A New Name

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:5-6).

 

We went to a baptism last week Wednesday.

 

It was for a baby. The baby was cute. Catilyn thought it was funny that a baby boy was wearing a white dress. We “argued” about the difference between a dress and a gown. We mocked the popular insanity by wondering how the baby "identified" and whether or not our congregation was slipping into heresy by offering baptism to a cross-dressing infant.


In his sermon, our pastor talked about what had just happened at the font. That child was given a new name - the name of Jesus. And, he explained, when that name is on you, it is on you like a target. That child now has an enemy - Satan.


Satan doesn’t particularly notice us when we are dead in our trespasses and sins. He doesn’t need to notice us. We are already on his side. But when we are baptized he does take notice. We are washed clean of our sin. We are renewed and regenerated by the working of the Holy Spirit. We are washed into Jesus. Pastor said that baptism is God’s will being done. It is God taking a child of man and making him into a child of God. You can see why Satan might notice this, and why he hates baptism.

 

All people are born sinful and unclean. We all need the salvation of Jesus. Because of our sinful nature, however, we think we are better off doing things for ourselves. We would rather make a name for ourselves than have the name of Jesus put on us. And, as Pastor pointed out, if we can’t make a better name for ourselves, we will try to tear down the names of others to make ourselves feel better.


But it doesn’t make us feel better, not to any lasting degree, anyway. And it certainly doesn’t justify us in the eyes of God. We need Jesus for that.


Along with getting Jesus’ name in our baptism, we also get some other really important things. We get His death, and we get His resurrection. All who were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death, Paul says. And, Paul continues, if we were united with Him in a death like His, we will also certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (see Romans 6:3-5).


We have nothing to fear. He has paid for the guilt of our sin by His blood shed on the cross. He has justified us by His resurrection. He has given us those gifts by connecting us to Him in our baptism.


Since we have nothing to fear, because Christ is risen, and because He raises the dead, we can live our lives here on earth as people who know they are going to live forever. We can be bold in loving and serving our neighbors, and bearing witness to Christ. We don't have to be afraid of anything that threatens us, not even death. 

 

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, into whom we have been baptized. ###

Jesus Warns of Offenses

Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:1-4).

Because we are fallen, sinful creatures living in a fallen and sinful creation, Jesus tells us that sin is inevitable. There is no escaping it while we are in the world. Scripture shows us that unregenerate, unbelieving man is, by his nature, sinful and unclean; we are, by nature, objects of God’s wrath who do not, and cannot accept the spiritual things of God, because we are spiritually blind and dead in our sins. The believing Christian as well, who has been washed clean of their sin by the waters of Holy Baptism, though joined to Christ in His death and resurrection, must still contend with sin in their own flesh. St. Paul describes this struggle in his letter to the Romans:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and brining me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.[1]

Jesus warns unbeliever and believer alike to take heed.

But we are to deal with sin differently than the unbelieving world, which looks for payback for wrongs done to it. Jesus says we are to rebuke sin, and we are to forgive it: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him (Law); if he repents, forgive him (Gospel). This would be difficult enough to do when the sins against us were relatively small, but Jesus makes no distinction between big and little sins. He also doesn’t put a limit on the number of times we are to forgive the penitent sinner. “Seven times a day” isn’t meant to be a forgiveness limit, but rather an illustration that we are to constantly forgive those who repent. That is, after all, how God deals with us. That is why Jesus teaches us to say, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” when we pray. God the Father deals with us and our sins this way, in Jesus. We constantly sin against God; yet, for the sake of Christ, the one who gave His life as our ransom on the cross while we were still His enemies, forgives us. He forgives us every time we repent. We don’t deserve such treatment, neither could we earn it. Likewise, our brother who sins against us does not deserve such treatment from us, nor can he earn it. Yet, we are compelled by the love of Christ, to allow His forgiveness to overflow from us to our brother. Freely have we received God’s gifts in Christ, freely shall we give.

