Trinity 19 [Ephesians 4:22-28] (14-Oct-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am, lay reading), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Ephesians 4:22-28)

Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our epistle reading today talks about the old self and the new self. It says for us to put off the old self and to put on the new self.

In English, it’s very difficult to translate the Greek, if people want to sound politically correct and not sexist. The Greek, there are two words for man, whereas English only has one: the first word (aner) means “a man” “a male person” or “a husband”, and the second word (anthropos) means “man” or “a member of the human race”. So the Greek in our reading says, “put off the old man” and “put on the new man”, but it’s not talking about a man, as in a male person or a husband, but it’s talking about a member of the human race, whether you are a man or a woman. Unfortunately, when we say “old self” and “new self”, it can sound a bit abstract. But the Greek says, “put off the old man” and “put on the new man.”

This sort of talk has a special place in Luther’s Small Catechism, where it says:

What does such baptising with water indicate?

It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise before God in righteousness and purity forever.

So what is this “old man”, this “old Adam”, this “old self”?

Many people have this feeling in their life where they feel that they disgust themselves. They would like to do something good, but they always disappoint themselves. They try hard to get themselves out of a bad situation in life, but they just can’t seem to get themselves out of it. St Paul says: “I do not do the good I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate… There is nothing good dwelling in my flesh.”

People who suffer depression especially feel like this. Also, people who suffer from mental illnesses and such like also feel that they are completely helpless, completely trapped and stuck in their own bodies, desperately and fundamentally sick and completely unable to fix themselves.

So what’s the problem, and where does the problem come from?

Many people today think that the problem is with these negative thoughts themselves, and want to tell people that they are simply wrong in their thinking. Instead, these people say, people who are depressed and mentally ill, should be told that they are not “sick”, “trapped”, “helpless”, “fundamentally bad”, but that they are in actual fact “fundamentally good” and have the capacity to do all sorts of good things in life. So many people think that the answer to helping people who are depressed is to preach to them about self-esteem. Some people even want to say, “You’re not sick”, “You’re not a bad person”, -- instead, “you’re a good person”, “things will turn out all right for you if only you put your mind to it.”

What do you think about this? Some people will often criticise the Lutheran Church for making its people say oppressive and destructive words each week like, “I, a poor helpless sinner” and “I have deeply displeased you” and “I deserve your punishment in time and in eternity”, and say that this sort of talk just adds to people’s feelings of worthlessness.

What do you think? Are these people right?

Our problem is not out thoughts—God created us in such a way that we are able to think. The ability to think is God’s creation and God’s gift.

Our problem is not our reason and our free-will—God created us in such a way that we are able to think things through and make decisions. The ability to think rationally, use our reason and use our free-will is God’s creation and God’s gift.

Our problem is not our body, or our flesh. Our bodies are not created evil, and our flesh is not an evil thing. Our physical bodies are God’s creation and God’s good gift.

The problem is this: Because of the fall into sin, every single part of us, our bodies, our souls, our spirits, our minds, our hearts, our reason, our strength, our thinking, our free-will is completely and totally corrupted by sin. There is not one single part of us that isn’t completely corrupted by this virus, this disease, this cancer. The only time we will be completely free from sin is when we die, and not a moment before. And so, as Lutherans, we say that our whole nature is totally corrupted by sin, and that we have a sinful nature. Many Christians don’t believe this fundamental fact of human existence, and so end of spreading a lot of confusion.

This sinful nature is something that we are wrestling with day after day. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Genesis 8:21 says, “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Romans 8:7 says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” Ephesians 2:8 also says, “We were dead in our trespasses.”

We are capable of making decisions, we are capable of using our reason, but because of the corruption of sin, we only make decisions that serve ourselves and not the glory of God. We can’t “make decision for Jesus”, because it’s just not possible. When it comes to spiritual matters, and converting to Christianity, it’s impossible to be argued into the faith, because our reason always wants to serve itself.

So we can all agree that the old man needs to be put off. We can all agree, as Luther says, that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires.

