1 October 2023 - Trinity 17 - Ephesians 4:1-16

Christians are supposed to be confident. But as they are confident, they are also supposed to be humble. Is that a contradiction?

Well, it might seem to be, if you equate confidence with arrogance, and if you equate being humble with being demeaned. From that perspective, people, in their pride, would want to avoid humility, and in their pride they would want to embrace confidence.

But according to the true Christian definitions of confidence, and of humility, there is no contradiction at all. In fact, true humility before God is what makes confidence in God possible; and a true confidence in God is always marked by humility before God - and humility in relationships with others, too.

In today’s text from his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul talks about Christian confidence, even though he does not use that exact word. And he also talks about Christian humility. He begins by saying:

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness...”

We have a calling from the Lord. Who we are - as citizens of God’s kingdom, and as members of God’s family - is not based, most fundamentally, on choices we have made.

God, in Christ, has put us on a pathway of his choosing, and has entrusted to us duties and responsibilities that he knows we are capable of fulfilling with his help. Jesus once said to his disciples, as recorded in St. John’s Gospel:

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”

This gives us confidence: and I mean real confidence in God, not human pride and arrogance masquerading as confidence.

And there is humility in this confidence, because to the same degree that we trust in God and rely upon him, to that degree we also know that we cannot rely upon ourselves in regard to these eternal matters.

We know that God is in charge. And if he has called us to a life of faith, and of faithful service - to him and to others in his name - we can trust him in this.

If it all depended on us, we could not be certain that we should really be believing and doing what we are believing and doing. But because God is God and is not a man, with all the hesitancies and doubts of a man, we can be certain that he knows what he is doing, and will help and guide us as we walk the pathway of vocation that he has laid out for us.

Confidence in this context is really a variation on faith. There’s nothing proud or boastful about it at all. Just the opposite, in fact.

But it is necessary to know how God calls us to believe and do, what he calls us to believe and do, so that we will not be misled or confused with respect to what our callings actually are. It is also important to make the distinction that St. Paul makes in today’s text: between the calling that God gives to all Christians, and the unique callings that he gives to each individual.

First, there is the calling that we share, on an equal footing, with all other members of Christ’s body, the church. Paul writes:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

For this calling, baptism is the clear and objective mechanism by which we are called. And baptism is the great equalizer. The son of a king and the daughter of a pauper receive the same baptism, if they receive baptism at all.

There is one baptism. This means not only that for each individual, his or her own baptism is unrepeatable; but it also means that everyone who is baptized receives the same baptism, and that the same baptismal gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation are offered to every baptized person.

The one baptism of the Christian church unites us to the one Christian church, which is a spiritual body that has the Lord Jesus Christ as its head.

And since God is triune - and since baptism even in its very formula unites us to the triune God - we who are baptized into Christ and into his body are also baptized into the one Spirit of Christ, and into the one God and Father of Christ - who in baptism, by the adoption of the Holy Spirit, becomes also the one God and Father of us all.

In times of weakness and fear, you as a baptized person can be comforted by the objective historical fact of your baptism. God put his mark on you, and claimed you as his own. If you, from your side, have fallen away from your baptism, you can return to it in repentance, and once again receive its blessings by faith. You will in every case be welcomed back.

It’s always a sad thing to me, when I hear someone tell me that he was baptized as an infant, but then lived a life of unbelief and debauchery - which was, of course, a betrayal of his baptism. And as the story then usually goes, this then culminated in a re-conversion to Christ, accompanied soon after by a renunciation of his infant baptism in favor of an adult immersion.

What was really going on, during that person’s time of apostasy, was that God was continually reaching out to him through his baptism. The triune God was mercifully calling him home, and calling him to return to the faith of his baptism.

But then, when this call to come home to God was finally heeded, the first thing the person thought he needed to do, was to renounce that baptism!

But there’s one baptism. The only baptism he ever really received, was the first one. And the first one was the only one he ever needed to receive.

Luther’s Large Catechism - one of the official creedal statements of our church - actually deals with these confusions, and unfolds for us what a wonderful gift our one baptism really is. Luther writes in the context of the struggle between the old sinful nature, which remains even after baptism, and the new nature that God’s Word and Spirit create within us when we are converted. We read:

“Baptism remains forever. Even though we fall from it and sin, nevertheless we always have access to it so that we may again subdue the old man. But we need not again have the water poured over us. ... Repentance, therefore, is nothing else than a return and approach to Baptism, to resume and practice what had earlier been begun but abandoned.”

Again:

“‘He who believes and is baptized will be saved,’ that is, faith alone makes the person worthy to receive the salutary, divine water profitably. Since these blessings are offered and promised in the words which accompany the water, they cannot be received unless we believe them wholeheartedly. Without faith Baptism is of no use, although in itself it is an infinite, divine treasure.”

Yet again:

“How dare we think that God’s Word and ordinance should be wrong and invalid because we use it wrongly? Therefore, I say, if you did not believe before, then believe afterward and confess, ‘The Baptism indeed was right, but unfortunately I did not receive it rightly.’”

And yet again:

“Thus we see what a great and excellent thing Baptism is, which snatches us from the jaws of the devil and makes God our own, overcomes and takes away sin and daily strengthens the new man, always remains until we pass from this present misery to eternal glory. Therefore let everybody regard his Baptism as the daily garment which he is to wear all the time. Every day he should be found in faith and amid its fruits, every day he should be suppressing the old man and growing up in the new. ... But if anybody falls away from his Baptism let him return to it. As Christ, the mercy-seat, does not recede from us or forbid us to return to him even though we sin, so all his treasures and gifts remain.”