The response of the Apostles is one of astonishment: Increase our faith, they plead. Indeed. It is impossible for us by the strength of our own will, to forgive offenses against us the way God forgives our sins, in Christ. Our sinful nature cries out for justice to be done to the transgressors, all the while ignoring the uncomfortable fact that, by this standard of justice, our transgressions also deserve to be punished. Our new nature, rather than crying out for God’s justice, pleads for His mercy, because it knows that it cannot stand before God without the covering of Christ. The Psalmist writes,

If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.[2]

We certainly must, along with the Apostles, pray for the increase of our faith, for our faith is tinier than a mustard seed. The prayer of the father with the demon-possessed son should constantly be on our lips: Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

Isaiah, speaking about the Servant of the LORD, Jesus the Messiah, says this: A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench.[3] Bruised reeds and smoking flax that we are, Christ calls us to repentance. Christ died for the sins of the world according to the Scriptures. He was buried and rose again for our justification on the third day. It is through the preaching of this Gospel, this Good News, that He strengthens the bruised reeds, and fans the smoking flax into flame: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.[4] This is why we Christians are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, even though the unbelieving world would ridicule and persecute us because of it. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.[5] Christ answers our prayer for increased faith every time we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ to hear His Word proclaimed, and to eat His body and drink His blood, as He instructs us to do. Through this means Christ gives us the gifts He won for us on the cross, forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and He strengthens and preserves us in the one true faith.

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[1] Romans 7:15, 22-23

[2] Psalm 130:3-4

[3] Isaiah 42:3

[4] Romans 10:7

[5] Romans 1:16

Jesus Warns of Offenses

Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (Luke 10:1-5).

It is inevitable that we will sin; we are, by nature, children of wrath.[1] It is just as inevitable that we will offend our neighbor. Jesus says something that sounds harsh. Would it really be better for the one who causes offense to one of these little ones, to have a millstone tied around his neck and be drowned? If the comparison is between physical death, and eternal spiritual death, then yes. What Jesus describes here is what the Pharisees are doing. They are unrepentant sinners; they blaspheme the Holy Spirit and teach the commandments of men as doctrines of God.[2] They travel land and sea to make one convert and, when they win him, make him twice as fit for hell as they are themselves, by teaching him to believe their false teachings. They will have to stand before Christ on the Last Day and give an account for their actions, just as all others who have done similarly will be required to do. Their unregenerate hearts will not have been washed by the washing of regeneration.[3] They will be required to justify themselves, apart from Christ, as they tried to do during their earthly life. They will be cast into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.[4] Yes, physical death, in comparison to eternal separation from God, would be much preferable.

Christ teaches His disciples to forgive those who repent of their sins against them, in the same way God forgives us penitent sinners: Finally, freely, and continually. He has taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Do we really believe God has graciously forgiven us for all our sins for the sake of Christ? That forgiveness and love will overflow out of our heart and onto our neighbor, even if he sins against us seven times a day, and repents. There is no talk here of “forgiving, but not forgetting.” God said, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”[5] This is how we are called to forgive our neighbor who sins against us.

The disciples are stunned, as their response indicates: Increase our faith. Amen! They know that, by their own effort, such an attitude is impossible. But with Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, all things are possible, even our eternal salvation. Our entire life is one spent uttering the prayers: Lord, have mercy! Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! Increase my faith![6] We cannot do it; Christ must do it.[7] He has promised to hear us, and grant our requests.[8]

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[1] Ephesians 2:3

[2] Matthew 15:7-9

[3] Titus 3:5

[4] Luke 13:22-30; Matthew 25:41

[5] Romans 11:27; Hebrews 8:12

[6] Luke 18:13; Mark 9:23-25; Luke 10:5

[7] 1 Corinthians 2:14; 12:3; Romans 8:7

[8] John 14:13; 1 John 5:14

Give, and it will be given to you...

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:37-38).

Health and wealth heretics and prosperity preachers love to point their unwitting flocks to this verse, and others like it. They are skilled at using them out of context to manipulate their flocks into sending them money. “Give,” Jesus says, “and it will be given to you!” If you are generous, God will be generous to you. If you give, God will give to you. So, if you want to experience increase, whether in your bank account, your health, or your love life, give. More specifically, give money to me, the TV preacher. Sow your seed offering. Be like the widow who gave all she had. Give until it hurts so God knows you are serious. And if, after you sow your seed and step out in faith, you don’t receive your “increase”, it isn’t because I am a liar; You simply must not have given enough. You didn’t have enough faith. Never fear! The TV preacher will allow you to send him as much money as it takes to obtain your blessing. This is what has been called the Prosperity Gospel. False teachers have been using it to bilk people of their money for many years. It works especially well in America, where we do not experience the hopeless, soul-crushing poverty prevalent in many other areas of the world.

