Matthew 22:34-46 The Greatest Commandments

Christians only need two commandments. If we’d work on following these two – love God and love neighbor – we, too, could fulfill the Law. There would be far less fighting in the church. And more people would be running to the church, as if to – imagine this – Jesus. There would be no one left hungry, no one homeless, no one cast out or forgotten.

Martin Luther said the purpose of the law is show us we cannot keep it, to reveal our sin and our need for a savior. That’s a good theological explanation for why the law was given to Moses. I think it was also given as practical evidence of God’s wisdom and love for humanity, created in God’s image. The law is a blessing that guides people in living together in harmony and peace, as well as protects them from the consequences of actions done without love or regard for the wellbeing of others.

When people don’t act in accordance with love, bad things happen. Not because God is mad and punishes them but because there are negative consequences when we don’t act in love. The law is given to serve love, like Jesus said about the Sabbath – it was given for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Here’s a quote from Luther than will turn some socks inside out: “The works of the law are not commanded merely for the purpose of performing them, God would not want us to keep them to the injury and destruction of love. If any commandment opposes the love of neighbor, [God] wants us to renounce and annul them.” (Vol. 5, 169-195)

We’ve renounced many laws already that have proven they don’t serve the good of our neighbor. Women can wear men’s style clothing, men can have long hair, women can serve in leadership/preaching positions in the church, we can eat pork and shrimp, divorced persons can remarry and serve their Lord. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38).

All the Law and Prophets hang on the laws of loving God and our neighbor. Every law must pass through the filter of love. If it does not pass the test of bringing good will to our neighbor, then, like Jesus stepping over the Sabbath law to heal a man’s withered hand, that law doesn’t fit for that circumstance. I don’t go a far as Luther to say we should throw out a particular law if it doesn't meet an isolated case that goes against love. Jesus didn't throw out the Sabbath law. Why throw out a blessing from God? We follow the law when it blesses us or our neighbor. Yet in Christ, we can set it aside when it does not serve the welfare of ourselves or our neighbor.

I like to compare the biblical instructions to lines on a parking lot. They guide and bring order to many people coexisting in a confined area. Yet, uniform parking spaces don’t fit every kind of vehicle. Drive an 18-wheeler into a parking lot and it’s not going to fit between the lines. Some adjustments and flexibility must be present if that vehicle is to coexist with all the others. You can welcome the 18-wheeler into the community with all it has to offer, or you can try to force it to fit between the lines. As impossible as that is, religious legalists insist it is God’s will that everyone fit between the lines. They place the law above love. But God’s will is love, not law.

May we learn to filter all our interpretations of law through the lens of Love.

Peace and Love - PWM

Updating - changing - reinventing

As I look at previous posts, I have one thing to say --- BORING. Too intellectual. Too impersonal. A change is coming.

Matthew 18:23-35 Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

This parable comes in response to Peter’s question about how many times should we forgive our brother. Jesus answers by showing that the kingdom of heaven is about forgiveness. Some people know they have much that needs to be forgiven. When standing before God, they recognize they have a greater debt to pay than they can ever pay back. The law shows us the enormity of our debt, and that we deserve punishment. Since you can’t earn much money in prison, there’s no way you can pay it back. Such is the case with sin. The little that we can do on our own efforts won’t make a dent in the amount of harm we have done by our actions. All one can do is to plead for mercy.

God is gracious and loving, forgiving not only the debt but the punishment as well. Justice involves payment for debt. Mercy can only be given to someone who cannot pay the debt. So is God just or is God merciful? I get the impression most Christians want a just God. They want to see punishment meted out for the crime. And justice excludes mercy. An interesting dilemma.

Quotes by Martin Luther: “The Gospel, or the kingdom of God, is nothing else than a state in which there is nothing but the forgiveness of sin. Wherever there is no forgiveness, there is no kingdom of God.” Civil law and rights are not abolished with the forgiveness of sin, for civil government is found in the kingdom of the world, which must administer its laws and punishments to keep people in line. Whereas forgiveness is in the spiritual world.

The story continues when the man who couldn’t pay his own debt, pleaded for and received mercy, was unwilling to show mercy to someone who owed a small debt. The kingdom of God exists only when forgiveness flows through us and we let go of the debt someone is unable to pay us. When we can’t forgive, we are tormented, i.e., tortured by the jailers. Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted gift that keeps on giving to the one who holds it.

Forgiveness is not given in lip-service only. True forgiveness means a letting go of the debt and the punishment we would like to see the other person experience. Can anyone ever live in the kingdom of God? Narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matt. 7:14) Forgiveness is one of the keys.

Blessings,
PWM

Matt. 15:21-28 Jesus Tests a Canaanite Woman’s Faith

It’s nice to know the details about the historical witness of this and every other story in the Bible, but if it doesn’t impact me and my life for the better, what value is it? How does this story impact MY life? And how does it impact YOUR life?

The Canaanite woman was considered an outcast in the eyes of the children of Israel, a Gentile. Since most Christians today are not converted Jews, she represents us. And still, most Christians think that WE are now the chosen people of God. Chosen by God in our baptism to be God’s children. We’ve effectively displaced the Jews, we Christians are the new chosen of God. Now that we are the true children who have the Bread to ourselves, the story fits us even better.

But Jesus leaves the homeland and ventures into the land of the outcasts. Why does he do that? Why does he leave the hallowed halls of our tradition to be around outcasts? I thought he said he would be with us always. Yet we find him among the outcasts.

Who are the outcasts in the eyes of Christians today?
(1) Unbelievers - who reject traditional understanding of the biblical narrative and reject blind adherence to scriptural demands. (2) The poor - if you can’t pull yourself up with self-discipline and will power, there must be something wrong with you. No free lunches are served these days. (3) Sinners – who the righteous determine are not following specific rules of the Bible. Maybe these are the outcasts today. If they don’t meet our rights of initiation, and conform to our rules, they don’t deserve our Jesus.

And yet, Jesus goes to where the outcasts live. The only advertising Jesus needs is word of mouth. People heard he was kind. He was able to help them. He was willing to help them. Imagine how churches might look on Sunday mornings today if sinners in need of healing, forgiveness, heard that the church was kind, and able to help, and willing to help…without conditions attached.

Three times the woman approached Jesus. She trusted the witness of others who had told her that Jesus was kind, and willing to help. She trusted and desired it so much that she endured his silence, his timing that wasn’t her timing, and even being told that she was not one of the chosen – not one of the original children set aside to receive God’s blessing and promise. She still trusted the testimony of others that he was good, and desired to help people in need regardless that she didn’t qualify by the religious rules. She claimed the goodness of God she heard was in him. And she was not disappointed.

Trust the witness of the New Testament that tells us God is love – kind, able, and willing to help us if we call in Jesus’ name. This changes my life. How can I not serve him? How can I live in ways that do not please him? I work harder at it if I trust the goodness of the One who loves me.

Blessings - PWM

Matthew 13:24-30 The Wheat and the Tares

After many forms of teaching and miracle stories in the first twelve chapters of Matthew, the gospel writer fills this chapter with parables. The first parable is the Sower and the Seed, after which the disciples ask Jesus why he teaches in parables. Jesus speaks, “I do it to show you that people can hear and see something without understanding it” and “it fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah.” Then Jesus explains the parable of the Sower.


The second parable is a literary duplicate of the first. Jesus tells a parable of the wheat and tares. Matthew then tells us another place in the Old Testament (Psalm 78) where the Messiah will speak in parables. Then Jesus explains the meaning of the parable to the disciples.

Why? Why would Matthew want to show us that those who met Jesus face to face, who heard his teachings and saw his miracles, didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to teach them? If people who had direct physical interaction with Jesus didn’t understand, then why do we think we can understand at all? Maybe the point is found in the follow up to each parable. Only Jesus can help us to understand his teachings.

I think this might encourage us to go away with Jesus to a quiet place. To be alone with him. To sit at his feet. To let the Word himself enter our thoughts and imagination. As we read the story in Scripture, to place ourselves within it, then he can teach us what he wants each of us to learn. That doesn’t mean we will come away with the same learning points. He will teach me something applicable to my life today, and he will teach you what you need to hear. This is the mystery and wisdom of the parables, one tree can yield many fruits.

