Sermon, Sunday October 14 2007
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have news for you today. You have been elected. There will be no recount. There will be no appeal to the Supreme Court. And there is no doubt about it. There will be no reason to review any ballots or look into the possibility of voter fraud. As sure as you are sitting there today, you have been elected. And it was a unanimous election. You were elected not by a commission, not by a board, not by a community of your peers. You were elected by the Lord your God to be a child of God.
And this is not optional. You cannot decline this call. When you were cleansed in the waters of baptism and God’s word of promise was spoken over you and you were claimed by Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ, your election as a child of God was sealed. And it is eternal. There are no term-limits here.
And so in light of that what does this mean for you, as you daily live in your baptism as a child of God? You have the comfort of knowing that the old, sinful creature in you has been put to death and through faith, the new creation that the Holy Spirit is making of you is emerging. You are a new creation in Christ. Does this mean anything to you? Shouldn’t this have some sort of effect on the way you live your life from day to day?
It did for Paul. When the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and called him away from his life as a persecutor of Christ, that was indeed the moment of Paul’s election into his new life as a new creation in Christ.
Christ Jesus didn’t wait for Paul to reform his life, He didn’t wait for him to commit his life to Christ, He didn’t wait for Paul to accept Jesus. He simply appeared to Paul or Saul as he was known at the time, called out to him and snatched him from the jaws of sin, death, and the devil and into his new life as a child of God.
And indeed a new creation he was. His life was never the same. And in today’s second lesson we read where Paul writes that he endured everything for the sake of the elect so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Paul devoted his life to seeking out the elect and letting them know that they were among the elect. And so maybe you ask "How does a person know who is also among the elect?" Well, in the words of one of my favorite theologians "If someone is within earshot of your proclamation of the Gospel, you are to presume that they are among the elect."
And indeed that is how Paul lived his life once he had been grasped by his own election as a child of God. He faithfully endured everything for the sake of the elect. He even went to prison and was eventually killed. And so, here you sit, having been elected. What is that doing for you? What affect does this amazing news have on the way you live your life?
Are you like Paul? Are you faithfully enduring everything for the sake of those who are within earshot of your proclamation of the gospel?? Are you willing to go to prison and even die for the sake of the elect?
More likely we are like the nine lepers from this morning’s gospel lesson who, after being healed from their Leprosy, did not return to praise and thank Jesus for what He had done for them. Like Paul those lepers had benefited from being in the presence of Jesus. And although they did ask for mercy, that does not mean that they were asking to be healed. In fact, it is likely that they were simply asking for money or food.
But here also, Jesus does not wait for the ten lepers to straighten themselves up, or commit their lives to Him, or say a certain prayer, He heals them of their Leprosy while they are on their way to show themselves to the priest. But only one of these ten lepers returns to thank and praise Jesus for what He had done. After showing grave disappointment over the fact that none of the other ten lepers showed up to praise God for what He had done for them, Jesus tells the one leper who did show up to get up and go on his way and that his faith had made him well.
And there lies the common thread between Paul and the one leper who returned and the difference between both of them and the nine lepers who did not return. And the difference was faith. After his experience on the road to Damascus, Paul couldn’t help but have faith. When the faithful leper saw that he was healed, his instinct was to return to Jesus and praise God. Like Paul, he couldn't help but have faith after his encounter with Christ Jesus. He was somehow able to see in Jesus, what the other nine lepers were not able to see; God. The spiritual problem with the nine lepers who did not return was that their trust was not in Jesus.
So it is with us. Daily we fail to trust Jesus for our daily needs. Daily we fail to trust the forgiveness that we have in Jesus. Daily we put our faith more in ourselves and things of the world than we do in Jesus. Daily we fail to live up to our calling to forsake all for the elect, for those who are within earshot of our proclamation of the gospel, in other words, for our neighbor.
But the good news is that you have been elected and Jesus refuses to allow you to forget that. Paul reminds us in our second lesson for today that the Word of God is not chained. Indeed the Word of God is loose, breaking through, creating a new reality, claiming the elect for God’s eternal kingdom, marking them with the cross of Christ and sealing them with the Holy Spirit.
And so as miraculous and gracious as the healing that Jesus performed for these lepers was, I believe He had bigger plans for the lepers. I believe He was not just healing them but claiming them as His own. They may not have seen right away where their healing came from, but the Word had been set loose and would find them. Maybe the one leper who came back would go find them individually, I don’t know. But I believe eventually the Word found them and called them to faith.
