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” The Spirit and the flesh are opposed to each other. The things the flesh wants—its works—are contrary to the fruit the Holy Spirit wants to bear in you. “The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.” These are the things that come naturally to the flesh, the works that the Christian must fight against. Yet many claim to be Christian and live together with someone without marriage. Many claim to be Christian but dress and behave lewdly. Others do unclean things with themselves or others. But just as wicked are hatred and contentions, selfish ambitions, dissensions, and their root: the desire for what another has that you do not. Drunkenness and revelries are socially acceptable methods of coping with one’s problems or simply to alleviate boredom. But all are destructive to our neighbor and ourselves.

They are also destructive to our salvation. Remember, the flesh lusts against the Spirit. The Spirit wants your salvation. The flesh does not. The Spirit works repentance in your heart so that you sorrow over your sins. The flesh rejoices in sin and wants more and more of them. The Spirit works faith in your heart so that you believe that God wants to be merciful to sinners for Jesus’ sake. The flesh justifies itself and sees no reason for a savior.  The Spirit wants to give you a new heart which delights in God’s will, which is your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3).  The flesh entices you to unholiness and impenitence. Paul reminds the Galatians that he had told them before, and now he tells them again, “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This is how serious it is. Practicing these works, living in them, remaining in them, disinherits a Christian from the kingdom of God. That’s because if a Christian practices the works of the flesh, lives in them, and remains in them, they are no longer a Christian. They have driven out the Holy Spirit by their willful, deliberate sinning. Since the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith in the heart, if the Spirit is driven out, then faith is driven out as well. And where there is no faith, there is none of Christ’s righteousness. Where there is no faith, there is no salvation. Where there is no faith, there is no justification, no forgiveness of sins. Where there is no faith and the Holy Spirit, there is only God’s judgment, wrath, and the threat of eternal punishment. The works of the flesh are dangerous to faith and salvation.

Dwelling in this flesh, having the Old Adam around our neck each day, and being beset by such a great enemy within ourselves that thrives on self-destruction, temporally and eternally, to where can we flee for refuge? Look to the example of a man who had a disease in his flesh. There were ten of them. They were lepers, St. Luke tells us. Their very flesh rotted and decayed while they continued to live. It’s a great picture of our sinful nature: alive in the flesh while the flesh is corrupted and decaying. When they see Jesus from afar, they cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They flee to Jesus and beg for mercy. Jesus shows them mercy, telling them to go all the way to Jerusalem and show themselves to the priests, the ones who would declare them clean from the leprosy. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Nine keep going to Jerusalem. They got what they wanted from Jesus. They got their miracle and now they’re done with Him. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. This one got what he wanted, but wanted to return to gives thanks to God. Where does He go to give thanks to God? Not the temple where God dwelled with Israel. He goes back to Jesus, falls at His feet, and gives thanks to God in human flesh, who cleansed his decaying flesh. This one was—of course—a Samaritan, a foreigner, not an ethnic Jew, not fully descended from Abraham. Jesus points out the ingratitude of the nine with his question, then tells the Samaritan, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well,” literally, “Your faith has saved you.”

When we feel the passions and desires of the flesh, when we are tempted by our own bodies and minds to unholy thoughts, words, and deeds, we flee to Jesus, as the Samaritan leper did, in faith. He knew that Jesus could be victorious over his physical leprosy and his sins. How much more victorious can Christ be over our sinful flesh if we walk by the Spirit? As He cleansed the ten lepers with His word, He cleanses us our leprous sinful flesh by His Word. He combines His word with water in Holy Baptism. He washes you, cleansing your flesh. In baptism He gives you the Holy Spirit and took you to Himself, so that you belong to Christ. In baptism you crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Christ put to death your Old Adam in baptism and raised you to new life, the resurrected life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit creates this new heart, this new life, in us, therefore we walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is nothing else than living in your baptism, daily putting to death the old Adam and rising to the new life. He daily forgives our sins and gives us His Holy Spirit so that we do this, forsaking our sins and living as the new man in Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in believers so that He might bear His fruit in them. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law. He doesn’t want to bear only a few of them in you. The fruit of the Spirit is not like the works of the flesh, which are many and varied. It is His fruit—singular—and therefore He will bear all of them in the Christian as he daily puts to death the Old Adam and rises as the New Man in Christ. The works of the flesh are destructive to our neighbor, ourselves, and our salvation. But the fruit of the Spirit builds up our neighbor, benefits us, and serves as outward testimony that we walk by the Spirit.

As you walk by the Spirit, He also leads you to return and give thanks to God for the cleansing He has given you. The leper saw that he had been cleansed and returned to give thanks. As often as you receive Christ’s forgiveness and cleansing, return to give Christ thanks. And as often as you need strength to stand against your enemies, ask for what you need and then immediately rejoice and give thanks to God that He has given it to you. He has promised to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask. Our enemies are great and they mean us great harm—eternal harm— but He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), and He is greater than the leprous flesh, too. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish, but so that you do the things that glorify God, that serve your neighbor’s interests, that are good for you, and that testify to others and yourself, that you are baptized children of God, who not only live in the Spirit, but walk in the Spirit as well. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard yourhearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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