I can give one example of hearing without hearing. For six years, in sermons and in Bible studies, I’ve been sharing my understanding of the kingdom of heaven. To make a long story short: the words ‘kingdom of heaven’ can be replaced with the words, the ‘reign of God.’ The kingdom of heaven is is a current state of being – allowing God to reign in your life today. The KOH in these parables is not teaching about where you and I are going to go when we die. I’ve been teaching these replacement words for six years, and last week, when we were analyzing this parable, the initial focus was ‘how is this like heaven?’

So what is the reign of God in the current day like? The seeds of trust in God are sown by Jesus himself. When they are placed in fertile ground, trust grows well. Yet, life is not all roses. There will be weeds and obstacles that get in the way of growing trust. There will be people and teachings (or fear and distrust) that interfere with the ability for trust to grow. Not to worry. Let it all develop together. Who are we to be able to separate out the good from the bad (people, teachings, feelings) when they all look alike. Leave it up to God to sort things out at the end. Just do your best to continue growing in trust for God, and the kingdom, the reign of God in you, will grow.

And get into the habit of going away with Jesus to be alone. Let him teach you.

Blessings - PWM

Matt. 11:2-11 Evidence that Jesus is the Messiah

I’m going to change the way in which I blog these gospel texts. In the past, I’ve been more academic, more religious, more exegetical about the text, letting Martin Luther contribute to the discussion. I’m feeling a little blogged down by this format. Rather than cover a whole text, or be limited by one text a week, I plan to blog about a text from Luther's Church Postil that we are studying for the week, and a possibly another text from the lectionary for Sunday. I might focus on the entire text or just one thought. My primary goal is to identify what each text might be able to teach us for the present day rather than simply analyze what happened in the past.

This text in Matthew 11 shows Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist’s question (from prison) as to whether or not Jesus is the promised messiah, or should they expect someone else. Jesus said, “Look at what I do – that should tell you who I am.” Can our denominations say the same thing? If people want to know if we are the Body of Christ in the world today, can they look at what we do and determine if we are like Jesus? The same applies to me as an individual. If people want to know if I am a follower of Jesus Christ, can they look at what I do and be convinced?

Is my religious work focused on protecting the word of God, or the dogma and doctrines of my particular church theologians? Or are we clinging to our denominational loyalties (Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Wesley, Aquinas, etc.) today like Luther said the church of his day clung to their saints and popes?

What did Jesus do to show he was the Christ? He said, “Report what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Where there are good works, there is Christ. Where there is good news, there is Christ. The odd phrase Jesus added was this: “Blessed are those who do not fall away on account of me.” Why would Christians today fall away from Jesus who was a healer, a forgiver, a servant, a witness to the goodness of God? Maybe because Jesus wasn’t a condemner or a punisher. Maybe because Jesus did not match the tradition's image of God from the Old Testament…a God of law rather than a God of love. Many people desire a God who will make bad people (which never includes them) pay for their sins for eternity, rather than accept that the Son received the punishment to himself.

The Christian life consists of placing one’s complete trust in God as revealed in Jesus, and acting in love toward our neighbors in need. I am the blind, the lame, the leprous, the deaf, the poor person who is totally dependent upon Jesus Christ to make me whole; I cannot do this on my own effort. Christ alone heals my spirit, and frees me to experience peace, joy, love, and hope as I live to please Him.

Blessings - PWM 

Matthew 9:18-26 Two Healings and No Payment

In both healing stories, people come to Jesus because of something they have been told about Jesus that makes them believe he can help them. Jesus doesn’t push himself on them. He waits for them to come to him. They must have heard something good about Jesus, not a message of obedience to law, but a message of comfort and healing. The church seems to do a bait and switch, by pointing to Jesus as good and kind, but once they are in, it becomes ‘you really can’t have him unless you obey the law.’ Luther points out quite distinctly – pay attention to any other healing story – that Jesus does not demand anything after he heals. Christ gives without expecting payment from us.

The first healing story as Jesus is finishing his statement that you can’t pour new wine into old wineskins. Is this first healing an example of pouring new wine into old wineskins? It is the first example of Jesus raising a person from the dead in Matthew. How would the ruler ever think Jesus had that kind of power? How can a person have so much trust in Jesus that they have no question Jesus can do something no one has ever seen a person do? He even allows Jesus the time to be diverted and heal someone else along the way. If you were trying to get a physician to heal your daughter that you believed was dead, would you let him/her stop to help someone else along the way? That’s a lot of faith.

The woman with the twelve year bleeding problem is an interesting story. Blood was considered ‘life’ itself. To be drained of blood for twelve years is like being drained of life for a long time. Luther thought blood loss is connected to feeling our sin. That’s a theological approach, but I think a death, a divorce, a traumatic and devastating event, an unfair job loss – how many things can drain life from us for a long period of time! When she finally, on her own – not with any church or small group to assist her – reaches for and tries to get close to Jesus, he heals her. To touch his cloak might be to mimic his life, as outer wear can often be understood as the actions one wears on the outside. He rewards her efforts to be like him, and life improves.

Another point to consider might be the fact that the woman, with her bleeding condition, was considered unclean. She wasn’t supposed to be in public, and as a woman even, to approach a man. Maybe that’s why she snuck up to him. In her shame, she only wanted his help, not his condemnation. I supposed that’s what most people expect from a God who expects you to do everything right. How could this rabbi grant her wish, and not expect her to follow the law as some form of payment? Did Jesus forget to tell her that’s what he expected?

Here’s a few comments from Luther on this text: (1 - #6) If we receive Christ without becoming like him in his giving without receiving payment, we are name-only Christians. Christ does the works that come from us. (1 - #8) They are deceivers in the church who preach or teach, occupied with commandments, works, and statutes which accomplish nothing. These pretend Christians burden and torment us with their commands and works. (2 - #18) In spite of what the law and all people said (about the woman considered unclean by the law and rejected), she reached out to lay hold of Christ for herself. #21 – Though she feared condemnation for her illegal actions under the law, Christ began to confirm her faith, to say she had done well in disregarding Moses and the law, that is, her unworthiness as judged by others. We should learn from this interpretation today.


Blessings - PWM

Matthew 9:1-8 Your Sins Are Forgiven

Martin Luther’s first sermon on this text would cause a few Lutheran legalists to close the book quickly on him. He makes many powerful statements and I will highlight them rather than on the text that speaks to him and brings out these ideas.


“The kingdom of Christ is the words: ‘your sins are forgiven.’ "(1 - #2) For Brother Martin, these four words are the heart of the gospel, and he points out that they come without works, without commands, without law.


As long as I’ve been a Lutheran, I’ve never heard the following words attributed to Luther: “If the kingdom of Christ is to grow, we must keep out of it with the law…it is out of the sphere of the kingdom of Christ to urge people with the law.” (1 - #4) Other sermons of his remind us that after Christ has healed anyone of their maladies, he does not ask them to do anything in return. He doesn’t hold his grace over sinners’ heads as in, “Now that I’ve done this for you, you must follow with obedience to God’s commands or I’ll take it back.”


Luther points out that the gospel and the true word of God are blasphemed on many sides, getting from St. Paul that all false spirits are bold and proud in contrast to true spirits that are bashful. This reminds me of all the places in the NT where it says revilers, extortioners, theives, and coveters are in the same category as pedophiles and sodomites. The Greek concordance says 'thieves' is a metaphor for false teachers. Revilers are those who subject others to verbal abuse, and scold in harsh or abusive language. Extortioners are those who obtain what they want by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal power. 1 Cor. 6:10 says they will not inherit the kingdom of God either. This sounds like the pot calling the kettle black in the church today.


The story in Matthew itself shows that you and I, and the church, can bring others to Christ because of our faith, as in the baptism of children, but then Christ gives faith to them so they can believe for themselves. Yet there are so many questions about why some accept the gift and others don’t. Another one of the mysteries.