And so the Word has been set loose after you also. As you daily live in your baptism, in the midst of the slings and the arrows that the devil throws your way trying to convince you to deny your election, to put your faith in things of the world, to resist the call to share the love of Christ with your neighbor; in the midst of all that the Word is breaking loose coming after you, claiming you, and calling you to faith.
Indeed the Word is set loose and in the Old Testament lesson we see another example of just how determined the Word is when it is set loose. Looking to be healed from his own Leprosy Naaman went to the prophet Elisha who told Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan and his flesh would be restored.
Well this was not good enough for Naaman. He thought that because he was a great military leader surely Elisha would just call on the Lord, wave his hand and the Leprosy would be gone. He didn’t think it was right that he should have to go to the trouble of washing himself seven times in the Jordan, and so Naaman pridefully walked away.
But the Word had been set loose and through one of Naaman’s servants, the Word found Naaman and Naaman could not resist any longer and he went down to the Jordan and he was healed, and his flesh was restored and he was made clean.
And this is the same Word that will not be denied of it’s claim on you. And today it brings more than healing or cleansing, it brings forgiveness and new-life. It brings Christ Jesus who remains faithful when we are faithless and who brings the faith that we are incapable of ourselves, the faith that can only be called ours because we receive it from Christ Jesus Himself. Your faith has indeed made you well, but what gives faith it’s power is not you who receive it, but Christ Jesus who gives it to you through His unchained Word which will not be denied.
So what does it mean to be among the elect?? It means to recognize that you are called live a life of faith. Living a life of faith is to live your life in praise and thanksgiving of what your Lord has done for you. And what Has He done for you?? He has bore the burden of your sins and freed you from sin, death and the devil in His death and resurrection, and He has refused to allow you to deny His claim on you. You have been elected and you have been freed to tell your neighbor that they have been elected.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have news for you today. You have been elected. There will be no recount. There will be no appeal to the Supreme Court. And there is no doubt about it. There will be no reason to review any ballots or look into the possibility of voter fraud. As sure as you are sitting there today, you have been elected. And it was a unanimous election. You were elected not by a commission, not by a board, not by a community of your peers. You were elected by the Lord your God to be a child of God.
And this is not optional. You cannot decline this call. When you were cleansed in the waters of baptism and God’s word of promise was spoken over you and you were claimed by Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ, your election as a child of God was sealed. And it is eternal. There are no term-limits here.
And so in light of that what does this mean for you, as you daily live in your baptism as a child of God? You have the comfort of knowing that the old, sinful creature in you has been put to death and through faith, the new creation that the Holy Spirit is making of you is emerging. You are a new creation in Christ. Does this mean anything to you? Shouldn’t this have some sort of effect on the way you live your life from day to day?
It did for Paul. When the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and called him away from his life as a persecutor of Christ, that was indeed the moment of Paul’s election into his new life as a new creation in Christ.
Christ Jesus didn’t wait for Paul to reform his life, He didn’t wait for him to commit his life to Christ, He didn’t wait for Paul to accept Jesus. He simply appeared to Paul or Saul as he was known at the time, called out to him and snatched him from the jaws of sin, death, and the devil and into his new life as a child of God.
And indeed a new creation he was. His life was never the same. And in today’s second lesson we read where Paul writes that he endured everything for the sake of the elect so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Paul devoted his life to seeking out the elect and letting them know that they were among the elect. And so maybe you ask "How does a person know who is also among the elect?" Well, in the words of one of my favorite theologians "If someone is within earshot of your proclamation of the Gospel, you are to presume that they are among the elect."
And indeed that is how Paul lived his life once he had been grasped by his own election as a child of God. He faithfully endured everything for the sake of the elect. He even went to prison and was eventually killed. And so, here you sit, having been elected. What is that doing for you? What affect does this amazing news have on the way you live your life?
Are you like Paul? Are you faithfully enduring everything for the sake of those who are within earshot of your proclamation of the gospel?? Are you willing to go to prison and even die for the sake of the elect?
More likely we are like the nine lepers from this morning’s gospel lesson who, after being healed from their Leprosy, did not return to praise and thank Jesus for what He had done for them. Like Paul those lepers had benefited from being in the presence of Jesus. And although they did ask for mercy, that does not mean that they were asking to be healed. In fact, it is likely that they were simply asking for money or food.
