Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity - Mk 7:31-37

 

Trinity 12

                                                                                       Mk 7:31-37

                                                                                       9/4/22

 

          During the first two years that I was pastor at Good Shepherd, I visited a homebound member, Bev Chapman.  I had not experienced anything like Bev during my brief time in the ministry up to that point, nor have I seen anything like it since then.

          Bev had mobility issues, which unfortunately, is not unusual for someone in their late eighties.  But what was entirely unique about Bev was that she was unable to speak.  I never was given an exact explanation about what had happened – Bev certainly couldn’t provide it to me.  However, it was apparent that she had experienced some kind of stroke that had damaged her brain.

          Bev was completely alert and her mind was still sharp.  Her smiles and nods indicated that she understood everything that I was saying. However, she was completely unable to speak in response to anything I said. You could see the frustration on her face, because while she had thoughts she wanted to share, her brain simply would not allow her to articulate them in speech. 

          Visiting with Bev was truly a one way conversation.  I would tell her about things at church and about my family, and she nodded and smiled.  But she could not respond and say anything to me.  I could only imagine how frustrating it had to be for Bev – to have thoughts you wanted to share but not be able to speak them.

          In the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus encounters a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. No doubt communication for him had to be nearly impossible since he could not hear what others said, and his ability to speak was severely limited.  Our Lord heals the man with this touch – a touch that brought the saving reign of God to this individual.  In the miracle, Jesus demonstrates that he is the presence of God’s end time salvation in this world.

          Our text begins by saying, “Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.”  Immediately before our text, Jesus had been in the area of Tyre and Sidon – northwest of Galilee on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  There he had healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman.  Now, Jesus had returned to the Sea of Galilee and had ventured into an area that was east and south of there.  The name “Decapolis” refers to the ten Greek cities that had been founded in that region during the previous centuries.  This was an area that had mixture of Gentiles and Jews, but with the Gentiles certainly being the majority.

Mark tells us, “And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.”  The reports about Jesus’ healing ministry had spread far and wide.  The presence of Jesus in that area prompted friends to bring this man to Jesus.  We learn that he was deaf and had a speech impediment. It becomes apparent later in the text that the man was able to speak, but that he could only do so with great difficulty – his speech was not clear.  We don’t learn anything about how this condition had come about, but obviously it was a great burden for this man.

The friends who brought the man asked Jesus to lay his hand on him.  There are numerous occasions in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus heals by touching someone.  This man certainly received the full treatment. We learn that Jesus took him aside from the crowd privately. He put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.” Then, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

By healing the man, Jesus demonstrates that he is the presence of God’s saving reign in the world.  Jesus is the presence of the kingdom of God which is overcoming sin, death, and the devil.  Mark tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”  In word and deed, Jesus Christ was the presence of God’s end time action to bring salvation.

In our text, the Greek word used to describe the man’s speech impediment helps to make this clear.  It is a rare word – in fact it only occurs twice in the New Testament and the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The other place it occurs is in Isaiah chapter thirty five where the prophet speaks about how God is going to bring his salvation. 

Isaiah writes:  “They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

          Isaiah was right.  Our God did come and save us.  It happened as Son of God was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  The Son of God entered into our world in order to bring God’s reign. In the incarnation he became man, without ceasing to be God.  Jesus Christ came to bring release from sin and all that it has caused.

            Certainly, we see the sin in our own lives.  Earlier in this chapter Jesus described this when he said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within, and they defile a person.”

          We also see the impact that sin has had through the fallenness of this world. We see it in the physical ailments that afflict us.  We see it in the cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  We see it in the anxiety and depression that burden our lives. Yet all of these things are merely symptoms of the death that sin is working in us.  Because of sin we are in the process of dying all the time.  Sin brings death.  And even more importantly, sin brings the eternal death of God’s judgment. It brings the holy God’s wrath that damns.

          The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in the world to bring God’s reign that overcomes sin and death. His miracle demonstrates this as he frees the man from deafness and the inability to speak.  However, all of the miracles performed by our Lord point to the single great act by which he has dealt with sin that is the root cause of all that is wrong in our lives and world. And all of the miracles point to the act of God in Christ by which he has defeated death.

          In our text we learn that the man’s friends begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.  However, the Son of God was in the world with human hands to do more than heal individuals.  He was here with hands to be nailed to a cross.  In the next chapter, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ.  Then Mark tells us: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

          The Son of God was in the world to die. His death on the cross was the means by which God provided the answer to sin.  Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Christ suffered and died for our sin. Through his crucifixion he has won forgiveness and freed us from sin.

