Scripture Alone, on earth [Sexagesima]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 55:10-13

• 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9

• St. Luke 8:4-15

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 1)

 

Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

 

Thus far from our Gospel reading, placed in His Word because Jesus wants us to hear that He has not spread His Word to the winds, but on earth. He has located His saving Word that we may find it and believe it, on earth. This has profound implications in our daily lives, one of which is that we can be sure and certain that the Bible, as it is, is what God wants us and our neighbor to have.

 

Two mistakes are immediately made when hearing this verse from the Gospel Reading. First, Jesus is forgotten as the Word Made Flesh and second, when they hear Scripture Alone, a famous Reformation cry, they think “Scripture left naked”. That is, if it’s not in the Bible directly, its not of God.

 

For example, Christmas Trees. Though no one would say our Christmas trees make God save us, they believe that they condemn us. Some verse in Jeremiah (10:2-4) condemns cutting down trees and decorating them. That’s good enough to not have them. With this method, they can find anything they think is a “tradition of man”, prohibited in the Bible and condemn it. The problem is, you can deny the Trinity this way, among other things.

 

Both views are wrong. But why the shift to twisting Scripture? Because, God’s Word is offensive to everyone, not just those with public sins. Even if we say and believe “Scripture alone”, Jesus doesn’t make it that simple. He gives us His Word, definitely, but He also gives His Church, filled with His saints.

 

It is here, that the serious student of Scripture will have to ask: where is Scripture Alone, then? In the Word or in His Church? Well, for the first five books of the Bible, Scripture was in the mouth of Moses. But he’s dead now, as in not speaking anymore. Likewise with all the prophets. We are going to get no more words from them to help us find or define Scripture Alone.

 

In the New Testament, being a bit closer to our time, we have the Jesus, Himself, and the apostles. Once again, however, all dead. All silent. Well, not Jesus, but you know what I mean. Jesus is not speaking today as He once did. 

 

What the “Scripture left naked” crowd doesn’t get is the parable today and its where we find actual Scripture alone. Notice: the seed is the Word of God and the Word is planted in the ground. Notice: the Word of God comes to Adam and walks with him in the garden. Notice: the Word of God comes to all the prophets. The one thing all that has in common: they all happen on earth.

 

Let me read to you St. Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians and I want you to tell me what is so offensive about what he says. From 14:37, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.”

 

You could say the offensive part is St. Paul sounding arrogant. You could say the offensive part is the Lord commanding like some sort of dictator; that’s not my Jesus! No. The offensive part is that you have to find the man, St. Paul, in order to get the commands of the Lord and he is on earth.

 

Repent! We believe that Scripture alone simply means that if we say something that’s in the Bible, its true. That if we just ape God’s words and then nominally apply it to our lives, but mostly other’s lives, then that is what it means to be faithful to God’s Word. We turn it into a weapon against our neighbor and even against God.

 

And it is not even ours to begin with! Ink and paper have no soul, so how can we expect them to produce one for us? God is incomprehensible in the first place. And even if we quote Colossians 1:27 saying, “God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”, we still have no idea what that means.

 

In some of his last words before his death, Dr. Luther put it this way:

“No one can understand Virgil's Poems, unless he has been a shepherd or a farmer for at least five years. And no one can understand Cicero's Letters, unless he has busied himself in significant affairs of state for twenty-plus years.

But no one knows the Holy Scriptures sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the Prophets, John the Baptist, Christ, and the Apostles.

Do not assail the divine Word,

but revere the ground on which it treads.

We are all beggars. That is true.”

 

At the same time two things must be true. Jesus says in one place, “…I am in the Father, and the Father [is] in Me…The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10) and also “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

 

By this we believe that there is the Word of God and there are words of God, which we call Holy Scripture. And it is the Word of God Who informs us as to what the words of God are. So, in order to find Scripture, the words, we must first find the Word of God. 

 

Thankfully, the Lord is Gracious and apparent and has promised that His Word was made flesh and even dwelt among us. Another name we use for the Word of God is Jesus. Jesus is the Word and He suffers and is buried in the soil, only to resurrect three days later. 

 

It would be nice if Jesus were around, as He was during the disciples’ time, but He has ascended to the Right Hand of the Father. So now it appears as if we are back where we started. The Word is high above us and we cannot attain unto it.

