Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity - Eph 4:1-6

                                                                                                   Trinity 17
                                                                                                   Eph 4:1-6
                                                                                                   9/18/16

The American Civil War is an enduring source of interest to the public. No doubt there are many reasons for this. The role of slavery in the war continues to resonate today as people consider the subject of race relations. The war and its aftermath played a formative role for the culture in many parts of the American south.

One of the most compelling and fascinating aspects of the Civil War is how it pitted combatants against each other who had been trained together as officers. Not surprisingly many military leaders on both sides had been trained at the United States Military Academy at West Point and had been classmates. For the North this included people like Ulysses S. Grant, George Meade, George McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker and Winfield Hancock. For the South this included men like Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Picket, P.G.T. Beauregard and Jefferson Davis. Having trained together, they now tried to defeat each other.

But the ties between combatants went even deeper than this. Many of the leaders who faced each other as opponents in the Civil War had fought side by side in the Mexican American War some fifteen years earlier. Grant, McClellan and Meade from the North were there and so were Lee, Longstreet, Picket, Beauregard, Davis and Stonewall Jackson. Deep bonds are formed between men who have fought together and experienced combat. Yet now those same men found themselves fighting against each other.

Keeping the United States united was costly and took great effort. In the epistle lesson this morning the apostle Paul addresses the fact that maintaining the unity of the Church is something that must be a priority and also requires real effort. However this goal is essential because Christians share in a common calling and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul begins our text this morning by writing, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Paul exhorts the Ephesian Christians to live and conduct themselves in a manner that is worthy of the calling that they have received. Now obviously, Paul thinks that Christians have received something very special. They have received a calling. And Paul says that this calling draws us to live in a way that is worthy of it – a way that is consistent with the tremendous gift we have received.

In our text this morning we see the Gospel, and what the Gospel means for how we live. Paul certainly talks in our text about what the Christian life looks like – about what we do. But his starting point is what God has done for us. He begins with God’s grace. In fact Paul began this letter by talking about God’s grace in a way that leaves absolutely no room for our works and merit.

The apostle started the letter in chapter one by writing, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Paul says that God chose us in Christ before the world was even made. He is talking about predestination, as he goes on to say, “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

Before you even existed God chose you in Christ! There is no purer way to express the grace of the Gospel. And while sometimes it feels like thinking about predestination can twist our minds into knots, we always need to focus on two basic truths. First, whenever the Bible talks about predestination it always does so in order to provide comfort to Christians. And second, it always does so in order stress God’s grace in saving you. You didn’t do anything. You couldn’t do anything to be saved. Instead, God has done it purely as a gift.

In carrying out his will for you to be saved, God has called you to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit. Again, you could not do it by your own reason or strength. It was a gift. Through his Word and baptism he called you to faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead. And so Paul goes on to says about Christ, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

It is an astounding gift! And just to be sure we don’t miss this point, Paul goes on to say in chapter two, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is a gift. But that doesn’t mean it was free. Instead it is the costliest gift in history. It cost the holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death of God’s Son on the cross.

This is the calling you have received in Christ. And this calling matters – it makes a difference in how we live. That is why Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
The apostle then goes on to explain what this looks like. He says that we are to walk “with all humility and gentleness.” This isn’t how the first century world thought about things. Writers of that period considered humility to be a negative characteristic. Things haven’t really changed that much, because fallen humanity hasn’t changed. Humility means that you don’t put yourself first; you don’t seek to focus attention on yourself. And gentleness is also not prized. It may be great for helping others, but it’s not the kind of thing that gets you ahead – that gets you what you want for you.

Paul is sharing the same thing that our Lord Jesus teaches in the Gospel lesson this morning when he says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The One who saved you humbled himself as he willingly submitted to the suffering and death of the cross. Yet the cross was not the end. On the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. And even that was not all, for God the Father exalted the ascended Lord to his right hand. Because we have seen God do this in Christ, we now are called to humility – to the service others. Yet we do so knowing that this is also the way of Christ that leads to resurrection and eternal life.

In our text Paul goes on to say that walking in a manner worthy of the calling we have received means that we live “with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The thing about the church is that it is made up of a bunch of sinners. Certainly, the work of the Holy Spirit makes a difference in how we live. But we are also still sinners … and sometimes sinners are a real pain. It can be difficult to get along with them.