          Jesus won forgiveness for us through death.  He was buried in a tomb. Yet this death was different.  Everyone else who has ever died, died because of their own sin.  Jesus, the sinless Son of God, died because of our sin.  His death was not only means by which the Father has given us forgiveness, it was also the way God has defeated death forever.

            On the morning of Easter, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus’ body. But the stone was rolled away and an angel said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.”  God the Father raised Jesus from the dead with a body that will never die again.  Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, death will never be able to hold on to us.  As the forgiven children of God, to die is to be with Christ, and our Lord will return in glory on the Last Day to raise our bodies and transform them to be like his.

          In our text, Jesus Christ is the presence of God’s reign as he touches the man.  The Lord continues to do the same thing for us today.  Christ, who is still true God and true man, comes into our midst in the Sacrament of the Altar. In the Sanctus we sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” because that is exactly what happens as Jesus’ powerful word is spoken over the bread and wine.  The true body and blood of the risen Lord are present on the altar.  Our Lord is present in his body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. He touches us as we eat his body and drink his blood.

          When he does this, he gives you the forgiveness that he won on the cross.  He gives you food for the new man, so that you are strengthened in faith and can continue in this pilgrimage of life.  The risen Lord gives his body and blood into you, and so you know that your body will share in his resurrection.

          At the end of our text we learn, “And they were astonished beyond all measure saying, ‘He has done all things well.  He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”  By healing the man, Jesus Christ was the presence of God’s saving reign – the kingdom of God.  Our God has come in the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.  He has not only made the deaf hear and the mute speak, but by his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead he has given us the forgiveness of sins and the defeat of death.  He has done all things well. He is doing all things well as his reign continues to be present with us through his Means of Grace. And he will do all things well on the Last Day when he returns in glory.            

 

           

 

           

 

 

         

 

    

 

 

      

 

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - Lk 18:9-14

 

Trinity 11

                                                                                       Lk 18:9-14

                                                                                       8/28/22

 

          The “greatest” is an adjective that gets thrown around in sports quite a bit these days.  It is so easily applied to current players and teams by commentators and writers that one can only conclude that our society has a collective amnesia when it comes to sports.  It is as if nobody had existed prior to ten years ago.

          On the one hand our culture probably does have less of sense of history.  When you live life through the phone in your hand, everything is instantaneous and now.  What happened a month ago is forgotten – much less what happened twenty years ago.

At the same time, much of this is driven by our setting with sports talk shows and social media.  They feed off each other and generate a constant banter about sports.  This leads to discussions about who is the greatest.

This environment certainly encourages current players to start comparing themselves and their teams to past greats.  Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors have won four of the last eight NBA championships.  Green made news recently when he stated on Twitter that his team would have easily beaten Michael Jordan and his 1998 Chicago Bulls.  Now Green did acknowledge the difference in eras, but claiming that you could easily beat a Michael Jordan championship team seems rather arrogant.

In our Gospel lesson this morning we hear a Pharisee brag about how great he is.  In fact, it sounds like he is saying that he is the greatest.  And he certainly engages in the act of comparing himself to another individual – a tax collector – as he states how much better he is.  The Pharisee sounds like the way the world does things. Yet our Lord teaches us that in the kingdom of God, it is the tax collector whose humble repentance is pleasing to God and receives forgiveness.

Our text begins by saying, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” The topic is certainly related to what we talked about in last Sunday’s sermon – about how Jews of the first century had a positive view about their spiritual abilities and had confidence in doing of the law as a means to be righteous before God.

Our Lord starts the parable by introducing two character as he says: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Now as readers of the Gospel of Luke we know exactly whom Jesus is addressing in this parable.  He is speaking to the Pharisees.  Jesus has been engaging in regular conflict with the Pharisees.  Two chapters earlier he said of them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

The Pharisees did trust in their own ability to live according to God’s law and to be righteous.  The apostle Paul had been a Pharisee before his conversion and when he described his past – how he viewed himself – he told the Philippians: “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

Yet the Pharisees weren’t just focused on doing the law. They had their own interpretation of the law, and they considered this to be the only real way to keep the law.  They had taken parts of the Old Testament law – the Torah – that were meant only for priests, and applied them to everyone.  This was the way to be righteous before God.  The Pharisees had set themselves apart by doing so, and as you would expect, they looked down on those who didn’t.  If that was the way they felt about normal Jews, you can imagine how they viewed those who were involved in activities that were wrong and sinful.

