Mark's thoughts: Daily Devotion at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

 

St Paul told Timothy: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17). 

 

There are two important points to note about Paul’s statement.  First, he indicates that Timothy has been acquainted with the Scripture from childhood.  His grandmother Lois and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5) had shared God’s word with him. Second, Paul says that Scripture makes us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus and equips us to live as God’s people. 

 

This means that as adults Scripture is important for our life in two different ways.  First, those who are parents have been given the vocation of raising their children in the faith. Paul says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). It is the responsibility of parents to see that their children come to know the Scriptures.  At the same time, God’s Word continues to be necessary for us during all of our lives.  Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit nourishes and strengthens us in faith.  He trains us in righteousness and equips us for every good work.

 

For both of these things to happen, we need to have daily interaction with God’s Word – we need to read it. In order to assist in this, on Sunday, August 10 we are going to begin something new in the life of faith at Good Shepherd.  Each Sunday there will be a “Daily Devotion” insert in the bulletin with a simple pattern that includes the key elements of our devotional life:

 

Invocation and sign of the cross ╬

Scripture readings

Apostles’ Creed

Learn by Heart texts (Scripture and Small Catechism)

Lord’s Prayer

Prayers for family, friends, Church, nation

 

The Invocation and sign of the cross ╬ begins the devotion with a reminder that we are the baptized children of God who have shared in Christ’s saving death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-5; Colossians 2:11-12).  The Scripture readings are taken from Lutheran Service Book’s Daily Lectionary. Two readings of 15-35 verses each are provided for each day, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament. Under this arrangement, nearly all of the New Testament and approximately one-third of the Old Testament are read each year.  For families with small children I encourage the use of The Story Bible  published by Concordia Publishing House. This work faithfully contains the language of Scripture accompanied by beautiful depictions of the biblical accounts.

 

The Apostles’ Creed confesses the faith of the apostolic and catholic Church that is based on Scripture. The Learn by Heart Scripture verses and Small Catechism passage are the texts that the Catechumens are learning that week.  By speaking them out loud together each day, parents are helping their children to learn these key elements that are used in Catechesis.  At the same time, Catechesis is a life long process, and so repetition of these texts continues to make them part of us so that they shape and form the way we think and speak.

 

Having heard God’s Word and responded by speaking back that word to him in the confession of the Creed and Small Catechism, we then close with prayer. Prayer begins with the prayer that Christ taught us – the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus’ words guide us in the topics for which we should pray. Then we conclude with specific petitions for family, friends, the Church, and our nation.

 

The Scripture readings are those in The Treasury of Daily Prayer. They are also available through the InPrayer app from Concordia Publishing House. In order to assist members in the use of this devotional format and the Daily Lectionary Scripture readings, a new page entitled “Daily Devotion” has been added to the Good Shepherd website.  The page provides the same devotional format as the bulletin insert for the week.  In addition, it contains the link “Scripture readings” which provides the texts ready for reading through the Concordia Theological Seminary website.  If you bookmark the Daily Devotion page on your phone or tablet you will have everything you need for devotions each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity - Mk 8:1-9

 

  Trinity 7

                                                                                                Mk 8:1-9

                                                                                                8/3/25

 

            What will I eat?  As I prepared to go to South Sudan this was an obvious and pressing question.  In talking with several people who had taught there in the past, I learned that they had not eaten the meat that was served there – usually chicken or goat.  Their doctors had strongly advised them against doing so.  Due to the conditions in which the meat was procured and prepared, the concern was that it would give us something that we were not used to – something that would make us sick.

            As I talked about this with Amy she agreed it would be very unwise to eat the meat served there.  After all, the last thing I needed was to come down with some kind of stomach or intestinal issue while I was supposed to be teaching.  It just wasn’t worth the risk.

            But what then would I be eating? And how would I feel? Fortunately, it turned out that I was never hungry. I had scrambled eggs every morning with some kind of local spice that was very good. There was freshly baked bread at every meal that I enjoyed.  Frequently they served a delicious tomato salad.

