Lutheran Ping!
Posted on 11/02/2008 5:07:08 AM PST by Conservativegreatgrandma
St. Thomas Lutheran Church Panora, Iowa Pastor Kevin Roop
Sermon Text: Matthew 23:1-3; Jude 1-3 Sermon Title: Faith Has Consequences
Matthew 23:1-3 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you - but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”
Jude 1:1-3 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
1. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees wasn't a problem of teaching. They were teaching the right things. They were teaching the things they got from Moses, who got them from God. What came from God was correct. So, Jesus said, do as they say, but not as they do.
2. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees wasn't even a problem of belief. They probably did believe the things they were teaching. They believed the Law came from Moses, and they believed that Moses received it from God. They believed that what they were teaching was the Word of God. So Jesus could say, without holding back, do as they say, but not as they do.
3. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was a problem of doing. They taught, they believed, they preached, they proclaimed. They were saying the right things, because what they were saying had originally come from God's mouth. They had the right things in their heads and in their mouths. But they weren't doing them. Those good things that they knew, and said, and probably even believed - they weren't doing them. They weren't living them. They preach, but they don't practice, Jesus said. Do what they say. Don't do what they do.
4. Jesus goes on to call these folks hypocrites. Hypocrites say one thing and do another. Hypocrites appear to be one thing, when in fact, they are something else entirely. Hypocrites want to seem to be one thing in the eyes of the people around them, and secretly be something else in real life. They enjoy being seen the one way. They get great benefits from who they appear to be. They enjoy actually being another way. They get great benefits from who they really are. Hypocrites, Jesus says. They aren't what they appear to be. Don't do what they do. Don't be who they are. Don't be a hypocrite.
5. Jesus is real. He is genuine. He is who He says. He is what He says. There is no separation between His life and His teaching. He is the Word of God. He speaks the Word of God. He lives what He teaches. He teaches what He lives. He is no hypocrite. Do as I say, Jesus says. Do as I do. Live as I live. Be like me. Be what I have called you to be. Be what my Word makes you. Come, follow me!
6. From beginning to end, Jesus tells his followers, his disciples - you and me - to be what He has made us - what He has called us to be. Hear My Word. Learn My Word. Say My Word. Teach My Word. Believe My Word. Do My Word. And in all the hearing, learning, saying, teaching, believing, and doing, My Word will transform you. As My Word goes into you, takes root in you, moves through you, and flows out of you, it will change you. The same Word that created all things will re-create you. So let go, and let the Word have you. Let My Word take you where I want you to go. Let My Word make you what I want you to be. Be what I say. Be what I do.
7. Being a disciple of Christ is more than knowing the right things. It is more than saying the right things. It is more even than believing the right things. Being a disciple of Christ is also doing the right things. The disciple of Christ diligently, deliberately listens to the Word of Jesus, so that he may grow in the knowledge of Christ. He speaks the Word of Jesus to others, so that through that Word the Holy Spirit will make more disciples. The disciple of Christ believes the Word of Jesus, because through that very Word, the Holy Spirit has given him faith, and keeps him in the one true faith, with all the other disciples in the whole Christian Church on earth. Because the Holy Spirit also sanctifies the disciple of Christ through that same Word, the disciple does what the Word of Jesus tells him to do. The disciple of Christ lives the Word. The same Word gives the disciple what he knows, what he says, what he believes, and what he does. The Word of God is living and active. Through the disciple of Christ, the Word of God lives and acts in this world - here and now.
8. Through the Word of the Gospel, splashed on you in baptism, fed into you in the Lord's Supper, spoken into you through preaching and teaching, the Holy Spirit has brought you to faith. By the Gospel, He sanctifies and keeps you in the one true faith. The faith that saves you. The faith that changes you. The faith that transforms you. The same faith that Jesus, speaking through Jude, asks you and I to contend for - the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
9. This faith once delivered is not something that is subject to change or innovation. It doesn't adapt to the latest fads or changing world views. It is a world view. It is the world view that Jesus Christ has given to His Church in this world - His disciples - you and me. It is that faith that has been believed by all the disciples of Christ, in all places, at all times. It is this faith to which you are to hold fast. This is the faith that you speak together. This is the faith that you were taught, and that you are called to teach to others. This is the faith that lives in you, and that lives in the world through your life. This is the faith that you know, that you say, that you believe, and that you do. It can be spoken in summary, has long been spoken, and here today has been spoken in the same words that have spoken it for over 1,600 years. It starts out like this: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.”