Now to outsiders, the Pharisees would have appeared to be very pious.  They were people who were clearly serious about doing God’s law.  On the other hand, a tax collector was the exact opposite. They had the reputation for being dishonest – for using their position to take more than was owed.  Jesus’ first century hearers would have expected the Pharisee to be the hero in this parable, and the tax collector to be the villain.

We learn that both men went up into the temple to pray.  Prayer at the temple took place in the morning and the evening when a burnt offering was offered, as well as incense.  It was a public affair, and as we listen to the parable we need to recognize that this prayer was spoken out loud.

Jesus says that the Pharisee stood by himself and said: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”  The Pharisee put himself on display and thanked God that he was so good. In particular, he compared himself to the tax collector who was present. His references to fasting and tithing indicated that he went over and above what was normally expected. This was certainly someone who trusted in himself that he was righteous and treated others with contempt.

On the other hand, the tax collector’s behavior was very different.  Our Lord says, “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”  Instead of calling attention to himself, the tax collector stood off at a distance. He sought anonymity – as if he was trying to disappear.  Though engaged in prayer to God, he would not even lift up his eyes.

          The tax collector was beating his breast, which was a sign of repentance and humility.  And in contrast to the long winded prayer of the Pharisee he said one simple phrase: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  In deed and in word he confessed his sin, and asked God to be merciful to him – to forgive him.

          Then Jesus concluded the parable by saying, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  The supposedly pious Pharisee didn’t go home justified – declared righteous and forgiven by God.  Instead, the repentant tax collector did.

          Our text this morning teaches us about how we are to approach God.  You just confessed at the beginning of the service that you are “poor, miserable sinner.” You are exactly right.  You confessed that you justly deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.  You are exactly right. 

          You confessed about your sins that you are “heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them”? But are you?  There is always the danger that we can fall into the trap of just going through the motions.  This leads to a question: When was the last time you thought about the Ten Commandments?  I know that the parents, youth, and children who attended Learn by Heart on Wednesday can honestly say that they have thought about the Third Commandment. Or of course all of you can say you just thought about the Fourth Commandment as we read it and its explanation before the service.

But apart from that, when was the last time you actually thought about each of the Ten Commandments and examined your life on the basis of them? In the preface to the Large Catechism, Martin Luther wrote, “I must still read and study the catechism daily, and yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the catechism – and I also do so gladly.” Here “catechism” means the six basic texts of the Christian faith – the first of which is the Ten Commandments. 

We need to return to the Ten Commandments – and their explanation in the Small Catechism – and compare our life to them. This the way that we are confronted by God’s law with the sin in our lives. This reveals the actual sins of thought, word, and deed. This takes us beyond the blanket statement “I am a sinner” by which we protect ourselves from being confronted by the ugly ways that sin really is present in our life.

When God’s law reveals this sin – when it confronts us and condemns us as sinners – we have no excuse.  Unlike the Pharisee, we know that we have nothing to offer to God. There is nothing we can say except, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  Yet we speak these words knowing that God wants us to come to him in repentance.  We speak these words knowing that we turn to the gracious and merciful God who has already acted to forgive us.

The tax collector went up to the temple to pray. He prayed at a time when the sacrifice commanded by God was offered.  In humility he said, “God be merciful to me.” What you can’t see in English is that the Greek verb used is the one that more commonly means “to propitiate.”  This is language used of the sacrifices in the Old Testament.  Now in pagan religions, sacrifices were something that were offered to the gods in order win them over and make favorable toward the individual – to propitiate them.  It was a work done to gain favor – and in this it was no different than the way the Pharisee was approaching God.

But the sacrifices that God commanded Israel to offer were different.  They were the means by which God atoned for their sin – by which he took away the sin that stood as a barrier to fellowship with God.  It was God who did this through the sacrifice, and the result was that God was propitiated – he now viewed the individual in a favorable way because the person was forgiven.

The sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed forward and found their fulfillment in the sacrifice that took place as Jesus Christ died on the cross.  Here again it was God who acted to atone for our sin.  The Son of God entered into our world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  True God and true man, he came to bear our sin on the cross.  On the night when he was betrayed Jesus said, “For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”

Christ took our every sin upon himself – every way we break the Ten Commandments.  He received God’s judgment against our sin as he suffered and died. God was just in punishing sin.  But this was God’s work to give us forgiveness and to defeat death. And on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead.  He vindicated Jesus, and in that resurrection began what awaits us. 

