Robbing God: The 7th Command [All Saints' Day]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Revelation 7:9-17

• 1 John 3:1-3

• St. Matthew 5:1-12

In the Name…

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account”

 

On this the morning of All Saints’ Day, greet your Morning Star, O people of God: Jesus Christ. All you whom the darkness frightened with guilt or grief or pain, God’s radiant star now brightens and bids you sing again. None of the ghouls and specters of the night held any power to rob you of God. For this day, we focus our thanks on His promise of security from theft. “I give them eternal life”, Jesus says, “and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand”. (Jn 10:28)

 

We remember all saints as the Reformation has passed us in the night. As in, the struggle is coming to an end and there will be a time without the night, where no one will ever be able to take the Gospel from us, and where our joy will never be stolen.

 

As the 7^th Command goes, “You shall not steal”.

What does this mean? “We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

 

Number 1, The three ways this commandment may be broken are by dishonest price gouging (does that mean there’s honest price gouging??), borrowing and not repaying, and expecting daily bread without daily work.

 

It is in the second table of the Law, Commandments 4-10, where God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  He first protects their person and office in the Fourth, their lives in the Fifth, their bodies in the Sixth, their possessions in Seven, Nine, and Ten, and also their reputation in the Eighth.  

 

If we actually and truly loved other people, we would sell to them or buy from them honestly and fairly. No double standards. We would regard their property as private. What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. And we would talk about them kindly. God forbids us to steal and sinfully desire, or covet what others have.

 

A pretty straightforward, easy lesson. But, don’t think the sermon ends that easily, because God always has a wrench waiting to thwart our plans. In this case, our wrench comes from Malachi 3:8-9. It is in that place that God accuses His Old Testament people of robbing Him.

 

He says, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”

Now you must deal with your apparent, human ability to steal from God. Does this mean God has taken out a loan that we can charge Him interest or maybe raise His taxes? No. Notice where God says that the robbery is taking place: on earth, in His Temple, in His Divine Service, through the tithes and offerings.

 

Jesus says a similar thing to St. Paul at his conversion in Acts. As you may remember, Saul was persecuting and murdering Christians after Pentecost. He was on his way to more 5th-commandment-stuff, when Jesus knocked him off his high horse and declared that Saul was persecuting Jesus, teaching us of the intimate union between Jesus and His Church.

 

So at this point we must ask again, what does it mean to steal?

Think of it this way: if you steal something from a store, what has happened? Yes, you have stolen some good or product that you didn’t pay for, but that someone else had to work night and day for. Now step back to a little bigger picture.

 

Now, you have declared the shop owners’ stuff as your stuff. That you are more deserving of it than him, thus coveting his things. In stealing, you have not just broken the 7th Command, but 9 and 10 as well. On top of that, what kind of store does everyone else think it is now? A store worth stealing from and not patronizing regularly. You have destroyed his reputation. 8th command.

 

Ultimately, you had to think and believe so little of your neighbor that you deem his person and work not worthy of honor, 4th command. And by proxy, the God Who made him, not worthy either. This little 7th command you thought was so harmless, that you pulled on its string, breaking it, you found it attached to the Almighty Himself. A sin against your neighbor is a sin against God. 

 

In the fulfillment of the 7^th Commandment, Jesus does not permit stealing, because not only are all things His things, He made everything, but also all holiness is His holiness, He sanctified all. He has chosen to cause His Name to dwell in a certain place and a certain time with a certain people. Jesus, in grace, has exposed Himself to thievery.

 

And much was stolen from Him over the millennia. Honor, worship, praise, offerings. Many have done evil in His Name, many have worshipped demons in His Name, many have attributed words and values falsely in His Name, and many have sacrificed satanically in His Name.

 

Much was stolen when He was walking around with His Apostles on earth, as well. Mainly, faith. “O ye of little faith”, is one of Jesus’s favorite phrases. Not “O ye of little miracles”, or “O ye of little political backing”, or even “O ye of little blessings”. It is always a matter of faith.