 

Here’s where Jesus gets offensive. After Easter, He teaches, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jn 20:21) and “[He said to His disciples] he who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Lk 10:16).

 

Not only is the Word on earth, currently, but Jesus chooses to leave it with men. You must find a man who is preaching, in order to receive it. The Word is not in a castle. The Word is not at the end of a mountain staircase. It does not even appear in Transfiguration light, whenever it is read and heard. It is lacklustre. It is common. It is boring.

 

But that’s only the half of it! For even if you memorize every word in the Bible, that guarantees nothing and no promises of God are made for such an act. Many people have done so, and believe not one word of what they have memorized. 

 

As Dr. Luther mentioned, it takes lived faith to interpret Scripture. A life steeped in Word and Sacrament. A devotion to what God’s Church is doing on Sundays. The other half of memorizing the Bible is living it in the Divine Service.

 

Jesus is the Word, Jesus sends men to preach and teach, and the Holy Spirit works as the Son directs. If you want to find Scripture alone, you’ve got to find God’s man.

 

Lutherans are the only ones who teach that the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the external Word of God and Sacraments to create and sustain faith and give salvation. No one else does.

 

From our Confessions:

“That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted [by Christ]. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, Who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.

They condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that the Holy Ghost comes to men without the external Word, through their own preparations and works.” (AC V)

 

Hopefully, you begin to see that when we say “Scripture Alone” it is not a limiting term. Once you open up the meaning you find Jesus, His Church, and His pastor. It does limit the places you can find the Word, but only at His say-so, for He has made it, so He gets to make the rules.

 

Sin makes “Scripture Alone” a limiting term, reducing God to contracts, covenants, and ink and paper. Scripture Alone ultimately means “the Word on earth”. On earth to preach and teach. On earth to build up and rebuke. On earth to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, when He brings redemption to all who hear His Word from those who are Called and ordained to preach Him.

 

In Christ, Grace Alone [Septuagesima]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 17:1-7

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5

• St. Matthew 20:1-16

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 1)
 
Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:

“I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you”

 
From today’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus’s grace. He is gracious to create His vineyard, to call workers from idleness, and to even reward them for it! He wants us to hear this so that we recognize that Grace is outside of us and in God alone. It is His grace alone that saves and since we have been shown grace, we too may gladly show grace to those around us.
 
First, an apology to all my actual Karens listening today. It is unfortunate that your namesake has become a pejorative in our days, but fortunate that your name sounds like the Greek word for Grace, which means “gift”. What do the two have to do with each other? Well, in today’s Gospel reading, the Lord of the Vineyard encounters a “karen” whilst handing out paychecks, yet what that “karen” had forgotten was that he didn’t deserve the paycheck or the work given to him, in the first place. 
 
So let’s define a “Karen” quickly, in order to move on to Christ. “Karen” is typically used to refer to an upper middle-class white American woman who is perceived as entitled or excessively demanding, however is not limited to them. The term is often portrayed in memes depicting anyone who "uses their class and privilege to demand their own way". This includes demanding to "speak to the manager", being an adult tattle-tale, or wearing a particular bob cut hairstyle.
 
This “entitled-ism” is considered grace and is taught by certain bodies of Christians who believe that grace is only for the elect of God. They join hands with another large group who confess that grace is a substance, something to be eaten or drunk, in order that you may gain more of it. Progressive grace, if you will, in both parties.
 
For the “churchian Karen”, she is part of the elect and others around her are not. She is also on her way to increase the grace given to her and she doesn’t see that same commitment in others, so she becomes entitled. Or we could use a Biblical word: boastful. Boasting in her commitment and dedication to her Lord and Savior and lording it over others.
 
In our Gospel reading today, we are told of the very first workers, hired to steward the Lord’s Vineyard. And they are no different from the rest of the workers hired throughout the day. Eager, grateful, and committed to being chosen to work. In fact, I bet they have more drive to being a more accomplished worker and happier to show their thanks by working harder than all the rest.
 
They were first and the others were not. They were given more time to increase and progress in their work, so all others are far behind. They were quick to point out slackers and report them, because it is a privilege to work and back in my day, we were thankful for the chance. 
 
This is the “grace” within the First Workers. Fabricated on their own and held up as the highest standard, because they were chosen and we were not.
 
Repent! You believe the same, about grace. That you are being filled by God with His grace and you increase day by day. You shall increase and others shall decrease, because God favors you. You are the workers hired at the first hour. You demand your merits be worth something.
 