Paul says that to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received in Christ means that we need to be patient and steadfast in dealing with one another. We need to put up with and endure one another. We need to seek actively seek to maintain the unity that the Holy Spirit has created in the bond of peace. These are all words that describe effort and persistence. They describe the need to overlook the shortcomings of others and the irritation they provide. This means that we put the unity of the Church ahead of our own ruffled feelings.

We do this because of the calling we have received. We do this because of the unity the Holy Spirit has created in Christ. Paul describes the source of this unity as he says in our text, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

In 1 Corinthians Paul says, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” Through the work of the Spirit we have been joined together as the Church – the Body of Christ. We have been called together in Christ and so we have one hope of our calling – the hope of resurrection on the Last Day. We share in one Lord – one common faith – as we have been joined together by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Because God has done this for you in Christ through the work of the Spirit, your goal is to live in ways that recognize this unity and seek to preserve it visibly in your life. This means choosing to overlook those things that you could use as a reason to be upset. It means acting in humility and service in order to attend to the needs of others. Ultimately, it means that because of the calling we have received in Christ and the unity he has created in his Body the Church, we seek to carry out Paul’s instruction when he writes at the end of this chapter: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity - 1 Kg 17:17-24

                                                                                                Trinity 16
                                                                                                1 Kg 17:17-24
                                                                                                 9/11/16

People are always interested in lists – in rankings. We are often curious to see what has been listed as the “ten best” or the “ten worst.” These kinds of rankings are often applied to colleges. You see it done for places to live in Illinois. And of course, this is done all the time for various sports.

Now part of the fun in these kinds of lists is that in many cases there is no one correct answer or ranking. It depends on what criteria you use and how you weight them, and people can arrive at different conclusions. We enjoy debating about lists for this very reason – because there can be and are differences of opinion.

If you decided to draw up a list of the top five prophets in the Old Testament, there is absolutely no doubt about who would be number one. There is only one clear answer – and that answer may surprise you. Number one on the list … the greatest prophet in the Old Testament … is Moses. Now “prophet” is probably not the first word that comes to mind when we think about Moses. Instead, we probably think of Moses as the law giver. We tend to associate Moses with his role at Mt Sinai as God gave the Torah – the Law - to Israel that described how they were to live as his people in the covenant. 

Nevertheless, the Bible leaves absolutely no doubt that Moses should be considered a prophet and that he was number one. We read at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”

Now if Moses is number one, I would argue that Elijah is number two. God worked mighty miracles through Elijah, especially the fire from heaven that burned up the offering and altar itself in the confrontation with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. Like Moses, Elijah went to Mt Sinai and had a memorable encounter with Yahweh. Elijah did not die, but instead was taken up by a whirlwind into heaven. And the Bible itself points to Elijah as a prophet of unique status since in Malachi, the last of the prophets, Yahweh says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” And in fact the New Testament tells us that John the Baptist’s ministry must be understood in relation to Elijah.

By any definition Elijah must be considered one of the all time great prophets in the Old Testament. And yet in the Old Testament lesson today this status is turned against him. He is accused of being the bearer of death and the remembrance of sin.

In our text this morning we hear about events that are at the beginning of Elijah’s career. Elijah lived in the ninth century B.C. After the death of King Solomon Israel had divided into two nations. The northern tribes broke away from Judah and formed a more powerful nation. This nation was led by her kings into great idolatry as they worshipped false gods. King Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. She worshipped Baal and zealously sought to promote the worship of Baal in Israel.

While the religious situation was terrible, the economic outlook was outstanding. The traditional near eastern powers were divided and distracted, leaving a power vacuum around Palestine. Sidon was a great seaport on the Mediterranean, and the marriage between Ahab and Jezebel was part of an alliance to foster trade. Judah, Israel and Sidon were doing business together, and business was good.

However, Yahweh confronted King Ahab and Israel’s idolatry through the ministry of Elijah. Elijah said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And indeed, there was no rain and a drought ensued.

At first God sent Elijah to the east of the Jordan where he lived along a brook as God sent ravens to bring him bread and meat. But eventually the drought caused the brook to dry up. And then Yahweh did something surprising. As we heard in last week’s Old Testament reading, he sent Elijah to the village of Zarephath which belonged to the king of Sidon. He sent Elijah to live in Jezebel’s backyard!

Yahweh sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath who had a young son. They were at the point of starvation. Yet Elijah told her to make him a little cake of bread for him. And he told her, “For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” True to God’s Word, the jar of flour and the jug of oil continued to provide for the three of them day after day.