Blessings - PWM

Matthew 8:23-27 Faith in the midst of storms

It’s so easy to have faith when the seas are calm, and the wind is peaceful and pleasant. These are the wonderful times of life. No problems. Or at least most are pretty manageable and in our control. But when we lose control of life circumstances, the storms blow our faith away like feathers in a hurricane. On the contrary, if we have trust in Jesus, this trust can blow the wind and the waves from our mind as we focus on the grace and power of God. After all, faith sees what cannot be seen. Something Luther pointed out was how Jesus helped calm the storm, but then what did he ask of us? Did he command obedience to his teachings? Did he command that we ‘go and sin no more?’ Did he expect anything in return? No. He helps, not because he wants more from us, but because love helps without expectation of reward. He helps so that his heavenly Father will be praised and glorified. Luther also connected the storm to the world that opposes Christendom. By world, Luther included certain people within the church. He said the world tolerates all kinds of preaching except the preaching of Christ as the way of salvation. People add requirements to salvation that go above Christ. When Christ alone is preached, he said it should be a consolation to preachers if they suffer persecution. It’s even a good sign if the persecution comes from the great, saintly, the learned, and the wise. At least the disciples believed in Jesus enough to run to him for help, even though they didn’t have a clue how he would be able to help them. They’d never seen him calm a storm before. They wouldn’t have woken him if they didn’t think he could help in some way. Luther thinks that God/Jesus appears to sleep so we can learn how to trust, not in handling the situation ourself, but in God. Faith grows through struggle. A final point here, and I’m not sure how Luther tied it in with this story, but he said “The Word has no master or judge or protector besides God, the author. God doesn’t ask the counsel of men to administer and defend his Word. He will defend/protect it himself.” Maybe this is part of the storm we face today in the church. So many men, defending God’s Word. Like they think God can’t do it for himself. O ye of little faith. Blessings - PWM

Matt. 8:1-13 True Faith

Both stories of healing come as a result of people coming to Jesus. The leper was breaking both religious (ceremonial uncleanness) and moral (potential to hurt someone else) law. The Roman centurion was going against his own culture, possibly defying his own worship of Caesar or other gods. They both had heard the good news – that Jesus was kind and receptive to all, capable of helping them, and most of all, willing to help them. Is this a picture of the body of Christ? Are we drawing people to the Christian religion because we appear so kind, accepting, our power to help, our willingness to help instead of to condemn? Contraire, my friends. Christians today wield judgment, condemnation, righteous anger, and earn your way into our good prayers and graces. Will the Temple need to be destroyed, again? All this points to Luther’s claim that [1 - #2] “this is true faith: a living confidence in the goodness of God…[#4]…The Gospel is a good report, saying, or fame of Christ, how he is all goodness, love, and grace…” The reason Jesus tells the leper not to tell others is because this is the example of love. Love is not shown by a person in order to receive credit or attention for its actions. Jesus wasn’t expecting anything in return, and neither should we when we help another person. He only wanted the Father to be glorified. Leprosy is a disease of the skin, our outer covering. It’s a metaphor for our external actions that are sinful. Unfortunately, our actions are contagious, and others can be infected by them. Leprosy also is a disease in which the skin loses its ability to feel. Maybe like alcoholism or drug addiction. Addictions make people numb to the pain of the world, and they can’t tell that they are being destroyed because they’ve lost the ability to feel what is hurting them and others. Only Jesus can touch us and make our actions pure. But they have to hear that Jesus (the body of Christ) will not cast them out because of their disease. When the leper prayed, this showed that true prayer is one in which we submit to the will of God, not necessarily anticipating our proposed answer is the best answer. Trust in God’s wisdom and that whatever happens can be used to glorify God. An example was given of one of the speakers at the Youth Quake in New Orleans who lost his legs to a rare disease. I’m sure he prayed for his legs to be spared. Though they were not, he was speaking to 37,000 youth and adults to glorify what God had done through him in sharing the good news with people in Africa. Having half the body we have, God is using him in a powerful way to motivate others to seek Him. Luther says the centurion, a heathen, was exalted by Christ because he had a faith greater than any person of the chosen nation of Israel. What does this say to us today? We are the ‘chosen’ people of Christ – called Christians. Are there heathens who trust in Jesus and his healing power more than we do? Maybe so. And are we cast into outer darkness (unbelief, lack of understanding) where we struggle and wail and gnash our teeth? Maybe so. Especially if we are requiring more (religion, adherence to law) than trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Faith is not about what we think. Faith is about WHO we trust. That’s why little children inherit the kingdom of God. They do not use logic or reason. They trust in the goodness of God through Jesus. Luther identifies reason as a stumbling block to faith. Reason and right thinking are not just stumbling blocks for us today, they are a mountain. Keep the faith - PWM

Matt. 7:15-23 False Prophets

Martin Luther declares that all Christians have been given the power, by Christ, to be judges of all doctrine, and he gives them power to judge what is right and what is not right. [1 - #4] This sure opens a can of worms, especially at a time when the ELCA is trying to decide as a body what is right and wrong. He says, “The sum total of all Christianity is Jesus’ conclusion to the sermon on them mount: Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so unto them (vs. 12)” [1 - #1]. Okay. There we have it. What else do we need? Everything else confuses the issue.

You and I will be accountable to Jesus when we stand before him on the last day for who and what we did and believed. It won’t do us any good to point to any one teacher and say, “It was his or her fault that I did or believed what I did!” We are responsible in whom or in what we place our trust, and if it isn’t Jesus Christ alone, then we put it in the wrong place. If we place our trust in Charles Stanley, Crevlo Dollar, Joel Osteen, the Holy Bible, the Book of Concord, you name it – it’s in the wrong place. Christ alone.

So who are the false prophets? Those who teach contrary to the Word. But Luther has a different understanding of the Word than most people today. [1 - #8] “Therefore God must speak to your heart: This is God’s Word; otherwise you are undecided…[#9]… What does it concern us whether St. Augustine or Jerome, St. Peter or St. Paul…yet it will profit me nothing, for I must have God’s Word, I will only hear what God says…[#10]…It is the Word that has spoken when it is effective in those who believe.” The false prophets point to the words on the pages of Scripture and the teachings of the church that ask more of you than trust in Jesus Christ.

The Word speaks to us through the writings of scripture, and when we hear God speaking to our heart, imprinting the truth on our heart, we cannot act against the truth – no matter if we have to stick our necks out a thousand times to get them chopped off. We always act according to what we believe/trust. We cannot act otherwise. Which is why many, many Christians do not project an image of the One they say they follow.

[1 - #26] True prophets possess the fruit of the Spirit – joy, peace, love, longsuffering, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, self-control. It’s easy to tell a false prophet from a true prophet. Just watch their actions. If they don’t exhibit the aforementioned fruits, run. The works of the flesh (false prophets) are enmities, strife, jealousies, envy, wrath, factions, division, no love, no mercy, no friendship except for their own sect, they would just as soon destroy anyone who doesn’t agree with them [2 - #29]. Wow. One more quote: [3 - #12], The real nature of false prophets is that they force themselves upon us.

We know each other by our fruits. Keep up the good work! - PWM

Matt. 6:24-34 Don’t Worry

Taking a peak at the verses coming before this text, we heard that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also; and the eye is the lamp of the body. When our eyes are good, when we see God’s reign in us as our greatest treasure, our whole body will be full of light. Light is synonymous with understanding and Jesus is the light. If the eyes are bad, seeing the riches of the world as our treasure, one lives in great darkness, or fear of what is ahead. This sets up the teaching that one cannot serve two masters. We can serve God or we can serve mammon (excess beyond what we need daily). One participant said this text reminded him of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, Your Erroneous Zones, written in the 1970’s (?). He said there are two emotions that do us no good, worry and guilt. Worry comes because we fear what will happen in the future. Imagination causes us to think of worst case scenarios and the vast majority of times, what we imagine doesn’t occur. Guilt is about the past, which usually cannot be changed. Although, sometimes we can make efforts to correct our mistakes. If we cannot correct them, forgiving ourselves is the only way to move forward. Worry comes because we fear the unknown. If we know the worst is coming, at least we know what to prepare for, and we don’t worry - there’s some action we can take to get ready for it. Entering the unknown is what brings fear, and this is where faith is required. Those who do not trust Jesus’ words that our Father in heaven watches over us like the birds and lilies of the field, will go ahead and worry. This sounds simple, but we all fail at entering the unknown will no fear. The way to approach worry is constant prayer, and focusing on the work of the day. Get out of the future that is unknown, and into today. Get busy. Help someone else. One person was concerned about her parents in another state. She prayed, and then she helped a neighbor, which got her mind away from what her parents might need tomorrow. If we use our hands to help someone in need in our neighborhood or in our church, we are being the answer to someone else’s prayer for their family or friends. God knows our needs. We need to realize we are God’s answers to the prayers of others. Luther’s focus on this text was concerning possessing riches or riches possessing you. If you can give it away, you are lord. If you cannot give riches away in service to your neighbor, you are enslaved to them. He says this is why God gives us the poor, to help us be master over our possessions. His other point is that anxiety and overindulgence are the fruits/proof of unbelief. Blessings in Christ - PWM

Matthew 5:20-26 The Intent of the Law is Relationship

We started our discussion looking a few verses back so we understood where this text originated. Jesus was saying that he did not come to destroy or overthrow the law, but to show us how to follow it properly. Rob Bell confirms this in his book, Velvet Elvis, with an explanation of Jewish terminology about a rabbi telling a student who interpreted the law improperly that he has abolished the law. If the rabbi thought the student had understood God’s intention for the teaching, he would say ‘you have fulfilled Torah.’ So Jesus wasn’t getting rid of Torah, he was showing how to carry it out perfectly, down to the smallest component of it. In our text Jesus is teaching that some rabbi may have interpreted ‘thou shall not murder’ one way, but he interprets it another way. And he obviously disagrees with how the Pharisees have been following it.