But, looking at Christ’s words, isn’t that what the plain reading of the text says? Give and it will be given to you. Isn’t Jesus literally telling His disciples that he will bless them if they give generously? No. These two verses come from the middle of a sermon that spans 29 verses in Luke’s Gospel. Understood in their context we learn what Jesus is actually discussing: Jesus is talking about forgiveness. He wants us to forgive others. He has granted us a generous portion of forgiveness, we are to do likewise, if we really believe what Jesus says is true. That good treasure He has put into our hearts by the working of His Holy Spirit through the Means of Grace should overflow out of us. Is this any surprise? This is the same Jesus who teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”[1] This is the Jesus who told Peter the parable of the unforgiving servant, and that he should forgive his neighbor, not seven times, but seventy times seven times.[2] 

We, who have been freely forgiven by Christ for our sin, should treat our neighbors likewise. If we don’t, we must reexamine whether we really believe that God has forgiven us by his grace, in Christ, apart from our works. We run the risk of being that unforgiving servant. If we removed verse 38 from the discourse here recorded by Luke, is there any doubt that Christ is talking about mercy and forgiveness?  Does it make sense that His focus should shift from forgiveness and mercy, to a magic formula for having your best life now, for the space one sentence? Of course not. We daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment. Since God has given us forgiveness through His Son freely, we will also heartily forgive, and also readily do good, even to those who sin against us.[3]

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[1] Matthew 6:9-13

[2] Matthew 18:21-35

[3] Triglot Concordia: the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

Forgive us our trespasses, but don’t trust or accept the behavior of those who trespass against us…

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared (Psalm 130:3-4)

We all, from time to time, think that because we hold a certain belief, others who belong to our social/economic/political/religious group(s), whatever that may be, think the same way we do. To some degree this is true; it's safe to assume that if you belong to a stamp collecting society, the members all, to one degree or another, have an affinity for philately. On the other hand, we as individuals often project our personal beliefs onto the group. My theory is, most people don't study these things and whatever way they "feel" about the issue in question, they associate with their group. The formula goes like this: I'm a Lutheran. I think all people are basically good (because it seems mean, negative, and unfair to believe what the Bible teaches about original sin). Therefore Lutherans believe people are basically good. This is demonstrated by the recent Lifeway survey which shows that a large percentage of American Evangelicals hold heretical beliefs[1] (Lindgren 2016).

This phenomenon can also be seen among Christians because of the unrestricted posting of internet memes. Every day I see people who are confessing Christians, who belong to and regularly attend church, posting memes that would make the toenails of orthodox theologians curl in fright and disgust. The most recent gem to convulse my brain was a meme with the following phrase superimposed over a background of floating clouds, or majestic mountains, or whatever, no doubt meant to be “inspirational” (whatever that means):

I forgive people but that doesn't mean I accept their behavior or trust them. I forgive them for me, so I can let go and move on with my life. 

While this may seem to make good common sense, and even be seen by some as inspirational at first blush, this meme’s notion of forgiveness is, in reality, anything but actual forgiveness. This meme could be summed up as "Forgive, but don't forget." This sentiment may resonate with our sinful human nature, but it bears no relation to actual forgiveness, and Christians should not apply this nugget of worldly wisdom to their lives. 

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared…Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation (Psalm 130:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

First, we Christians confess in the Apostles Creed that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. What does that mean? We believe that through Christ, God the Father has pardoned and forgiven sinful mankind. That's all there is to it, really. He keeps no record of our sins, as the psalmist tells us. In Christ we have been reconciled to God, and our sins are wiped off the books. With God there is no "forgiving, but not forgetting."

Scripture tells us that God hates sin and that it must be atoned for[2]. So, how can he simply declare sinners to be righteous? Well, it isn't simple. It took God the Son, second person of the Trinity, to come down to earth, take on human flesh, keep God's law perfectly, and bear our sin and it’s punishment in our place by dying on the cross to make the atonement. Jesus, the sinless one, became sin for us so that we could become righteous[3]. 