This holy man from Israel had come to the widow in Zarapheth. He had brought the blessing of food. But we hear in our text today that then, tragedy struck. We learn that the widow’s son became severely ill and died. The woman’s husband had already died, and now her son had died. Presumably, she was now all alone.

In our text, the widow speaks to Elijah. But what she says may surprise us. She says to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” The widow knows that Elijah is the prophet of Yahweh. He had worked a miracle in her midst. And now she believes that Elijah has brought the judgment of Yahweh against her sin.

In the widow’s words we find a perspective that we often lack. She knows that Elijah is the representative of a holy and frightening power – a holy power that makes her keenly aware of her sins. We are prone to lose sight of this fact – that God is the holy God who is completely other. He is the One who determines what sin is - for sin is any thought, word or deed that violates his will for life. And this God is no doting grandpa handing out candy. Instead, Scripture tells us that he is a consuming fire. He brings death; he brings destruction to all who sin, because sin is always committed against him. 

Yet in our text we learn that there is more to it than this bare and frightening fact. For God is also the gracious and compassionate One. In our text we learn that Elijah took the boy’s body up to the room where he was staying. He laid the boy on his bed and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again.”

The prophet called out for help and Yahweh listened. Life returned to the boy and he revived. Elijah brought the boy back to his mother and when she saw her child alive again she said, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” 

In our text today we see Elijah work a miracle by raising the widow’s son. Yet this miracle is about more than Elijah. We see in our Gospel lesson this morning that the miracles of Elijah point forward to Jesus Christ. They are previews of the powerful ministry that the incarnate Son of God will undertake. This is obvious as Jesus raises from the dead the only son of yet another widow.

But when Jesus raises the dead in the Gospels it is just the start. It is a mighty action of God’s reign that focuses our attention on the ultimate goal of Jesus’ ministry – on Good Friday and Easter. The Son of God entered into the world because God is the holy One who brings judgment and death to all who sin against him. Yet he is also the one who again and again describes himself in the Old Testament as the God is who “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” 

God acted graciously when he sent Jesus to be numbered with the transgressors. In Christ God called to remembrance every one of your sins on cross and he caused the death of his Son in order to give you forgiveness. And then on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. This means that the death which sin brings no longer has the final word. Instead Jesus gets the last word on the Last Day when he will return in glory and give you a share in his resurrection.

Like the woman in our text, we need to understand that our every sin is an affront to the holy God. As we fear, love and trust in God this recognition guides us as we seek to lead God pleasing lives. And at those times when we fail, it also drives us to repent and confess our sin. Yet we do so in the confidence that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God remembers our sins no more and that resurrection and eternal life will overcome death.

Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity - Mt 6:24-34

                                                                                                Trinity 15

                                                                                                Mt 6:24-34

                                                                                                9/4/16

 

I am sure glad that this past week was not like two weeks ago at the Surburg house! Two Sundays ago in the evening Amy I and were in the kitchen after dinner as I washed the items that would not fit in the dishwasher. Suddenly, as I drained the sink we both noticed that there was water gushing out on the floor. Some investigation revealed that the garbage disposal was twisting when it ran and the movement had caused the pipes to leak.

On Monday I walked out into the garage to take the kids to school and realized that the garage door would not open. I could see that the wires for the door were hanging limp and some investigation revealed that the large garage door spring had snapped.

On Thursday I got home from work and learned that the air conditioning was not working in the lower part of the house. The repairman came on Friday and we heard that the motor and a capacitor had to be replaced. The work was done and everything ran fine … for about two hours. And then suddenly the air conditioner unit outside began to make a terrible screeching sound. It was so bad that my next door neighbor called because she was afraid that I was not at home and did not know that there was something very wrong with my air conditioner.

On Saturday the repairman came and on investigation he discovered that with the new motor running as the motor should, it had broken the internal weld where the fan blade attached to the motor shaft. After replacing the motor on Friday, we had to replace the fan blade on Saturday.

Talk about the joys of home ownership! That week left Amy and me a little shell shocked as we contemplated the unplanned expenses that had piled up. What’s more the experience with the air conditioner had revealed what I already feared: it is old and on its last legs. The thought of having to pay the large cost to replace it at some point in the not too distant future is enough to cause worry.