Luther says that the way the religious leaders were following the law of ‘not murdering’ was by using a literal approach. You had to kill someone with your own hands to break this law. That’s why the chief priests thought they were not breaking the law when they turned Jesus over to be crucified. They weren’t killing him personally. The Romans were murdering Jesus.

Jesus said it’s not about the physical act of murder, it’s what brings a person to the point of wanting to harm another person – anger. And it appears there are three levels of anger described. One is anger without a cause. The next is to the point of calling someone ‘empty-headed,’ holding a contemptuous feeling for them – this made you subject to being sued for libel before the Sanhedrin. This might refer to a more religious connotation since it involved the religious council where one Jewish sect (or Christian denomination) distained another because they didn’t believe the same things. And the worst level was to call someone a ‘fool’, which meant you were accusing someone of hating knowledge (Prov. 1:22) and correction of any kind (12:1), who are quick to quarrel (20:3) and give full vent to their anger (29:11), who are complacent (1:32) and who trust in themselves (28:26) rather than God. (Ps. 14:1).

So what’s the intent of the commandment “do not murder?” Do not let your emotions get stirred up against anyone that makes you want to see harm come to them. Is this possible? According to Luther, not unless you are born again and have help. If you’re born again? That would mean there’s a lot of baptized people who aren’t ‘born again.’

In the next section, Jesus talks about not giving your gift at the altar until you have reconciled your anger/unpeace with your brother. Luther uses this as evidence that we can only honor or show love for God through loving our neighbor. Don’t think your gifts of time, talents, possessions do much to impress God if you are not at peace with your brother or sister. The intent of the law is to draw people into peaceful relationship with each other, and to live in disharmony with your neighbor is to be unreconciled to God.

All this shows that obedience to the law is something we cannot achieve – without help of the Spirit. And the law is focused on bringing people together, in relationship, rather than to separate groups from each other. Unfortunately, the law is used today to divide and build walls between people rather than to teach them what it means to love each other. How terribly we fail at interpreting the law the way Jesus did. Lord, have mercy. Blessings - PWM

Matthew 4:1-11 Three Kinds of Temptations

One of the themes of Matthew’s gospel is to show Jesus as the new Moses. One of the parallels shown in this story is to see that as Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights before receiving the Ten Commandments and giving them to the people (Exodus 34:27), Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness before he brought a new law to the people – the law of love. We have not received any command to fast as a spiritual discipline. We are led by the Spirit to try to bring our bodies under greater discipline through fasting. And to be led into the wilderness is to be led into a place where we feel alone and forsaken. This is when we weakest. The first temptation Satan brings to us deals with cares for the body, our physical needs. How can we believe God is good if God isn’t giving us food to eat, or clothes, or shelter? Poverty is one way that Satan tries to convince us that God doesn’t care for us. Satan says to Jesus, “Here, look at what I have to offer you – nice clothes, cars, toys, etc.” Jesus sees that what the world has to offer is like stones. What the world offers is not able to satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst for God. Luther points out that avarice is a fruit of the unbelief that God will provide for us. We hoard and collect everything we can for fear that God won’t provide for us later. On another line of thought, our discussion brought up the idea that the stones might be a metaphor for the tablets of stone of the Ten Commandments. We think if we ‘consume’ and incorporate the commandments more perfectly that our own effort can lead us to life. Jesus said following the commandments will help us to eternal life, but he is the true Bread from heaven that nourishes and feeds our souls. The word that nourishes us, according to Luther, is the word that God is good. Hunger and want for bodily needs tempt us not to believe in God’s goodness or provision. In the second temptation, Satan holds before Jesus the illusion that there is more that he needs, but in fact, it’s something Jesus already had. Jesus didn’t have to invent a new way of getting down from the pinnacle of the Temple. Luther’s answer is so practical, it’s humorous. Why not just take the stairway that is already in place? We have been given the ways to walk in God’s will – the commandments – and we don’t have to come up with new and better ways that depend on our effort. Sometimes we think we have to make impossible leaps of faith in order to please God. Not so. We are not to tempt God by asking God to do exceptional things when we do stupid things without divine direction to do so. In spiritual matters, God has given us Jesus Christ to be the way that nourishes our souls. Luther also points out that Satan only quotes part of the passage, and doesn’t finish it (Ps. 91:13-16). It sounds like what goes on today when people use pieces of Scripture that fortify their own agenda and fail to speak the lines that follow. Like not quoting Proverbs 6:16-19 when talking about abominations before God; or leaving the characteristics of verse 10 in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 when talking about who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Look up the Greek meaning of those words. The third temptation Jesus faced was that of temporal honor and power. He could have had it, no doubt. For us, our prosperity makes us think we are special, chosen by God, and better than those who are poor. It’s like the Jewish thought in the Old Testament that God blesses you if you are good, and curses you if you are not good. People in the Bible thought those who were sick or lame or had bad things happen to them were being punished by God. It’s the mentality that says, “God was punishing America in the 9-11 attack for the decline in our morality.” Or that aids is God’s punishment for homosexuality. Our prosperity of health, friends, possessions, position and power, lead us to believe we are better than others - God loves us more and we must have done something to deserve it. For Luther, poverty and prosperity are the first and third ways our faith can be tempted in outward ways: pain & pleasure, fortune & misfortune; while the second is the greatest temptation that attacks the doctrine of faith in the soul, a spiritual matter. Trust is what we need, not extra effort. Peace - PWM

Matthew 2:1-12 A Star in the East

How in the world does the story of the Magi coming to see Jesus relate to the present day? Who comes today to seek Jesus in Bethlehem? Maybe when people see the rising of the star of Christ, a person or a nation who truly follow the teaching and way of Jesus, this attracts them to come and worship him. When we let our light shine, displaying a bright example of love and mercy, healing and comfort, people come and discover him in the house of bread (beth = house + lehem = bread), which is the Christian church. Luther said that the oral preaching of the gospel is the star/light that leads people to Jesus, and it remains over him alone. The truth teaches the pure grace of God and pure faith instead of the law.

Luther identified Herod as being the first non-Judah leader of Israel, fulfilling the prophecy that would bring Shiloh, the messiah (Gen. 49:10). Luther placed the pope in Herod’s shoes as one attempting to destroy the Christ child through requiring obedience to church doctrine and teaching over faith in Christ alone. Who is Herod today? Herod reminded me of Judas Iscariot, anyone who pretends they love and worship Jesus by kissing him on the cheek, but then they turn around and betray him by lifting the law higher than him. Who lifts the law higher than Christ today? Who acts like they want to worship him, when in fact they want to silence him for their own benefit?

Brother Martin credited the ability of the Magi to recognize the messiah in a humble, insignificant child to faith that goes beyond reason or natural intelligence. He says ‘nature wants to feel and be certain before it believes; whereas grace believes before she perceives.

Back to the star as the gospel: we noticed that verse 10 says when the Magi saw the star, they were overjoyed. They were overjoyed before they saw the baby? The star attracted them. The good news drew them to where he was laid, gave them joy, and then they met him personally.