But now what? How are we going to live when our old self is drowned? Of course, if we don’t believe that we are sinners, and that everything we do is tainted by sin, then we don’t believe that the Old Adam exists. Many people believe that there’s no need for baptism, no need for the Old Adam to drown. But the bible teaches the opposite.

Our reading today says:

Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires.

But then our reading also says:

And be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Not only are we called to put off something old, but we are called to put on something new. We are called to take off our pyjamas and put on our clothes for work. Putting off the Old Adam isn’t simply taking off a jacket when we feel hot. We need to put on a completely new set of clothes.

So, we can see from our reading, that this new self is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This means that the likeness of God is something that we didn’t have before—we didn’t live in true righteousness and holiness before. There is a fundamental difference between a true Christian and a hypocrite. They might look the same for a while, but after a while, the Old Adam will show its ugly head, and the truth will be revealed. Being forgiven doesn’t mean that you can just go around and do whatever you feel like. You are called to put off the old self.

So where does this new self come from? How do we put it on? Does it come from inside of you? No—everything inside of you is corrupt and sinful. So where does it come from?

It comes from hearing the word of God. You see, when we hear the word of God, we hear Jesus himself, because he is the Word of God. John says at the beginning of his gospel: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And later it says: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And so now, when we hear the word of God, we also receive the Holy Spirit, and this word of God becomes flesh in us, and it becomes a new self in us.

We often pray in church: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. This clean heart is created by God through his word. And even though we are still living with sin and wrestling with it, we have been given the new self.

But it isn’t just any old Word of God that we need to hear. God sometimes speaks a word of law and of judgment. The law of God doesn’t create a new heart in us, it only condemns our hearts even more. But God creates a new heart in you when he preaches the Gospel to you, the free forgiveness of all your sins. Because when the Gospel is preached to you, then you hear the words, “Your sin is still with you, but you are no longer judged by it. You are still living with sin in every breath, but every breath is forgiven through Jesus’ blood. You are a sinner, but Jesus promises to come and live with you, and make his home within you together with his Father and the Holy Spirit, right in the centre of your heart—right in the middle of that same heart which vomits out all kinds of evil desires, one after the other, minute by minute. Jesus rules right in the midst of his enemies. Even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And so the Gospel is something completely new. It’s completely against our reason, because it’s completely and totally free. It’s completely against our minds, because it comes from the mind of God. It’s completely against our bodies, because it comes from the body and the blood of Christ.

So this is the new self that you are called to put on: the forgiveness of sins, given to you completely freely in baptism. And so Luther’s small catechism says: Baptism indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

It’s good to despair of yourself. But it’s bad to despair of God. It’s good to say that you are a sinner, but it’s bad to say that God can’t save you. He knows how to work through sinners: he’s been doing it for centuries. Look at the bible: it’s not a book full of people who are to be our moral examples. It’s a book full of sinners. The only people who gives us any example at all is Jesus.

Everything that Jesus is is for us, and everything that Jesus did, he did for us. And through baptism, he has given us everything not just in history all the way back then, but he gives himself to us to put on as a new person, a fresh new self. And so we are clothed not in our own righteousness, our own works, our own rational decisions and free will, but we are clothed with his decisions, his righteousness, his good will towards us, and his forgiveness.

St Paul says: You have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off the old self…and to put on the new self.

Amen.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, you took human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and by your death on the cross you took on all our sin and carried all our burdens. But in baptism you have given us your divine nature to put on, and have raised us up to new life. We thank you, Jesus, for this great gift! Amen.

Funeral of Maija Gulbis: Audio Sermon (9-Oct-2012)

Click title for link

Funeral of Maija Gulbis [Acts 7:54-60] (9-Oct-2012)

This sermon was preached at Latrobe Valley Funeral Homes, Traralgon, 11am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Acts 7:54-60)

He called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

You might think that the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is a very unusual bible passage for a funeral sermon. And you’d probably be right—I’ve never preached on this text before, on a Sunday or at a funeral, but I had come across this passage again recently during one of our parish bible studies, and it struck me in a new light.