But then this past Monday I went to the quarterly Circuit Visitors meeting at the Southern Illinois District office in Belleville. While there I talked with a pastor who earlier this summer had visited Lutheran Theological Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa – the same seminary where we help to support a student. He told me about the visit and mentioned one thing that really caught my attention. He said the living conditions were different. The dorm rooms and bathroom had no heat. In June and July in South Africa it gets down to around 35 degrees. He did have a space heater that kept his room around 60 at night, but using the restroom was an experience. The pastor noted that in South Africa they just have different cultural expectations about comfort.

I was frustrated by the expenses of the past week and was worried about having to pay for a new air conditioner in the near future. And then the conversation with this pastor reminded me that a number of these expenses are not really essential. I may think of them as things that we need to have – but they are not really.

In the Gospel lesson today, Jesus confronts our false god of money and wealth. He reminds us that our worry stems from the fact that we don’t allow God to be God. He calls our attention instead to the saving action that God has carried out in Christ. For when we focus on Christ, we can also see all the ways God works to support our body and life. 

Our text this morning is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Once in awhile we run into occasions where the lectionary drops us into a line of thought that has already started – and that is the case here. Jesus has already started his argument by saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So where is your treasure? Is it in the things of this world – the “stuff” that provides comfort and entertainment? Or is it in God and his gifts? As Jesus says in the first verse of our text, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

God and wealth compete for your attention – for your devotion. It’s not supposed to be that way. God is the Creator. The stuff of wealth is his creation. But since sin entered into human lives in the Fall we have turned away from God. We have created false gods, and it’s hard to find a bigger false god than wealth.

Money provides a sense of security. If I have enough money, then I can always take care of my needs. But in our wealth, those needs become a devouring monster. There are so many glittering things that we want: a big house with interior decorating that would make any participant in a HGTV show want to buy it; a trendy brand of vehicle with all the bells and whistles; the latest version of the latest gadget; that stunning wardrobe; the ability to eat out as I want; the trips to all of those great placed I want to visit.

But all of these wants become needs in our world. They become the things that run our lives. And when they are god – when wealth is god – then we become enslaved to worry. Jesus says in our text, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Jesus says, “Don’t worry.” After all God provides food for the birds, and you are certainly more important to him than they are. God clothes the flowers with beauty and in a short time they wither and die. And then our Lord adds, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

We are of little faith. You see it in our offering. When it comes to the wealth God has given to us, we hold on and keep the biggest chunk for ourselves, and return a small crumb back to him. For example, ask yourself this: How does your monthly income today compare to your income five years ago, and how does your monthly offering today compare to your monthly offering five years ago? Or consider this: What percentage of the income God gives you is returned to him in thanks?

We are those of little faith. But we are here this morning listening to Jesus because we do have faith, even if at times it is small and struggling. And so Jesus says to us, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious. Seek God’s kingdom and righteous and know that God will provide the things you need for life.” When Jesus mentions God’s kingdom and righteousness, he is talking about himself. As we have seen during the last several weeks, God’s kingdom is his reign that was present in Jesus to defeat sin, death and the devil. In the same way, God’s righteousness is his saving action in Jesus to put all things right.

Why can you be sure God will provide your needs of body and life? Look at what he has already done. He sent his Son into the world in the incarnation to take your place. He offered him as the sacrifice for your sin. But then on the third day he raised Jesus from the dead. He has solemnly promised that because Jesus has risen from the dead, you will too. The God who has done this will not fail to provide what you need for life.

To seek his kingdom and his righteousness means that we need to put Christ’s gifts first. It means that we see the Word of God and the sacraments as our greatest treasure. It means that we cherish the opportunities to receive and make use of them.

And in turn we seek to use what God has given us to bring Christ’s gift to others. That’s what your offering does. It provides for the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments here in this place for you and those gathered here. It provides that same ministry during the week for those who are not able to come to church.

In Jesus and the Means of Grace we have received his saving love. We have received this salvation by grace – that means you didn’t earn it; you didn’t buy it. It is the gift of God to you. And because we have received this undeserved, unearned love, we also seek to share it with others. Our wealth is a means that we use for this as well. For example, this morning you will see in the bulletin that the congregation’s Emergency Fund that we use to provide assistance to those in need in our community has been depleted. Jesus helped us when we were helpless. And now the wealth God has provided becomes the means we use to help those who are unable provide themselves with basic needs like food or water which a person uses to drink, cook and flush the toilet. 