Luther mentions that the gospel teaches salvation is by faith alone. Adding other requirements to it is to weaken faith’s power and risks losing it in favor of works. We can be joyful in knowing that obedience and works are not the route to find him. When we finally meet him, obedience and works become our offering to him.

When they got to the house (not the stable? not the manger?), they worshiped him and gave him their gifts. And then, as always, God finds a way to warn us so we don’t go back to the Herodian (self-serving) way of thinking.

This is one of Luther’s sermons in which he refers to the scriptures as “the swaddling clothes and manger (#36) in which he was wrapped and laid; that is, the writings of the prophets and the law; in these he is wrapped, they contain him, they speak only of him and bear witness of him; they are his sure sign”… Blessings - PWM

John 21:19-24 - Using the Gifts We’ve Been Given

We fudged a little this week and added verse 18 so we knew what Jesus was telling Peter. After asking Peter three times if he loved Him, Jesus repeatedly told Peter to feed His lambs or sheep. How many times do we have to be told that’s what we are supposed to do if we love Jesus? Throughout Luther’s sermons, he says the way we love God best is by loving our neighbor. FEED MY SHEEP! Have we learned anything yet? And then Jesus told Peter what kind of death he was going to glorify God. That’s an interesting way to put it. Glorifying God in our death? Is this physical death or spiritual death to the life our flesh desires or thinks is best? How will we glorify God, whether it’s physical, fleshly, or living? Jesus says, “Follow me.” How do we do this? How do we follow Jesus when He cannot be seen? Luther says by being the best we can be – if you are a husband or a wife, best the best husband or wife you can be. If you haven’t been specifically called to use your gifts in the ministry of the church, you be the best spouse, child, parent, laborer, employer, etc. that you can possibly be. This is how we glorify God until we see Jesus calling us to follow Him in another direction. He won’t pull us away from being a good spouse in order to follow Him. If church work or sacred acts are conflicting with our ability to be a good spouse, parent, or other, we should spend less time with the religious stuff that really doesn’t do anything for God anyway. We love God when we love our neighbor, spouse, child, friend, etc. We also don’t need to be trying to be someone we are not. That does no good to try to be someone else. God has given us gifts, formed us in our mother’s womb for a specific plan that will bring glory to God. If we deviate from that plan, we won’t experience the kind of joy the Father planned for us. So how in the world do we know what “plan” to follow? Peace. Three early church fathers, separate from each other, in different centuries, came up with similar methods of discerning the spirits. In a nutshell, follow the path that brings peace deep inside you. If a choice creates anxiety, distress, unrest, uncertainty, hesitation, or desire for worldly gain – that’s not a desire in line with God’s will. On the other hand, when making a choice you find a sense of calmness, interior peace, confidence, attraction to God in all things – these are movements of good desires. Many times “no decision” is a decision, and a good one. More time may be needed for God’s answer to surface, so one can follow Jesus. One of the main themes of this passage is that Jesus tells Peter he is to use the gifts he has been given and not worry about what God has planned for others. Keep your focus on what God is calling you to do and do it well. It’s none of your business if another disciple appears to have fewer sacrifices to make or won’t die a violent death, but you will. People are not content with their own work, and complain that someone else has it better. God’s plan is perfect and each has his or her own part in it. Blessings - PWM

John 20:19-31 Jesus Appears to his Disciples & Thomas

This has been a hectic week. Vacations tend to make the following week busy. And since I downloaded Internet Explorer 8, it's messed up my pasting into this blog. Time burns faster than fuel. In this lesson, we spent time talking about Jesus breathing on the the disciples, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whosover sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whosoever sins you retain, they are retained." To forgive means 'to let go.' Does this mean we are in control of giving out God's forgiveness or our own? Some thought letting go of the wrongs others commit against us brings us peace and unburdens us of the wrongs we feel others have done to us or their neighbors. Some thought forgiveness was more for our benefit than the benefit of the forgiven. This may be true, but Luther said that the giving of forgiveness is not for the benefit of God, the church, or the individual, but for the receiver only. To know the offenses you have committed against someone are completely forgiven is more likely to make you return to that person to attempt a relationship than if you felt there was something you owed. Isn't that what might attract more people to God - to hear they are forgiven without qualification, without payment, without obligation to pay back once you got in the door? Why aren't more people attracted to the church today? Is the church an image of forgiveness? Brother Martin says our only law is love. There are too many Lutherans who disagree with him. Thomas is known and minimized for his doubting attitude, but is that the point? After all, the other ten disciples had seen, heard, and touched Jesus a week earlier, and this was the only reason for their belief. Thomas simply asked for the same evidence. Maybe Jesus wanted a teaching event because he wouldn't be able to hang around for two thousand years - especially since he was fully human - so everyone could see him. And yet, we do see, hear, and touch Jesus in tactile ways now through the body of Christ and its members. That's why it's important for us to share the times we know Christ's presence in and through each other - so people will hear us talking and claiming to have seen him, and they will also want to see him. People are blessed when they believe without seeing, but Jesus seems willing to comply even with those who want evidence. Just ask. Luther pointed out that Jesus does not break down doors to get to us. By this he means he doesn't change the outward affairs of government or nature, but in orderly appearing to us. Jesus never forces his way into our hearts.We come to him because we have heard he is kind, able to help us, and willing to help us. As the body of Christ, is this the image we are giving? Peace in Christ - PWM

John 16:23-30 - The Practice of Prayer

“In that day”, the day Jesus is talking about is when he returns from the grave, the resurrection, when their grief will be turned to joy. In that day the disciples will no longer ask him for anything because they will know that Jesus has opened the door of relationship/communication with the Father and they can go directly to the Almighty with their requests. The reason they had not asked anything in Jesus’ name yet was because he had not made them righteous in God’s sight in the crucifixion, and until the resurrection / receiving of the Holy Spirit, they had not trusted completely that He was the Son of God, Mediator to the Father.

Luther finds five requisites for true prayer in this text. First, the foundation for prayer is the promise of God to hear and answer it. Why would anyone approach God with requests if they did not believe God could provide an answer? And since the promise has been made, Luther questions why anyone would fail to take advantage of the riches offered since God is more willing to give, and even more than we ask.

The second requisite is faith by in the individual that the promise is true. This may be obvious, but it may be the reason why many people don’t pray. They don’t have faith that God will be true to God’s promises. Yet, faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit, so how can we criticize those who don’t pray? If you haven’t been given the gift of faith, why would you pray? So, if you have been given the gift of faith, then why not pray for high and lofty things? Like Elijah, who prayed that it not rain for 3 years – he became lord of the clouds! By faith. Our trust grows when we taste the sweetness of God’s promise in seeing prayers answered (1-#6).

We talked about answers to pray that help us to grow in our confidence in prayers being answered. Weeks ago, our church prayed for a preschool mom who had an inoperable brain tumor. Yesterday, she found out it was gone. What happened to it? She said to thank our church for praying for her. God is glorified when we proclaim the power of prayer and give evidence for God’s presence and power and activity in our world today.

A third requisite for prayer is to be specific in naming what we want. Jesus taught us to pray for specific things in the Lord’s Prayer. And we pray for needs, not necessarily frills. I suppose the more specific we are in our requests, the more clearly we can see God’s answers, and yet we can’t tie God’s hands with time limits, etc. One of our participants said her brother was very sick with a painful ailment, partially self-inflicted, and was living with her after her husband died. And she was praying that God would take him because she was so distressed about his discomfort. One day when she was at work, he fell asleep and dropped a cigarette, which burned down her house and killed him. She felt like she’d prayed for the wrong thing, and lost her house as a part of that ‘answered’ prayer. Maybe we should be careful what we pray for? Yes, but also what good came out of having to move? She moved out of Chicago to western KY where she’s in a wonderful neighborhood and gets to fish whenever she wants. Didn’t it all turn out good?

The fourth requisite is that our prayers arise from the depths of our soul that reveals the true desires within us, not just spoken words that are read from a page. The words are important to start the process, but our deepest needs are offered in wordless prayers in which the Spirit intercedes for us and which we cannot even speak. That’s pretty deep desire. Yet this is the truest prayer.

The fifth requisite is that we ask in the name of Christ. What he means by this is that we ask, knowing that nothing we have done or can do makes us worthy to approach the Almighty. But we ask, knowing that Christ has interceded for us, and God hears because we love Christ, the Son. Those who pray long, beautiful, and many prayers merit nothing. It is only because we trust our prayers will be answered for the Son’s sake and not our own sake that makes us worthy to receive answers.