We can see from these words that the Confessional Lutheran Church certainly knows that many people who are baptized in infancy do fall away from their baptism, and become unbelievers who no longer have the hope of salvation - so that if they were to die in that condition, they would be lost.

But we also know that the sacrament through which God first called them, is the same sacrament through which he calls them again, and continues to call them, so that they can return to their hope in Christ, be renewed in faith by the Holy Spirit, and become once again members of the family of God the Father.

And how blessed we are, who are living in this hope right now. Every day, when we repent of our sins, admit our faults, and acknowledge our transgressions, we have a certain pledge in our baptism that all is forgiven in Christ, who died for us.

And every day, as we seek strength and guidance from the Lord in overcoming the power of sin, and in following the pathway of faith and discipleship that he has laid out before us, we have a certain pledge in our baptism that Christ, who rose again from the dead for us and now lives forevermore, is still with us.

He is with us as we recall our baptism and are absolved through its enduring power. And he is with us as we are renewed and sustained also by the other sacrament that Jesus left for his church, through which he feeds us with his own body and blood.

Knowing and experiencing these wonderful things, humbles us before God. These things certainly do not feed pride and haughtiness, but cause us to have a deeply thankful spirit.

This is the calling we all share. And we are confident in this calling, because we know who has called us, how he has done so, and how he continues to renew us in that calling.

But Paul also mentions the special, individual callings - the special vocational gifts - that each of us has, and that we do not share with all other Christians. He writes that

“To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’”

Paul then goes on to mention the concrete examples of ministerial callings in the church, when he writes that Christ himself

“Gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

He then swerves back to the special callings of everyone, when he explains that one of the purposes and goals of the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the church is so that Christians

“may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

So, pastors and teachers, as they fulfill their unique calling by instructing the church in God’s Word and in God’s ways, make it possible for other Christians to grow into their own unique callings, for the mutual benefit of all.

Those varied callings are not limited to the realm of the church, but those callings do - at one level or another - touch on the life of the church, and effect others within the family of the church.

And insofar as this is the case, what Paul says definitely applies, when he tells us that we are to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called, 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.

We accept God’s gifts and God’s vocations in humility before God. And as we use his gifts, and fulfill the vocations he had bestowed upon us, we do so in a spirit of love and humility: not only toward him, but also toward those whom we serve and take care of according to our calling.

The specific roles that we may have in the life of the church are assigned to us by God. He gives us the gifts we need for our service, and then he gives each of us as a living gift to the larger body.

But remember that God works through means. He calls us to faith through baptism. And he calls us to works of service within the church, through the voice and calling of the church, as the community of God’s baptized children.

God works through external means in assigning our duties to us in the domestic and civil realms, as well. He calls you to an office of love and service to a spouse, through your exchanging of marriage vows with that spouse.

He calls you to an office of love and service to a child, through your becoming a father or a mother to a child. He calls you to an office of love and service in the larger economy, at a place of work, through someone hiring you for a job.

In all of these positions of responsibility - when they serve a godly and positive purpose for the benefit of others - we can be confident that God has indeed called us to such duties and to such relationships. And we can, with confidence and with humility, ask for his help and guidance, with the certainty that he will hear such prayers and answer them.

In all of these things, our model is, of course, always the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us that as we grow in Christian confidence, and in Christian humility, it is all oriented around Christ and focused on Christ, because we are thereby maturing into “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

We are becoming more like him. And as Jesus tells us elsewhere, he as the Son of Man came into this world not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

In humility before God the Father, and in obedience to the Father’s saving will, Jesus, while on earth, fulfilled his divine mission and calling by living perfectly for imperfect sinners, and by dying sacrificially for their sins.

And in the same spirit he fulfills his calling as Lord of the church now, as he distributes to his people, through the humble means of grace that he has instituted, all the benefits and blessings of his righteous life and of his atoning death. And across time, to all men in all nations and stations, he issues this warm invitation:

“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.”

To be confident in the truth of God’s promises, and to be confident in the callings that God gives us, is not to be arrogant, proud, and boastful. That’s a worldly definition of confidence. That’s not what God’s Word teaches us, and that’s not what God’s Son shows us.

And, to be humble before God as we rejoice in his undeserved grace toward us, and to be humble before others as we love and serve them according to our divine vocations, is not to be demeaned, degraded, or shamed. That’s a worldly definition of humility. That’s not what God’s Word teaches us, and that’s not what God’s Son shows us.

What God’s Word does teach, what Jesus does show us by example, and what we embrace in joy and thanksgiving, is a kind of God-given confidence, and a kind of God-given humility, that the world cannot understand. But we do understand it in Christ. We receive it and have it in Christ. We sing of it in Christ.

Jesus lives! For me He died; Hence will I, to Jesus living,
Pure in heart and act abide, Praise to Him and glory giving.
Freely God doth aid dispense; This shall be my confidence. Amen.

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8 October 2023 - Trinity 18 - 1 Corinthians 1:4-18

Today’s sermon text is taken from the second section of today’s Epistle lesson, and from several verses that follow this section, beyond what we read a few minutes ago. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses 4 through 18, St, Paul writes:

“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.”

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

“I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

So far our text.

One of the more common grounds for divorce is “irreconcilable differences.” Of course, other terms that could be used to describe that kind of marital problem might be “uncompromising stubbornness” or “inconsiderate selfishness.”