10. This is the faith that is to be known, spoken, believed, done, and lived. It is not to be held in secret, concealed from the rest of the world, and respectfully kept to yourself. It is not a source of shame, but a source of salvation. This faith has saved you, and when you speak it and live it, it will save others - in this world, as well as the next.
11. When this faith is spoken and lived, it has power and it has consequences. You cannot believe that God the Father has made you and all other people, and believe that it is okay for some of those people to be innocently, helplessly done to death by others of those people. If you are the creation of God, then so is the baby in his mother's womb. What a woman does with her body is God's business. What a man does with his body is God's business. What God made, God owns. What God saved through the death of His Son, God owns. Do you believe in one God, the Father Almighty, or don't you? There is no middle ground. Faith has consequences.
12. God created humans male and female. Woman He made for man. Man He made for woman. Man and woman, together, He made for Himself. Marriage was God's creation, for the man and the woman to care for each other, be faithful to each other, and to produce for God the offspring He desired to create. In both Old and New Testament, the Lord makes clear that man is not to be with man in this way, nor woman to be with woman. What you and I do with our bodies is God's business. Did He create us, or did we just happen? What do you believe? There is no middle ground. Faith has consequences.
13. The election the day after tomorrow has consequences. Having considered the available information, this is my sincere opinion as a disciple of Christ. One candidate has demonstrated the intent to once and for all establish the “right” to end the life of an unborn human being - overturning any state laws that get in the way. The same candidate has demonstrated the intent to once and for all establish the “right” of a man to marry a man, and a woman to marry a woman. I believe that this candidate's party will, if given control of all the branches of government, advance both these causes. Gross sin and evil will become the law of the land. And woe to the pastor, woe to the church, woe to the disciple of Christ who dares to speak one word against these “rights”. Faith has consequences. Faith must be lived. Your vote, or your silence, now more than any other time in your lifetime, has consequences. God help us. Amen.
I am blessed.
Our pastor gave a similar sermon last Sunday. I’m waiting patiently to hear him again today. LCMS...
You too, are blessed to hear the Word each Sunday in your LCMS church. We left the ELCA and have been blessed with this ever since.
I am sure he will, even during Confession when I talked to him about a few things he told me to continue to pray that we are spared the nightmare he fears may be coming to our country.
My pastor gave a similar sermon last week. At 5:00 Mass yesterday he gave a unity speech saying basically that whatever happens Tuesday, we have to move forward as a community of faith. So in effect, those of you who complained about my sermon last week, keep coming to Mass and putting money in the collection plate. sigh.
The Pastor gets it that sermons like this may be his last....
Good.
We also have a beautiful 4ft x 8ft prolife sign by our church.
We're prepared for the consequences.
Baptized LCMS (IL). Confirmed WELS (after moving to WI in ‘55 and the church we joined became WELS soon after its emergence. Joined the ELCA in the early 80’s as it was convenient to us. Left the ELCA in 2005 as they’d become blatantly leftist from the pulpit. Still have friends there, but for many leaving a church is a hard decision to make. So...the LCMS is “coming home” again.
Racism!
He has said very pro life conservative things before, and gotten some heat from some parishioners (which is ok).
I suspect he will again.
I just took the time to read the last paragraph for now, and will read the rest later. Sounds great! I grew up LC-MS and started to go to the WELS when there was not a “good” LC-MS congregation in our area. My ancestors on my mom’s side were part of the Saxon immigration, so LC-MS is in my blood.
Our adult Bible class was talking about the upcoming election today. Our one very pro life regular was missing because she and hubby had to attend an early service at another LCMS for a Baptism. They were both at the regular service. I’d have loved to hear her side. I don’t think a single regular member of our congregation will vote for BO.
He knows he may be in the crosshairs of those who wish to silent the Gospel.
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