Mark 10:17-31 (ESV)

¹⁷ And as Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²² Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸ Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰ who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may be made good through faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth with all their wonders and delights. And it was good!

As part of God’s good creation, he made human beings as male and female – complementary creations who were made to be in relationship with each other and have a close and trusting relationship with their Creator. And it was very good!

Our good God placed every good thing on earth under the stewardship of his dearly loved and precious humans. They were only forbidden one part of God’s good creation for their own good: the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good…and evil.

But, even though God had clearly defined for them what was good and what wasn’t good for them, the humans didn’t trust God’s word, thinking God was still withholding something good from them. So, in order to define goodness and evil for themselves, they took the fruit of the forbidden tree and ate it.

That’s where we lost our goodness. And from that time on, humans have been trying to either re-obtain their goodness, or attempt to redefine goodness for themselves.

As you read through Scripture, every attempt by humans to gain goodness or glory for themselves by building towers, or establishing kingdoms, or seeking fame, or gathering fortune, end up in disaster. Despite this, God still wanted to restore his goodness to his dearly loved and precious humans and chose to promise his restoration of goodness to the earth through a childless and homeless man named Abraham.

What God promised Abraham was good, but Abraham and his family line kept showing our natural human tendency to rebel against God’s word and his good plans. Despite God’s faithfulness and goodness to them, they kept trying to define good and evil for themselves – again with disastrous results.

Despite their constant recalcitrance and rebelllion, God remained faithful to his good promises and continually helped them by rescuing them from oppression, granting them access to his forgiveness and goodness through sacrificial worship, and establishing them in a good land with a good king to rule over them.

But every generation needed to re-learn obedience to their good and faithful God. God needed to rescue every generation from themselves, gather them back from their times of exile, and lead them to trust his promises.

By the end of Old Testament times, some of his faithful ones continued to wait patiently for God’s good promises to be fulfilled and they dedicated themselves to keeping God’s good laws in the hope that by doing so, they would bring about the promised salvation and re-establish the kingdom of God. But it wasn’t their goodness which would bring this about, but God’s goodness.

You see, our good God himself came down into this corrupted and disobedient world to live as a human being among his own people.

Jesus, who is God in human flesh, taught God’s goodness. He restored people to good health by his words and touch. He told them God’s good plan would involve his own sacrifice, death, and resurrection. He gathered people to follow him, including many people who wouldn’t normally be defined as ‘good’, such as tax-collectors and sinners. He welcomed all people, including women and children, so they would know of God’s goodness.

And today we hear how one young man came to our good God-in-human-flesh, and he recognised Jesus as someone good. But Jesus knows the truth of Scripture that only one is good, and it’s not you or me or this young man. He knows only God is truly good and only God can create anything good. Only God can truly define what goodness is, and only God can restore the world or its people to his benchmark of true goodness.

But the question is this: Does this young man recognise Jesus is his own good God in human flesh, or is he still too focused on his own definition of goodness?

Well, we soon hear this young man reckons he’s a good man who deserves entry into God’s good eternal kingdom, and he wants Jesus as the good teacher to confirm the young man’s goodness in front of everyone. After all, he’s kept all of God’s commands, he’s been faithful, and he’s done all the right things. If he stood among us today, we may even point to him and say “Yes, he’s a good man!”

But, like this young man, I wonder if we also want to be known as ‘good’. Most Christians do. We all want to be known as a good person and we try hard to do all the right things. We don’t want to be wrong, get in trouble, or be found out that we’re not as good as we thought.

Now, maybe you think you’re good, or maybe you don’t. But either way, how do you react when your reputation as a ‘good person’ is threatened?

If you, or someone else, questions your goodness, what, or whom, are you prepared to sacrifice in order that you can still be known as ‘good’?

What excuses or denials do you make when someone points out your goodness falls short of their expectations?

What good things about yourself are you tempted to point to in order to justify your own goodness over against someone else’s?

The irony is, even though we know and accept the truth of Scripture, which teaches no-one is good except God alone, why do we expect ourselves, or anyone else, to be good?

Why are we surprised if anyone, including ourselves, fall short of the goodness that either God or we expect? Why are we always so judgmental and critical of others when Scripture tells us they’re not as good as they pretend to be? Why are we tempted to despair of God’s people when God tells us this community is made up of sinners who will always fall short of the expectations God requires of us?

The uncomfortable biblical fact is that all of us aren’t good. We also can’t make ourselves good, no matter how hard we try.

Now, even though Jesus knew the truth about this man’s attempt at goodness, Jesus looked at him and loved him.

He loves you too.

No matter how good (or bad) you think you are, Jesus loves you, and there’s nothing you can do about this!

Jesus loved this young man who wrongly thought his own goodness could earn his way into God’s good kingdom. Jesus knew this young man’s goodness still wasn’t good enough. There was still something lacking. But what he lacked was hindered by the very thing he was already trusting in.

Jesus tells this ‘good’ young man to get rid of everything he has by giving it to those he considered less worthy, not good enough, and undeserving. Only then could he truly follow Jesus.

But if he did this, how would anyone know he’s ‘good’? Without the signs of God’s blessings for his faithfulness and goodness, how could he prove his goodness and worth to others?

You see, like many followers of God, he thought God blessed him with riches and success because he was ‘good’.

And don’t we also often think this way? Don’t we wonder, when bad things happen to people, what they did to deserve this, as if any blessings we have are signs of God’s favour, and any misfortune we suffer are signs of God’s judgment? Don’t we often accept the human way of thinking which expects goodness to be rewarded and evil punished?

But Jesus challenges and turns this false theology upside down by saying the first shall be last and the last first.

This doesn’t seem fair to us! But Jesus isn’t here to be fair. He’s here to be good. He’s here to bring about God’s goodness through his obedience, suffering, death and resurrection. His cruel suffering and death for the forgiveness of our sins isn’t fair. But what he did was good for us. He did this because we’re not good enough!

What it boils down to is this: Do you trust your own goodness or God’s goodness?

If you trust your own goodness, like this rich young man, you’ll end up despairing because you’ll never be good enough – not by human standards, and definitely not by God’s standards!

However, if you trust God’s goodness, it doesn’t matter whether you’re good or not; it doesn’t matter whether anyone else is good enough; it doesn’t matter whether you have many good things in this life or not. It doesn’t matter because you know, and trust, God is good!

But, how do you know God is good?

Well, apart from his good creation and his good work of repeatedly rescuing the children of Abraham, he fulfilled his good plan of salvation by sending his own dearly beloved and good Son to be the one true human being who would perfectly keep all of God’s commands because you and I can’t.

God’s good Son would not only fulfill and complete all of God’s laws, but he would also suffer and die in the place of everyone who isn’t good enough, including you and me. This means he forgives you for all the times you’re not good enough for the sake the holy innocent sufferings and death of his dearly beloved Son.

Knowing you can’t be good enough, you’re not to trust your own goodness, but you trust God’s forgiveness is what makes you good and holy in God’s sight once more.

God’s goodness is spoken to you when he removes your sin through his forgiveness. God’s goodness is also given to you in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as he replaces your sin with his goodness of holiness and purity.

In other words, you’ll never be good enough in yourself through your own words, actions, or intentions, but you receive the goodness of Christ through faith, who is good enough!

Not only this, but God raised Jesus from death to live in God’s good kingdom forever, and he promises everyone who believes in him will receive the same good inheritance. This same good teacher who the young man approached is the only One who is good because he is God’s only Son and also your Great High Priest who forever intercedes for you.

This is all because God is good. We know this because God’s Word is good, and our incarnate God in the person of Jesus Christ is good.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, you don’t have to be good, but you do need to keep on trusting the One who is good, because you’re only made good through faith in Jesus Christ…

…so that the peace and goodness of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 2:18-24 (EHV)

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” ¹⁹ Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. ²¹ The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib and closed up the flesh where it had been. ²² The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,

Now this one is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh.

She will be called “woman,”

because she was taken out of man.

²⁴ For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother

and will remain united with his wife,

and they will become one flesh.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may honour and respect your plan for marriage for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

It can be rather daunting for any pastor to preach about marriage.

This isn’t because it’s a difficult topic, but because it’s quite possible that among those listening to the sermon will be people who are single, widowed, divorced, or experiencing troubles in marriage. This means there may be many who are not currently experiencing the blessings of marriage as God intended.

For this reason, as you listen to the sermon today, some of you might feel uncomfortable because you’re not married, no longer have your wife or husband, or feel that your own marriage isn’t the source of blessing you hoped it would be.

But despite this, it’s important to look at God’s original plan for marriage, highlight some of the problems we face in marriage because our world is corrupted by sin, and seek to offer some hope through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

So, with God’s help, let’s look at God’s original plan and the first marriage.

What we discover is that, in the beginning, when God looked at his beautiful and perfect creation, we hear God say something unexpected. After six days of creation where everything has been declared to be good, suddenly he saw something that was not good. He declared it wasn’t good, desirable, pleasing or joyous for God to see the man isolated and alone.