Overall, the more we pray, the more we see the promises of God are true. So our faith grows in proportion to our prayers. Start praying, and don’t stop. Blessings, PWM

Update – Blogging the Gospels with the help of Martin Luther

If you’re checking this blog out, here’s what I’m doing: Last year I read Martin Luther’s Church Postil, at least his sermons on the gospels. I saw a different Luther, and heard a different voice. He was teaching local clergy to help them with their sermons, but he was also preaching to the people. Instead of trying to figure out his ‘theology’ and apologetic to Rome or the scholastic community, I wanted to hear what he said to his congregants. I was pleasantly surprised, as much as you can be when trying to wade through the length and breadth of his messages. Luther was no biblical literalist. The Word spoke to him in ways academia might consider superfluous today. Through 2008, I wrote a prayer every week based on his sermon(s) for the lectionary text for that week. The prayers were provided on Sundays for parishioners to pick up and use during their personal study/prayer time during the week. This year, I’m leading a weekly study on the same gospel texts. We are trying to determine how the gospel text speaks to our lives today, and we consult Luther’s thoughts to see if they add anything to our own ideas. This blog highlights some of the things we talk about and tells some of the more interesting things Brother Martin teaches in his sermons. You can find Luther’s sermon on the links in the right column. The fastest way to find Luther’s sermon is to scroll down the left column at the sermon website to find the appropriate Sunday’s lectionary text, and then click on it to move to the sermon location on the right. I hope you’ll be blessed somewhere along the line if you choose to follow it. Peace in Christ - PWM

In a Little While - John 16:16-23

Four times, Jesus says the words ‘in a little while.’ We are comforted when we know trials and difficult times will only last for a little while. Jesus knew and we know the disciples were going to experience despair for three days when Jesus was taken from them. When you are in the beginning and midst of His absence, it feels like an eternity. But not to worry – in a little while, He will return in resurrection joy. How many times do we have to experience this feeling of His leaving us to figure out that if we will only trust His words to us – "in a little while you will see me again." Isn’t that part of the answer? It isn’t that He has left us, but usually we have left the presence of God in favor of sin, or simply following our own way. We can’t see Him when we depart from Him in distrust. And yet, He finds a way to open our eyes to His constant presence. Trust and wait patiently for His return. Every time He returns, our trust/faith gets stronger. Luther suggested that the disciples’ understanding about Jesus was hindered by their thinking that He was still going to establish an earthly kingdom, and they would be lords with Him. To go to the Father means Jesus enters the immortal life where time and the needs of the body are no more, and He can rule in the hearts of all people without the need for food or sleep. Luther equated the ‘world’ with the scribes and Pharisees who find joy in opposing Christ because they were always bothered by His teaching, and found no joy or peace wherever they interacted with Christ. Brother Martin liked the image that the Gospel is repeated in us – Christ dies in His human form in us and then rises to new life to reign in our hearts. He cautioned us to not judge ourselves or our faith according to our feelings as if comfort is lost and sorrow will not end when we sense His absence, but hold onto the words ‘in a little while’ when our sorrow shall be turned into joy, for Christ will arise in our hearts again (3-#32)…soon. Peace - PWM

Christ’s Kingdom and the Office of the Holy Spirit - John 16:5-15

Luther makes some interesting points on this text. One of his observations is that the world is blind to the reality of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Sin is actually unbelief, and other sins flow out of this root. Unbelief is lack of trust. When we do not trust Jesus will provide for our needs, we take matters into our own hands and steal, or work seven days a week. When we do not trust a relationship founded in God is sufficient, we seek to fulfill our need for relationship outside the boundaries of marriage and commitment to one person. When we do not trust God has set in place a system of consequences that follow wrongful actions, we take vengeance into our own hands. So those who trust in God through Jesus Christ have given up sin and their actions are motivated by love for God.

Righteousness is not good works alone because not all works are done gladly, willfully, joyfully, or with the right motivation. What is in the heart is more important than the outward actions. And even more important, for Luther, is that Christ has gone to the Father to mediate for us. Righteousness isn’t so much about our works making us any more worthy, but that Christ goes to the Father on our behalf. This causes us to love Christ and our works arise out of this love. The world doesn’t know how to judge rightly until it understands sin and righteousness. Reason is not able to decide what is right or wrong before God because it always relates righteous action to good works. Nothing is good that doesn’t come from Christ (who is love) or the Holy Spirit. Righteousness is having a pure heart more than outward actions, even though it always leads to outward actions.

Another point Luther makes is that Jesus rules a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. That’s why he had to go to the Father, so people wouldn’t expect Jesus to rule a worldly kingdom. And yet, so many people think Jesus is coming back to rule the earth. This is where the Holy Spirit is needed as the teacher/counselor.

Concerning the office of the Holy Spirit, we can know any teaching and truth is of the Holy Spirit if it glorifies Christ as being known through his word (4-#75). The Holy Spirit’s work is to teach of the spiritual kingdom and to glorify Christ (4-#61). And Luther says the office of an apostle is teaching only, it cannot use worldly power (3-#4).

We asked the question: so, how do we hear from the Counselor? The word of God is one way, and our consciences are also aids to knowing what God wants. When you remember that the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, your actions that generate feelings or conditions other than these are suspect. The bottom line is that if we trust in Jesus Christ to be a gracious God to us, we will love God with all our heart so we will want to follow all his commands, which results in loving our neighbor. Grace and peace - PWM

Bearing Witness to Truth - John 15:26 – 16:4

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples from the very beginning that the hour would come when the religious establishment would excommunicate them and even seek to kill them. There was no need to because He was with them. But when harming them, the accusers would believe they were serving God in their actions. Martin Luther saw the biblical text speaking directly to reformers in the sixteenth century. This was no Scripture reading stuck in the first century. In hindsight, we can see how he would apply it in his own setting.

The real question is - can we apply it in our setting today? Is persecution happening in the 21st century where we live? Let’s address the same comments Luther made in his sermon: “The world defends God by killing the Truth itself (1-#4)” and today’s “religion is a human institution that cannot accept the Gospel (1-#11)” and “The Gospel is a teaching that offends human rationality/reason and will be condemned as the devil’s gift from hell (2-#10)” and “It is the church who suppressed the Gospel and compelled submission to the point of burning dissenters at the stake (2-#13)”. Enough. What is at the heart of the dissention?

The heart of the dissention is the Gospel. What is it and how does the church kill the Truth? The Gospel is the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is God and the “Christian faith is founded upon Christ alone, who accomplishes all for us (1-#12)”. Christ is a gift to us, and “to know Christ died for me and transferred the load of my sin on himself is to realize that what I do makes no difference (1-#20)”. The Gospel is that we don’t need indulgences, commandments, or holy living to bring us salvation. To kill Truth today is to promote law as the means to the end. This is wrong because Christ is the only means to the end.

The Holy Spirit has testified, witnessed, convicted us of this truth in Christ. With this knowledge infiltrating our being, we are comforted in facing any challenge before us…even if it leads to death.

We still have churches, denominations, today who require submission to certain doctrines, practices, obedience, even to the Holy Scriptures, before declaring the words of salvation to their members. Luther hits the nail on the head when identifies “those holy ones who call themselves Christian leaders persecute Christ’s people because they have not know the Father or Christ. They follow Moses in their doctrine (2-#24).” They promote putting the Ten Commandments in public places instead of the cross, and they call that Christianity.

Faith and the confession of faith, which Luther says is saying Jesus is Lord/God expresses itself and witnesses to the truth in godly actions. And the Spirit gives us courage and strength to live our faith. We no longer fear persecution, but only grow stronger. Peace – PWM

A Different Law - John 14:23-31

I really liked Martin Luther’s sermons on this text. They reveal why he was viewed as such a threat to traditional Christianity. Traditional religion is so easily drawn into obedience to the laws of Moses as the right way to act because God declared it so. Brother Martin takes an ax and cuts off the branch of the law as a necessary part of our religious practice. This was his sermon for Pentecost, and he relates it to the Jewish practice of Pentecost. The Jewish tradition celebrated it as the 50 day journey to Mt. Sinai, after having been released from bondage in Egypt. At Sinai, Moses received the law from God and delivered it to the people.