In the death and resurrection of Jesus God has acted to give us a righteous standing before him as we receive his favor.  This has all been God’s doing.  God is the One who took away our sin by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – he atoned for our sin.  God is the One who is propitiated by what he has done – he now views the individuals in a favorable way because they were forgiven.

There is nothing that we can do except to confess our sin and believe in Jesus Christ, and what God has done for us through him. We can only say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  We address this to the God – who wants to be merciful – who has been merciful by giving us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of his Son. 

The result of this confession is certain and sure.  Jesus says at the end of our text, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  We know that we are justified – that we are righteous and innocent before God.  This is true right now, and it is the exact same thing that will be true on the Last Day when Jesus Christ returns in glory and we appear before him as he judges.  We will be declared righteous and innocent because of his death for our sins.

In the last sentence of our text Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  When we humble ourselves in repentance – when we confess our sin to God – we are exalted.  We are exalted as we are the forgiven sons and daughters of God. And we will be exalted because the Lord Jesus who has saved us by his death and resurrection, will raise us from the dead on the Last Day to live forever with him in a life where there will never be sin again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle

 

Today is the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle.  Bartholomew was one of twelve apostles chosen by Christ (Matthew 10:1-4).  Most likely he is called Nathaniel in the Gospel of John (John 1:45-51).  If this identification is accurate, then his personal name was Nathaniel and Bartholomew is an Aramaic patronymic (i.e. identifying the person as the son of someone: “the son of Tholomaeus” or the like).  Nathaniel was from Cana and was present with six other disciples when the risen Lord appeared by the Sea of Galilee and hosted a breakfast for them (John 21:1-14).  According to some Early Church Fathers, Bartholomew brought the Gospel to Armenia, where he was martyred by being flayed alive.

 Scripture reading:

 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”   John 1:43-51

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, your Son, Jesus Christ, chose Bartholomew to be an apostle to preach the blessed Gospel.  Grant that Your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

 

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity - Rom 9:30-10:4

 

Trinity 10

                                                                                       Rom 9:30-10:4

                                                                                       8/21/22

 

          Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish researcher working at a laboratory in a London hospital.  He was studying staphylococcus, the bacteria that causes staph infection.  Now apparently, Fleming had the reputation for being a somewhat careless lab technician.

          Before leaving on vacation, Fleming prepared some petri dishes with the bacteria.  His intention was that when he returned from vacation, the bacteria would have grown and he would have more material with which to do research.

          However, when Fleming came back from vacation he found that a mold was growing in some of the petri dishes. He noticed that in those petri dishes there had been little to no growth by the bacteria.  The petri dishes that Fleming had set up before leaving had not been entirely clean.  They were contaminated with a mold.  But Fleming recognized that something about this mold prevented the growth of the bacteria.  Fleming wasn’t looking for it when he set up the petri dishes. But the mold he found when he returned from vacation was the medical break through that produced penicillin, and it went on to save millions of lives.

          In our epistle lesson this morning, the apostle Paul describes an even greater unintended discovery.  He speaks of how the Gentiles were not seeking God’s righteousness – his work that has brought salvation. Despite this, it has now become theirs through faith.  And on the other hand, he explains the sad irony that the Jews who were pursuing God’s righteousness have not obtained it.

          “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” That’s what Jesus told the twelve apostles in the Gospel of Matthew as he sent them out with the instruction: “And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.”

          This limitation of their mission to the Jews – to the descendants of Israel – sounds rather surprising to our ears.  Yet it teaches us an important point that we easily forget.  Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah.  Purely because of grace, God had taken Israel to be his people.  He had rescued them from Egypt in the exodus.  Yahweh had made them his treasured possession as he brought them into a covenant with him.  He had promised the Messiah who would descend from Israel’s king David.  God’s righteousness – his saving action to put all things right – was meant from the start for Israel and her descendants.

          Now to be sure, God had also declared that he was working through Israel to bring salvation to all people.  When he called Abraham, God told him, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Yahweh had said through the prophet Isaiah about his Servant: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

          Jesus Christ had died on the cross as the sacrifice to provide forgiveness to all people.  God had raised him on the third day as he defeated death and began the resurrection of the Last Day.  As we learn in the Gospel of Matthew, the risen Lord had now told the apostles to make disciples of all nations.