Now, even though the first man had a good relationship with God, and all humans are to ultimately find their fulfillment and joy with God, God decided males need a counterpart.

So, in an effort to find a suitable being as his matching counterpart, God brought every created animal and bird to him to see if any of them offered a perfect match. As they were presented to him, the man also named them. By naming them he asserted his God-given authority over them.

But, despite the wonderful mix of animals and birds being brought before him, none of them were a suitable matching counterpart for him. This means that, while many animals would later become domesticated so we can enjoy their company and working abilities, none of them were designed to be man’s match.

Then God caused this first man to go into a deep sleep and performed a very special operation where he removed one of his ribs (or part of his side), closed up the flesh, and then fashioned another human being from that rib (or side) and brought her to the man as if God himself was giving away the first bride to the first groom!

Then, as God introduced the first woman to the first man, you can hear that the man wasn’t disappointed! He showed his delight at God’s handiwork and announced her to be the perfect match for him because she comes from his own bone and flesh. His name for her beautifully describes their match as he acknowledges she came from his own body.

In this way we learn how God made the woman from the man’s side to complete him, be his match, and to stand by his side as his equal.

We also learn from the body part God chose to make the first woman that she wasn’t taken from the man’s feet so she should be trampled on, and she wasn’t made from his thumb so that she would hold him under her own thumb. Instead, God made woman from the man’s side, from a rib which was close to his heart, so that a woman belongs in that same place; protected under his arm and close to his heart.

Unfortunately, some men have wrongly assumed women are to submit completely to their husbands as if he’s the boss and she’s to attend to, and obey, the husband’s every desire.

Shamefully, because of this misunderstanding, many men have abused women, which is a corruption of the male’s role in his relationship.

When a man misunderstands and misuses his relationship with a woman, he sins against the woman and against God. Similarly, a woman who sins against a man through shameful gossip or emotional manipulation, or other forms of abuse or unfaithfulness, she would also be sinning against him and against God.

Husbands and wives have been designed to stand at each other’s side as an integral part of their lives and as each other’s counterpart. You could also argue a man and a woman are only biblically complete when they stand side by side as equals who work together within God’s given order.

God’s Word then says this joining of a man and a woman in this Garden of Eden is the reason a man leaves his parents to be united in one flesh with his wife.

But this seems odd, because the first man didn’t have any parents for him to leave. It also sounds counter-cultural, because usually it’s the woman who leaves her parents to move in with the man. But here God is making an important point which emphasizes how marriage between a man and a woman has a huge impact on family relationships.

You see, when a man and a woman join in marriage, they’ll still have strong ties to their families of origin, but from now on their first priority is to be to their husband or wife.

Therefore, it’s not so much a leaving, but a forsaking of the old priorities and making new ones in their place. This means that while the previous family ties will still need to be nourished and valued, from the day of their marriage the husband’s and wife’s first priority is now to be toward their spouse.

In this way, their becoming one flesh is not just a sexual union, or for the purpose of producing children, or having a strong emotional or spiritual bond, but their union forms a new and primary kinship relationship that’s to be just as strong, or even stronger, than their kinship with their blood relatives.

Therefore, marriage is much more than a marriage certificate on a wall, because somehow and mysteriously, two previously unrelated people become so intimately connected through the bond of marriage that they become as closely related to each other as their own blood relatives.

Of course, this is all God’s plan and intention, but somehow we’ve mucked it all up. God’s perfect plan for marriage between a man and a woman has been corrupted, and none of us really experience the perfect marriage that God intended. Instead of our marriages being havens of peace, harmony, love, faithfulness, and equality as God intended, many people experience a very distorted copy.

Too many distort God’s plan for marriage by seeking to gain control over each other through abusive and neglectful relationships. Too many seek to undo what God has joined together in marriage through separation and divorce. Too many try to steal some of the benefits of marriage through sexual encounters and living arrangements without committing themselves to each other and promising to stand side-by-side as God intended. Too many are unfaithful and unloving toward each other.

Not only this, but these days too many seek to corrupt God’s plan for marriage in such a way they try to convince the world a man should stand beside a man, and a woman should stand beside a woman. They ignore God’s original plan of men and women being the only complementary counterparts, and by doing so, they also fail to see how this doesn’t just go against God’s will but will also destabilize human society.

Much of this brokenness and pain is as a direct result of sin entering our world to distort and corrupt every good gift God gives us. It’s only in the next chapter we hear Satan’s deceptive whispers which lead us to doubt God’s Word and his plans.

We also hear the first humans give in to their desires to be like God and take what wasn’t intended for them. This is followed by the almost endless blame-shifting game as to who’s truly at fault. When they sinned, the original man and woman attempted to hide from God and from each other, and we’ve been doing the same ever since.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that sin separates and isolates us. Our selfishness, greed, and desires isolate us from each other through shame, guilt, fear, hate and resentment. Our unfaithfulness to each other fractures the bonds of marriage and Satan delights to see us become easy targets through our enforced or self-imposed isolation.

But God looks and sees it’s not good for us to be alone, so he put his plan in place to heal his creation, to heal our broken and distorted relationships, and to restore us into community by sending his Son Jesus Christ as the man who suffered, died, and rose again from the dead so we may be forgiven and so that we might eternally stand side-by-side with God in his Kingdom.

Jesus, the ultimate groom, of whom every Christian husband is to model himself after, was pierced in his side as he suffered and died for his bride, the church. He paid the bridal price through his innocent blood so that she might stand by his side, innocent and holy.

And God calls, gathers and unites both males and females to be part of his church, the bride of Christ.

This means that, no matter whether you’re currently married or not, you’re part of this church, and therefore a member of the bride of Christ.

God saw it wasn’t good for you to be alone, so he called you into his bride, the church, so that through this community you experience some of what he originally intended through his grace, mercy, forgiveness, love and life. So much so, that even if you’re unfaithful, Jesus remains faithful to you.

In regard to individual marriages, especially those within the church, while God later allowed the possibility for divorce because of our selfish sin-stained hearts, he gives each of us the opportunity to experience the oneness as God intended through the healing forgiveness of Christ.

Therefore, while sin separates and isolates us, the antidote for strained, fractured or broken relationships, married or not, is the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ who suffered and died in order to forgive us and restore us and our relationships with him and each other.

For married couples, but also for single people, the blood of Jesus washes your guilt and shame away. Through faith in Jesus Christ, both the abuser and the abused are forgiven and cleansed. As Jesus forgives you, hate and fear is replaced by love and trust.

By the power of God’s forgiveness for you, you’re able to forgive each other. Through the love and forgiveness of Christ working within marriages, those who currently experience tension, anxiety, bitterness, and defilement, can receive healing, cleansing, reconciliation, and restoration.

It’s sad there are some who don’t get to experience marriage at all, no matter how much they desire it, and it’s also sad those who do marry don’t experience marriage as God first intended.

However, both married people and single people do get the opportunity to experience the love and faithfulness of Christ for his bride through the church. This is one union we can’t break because it totally relies on Jesus Christ who remains faithful so that we may never be alone.

This is because, as God said, it’s not good for you to be alone, so he united you to our Lord Jesus Christ through your baptism so that you’re never truly alone as he promises to never leave you or forsake you.

Therefore, for those who are married, may God bless your marriage so it may reflect some of the love between Christ and his church as he remains faithful to you and continues to forgive and cleanse you.

And for those who are single, widowed, or divorced, may God bless you so that you know you’re never truly alone and that you’ll experience the love of Christ for you through the community of the church as he continues to forgive and cleanse you too.

And so may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 9:38-50 (EHV)

³⁸ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not try to stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil about me. ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ Amen I tell you: Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward.

⁴² “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall into sin, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around his neck. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ ^{Is 66:24 45} If your foot causes you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁶ ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁷ If your eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good. But if the salt loses its flavor, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may not cause others to sin, but be salt for the earth through the saving works of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Every now and again Jesus says something which can be easily misunderstood.

For example, Jesus seems to suggest that, as long as people use the name of Jesus, they’re ok, even if they’re not Lutheran.

He seems to suggest we should cut off our hands and feet, and pluck out our eyes, especially if these body parts are causing us to sin.

He also seems to suggest we need more salt in our diets, which will somehow help us to be at peace with each other.

But this doesn’t seem right, does it? So how are we to understand what he’s saying to us?

Well, last week we heard Jesus tell his disciples he was to be handed over into the hands of men, be killed, and rise again. But shortly afterwards his disciples started arguing about which of the disciples was the greatest. In response, Jesus took a child into his arms and said if anyone receives a child like this particular one in his name receives him, and if they receive him, they also receive the one who sent him. The greatest will always be a servant of the one who did the sending.

Then we come to today’s text where the eager (but slow-to-learn) disciples (who were trying to figure out who was the greatest among themselves) were trying to control who’s allowed (or not allowed) to work in Jesus’ name.

They told Jesus of someone they didn’t know (and probably didn’t approve of), who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name – the very thing they failed to do the last time they tried (as described earlier in the chapter)!