But even so, we can understand the concept of “irreconcilable differences.” All too often in this sinful world, people who have some kind of relationship with each other - in a family, in a circle of friends, or in a business - reach a point in their relationship where they have come to feel that they have “irreconcilable differences,” so that their relationship must come to an end.

And, sadly, this happens all-too-frequently also in Christian congregations and in Christian church bodies. Religious institutions are not immune from the possibility of splits and divisions that arise from the belief that there are “irreconcilable differences” among the members.

Can such disunity and divisiveness be prevented? When we look at the history of the church as a whole, and at the history of specific church bodies and congregations; and also, when we consider the fact that everyone in the church on earth is infected with a sinful nature, we might be skeptical that such problems can ever be avoided.

But St. Paul is not so pessimistic. In spite of the temptations to divisiveness and factionalism that are always there, Paul lays out for us the key to overcoming these temptations, and to preserving the unity of the church - both in regard to matters of faith and conviction, and in regard to personal relationships among Christians that can and should continue to be characterized by mutual love, mutual respect, and mutual patience.

Paul writes: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

We see that Paul does recognize the possibility of unity and peace among the members of the church, in spite of the personal sinfulness of all those members. We don’t have to be dominated and controlled by the selfish and proud inclinations of our sinful nature, or by the divisiveness that sin always tends to foment.

Those destructive and divisive impulses can be resisted. The unity and peace of the church, which may often seem to be very elusive, can be maintained, and - when necessary - regained and restored.

And Paul is not talking simply about an external, superficial unity - characterized perhaps by mutual indifference to the deeper questions of Christian faith and life, or by an attitude of “agreeing to disagree” about what should be believed and done. As the apostle appeals to us to agree with each other, and not to be divided, he calls on us instead to be “united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

Other English translations of this passage word it in these ways: “perfectly united in mind and thought”; “united with the same understanding and the same conviction”; “united in thought and purpose”; “having the same kind of thinking and the same purpose.”

You get the general idea. The unity of the church is preserved when Christians embrace and confess the same objective truths, and when they share a mutual commitment to the same mission and purpose.

Splits and divisions can be avoided if the members of the church adhere to the same standards of faith and practice, and if they agree to follow those standards when resolving any problems that may arise. It’s that simple. And, it’s that hard!

The next question that naturally arises, of course, is, how the church is to determine what its standards of faith and practice are supposed to be. St. Paul does not leave us guessing on that point, either. He says:

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

There’s something supernatural and even miraculous in the creation and growth of the Christian church. Ultimately, you didn’t establish your fellowship with Christ and his church by the powers of your own will and choosing.

If you are a member of Christ’s body by faith, it’s because God called you to this faith, and because his Spirit birthed that faith within you, and thereby made you to be a part of this living, spiritual temple.

And the preservation of the unity of the church is likewise, at the deepest level, a work of our faithful God, and not a human achievement. That’s why Paul appeals to us “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” that we all agree, and that there be no divisions among us.

As we all know from our catechism, in Biblical usage the Lord’s “name” is more than a particular term that is used to invoke him, or to distinguish him from other beings. Rather, the Lord’s “name” is everything by which he makes himself known to us, and by which he establishes and maintains his presence among us.

When Jesus says in Matthew 18 that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there among them, he is referring to a gathering around his Word, by which he reveals himself and his will to his church.

And so, when St. Paul implores us to remain united, and to avoid divisions, “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he is not only testifying to the authority by which he gives us this directive, but he is also showing us the way in which this directive can be fulfilled.

When he reminds us of the one baptism instituted by Christ, by which we were all incorporated into the Lord’s church; and when he reminds us of the preaching of the cross, by which we are all forgiven and justified, he is holding up for us the only foundation on which the church, and the unity of the church, are built.

There’s a big difference between this divine plan for Christian unity, and the common human assumption that the members of a church - or of any other organization - establish their own defining principles, and determine their own mission, through a process of negotiation and compromise.

The Democratic and Republican party platforms are hammered out behind closed doors every four years. In those meetings, representatives of the various special interest groups and caucuses within each party, vie against each other in their struggle to have the dominating influence in what policies make it into those platforms.

Like the making of hot dogs, the writing of a political party platform is something that the rank-and-file members of each party probably don’t want to see.

The church is not like this, though. Or at least it’s not supposed to be like this.

The faith and practice of the church is handed down by the Lord of the church: enshrined in Scripture, and witnessed to in the church’s creeds and confessions. Therefore, in avoiding division, and in preserving unity, we shouldn’t listen to each other, as much as we should listen together to Christ.

Certainly we should always be sensitive to each other’s fears and concerns, and in love should bear with each other’s personal weaknesses. And if there are misunderstandings or misperceptions about one thing or another, those misunderstandings and misperceptions should be gently corrected and patiently clarified.

But in principle, the closer we all get to Christ - in believing his Word, and in following his ways - the closer we get to each other.

If it becomes evident that there are real differences in faith among the members of a church, the response should not be to initiate a process of negotiation and compromise, in order to figure out the “least common denominator” beliefs that can keep everyone together anyway.

Rather, all should examine and re-examine their own thoughts in the light of the Holy Scriptures, and be willing to accept the Lord’s correction and guidance from the Holy Scriptures.

As St. Paul says in Second Corinthians, in the struggle between God’s revealed truth and the deceptions of the devil, “We destroy arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

But Christ, through his Word, does not just educate our minds, and give shape to our thoughts. He also saves and heals our souls, by the redemption that he accomplished in the shedding of his blood for the sins of the world.