In the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus confronts us with a truth that also reveals the sin in our life. He says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 

But the good news is that Jesus is the One who has brought God’s kingdom and righteousness to us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. He gives us forgiveness for the false gods in our life, and he strengthens us to live as his own in this world. Because he is the risen Lord, we can trust him when he says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Mark's thoughts: Comments on a Robert Capon quote

Recently a quote from Episcopal priest and author Robert Capon has been making the rounds on social media as it is shared and liked by Lutheran pastors and laity.  In it Capon says:

It is not the role of the Church to tell people not to sin and to devise lists. The world perfectly knows what sin is.  The world knows what morality is.  The world knows what’s right.  Morality is the world’s cup of tea. What the world doesn’t know is forgiveness and that’s what the world needs to be told.

It’s not hard to understand what these Lutherans find appealing about Capon’s statement.  It seems to resonate with the distinction Francis Pieper makes between the religion of the law and the religion of the Gospel.  While every religion speaks in the way of the Law about what people must do, only Christianity speaks in the way of the Gospel about what God has done for us in Christ.  In the same way, Capon’s statement seems to reject that understanding of Christianity that is very prevalent in American evangelicalism – the notion that the prime focus of Christianity is holiness of life.  The problem is that the statement is demonstrably false, and the fact that Lutherans find it appealing illustrates a sickness in confessional Lutheranism.

The statement is false for two reasons.  First, the New Testament certainly does tell people not to sin and devises lists.  This is so obvious that I won’t belabor the point.  Paul writes in Col 3:5-10:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (ESV)

He does this again and again (see: Gal 5:16-24; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Thess 4:4:1-7).

Second, the world does not know what sin is.  It does not know what is right.  One need look no further than the Sixth Commandment to see this.  In increasingly aggressive ways our culture asserts that sex can be used in any way people choose as long as it pleases them.   Fornication, cohabitation, pornography, homosexuality, “same sex marriage” and even transgenderism are considered normal and acceptable.

Capon’s statement is false.  Perhaps it is not surprising to find it coming from an Episcopal priest.  After all, the Episcopal church seems to have accepted almost every kind of sexual perversion.  But it is surprising to find that confessional Lutherans do not perceive this and instead have shared and liked it.

The fact that they have speaks to a dangerous orientation present in the Lutheran church today.  I have written at length elsewhere about soft antinomianism.  I have described that this is an inability and even a refusal to preach about new obedience and good works.  It does not exhort, admonish and teach in sermons about how Christians are to live because of what Christ has done for us.  But lurking beneath soft antinomianism is a true and full blown antinomianism seeking to come out.

This fact has been on my mind because recently a post on a prominent confessional Lutheran blog used the HBO program “Game of Thrones” in order to make a point about vocation.  The author began by acknowledging that some people would object to a Christian watching Game of Thrones because of the explicit sexual content.  However, he dismissed this concern for his own life and went on to use a character in the show to make a point about vocation.

The post has since been taken down because a number of Lutheran pastors contacted the blog administrators and objected to the affirmation of Christians watching pornography.  Game of Thrones is well known for scenes that cannot be described as anything other than pornography.  Watching Game of Thrones means you are going to be watching pornography.  I and others asked: “How can a Lutheran pastor affirm the watching of this show?”

This acceptance reflects the ongoing pornification of our culture.  But the discussion surrounding this post also demonstrated the antinomian currents present in modern Lutheranism – even confessional Lutheranism.  Lutherans pastors were unwilling or unable to come out and say that Christians should not watch pornography such as Game of Thrones.  Instead, it was described as a matter of “Christian freedom and conscience.”  In fact, it was even suggested that rather than focusing on whether it was appropriate for a Christian to watch a show that is rife with pornography, a better question to ask is how elements from a show like Game of Thrones can be used to deliver Jesus.

Robert Capon stated:

It is not the role of the Church to tell people not to sin and to devise lists. The world perfectly knows what sin is.  The world knows what morality is.  The world knows what’s right.  Morality is the world’s cup of tea. What the world doesn’t know is forgiveness and that’s what the world needs to be told.

Thankfully, I trust that the Lutherans sharing and liking this do not accept the sexual immorality that Scriptures condemn as sin.  But when a quote like this is shared as an insightful and laudable theological statement, antinomianism and its twin, Gospel reductionism, are afoot.  It’s not surprising to learn that some Lutherans describe watching porngraphic content as a matter of “Christian freedom.”