I ate a lot of rice, and some kind of cabbage like dish that was quite good. I had fresh bananas at every meal. Sometimes there were sweet potatoes that had been sliced and baked, and that was ok. The one thing that I found I didn’t like and couldn’t eat was savo – a large root that was just not good. I wasn’t hungry for two weeks, and lost ten pounds – the South Sudan diet. And then my first meal at home was a steak dinner.

What will they eat? That is the question that is present in our Gospel lesson this morning as Jesus shows concern for the crowd that has been listening to him teach.  His disciples show a lack of understanding. In fact, this is something that continues to be present later in the chapter as our Lord interacts with them. In our Gospel lesson we learn that Christ is the One who brings God’s salvation. But we can only receive him and his saving work by faith – by trust in Jesus.

Our Gospel lesson today begins with the words, “In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him.”  The word “again” signals that this is not the first time this situation has occurred. The reader of the Gospel knows that this scenario had played out in chapter six.

There our Lord said to the disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Mark tells us that Jesus’ ministry had been so busy that they had no leisure even to eat.  They went to a desolate place by themselves.  However, people went there to meet Jesus. When Christ saw the great crowd he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And so he began to teach them many things.

When it grew late the disciples told Jesus to send the people away to the surrounding villages to buy something to eat.  But he replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered that the expense was too great. It would take two hundred denarii worth of bread – two hundred days wages.

So Jesus asked them what they did have. They checked and reported that there were five loaves of bread and two fish. Christ then worked as miracle as he used this to feed five thousand people. The miracle produced such an abundance that they were able to gather up twelve baskets full of leftovers.

Now we learn that again a great crowd had gathered and had nothing to eat. Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.”

During his ministry, great crowds came to hear Jesus teach. He was a masterful and captivating teacher – so much so that people had been there for three days listening to him. But now he showed his concern that they needed food. 

In response the disciples answered, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”  It was as if the prior feeding miracle had not occurred. This time they focused on a different problem. The concern was not the expense. Instead, it was the remoteness of the location. They saw the problem, instead of Jesus who was present with them.

Jesus again asked how many loaves they had. He had the crowd sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves of bread, gave thanks, and broke them. He also blessed some small fish that were on hand.  Jesus gave them to the disciples, and they set them before the crowd.  The bread and fish never ran out as four thousand people were fed. When they were done they gathered up seven baskets full of leftovers.

Jesus had again worked the miracle of feeding a crowd. But like the feeding of the five thousand, the miracle did not bring a true blessing if it was not received with faith and trust in Christ.  The disciples lacked this as they failed to trust in the Lord’s ability to provide when they asked the question,: ““How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 

Jesus’ miracles were meant to call forth faith in him. The disciples had stumbled as the previous feeding miracle did not lead them to trust in Christ in the face of a new challenge. Immediately after our text Jesus encounters Pharisees who reject him altogether. 

We learn that the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. This was not the question of whether Christ had worked miracles.  Instead, they demanded some outward proof of Jesus’ divine authority.  Rather than calling forth faith, the miracles were ignored. And so Jesus sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

As they returned across the Sea of Galilee we learn that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread with them, and that they only had one loaf in the boat.  Jesus cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  Our Lord was warning them against the unbelief of the Pharisees using the metaphor of leaven.

But the disciples were obtuse – they didn’t get what Jesus meant.  And instead they began discussing with one another about the fact that they had no bread – as if a lack of bread was a problem when they were with Jesus!  Our Lord knew this and said,

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?”

            Jesus used language from the Old Testament prophets that described the unbelief of Israel. Then he called them to remember what he had done. He asked, “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They answered that there had been twelve. Then Christ asked, “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They replied that there had been seven. And so Christ asked, “Do you not yet understand?”

            The disciples had seen the miracle as Jesus fed the five thousand. They had seen the miracle as the Lord fed the four thousand in our text. They had seen the miracles, but they had not understood. It had not called forth faith and trust in Jesus as they encountered new challenges.