St. Paul says further on in today’s text from First Corinthians, that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Christ’s name, as it is placed upon us in the preaching of the gospel and in the administration of the sacraments, forgives our sins, and reconciles us to God. In faith we receive this forgiveness, and rest in it.

Christ’s name, as it is placed within us, gives us a new heart that is willing and able to forgive those who have hurt and offended us; and that is willing and able to show respect and compassion to those with whom we have had a dispute or a disagreement. And in these ways, by the inner working of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s name reconciles us to each other.

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

That’s a clear word from God, which is directed squarely at the conscience of each of us. How seriously have we taken this divine mandate?

Have we always spoken and acted to preserve the unity of God’s church, in God’s way? Or have we been divisive, and caused divisions, through deeds and words that are not in harmony with God’s Word?

The devil wants to tear us apart, and to tear us away from each other. And more significantly, he wants to tear us away from Christ.

The devil wants to pollute and corrupt our Christian ethics with alternatives that flow from the false morality of the world. The devil wants to obscure the plain teaching of Scripture regarding the way of salvation that God provides through his Son, and regarding the sacred means by which God most certainly delivers his grace and life to the church, with alternatives that flow from the false ideologies of the world.

The devil wants us to ignore what St. Paul tells us today. And in times of testing, when arguments ensue, and when relationships become strained, he wants us to conclude - as quickly as possible - that we have “irreconcilable differences” with each other.

He knows that when we become alienated from each other, and from Christ, he can then step in and reclaim us for himself.

But Jesus is not going to let that happen. He will continue to bring to us his name: his revelation of his divine person, his revelation of his redeeming work on the cross, and his revelation of the saving grace that he extends to us - in our weakness and need - in the ministry of Word and Sacrament.

Jesus continues to place his name and Word upon us, in his absolution, and in his declaration of full forgiveness for all our failures. He continues to place his name and Word within us, as he teaches us his unalterable saving truth, builds up our Christian character, and conforms us to his image.

By the operation of God’s Spirit, we put on the mind of Christ, and are filled with the love of Christ. We become easier to get along with, and more patient with the faults of others.

By the operation of God’s Spirit, we are drawn every day, in repentance and faith, to the one cross of Christ, which is our only hope. We care ever more deeply about the importance of continually hearing the voice of Christ in biblical preaching and teaching, and of frequently receiving the body and blood of Christ in his true Holy Supper.

As we are drawn together to the cross, to the means of grace, and to Christ as in the cross and in the means of grace, we are drawn also to each other. That’s how the unity of Christ’s church is preserved. That’s how Christ protects his people from the divisiveness that would destroy them.

Among Christians who devoutly listen together to the Scriptures and to the unfolding of Scripture in faithful preaching, and who kneel together at the same altar and partake of the same sacramental mystery, there need never be any “irreconcilable differences.”

The forgiveness that we receive from God, and that then bleeds over into our feelings about each other, has the supernatural power to bring reconciliation to every division, and peace to every conflict.

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with everything that this name means and stands for, has the power to bring clarity of thought to every confused mind.

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with everything that this name means and stands for, has the power to bring a renewal of conviction, and a refocusing of Christian commitment and devotion, to every misguided heart and will.

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with everything that this name means and stands for, has the power to sooth all bitterness, to suppress all carnal strife, and to bring reconciliation and a restored harmony to all godly relationships.

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Amen.

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15 October 2023 - Trinity 19 - Genesis 28:10-17

One of the common beliefs that was held by the pagan idolaters of the ancient world, was the idea that certain deities were attached to certain geographical places, and served as special guardians and patrons for the people who lived in those specific geographical places.

So, based on where they were at any given time, these ancient people thought that it was important for them to figure out which particular god or gods were in charge of the place where they were, so that they could pray to and appease those gods, and so that they could avoid offending or angering those gods.

These people were polytheists, in that they believed in the existence of many gods. But they didn’t try to serve or worship all the gods they believed existed.

They were concerned to make sure that they served and worshiped the particular gods who were in charge of where they were, and who were thought to protect and bless the residents of that place. And it was generally assumed that the various gods were aware only of what was going on in their particular territory, and were accessible - through prayers and sacrifices - only from within their particular territory.

Those who believed in many gods, did not think that any of those gods were omniscient or omnipresent.

Now, Abraham, in his faith in Yahweh or Jehovah, had risen above all that. He knew that the God he served and worshiped was not simply one deity among many, who happened to be attached to the place where he was sojourning.

Abraham knew instead that his God was the only true and real God, and that his God was concerned not just about him and the people who were associated with him, but took an interest in all nations, in all places around the world. When he was, in a sense, “negotiating” with the Lord concerning the fate of the city of Sodom, and of his nephew Lot who lived in Sodom, Abraham asked:

“Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

But Abraham’s grandson Jacob seems not to have fully grasped this deeper truth concerning the God who was worshiped by his family. Instead, he seems to have allowed himself to be influenced by the pagan polytheism that surrounded him in the larger culture.

This is a common problem, which we see in all generations, in all centuries, and in all the millennia of world history. People who have access to the Word and voice of God, often ignore what God is telling them - especially when what he is telling them differs from what the larger culture that surrounds them is telling them - and they listen instead to the larger culture.

It’s not easy to swim against the tide. So, people make compromises, and are selective in their beliefs, so that they can basically float with the tide as far as their spirituality and religious beliefs are concerned.

And when the larger culture becomes hostile to all religion - as is now largely the case in the post-Christian world in which we live - then all religion is abandoned, so that people cease to be even cultural or nominal Christians, and become nothing.

Jacob, in his time, did not become nothing. But he also didn’t adhere strictly to his grandfather’s strong monotheistic faith, either.