And when your request is not honored by Jesus, as you think it should be, then you proclaim that this cannot stand. We cannot have this Jesus. It’s not fair. It’s not right. I’m going to speak to the manager. And with that, you either turn your prayers to someone else or you make it so God has to honor the deal you made with Him. All very magical and contractual.
 
If grace were something exclusive to us or if it were some sort of “universe goo” that God uses, then maybe we could hold God liable for breach of contract. But that is not what Grace is. Grace is not inside us, it is outside us. This is shown by the vineyard the first-hour workers did not plant, the job they did not earn, and the universal pay they did not want.
 
When we speak of Grace, we do not want to make the mistake of talking about the lovingkindness Jesus shows to everyone. Where everyone gets their daily bread from Him regardless of whether they are good or evil, believer or unbeliever. We only want to concern ourselves with saving grace.
 
For it is only saving grace that produces the forgiveness of sins, found in Christ Jesus. Grace is more of an attribute that God has, as in, He is gracious and filled with grace. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”.
 
Grace is God’s, not to hand out, but to have towards us. In other words, grace is not an aid to do good and obtain forgiveness. Grace is God’s response of love to the fallen world on account of Christ. Grace is not shown or given to us in order that we would change our ways and start a relationship with God. Instead, Grace reflects a change in God’s relationship to the world.
 
Because, not only is God completely justified if He had decided to utterly destroy the First-hour workers for their insolence, but He would also be completely justified in leaving all the idle men to fend for themselves in the market. God is Almighty. He could do it if He wanted.
 
But what He wants is something different from what we want and in Jesus, this is clear. In Jesus we see the unmerited favor of God towards men. Not only because He is God and it is Who He is, but also now that He is made man, God and man are united in Christ, by Grace.
 
Unmerited is the key word to counter the karen within, for Grace alone saves and that not of yourselves. It is universal. For all men. Though not all are saved, all have been purchased and won by Christ. Grace alone saves and “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11).
 
We also want to speak of Grace as active. Living and active. The Word Lives and we live in Him. for in this way only, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). So that when we speak of grace, we see again that it is part of Who God is and not just a prize to win.
 
Third, Grace is serious and sincere. That is, He does not create a super-secret group of those He is going to save and still turn around and say things like, He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). Or stand in front of Jerusalem, the city that would crucify Him, and weep over it (Lk 19:41). The Lord means what He says and is no hypocrite. 
 
Finally, God’s grace is efficacious. From 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”
 
Effective as in, it does what it says. The same omnipotent power that created all things now recreates you, by grace. Moved by His own grace, Jesus creates the power of salvation in the word of His cross. There is no other way He has chosen to pour out His grace in this world. 
 
God does not wait for you to change your mind towards Him. Instead, grace is a change in God’s relationship to the world. What was once condemned in Adam is now accepted by God, in Christ (Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics VIII:110).
 
In His grace, we are free from sin, not free to sin. We are invited to live out our faith with thankful hearts, eager to share the Gospel with others. In His grace, there is no boasting. Grace is not inside us, but an outside action of God towards us. There is no room for being entitled, privileged, or unmerciful.
 
By grace we are the unwilling made willing. By grace we are the unmerited receiving merit. By grace we are the unworthy receiving the worth of Christ. Grace is not an “aid” to do good and obtain forgiveness. It is the heart of God opening towards us on account of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For even Karen is saved by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith alone.
 
And Jesus enjoys the privilege of paying for sinners to sit at His Table. His is a willing sacrifice a willing unconditional love that, although it is not and cannot be paid back, still calls out in invitation: receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning. By grace, all receive the same baptism, the same Supper, and the same Spirit.
 
 

Saintly duty [Transfiguration of Jesus]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 3:1-14

• 2 Peter 1:16-21

• St. Matthew 17:1-9

 

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

 

Who speaks to you on this day of His Transfiguration from His Gospel, saying:

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light”

 

Today, the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, is brought before our ears and eyes in God’s Word to reveal the purity God demands and the purity He is willing to give. This should point us to the Way of Faith in the midst of this fallen world, not so that we don’t lose our way and try our hardest to keep ourselves on it, but so that we find our Way in Christ, carrying the cross first.