            Near the end of this chapter Jesus predicts his passion for the first time.  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.”  Christ did die as he offered himself as the ransom for all – as the price that won forgiveness for us. And then on Easter the angel announced to the women, “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.”

            This is the miracle that we have seen in the preaching of the Gospel. There are times when we are like the disciples. We have seen the miracle but it fails to call forth faith and trust in Christ as we encounter challenges.  We know of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and yet in spite of this action by the Lord we allow health issues to cause us to doubt God. We know of what happened on Good Friday and Easter, yet we fail to trust in the Lord when our plans don’t turn out as we want.

            Through his Word this morning Christ calls us to see the miracle of his death and resurrection with faith and trust in him.  The miracles that Jesus performed – such as the feeding in our text – demonstrated that in Christ the reign of God was present to overcome Satan, sin, and death. The saving work of God reached it culmination as Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.  We know Jesus as the crucified and risen Lord and so we have faith and trust in him no matter what happens.

To sustain us in this faith and trust, the risen Lord continues to work a feeding miracle this morning.  He has compassion on us.  He takes bread and wine and speaks his powerful word over them. Through that word he causes bread and wine to be his true body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. He, the risen Lord, gives us the very price that he paid for our salvation.  He gives his risen body and blood into our bodies for he will raise them up on the Last Day.  We look forward to the day when we will no longer walk by faith and trust, but instead will dwell in God’s presence forever.

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Ex 20:1-17

 

          Trinity 6

                                                                                                       Ex 20:1-17

                                                                                                       7/27/25

 

            The Ten Commandments. As the name indicates, there are of course, ten of them. But what seems so simple turns out upon closer examination not to be quite so simple.  On multiple occasions Scripture say that there are literally, “ten words” – ten commandments.  However, God’s Word never actually numbers them for us.

            And this is where things start to get more complicated.  For while we are told that there are ten words – or ten commandments in our text – when you examine it you find that there are far more than ten statements.  We know that there have to be ten commandments in there, so how do you divide up the material?

            It turns out that over the course of history there have actually been three different ways of doing this. In the western Church – the tradition from which the Lutheran church and the Romand Catholic church derive – the well founded answer has been to consider the statements about not making images to be an explanation of the First Commandment – “You shall have no other gods.”  In turn, the two statements about coveting have been counted as the Ninth and Tenth Commandments.

            On the other hand, the Eastern Orthodox church has taken the statement about not making images to be the Second Commandment, and it has combined the statements about coveting into a single Tenth Commandment. At the time of the Reformation, the Reformed tradition rejected the western way of numbering the commandments and adopted this way of numbering them, in part because the Second Commandment then supported their rejection of art in church like statues.

            Finally, the Jewish rabbis have taken the introduction found in the first two verses to be the First Commandment. They have considered the statement about making images to be an explanation of what is then the Second Commandment – “You shall have no other gods.” And then they have combined the statements about coveting into a single Tenth Commandment.

            While the exact numbering of the Ten Commandments has caused questions, the Church has always known them to be an expression of God’s will and ordering of life.  The Ten Commandments are the ultimate expression of God’s Law. This means that in themselves they are good.  As sinners, they are bad for us because of what they reveal about who we are. And in Christ, they become something that is good for us as they describe the life that fulfills God’s will – the life for which we were created.

            The Ten Commandments are the first words that God spoke to Israel after he had descended on Mt Sinai. Yahweh had rescued the descendants of Abraham from slavery in Egypt. He had sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to let Israel go.  The last of these was the Passover as God spared the Israelites, but killed the first born male among the Egyptians.

            Yahweh had brought Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground, but had destroyed the pursuing Egyptians as the water enveloped and drowned them.  Now he had brought them to Mt Sinai in order to enter into a covenant with Israel. In the previous chapter he said, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

            The Ten Commandments are Law – they tell God’s people what they are to do. Yet before we hear any of the commandments, the very first statement in our text is one of Gospel. Yahweh says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The God who gives the Ten Commandments is the God who has rescued his people.  When they were helpless he redeemed them – he freed them from slavery.