He didn’t understand that the God of his grandfather Abraham, and of his father Isaac, was not the same as the false gods of others families and tribes. His family’s God was not a god who was limited to one place, so that if you left that place, you left that god.

But Jacob did come to a jarring realization of what Jehovah was really like, and of where Jehovah could be found, in the event that is recounted in today’s lesson from the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau, because he had received from their father Isaac an irrevocable blessing that Esau had expected to come to him. And so Jacob had traveled far from where his family lived, and from where he thought his family’s God lived. We pick up the story there:

“Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said:”

“‘I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.’”

“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’”

Now Jacob knew what his grandfather had known: that God - his God - was indeed the Judge of all the earth, and not only of that part of the earth where his family lived. God was where Jacob now was, too. And wherever Jacob might go in the future, God would also be there.

And what Jacob also now knew, was that the God who had blessed and protected his father and grandfather, and who had made promises to them, was going to bless and protect him in the same way. The God of Abraham and Isaac, is and will always be, also the God of Jacob.

Jacob, in his travels, had not removed himself from the watchful eye of this God. And Jacob had not removed himself from the special messianic purpose that God had in mind, when he established his covenant with Abraham. Jacob, too, now heard the Lord say to him:

“And in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

St. Paul teaches in the New Testament that in the final and ultimate sense, the Seed of Abraham – and now also the Seed of Jacob - is Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus, the God whose Son he is will be the God of all the families of men, in all places on earth. Through Jesus, all idols will fall: the idols that are erected in temples of false worship, and the idols that are erected in human hearts.

Through Jesus, the sins of men from all nations will be washed away in the sacred flood of Holy Baptism. Through Jesus, the famished souls of men from all nations will be fed and nurtured by the Bread of Life from heaven.

Most people today do not believe in the kind of polytheism that the ancient people believed in. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have had enough of an impact on the world, that most people, in most nations, now believe that there is only one God.

Whether that one God, in the way they imagine him, is the one God who actually exists, is another question, of course. The Jews of the first century who rejected and opposed Jesus felt quit sure that the God in whom they believed was the only true God. But Jesus told them, as recorded in St. John’s Gospel:

“If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.”

So, a belief in God, without a belief in Jesus as the Son of God in human flesh, is not actually a belief in God as he really exists and as he has revealed himself. The “one God” in whom deniers of Jesus believe, is not the God who sent Jesus into the world to save the world. And so their “one God” is a different “one God.”

As your pastor, I have often emphasized the importance of the Lord’s people being in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day, since it is here where the Lord’s Word is proclaimed, where sins are forgiven through that Word, and where that Word instructs us in the ways of godliness.

Jacob, in today’s text, had a sense of this too. After God had revealed himself to Jacob and had spoken to him - in the wilderness, far from his home - we are told that Jacob exclaimed:

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

It is important for us to know that where the gospel is proclaimed to us, and where the sacraments are administered to us, that is the gate of heaven for us, so that we will be there when we are able to be there.

The God whom we know in and through Christ, is here, in a way that is different from his silent presence in other places. He is here to speak to us, to warn and correct us, but even more so to absolve and bless us.

But, God is not only here. We shouldn’t slip into the thinking of the ancient pagans, that God’s presence, and God’s awareness of us, is limited to a specific location, so that when we leave church, we leave God behind.

That might be a convenient belief, though - even though it is a false belief - when we, outside of church, act as if God does not hear us, when we carelessly take his name in vain, or in anger berate or insult other people. That might be a convenient belief when we, outside of church, act as if God does not see us, when we treat others unkindly and disrespectfully, and when we in general conduct ourselves in immoral and unethical ways.

But don’t think that God does not hear and see these things, just because you do not say and do them in church. The God in whom you believe - or claim to believe - is the God of Abraham.

And Abraham’s God was and is “the Judge of all the earth.” He knows what you are saying and doing wherever on earth you may be. And he judges what you are saying and doing.

So, for sinners like us, it is perhaps an unsettling thing to consider that nothing is hidden from God, and that we can never travel so far away from God’s house, that we are out of his sight, and beyond his concern. Let us repent, therefore, of our secret sins, because as far as God is concerned, there are no secret sins.

And then, as penitent sinners, let us believe the heavenly gospel that we hear in this place - which for us is the gate of heaven. Hear and believe the gospel, that through Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for you, your sins - wherever on earth they have been committed - are forgiven.

But being reminded of God’s presence everywhere, and of God’s watchfulness over us in all places, is not only an unsettling thing. As we consider this truth from within our reconciliation with God in Christ, as forgiven and justified sinners, it becomes also a wonderful truth.

God in his providence protects us and watches over us, wherever we may be. He provides for us - through various means - our daily bread, and all that we need for our bodily life.

He directs us in the vocations that he had given to us, and opens before us pathways of service to others, so that we can glorify him in works of love for those in need.

And even outside of the public gatherings of the church, God also opens up for us little gates of heaven, whenever and wherever we take a pause from our other duties, in order to read, study, reflect on, and pray about, God’s Word.

Our congregation recently made available to all the members of the church a new daily devotional book precisely for this purpose, so that God’s instructions and exhortations, his promises and comforts, can be with us on every day of the week, wherever we may be on those other days of the week.

God is present everywhere, and knows what’s going on everywhere. God cares about what’s going on everywhere.

And God cares about you, wherever you may be, and whatever may be going on around you: in every temptation you may be contending with, in every challenge you may be facing, and in every need you may be experiencing. He is with you to sustain you, and to help you.