Paul, then known as Saul, had been a persecutor of those who believed in Jesus. But the risen and exalted Lord had appeared to him on the road to Damascus.  Christ turned Paul’s life upside down as he called him to be an apostle.  Paul had proclaimed the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles.  Yet the special focus of his ministry was certainly the Gentiles.  In fact, in the next chapter he describes himself as the “apostle of Gentiles.”

The work with the Gentiles was bearing great fruit as they believed in Jesus Christ across the Mediterranean world.  Certainly, there were Jews who did believe. But the reality was that the majority of Jews – the descendants of Israel – were rejecting the Gospel.

Why was this happening?  In chapter nine through eleven in his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul deals with this question.  In our text he considers a key and central factor that has already dominated the earlier portion of the letter. He begins by saying, “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.”

The Gentiles had not even known God.  But now through faith in Jesus Christ they had received God’s salvation – his righteousness.  However, the Jews who knew God and had received his law, had treated this law as if it was a means to the righteous standing before God, and it had not produced this result for them.

Paul explains as he goes on to say: “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.”  The fundamental error was that they treated their own works as if they had a role to play in their standing before God. It is not as if Jews completely ignored God’s grace.  But we also know they had a rather positive view about human abilities in spiritual matters.

Here, they were dead wrong. And this is by no means an error that was unique to the Jews of the first century.  People always want to run things in the way of the law.  No matter whether they think everything will turn out ok after death because they have been a “good person,” or whether they believe God’s grace enables works that justify, or whether they think they can believe in Jesus by their own power – everyone wants to think they can do something.

Yet Paul has already killed this idea. He has said in chapter three “that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”  In our fallenness, sin is a power that has robbed us of all spiritual abilities. That is why he said in the same chapter, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Works and doing can never give us a right standing before God in any way.  Instead, Paul declares that this occurs through faith – faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead.  Paul has said earlier that Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses.”  He received God’s judgment against our sin. But on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead.  In doing so he conquered death for Paul says in this letter, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”

In our text, Paul describes the Jews’ failure to believe in this way: “They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  Combining words from Isaiah, the apostle contrasts two different reactions to Christ. He is a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to those who want to rely on themselves.  However, those who believe in the risen Lord will not be put to shame. They have salvation with God.

          These words from Isaiah reveal why we need Jesus Christ.  In their original setting they were a part of texts that told Judah how in the face of the Assyrian threat, they needed to trust in God and in God alone.  The same thing is true in our lives as we face challenges related to health, relationships, and work. Do we trust in God completely?  Are we free from all worry? The answer is no.  And in this we see our sin as we break the First Commandment.

          This is why we need the good news that all who believe Jesus Christ have forgiveness.  As Paul says “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  And then he goes on to add the exact same verse from our text: “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

          Because we believe in Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and salvation. We know that we are saved by God’s grace through faith.  The law is no longer something that is our concern as we look to receive God’s saving righteousness. 

At the end of our text, Paul says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”  Here Paul is probably playing on the Greek word translated “end” since it can mean either “end” or “goal.”  Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, since it is only by faith in him that we can be justified.  But at the same time, Christ has been the goal of the law all along – the fulfillment of God’s covenant and the means by which Israel has become a light to the nations.

Christ is the end of the law when it comes to attaining a righteous standing before God.  Christ is the end of every idea about doing when it comes to salvation.  Instead, it is faith alone – faith in Christ – that provides this.

Faith which receives this gift is passive.  In fact, Paul defines it as the opposite of doing.  Earlier Paul quoted the verse from Genesis, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Then he went on to add: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

          Yet faith which has received this gift is not passive.  I cannot be because the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead has created it.  In both Romans and Galatians the apostle Paul addresses the issue of whether works are involved in being saved.  In both letters he adamantly declares that faith alone saves.  Yet in both letters he then goes on to speak about how faith acts in love.

In fact Paul says this very thing to the Galatians when he writes, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” Then a little later he adds: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” We find the same thing in Romans chapter thirteen where Paul says, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

          Faith in Christ acts in love towards those around us.  It acts in service to our family, friends, and neighbors.  Led and enabled by the Holy Spirit this love fulfills the will of God.  In doing so, it fulfills what the law given to Israel was all about.  

For those who act in this way, Christ is not a “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” Instead, they are those who have received the saving action of God – his righteousness – through faith in Christ.  Their faith acts because of Christ. It acts knowing that the one who believes in Christ will never be put to shame.