It was a classic case of ‘us’ and ‘them’ where, if you’re not one of ‘us’, then you must be one of ‘them’. And, if you’re one of ‘them, well, you don’t belong to ‘us’ and therefore you’re not entitled to share our privileges!

So, despite what Jesus had already told them about serving humbly and receiving little ones into their midst, it seems they’re still thinking of themselves as the greatest, which means they thought themselves in a position to judge and exclude those around them, especially if these ‘other’ people didn’t meet their approval or fit their standards!

In response, Jesus told them if someone’s doing something in Jesus’ name, that person won’t quickly speak evil of Jesus.

This means, even if they’re not in the right ‘in crowd’ with special disciple-approval, and even if they don’t do things precisely our way, Jesus says, as long as they’re not against us, then they’re for us. After all, this isn’t your church or my church. It’s Jesus’ church. Let him be the Lord and Judge and Saviour of who can or can’t do things in Jesus’ name, even if they don’t always do things in the orthodox manner.

Then we come to a strange set of sayings which seems to suggest Jesus encourages self-mutilation.

If we were to take Jesus literally, it seems he’s telling us to cut off any body parts which sin, including our hands and feet. But, if this is truly the case, then Christian churches would be full of maimed people without hands or feet or eyes or ears because we’re all sinners. If we had to literally cut off every part of us which sins, there wouldn’t be much of us left!

Unfortunately, some Christians have wrongly interpreted this to mean it’s better to get rid of enthusiastic ‘happy-clappy’ Christians who don’t do things the orthodox way, or it’s better to get rid of the old wood of die-hard traditionalists who stand in the way of enthusiastic changes, or it’s better to get rid of anyone who offends people in our congregations so that we may be a perfect little content and peaceful community. But that’s not what Jesus is saying here, in fact it’s almost the opposite!

So, what on earth is Jesus saying?

Well, he’s using exaggeration to make a comparison. He’s making a powerful point to slow-learning, dim-witted disciples who just don’t seem to ‘get it’ and who continue to use power games of judging, dividing, and exclusion in their faith community.

Let’s look at it this way:

What’s one of the worse things that can happen to a musician, artist, woodworker, or mechanic? They could lose their hands. If someone who uses their hands for their enjoyment or work were to have their hands cut off, it would seem like the worst thing that could happen to them!

Similarly, if a sporting person were to lose their feet, or a person who loves to read or watch movies were to lose their eyesight, this would seem to be the worst thing that could happen to them!

But Jesus makes the point there is something worse than losing one of these important limbs or senses or faculties.

So, what could possibly be worse than losing any of these things? Causing someone to sin or stumble in faith!

He says it’s better to lose a hand than cause a child to sin or stumble in faith. It’s better to lose a foot than cause a vulnerable person to sin or stumble in faith. It’s better to lose your sight than cause a person who is weak in faith to stumble in their faith.

So, what’s worse than losing a hand or foot or eye? Causing someone to sin or stumble in faith!

So, for all of us:

who want to be our own boss,

who want to get our own way,

who want to manipulate or control people around us,

who seek to belittle people through gossip or careless talk,

who use emotional blackmail to get what we want,

who reckon we know who should be allowed in and who should stay out,

who burden people’s consciences through intimidation and coercion,

who abuse and exploit the vulnerable,

who question the choices of others, or

who lie and steal and deceive in order to protect our reputations,

and by doing such things we cause people to sin so they in turn:

have sinful thoughts,

are tempted to respond with sinful words or actions,

doubt their worth as children of God,

despair of their trust in God’s love because God’s people don’t show that same love,

then that’s worse than cutting off our hands and feet or plucking out our eyes!

We often cause people to sin or stumble in faith by firstly sinning against them because we make ourselves out to be the greatest, the Lords of our own destiny, the gatekeepers who decide who’s in and who’s out, and we become our own judges, juries and executioners who seek to push around and punish those around us.

Unfortunately, we’ve lost too many to the faith as a result of the way they see and experience the way Christians treat each other, or by the way Christians seek to judge and condemn those who don’t agree with them or believe in the same things.

Our sins against them don’t justify their sinful responses any more than we can justify our own sins against them in the first place. Perhaps instead of pointing out everyone else’s faults and sins and inadequacies, we should first look at, and repent of, how we’ve sinned against them in our own thoughts, words, and deeds, and seek their forgiveness before forgiving them for the way they sinned against us.

But thankfully Jesus doesn’t leave us to despair over our sins and the way we cause others to sin. He says the answer for our sinful state of seeking to control and differentiate is fire and salt, but not just any fire and salt.

We know that fire can both refine and purify. In this case, the ‘fire’ of the Holy Spirit comes through God’s Word and Sacraments to refine and purify you.

The good news is that the ‘fire’ of the Holy Spirit comes to you in baptism to forgive you and purify you so you may be holy. The Spirit-filled Word of God is proclaimed to forgive you for all the times you sought to control and manipulate others so you could get your own way. The Holy Spirit works together with Jesus’ body and blood to cleanse and purify your tongues, your minds, and your hearts so you may be assured you’re forgiven and cleansed, and so you may live as God’s holy children in thought, word, and action.

Then, like salt adds flavour and has healing properties, as people inspired by the fire, forgiveness, and holiness of the Holy Spirit, you go out as holy and pure people to ‘salt the earth’.

While salt in biblical times could lose its properties through contamination, the way you might lose your effectiveness to heal the world and be at peace with those around you, is when the contamination of your own selfishness, greed, and jealousy, make you become stumbling blocks by causing them to sin or stumble in faith.

So, when Jesus says: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (v 50), he’s reminding you to be the salt he’s created you to be. Not so that you may judge and curse people, but so that you may bless and heal the world through Christ’s forgiveness, hope and healing. You’ve been chosen and called and equipped by God through his Word and Sacraments to be the salt you’re called to be as you preserve the work of the Holy Spirit in and through you.

You’re not to be contaminated salt which offends and causes people to stumble, but you’re to be purified salt which heals through the peace and forgiveness of Christ. After all, when you forgive one another, you bring purification and peace from God into a troubled world.

Similarly, St James tells you today how you can be salt for the church and the world. He says, ‘Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, in order that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is able to do much because it is effective.’ ^{Jam 5:16}

You’re to remember that your holiness, your love for your enemies, and your power to forgive others, comes from Christ. He is salt that doesn’t lose its saltiness.

This means you’re not salt in yourself, but you receive his salt: the salt of his sweat in Gethsemane, the salty sweat of his obedience, and the salty blood he shed for you as he suffered and died to win your forgiveness.

Then, as you’re filled with his salt of holiness and purity, he’s given you power to purify and cleanse the world through your own forgiveness and prayers for each another.

So, in this way, as you learn the joy of being cleansed and free through the forgiveness and purity which comes through faith in Jesus, and by having his pure salt of cleansing and holiness, you also have the opportunity to be the holy and pure vessel who carries Christ’s forgiveness to others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you don’t need to cut off your body parts, or even cut people out of your life, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, as you receive the fire and salt of his forgiveness and holiness, you’re to live in such a way that you don’t put any stumbling blocks in anyone’s way which might cause them to sin or despair of their faith in Jesus, but you instead pass on the salt of the forgiveness of Christ so you may heal the world…even if it’s one person at a time. And in this way…

…may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds, as well as other people’s hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. Amen.

James 3:13-4:8a (ESV)

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

4¹ What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that whenever we experience quarrels and fights, we may be led by the wisdom which comes from above through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Think back to a time you were involved in an argument with someone.

It’s quite possible, as a result of your frustration, you might have yelled or raised your voice at them. You may have used colourful language or strong words. You may have sought to force them to agree with you. It could also be that you did none of the above, at least, not there and then.

Instead, you may have blurted all your frustrations about the other person to someone else who was willing (or maybe not so willing) to listen to your cries for justice. It could also be you were the only one who heard all your complaints and arguments as you went back and forth over the situation in your own mind, again and again. You may have come up with all types of bold internal responses you’d like to say to them!

It’s also possible you didn’t argue with them. Instead, they may have argued with you. As a result of their tirade, you might have felt victimised and belittled. You may have felt they questioned you and devalued your opinion or worth. As a result, you may have wanted to hide, run away, or crawl up into a ball and cry. It’s possible all those internal voices are continually echoing around in your mind as you go over and over their words and what their words mean to you. As a result, the internal voices only accentuate your feelings of pain, isolation, heartache and disgust.

In any case you’re probably thinking about yourself and your own sense of well-being. You’re thinking about your own safety and peace. You desire something to happen which would make you feel justified, in control, happy, serene, or content. Unfortunately, the other person is in the way of you getting these things. If only they would do what you want or leave you alone!

But, as you attempted to respond and deal with this situation, what was the source of wisdom you went to in order to handle the situation?

Did you rely on your own wisdom as you responded verbally or internally?

Did you attempt to manipulate or bully them in order to get what you want?

Did you seek to run away and avoid them?

Did you go to someone else and seek their advice or assistance, hoping they knew how to help you win the argument and put the other person in their place?

Did you go to a self-help book which might give you some tips and resources on how to handle difficult people or difficult situations?

Did you hope the whole issue would go away so that you could just ‘move on’?

On the other hand, did you go to Scripture to seek God’s advice on your particular situation?

For most people, the last place we’ll look is in Scripture, if we go there at all! This is despite the fact that, as members of the Lutheran Church of Australia, we all ascribe to one of the unalterable articles of our church, which states that we accept ‘without reservation the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as a whole and in all their parts, as the divinely inspired, written and inerrant Word of God, and as the only infallible source and norm for all matters of faith, doctrine and life’ ^{Constitution, Article II: Confession}

This means the only place we agree to seek wisdom in handling any issues relating to what we believe, what we teach and practice in the church, and any issues we encounter in our life (including times of conflict and disagreement), is in Holy Scripture. But this isn’t what we do!

St James argues that we humans don’t seek the wisdom which comes from above, but we instead mostly rely on earthly, unspiritual and even demonic wisdom as we take matters into our own hands. We want to rely on ourselves as if we know better than God. We place our trust in our own patterns of selfish behaviour, which only shows our distrust in God and his word. We show we don’t have a biblical faith, but we have faith in the ways of the world. The result of our all responses which don’t seek the wisdom which comes from above, is division, disunity, jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and falsehood.

Now, even though we might be hesitant to admit our common responses to fights and conflicts isn’t godly, we may reluctantly agree our responses are earthly or even unspiritual. But none of us would like to admit our responses are demonic!

Yet St James argues that if we’re not submitting to God and the wisdom he imparts through his Spirit-inspired word, then we’re a friend of the world. If we’re a friend of the world, we’re an enemy of God. If we’re an enemy of God who can’t and won’t act in a healthy spiritual way to conflict, then we’re sowing harmful works which seeks to divide and bring disharmony to the people of God, which would be evil.

In other words, we either respond to conflict using the well-practiced and natural ways of the world which is selfish, harms relationships, and breeds disorder and chaos (which is evil), or we submit to God by seeking his wisdom, which means, as we’re led by the Holy Spirit, we bear the fruit of humility, gentleness, mercy, peace, and righteousness. There’s no in-between.

Yet how many times do we respond in these evil ways? How many times have we neglected to obey God’s word which tells us to love as we’ve been loved by God and to forgive as we’ve been forgiven by God? How many times have we responded by straining or ending relationships instead of showing mercy and grace to our enemies? How many times have we trusted in the world’s answers to our problems when we really needed to rely on God’s answers?

So, what’s stopping us from living the ways of humility, peace and harmony that God intends for us?

Well, St James reveals the problem we have, but it’s not what we’ve been taught, it’s not what we practice, and it’s not what we expect.

You see, we’re nearly always being taught it’s not our fault. The world teaches us that we can shift the blame onto someone or something else. We can blame our upbringing, our society, our genetic dispositions, our mental health, our emotional hang-ups, our lapse of judgment, and so on.

We think we can blame our enemies for making us respond like we do. This means, as long as we’re not at fault, we never have to take responsibility for our actions. If we never have to take responsibility for our actions, then we never have to repent. If we don’t need to repent, then we don’t need Jesus and what he offers us.

But St James stuns us with an honesty and truth which shocks us all and drives us to our knees in shame!

He asks the question as to what’s the cause of all our fights and arguments and conflicts and quarrels. His answer is that it’s not the other person! They’re not at fault for the way we respond to all our trouble and strife. Instead, we’re to take responsibility for our own reactions to them because you and I are responding the way we do because of our own passions and desires. We don’t have problems with other people, but we have problems with our own hearts which are ruled by our own desires. We’ve found the enemy, and the enemy is us!

So, why do we get so upset at the other person? Because they’re getting in the way of what we want!

In all our fights and arguments, we normally attempt to elevate ourselves to be the one who should be obeyed (as if we’re the god who everyone needs to answer to), and we use all the tricks of our own selfish flesh, the ambitious and self-sufficient ways of the world, and the deceptions of the devil to get what we want.

This always results in division and disunity. And the reason we don’t want to go to the wisdom of Scripture is because it won’t just reveal the other person’s evil, but it will also reveal our own evil. We don’t want to go to Scripture because it will call us to repent of our own sinful ways.

This is also despite the fact there’s no divine mercy or grace in the ways of the world. There’s no divine mercy or grace where the Spirit isn’t present. There’s no divine mercy or grace in the devil’s deceptions.

Yet we’re told the source of the divine mercy and grace of God and his ways of reconciliation, healing and peace for all our relationships, including our relationship with God, are in Scripture!

The wisdom of God which comes from above are revealed to us in the words of Scripture. It doesn’t just reveal the fact we’re the true enemy, but it also reveals the mercy and grace of God for you and me through faith in the suffering and death of our dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

The wisdom of God is that he knows just how depraved and sinful we are and that we can’t save ourselves. The wisdom of God is that God knows this inborn virus of sin affects everything we do and everyone we come into contact with, which all too often results in division and strained relationships. The wisdom of God is that he knows we need an antidote for our selfish ways, and he sent his own dearly beloved Son into this troubled world to pay the full price for our rebellion through his own death.

Jesus is the wisdom of God who came from above into our own conflicted world in human flesh. Jesus lived among us as pure, peaceable, obedient, full of mercy, impartial and gracious. He welcomed sinners, healed sinners, forgave sinners, suffered at the hands of sinners, was abandoned by sinners, was crucified for sinners, and was raised from the dead for sinners.

By his wounds we sinners are healed, by his death we’ve been made right with God, by faith in Jesus we continue to receive grace upon grace and are justified.

Through his gift of baptism, we’re cleansed of sin, adopted as dearly loved children of God, and joined to our Lord Jesus Christ and his grace. Through our participation at the Lord’s Supper, we receive the body and blood of Jesus for our forgiveness, life and salvation. And by grace he’ll take us home to be with him in his eternal kingdom.

Despite the way we respond to those around us when we’re in conflict, there’s always more grace! And by grace we seek out the wisdom of God which comes from above which leads us to repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace with God and each other.

Instead of submitting ourselves to earthly, unspiritual or demonic wisdom, we submit ourselves to the wisdom of God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We seek the wisdom which comes from above as he seeks to restore us in peace and love. We draw near to the God who draws near to us so that we may experience his grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there’s grace for every hurtful moment. There’s grace for every strained relationship. There’s grace for every time you’ve sinned against those around you. There’s grace for those who have sinned against you. There’s grace for all those times you didn’t seek God’s wisdom. There’s grace for your struggles in faith. There’s grace for you which you can share with those around you as you learn to seek the wisdom of God. There’s enough grace for you to love, forgive, and persevere in faith during all your troubles.

This is because…

…the peace and grace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 8:27-38 (EHV)

²⁷ Jesus went away with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸ They told him, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others say one of the prophets.”

²⁹ “But who do you say I am?” he asked them.

Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰ Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the experts in the law; be killed; and after three days rise again. ³² He was speaking plainly to them. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But after turning around and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have your mind set on the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴ He called the crowd and his disciples together and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶ After all, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷ Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ In fact, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let’s imagine for a while that you could choose what God looks like and what he does.

If you could do so, what type of god would you want? What type of god would you follow?

Would you like a god who heals all your diseases and ailments? Wouldn’t that be nice? Just imagine – you could pray to God and ‘zip-a-dee-doo-dah!’ no more Coronavirus! No more cancer! No more Alzheimer’s! No more hay fever! No more getting old with all those aches and pains and limitations! Wouldn’t you think this type of god would be popular and worth following? He could be our miracle dispenser god!

Or would you like a god who makes you feel good? Wouldn’t this be a good type of god to have in a world filled with so much anxiety and depression? You wouldn’t need drugs or drink to help you escape from all those crazy and troubling thoughts. You wouldn’t need to find some other type of addiction to escape from uncomfortable situations or aggravating people. All you need to do is look at a picture of this god and you’d experience some form of heavenly feeling which fills you with joy and love and peace and hope. He could be our therapeutic god!

What about a god who grants success? Running late and the traffic light turns red? Pray to this god and the light turns green! Didn’t do the homework assigned to you? Pray to this god and you’ll know all the right answers! Stuffed up at work? Pray to this god and your mistakes will end up being the best decisions you’ve made! He could be our fix-it god!

How about a god who vindicates you and punishes all your enemies? This type of god would guarantee you’d never have to defend any of your words and actions because your god would come to your defence and make sure the other person gets what’s coming to them. You could feel some sense of smug self-satisfaction knowing the good get rewarded and the bad get punished. You could sleep easy knowing all the terrorists, criminals and scumbags will get their just punishment! He could be our Attorney General god!

So, what would your god look like? A Champion? A King? A Judge? A Freedom-fighter? A Climate changer? A Wilderness defender? A Friend? A Lover? An everlasting Tim-Tam Genie?

Of course, there’s a problem with this type of speculation.

We don’t get to choose who or what God really looks like or what he does. He’s God and we’re not. We either get to accept and follow the God who reveals himself to us, or we don’t. If we don’t like what he offers, we’ll look elsewhere for the god of our own choosing, which is what many people do.

This is the reason why, when we’re looking to God for healing and he doesn’t give it, we’ll look to someone or something else who offers what we’re looking for. When God doesn’t make us feel good, we’ll look to other people or things to make us feel good. When God doesn’t grant us success and blessings, we’ll search for this elsewhere. When we don’t like God’s instructions for how we’re to get on with each other, we’ll take matters into our own hands, and so on.

But when I offered the opportunity for you to think about what type of god you’d like to follow, did any of your internal speculations include a god who suffers?

Did any of you think: ‘Yes! I want to have a god who will suffer. I want a god who’ll be beaten and insulted and victimised and neglected and bullied and ostracised! I want a god who will die for me!’

Did any of you think this is the type of god you want? Did any of you think this is the type of god you’ll be willing to follow, even if this means you’ll also suffer as you follow him?

Yet this is the God who is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ!

He not only said he’s going to suffer, but he must suffer many things. It’s like this is the divine plan from the very beginning for the Son of God. He must be the Suffering Servant who was spoken about in the Old Testament through prophets such as Isaiah. This means he’s going to submit his back to those who beat him. He’s going to offer his cheeks to those who’ll pull at his beard. He’s not going to hide his face from disgrace and spittle.

Not only this, but his own chosen ones, including the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law are going to reject this Suffering Servant. They’re not going to recognize him and follow him, but they’ll call for his blood and death.

The Son of God came to this earth with one purpose in mind: to suffer and die for you and me. The Son of Man will die, and rise again after three days for us. This is God’s plan. This is God’s justice. This is God’s way of reconciling you and me to him.

Do you find this offensive?

St Peter did! This is why he told Jesus off!

Peter didn’t want to accept a suffering Christ. He probably wanted Jesus to be a healing miracle worker, a powerful warrior, or a conquering King. That Jesus would instead need to suffer and die wasn’t in Peter’s plans. In response he attempts to silence Jesus.

I wonder if we too would do the same. Wouldn’t we also prefer a healing Jesus, a warrior Jesus, a feel-good Jesus, a shepherd Jesus, a friend-of-children Jesus, a punish-all-the-bad-people Jesus, or an equal rights Jesus?

Do we struggle with the idea our Lord and Saviour not only chose to die in our place, but that there was no other choice? That he had to die for you and me? That someone had to pay the blood price for our disobedience, and Jesus is the only one who could do it?

Do we also struggle with the idea our Lord and Saviour would die for our enemies? That he would forgive those we don’t want to forgive? That he would grant eternal life to those who believe, even if we reckon they don’t deserve this?

Do we struggle with the idea that, if we follow this Suffering Servant Jesus, we’re going to suffer too? And here we’re not talking about the stub-your-little-toe type of suffering, but the suffering which comes because we bear the name of Jesus?

The suffering we receive because we’re choosing to love and forgive and be gracious and patient and loving to recalcitrant and difficult people? The suffering we receive because people like to insult those who trust in Jesus and his gospel message? The suffering we receive because he asks us to die to our own desires and expectations and submit to God and his Word?

Our human problem is that we often want to fashion God into our own image of what we think he should look like, which always excludes suffering and death. We’re too busy thinking about the things we humans want and we’re not thinking about God and his word and ways, which use suffering and death for his redemptive purposes.

We spend a lot of energy worrying about and seeking to avoid any type of suffering and death, which is why so many people are struggling with the threat of viruses, diseases, long-term medical conditions, restrictions to our freedoms, anything which affects our sense of self-worth, or anything which reminds us of our inevitable end.

We avoid conversations about pain or death or the suffering which comes with it. We avoid conversations which asks us to die to ourselves through admitting fault or seeking repentance. We avoid showing or admitting weakness. We avoid the necessity to forgive when we feel as if we’re the victim of injustice.

Yet all the things which we want to avoid, Jesus welcomes. He welcomes it because there’s something worse than suffering. There’s something worse than death.

Now, you might ask: what’s worse than suffering and death?

Eternal separation from God!

When we don’t want what God offers, when we look to other people or other things to give us what we want, when we don’t live according to God’s word, when we neglect to care and love and forgive those around us, and when we don’t accept suffering and death as part of his plan for us, we rebel against God and deserve his anger and punishment. We deserve eternal separation from God.

But our eternal separation from God was too much for Jesus to bear, so he stepped in and said he’ll pay the bill for our rebellion. He did this even though he knew this would cost him suffering at the hands of those he came to save, and even though he knew he would need to die for the ones who sought his death.

He did this because he loves people like Peter who struggled with the idea Jesus would suffer and die. He did this because he loves the people who hurt him, abuse him, and reject him. He did this because he loves you and me, even though we struggle to love and follow him as we ought.

Jesus suffered and died for you and me so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to our Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead so that through faith we might be raised with him and be eternally welcome in God’s presence.

Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and our selfish nature which wants to fashion our own god. He calls us to take up our own cross of suffering as we imitate our loving, forgiving, and gracious Christ to those around us. He calls us to follow him because there’s no other way to receive forgiveness, peace and life in his eternal Kingdom.

While we wish and pray for a life without suffering and death, this isn’t what God promises us. He promises his presence, his forgiveness, his cleansing, his healing, his peace, and his life through faith in Jesus, which remain ours long after we’ve suffered and died. Suffering and death don’t negate his promises. In fact, some of his promises can only be fully received on the other side of the grave.

Even though we fear suffering and death and would like to fashion a god in our own image, we know eternal separation from God and all his goodness is worse than suffering and dying.

We thank God for Jesus who suffered and died in our place, and we’re not ashamed of what he did for us. We’re also not ashamed of the fact we need to be forgiven; that we need to be saved. We’re not ashamed of Jesus and his gospel of forgiveness, life and salvation through faith in him.

Because we’re not ashamed of Jesus and his gospel message, we carefully consider the words we speak, even when we’re suffering. We don’t speak to tear down or insult or abuse. We instead speak to forgive, to bless, and to encourage. We love as we’ve been loved by him. We forgive as we’ve been forgiven by him.

So, let’s all deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. After all, as Jesus said, whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it, which is why…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

James 2:1-17 (ESV)

¹ My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Dear Heavenly Father, send us your Holy Spirit so that we may not show favouritism or partiality, but love all people in the same way Christ loves us. Amen.

Let’s imagine the following scene:

You’re sitting down to watch a highly anticipated finals match between Geelong and Melbourne.

You look around the ground to see everyone dressed to support their teams – they’re either in their navy blue and whites or their red and blue. They loudly taunt each other as to who’s going to win. As their respective teams run onto the field, their supporters cheer at the top of their lungs. There’s great excitement in the air as the two teams and their supporters battle for supremacy!

But when the umpires take to the field, the whole crowd falls totally still and silent.

They’re not wearing their usual lime green shirts and grey shorts. Instead, they’re dressed in navy blue and white!

Once the crowd get over their shock, they start booing and throwing things at the umpires. The Melbourne supporters and players angrily charge toward the umpires, yelling all sorts of obscenities, and the place is threatening to break into a riot!

The whole arena is turned into an uproar because, despite their own favouritism and bias toward their own team, the spectators and players had come for a fair game. The umpires are supposed to show no partiality or favouritism, yet here they are proudly showing who they’re going to give their bias and preference to!

Everyone’s angry because umpires aren’t supposed to have favourite teams! I mean, how can you umpire and judge fairly if you favour one team over the other one? They’re supposed to treat everyone with equal justice and objectivity!

Now imagine a second picture:

Two different people walk into church this morning – one is well dressed, well-spoken, and smiling, while the other looks glum or depressed, is dressed in faded or tattered clothes, and perhaps even smells as if he or she hasn’t washed or shaved for a month.

While I know it’s tempting to only talk to the people you know and love here at worship, you know (or at least should know) the first impressions of your welcome may make the difference whether guests will ever choose to come again, so, what will you do? Who will you approach and welcome?

Will you first go and welcome the well-dressed, clean and smiling person, or will you approach the smelly, sad-looking, dirty and poorly-dressed person?

This is a time to be honest with yourself. What colours will you show? Will you show favouritism toward the rich and friendly, or the poor and depressed?

You see, the twist is, as a Christian you’re not allowed to be the spectator who can choose sides. You’re supposed to act according to your faith in your Saviour Jesus Christ who shows no favouritism or bias. And if you’re ever to show any distinction or favour, it should always be toward the one who needs to receive mercy.

You’re not allowed to sit by and let someone else show mercy to the poor and needy because, as one who has received mercy from God, you’re now also supposed to be the merciful one without bias. Anything different to this would show you don’t truly practice what you believe.

You’re no longer the spectator. Instead, everyone else in your life are the spectators who are watching your every action and are judging every word you speak because they know you bear the name of Christ as a Christian. They know that just coming along to worship and pretending you’re a good person for an hour a week isn’t good enough. Only hypocrites do that. Your faith in God who has been merciful to you is supposed to be lived out in every hour of every day, no matter where you are and who is watching.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to show favouritism in your family life, in your workplace, as we talk about sport or vaccinations, and yes, even in church. You might want to include some people into your lives, but you want to exclude others from that opportunity. You wish to serve some people with a generous heart, but let others help themselves. You might willingly gossip and criticise some people, but you might defend and protect others.

