1. Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who comes to bring faith alive in us so that we are not hearers of the Word only, but also doers. Amen. The message from God’s Word is taken from Eph 2:1-10 and James 2:14-26. Today we conclude our summer sermon series on the catechism by focusing on the theme, “Cross Bearers-Faith & Works,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The importance of the Six Chief Parts of Luther’s Small Catechism is that they help us understand how we are pleasing to the Father as we live out our lives of faith with one another. Very often we acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself. Such knowledge can increase our faith, and that's excellent. But we also need to beware. We need knowledge that is tempered with wisdom and love, because, as the apostle Paul warns us in the context of food offered to idols, "'Knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). We have no desire to be puffed-up believers, so Luther in these Six Chief Parts shows us the more excellent way.
3. We would be wise to deal with the faith-and-works challenge that confronts us as Christians. We know that we are saved by faith alone, but saving faith never travels alone. It is always found in the company of good works. Luther does not say these exact words but speaks of them in his commentary on Romans quoted in the Book of Concord. As he writes in the Preface to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: Faith . . . is a divine work in us that changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12–13]. It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; it brings with it the Holy Spirit. O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works. Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times. This knowledge of and confidence in God's grace makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all creatures. And this is the work that the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God, who has shown him this grace. Thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light from fire. (AE 35:370–71, quoted in SD IV 10–12)
4. We can’t separate faith from works, according to Luther. This truth aligns with the epistle of James. James would have us understand that our Heavenly Father has the expectation that we put what we've learned into practice. He says it this way: "Faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus comes to save us from the death resulting from our disobedience to the Law of God, the "cross-bones" structure of our Christian life—disobedience that reflects our lack of faith. Believers are not to surrender again to death by refusing to ask the second of the catechism questions. "What does this mean?" is the first. "How is this done?" is the second. We are responsible to do what we've learned because of the virtues that cling to us through the "cross wind" of baptismal water: faith and love. Paul reminds us of the greatest virtue when he writes: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). We, because of our emphasis on justification, would be hard pressed not to say the greatest of these is faith. That is not the testimony of the Holy Bible. Love triumphs over every other virtue. Love for our heavenly Father and the sacrifice of his Son refuses to be disregarded and leads us to perform those good works prepared beforehand as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit's "cross fire," the Lord's Supper, to be God's workmanship on earth (Ephesians 2:10).
5. This is where the Six Chief Parts go to work in my heart, hands, and my feet. I recall what I believe about my Lord Jesus and his sacrifice to save me from the wages of sin, hell, and death. I remember his suffering on the cross and his prayer for me even as the life flowed out of his body. I remember his resurrection from the dead and his ascension to the right hand of God the Father, and I am freed from the life of sin and set free to love Jesus and to honor him with my life and actions. I view all of this from the perspective of the cross, and I am empowered with these graces. I have the wisdom of the cross-bones structure of the Ten Commandments to teach me how to display love for my Father and my neighbor. I see through the "cross-eyes" revelation displayed in the confession of the Apostles' Creed so that I won't be misdirected by false teaching regarding my faith in Jesus. I am empowered and encouraged in "cross words" to be constant in my conversation with the Father through prayer, especially the Lord's Prayer. I am assured that nothing can separate me from the love of God, because I am endowed with the cross wind of the Spirit through the power and authority of the water and the Word of holy baptism. I’m renewed when I sin, missing the mark of holiness through the "cross way" of confession and forgiveness, where I announce my sin and hear the words of absolution, "In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven." I am filled to overflowing with the cross-fire power of my Father through the Lord's Supper in which I take and eat and drink the true body and blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. I am so full of grateful humility that in these Six Chief Parts the Father has taught me how he has showered his love on me! I am filled with thanksgiving and love that his life in me by faith moves me to action in love for my neighbor! I feed the hungry because I’m fed. I clothe the naked because I’m clothed. I love the unlovable because the Father loves me enough to cover my ugliness with the blood of his Son. With my sin taken away, laid on Jesus, and covered in his blood as my righteous raiment, I become lovely and lovable. I soothe the widow and the orphan because I have been soothed. I welcome the foreigner and stranger because Jesus was a traveler from glory clothed in human flesh and because I am a traveler on this earth even as I am a citizen of the Commonwealth of Paradise and heaven is my home.
6. The place where we are most exposed is in our relationship with others in the Body of Christ. I hear Christians, even pastors, talk to and about, instead of respectfully with, one another. I see some Christians treat others in ways that reflect neither faith in God nor love for our brother or sister. For such things, the cross way of confession and forgiveness is the blessing we need. Stop and think about this for a moment: Jesus is caught speaking to and dining with tax collectors and sinners; the Bible says he is "reclining at table" (Mark 2:15). The scribes and Pharisees see Jesus eating with them and wonder why he would do such a thing. Jesus is a rabbi. He is holy. He is supposed to know better. God approves of him and does not approve of them. Jesus said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). That is what we all are according to our doctrine: simul justus et peccator, at once saint and sinner. When we begin calling ourselves righteous and casting others out on the basis of our own righteousness, we’re no longer practicing the cross way of confession and forgiveness, but rather condemnation. These are outside of our view as followers of Jesus. He encourages us with this: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). That is love, born of humility, that endures with faith enough to grant forgiveness of sins endured. Even on the cross, Jesus displays this grace, saying of those who betrayed him, lied of him, and had him crucified, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
7. The Father grants me strength not to stop, falter, or fail, not to become distracted by the world, but to continue to advance the kingdom of God with every step I take. This is the outcome of faithful, humble love and obedience to the Father through the Six Chief Parts. Lord, help us. Bless and us with hearts of faith, love, and obedience, so that these words that Jesus said to others never apply to us: "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21:31). All of this, loving of God and neighbor, is entirely contrary to our selfish and sinful natures. Living as the Six Chief Parts teach and enable us means sacrificing self, giving up so many things we might desire. It's what Jesus means when he says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). We surrender to the grace, power, and authority of faith and works that bless us to be "cross bearers." By bearing our own crosses, we participate with our Lord Jesus in the salvation of humankind, and so the Six Chief Parts are gracious means that encourage and strengthen us to be cross bearers.
8. We go forth from this series in wisdom, not puffed up, but in faith and love that says we have all we need to be the cross-fire presence of Jesus to those who are waiting to know that grace of God made available through him, our Lord. This is our Perspective of the Cross. Make it so, Lord, in your name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment