The Combat Zone Of The War: Within The Christian

Text: Romans 7:14-8:1

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Every single Sunday during the Divine Service, you and I confess that we are by nature, sinful and unclean.  For some of you, you have been confessing this only for a short time, since you are either young or new to the church.  Others of you have been confessing this your entire life – for decades upon decades.    

  

And here is the catch, no matter what is going on in your life, you confess.  When things are going bad, you confess that you are by nature, sinful and unclean.  And when things are going great, you still confess that you are by nature, sinful and unclean. 

We also see this in our prayers.  Think about the hundreds – no, thousands of times that you have prayed the Lord’s Prayer and asked for the forgiveness of your trespasses.  Indeed, no matter the season of your life, you continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer and ask for the forgiveness of sins. 

Now, many well-meaning people think that we are wrong for confessing that we are by nature sinful and unclean.  In fact, they teach that once a person becomes a Christian, he or she is no longer a sinner.  And since a Christian is no longer a sinner, there is no longer a need for confession.  The famous televangelist, Joyce Meyer, has said it this way,

“I am NOT poor! I am NOT miserable, and I am NOT a sinner. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. That is what I were and if I still was then Jesus died in vain! I’m going to tell you something folks; I didn’t stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head I wasn’t a sinner anymore.”[1] 

And there are others who oppose this regular confession of sin. There are so-called Christians who walk around with their noses high in the air, acting like they do not struggle with sin anymore – that sin is a little thing that they conquered a long time ago.  They pretend that all is well and that they are now living a victorious life.   

Well, my friends, these individuals are misinformed.  They are wrong and naïve at best. You see, plain reason and experience show us that we Christians struggle with sin.  Not just in the past, but every single day.   

  

But why do we struggle with sin, even though we are baptized?  My friends, sin ‘remains’ after baptism.[2]  Yes, sin remains after your baptisms.  In fact, the Apostle Paul says in our Epistle reading that, “sin dwells within [him.]”[3]  Paul, as a Christian, says that sin dwells in him and he does this in the present tense. 

    

But this brings up a problem.  If sin remains after our baptisms, does this mean that our baptisms somehow did not work?  Should we be re-baptized again because of our sin?  Or, should we use more water in our baptisms, as if more water might help with this ongoing problem with sin?  Maybe, we should submerge people in baptism and hold them under the water a little bit longer?  Not too long though.    

Baptized Saints, your baptism did work and is working.  Your baptism removed the guilt of sin, which means that your sin is without God’s wrath against it.  You see, as long as you remain in your baptisms, your sin, which is in you, cannot condemn you before God.  Your sin is dead and harmless before God’s anger, as long as you continue in this baptismal grace.[4]

     

Permit me the opportunity to explain this a bit more. 

Let us imagine for a moment that we have a bunch of Christians, and godless Pagans lined up on a wall, much like a police lineup.  And let us imagine that we have an instrument that can test for the sinful nature.  So, if we wave this instrument in front of every person in the lineup, what do we find?  Well, the instrument would indicate that every person in the lineup is a sinner.  Yes, every single person in the line would be guilty of sin – the Christian and the godless Pagan.  Furthermore, if this instrument could test for things such as anger and evil desires, it would show that every single person is exactly the same.  The godly and the ungodly would have the same motion of anger and evil desires.[5]

So, what must we conclude?  Are we to conclude that everyone in the lineup is guilty before God Almighty?  Absolutely not!  The reason why?  The Christian is baptized and wrapped in Christ’s righteousness.  The sin in the Christian is forgiven, God does not count it against the Christian.  Indeed, everyone in the lineup has the same sin, but the Christians in the lineup have an antidote to sin – a remedy.[6]  They have Jesus and His gifts by grace through faith. 

And so, we can confess that we are real sinners, just like the Apostle Paul, and just like everyone else around us.  We can confess that no one is good, not even one.[7]  We can confess that we have real sin presently within us.  This old Adam – this sinful nature remains within us. 

However, we must never forget that this sinful nature is not our friend but our enemy. Unlike pagans, this sinful nature within us is an unwelcomed evil guest.  Yes, when we were baptized, we were put under the dominion of grace; therefore, the sinful nature was kicked off the throne of our hearts and now finds itself surrounded by the Lord’s grace and constantly confronted by the new man in Christ.  That’s right; for the baptized – for you – the sinful nature is not a welcomed guest but dead weight – dead weight that can do nothing but sin. 

So, dear Baptized Christians, since you still have the sinful nature and since the sinful nature is within you, it means that every moment, every thought, every word, and every deed becomes a combat zone for you against your sinful old Adam.  As a Saint and Sinner, you will experience both sin and trust in God in all your works and doings as long as you are on this earth.[8]

Sure there are battles in the culture to fight, and there are battles against the devil to be had, but the battle that is closest to home is right there in your heart.

Practically speaking, at your job, the sinful nature will work to get you to grumble and gossip towards your boss.  As a husband or wife, your sinful nature will cause you to resent your spouse and quarrel.  As a parent or grandparent, school teacher, farmer, manufacturer, and church member, the sinful nature is at work bringing about jealousy, greed, fits of rage, factions, rebellion, and so forth in your vocations. 

Is there a problem with your job?  It is the sinful nature at work in you and your neighbor. 

Is there a problem at school?  It is the sinful nature at work in you and your neighbor.

Is there a problem in the family?  It is the sinful nature at work in you and your neighbor.

Is there a problem in Gwinner?  It is the sinful nature at work in you and your neighbor. 

Is there a problem in America?  It is the sinful nature at work in you and your neighbor.

The sinful nature leads us to “do not what we want to do, but do the very thing that we hate.”[9]  The sinful nature is within us and leads us to cry out with the Apostle Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”[10]  Yes, who will deliver us from this body of death – the treachery of the old Adam? 

The one who will deliver you is Jesus Christ, Son of God. 

Dear Baptized Saints, in the midst of this agonizing struggle with the old Adam, what we need to hear and hear often is that God gives deliverance through Jesus.  In fact, in Christ, the victory has already been won! 

The ramifications of this cannot be quickly overlooked.  You see, we continually pray for forgiveness of sins, because Jesus has accomplished and freely gives us forgiveness.   And we confess sins because the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.[11]  Yes, we confess that we are sinners – we ‘rat out’ the old Adam because Jesus has come to call sinners.[12] 

It is like this: we come to the Lord’s church often and regularly to confess that we are poor miserable sinner.  And when we do this, it is like we are dragging this sinful nature before the throne of grace, throwing ourselves upon the mercy of the Lord.  And then, right there in the sanctuary with our sinful nature laid bare, the Lord delivers you and me by pouring not wrath, but His grace, forgiveness, and salvation upon us through His Word and Sacraments. 

And so, we come to this church and this altar continually so that we might hear about the victorious one who has delivered and is delivering us from the old Adam.  We come to this holy house so that the Lord might continually create a clean heart within and renew a right spirit within us, so that you and I might continue to fight the good fight against the war within.

In the name of Jesus. Amen. 

---

[1] Joyce Meyer, “Joyce Meyer is Not a Sinner,” Youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhDBwJVQv_o (accessed February 28, 2018).  

[2] Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article II:35. 

[3] See Romans 7:17.

[4] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 32: Against Latomus (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 229.  

[5] Ibid, 207.

[6] Ibid, 252.

[7] See Romans 3:10.

[8] Martin Luther, Against Latomus, 233.

[9] See Romans 7:19.

[10] See Romans 7:24.

[11] See 1 John 1:9.

[12] See Matthew 9:13.

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The Beginning Of The War: Baptism Of The Christian

This is Part 1 of the Lent Series titled, 

"The Christian's War: The Life of the Christian as Saint and Sinner."

Text: Romans 6:1-14

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Well-meaning Christians will often tell pagans that they should become Christians. And the reason they give to pagans: becoming a Christian supposedly allows a person to live a better life. They say that Christianity allows a person to enlarge their vision, break through the barriers of the past, and live with enthusiasm while defeating the disappointments of life.[1] In other words, the reason why a person should become a Christian is that the Christian life is supposedly stress-free, peaceful, and glorious. Christianity is sold as a peaceful walk on the beach – a life of ease where the good times roll.

Now, just to be clear, being a Christian means that we most definitely have peace with God – no wrath and no fear of condemnation in Christ Jesus.[2] Yes, when we were baptized, we were given the forgiveness of sins which brings about comfort; however, this peace with God and the comfort of forgiveness have ramifications in this life in the vale of tears. 

It is like this: before you and I were baptized into the Christian faith, we were under the power of the devil, which means that we were enemies of God. You heard that right, before baptism, you and I were ‘enemies’ of God. Before baptism you and I were on the wrong team – dead in sin and at war with God.  However, baptism changed all of this. At baptism, a new reality happened. You and I were made children of God.[3] We were wrapped in the goodness of Jesus. You and I were snatched out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in the kingdom of light.  

But as previously mentioned, there are consequences to baptism. You see, if we now belong to the Lord, we do not belong to the devil. And if we are now at peace with God, we are most definitely at war with the devil and his cohorts. 

So, we can say on the one hand that our baptisms give us peace with God. However, on the other hand, our baptisms put us at war with the devil. Our baptisms put a big target on our head and heart.

But we must keep in mind that the devil is not the only one that we become at war with. That is right; we actually become at war with ourselves. Yes, a civil war emerged in you and me at our baptisms. A struggle began when the waters of your baptism hit your head. When the Word of God with the water were applied to you at your baptisms, a conflict emerged with yourself. 

So, while we often see baptisms of babies in their white garments as peaceful celebrations, what is actually occurring is the beginning of a lifelong struggle for the baby, not only with the devil but with themselves. 

But why is baptism the beginning of a personal war for the Christian?

Quite simply, at baptism, you were given the Holy Spirit and faith.  And with the Holy Spirit and faith, new attitudes, desires, and actions as well. At your baptism, there was a creation of what is called the ‘new man of faith.’ We can also call this the ‘new self’ or the ‘new creation.’ And with this creation of the new man, there becomes an ongoing life-and-death struggle with the old Adam.[4]

You see, you and I were conceived in sin. We all have this sinful nature, which we call our old Adam or the old self. It was inherited from Adam and Eve and will, unfortunately, be with us until the day we die. It is a like a virus that stays with us and corrupts everything that we think, say, and do. In fact, this virus of sin – the old Adam – is so deeply embedded in mankind that most people cannot even recognize it in themselves.[5] 

So what this means is that as long as there is no baptism and no new man of faith and no new holy impulses and no Holy Spirit, a person will not experience a civil war within themselves. Indeed, as long as there is no new man of faith there will be no conflict with the old Adam – the old Adam will be free to reign. However, as soon as baptism creates the new man in the baptized person, along with the new Spirit-created attitudes and desires, well… war breaks out – the struggle begins. The old Adam is kicked off the throne, the gloves come off, and the battle begins.

And so, your life as a Christian is not one of ease like so many preachers and popular so-called Christian books say, but rather, your life as a Christian is the exact opposite – it is a life in conflict. Frankly stated, the Christian life is not experienced as luxury, comfort, or paradise, but a daily battle between the old Adam and the new man in Christ.

The Apostle Paul talks about this battle between the old Adam and the new man in Romans chapter 7. And even our Lutheran forefathers reference this daily battle quite often in their writings. They say that Christians are simultaneously Saints and Sinners. That is to say; in this life, you and I are sinners in the eyes of God’s Law, the world, and when we look at ourselves. When we pinch ourselves and look in the mirror, we see a sinner – 100% sinner through and through.   However, at the ‘same time,’ we are also saints in the eyes of God, because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. So, when we consider our baptisms, we see ourselves as saints – 100% saints because our baptisms have washed us of our sins, rescued us from death and the devil, given us eternal salvation, and wrapped us in Christ’s robe of righteousness.[6] 

By our natural sight we see ourselves as sinners; by faith, though, we see ourselves as saints. Both sinners and saints at the same time, depending on how we see ourselves.  

Now, we must be careful not to understand this as if we have a good angel on one shoulder and a little red devil on the other, as we have seen so many times on those old Looney Tunes cartoons. We are not in some neutral and innocent in-between place where we must decide which one to listen to.

And we should not take all of this to mean that you and I are part sinner and part righteous, like 40% sinner and 60% saint. We are not a mathematical fraction. But rather, we are people who have this old Adam hanging around our neck, and yet we have this new man created at baptism. We are both sinner and saint at the same time. We have both unbelief and faith at the same time.

Indeed, even though sin has been dethroned by grace at our baptisms, we Christians are still weak because this sins lingers on and wreaks havoc.[7] This sin is like an old man’s beard; it keeps growing back. And so, this is the reason why we confess every Sunday that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against God in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We confess this because this is true. This is who we are. We are 100% sinners through and through.

And yet, the Lord does not let our eyes remain on this fact. Baptized Saints, do you realize that the Lord snatches you away from yourselves and declares to you every Sunday that you are forgiven of all of our sins in Christ Jesus – that you are a saint because of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection for you?  Yes, the Lord in the absolution reminds you that you have been baptized by having the pastor draw the sign of the cross upon you – driving you back to the reality of your baptisms.

And so, this is the war of the Christian. This is your war. This is the war that we will be discussing throughout the Lent Season. Yes, in the weeks to come, we will be learning where this war takes place, how it is to be fought, where the Christian gathers strength for this fight, and when this war will soon be over.

And in case you might be a bit discouraged at this point, do not despair! Yes, do not despair, for the fact that you have a war with your sinful nature is a sign of hope! In other words, “There is a battle, a civil war, within [you] only because this new man has been created. Remarkably, the struggle itself is evidence for the reality of the new man created in baptism.”[8]

Baptized Saints, this struggle is a struggle of hope precisely because you have the Holy Spirit. It is a struggle of hope because you have faith. This struggle testifies to you and others that you are a Christian who is at war with your own wretchedness because God’s gift of life is yours in Christ Jesus.

So, dear Christians, fight the good fight. Finish the course. Be steadfast in the faith against sin, the world, and the devil, for you belong to Jesus. Do not give up, for you have been baptized into Christ’s death and renewed in Him.

This is your war. This is the life of the Christian. This is the result of your baptisms – baptisms that put you at odds with the devil and your sinful nature, but at peace with the Lord God forever.    

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

---

[1] Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, (FaithWords, 2015), passim.

[2] See Romans 5:1, 8:1.

[3] See Romans 1:18 and Ephesians 2:1.

[4] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2017), 303.

[5] See the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, I:9 and the Smalcald Articles on Concerning Sin.

[6] Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 49.

[7] Jonathan F. Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly: Second Edition (St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, 2012), 261.

[8] Ibid, 333.

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Sober Up, For Your Redemption Draws Near

Texts:  Luke 21:25-36 and Romans 15:4-13

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus warns us about the end of the world.  He calls us to be watchful and alert for that coming great Last Day.  He says,

“Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place.” 

Indeed, Jesus is warning us about the Last Day of Judgment, along with its great wonders and terrors.  He is warning us to be ready to meet Him when He comes back again to judge the living and the dead.  He calls us to be observant to the signs of His coming. 

However, we humans have this problem of not listening to warnings.  It isn’t that warnings are bad, for they do us good by alerting us to the fact that something troubling is about to happen.  Indeed, we do not disregard warnings because they are bad, but rather, we either have this tendency to shrug these warnings off, or we are too distracted with life to even hear the warnings in the first place. 

Take California as one of the many examples.  It seems that everyone knows about the mega California earthquake warning – that warning of the impending 8.2 magnitude earthquake that is supposed to hit the San Andreas fault next to Los Angeles.  Californians have heard this warning for years, nod their heads, shrug their shoulders, and then go on with their lives.  They do this because the warning does not give them the time or the hour of the earthquake.  That is to say; because the warning is not precise, it does not change anything in their daily lives. 

You see, when warnings are not specific or pressing at the moment, we typically end up writing them off and shrugging our shoulders, saying, “Yes, these warnings may be true, but it won’t happen anytime soon, so I need not be alarmed.”

While there may be some wisdom to not getting weighed down with things out of our control, Jesus, on the other hand, warns us about the Last Day and calls us to be alert and ready. Yes, even though we do not know when that Last Day will be, we must guard ourselves against shrugging our shoulders and saying, “The Last Day won’t happen anytime soon, so I need not be alarmed.”

Dear friends, the Last Day could be here today, tomorrow, next year, or a thousand years from now.  But regardless, we must not be so foolish to write Jesus’ warning off as something that will happen in some distant future and need not concern us in the present time. 

There is also another side to this as well.  Like a drunk, we can drink up life so much that we will not even see the signs or hear the warnings about the Last Day.  That is to say; we can become so incredibly consumed with life itself that we become dizzy and intoxicated with carelessness, so that we will neither hear the warnings nor see the signs of the Last Day.  Like a college student jumping from frat party to frat party ignoring his upcoming college examine, we ignore the warnings and signs of the Last Day and let the good times supposedly roll. 

And let us not forget what happens after we become intoxicated with life.  Jesus says in verse 35 of our Gospel Reading from Luke that we can become so dissipated that the Last Day will come upon us like a trap.  In other words, when Jesus uses the word ‘dissipated,’ He means that we can become so intoxicated with life that we will become sick and unresponsive.  Stated crassly, when we binge drink and guzzle down life (non-redemptive and empty things of life), we will become so hungover and sick that we won’t even open our eyes to see the signs or hear the warnings of the Last Day. 

Dear friends, Jesus is coming, and if not careful, we can be so intoxicated with the things of this life that we will be left in our drunken stupor clinging to the empty bottle of life.

Take a moment and look around you.

Marketers have been busy since Halloween trying to get you into the holiday spirit. 

“Get the tree up!  Get your presents!  Get those lights up!  Don’t miss Black Friday! Go, go, go, go!” 

The commercials are trying to amp you up.

“Buy this; buy that; spend that money!  Use this coupon!  30% off now!” 

Your cell phones are continually dinging, giving you news alerts. 

This just in!  Newsflash!  Breaking News!

Social media is continuously giving you updates about everyone else’s remarkable lives. 

The Jones’ just posted a picture from Italy, click “LIKE!” and share!

And to make things even more intense, you have unfinished Christmas lists, you have bank accounts, you have budgets, you have kids’ schedules, you have overflowing mailboxes, you have unwrapped presents, you have vacation plans, you have Christmas parties, you have Christmas programs, you have gift exchanges, you have gift returns, you have New Year’s Parties, and you have family get-togethers.  You have all of these things that you care very deeply about, things that easily consume you and can spiritually intoxicate you so that your senses are distracted and dulled to the Lord’s signs and warnings. 

Dear friends, you have not been called to have your hearts weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness from the cares of this life. You have not been called to brush the Lord’s warnings off to the side as if they are not urgent.  You have not been called to dullness or apathy.  But instead, Jesus has called you to be sober and awake and alert.  He calls you to raise up your heads and to stand firm for the Last Day draws near.  He calls you to be on guard so that the Last Day does not catch you off guard.  He calls you to be prepared at all times. 

But how on earth are we to stay alert and sober?  How can we raise up our heads when we do not even know when the Last Day will come?  How do we remain steadfast and not fall asleep in apathy or get drunk on life, when we do not know when Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead? 

The answer we are given is in our Epistle reading from Romans that says,

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Dear friends, what this means is that the Holy Scriptures – the Bible – is not only written for our instruction but is written because the Scriptures give the power of God that works steadfast endurance and comforting encouragement in us.   

You see, if we are left to ourselves, we cannot stay alert.  Left to ourselves, we will write the warnings off and fall asleep in apathy.  Left to ourselves, we will not remain steadfast and firm, but will become flimsy and weak from the drunkenness of life.  Left to ourselves, we will dull the warnings of the Last Day and be left alone to face all the things that will take place. 

However, you are not alone.  The Lord has given you His Word.  And even though this Word was written long ago, you can be sure that it was and is written for you, for God wants to give you steady endurance and encouragement that comforts you as He keeps you alert for whatever He will do next.

So, Baptized Saints of Zion, stand up, lift up your heads, open your ears, and sober up, for your redemption draws near to you in the Word! 

Listen to Jesus’ Word, which is for you: “It is finished!”

Listen to this great resurrection Gospel promise: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Look at the altar and see these very simple things (Bread and Wine) through the lens of this blessed Gospel promise:  “This is My body.  This My blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sin.” 

Remember your baptismal reality, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Hear the voice of Jesus who speaks to you through a sinful pastor, “I now forgive you of all of your sins.”

Dear Baptized Saints, what you hear and hold fast to in faith not only prepares you for the future warnings but encourages you and comforts you as you journey to the Last Day. 

Indeed, the Lord gives you His Word not because you deserve it; not because you’ve made the “nice” list and stayed off the “naughty” list, but because you need it; because He loves you…in spite of you. 

And when you hold fast to His Word, you are promised not dissipation or apathy or drunkenness, but hope.  Yes, the Word gives you great hope that no matter what comes before you from now to that Last Day, that you are not alone.  Even when the world completely comes apart at the seams in the dark and chaotic days immediately preceding Christ’s return in Judgment, you shall not fear, for the Lord is with you.

Baptized Saints, lift up your heads.  Lift up your eyes.  Behold!  The Christ, the almighty Son of God, is in your midst and is with you always, even to the very end of the ages. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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Uncomfortable Words

Text: Mark 7:31-37 and Romans 10:9-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

They brought a deaf and tongue-tied man to Jesus and asked Jesus to lay His hands on him.  So, fulfilling the request, Jesus put His fingers in the man’s ears and saliva on the man’s tongue, and said, “Be Opened!”  And at the command of Jesus’ word, the man’s ears were immediately opened to hear, and his tongue was immediately freed to speak.  

Now, this amazing miracle should not catch us off-guard for this is not the first time that Jesus – by His spoken Words – did the impossible.  For example, in the fourth chapter of Mark, we read about Jesus rebuking the raging sea, saying, “Peace! Be still!” And that wild sea bowed to the command of Jesus’ Word. 

And who can forget that encounter Jesus had with the man who was demon possessed.  Like the mighty raging sea, and the deafness of the man, these demons too encountered the powerful Word of Jesus and were kicked out of the demon possessed man. 

The point being is this: when Jesus speaks, things happen.  Waves bow down, demons shutter, diseases run, and sickness submits!  That is right; the Word of Christ does stuff!  The Word of Jesus is powerful.

 

And here is a key point for us to take note of: the same Word of Jesus that was spoken to the sick, the demoniacs, and the storms in the New Testament, is the same Word spoken by the prophets in the Old Testament.  Indeed, Jesus is the author of all of the Scriptures, which means that the Word of Christ was not only spoken in the Old Testament and New Testament times, but also spoken today in our time, as Pastors and Christians simply preach, teach, and confess the Bible. 

But if this powerful Word of Christ is accessible in our day and age, why are we Christians in America sometimes so hesitant to proclaim the Word of Jesus and so resistant to hearing it?  Why is it that we have more Bibles now, than ever before in history and are Biblically illiterate?  If Jesus’ powerful Word comes to us in the Bibles and in sermons in churches, why the neglect; why the apathy?      

I believe the answer is quite simple.  We would rather have our ears tickled.  Yes, we would rather have our ears tickled than challenged.  We would rather have our ears entertained than confronted.  We would rather have our ears comforted than dared. 

You see, we all like to hear things that make us happy. We like to hear things that produce satisfaction for us.  We want to hear things that allow our thinking to be reinforced.  We want to remain unchanged. We do not want to be interrogated, and we do not want to be shaped by a word or a message that contradicts us.  So, we either cover our ears in protest, or we run from a challenging message to escape. Sometimes we even attempt to replace a thought-provoking message with something else that tickles and entertains our ears.  In other words, we want to hear things that agree with us – messages that tell us what we already think.  Nobody likes to be wrong, and nobody likes to be judged.   