What you’re doing is drawing a distinction between people, which is a form of judgment. Yet you know there’s only one judge, and it’s not you or me. To judge anyone as worthy or not of your attention and energy is to replace God’s judgement with your own.

Only God can truly judge people and he’s chosen to be merciful to the blind, the dumb, the foreigner, the sick, and the poor. He’s chosen to love and forgive people who don’t deserve such mercy. As people who believe in this merciful God, you’re to live according to your faith in our merciful God.

Now all this sounds very harsh. It sounds like you’re being burdened with the expectation that you have to live a certain way simply because you’re a Christian.

In this case you might want to argue that you’re not saved by what you do. You don’t have to be perfect because Christ was perfect for you. You might want to hear the Gospel about your forgiveness and salvation instead of what you have to do as one who has received God’s grace!

Well, it’s indeed true you’re saved by grace through faith for the sake of Jesus Christ. You’re not saved by anything you do or don’t do. Being merciful to others doesn’t save you. Salvation comes through trusting the grace and mercy and forgiveness of your Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

You trust he was perfect for you so that you don’t have to be perfect. You trust he died to pay for all the wrong things you do as well as all those good things you failed to do. You trust Jesus showed no partiality toward you, but he freely suffered and died for the forgiveness of all your sins, including your sins of favouritism!

This is all part of what we believe when we say such things as: Christ alone, grace alone, and faith alone. But you see, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, faith doesn’t come alone. You can’t have faith by itself. It always comes with attachments.

It comes with attachments because what you believe will always affect the way you live.

It works this way: If you believe God loves you because of your own good works of goodness or faithfulness or service, then you’ll naturally gravitate toward those who you think will be good to you through their own goodness or faithfulness or who might return your grace and favour.

On the other hand, if you believe you can never deserve the grace of God, and have only received forgiveness, life, and salvation as a free and undeserving gift, you might be more willing to give attention and service to those who might be considered as ‘undeserving’.

This means, if you live out what you believe, then when you show favouritism or partiality toward certain people, you end up revealing something of what you believe about God or about yourself.

As a largely middle classed church, we’re often challenged by the fact Jesus didn’t mix so much with the rich or successful or even obedient. In fact, he often criticised them for their misplaced trust in themselves and their own goodness.

Instead, he came and lived and worked and taught among the poor, the sick, the frail, the sinful, the unloved, the rejected, and the frowned upon – the very people we often want to avoid because we might think they’re not as good or faithful or attractive or easy to get along with as we think we are!

Now, I know we’re naturally impressed or attracted to those who are rich, successful, or who seem to do all the right things, even if they’re the type of people who might take advantage of us. We may also feel uncomfortable being with the smelly, the dirty, the poor and the unshaved. We don’t like the way they smell, the way they dress, or the way they look, or the way they act. We might consider them unworthy of our attention, service, or love.

Yet, if God were to treat us in the same way we treat others, well, there’d be little hope for any of us, no matter how good we think we are!

The good news is, the Creator of the world loves you, and considers you worthy of his holy gifts, but not because of anything you’ve done or will ever do. He doesn’t love you because you’re lovely or beautiful or obedient or worthy of his attention. He sees you as a poor, helpless sinner who can’t live up to his expectations, and still loves you anyway!

He knows you can’t save yourself, or come to him under your own power, or be worthy of him through your efforts, so he came to you as a fellow human. He came in the person of Jesus Christ to save you, a poor, helpless sinner.

He then showed a radical justice toward you – a justice which opens the eyes of the blind, heals the sick and injured, grants hearing to the deaf, gives clear speech to those with speaking difficulties, heals foreign people of their demonic possessions, loves the unlovable, grants eternal life to those who die, and forgives serial offenders like you and me.

None of this is because any of us deserve it, but because the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love – a love which is determined to love no matter how unworthy the recipient is.

Now, as people loved by God, who have been graciously forgiven, who have been washed in his holy waters of grace, who have received his holy body and blood which now courses through our veins, and as those who have received the radical justice and impartiality of God, we’re to pass on this same love and service to others.

You see, we know faith never comes alone, but faith in Jesus Christ will always act according to God’s radical justice toward others, especially the poor, the undeserving, the smelly, the misunderstood, the lonely, the widow, the refugee, and the sinner.

So, while we can’t have ‘just’ faith, the faith we have will always be ‘just’, that is, it will always act with the same justice and impartially and mercy of Jesus Christ toward others in need of justice and mercy and grace.

Just like any outward shows of success or power never impressed Jesus, they shouldn’t impress us either. We, as members of the body of Christ, are supposed to live out our faith in Christ by being impartial and unprejudiced toward those who don’t deserve it. In fact, if we’re ever to show any partiality at all, we show it toward those whom others shun or avoid.

It doesn’t matter about your age or ability or knowledge or availability. Be impartial as Christ has been impartial with you. Show no favouritism, but freely show God’s merciful and undeserving love to all. Treat all people as you’ve been treated by Jesus. Love and serve those whom most people in society reject, oppress, or consider worthless. In the daily battle between favouritism and mercy, let mercy and love rule. Let mercy triumph over judgement.

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (EHV)

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to take a stand on the evil day and, after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness fastened in place, ¹⁵ and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace tied to your feet like sandals. ¹⁶ At all times hold up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. ¹⁷ Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ At every opportunity, pray in the Spirit with every kind of prayer and petition. Stay alert for the same reason, always persevering in your intercession for all the saints. ¹⁹ Pray for me also, that when I open my mouth a message will be given to me that boldly reveals the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may speak about it boldly, as it is necessary for me to speak.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that no matter what comes our way, we may be able to stand firm in our faith as we clothe ourselves with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Living in this fallen world is hard. Living in this fallen world while trying to live out our faith in Jesus Christ is even harder.

There’s so much brokenness and pain and heartache and struggle that we might feel we live in a constant battlefield where the ultimate victims are our love, our innocence, our trust, our peace, and our hope.

In response to the pain and suffering we experience on the battlefield of life as a result of each other’s hands and mouths, we may be tempted to protect ourselves from further pain by either attacking those around us or by isolating ourselves from them.

Sometimes we do this by seeking to inflict pain upon others by exaggerating the truth or telling lies so the other person gets in trouble. Sometimes we protect our heart from further pain by avoiding people or places which might hurt us again. Sometimes we seek to force our own version of peace on others by insisting on our own way. Sometimes we use others as our shield by telling them about our pain, hoping they’ll defend us. Sometimes we dwell on the pain that’s been inflicted on us so that we find it hard to love or trust again.

In this way we surround ourselves with our own version of protective armour as we tell lies, hesitate to open ourselves to love, manipulate others to get our own way, use others as our shield, and dwell on the evil done to us.

The result is that marriages fail. Families divide and separate. No-one wants to serve or place themselves in a position to get criticised. Pastors resign. People leave the church. Congregations divide or diminish as people despair of such loveless Christian witness. We’re not just forced into isolation by government decrees, but we isolate ourselves to become an easy and unsupported target by the evil one!

As Christians we forget who our true enemy is who seeks to divide us. And it’s not you or me.

We fight against the devil who is a most diabolical adversary. He slanders and deceives us so successfully that we’re tempted to see each other, and even God as our enemy. Instead of guarding ourselves against him, we guard ourselves against each other.

Not only this, but we’ve got this inborn virus of sin which affects everything we think and say and do. While sin is also our enemy, this isn’t the enemy we guard ourselves against. Instead of being angry at the sin, we’re often angry with the person who did the sinning. As a result, we see each other as enemies, and we’re tempted to attack or separate ourselves from each other, despite the fact we actually need each other.

Martin Luther, when explaining what we’re praying for when we ask God to lead us not into temptation, says:

‘We ask in this prayer that God would preserve and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, and that, although we may be attacked by them, we may finally prevail and gain the victory.’ ^{Small Catechism, 6th Petition}

And this exposes the true target of the devil and our sin: our trust in God.

Now, you might wonder what our faith in God has to do with the way we treat each other. But consider this: When you’ve been hurt by fellow Christians, when you’ve been betrayed by them, when you’ve seen them acting as hypocrites, or when you’ve experienced abuse from them, have you ever been tempted to withdraw from the church community? When you withdraw from the community of faith, do you realise you become an easier target for false belief, despair, bitterness and hopelessness?

You see, while you seek to stay away from fellow Christians who hurt you, you may also stay away from being fed in your faith. Even though the people of God will continually disappoint you, you need them, and they need you. God created us to live in community and, despite all the attacks of evil, we’re still commanded to love God and love our neighbour.

So, what are we to do as a result of experiencing these wrestles with the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh? How are we to respond?

