Faith, The Gift [Trinity 16]

 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• 1 Kings 17:17-24

• Ephesians 3:13-21

• St. Luke 7:11-17

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 John)
 
Who speaks to you all this morning saying,

“Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ’God has visited his people!’”

 
So Jesus produces fear. Bet you never saw that coming. Yes, He produces a two-fold fear. One fear for sinners, for when they see the dead raised they cannot help but cower. Not only is God real, but He can undo the only real power they have: to kill. The second fear is for believers, for when they see the dead raised they cannot help but bow down in the dust. Not only is God real, but He can undo the only real power over them: death.
 
Thus, Jesus raises the only child at Nain and gives him back to his mother. And St. Paul, from the Epistle, prays that you do not lose heart over such suffering and death, as if those things could cancel each and every Promise God has made to you. They can’t, but you believe they can. This is why you must notice and remember St. Paul’s words when he prays for you. 
 
When he prays, he doesn’t pray for you to have your best life. He doesn’t pray for your bank account, or even that you be strengthened in power to overcome sin and the devil. Notice and remember that St. Paul prays for you to have strength and power enough to have Christ dwell in your hearts through faith. 
 
Faith is the most important and in your sin, you are too weak for it. St. Paul’s prayer flies in the face of our own prayers, because we usually pray for strength and then rejoice when we do it ourselves. St. Paul’s prayer is important for 2 reasons: 1) because it seems to be a coincidence that only able people are gaining strength from God through prayer and 2) faith in Christ trumps even having your loved ones rise from the dead.
 
To address the glaring coincidence, Father Spangenberg, a pastor from Reformation times, writes a satirical letter from these false apostles St. Paul is writing against, in Ephesians. The false apostles say, 
'Behold, Paul preached and professed great things about being sent by Christ Himself, and doing more than all the other apostles. And you gloried in him so much, and stuck to him as if he alone were of any worth. Where is he now? How can he help you now? He is sitting in Rome, not only condemned to death by the Jews but also in the hands of the Emperor Nero the tyrant. Haven't we told you for a long time that he would end up like this? It seems to me he has lost that boast that he used with everyone.
If this doctrine were right, God would not have let him suffer such things.” 
 
Now, I put it to you that there is not one person, not one, spoken of in the Bible that, when God drew near to them or began to visit them, they did not suffer. From Adam to you, when God draws near, He brings His demand for repentance and therefore feels foul. 
 
This is easy pickins for these false teachers. They teach that since God wants good for you, that that will always translate into the kind of good that you like. In this case, St. Paul would not be suffering and the widow’s son would not have died. But because you did not confess Jesus as Lord sincerely, you suffer. Maybe you should reconsider this Christian thing, because the man you follow isn’t so chosen, after all.
 
As always, return to the Word. We have already shown that each man or woman God came near to in the Bible suffered because of it. Which of them were given victory, or success, or anything positive that lasted for longer than 2 minutes?
 
Even both widows, after receiving their sons back, had a moment of joy, but what comes after? I thought I told you to clean your room? Why aren’t you helping around the house? Didn’t I say stop hanging around with those people? Why don’t you call me once in awhile? How much to get you out of jail?!
 
You know what? Maybe its every other parent, except you, that has the perfect children, the perfect house, and the perfect faith in God. 
 
St, Paul slaps you in the face: Do not let this offense frighten you, that even though God promises good, we cannot see it. If we are taken captive, suffer anguish and affliction, or find glory or shame: abide in what I preached to you, which you know is God's Word and the Gospel. 
 
Repent. You are not perfect. You are not even Instagram perfect. Those false teachers are just Jews in disguise, repeating the same, tired accusations against Jesus, heard in St. John 8: “Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” (v. 52:53)
 
St. Paul answers it this way: I am nothing (2 Cor 12:11). So how does one, who confesses he is nothing, gain strength and confidence in favor he cannot see or even measure? Christ is everything. That is how.
 
To the world, Christians’ cross and suffering are worthy of mockery and scorn. Worse than that, we beat ourselves up, when it comes to tribulation, because we think God hates us and hangs the cross over our heads, just as He does to criminals. The worst is when our pastors fall in some scandalous way. 
 
To all this abuse we may answer, “It is for this very reason that I know that this doctrine is right and God’s Words”, because the devil, the world, and my sinful nature fight so hard against it. 
 
Only the abuse, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ produces eternally good things. St. Paul is adamant, he suffers for you, for the Church. He is not suffering for Jesus, as in gaining points with Jesus. He is suffering because his Savior has suffered and baptized believers are imitators of Christ.
 
Jesus prays as St. Paul prays. He says to St. Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31-32)
 
Jesus is sifted like wheat by sin, death, and the devil. His faith did not fail and He returned from the dead to strengthen us. To strengthen us by giving us faith, that is, renewing and regenerating us in order that we once again be able to possess the Image of God.
 
Jesus is the only Son Who cries out in the midst of possessing our fear. “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Jesus does not learn fear for our sakes, He experiences His own for our sakes. He experiences it and makes it irrelevant to those who believe in Him, simply at His Word: “Do not fear”.
 
Do not fear, because at Christ’s Word you are forgiven for your sinful fear. 
Do not fear, because at Christ’s Word you are given eternal life, where there will be no more suffering or death. 
Do not fear, because you have been granted Faith in the Crucified which gives you access to peace, strength, and power.
 
Peace to perceive, with godly wisdom, that all God does He does for your good. Strength to endure this corrupt world and your own corrupt bodies, and win out, in Christ, no matter what God places in front of you. And power to believe, power to receive Christ, power to be made a Christian through means.
 
This is the true power and strength of a Christian: to remain faithful. It is not ability or inability. It is not courage or fear. It is not length of life. Christ’s ability, courage, and life are the gifts He freely gives in His Church, in order that, when we become unable, Christ will raise us up once again.
 
Suffering brings and creates more than hope. It brings God’s work of forgiveness into your lap, good measure, pressed down, and overflowing. Notice the “pressed down” part. That is, by Word and Sacrament, God gives His work through His Son, by His Spirit so that you can find help in a man.
 
First, the God-man, Christ. Second, the men He chose to send, His Apostles. And third, the men they Called and Ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry after them. Yes, these men remain sinners. Yes, these men may offend you. But the Ministry is not theirs. The Word is not theirs. The Sacraments are not theirs.
 
Just as life is not death for this young man and his mother, because the faith once given in the Word, is able to become flesh and raise this young man from the grave. His faith saved him. Faith is key. Not blind faith, but active, living, and informed faith. Even though the body which houses it may be dead, your faith saves you.