            God is the One who loves his people. And we learn that his love is an all encompassing one. In our text Yahweh says, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” Normally we don’t think of “jealous” as being a positive description.  But when Yahweh says that he is a jealous God, he means that he does not share his people with anyone else. He created them. He redeemed them.  He loves them. And he will not permit any competition for their love and trust.

            The Ten Commandments are an expression of God’s will. They describe how God has ordered his creation – how life is to work. They describe how we are to live in relation to God and our neighbor. During Holy Week a Pharisee asked Jesus: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  Christ responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

            Life lived in fellowship with the holy God is a life that keeps the Ten Commandments. Several weeks ago we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan. A lawyer approached Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Our Lord replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” When the man responded with this same summary of the First and Second table of the Ten Commandments, our Lord said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

            Do this and you will live. And it is here that the Ten Commandments which are a good thing, become something bad for us.  For rather than showing us a way in which we can have life with God, they become something that reveals the many ways that sin is present in our life.  God says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Certainly, we do not set up a carved image as an object of worship.  But a “god” is whatever is most important in your life. A “god” is whatever provides your sense of security and well being. Identify the thing to which you direct the most time, money, and attention – and you have found your god.

            The commandments sound simple. “You shall not murder.” But the full meaning of this statement is explained to us by the Lord Jesus and his apostles. Christ says in our Gospel lesson this morning, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Anger in the heart breaks the Fifth Commandment.

            The commandments sound simple. “You shall not commit adultery.” But Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The Scriptures teach us that the Sixth Commandment means that sexual intercourse is only to be shared between husband and wife in marriage. God’s will for sexuality condemns not just the physical act, but also the lustful intent – a lustful intent at work in every use of pornography.

            Do this and you will live. Yet rather than offering the way to life with God, the Ten Commandments become the mirror in which we see our true selves.  We see the sin that is present in us. We are confronted by this sin, and God’s Word reveals to us that we are unable to escape it. We have been conceived and born as fallen sinners, and so in thought, word, and deed we sin in ways that deserve the eternal judgement of the holy God.

            Israel could not rescue itself from slavery in Egypt. Yet God announces at the beginning of our text, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” This action was not deserved by Israel.  It was a matter of God’s grace and mercy.  For this is the character of God that he has revealed to us.  Again and again we hear this in the Old Testament. The prophet Joel urges the people, “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”

            God is gracious and merciful. He abounds in steadfast love. And so he sent his Son into our world in order to free us from sin and the death it causes.  The Son of God became man without ceasing to be God.  True God and true man he lived in this world in order to carry out the Father’s saving will. He, the sinless One, kept the Ten Commandments in thought, word, and deed.

            And then God justly condemned our sin in Christ. Jesus died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. He drank the cup of God’s wrath as he received God’s judgment for us.  St. Paul told the Corinthians, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

            God’s judgment against our sin brought death to Christ. And then on Easter God raised Jesus from the dead. Death was not the end. Instead, Jesus was the second Adam through whom God has given us resurrection life.  Because of Christ we already have forgiveness now. Because of Christ, we will share in the resurrection on the Last Day when Jesus raises us from the dead.

            In the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Last Days have begun. The risen and ascended Lord has poured forth the Spirit who now brings God’s saving work to us. In Holy Baptism you were born again of water and the Spirit.  You are a new creation in Christ. St Paul told the Ephesians, “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

            As those who are in Christ, the Ten Commandments now become something that are good for us as they describe the life that fulfills God’s will – the life for which we were created.  In the Ten Commandments and the explanation of them provided by Jesus and the apostles we see the life that we want to lead as we live in Christ through the work of the Spirit.  We learn what this life looks like and we seek to put it into practice.

            As we are nourished by the Means of Grace we seek to fear, love, and trust in God above all things – to love and trust God more and more. We call upon God’s name in every trouble, even as we pray, praise, and give thanks to him.