The Christian Pentecost celebration, for Luther, comes at the end of 50 days of journey after we were released from bondage to sin and death through the resurrection, and on the 50th day, we received a new and different law – the gift of the Holy Spirit. He says the old law does not enter the heart, nor does it cause works to follow (like feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, etc.). “The Law is dead-writing only, and has ruled a dead people, for hearts are dead who do not willingly do God’s commandments” (1-#10). Notice that he doesn’t say the Law is of no value. Only the Spirit can change the heart to make one see the wonder and blessing of the Law of God, and thereby willing to follow it.

“We cannot make people godly by preaching the Law. There must be love in the heart, otherwise nothing is accomplished in keep the Law.” Thomas Merton said it right when he said, “In Christianity, motivation is everything.” That motivation is love. And love alone is the fulfillment of the Law (Rom. 13:10). Jesus said if you love me, you will keep my word. Love is what helps us commit to the well-being of our neighbor.

One of the key points for Luther is that the Holy Spirit changes our hearts by bearing witness to Christ, helping us to see God rightly, and this helps us to love God as we ought. In sermon 2, he says ‘the knowledge of Christ converts, nothing else.’ The Spirit helps us recognize God is kind and gracious, not angry. Since God is not angry, we can know peace, even when the conditions of life are anything but peaceful.

People are drawn to Jesus because of the peace and comfort he offers. The Law offers us no peace. So what do we preach most to others? Blessings, PWM

The Good Shepherd, John 10:11-18

To interpret this lesson for the current day, it helps to identify the individuals mentioned in the analogy. The Good Shepherd and the sheep are easy. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and his flock are those who follow His example. Concerning the relationship of these two, Jesus confirms that He came to lay down His life for the sheep. The first verses of John 10 talk about Jesus laying down in front of the sheep pen as the gate. Why did Jesus have to die? To show us a God who cares so much for us that He will go to ultimate lengths to prove it. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends” (John 15:13). And if Jesus did not die, would anyone really believe He was fully human? Humans are born and they die. His death assures us that He knows our greatest fear – what will happen to us when we leave our earthly bodies? The Good Shepherd lays His life down so the sheep understand a God of love and compassion. The hirelings, on the other hand, watch over the sheep only for their own benefit. They do not care for the safety of their flock. When danger (the wolf) comes, they flee. The wolf, according to Luther, can be the devil, but also any person who harms the sheep. Most notably, that would be the pope or clergy who teach only what destroys the soul - the Law and doctrines of works (3rd sermon, #36). Neither of these can nourish the sheep because they are impossible to keep. Only Christ, the Good Shepherd, can give life to the soul. Luther points out that Christ is the only shepherd today who actively watches over us today in His kingdom. The kingdom of Christ is concerned about the weak, the poor, the sick, the broken, that He might help them. Sheep that are weak are not to be driven by laws and threats. They will only respond to consolation, so we should preach Christ as one who rejects no one (sermon 1, #11, 12, 14, 16, 20). In his 3rd sermon, Luther says Christ’s kingdom and Christ’s church are not bound to the Laws of Moses, nor Judaism, nor the pope. It’s okay to teach the 10 Commandments but not without telling where we can seek refuge since we cannot fulfill them (#14, 34). Brother Martin spends some time explaining that the Church is not an organized group of people, but a spiritual assembly who hears the Shepherd’s voice and follows His governance. He says religious legalists cannot conceive of a spiritual knowledge (hidden and secret) that they cannot organize and control with reason (#50, 56). How does this speak to us today? Is Luther on the right track? If we follow his interpretations, we ought be wary of law-toting, works-demanding religious leaders (hirelings and wolves) who create fear of the afterlife if we don’t do something they think we need to do. You can’t scare someone into eternal life. The law destroys us by showing us we cannot keep it. So to be required to follow it is not the point. It can’t be done. The point is Christ alone covers us with His innocence (3-#39). We ought to focus on the kingdom of Christ, helping the poor, rather than promoting or defending the law. Luther says faith is the distinguishing mark of a Christian, not baptism, going to church, or receiving the sacraments (3-#48). Only the Good Shepherd recognizes His own sheep. Let someone say these things today and watch the flames of theological argument erupt. Have a Blessed Easter! - PWM

Robbers and thieves of the Kingdom - John 10:1-10

One of the first questions that comes up in this reading is the concept of the sheep fold. What is it for us? We can come in and go out of it, led by the Shepherd, so it really can’t be a reference to heaven. We don’t go in and out of heaven freely. The final statement of the passage may give us a clue when Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” The sheep fold is a place of peace, comfort, and safety for us. And we have that when we recognize Jesus’ voice and follow Him. This is eternal life, the abundant life. One of the more difficult concepts is in hearing His voice. How do we do that? Sometimes we hear it through the Scriptures, sometimes through other people, sometimes through revelations in our thoughts, and yet, how can we be sure it is the voice of the good shepherd and not thieves, robbers, or Satan? After all, Satan used Scripture to try to deceive Jesus in the wilderness. Martin Luther indicates that the sheep have the power to judge what is being fed them. This is a strange concept for us. Does that mean the people in the pews don’t have to buy what the preacher, or higher church, is feeding them? If it is not commanded in the Scriptures, then no. And even then, the bottom line for Luther is the conscience of each sheep. This is good and this is bad. Good because there is great freedom given to us as sheep to discern if what we are receiving is from Christ. Bad because sheep are really stupid, and they will follow just about anyone or anything. The foundation of the conscience must be Christ alone. Not the law, not the church, but if it matches what Jesus said and did, take it to heart. The robbers and thieves are those who try to get into peace, comfort, and safety by any means other than the gate, who is Christ. If someone thinks following the commandments will earn them the abundant life, they won’t find it that way. If they think money, fame, or power will bring peace and security, they are wrong. If preachers and religious leaders tell others that they have to do anything other than enter by Jesus Christ, they rob and steal and harm those who are in their care because they deceive the sheep who follow them. The watchmen in the story who open the gate are the people who point to Jesus Christ as the shepherd. They may use the Law to help others to recognize their need for a shepherd, but it’s the shepherd who leads the sheep to safety and comfort, not the Law. Luther points out that Galatians 3:23-24, the Law was given as our tutor to bring us to Christ. This is the function of the Law. Once we have faith/trust in Jesus Christ, we no longer need a tutor. Trust in Christ opens the gate to freedom that recognizes the wisdom of the Law and we realize we would be stupid not to follow it. Yet we don’t fear our destruction if we fail to keep it. I want to return to a previous point that seems to apply to the current discussions of the ELCA concerning the controversial topic of human sexuality. This regards the law versus the conscience of the sheep. In a previous sermon, Luther had said that the law was given as the servant of love, not the reverse. If a law serves love, by all means, follow it. If it does not serve love, then it can be set aside. In this sermon (sermon #1, #19) Luther said Christ interpreted his own words by saying he is the door to the sheep and whoever enters by him will be saved to go in and out and find pasture. Then Luther said, “Here Christ speaks of the Christian liberty, which means that Christians are now free from the curse and the tyranny of the Law, and may keep the Law or not, according as they see [conscience] that the love and need of their neighbor requires. This is what Paul did. When he was among the Jews, he kept the Law with the Jews; when among the Gentiles, he kept it as they kept it, which he himself says in 1 Cor. 9:19-23: ‘For though I was free from all men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, [I lived] as under the law, not being myself under the law; to them that are without law, [I lived] as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law...' " He set this statement up by saying we are not to force the law on anyone. No one can be forced to believe. Sheep don’t come willingly to a harsh voice of law. They come to a gentle, loving voice of a good shepherd who they recognize cares for them and their needs. Christ wants willing followers, not driven sheep. Sheep will never find peace under the sword of the law. He says the sword of law “cannot force the heart and bring it to faith. In view of its inability, it [the law] must be silent in matters of faith (#18).” Some Lutherans will agree with Brother Martin on this, and some won’t. Let their conscience be their guide. Blessings, PWM