Also, I had read this reading to Maija last Thursday, and of all the things I read to her, this reading seemed to give her particular strength. So I felt it would also be appropriate to preach on this passage today, so that the strength that she received on that day before she died might also be shared with everybody.

In the history of the church, St Stephen was the first Christian martyr: he was the first man to be killed for his faith. The word “martyr” means a “witness”. Sometimes today, the word “martyr” has been used by extremist Islamists as an excuse for their terrorism, and particularly for suicide bombing. But I think even most Muslims would agree that martyrdom is not bringing your own life to an end, but is when your life is taken away forcibly by others. In the second century, one of the teachers of the early church called Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” In the first two centuries of Christianity, martyrdom was everywhere. And many people would have thought that when they were throwing Christians to the lions in the Roman colosseum that they were bringing the Christian faith to an end. But Tertullian said it was quite the opposite: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

Many people today often think that when the church conducts another funeral, that this would cause us some sort of panic, because it would mean that we’re losing members and the church is dying and shrinking. But it’s quite the opposite. Christians are happy to send a person to meet Jesus, their Good Shepherd, and when a person dies in the faith, this is a great victory and it gives much encouragement to many people and causes people’s faith to grow.

So let’s have a look at our reading. We read:

Now when [the members of the Jewish council] heard [the] things [that Stephen was preaching] they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

Stephen was brought before the council here with charges laid against him, and he was asked to give a defence. What he ended up doing was give a lengthy sermon about all the people in biblical history and how the great people of faith were often treated very badly. In the end, he says to them that in the same way, they had worked together in trying to have Jesus killed, when they should have listened to him instead. So they were angry with Stephen, even though he had spoken the truth.

Then we read: But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

These verses should give us great encouragement. Often people think that God is a long way off and far away, and particularly we can feel this at the time of death. We might think: Why is God doing this? Or why won’t he do that?

But in actual fact, he’s not far off at all: he’s close by. Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew: Not even one little sparrow worth two cents falls to the ground without my Father. All the hairs on your head are numbered. Even the most silent of prayers is still heard by God. He doesn’t hear your prayers because he’s got supersonic ears, but because he’s here.

But our reading also says that Stephen saw Jesus sitting at God’s right hand. In the Apostles’ Creed, which we will say soon, it is one of the central beliefs of Christianity that Jesus ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. When Jesus ascended into heaven, it doesn’t mean that his human body has been destroyed somewhere. What it means is that Jesus in his human body is seated at God’s right hand, in such a way that wherever God the Father is, Jesus also promises to be there too in his human body.

So when a baby is baptised, Jesus Christ is there. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we believe that it is Christ’s true body and blood that is given for us there through the bread and wine. When people are dying, it has often been the tradition of pastoral care in the church to give a person the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Christ, to strengthen them as food and provisions for the road. Martin Luther said: “You should go to the Lord’s Supper as if you were going to your death, so that when you die it will be just like going to the Lord’s Supper.”

We also believe that Jesus promises to be there in every sick, lonely, sad and suffering person. Every time we bandage and bathe someone else’s wounds, we do it to Jesus Christ himself. As you did it to one the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

In the case of Stephen in our reading, even amongst all the noisiness of the world, and the hatred of the people, Jesus is there strengthening Stephen. And Stephen sees one of the most important realities of the Christian faith: that it is not simply God who is with him in his suffering, but Jesus himself—Jesus Christ who is both truly human and truly God—Jesus himself is with him in his suffering.

And so Stephen said: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Do you see where he says, I see the heavens opened? In other words, the path is set before me, it is all laid out, and I am ready to enter into it. But the anger and the noisiness of the world just gets louder. We read that they cast him out of the city and stoned him.