So, to God, all our sins have been paid for through the death of Christ. They are gone. They are forgotten. There is no record of them for God to consult and hold over our heads, as we sinful men do when we "forgive" our fellows. Moreover, having been baptized into Christ, we are joined to him in his death and in his resurrection. That means that his death is ours, and his life, the life that the Son of God won for us on the cross, is ours also[4]. 

How do we get this forgiveness of God? Must we complete some series of tasks? That might be logical to the human mind, and we certainly tend to operate that way with our neighbors on a daily basis. That would, however, be us working to atone for our own sins and would defeat the purpose of what Christ came into the world to do. No, God offers us his forgiveness as a gift through the Gospel. Through the means of Word and Sacrament Christ comes to us and works faith in us, according to his own timing and will. That faith, worked in us by the Holy Spirit, through his means, takes hold of the forgiveness Christ won for us. 

This teaching on forgiveness is the most important teaching of Christianity. It is what distinguishes Christianity from every other false religion. Salvation is completely the gift and work of God. It doesn't depend on me in any way, which is a relief, since there is no merit or worthiness in me. This scriptural teaching is of immense comfort to the penitent sinner, and much more satisfying than any fleeting feeling of self-righteousness we get from announcing to the world via Facebook that our philosophy is to "forgive, but not forget" the sins of our neighbor.

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:8-15).

Second, we are commanded by Christ to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." In this petition of the Lord's Prayer we are literally told to forgive others the way that God forgives us. If we do not, it is perhaps a sign that we do not really believe that God has forgiven us as he has promised. This is a thing we cannot do perfectly and, when we sin by failing at it, we should repent...and ask for forgiveness! In the Small Catechism, Luther explains the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer like this:

We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us (Concordia Publishing House 1991).

Stated another way, when we forgive others, it shows that we truly believe that God forgives us.

We have briefly described how God acts toward us; let's consider how we act toward him. We sin again and again, we repent of our sins, and God forgives us for Christ's sake. There is no mention of God not trusting us, or not forgetting our sins. In fact, scripture tells us precisely the opposite. Our sins are wiped away for good. This is the standard we are to have when forgiving those who trespass against us. 

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22).

How many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Not seven times, but seventy times seven. So…490 times? Jesus isn't giving his disciples a mathematical formula to figure out the exact number of times they should forgive someone before giving them the proverbial boot. He's telling them to endure repeated injury and continue to offer them forgiveness, just as God has done for them. Imagine how terrified and uncertain we would be if God adopted the philosophy of "Forgive, but don't forget" toward us sinners. When we put ourselves in that scenario, we get some idea of what actual forgiveness is, and why "forgive, but don't forget" is counterfeit wisdom. 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:43-48).

It is logical to the mind of man that we should love those who love us and hate those who hate us. Christians, aware of the fact that we have a corrupt and sinful nature, should be wary of those things that "just feel right," like asserting the self-righteous attitude of "forgiving, but not forgetting." Because of his great love for us, God the Father sent Christ, his Only-Begotten Son, into the world to bear our sin and be our savior. Jesus, God in human flesh, demonstrated for us the very thing he teaches by his willingness to be put to death on the cross as the propitiation for the sins of the world. You see, we did no good thing which attracted us to Jesus and compelled him to save us. He loved us, his enemies, while we were still his enemies[5]. This is the attitude we are to have when dealing with our neighbors. Because Christ has been victorious over sin, death, and the devil, and forgives us our trespasses, we can love our neighbor and forgive them that trespass against us.

 Works Cited

Concordia Publishing House. Luther's Small Catechism. Translated by Concordia Publishing House. Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1991.

Lindgren, Caleb. "Evangelicals' Favorite Heresies Revisited by Researchers." Christianity Today. September 28, 2016. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/september-web-only/evangelicals-favorite-heresies-state-of-theology-ligonier.html (accessed October 17, 2016).

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[1] Reprising their ground-breaking study from two years ago, LifeWay Research and Ligonier Ministries released an update today on the state of American theology in 2016. Researchers surveyed 3,000 adults to measure their agreement with a set of 47 statements about Christian theology—everything from the divinity of Christ to the nature of salvation to the importance of regular church attendance (Lindgren 2016).

[2] Psalm 5:4; 92:15; Hebrews 9:22

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[4] Romans 6:1-11

[5] Romans 5:6-11