 

Jesus has allowed His honor and His Name to be drug through the mud. He has become as one Un-blessed for the purpose of purchasing and winning blessedness for all who are baptized and believe. He has secured His Pearl of Great Price, His Word and Sacraments on earth, and locked them up in His Church. The key is His cross and the safe, His Blood. This is why Jesus can say, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ON MY ACCOUNT”

 

For not only has He covered your sinfulness, paid for your death, and become your substitute in God’s wrath against your allegiance to the devil, but He has united Himself to you.

 

This union is called the Personal Union. It is the phrase used to describe one thing and two. That Jesus Christ is one person in Whom is united eternally God and man. And, by default, since we are men, then our union with Him: He our Head and we His Body. In this Way, His Work, we are called Christians, or little christs (Acts 11:26).

 

Our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions; therefore, we are to guard against all kinds of greed (Luke 12:15). In Christ, our life does consist of the abundance of Christ’s possessions, Word and Sacrament, Faith in Him, Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and with these we are to guard against all kinds of heresy.

 

Including the heresy of wanting to steal us, as people of God, and return us to the slavery of works righteousness. They rob us by destroying our faith, getting us to agree to sinfulness, getting us to believe that what we do is more holy than what Christ does. They rob God, by setting men up as Blessed quite apart from the Crucifixion of Jesus.

 

At least, they believe they do. Since, the Lord’s Honor is now wrapped in the flesh of Jesus, there is no stealing it, anymore. It has been covered by a cloud and has passed beyond being able to be exhausted, steal it all they like. Since the Lord’s work has been sealed and locked up by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the only thing you could steal would be the empty tomb, but that is already empty.

 

And since the Lord’s Work, God’s Work, is embodied in Faith and belief, no amount of your works, burning Bibles, or abandoning the Sacrament can lessen it. You are saved by works, just not any of your own.

 

This is why the Church is blessed. This is why men are blessed. Not because of how well they are doing, but because of how well Christ has done, for them.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, because Christ was poor for them.

Blessed are those who mourn, because Christ wept for them.

Blessed are the meek, because Jesus was made meek and mild, for them.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, because Jesus thirsted from the cross for them.

Blessed are the merciful, because Jesus first showed them mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, because Jesus has baptized their heart.

Blessed are the peacemakers, because Jesus has made peace with them.

Blessed are the persecuted, because Jesus was persecuted, for them.

 

See now what kind of love the Father has given us! We share in His earthly things, both daily bread and daily communion bread, which are able to be thieved and stolen. But in Jesus they are connected to His things, the heavenly things. And in Jesus moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal. The world may hold its wealth and gold and false doctrine, but what is that to me? Thou, my heart, keep Christ as thy true treasure. To Him hold fast until at last a crown be thine and honor in full measure.

 

All Saints’ reminds us of this true Treasure, that we are numbered with the 144,000. The Reformation has given us back the pure doctrine of the Lord’s Gospel, that Christ has won us and His Spirit preserves us in the one true faith unto life everlasting. And the 7^th Commandment teaches, that though we and God can be robbed, He is able to compensate, reinstate, and repay a hundred times over.

 

 

Amen.

 

 

Its His Body [Trinity 23]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Proverbs 8:11-22

• Philippians 3:17-21

• St. Matthew 22:15-22

 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.”

 

God has made a Way, as we hear in these words from the Gospel reading. It is His Way and we are not to find others, nor are we to change the ways of this Way. Part of the truth that Jesus teaches faithfully is that He remains faithful when all others, including ourselves, are faithless. The devil hates the Gospel and ceases not to sow weeds among the wheat. To lose this faithfulness, this pure doctrine, is to lose Christ; to lose Christ is to lose everything.

 

People are obsessed, these days, with having a relationship with God. That is all so-called-evangelicals talk about in their services and Bible studies. Every. Single. Day.

Do you have a relationship with God? Do you know Him? Is Jesus the love of your life?  

 

The one problem with that relationship talk, when God is the subject, is the persons involved never ask God what kind of relationship He wants. In one sense because we can’t ask Him, or at least He won’t answer in a way we understand. And in another sense, what He describes in His Word is too complex for us. So, we either give up or pretend God is happy with our version of a relationship to Him.

 

But the 6th Commandment does not say “good enough” or “pretend”, it says, “You shall not”.

“You shall not commit adultery”. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

 

God takes the relationship with Him in that direction and our puritan values cannot stand it. Last week we talked about our bodies and how important they are to God and His work, and this week is no different. Your body is just as important in your relationship to God as your spirit is.

 

But sex is not all adultery means, neither is it all a relationship means. In fact, this is modern language. The catechism used to teach, “We should fear and love God so that we lead a chaste and decent life…” Chastity being our lost word of the day and the real focus of what God has for us.

 

The reason being is because God has spoken of our relationship to Him, and its not just sinner and angry God. Listen to these verses:

From Hosea 2:19-20, “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” 

And Isaiah 54:5, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His Name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.”

 

Two verses among others that puts adultery on par with unbelief and going after false gods. In this way, we will get at chastity by going through adultery, the words that is. For, to adulter or adulterate means to change. As in, when you sin against the 6th Command, you are altering the deal of God’s marriage. You are changing the terms of the Lord’s chastity.

 

Because chastity has mainly to do with being faithful. Faithfulness, truthfulness, and purity. Thus, chastity is simply participating in God’s marriage without altering the deal. Marriage stuff is for marriage. None of it works outside marriage. Sex, love, commitment, sacrifice. All need marriage to be the things they were meant to be.

 

With our relationship with God, we can’t think of it simply as taking His hand and saying “I do”. Just as Jesus gives Himself in marriage, as He gives His mother to St. John for care at the cross, so too will He be the one to institute this relationship for us. As with everything, it begins with His Word.

 

In Psalm 12:6: “The words of the Lord are chaste words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times.” At His Word, He declares us bound to Him by marriage and at His Word we will be kept chaste. And from His Word come His teaching on marriage, adultery, and all things necessary for salvation.

 

Jesus says in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” In everything from the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, we find this teaching, this doctrine. Doctrine is just the fancy Church word for teachings.

 

In this case today, teachings about Jesus, our Husband. This was the entire fight of the Reformation. That the people had been led off the Way. Christ had ceased being the center and the Word was overturned with new laws of purity.

 

Pure doctrine (reine Lehre), therefore, is nothing other than the unadulterated Word of God, rightly divided and faithfully preached, centering entirely on the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As our holy confession in the Book of Concord bears witness, pure doctrine is not a set of clever human opinions, nor the traditions of popes and councils, but the very truth of God revealed in Holy Scripture.

 

During the Great Reformation, the defense of this pure doctrine was not a mere squabble over words or academic vanity. It was—and remains—a matter of eternal life and death. 

Listen to the words of our Confessions:

“The first and chief article is this:

Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24–25).

He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25).

This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. As St. Paul says:

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)

Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls [Mark 13:31]. “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

 

Everything depends upon this article. Everything that we teach and practice. This pure doctrine stands in opposition to the pope, the devil, and the whole world. Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine. Otherwise, all is lost, and the pope, the devil, and all adversaries win the victory and the right over us. (SA 2:I:1-5)

 

In this way, Jesus purifies us, gives us our purity back, which we had lost in sin. As a bride prepared for her husband, Jesus prepares His Church Himself. “Husbands, love your wives”, Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.”

“This mystery is profound, but I am speaking of Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:32)

 

Your relationship with God depends on pure, unadulterated doctrine. This is the Way of God, that He has come to you, that He has given gifts to His Church on earth, and that He is handing them out freely there. The gift of Faith gets you in, belief keeps you faithful.

 

In your own marriage, the gift of your spouse keeps you in and practice keeps you faithful.

 

Chastity, keeping the deal pure, is letting God be God. First, the Church is not a creature of the law but a creature of the gospel. That is, God has come to serve us His gifts of eternal life, faith, and forgiveness. God has blessed this estate of marriage over all others. “He also wishes us to honor it and to maintain and govern it as a divine and blessed estate because, in the first place, He has instituted it before all others.”

 

In addition, He has bestowed on it and wrapped up in it everything in the world, so that this estate might be well and richly provided for. Married life is, therefore, no joke or presumption. It is an excellent thing and a matter of divine seriousness. For marriage has the highest importance to God so that people are raised up who may serve the world and promote the knowledge of God, godly living, and all virtues, to fight against wickedness and the devil. (LC I:206-208)

 

Second, since practice and doctrine draw from the same substance, they are inseparably related: two sides of one coin. Therefore, a legal piece of paper is not enough for this relationship. Freedom from sin and death is. If you are married, you are freed to love, honor, and cherish your spouse from the heart with perfect fidelity, contrary to what the world teaches.

 

If you are single, you are freed to live decently and chastely, honoring the bodies of others as temples of the Holy Spirit. You no longer need to look to change the deal, because Christ has given us the ultimate, unchanging deal of His eternal love.

 

The Gospel of Jesus frees the sinner from his sinful thoughts and desires, which look and feel good, but are really what drags him to hell. And from the pure doctrine of Jesus, we learn it to be a matter of purity, of chastity, and of faith.

 

He to you, is what I mean. He is faithful to us, gives His faithfulness to us, and it is reflected in our doctrine and practice. You were created for marriage. Marriage between husband and wife, but also a holy union between you and your God. Our marriages are simply reflections of this eternal relationship we are invited into by Jesus.

 

In Christ, the 6^th Commandment is fulfilled. He does not wait for you to get your marriage or relationships right, but instead creates His own and gives it to you, to live in and to live out. You are invited to marriage and you are invited to Church.

 

You may want to side with the Pharisees and adulter the deal with worldly tastes and pursuits, but He will not let you. He will forgive you, putting His life on the line for your chastity. And He will place His image and His likeness upon you, giving you His First and Last Name, so that there is no question who you are and Who’s you are.

 

Now, “thus says the Lord, Who created you…and formed you…’Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine’” and not even death will part us. (Isa 43:1)

 

 

Amen.

 

 

Its His Body [Trinity 22]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Micah 6:6-8

• Philippians 1:3-11

• St. Matthew 18:23-35

 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

(2 Pet 1:2)

 

Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,

“And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt”

 

Two things are presented to us in this Word from God today. First, mercy shown, second mercy withheld. And not in an abstract way, but concretely. God shows mercy in the Body and we in our sin, do not show mercy to the body. This should point us to the weight of glory God bestows on our bodies, in Jesus, and to value them as He does.

 

When God teaches us His 5th Commandment, He is teaching us about the body. Our bodies. Two eyes, ten fingers, eleven toes. It is how we recognize each other and, more importantly, how we recognize our Creator. 

 

When Jesus formed Adam from the dust of the ground, Adam was unique and alone. The Lord even made all the animals pass in front of Adam and Adam named them, but none of them were like him. When Eve was brought onto the scene, Adam finally declared, “this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. 

 

So that, when you see another body, another person with a body like yours, there is no way that you can say that other person is not human, or that other person is less than me. When God says, “You shall not murder”, it is clear He is speaking about your brothers and sisters in humanity.

 

Wherever you see another body. Whether you are peeking into the womb at the unborn or observing people with a different skin color than yours. We are all created by God. 

 

What does “you shall not murder” mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every bodily need. You hear, there, that there is not only something not to do, but also something to do.

 

We call this, the weight of responsibility. Meaning, speaking and philosophizing about responsibility is all good, but it only matters when you take action on your words. Saying you are a kind and tolerant person pales in comparison to actually practicing what you preach. God gives us a body to reveal this sin in us.

 

The body that God has given to all people demands us to prove it. Prove that you don’t have murder, anger, and bitterness in your heart by how you treat your neighbor. Prove that you don't withhold forgiveness from this person God puts in front of you. Show me that your refusal to extend grace to, coldness towards, and murder-filled words do not exist by this brother standing before you.

 

In our sin, we believe that we cannot hurt or harm our neighbor if he’s dead! This is the Unforgiving Servant in the Gospel heard today. He is forgiven that impossible debt, glory be! But when he finds debt yet to be forgiven by God, he rejects it, as he believes he is commanded to. Maybe if this man who owes 100 denarii goes to God, he will be forgiven too. So let’s send him off.

 

Let’s end this life, that this debt goes to the afterlife. We are just hurrying their quest for Jesus. Jesus forgives sins perfectly so…

 

You believe you are the pinnacle of creation. On this high and mighty seat, you look down on others, in their bodies, and judge them as less. At the same time, you are not all that impressed with the body. You know, God had His list at the beginning, “Ok. I’ve got Light, seas, moon and stars, trilobites, duck-billed platypuseses, and…oh yeah men.”