With Jacob you can therefore say, with hope and confidence, at all times and in all places: “Surely the Lord is in this place.” Amen.

---

22 October 2023 - Trinity 20 - Ephesians 5:15-21

The image of someone drinking alcohol alone - often drinking to excess - is not a happy picture. But the moderate use of wine or alcohol in a group, on social occasions, can often contribute in a positive way to the cheerful atmosphere of such a gathering.

Psalm 104 declares that the Lord, in his loving providence, “causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man.”

The events of the wedding of Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine - good wine, no less - so that the celebration would not be ruined, come readily to mind in this respect.

It is a sad fact, however, that the abuse of alcohol, and drunkenness, are major problems in our country. The misuse of alcohol can have a devastating effect on family relationships, on the health of the person who drinks too much, and on public safety - in view of the many accidents on the job and on the roads that are caused by intoxicated people.

And these same sorts of problems are becoming ever more common, through the misuse of drugs and chemical intoxicants other than alcohol. The moral and ethical problems associated with substance abuse are evident in any kind of chronic intoxication, not just intoxication from alcoholic beverages.

These are not new problems, either. That’s why St. Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Ephesus, 2,000 years ago: “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation...”

Do not give your mind, soul, and body over to the control of a chemical! It is dissipation. In other words, it causes the disintegration of your moral, intellectual, and physical life.

It is also a form of idolatry. It is a violation of the First Commandment, which requires you to place yourself under the ultimate control and governance of God and the Word of God, and not under the control of an addictive substance, or of anything else in this world.

And it is a violation of the Fifth Commandment - which forbids murder, and the infliction of harm on human beings - because of the bodily and psychological damage that substance abusers bring upon themselves, and upon others who are impacted by their addiction.

It is interesting to see the contrast that St. Paul presents in his Epistle to the Ephesians, between drunkenness, which he forbids, and the proper spiritual alternative to drunkenness, which he recommends. This is what he writes:

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

The most appropriate time to have some wine, is when you are having it with friends, during a wholesome social occasion. Think again of the wedding at Cana.

Likewise, the supernatural reality of Christians being filled with the Holy Spirit, is something that is best understood and experienced when Christians are with fellow-believers, and not alone.

The Christian religion certainly does recognize the personal dimension of faith. Each of us has his own faith in Christ as Savior. We are not saved by someone else’s faith, or by the faith of a group.

But, this does not make Christian spirituality to be a private thing, that can properly be cultivated and brought to maturity outside of the fellowship of the church, which Jesus has instituted for his people to be a part of.

Christians certainly want their thoughts and actions to be directed by the Holy Spirit at all times. We would seek to be always under the influence of the Spirit of God, and not only when we are in church.

But St. Paul would want us to see that the focus and foundation of the Spirit’s work in our lives, is connected most essentially to what happens when God’s people are called together by the gospel: for the preaching of God’s Word, and for the administration of the sacraments that Jesus instituted for his church.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit is doing something that only he can do, when he causes our faith to be molded and shaped by the gospel that we hear together, in such a way, that we then collectively respond to God’s Word and Sacrament with the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; and with the offering of heartfelt thanks to God for all his gifts.

And please notice the apostle’s emphasis on the fact that this doesn’t happen when we are by ourselves, but when we are joined together, to build one another up in our most holy faith. He writes that we are to be speaking “to one another” in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

One commentator has suggested that these three kinds of congregational singing can be roughly distinguished in this way: “psalms” are songs that are sung about God; “hymns” are songs that are sung to God; and “spiritual songs” are songs that are sung about our experience with God.

Whether or not this is exactly how it breaks down, the various hymns that can be found in our hymnal, and the canticles that constitute our liturgy, do tend to fall into one or another of those three categories. All three of these types of songs have their proper place in the overall worship life of the church.

Sometimes, Christians who don’t think they can sing very well, sit in silence, when the other members of their congregation are singing a hymn. And because they’re not singing, they often don’t see any reason to have a hymnal open in front of them, either.

But, whether it is intended or not, such a decision not to participate in worship, can give the impression that we do not want to be included in what the Holy Spirit is doing in worship: when he is teaching us through the words of a psalm; when he is lifting us up in faith through the words of a hymn; or when he is bringing encouragement to us through the words of a spiritual song.

Dear friends, if you think that you cannot sing well, then sing quietly. But don’t refrain from singing altogether!

And if you think that you are not able to sing at all, then at least read the text that others are singing, while they are singing - and perhaps move your lips just a little bit. In this way you will be showing your desire to be blessed by what the Holy Spirit is doing for God’s people, through God’s people, in church.

And in this way the Holy Spirit will actually accomplish a holy work in you: as he strengthens your faith through the Christ-centered message of the song; and as he - by the same means - strengthens your connection to Christ, and to Christ’s people who are seated around you.

A Christian worship service is not a place where people come to perform for each other or to show off in front of each other. Rather, it is where weak and needy people come to hear God’s Word; to be enriched in heart and soul by God’s Word; and to share God’s Word with others.

Those who are struggling with substance abuse, and with similar harmful addictions, will find - in the fellowship of God’s church - the help they need to resist temptation, and to find liberation from what is enslaving them.

And this is not just because of the positive psychological effect that comes from being with people who care about you - although that is also a part of what being in church brings you. Rather, the reason why the gatherings of God’s people are so helpful, is because God’s people are gathered around the means of grace that come from God, and that are filled with his saving power.

Truly, the gathering of God’s people in God’s house, is the premier time and place when the Spirit of the Living God fills and refills them with the life of God.