It’s important for a moment that we think about what it means that he was “cast out of the city”. Jesus was also cast out of the same city. So even though the persecutors think they are throwing him out away from God and away from God’s holy city and temple, they are in actual fact throwing him closer to Jesus, to the place where Jesus was crucified.

In the same way, for all of us, death is not a pleasant thing. It often comes with a lot of suffering, and people start to think, “Why does God allow this?” But when we are thrown out of the city, we are brought closer to Jesus.

For us today, we’re also sad to have lost Maija, and even though she was very sick and had been sick for a long time, her death also came suddenly. But at the same time, this event is not sad for her, because she has gone to be with Jesus. And if that’s where she went, then how can we be sad, when her desires are now completely fulfilled and all her sufferings and pains are completely ended and exchanged for happiness and joy?

We also read in the reading that a young man called Saul was there at Stephen’s stoning, and later we read that he approved his execution. Later on, Saul persecutes many Christians. We read: Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. But later, Saul himself is converted, and takes on a new name, Paul. And this Saul, who was there at Stephen’s death, went on to become one of the great Christian teachers, and wrote close to half of the New Testament. And when Jesus called St Paul, he didn’t ask him, “Saul, why did you persecute Stephen and all these other people?” He says, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Because Jesus was at the right hand of God, enthroned as true God in his human body together with God the Father, Jesus was able to be there with all these suffering people.

Then we read: As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

In Greek, this passage reads a bit differently. It says: They were stoning Stephen, who was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.” The English gives the impression that Stephen said this once. But the Greek gives the impression that he was saying this over and over, that this was what he was saying and kept on saying while he was being stoned.

In Psalm 31, there is the prayer: Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. And these are the words which Jesus also spoke on the cross. But Stephen doesn’t simply say, “Lord, receive my spirit”, but he says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” God the Father has given all his power and authority to receive people in death to his dear Son. And this should be a great encouragement to us. You see, without Jesus, we have no comfort and no strength. Without Jesus, we think God is just some sort of nebulous nothing who doesn’t care, or who is angry with us, or punishing us, and sending us bad karma.

But eternal life isn’t something that we seek to deserve by our own life, our character, our works, our prayers. It is simply something that we receive. In fact, what is more important is that the Lord Jesus does the receiving. And so Stephen says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Jesus, don’t just draw me from a long distance to heaven, but come to my side and walk with me all the way.

And the last verse says: And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he said this, he fell asleep.

Sometimes, people use all sorts of euphemisms for death. We might say a person “passed away”, “passed on”, “has gone to a better place”, and things like that. But we read about Stephen that he fell asleep. This expression is not a euphemism. This expression signifies that this death is not the end, and that one day he will also wake up.

And the same goes for us. Even though we are returned to ashes and dust, Jesus also promises to resurrect our bodies and draw them together in a new way so that we are reunited in body and soul together with Jesus. So we also say in the creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” And it is this hope that we as Christians are all looking forward to. And it is not just a future hope, but as St Paul said (or Saul, if you like), “a living hope”. [See comment below] And as Christian we have living, present hope, because we have a living, present Jesus, who sits at God’s right hand, and promises to comfort us and strengthen us with his words and Holy Spirit in person. And so, when we get to the end of the busy day, and all the noisiness of our lives, we look forward to that day, when like Maija, the Lord Jesus will receive our spirits and we will fall asleep with him.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Amen.

Trinity 18: Audio Sermon (7-Oct-2012)

Click title for link

Trinity 18 [Matthew 22:34-46] (7-Oct-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Matthew 22:34-46)

What do you think about the Christ?

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our Gospel reading this Sunday begins with these words:

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

We read here about two groups: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These two groups were kinds of religious parties or factions. On the Jewish council, called the Sanhedrin, there were both Pharisees and Sadducees. In the book of Acts, St Paul is brought before this Jewish council where after he speaks, we read: “A dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”

Also, according to a Jewish historian called Josephus, the Sadducees also rejected any traditions of the Pharisees that weren’t written in the Law of Moses. The Pharisees were very strict in keeping various traditions that had been handed down, but if these traditions weren’t written down in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number or Deuteronomy, the first five books of the bible, often called the books of Moses, then the Sadducees rejected them.