 

You want the full weight of your body? I know that’s rude to reveal for some people. Never ask a woman, but bros are definitely eager to tell you he’s over 200, now. No. The full weight of your body is, like Adam, you will have all things in creation passed in front of you and you also will not find a helper. That is, until your God takes His own Body.

 

I would even go so far to say that the only reason you have a God-given body is so that you would recognize your God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. Bet you never thought your own flesh and blood would be a prophesy of the Messiah, did you? 

 

With the tragic verse, Genesis 5:3, where the sons of Adam will now be made in Adam’s image, instead of God, we are pro-created with no Image. Now our bodies have been corrupted by satan, this world, and our own sin. So much so that we don’t recognize our own bodies, our neighbor’s bodies, or the Body of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus shows us who our brother is when He comes down in the flesh. In the Gospel reading, St. Peter believes he is being so clever with his question of forgiveness, but sin clouds his eyes as to Who is in front of him. And Jesus, God and man, points to Himself in answer. Basically saying, how many times should God forgive you Peter?

 

And it is that mercy and forgiveness that motivates God to save you. Yes the unforgiving servant is punished, but his punishment is to live with his Lord’s mercy which is why he cannot stand to see his fellow servant. 

 

Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, has no fellow servants. As God, He is not obligated to forgive His brother 70 times 7 times because He has none. He has neither racked up debt nor received any. There is no benefit or reward for Him to do any of the things He is preaching about today.

 

This is the mystery of His Incarnation. He took on the form of a servant voluntarily. He forsook His heavenly throne of unending power and riches to live in the depths of woe with His creation. This is why we fall on our faces when God appears before us. He is the Almighty, Who has chosen to be the servant.

 

Because God is merciful and because of the Person, Word, and Work of Jesus Christ, He is motivated to forgive our sins. Unworthy we are, but of worth He makes us. For now that Christ is made man, with all the fulness of God dwelling in Him bodily, He is our brother.

 

Our brother Who lives with us. Our Brother Who suffers with us. Our Brother Who dies with us. Our Brother Who will raise us, as He Himself was raised from the dead. And He died because we refused to recognize Him as our brother. He died because He allowed Himself to be unrecognized, in order that He pay for every last sin of the body.

 

“For we who are in this tent groan”, says 2 Corinthians 5:4, “being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life”. 

 

It is not the weight of our bodies that kill us, but the burden of sinful bodies. It handicaps us, humiliates us, and yet we love it so. In His Body, Jesus does no hurt or harm to His neighbor. Though He is harmed and murdered, He helps and supports in every bodily need.

 

Jesus restores the Image of God to humanity in His flesh and blood. God made man is the pinnacle of Re-creation, washed in the Blood of Jesus. The Body of God sanctifies every other body created and makes the Way to forgiveness. Such that, now, all are worthy of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus simply because they have a body, like Jesus does.

 

In forgiveness, we are given Faith. And this Faith moves and teaches us to love our neighbor. If your enemy is hungry, feed him, says Romans 12:20. Help, support, and have compassion. Be kind and aid your neighbor in keeping His own soul pure from the evils of the body in this world.

 

On top of this, Faith now reveals our God in the flesh to us. He is hidden behind our fellow man, yes, so that what you do to your brother reflects what you would do to God. But Jesus is not only on the cross. The cross has been brough forward to us and the Crucified has placed Himself in front of us, to do now as the Law demands and as the Gospel gives.

 

As the Law demands, we recognize the pierced and slain Body of God, for our transgressions, confessing them. As the Gospel reveals, we also recognize the Body and Blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Not only on the cross long ago, and not even only at the Right Hand of God forevermore, but on this altar today.

 

The fulfillment of the Fifth Commandment stands Himself before you today. He has created and cared for your body even to this day. He has neither willed or wished your hurt or harm, but has sustained you on your way. His help and His support of your bodies has carried you to His Divine Service.

 

In God’s Service to you, your body is given His Body. In communion with His Body, you are now given His mercy and His forgiveness. Your murderous heart is His, His merciful heart is yours. Your anger is His, His kindness is yours. Your neglect is His, His eternal care and concern is yours, of which you handle, eat, and drink today, for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Who is God? We will recognize God by His body. His Body, full of grace and truth, given for you.

 

Amen.