Those Who Hear God’s Word – John 8:46-59

How hard it must have been for Jews who were trying to be faithful to the Scriptures to hear this rebel prophet tell them their father was Satan and they were not of God. He said they didn’t understand God’s word, even though they were the experts in what was written in the Scriptures. Jesus’ approach wasn’t the most delicate and would make anyone defensive. Does that give us permission to be less than delicate in telling literalists and legalists they may know the words but they don’t understand what the Bible means? I guess that depends on whether you want to get crucified or not. Jesus infers that just because you read and know the words in the Scriptures does not mean you know God. Luther points out that preachers must practice what they preach so no one can discredit them because of their actions, as in Jesus saying, “Which of you can accuse me of sin?” How many religious leaders have we seen fall from their pedestals because of sin? Too many. One point of Luther is that a corrupt tree is known by its fruit. When one shows anger, bitterness, impatience, cruelty, and judgment because their ideas and ways are being rejected, that’s not the sign of a good tree. The fruits of the Spirit are peace, kindness, goodness, hope, love, etc., even in the face of rejection – like Jesus. What does it take to be of God? Doesn’t baptism make us a child of God? Or not? Is it one of the sacramental forms we cherish and perform, but isn’t effectual without the trust/belief/life component? And what does it mean to hear God’s Word? If someone puts a new interpretation on the Bible that shakes the foundation of someone’s belief, there is great resistance and fear when the ground you are standing on is being shaken. Many Christians still seem to stand on the Ten Commandments as their foundation rather than on Jesus Christ. Luther says the Word is not a word of the law but the gospel of Christ, and this is the only way Christ could be distributed to the world. Jesus couldn’t reach everyone in bodily form, so He is the Word in the gospel that is given to those who will hear it, in my words - above the din of the law. Brother Martin claims the evangelical office of the ministry is nothing but glorifying God. What he means by this is that people come to Jesus because He is the image of kindness, healing, peace, commitment, loyalty, love, and concern for human need. We don’t need to honor ourselves or what we preach when facing opposition, but we should always honor God in our teaching of His grace, knowing we are assured of God’s honor to us. Luther points out that when Jesus says He keeps God’s Word, ‘keeps’ does not mean doing or following the works of the law but rather holding the Word in the heart by faith so nothing can separate us from it, not even death. This is why Christians do not fear bodily death, because we know we approach death only as sleep. Ultimately, when we speak the truth about God, those with hardened hearts will only resist more furiously. Peace - PWM

Living Bread from Heaven – John 6:44-51

This text promised to be a fun one to decipher from the first sentence to the last. Where are the biblical literalists when you need them? The first verses take the pressure off me as a preacher/pastor. The Father is the ultimate power in drawing people to Jesus, not me. Because the Father is all-knowing and all-wise, every person God chooses to draw to Jesus accepts Jesus. If not, then God has failed and God doesn’t fail. Humans fail. I’m not sure we are privy to the election/choosing decisions of God, at least not yet. To be drawn to Jesus is to hear good news about Him. According to Luther, people came to Jesus because they heard He was a powerful healer, that He cared about them and was willing to help them. This is our single best evangelism tool: our stories of how Jesus has helped us in powerful ways with exceptional timing. God wants to do this for everyone. Others can experience the same. This is the good news. Luther says this text is about trust in Christ that saves us in God’s way, which is different from the way we plan. The right way is through Jesus, while the wrong was is through the Law. Human plans for salvation are always about heaven when we die. Does God have another plan? Brother Martin says we must lose faith in ourselves and our good works in order to trust in Christ. In fact, nothing is asked of us except trust in Jesus. That sounds pretty easy, not to have to do anything. However, if you believe someone died in your place while successfully pushing you out of the path of a subway car (or snatched you out of the jaws of eternal hell), you are not going to diss that person and live like it doesn’t make any difference. Your life would never be the same. Those who trust Jesus has done this for them have eternal life. There’s that ‘eternal life’ phrase again. In biblical days, this was a reference to the quality of life only God could give you, now and never-ending. Why? Because one’s relationship with Jesus is up close and personal. Luther says St. Paul teaches that “if we only knew and understood what God is, then you would already be saved, gaining love for Him and doing only what is pleasing to God. Our goal ought to be to increase in the knowledge of God” (#7). And this knowledge of God only comes from God (who is also God’s Son). Jesus said in John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes [trusts] Him who sent me has [not WILL have] eternal life and will not be condemned; he has [not WILL] crossed over from death to life." When Luther talks about preaching the Law and the Gospel, he means to tell how the Law shows us we are sinful and displeasing to God. We aren’t to push following the Law because we can’t. The Law reveals why we need a Savior, not more than that. Otherwise, the Law can make us despair and have no hope. That’s why the Gospel 'must come quickly': “Christ teaches those who come to Him that God is nothing but a very gracious Savior who wants to be gracious and merciful to all who call on Him” (10). Luther likens partaking of the bread of heaven to having faith in Christ. When we have accepted Him to ourselves, we love our neighbor like a brother, we accept everyone as he is, speaking evil of no one, finding joy and pleasure in serving him. Fruits are always the evidence of faith that is real. Peace - PWM

Feeding the Five Thousand in John 6:1-15

How does Jesus feeding the five thousand apply to us in the 21st century? Do we see any instances of Jesus multiplying bread and fish? Yes. In our Hook ‘Em for the Hungry mission every May, we get fish donated from people outside our church, and Thrivent Financial contributes a matching amount in cash that helps us buy 800 lb. of processed chicken to send to the local food distribution agency, along with our fish. After the recent ice storm, lots of local people lost food that their refrigerators and freezers couldn’t maintain without electricity; people couldn’t work for a week or more; and our conference/synod churches sent $2,800+ in donations to assist with additional food and utility needs. As Luther pointed out in his sermon, Jesus knows our needs and knows how He’s going to meet those needs before we are aware we’ll need them. When we are seeking the kingdom/reign of God in our lives, we don’t need to worry about our basic needs being met. Even when we don’t think we have enough to offer, we forget it’s not about what we have to offer but Who it is that uses the meager amount that is available. For example, I was the perfect example of Andrew in the story only ten minutes before our discussion group met. A man came into the church looking for information about our congregation. He is semi-retired and his two grandchildren (8 + 12 yr) live with him. He asked if we had a children’s ministry. This has been one of my frustrations in a rural, retirement-living community – very few young families, very few kids – “only five small barley loaves and two sardines.” The church secretary helped get me up off my apologetic explanation so we could detail the positive things we do with the kids placed in our care. It’s not about what resources we have, but about what Jesus does to multiply our small offering to satisfied the needs of others. It turned out this man has a very nice website for a children’s ministry he has conducted in other congregations. Maybe he will be the abundance Jesus will use to uplift our own ministry… We noted in this version of feeding the 5000, Jesus gives the bread and fish after he blessed them. What’s that about? Maybe if the disciples gave out the food, the people would have had reason to think the disciples multiplied the bread and not Jesus. How can anyone be a biblical literalist when in Matthew, Jesus gives the bread to the disciples to give to the people? The difference is because each gospel writer was saying something specific about Jesus and the detail of who gives the bread is ancillary to the Person who multiplies it in whatever ways He wants. We don’t have time to study the details of the other gospel writers’ versions here. Luther looked at this story allegorically, as spiritual food for the soul. He noticed there was much grass to sit on, which he compared to the grass as a picture of holiness and righteousness in the Old Testament that flourishes for a while and then fades and dies like the grass. It is only good to be eaten by animals – food only for fleshly hearts, not those who possess the Spirit. The Word of God, the Bread of life, nourishes the common, hungry people. The five loaves of barley bread stand for the words of the voice that are spoken by the mouth that are understood by the five human senses (reason/logic) and found ‘locked’ in the basket of Scripture. Jesus takes these words, blesses them, and increases them for our understanding – He multiplies the meaning of the words to be far beyond what the written words mean. The two fishes are the prophets and patriarchs, also found in the basket, and these strengthen Christian doctrine; there are two because the examples of love require two people, a giver and a receiver. The twelve baskets left over are all the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists (New Testament) that are what remain from the Old Testament. Philip and Andrew are disciples who want to help but all they have are the laws and words at their disposal. Christ alone can explain with His Word to satisfy and deliver from sin and death to give peace and joy. This is another example of how Luther believes the words and ink on the pages of Scripture are like five barley loaves and two fishes. When we give them out to people on our own, they don’t go far. Only Jesus can change them into something that nourishes and satisfies the hunger of the soul. Fed by the Spirit - PWM