 

So, you’re a saint, as we concluded last week. Beloved by God’s Son and sanctified in and by His Body and Blood. Easy enough. But what do saints do? Especially in the seemingly threatening light of Jesus’s glory today? As we said last week, the saints tremble, they despair, and they say silly things like, “let us make tents”.

 

Why tents or houses? To house the glory in front of them. More specifically, to hide it so it doesn’t kill them. This “white like the sun” was threatening. Just as if you were to stare into the sun or stay out in the midday sun in the dryest, hottest desert, only this was worse.

 

The brightness of Jesus is the brightness of God. It is not only a physical brightness, but a spiritual brightness. A brightness that can be felt in both body and soul. Pierces them, to be precise. We can liken it to the darkness that could be felt in Egypt (Ex 10:21) and the sword that will pierce St. Mary’s soul also (Lk 2:35). It is judgement.

 

In the presence of Jesus’s Transfiguration, I’m sure the Apostles had at their disposal Psalm 7:8, “The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me.”

 

If so, then why did they have to be told not to be afraid? If their righteousness would be judged favorably, why were they weighed down and unaware, as St. Luke recalls (Lk 9:32)?

 

I’m sure they were adhering to God’s Word and acting accordingly. No faithful Jew would ever go against God. Keeping His commandments, praying diligently, abiding in His grace and mercy, and faithfully using the gifts they received from Him. These are godly works and commanded in God’s Scriptures. And yet they were still terrified to the point of burying their heads in the sand at their feet.

 

It is interesting to see them in great fear where no fear was, according to Jesus. And, remembering Psalm 53, it is the workers of iniquity who have no knowledge, “who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God” (v.4-5).

 

Indeed, there are two things that call upon God, that call Him to action: “the prayer of the righteous” (Jas 5:16) and the sins of Babylon (Rev 18:2, 5). And since we, and the Apostles, know that Psalm 14 teaches, “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one” (Ps 14:2-3), it must mean Babylon has triumphed.

 

Were you to ever encounter a real angel of the Lord and not a fallen angel, if you did not immediately feel your guilt weigh you down like a millstone, then it was not an angel. The holiness of God does not allow His Name to be slandered or His honor impugned. It is not that He is angry, it is that you are a citizen of Babylon and Transfiguration Jesus asks, “Fahrscheine bitte”, “Papers please”

 

Repent. We come now to the very brink, where hope and despair are akin. Our Great Hope, the Lord God Who is One, now demands and commands us to be as holy as He is. He even wants us in His presence, but in His presence is fire, smoke, thunder, lightning, and light brighter than the sun. When, in another place, He promises that in His presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11).

 

So which is it, sinful man, righteous man? Which is the true Word and which is the false? You can claim righteousness, but only out of your own pride. Or you can claim forsakenness, that there is goodness with God, but its not for you. St. Peter wants to house, to hide the glory of Jesus on earth, because he knows he is guilty.

 

In our own sin, we believe God is only motivated by externals; righteousness, wickedness. We never think that external reflects internal. It doesn’t cross our minds, or St. Peter’s, that God be motivated by His own mercy. 

 

Go back to our Old Testament reading for today. It was affliction, suffering that motivated God. More than that, it is because God is merciful, that He is moved to deliver His people. His is a self-motivation, because He is Good. He does not wait for evil or righteousness, but acts on His own and at His own time.

 

When Jesus is made man, He opens the heavens. They were opened at His birth and the choirs sang Gloria in excelsis. They were opened at His baptism and St. John the Baptist sang the Angus Dei. They were opened today, and the gang was brought together, the Apostles and Prophets, which our faith is built upon.

 

And finally, the door was jammed open by His cross, when death and life contended and life was victorious. The suffering and death of Jesus is the righteousness God seeks and in it He carries the wickedness that leads to everlasting death. In other words, Jesus also motivates God.

 

And if it is Jesus, then the motivation is forgiveness. That God is moved to forgive sins because He is merciful and because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for sinners. 

 

The apostles know of His mercy, at least in theory. In practice it may be different, you know, because God can do whatever He wants. But they have not yet been given the sacrifice for sins. They still think they need to provide it. They still believe that He needs them to provide for Him.

 

It is in that despair of thinking that Jesus then hides Himself. Jesus doesn’t aim for the high life, a return on His investment, or a promise from you to do better before He heads to His greatest work. He takes on your despair, crucifies it, and resurrects it to hope. Despair is of sin. It expects nothing good, holds on to nothing good, and has nothing good.