But here also, Jesus does not wait for the ten lepers to straighten themselves up, or commit their lives to Him, or say a certain prayer, He heals them of their Leprosy while they are on their way to show themselves to the priest. But only one of these ten lepers returns to thank and praise Jesus for what He had done. After showing grave disappointment over the fact that none of the other ten lepers showed up to praise God for what He had done for them, Jesus tells the one leper who did show up to get up and go on his way and that his faith had made him well.
And there lies the common thread between Paul and the one leper who returned and the difference between both of them and the nine lepers who did not return. And the difference was faith. After his experience on the road to Damascus, Paul couldn’t help but have faith. When the faithful leper saw that he was healed, his instinct was to return to Jesus and praise God. Like Paul, he couldn't help but have faith after his encounter with Christ Jesus. He was somehow able to see in Jesus, what the other nine lepers were not able to see; God. The spiritual problem with the nine lepers who did not return was that their trust was not in Jesus.
So it is with us. Daily we fail to trust Jesus for our daily needs. Daily we fail to trust the forgiveness that we have in Jesus. Daily we put our faith more in ourselves and things of the world than we do in Jesus. Daily we fail to live up to our calling to forsake all for the elect, for those who are within earshot of our proclamation of the gospel, in other words, for our neighbor.
But the good news is that you have been elected and Jesus refuses to allow you to forget that. Paul reminds us in our second lesson for today that the Word of God is not chained. Indeed the Word of God is loose, breaking through, creating a new reality, claiming the elect for God’s eternal kingdom, marking them with the cross of Christ and sealing them with the Holy Spirit.
And so as miraculous and gracious as the healing that Jesus performed for these lepers was, I believe He had bigger plans for the lepers. I believe He was not just healing them but claiming them as His own. They may not have seen right away where their healing came from, but the Word had been set loose and would find them. Maybe the one leper who came back would go find them individually, I don’t know. But I believe eventually the Word found them and called them to faith.
And so the Word has been set loose after you also. As you daily live in your baptism, in the midst of the slings and the arrows that the devil throws your way trying to convince you to deny your election, to put your faith in things of the world, to resist the call to share the love of Christ with your neighbor; in the midst of all that the Word is breaking loose coming after you, claiming you, and calling you to faith.
Indeed the Word is set loose and in the Old Testament lesson we see another example of just how determined the Word is when it is set loose. Looking to be healed from his own Leprosy Naaman went to the prophet Elisha who told Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan and his flesh would be restored.
Well this was not good enough for Naaman. He thought that because he was a great military leader surely Elisha would just call on the Lord, wave his hand and the Leprosy would be gone. He didn’t think it was right that he should have to go to the trouble of washing himself seven times in the Jordan, and so Naaman pridefully walked away.
But the Word had been set loose and through one of Naaman’s servants, the Word found Naaman and Naaman could not resist any longer and he went down to the Jordan and he was healed, and his flesh was restored and he was made clean.
And this is the same Word that will not be denied of it’s claim on you. And today it brings more than healing or cleansing, it brings forgiveness and new-life. It brings Christ Jesus who remains faithful when we are faithless and who brings the faith that we are incapable of ourselves, the faith that can only be called ours because we receive it from Christ Jesus Himself. Your faith has indeed made you well, but what gives faith it’s power is not you who receive it, but Christ Jesus who gives it to you through His unchained Word which will not be denied.
So what does it mean to be among the elect?? It means to recognize that you are called live a life of faith. Living a life of faith is to live your life in praise and thanksgiving of what your Lord has done for you. And what Has He done for you?? He has bore the burden of your sins and freed you from sin, death and the devil in His death and resurrection, and He has refused to allow you to deny His claim on you. You have been elected and you have been freed to tell your neighbor that they have been elected.
Amen
posted by Steve at 3:09 PM
1 Comments:
Wonderful interplay b/tw the election and our often denial of it. This part was tremendous!"And this is the same Word that will not be denied of it’s claim on you. And today it brings more than healing or cleansing, it brings forgiveness and new-life. It brings Christ Jesus who remains faithful when we are faithless and who brings the faith that we are incapable of ourselves, the faith that can only be called ours because we receive it from Christ Jesus Himself."
Great sermon
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