            In the Fourth Commandment we learn to honor, serve and obey, love and cherish our parents and other authorities. At the same time, as parents we see the vocation – the calling – God has given to us raise our children in the faith through faithful attendance of the Divine Service, and devotions during the week with our family.

            In the Fifth Commandment we see the goal of assisting our neighbor in every physical need, even as we resist the impulse of anger. In the Sixth Commandment we find that sexuality is God’s good gift for marriage, even as we reject the temptations of the world that want us to abuse this gift. And in the Eighth Commandment we learn not to share gossip, but instead to speak well of our neighbor, just as we want our neighbor to do so for us.

            Until Christ returns or we die, we will still have the flesh – the old Adam – with us. There will be continue to be time when as we look at the Ten Commandments we instead find that it is revealing where sin is present in our lives.  When this happens, we repent. We confess this sin and return to our baptism in faith for there we have the sure promise of God’s forgiveness and the ongoing source of the Spirit’s work in our life. As Paul says in our epistle lesson today: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

 

 

           

 

           

 

Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity - Gen 15:1-6

                                                                                Trinity 1

                                                                                Gen 15:1-6

                                                                                6/22/25

     

Abraham was a pagan.  There is no other way to describe him.  Joshua told the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many.’”

Abraham, then known as Abram, and his father Terah had journeyed from Ur in what is today southern Iraq. Their plan was to go to the land of Canaan.  But for some reason they had not arrived there. Instead, they settled at Haran – a place that today is on the border of Turkey and Syria.

Abraham did not know Yahweh. He worshipped the false gods of his fathers. But Abraham had a special place in God’s plan of salvation.  And so, in his grace, God called Abraham. We learn in Genesis 12 that God said to Abraham, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God told Abraham to leave everything he knew.  He promised to make Abraham into a great nation. He promised that Abraham would be the means by which blessing would come to all the families of the earth.  And then a little later, God promised to give the land of Canaan to his offspring.

Abraham believed God’s promise. He trusted God. It was certainly a great act of faith because everything about Abraham’s circumstances seemed to contradict the promise. Abraham was seventy five years old. His wife Sarah was sixty five. To expect that they would have a child at those ages was not rational. But God had called Abraham, and he believed Yahweh’s word.

God had made his promise to Abraham. But time passed, and nothing happened.  Abraham and Sarah had no child. Our text is introduced with the words “after these things.”  These things were the events in the previous chapter when Abraham had to lead a war party to rescue his nephew Lot from local kings who had taken him captive. It was the kind of event that made a person reflect on how fragile life was – and about the fact that Abraham had no heir if he died.

We learn in our text that at this time God came to Abraham in a vision and said, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  Abraham obviously was fearful about his future for he said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And then he added, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”

God had not given Abraham a child – he had no son. According to the law of that time, a member of his broader household would be his heir.  Yet Yahweh responded to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” Then he brought Abraham outside and to him, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And he added, “So shall your offspring be.”  God reaffirmed his promise, and stated it in an emphatic way. We learn that in response to this Abraham believed the LORD, and God counted it to him as righteousness.  He reckoned Abraham as having a righteous standing before him.

In the first century A.D. Jews considered Abraham to be the great example of a convert from the Gentiles.  He had not known God, and then God had called him.  Later in chapter fifteen we learn about how God made a covenant with Abraham in which he promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s offspring.  Then in chapter seventeen, he gave Abraham circumcision as the sign of the covenant, and commanded that all of his offspring were to be circumcised.

The Jews pointed to Abraham’s faithfulness, for he had done what God commanded.  They said that the Law of Moses was eternal, and that Abraham had kept the Law of Moses – the Torah – in its unwritten form before it had even been given to Moses. Abraham was the great example of doing the law.