Well, St Paul has already described various responses in his letter which are unfitting for Christians, such as lies, deception, anger, stealing, corrupt talk, bitterness, slander, and so on. Those are all weapons used by the devil to divide us and are never welcome in the body of Christ. Instead, we’re to build up, encourage and forgive each other.

Similarly, we’re not to fight back. We’re not the champions who are to do the fighting. Instead, St Paul clearly says several times in today’s text, we’re ordered to…stand.

Now, in any battle, standing still is an invitation for disaster, unless of course you’re properly protected.

In this case, St Paul describes the armour we’re to put on which will protect and defend us. This is because for us fights the valiant One, our victor Jesus Christ. After all, it’s not our battle – it’s his!

He’s the Champion who has overcome death. He’s the Victor who’s overcome the devil. He’s the mighty One who’s overcome the world. He’s the One who died for the forgiveness of our sin. We’re to faithfully stand and let him do all the fighting.

But, what are these divine protective items you’re to wear?

Well, firstly you’re to stand with a belt of truth around your waist. When you remember Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, it’s like you have a belt of Christ guarding you with his truth. You’re secure in the truth of his humanity and his sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins. When troubled by sins, even sins involving your waist or what’s below it, the truth of Christ’s forgiveness and cleansing will stop you from wavering in your faith in his mercy and compassion.

Secondly, you stand wearing a breastplate of righteousness, guarding your most sensitive and vital of organs – your heart. Since you can’t live the right way or even live in a relationship with God the right way, you’re given Christ’s own righteousness. In this sense, whenever the deceiver accuses you and reminds you of every sin you’ve ever committed in such a way you doubt whether God could ever truly forgive you, you’re to remember that whenever God looks at your heart, it’s been covered over by Christ’s own righteousness.

Thirdly, you stand with the Gospel of peace tied firmly to your feet. The foundation on which you stand in faith is the Gospel. You stand in the peace of God knowing Christ died for the forgiveness of all your sins. As you stand in God’s peace, you’re also ready to proclaim the Gospel of undeserved forgiveness and cleansing to those around you. In this way, instead of engaging in war, you engage in peace!

Fourthly, you stand behind a shield of faith, and in this case it’s a shield which guards you from your eyes to your knees. Now you could argue this is your own faith or trust in God which guards and protects you from the devil’s darts of deception and lies, but it’s more likely to be the faith which has been handed to you which protects you. This is the faith of the church we confess in our Creeds.

Since this shield isn’t attached to you, it’s not just an individual trust (which usually wavers between faith and non-belief), but a corporate trust. This means, when your faith is wavering, you might need the person next to you to hold before you the shield of faith.

This is the reason Martin Luther recalled, and was comforted by, his recitation of the Apostle’s Creed every morning and every night. He shielded himself, not with his own personal faith, but with the historic and enduring faith of the whole catholic and apostolic Church who stood alongside him.

Fifthly, you stand wearing the helmet of salvation. You stand knowing you’re saved by Christ. He is your Champion and your Saviour. Keeping this truth in mind, your thoughts are protected from straying from the truth into despair. Instead of dwelling on evil, you remember that everything won on the cross by Jesus is given to you as a free and undeserving gift through faith. You keep remembering forgiveness is yours, Christ’s cleansing and holiness is yours, peace is yours, and eternal life is yours.

Sixthly, you stand with a sword of the Spirit, but the type of sword St Paul talks about here isn’t a huge sword like the knights of old used to swing. Instead, it’s a short stabbing sword, perhaps only the length of a foot-long ruler. Now, most swordsmen know you can’t fight with that! But that’s the point!

You’re not to fight, but you’re to stand! This stabbing sword was only used when the attacker was so close a long sword would be ineffective and unwieldy. In this case, this short sword is the Word of God.

Remember when Jesus himself was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness? What was his weapon of choice against the wiles of the devil? The Word of God!

Although the devil himself also used, or rather, misused, the Word of God (after all, the devil is a more expert theologian than you are), Jesus was able to defeat him with his own Word first given through the prophets. As Luther sings in ‘A Mighty Fortress’, one little word can fell the devil. Just one Word of God is needed to send the devil scurrying for cover.

Although many neglect the Word of God, you’re to read the Word of God, learn it, meditate on it, understand it, and speak it. The Word of God is an essential piece in the armour of God, so don’t leave it gathering dust in your homes!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the whole armour of God is Jesus Christ himself.

Your waist is surrounded by the truth of Christ. Your heart is covered by the righteousness of Christ. Your feet are founded on the peace of Christ. Your whole being is shielded by Christ who stands before you, beside you and behind you. Your mind is to dwell on Christ. Your defence against the devil is the Word of Christ. You put on, and stand in, Christ!

Lastly, while standing encased and guarded in the whole armour of God, which is the armour of Christ, you pray.

In this case you don’t just pray for yourselves, but you for each other. Pray for the person next to you. Pray for those under attack. Pray for pastors, for missionaries, and for teachers who are on the spiritual front lines. Pray for governments, and for those in authority. Pray for your children and grandchildren. Pray for those who are sick or dying. Pray for those drowning in despair or depression. Pray for those who have sinned, but also for those who have been sinned against. Pray for your enemies. Pray for those who don’t come with you to church. Pray patiently and persistently, never giving up or tiring.

While we might forget what or who the true enemy is who seeks to separate us from God, we’re to stand firm in faith, clothing ourselves with Christ with a constant prayer on our lips.

Living in this fallen world while trying live out our faith in God is hard, but continue to stand firm in faith, wrapped in, and guarded by, your Lord Jesus Christ.

Stand and witness your Champion, Jesus Christ, as he fights for you, dies for you, and lives eternally for you. Then, wrapped in the armour of God, you’re to look forward to standing with Jesus himself in heaven with all the other soldiers of the Cross who have endured the war. Until that time, may…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 5:15-21 (EHV)

¹⁵ Consider carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise people. ¹⁶ Make the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk on wine, which causes you to lose control. Instead, be filled with the Spirit ¹⁹ by speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (singing and making music with your hearts to the Lord), ²⁰ by always giving thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ and by submitting to one another in reverence for Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may live as wise people who gladly proclaim thankfulness for your grace to us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let’s start with the good news:

God has chosen you before the foundations of the world were laid. He’s adopted you as his dearly loved children to be holy and blameless. He did this by sending his own beloved Son into this world to suffer and die for you and me so that through the shedding of his innocent blood we might be forgiven.

By his grace he joined us to our Lord Jesus Christ so that we might be one in him – being washed with the one baptism, receiving the one Spirit, and having one faith together with all the holy people of God.

He did all this without any of us deserving this gift. None of this is as a result of our own good works so that no one may boast in anything or anyone except Jesus Christ. We receive the fullness of all God’s awesome heavenly and eternal gifts by faith. We’re all at peace with God and have access to God the Father through our faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the good news!

But what difference does it make? Does this good news affect how you live at home, at work, on the farm, down the street, or at church?

Well, St Paul believes it has a huge impact and he’s been sharing what this means for your life throughout his letter. It means we live differently than everyone else who don’t believe this good news. Not because this earns us any more brownie points with God, but simply because the amazing grace of God changes us from being focussed on ourselves to being focussed on those around us.

You see, God didn’t save you or me just for your own benefit.

Now, of course he saved you because he loves you, and he saved me because he loves me, but he also loves our neighbours whether they know or trust in God or not.

This means he didn’t save you to be alone in your salvation or righteousness. He didn’t save you in order that you might rule those around you in pride or arrogance because you think you’re better than all the other sinners in the world.

He saved you so that you would serve as God’s instrument of blessing in a world darkened by selfishness, arrogance, and deception. He saved you so that you would become his willing and obedient servant who loves and gives and forgives and serves all those you’re tempted to look down on and criticise. God wants to bless everyone, and he’s chosen you to be his ambassador of grace and blessing and forgiveness to them.

This means if you’re going to be a blessing to them, you won’t blindly follow the crowd of this world in its smug self-righteousness, but you’ll you seek out the truth of your own sinfulness and idolatry so that you may repent.

Instead of lying to serve yourself, you’ll speak the truth in love so those who listen will be the ones who benefit.

Instead of being greedy to gain things for yourself, you’re content with what God has given you.

Instead of stealing or taking what’s not yours, you work and serve and share with one another.

Instead of putting people down, you build up and encourage each other.

Instead of being angry or letting unwholesome talk coming out of your mouth, you’re kind, tender-hearted and forgiving.

Instead of coveting other things or other people, you’re thankful for all the things and people God has already blessed you with.

If you truly believe the awesome generosity and grace of God toward you, your life changes, and it should be noticeable. People will know and experience grace and peace and forgiveness and encouragement and hope from you because you’re an instrument of God’s grace.

This is because you live as wise people who want to continue learning from the grace and mercy of God. Of course, if they don’t experience this from you, it could be you’re not living as wise people wanting to learn from God how to live as his holy child.

And this is where we often get into trouble.

You see, from the very beginning God, in his infinite wisdom, defined what was wise. He declared what was good and what was very good. He declared what was not good and what was forbidden.