The Holy Spirit convicts and humbles us, when he reminds us of our sins and failures, and prompts us to be honest about those failures before God and man. But he then brings hope and joy to us, and restores us with his healing grace, when he causes the message of Christ crucified to be preached to us - for forgiveness, and for peace with God and man.

Paul continues: “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

“Giving thanks always and for all things” sounds a lot like what is going on during the Communion Liturgy, when I as pastor address these words of prayer to our heavenly Father, on behalf of the whole congregation:

“It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Holy Spirit is prompting that prayer, too. And he is thereby getting us ready to listen, with devout attention, to the sacramental Words of our Lord Jesus Christ.

By those sacramental words, spoken by the Lord on the night in which he was betrayed, the Holy Supper of Jesus’ body and blood was instituted. By those sacramental words, spoken by the Lord to his true disciples of all times and places, that Supper is now brought to us: right here, in this place, where the Holy Spirit has called us together in the name of Christ.

You are indeed giving thanks for “all things,” when you are giving thanks for the greatest gift. This greatest gift is the gift of God’s own Son: whose body was offered up for us on the cross, as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins; and whose blood was shed for us, to cleanse us of all shame, guilt, and fear.

The Holy Spirit always works through the Word of the gospel. And the Word of the gospel has power to save and forgive precisely because the Holy Spirit is always working through it.

It is the Holy Spirit, therefore, who carries all the blessings of Christ’s death - and of Christ’s resurrection - to each communicant.

Through the power of the Lord’s sacramental Word, the Holy Spirit supernaturally places the body and blood of Christ into the blessed bread and wine. Through the power of the Lord’s sacramental Word - in and under those earthly elements - the Holy Spirit supernaturally delivers the now-living Christ to each communicant’s lips, and into his soul.

This is a very special kind of “filling” that the Holy Spirit brings to us. He fills us with Christ and with all the benefits of Christ. And he fills us with the faith by which Christ and his benefits are received and embraced.

In our participation in this sacred meal, we are very definitely not drinking, or eating, alone. Indeed, we become aware of the fact that the circle of those who are intimately united to Christ with us, extends beyond the people we can see at the communion rail.

We are, in this sacred mystical moment, “with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven.” The “communion of saints,” which transcends even the barrier of death, is very real to us in the communion with Christ that we experience in this sacrament.

When people get together to drink alcohol to excess, they thereby drag each other down, and contribute toward each other’s harm and destruction. But when the Holy Spirit calls us together in the fellowship of Christ’s church, he does just the opposite for us.

He lifts us up in Christ, by filling us with his own forgiving and restoring presence. He strengthens us in our Christian faith, and renews us in our Christian love, by uniting our hearts and minds in the singing of God’s praises, and in the joyful celebration of all that God in his grace has done for us.

“Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...” Amen.

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29 October 2023 - Reformation Sunday - Psalm 34:1-2, 11, 22

Because we are using the Chorale Service today, we are not singing the Introit that is appointed for the Festival of the Reformation. But if we were, this is what it would be, from Psalm 34:

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

When we commemorate the Reformation of the sixteenth century, we usually think about the important things that people like Martin Luther did back then, to restore to the church a purer and clearer proclamation of the gospel, and to purge the institutional church of many moral and doctrinal corruptions.

We have a tendency to look to the past, with admiration for the courage and conviction of the Reformers, and with gratitude for the things they accomplished. We know that we benefit from what they did 500 years ago.

But on Reformation Sunday, we should not look only to the past, and to the events of the past. We should look also to the future.

Consider not only what you as a Christian and as a Lutheran have received from previous generations of faithful preachers and teachers, but also what God wants you to pass on to your children and grandchildren - and to the next generation in general. Listen again to these lines from Psalm 34:

“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

The Reformation did indeed clarify for the church what God’s saving message, concerning his redemption in Christ, actually is - in the face of the confusion and ignorance under which the souls of many people in medieval Europe had been languishing. The Smalcald Articles, in beautiful simplicity, summarizes the Biblical preaching of the Reformers in these words:

“Here is the first and chief article: That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, ‘was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification’; ...he alone is ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’; and ‘the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all’; furthermore, ‘All have sinned,’ and ‘they are now justified...by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...by his blood.’”

“Now because this must be believed and may not be obtained or grasped otherwise with any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us, as St. Paul says in Romans 3: ‘For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law’; and also, ‘that God alone is righteous and justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.’”

“Nothing in this article can be conceded or given up, even if heaven and earth, or whatever is transitory, passed away. As St. Peter says in Acts 4: ‘There is no other name...given among men by which we must be saved.’ ‘And by his bruises we are healed.’”

This is the Scriptural message that God has brought to us, to comfort us in our sorrow, and to strengthen us in our weakness. Our sin alienates us from God. This message, concerning Christ and his atonement, brings reconciliation.

Our sin makes us guilty before God, and calls down his judgment. This message, concerning Christ and his justification, brings forgiveness.

God’s law, proclaimed to us in all its accuracy and severity, has shattered for us the myth that humanity’s deepest problem - our sin problem - can be solved by human self-improvement efforts, human mental adjustment efforts, or even by human religious efforts.

It is the cleansing power of God’s gospel, applied to us with all of its healing gentleness in Word and Sacrament, that has lifted us up into a living hope, founded upon the love and mercy of Christ. He and he alone has done everything that needed to be done, for our reconciliation with God, and for our forgiveness before God.

As St. Paul writes in today’s reading from his Epistle to the Romans: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith.”