After Paul had preached the Gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the Galatians, other teachers arrived.  They followed up on Paul’s work by saying that, yes – a person needed to believe in Jesus. However, they said that in addition to this the Gentile Galatians had to do what God’s people had always done.  They had to keep the Law of Moses. It seems quite clear that they used Abraham as an example of this need. After all, he had been circumcised, and now the Galatians needed to receive this as well. These opponents held up Abraham’s faithfulness – his doing of God’s law – in order to prompt the Galatians to keep the law of Moses.

Paul takes up Abraham as he addresses the Galatians. But he has a very different emphasis.  Instead of Abraham’s faithfulness – his doing what God had commanded, Paul points to Abraham’s faith – his belief and trust in God’s promise. The apostle does so because faith and the law are mutually exclusive when it comes to our standing before God.

The law is about works – about doing.  Paul tells the Galatians, “But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”  The law is about doing, and those who do that law will be justified – they will be declared just by God. The apostles writes to the Romans, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”

          The way of the law is clear and unambiguous. But Paul warns that it can only lead to God’s judgment. The problem is not the law, which in itself is holy and good as an expression of God’s will. Instead, we the users of the law, are the problem. Paul tells the Galatians that “the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin.” God’s Word declares the truth about our status – we are fallen people who are under sin’s power. Not only do we fail to do what we should. Even when we do it, the act is not holy because our motives are never entirely pure.

          That is why Paul says that “by works of the law no one will be justified.” Instead, as we fail to do the law it brings God’s curse. Paul writes, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’”

          It is for this reason that Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins. He, the Son of God, entered our world in the incarnation in order to free us from the slavery of the curse. Paul told the Galatians that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” And then on the third day Christ rose from the dead as he began the new life that is already at work in us through his Spirit.

          Paul tells the Galatians, “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

          It’s important to recognize that Paul’s opponents at Galatia weren’t denying faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. They were saying that salvation takes place by faith in Jesus plus doing the Law of Moses.  In the history of Christian theology, this is always the threat – the desire to add our doing back into the cause of salvation.

          We do this because we have been created with the work of the law written on our hearts – we are hard wired in our creation to understand the way of the law. We know that there is no such thing as a free lunch – you get what you earn.  And deep down we also want to be able to claim some credit for having a part in salvation.

          This was the case in Martin Luther’s day when God’s grace equipped the believer to take part in their salvation. It remains the case in Roman Catholic theology today. But this is also what is happening when people believe they are able by their own choice and power to believe in Jesus.  It is happening when living a holy life becomes the final proof and assurance that a person is really saved.

          Paul points us to Abraham in rejection of this. He cites the last verse of our text which says, “And he believed the Lord, he counted it to him as righteousness” and then adds, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”  Just as Abraham believed the promise that God would give him an heir through whom all nations would be blessed, so we believe in Jesus Christ the fulfillment of that promise. 

          The apostle goes on to say, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” 

          We believe in the promised seed of Abraham – the promised offspring, Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, through faith in Christ we are justified. Although we are sinful in ourselves, because of Christ we know that God has already declared us righteous.  He has done so, and he will do it on the Last Day.  We have been baptized into Christ, and so we live as those who are in Christ.  We have been clothed with Christ in baptism and so we have the status of being holy in God’s eyes.

          Paul points to faith as the means by which we receive justification before God.  He rejects the idea that our works have anything to do with it. But when it comes to our life in Christ through the work of the Spirit he leaves no doubt that faith is active and does.  He says in Galatians chapter 5, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

          We have been freed by faith in Christ.  We have been freed from sin, and from the law and its curse. But this freedom does not lead us inward as we focus on ourselves. Paul says, “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.’”

          So as you live in Christ through the work of the Spirit, act in love as you assist others. Don’t react in anger, but instead be patient and self controlled. Be kind and gentle toward others, treating them the way you want to be treated.

This morning we hear in our text: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Abraham believed and trusted in God’s promise.  In the same way, we believe and trust in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham – Jesus Christ. By God’s grace through faith in Christ we are justified.  We know that it has been counted to us as righteousness, and that this will be the verdict by God on the Last Day.