 

Jesus moves without despair, obeying the Father perfectly on our behalf. He does cry out in anguish, but builds His hope on “Thy Will be done.” In His perfection, hope comes in the morning of His resurrection from the dead. The light of Transfiguration is brighter than anything, except the light of Easter morning. 

 

There, Jesus secures hope and victory for all eternity, not just for a moment. In the Resurrection of Jesus, all suffering is seen to end, all questions and doubts have been answered at last. Such as where righteousness is, where wickedness ends, and where our own guilt rests: on Jesus.

 

So that when there is guilt, judgment, and a burning furnace blocking our path to God, the righteousness of Christ is that way and is given to us to break through that way. When we despair because of the cross given to us to bear, we knuckle under because the promise of joy and pleasures at God’s Right hand is that way.

 

God gives us duty to weather the storm of despair. When we adhere to His Word, pray to Him, abide in His grace, and use the gifts He gave in Word and Sacrament, we don’t earn gold stars. Instead, we get the comfort of knowing we are still on the right path. The path towards hope.

 

Jesus is faithful to complete the work that He began in us. The Holy Spirit is strong to sustain us on our way with His Church. The Father continues to take care of all our needs of body and soul. We follow the Lamb, because He has gone ahead to show us that everything will be ok. 

 

Our proof is His Blood. Our papers are adoption papers as sons of God. And our hope is in Him alone Who has conquered sin, death, and the power of despair with His own Body. Jesus, knowing the prophets, Apostles, and we cannot handle His glory, houses Himself in His own Body, His tent, in order that we have the power to house Christ.

 

Hear this in Ephesians 3:

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;” (v.14-19) in your own body.

 

Baptized into His Body, we are cared for by the Head, by Christ, as a Bride is cared for by her husband. “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church” (Eph 5:29).

 

 

Stormy Saints [Epiphany 4]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Jonah 1:1-17

• Romans 13:8-10

• St. Matthew 8:23-27

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

 

Who speaks to you today saying:

“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.”

 

God causes this Gospel to be heard and believed by all in order that they may hear of the “little faith” of His chosen Apostles. The same men who are, when listed, grouped with the Prophets of old, as in Ephesians 2:20, “You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”.

 

And yet, these Saints of saints, chosen, sent, given the mysteries of the Kingdom, are of little faith. Do we belittle them? No. We relate to them. We relate to them, not just because we don’t always find our faith strong, but because they made it. Faith, no matter how small, makes it to the end.

 

So it is, on this the 40th day after Christmass, the child Jesus has been circumcised on the 8th day and now the Mother of God will be purified, according to the Law of Moses.

St. Mary is now purified and recognized by the priest as able to commune with everyone else, at the Temple once again. This 40th day is marked by Simeon, and Anna, and the Nunc Dimittis.

 

And is this year, uniquely marked by this Sunday of Epiphany where our Lord Jesus Christ calms the great storm in front of His chosen Apostles.

With the church commemorating St. Mary, on the 14th having to deal with St. Valentine, the 24th St. Matthias, and any number of other feast days of the saints, we celebrate our saints.

 

In order to begin to understand sainthood, we should first refresh our memories on what the chief Article of the Christian religion is. Dr. Luther, in his Smalcald Articles, puts it this way:

  “That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification,        Rom. 4:25.

  And He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, John 1:29; and God has        laid upon Him the iniquities of us all, Is. 53:6.

  Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit [ freely, and without their own works or            merits] by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood, Rom. 3:23f

  Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any      work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us, as St. Paul says, Rom. 3:28:    For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. Likewise 3:26: That He    might be just, and the Justifier of him which believes in Christ.

  Of this article [of Justification] nothing can be yielded or surrendered [nor can anything be granted or    permitted contrary to the same], even though heaven and earth, and whatever will not abide, should        sink to ruin. .. there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved,          says St. Peter, Acts 4:12. And with His stripes we are healed, Is. 53:5. And upon this article all things      depend which we teach and practice in opposition to the Pope, the devil, and the [whole] world.              Therefore, we must be sure concerning this doctrine, and not doubt; for otherwise all is lost, and the        Pope and devil and all things gain the victory and suit over us.” (SA II:1:1-5)

 

This, the Chief article of Justification by grace alone, for Christ’s sake alone, through Faith alone, is not common knowledge, neither can you ask the wind and the waves about it. By how much of their own strength and natural knowledge, being experts on the sea, did the Apostles get through this storm? 