This message - this Christ-centered and grace-filled message of salvation - is the message that the Lutheran Reformers proclaimed. It is the message that the genuine Lutheran Church of today still proclaims. And it is the message that we believe.

It is the message that liberates us from our guilt and fear, for a life of joyful service to our neighbor in Christ’s name. It is the message that brings a heavenly light to the moral and spiritual darkness that otherwise would enshroud us.

But will our children and grandchildren also believe this message, and partake of all its benefits - both in this life and in the life to come? Will the next generation know and experience the comfort that we know and experience through faith is these divine promises?

This is to be a concern for all of us - not only parents, but all members of the Lord’s church. God would guide all of us, through the words of Psalm 34, to do and say what the psalmist did and said: “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”

This is a sacred duty that God has entrusted to his whole church - to his new Jerusalem, the spiritual Zion to which all nations are invited. The words of Psalm 48 are words that are therefore addressed to all of us:

“Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad... Walk about Zion, and go all around her. Count her towers; mark well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following. For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death.”

We read in Psalm 119: “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” And as the Book of Revelation teaches, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed an “eternal” gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ will never stop being true. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is of no personal saving benefit to anyone who does not believe it.

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” But if Abraham had not believed God, he would not have been counted as righteous before God. He would have lived and died under God’s condemnation, and would have been lost.

The fact that Abraham was a descendant of Noah, and of other men of faith in earlier generations, would not have saved him. By faith, Abraham himself was an adopted child of God - as are all who trust in the Lord’s promises, and are indwelt by his Spirit.

Many of us have grandchildren. I myself have been blessed with 14 of them. But God does not have any grandchildren - only children. No one has a saving relationship with God through his parents’ faith.

In a certain sense we could say that we who believe in the pure gospel of divine grace, as it was restored to the church by God’s providence in the Reformation, are children of the Reformation. But just as there are no grandchildren of God, so too is it the case, that there are no grandchildren of the Reformation.

Each generation must claim the evangelical catholic spirit of the Reformation, and the Biblical gospel that was proclaimed by the Reformation, as its own.

If not, the spirit of the Reformation will die. And the souls of those who do not trust in Christ for their salvation, will likewise die.

If you are a child of God, born again by his Word and Spirit, this in itself is no guarantee that the generation that comes after you will likewise be filled with the life of God’s Spirit. If you are justified by your faith in Christ, and if you have the hope of eternal life through the resurrection of Christ, this in itself is no guarantee that your children will share in this salvation.

They cannot believe in Christ unless they hear about Christ. And they cannot hear about Christ unless they are taught. If God’s message of forgiveness in Christ is not brought to them, they will not know this forgiveness.

In the post-Christian world in which we live, those who embrace and promote false ideologies that are hostile to the gospel, will certainly not be silent in their attempts to lure the children and youth of the church away from the safety of God’s truth - through all the mechanisms of the popular culture that are permeated with their destructive errors.

The legacy of the Reformation, which is so important to us, must not be a legacy that finds its end in us, and in our generation. It is, rather, a legacy that we receive for ourselves, only as it then passes through us to others.

We are, of course, not responsible for things that God has not commanded us to do. You are not to blame if your child - or anyone else with whom you have shared the gospel - refuses to believe it, or ceases to believe it.

Someone who rejects the gospel will have to give an account of himself before God. You can’t make someone believe in Christ.

God will not call you to account for the unbelief of someone who had a chance to believe - perhaps through your influence and words - but who refused to do so. But God has commanded us - according to our respective vocations - to participate in bringing his Word to all nations, so that all nations will have a chance to believe it.

“All nations” includes your nation. And your nation includes your family and friends.

Today - Reformation Sunday - is a good day for all of us to admit before God that we have not taught the fear of the Lord to our children - and to the church’s children - as we ought to have done.

The day on which we all remember the renewal of the pure gospel of God’s forgiveness in Christ, is a good day to acknowledge that we need that forgiveness. We have not been as diligent as we have been called to be, in telling the next generation about the glorious Zion of God, where all penitent sinners find a home with their Lord forever.

And then, on this Reformation Sunday, also be the Lutheran that you confess to be. Repent of your failures - these and all others.

And believe the promise of Christ, that all of your sins are forgiven and washed away for his sake - because they are. Be justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

And for those of you who are communicants at the Lord’s altar, in this faith also partake on this Reformation Sunday of the body and blood of Christ, by which all of these blessings were won for you on the cross, and through which all of these blessings are delivered to you now in the sacrament.

In Christ you are not condemned: not because of your success in living up to your calling; but because of Jesus’ success in living up to his calling: his calling to be your Redeemer and Savior; his calling to be your companion, your protector, and the forgiver of your sins.

And as a justified saint of the Lord, who is saved by faith and not by works, seek, then, with the Lord’s help, to bear the living fruits of your living faith, as would be pleasing to him.

Ask him to open your eyes to see with greater clarity how and where you can speak his Word to the younger generation. Ask him to fill your heart with courage and wisdom, so that you will fulfill this duty joyfully and faithfully.

As the Lord gives you the opportunity, bring your children and grandchildren to church. Bring them to Sunday School. Encourage all your friends to do the same.

Pray with your children and grandchildren at home, and read the Bible to them in the family circle. Talk with them about the things of the Lord.

In your own life set an example for them, that they may see your humility before the Lord. Show them what the priorities of their life should be, by letting them see what your priorities are.

As a testimony to our children and to all people, and for the sake of our own souls, let us by faith, and in the strength of Christ, live always in the peace and confidence of which Psalm 34 speaks:

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

Amen.