Now, we can somewhat accomplish this selective hearing when it comes to politics or sports.  We can simply tune out the television or radio programs that disagree with us. However, the reality is that the Word of Christ comes to us contrary to our thinking and contrary to our ambitions, whether we like it or not.  You see, the Word of Christ is not our Word but Christ’s Word and because it is Christ’s Word, it will not always agree with us and it will not always make sense to us.  And it may even rub us the wrong way.       

  

And so we make sure not to share the Word of Christ because if it makes us uncomfortable, it will surely make our neighbors uncomfortable.  And if they are uncomfortable, they will think that we are weird. 

And as far as hearing the Word of Christ?  If we are not closing our ears to the Word or running away from it, we become clever by trying to tone it down.  In other words, we petition and request that we update the Bible’s language to a more twenty-first-century mindset.  You know what I am talking about.  We want the language softened a bit – to make it less offensive.  For example, instead of the word ‘sin,' we want to use the word ‘mistake’ instead.  And the word ‘hell,’ that makes us squirm, so we replace it with the words, ‘place of the dead.’ And what about the word, ‘suffering?’ That word is replaced with the word, ‘inconvenience.’  These are just a few examples.  The point being is that we end up substituting different words for Biblical Words, to tame the Word of Christ – to tone it down.  We change it to make it more palatable.      

The only problem with this is that when we change Christ’s Word, we are not merely toning it down but we are actually exchanging Christ’s Words for our words.  As a result, we do not end up preaching, teaching, and hearing the Word of Christ, but end up hearing the word of men.  And unlike the Word of Christ, the words of men are not powerful in the way Christ’s Words are powerful.   

Frankly stated, without the Word of Christ, faith is not possible.  And if faith is not possible, there is no salvation.  And if there is no faith and no salvation, there is no church, but just a bunch of people gathered together listening to the ramblings of mankind – words that simply sound religious but are nothing more than empty pious noises. 

. . .

Dear friends, Christ’s powerful Words do not allow our thinking, ideas, and opinions to stand but destroy and scatter everything.  The Word of Christ takes everything captive. It destroys and crucifies whatever is in us that is not of His Word.  He does not allow anything to remain in us, which is all very good, even though it sometimes hurts. 

. . .

Christ’s powerful Words do not leave us utterly destroyed and scattered, though.  There is more! Yes, there is more to the Word of Christ.  The Word of Christ not only destroys, but it also creates.  The Word of Christ creates faith in us! 

Think about this for a moment.  The Lord who spoke the world into existence in the Book of Genesis – created the World through speaking – is the same Lord who spoke healing and faith into that poor-deaf-mute man.  And the same Lord, who spoke faith and healing into the deaf and mute man, is the same Lord (with the same Word) who spoke faith into existence in you! 

You see, we have all been where the deaf man was.  We were deaf to the Word of Christ, and our tongues were tied too.  But someone loved us enough to bring us to Jesus, to place us before Jesus and beg Jesus to heal our deafness and release our tongues.  And so, for many of us, this happened in our Baptisms when our parents picked us up and placed us under the waters of Baptism, where the mighty Word of Christ and the name of our Triune God was spoken over our lives.  And so, as helpless babes, we were given ears to hear and tongues to confess. Nothing would ever be the same again. 

Baptized Saints, this is why we are people of the book.  This is why we are about Christ’s Word! This is why all of our ministries are centered around the Word – the Bible – and never apart from the Word.  You see, whenever the Word of Christ is spoken to you – whether in a sermon, a devotion, a hymn, or straight from the Bible – Jesus Himself is present and speaking His powerful Word to you.  And the very Word of Christ that can open the ears of a deaf man is the same Word that creates and sustains special ears of faith in you, so that you might hear rightly!  Yes, to hear of your sin and to especially hear that for Christ’s sake all of your sins are forgiven, is what the Word does for you.  The Word grants you repentance and creates and sustains faith in you!

And because faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ and not from the words of mankind, we are captive to Christ’s Word.  Yes, as Christians and as a church, we are captive to the Bible, for we know that through the Bible, Christ speaks to us, opening our ears to hear and opening our mouths to confess His praises.   

This is the beauty of the Word of Christ!  Faith comes from hearing.  Through the proclaimed Word we are cleansed.  

 

It is the Word, always the Word of Christ, for you and for me. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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