 

It had to be revealed to them. And what was revealed? That the storm was the way. The storm was threatening to take the lives of all those aboard the USS Jesus and was offering no mercy. There was no discussion. There was no trial. There was no debate. 

 

And yet, we have the saints in constant discussion with each other and with God. Public discussion. We have St. Mary, at the Wedding of Cana, saying, “Do whatever He says” John 2:5. Whatever He should say to you, make it so. Whatever He says.

 

The storm won’t talk to us, maybe its Creator will.

 

And the Saints claim, preach, teach, and believe unto death that God gave them the thoughts and the words to write Holy Scripture. What is it that St. Matthew reveals to us today? Jesus speaks. Jesus reveals the Gospel. The Gospel hidden in the storm of sin, death, and the devil.

 

What is hidden there? St Mark records it for us: “SILENCE!” (Mk 4:39). Silence to the wind and waves promising death and destruction, but also “silence” to the Saints believing the words of the storm and preaching that: “We are perishing!” (Mt 8:25)

 

And what is revealed to St. Jonah in the whale? “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me…yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God” (Jonah 2:3, 6).

 

Jesus has come to speak. He has come to speak in the face of deaf and dumb idols. He has come to speak in the face of hypocrites. He has come to speak in the face of despair, despair that leads to unbelief. There is no question that our own false god is power. When we see power in front of us that is greater than ourselves, we quell, we tremble, we worship and beg for mercy.

 

Yet, Jesus has command over that power. He is given it, by His Father and our Father, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). And He exercises it over His enemies. Against sin, He pits His righteousness and innocence on the cross. Against the devil, He pits His obedience and submission to the Father, even unto death on a cross. And against death, He pits His own death.

 

Death stays dead. Jesus lives forevermore. In His waking from sleep, He stills despair. In His waking from the tomb, He defeats death, never to die again. This He reveals to His chosen men to preach and to teach to us. Not so that they too might find a giant fish or a capsizing boat in the middle of a tsunami. But that they, and we, find His Word more certain than them and more certain, even, than His miracles.

 

The Apostles and Prophets convey to us the Word and the Word says, “Justified by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith alone”. These words still the storm and reveal the Gospel to us, the free forgiveness of sins, offered only in Christ’s Gospel.

 

For this “Verbal Inspiration” from the Holy Spirit, 

  “Our Confession approves [a threefold honor] to the saints...The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to    give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes      to save men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are        the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, who have faithfully          used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful business-men (Matt. 25:21, 23). 

  The second [approval] is the strengthening of our faith; when we see the denial forgiven Peter, (or the    small faith forgiven the apostles in the boat) we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace          truly superabounds over sin, Rom. 5:20. 

  [Finally,] The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the other virtues, which everyone            should imitate according to his calling.” (Ap XXI:4-6)

 

If we only invoke their names and try to have them hear our prayers, then we have no Jesus in the boat. He is removed. If St. Peter wanted to, he could have stilled that storm. Not. If we remove Jesus, we remove Justification. If we remove Justification, we no longer have the Church of our Lord, but a capsized ship for all eternity.

 

In Jesus alone is Justification and therefore Sanctification, or the making of saints to the Lord. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”.

And our sanctification, our beatification, our “being made saints”, by His Blood, is the whole point and goal of God’s most holy work of Redemption. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 reveals, “this is the will of God, your sanctification”.

 

Jesus steps down from heaven to make saints. Jonah was going to preach and hear the Gospel, no matter what. No fish, no wind, and no waves are going to prevent the Saints of Christ from believing His Word and receiving eternal life from it. Not the 1000s in Nineveh, not the 12 in the boat, not the billions and billions from all time and places, and not you.

 

“Silence”, Jesus says to you. You are a saint. Though you retain your sin for a little while, it is not your works that make or break your sainthood. It is His. If you are loved by God, you are a saint. If you are called and chosen to believe His Holy Gospel, you are a saint. 

 

If Christ has sanctified you, given you faith, qualified you, you are a saint. Jesus has come to do that work, accomplish that work, and perfect that work such that there can be no doubt from His Words that He has sanctified you. 

 

From the epistle to the Hebrews: “by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10) and “Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Heb 13:12).

 

Thus we take our saints and our sainthood seriously. Body and Blood, you are sainted in Christ.