And in the passage just before our Gospel reading, we read about where the Sadducees try to ask Jesus what they think is a trick question. They want to know if a woman has 7 husbands, one after the other, whose wife she will be in the next life. They think that this little example shows that there is no afterlife, no heaven, and no resurrection from the dead. Also, they appeal to Moses. They start their question to Jesus by saying, Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’

But then Jesus says: You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.

Do you see that Jesus shows the Sadducees that there is a resurrection after all? There is such a thing as eternal life, and there is no need for marriage in eternal life. Also, he quotes to them from the book of Exodus: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. He quotes from Moses, in fact, he quotes to them from the time when God spoke directly to Moses from the burning bush. And then he says: He is not God of the dead but of the living. And we read: And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

So now, we come to our reading today, where it says: But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Our reading today occurs during Holy Week, in the week after he rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, and before he goes to the cross. So what do you think Jesus would do when he knows he’s going to die at the end of the week? He dedicates himself to one thing: teaching, teaching, teaching.

And so here he is in the temple: teaching. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees both come up to Jesus asking his questions and trying to trap him.

So the Pharisees gathered together, when they heard that he silenced the Sadducees. We see here a bit of good old-fashioned church politics going on! The Pharisees didn’t like the Sadducees at all, and now that Jesus had shut them up, they felt it was their turn.

But here’s the problem: the church of Jesus Christ doesn’t have any factions. There is faithfulness to Jesus and his word, and there is unfaithfulness to Jesus and his word. If pastors want to be pastors who care for their people, they can’t serve people by sitting on a fence and keeping two sides of an argument happy. That’s just politics—We can see this in government: sometimes one party are wrong about something, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the other party are right.

So also in the church. Jesus does not tolerate factions, but goes to the temple daily and teaches. And at the end of the week, he dies. In Galatians 5, St Paul says that rivalries, dissensions and divisions are works of the flesh, and that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But also, in Ephesians 4, St Paul also teaches us to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This unity doesn’t come from simply doing whatever people want to keep them happy, but it comes from the preaching of the word of God in its truth and purity. Sometimes this means that the word of God needs to spoken in season and out of season, as St Paul says. But Psalm 19 says: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

And so, we read in our gospel reading: And one of [the Pharisees], a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The Pharisees want to ask Jesus for the ultimate commandment, the one great commandment. But Jesus speaks to them about two: Love God and also love your neighbour.

Jesus, in a sense, provides a summary of the Ten Commandments with these two commandments. The first three commandments have to so with loving God alone with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind: You shall have no other gods, You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, and Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. We often call these commandments the first tablet of the law.

But then the rest of the commandments have to do with loving your neighbour as yourself: Honour your father and your mother, You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour, You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, and You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, and so on.

But Jesus says a very interesting thing about these two commandments. He says: This is great and first commandment. And a second is like it.

Why is the second commandment like the first one? How is it like the first one?

Loving our neighbour is very much like loving God because human beings were created in the likeness of God. Jesus himself took on human flesh and a human body (Philippians 2 says: the form of a servant, the likeness of men), and by doing this he blessed all of human life right from its beginning to its end. Just as Jesus gives us his body and blood to eat and drink in the Lord’s Supper, so also he is truly present in his flesh and blood in our neighbour, obviously not for us to eat and drink, but for us to serve. So in the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Christ is given for you. Why? To eat and drink and believe in. But in our neighbours, the body and blood of Christ are also “given for us”, but in a different way. What for? For us to serve and help and bless and care for.

So Jesus promises to speak to us through our parents and other authorities: so we should honour them, just as if we were honouring God himself, because Jesus is truly present there through them.

Jesus promises to be there in every neighbour we come across, even children, hungry people, thirsty people, strangers and refugees, naked people, sick people, and people in prison. Jesus says: Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me. He also says: I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me...Truly, I say to you, [Jesus wants you to take special notice] as you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it to me. So when we care for human life in obedience to the fifth commandment, we care for God himself.

Jesus promises to be there in every marriage, and St Paul teaches in Ephesians 5 that every marriage mysterious points us to the relationship between Christ and the church. …And so on. We can see that to love our neighbour as ourselves, is very much like loving God with all our heart and all our soul and all your mind. Just as you can’t separate Jesus’ two natures—just as you can’t split Jesus up into two people, a man and a god, but that he is God and man in one person—in the same way, we can’t split up loving God with loving our neighbour, because Jesus Christ himself promises to meet us through our neighbours. He even promises to meet us in a man bashed up by robbers on the side of the road, if ever we were to wander along the road and find such a person. Then we are called to use our donkey, to use our wine and oil, and to use our money to help that person, and serve Christ in his flesh.

And when a person gives another person this sort of help, it is Jesus himself who promises to help them. It is Jesus who has the donkey, it is Jesus who binds up the man’s wounds and pays for his accommodation. Remember the Good Samaritan was good, but he was also a heretic (an unbeliever, a false believer). In fact, he was one of the worst kinds of heretics for the Jewish people to whom Jesus told this parable. Jesus even cares for people through Buddhists, Muslims, and Atheists if the Christians and especially the Lutherans walk by on the other side of the road. Jesus Christ is not unmerciful to needy people, even if his followers are.

So you can see how to love God with all our heart is very much like loving our neighbour as ourselves. And Jesus says: On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

But Jesus puts to the Pharisees a little question of his own. He says: What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

You can see that the Pharisees are also put to shame. Just because the Sadducees were wrong, it doesn’t mean that the Pharisees were right. Jesus shows them a third way, a new way. The law is important, but we’re not saved by it. The law always shows us our sin. We look at the Ten Commandments like a mirror, and all we see is our problems. We are saved through Jesus Christ alone, and his blood, his suffering, his death, his resurrection. Jesus has preached the law to the Pharisees, but now he wants to preach the gospel.

Jesus is the son of David. He was descended from King David and born of the Virgin Mary. But he is also David’s Lord and the Son of God. He was also conceived of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus was David’s shepherd, so that he would not want. Jesus made David lie down in green pastures and restored his soul. Even though David walked in the valley of the shadow of death, he didn’t need to fear any evil, because Jesus Christ was with him.

And the same goes for us: But God the Father said to Jesus Christ [The Lord said my Lord]: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father. When he came down from heaven, he took human flesh. When he ascended into heaven, he brought human flesh with him, and so now Jesus’ flesh and blood can be wherever God’s right hand is, feeding the birds of the air, looking after all the sad, lonely and vulnerable people in the world, baptising new Christians, and even giving his body and blood to us to eat and drink every Sunday.

And so when Jesus says to us: What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?, we should answer with Peter: Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. We should look at the nails in Jesus’ hands and see Jesus’ wounded side and say with Thomas: You, Jesus, are my Lord and my God. In the hymn “A mighty fortress is our God” we should look into Jesus’ loving face and gentle, blessing hands and think about his bleeding wounds, and sing: “Ask ye who is this? Christ Jesus it is, of Sabaoth Lord, and there’s none other God.”

Yes, apart from Jesus’ flesh and blood, there is no Father for us, and there is no Holy Spirit. Apart from Jesus’ flesh and blood, there is no protection from the holy angel either. Jesus says: The Father is in me and I am in the Father. Jesus says about the Holy Spirit: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Jesus even says about the angels: You will see heaven opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

And so, what a joy it is for us to love our Lord Jesus with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind! What a joy it will be to find Jesus in all our neighbours and to love him as we love ourselves!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen.

I love you, Lord Jesus, my strength. You are my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Lord Jesus Christ, son of David and son of God, fill our hearts with such an overflowing love for your Father which is only possible through your blood. Send us the Holy Spirit so that we may also love our neighbours as ourselves. Amen.