But the first humans, who had only experienced the goodness of God, wanted to define good and evil for themselves. They succumbed to temptation and wanted to be autonomous from God. Even though they were already made in God’s image, they wanted to be like God.

Now, we might be tempted to criticise them thinking we wouldn’t do such a thing, but every generation of humanity continued this pattern of independence and autonomy from God, and it continues among us today.

A simple test to see if you do this yourself is to consider if you’ve become frustrated or angry with someone and to consider why you became frustrated or angry.

Now, it could have been for a very good reason. Perhaps they acted unjustly. But it could be because they disagreed with you, misunderstood you, didn’t listen to you, didn’t do what you wanted them to do, threatened you or your reputation, or hurt you.

Did you get frustrated or angry because you reckon you’re more intelligent, wiser or more knowledgeable than they are? Have you judged them as incorrect because they didn’t agree with your own definitions of good and evil? Is it because you wish to punish them because they challenging you and your authority?

Because we’re not getting our own way our insecurities, greed, pride and selfishness tempt us to lie, hide, deny, manipulate and put down. We try to raise ourselves and our own position above other people by putting them down. We try to bend people to our own will through manipulation and coercion.

We seek to judge and punish each other because we’ve decided for ourselves what’s good and evil. We’ve decided we’re the one everyone needs to listen to and obey. We’re the ones people need to answer to, and we decide the way they should be punished. And what makes this even more evil is we might believe that by doing so we’re actually fulfilling the will of the Lord!

In response, St Paul invites us to understand what the true will of God is and gain wisdom in doing so. As a response to gaining understanding and growing in spiritual maturity, we’ll walk in the ways of wisdom.

This is because Paul knows true wisdom comes from God, from knowing who he is, what he does for us, and how he wants us to be obedient and live under his rule. But there’s also a twist to how we receive this wisdom.

In the first reading for today we hear lady wisdom’s invitation to gain spiritual maturity and wisdom by eating and drinking what she’s prepared. She’s prepared bread and wine for us to chew on and swallow, and somehow, by doing so, we gain spiritual maturity and insight from God’s wisdom. As a result of what we receive into our own being, we walk in the light of this wisdom and live differently to everyone else.

If we were to read a little further, we would read in Proverbs 9:10 that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’, and that ‘the knowledge of the Lord is insight for us’. We learn to fear the Lord and gain insight through trusting his words to us. We learn wisdom by trusting his definitions of good and evil. As we trust his word, it enters our being and affects how we live.

Similarly, in the Gospel reading we hear another invitation to eat and drink, this time from Jesus himself. But the temptation here is to limit the meaning of what Jesus said.

You see, we hear the invitation to eat his flesh and drink his blood so that we may have life in us. Since we believe the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper is his true body and blood, we might think this is what Jesus is referring to.

However, if we read more of John’s gospel account, we discover that whenever we hear a reference to the ‘flesh’ of Jesus, it’s referring to his humanity, after all, John 1:14 reads that the ‘Word became flesh and dwelt among us’.

The truth we need to ‘swallow’ here is the truth Jesus, the man who walked on earth among his people, born of Mary, is also God in human flesh. God himself became human in order to save humanity. This is often too hard for people to believe, but for those who do believe, he’s given the right to be children of God who receive the gift of life eternal in his kingdom.

In the same way, the other truth we need to ‘swallow’ is the truth Jesus (who is God in human flesh) had to suffer and die for us. He had to shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This is also too hard for many to believe that we actually needed God to die for us, but those who believe Jesus died for them for the forgiveness of sins receive what he promises: forgiveness, life and salvation.

Therefore, true wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord and gaining insight from God’s definitions of good and evil, which include the necessity that God himself would become human in the form of Jesus in order that he should suffer and die for us for the forgiveness of all our sins.

The connection with Holy Communion is that we receive the benefits of his humanity and death through his chosen means of grace by trusting his words as we eat and drink his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

This is the true wisdom of God we need to ‘swallow’ and accept into the centre of our being which changes us from the inside out and affects how we live.

God tells us what is true, what is good, what is evil, and how to live. Those who trust him gain wisdom and insight which affects how we live, which is why we don’t live like everyone else.

We live as gracious people. We love each other, including our enemies, because God first loved us. We forgive each other, including our enemies, because we’ve been forgiven by God. We serve each other, including our enemies, because God chose you and me to be a blessing to those around us.

This is because God chose you before the foundations of the world were laid. He’s adopted you as his dearly loved children to be holy and blameless and wise. He did this by sending his own beloved Son into this world as a human being to suffer and die for you and me so that through the shedding of his innocent blood we might be forgiven.

By his grace he joined us to our Lord Jesus Christ so that we might be one in him – being washed with the one baptism, receiving the one Spirit, and having one faith together with all the holy people of God.

He did all this without any of us deserving this gift. None of this is as a result of our own good works so that no one may boast in anything or anyone except Jesus Christ. We receive the fullness of all God’s awesome heavenly and eternal gifts by faith.

We declare the praises of God through our songs and hymns and as we share the gospel of our Lord and walk in his wise and gracious ways. This is because we’re all at peace with God and have access to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit so that…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 (EHV) 

²⁵ Therefore, after you put away lying, let each of you speak truthfully with your neighbor, because we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “Be angry, yet do not sin.” ^{Ps 4:4} Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. ²⁷ Do not give the Devil an opportunity. ²⁸ Let the one who has been stealing steal no longer. Instead, let him work hard doing what is good with his own hands, so that he has something to share with a person who is in need. ²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come from your mouths. Say only what is beneficial when there is a need to build up others, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear. ³⁰ Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of every kind of bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander, along with every kind of malice. ³² Instead, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.

^5:1 Therefore, be imitators of God as his dearly loved children. ² And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we might be imitators of God in our thinking, speaking and actions, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let’s see if you recognise this scenario:

You got dirty working in the garden or the shed. Your clothes and hands are filthy. You’re about to step into the house and someone yells out “You’re not coming in here like that! Take those dirty things off!”

So you strip off your dirty clothes and tip-toe your way to the laundry or bathroom so you can clean up. Then, once you’re clean, you’re allowed to enter the rest of the house.

Even though it’s a hassle, you don’t really want your dirt and grime to rub off on your clean things, because if they got dirty as well, there’d be so much more to clean! After all, you know the basic truth that clean things will never spoil dirty things, but dirty things will always spoil clean things.

In a similar way, there are certain words which are never welcome in the house of God. These words will always spoil, threaten, or divide a Christian community.

The problem is that, unlike the dirt and mud and oil which is so easy to see on our clothes and bodies, these unwelcome words aren’t so easy to see coming. The bitter and untruthful words creep into our midst by remaining dormant in our hearts, waiting for the opportunity to do their worst damage.

While some might say our eyes are a window into our souls, I believe our tongues become the slipway for what’s been dammed up in our hearts. Once we let out through our tongues what’s been hiding in our heart we can end up with a great and disastrous mess among the holy people of God!

Perhaps to explain what I mean, let’s think of an example.

Let’s say someone said or did something which hurt you. Perhaps they misunderstood you, told a joke which offended you, didn’t properly listen to what you said, said something you disagreed with, or neglected to do what you expected them to do for you. Whatever it was, it disappointed you and made you angry.

Now, it’s not always a sin to be angry. Even God got angry! We can be angry at injustice, unfairness and unloving actions. Sometimes it’s right to be angry, but many times our anger is self-centred because we figure people have to be punished for making us angry. Therefore, being angry may not be a sin, but it’s what you do with your anger which makes the difference.

So, thinking about what this person said or did which made you angry, what do you do about it?

Well, maybe you’ll let them have it! You’ll yell at them, put them down, call them names, or tell them off! It’s possible this still won’t have the result you expect or desire, so you’ll tell other people about what this person did or said, or at least share what you think they meant by it.

In most cases, your tongue will be your weapon of choice. You’ll say anything you need to say, including exaggerating truths or deceiving with lies, in order to win the argument, put them back in their place, convince everyone else how you’ve been victimised, punish them for their wicked ways, or get your own way.

In this case, your anger has turned into sin. Your mouth has exposed your sinful heart and mind. The hate and unforgiveness and frustration which has been dammed up in your heart comes gushing out the slipway of your tongue.

So, instead of making things better, your tongue has most likely made things worse. Now there’s more than one angry person in the house! Relationships are strained or broken, and everyone’s fuming or slamming doors or running away or yelling or crying.

I suppose the other alternative is to keep quiet and make out nothing happened. You don’t want to make a scene, cause further offence, or make things worse, so instead you say nothing.  You choose not to speak to that person and remove your friendship from them. In this case, your tongue is still your weapon, but this time silence is the way you wield it. That silent treatment is also a powerful weapon of the tongue which, when used to punish or manipulate, harms relationships.

But what happens within you as you deliver your sentence of silence? What happens within you as you express your anger through your tirade of temper?

Well, you’ll probably dwell on your anger and the injustice done to you. Inside you’ll be fuming, and your anger might turn into resentment or hate. Because you feel they need to be punished, you’ll withhold forgiveness and hold a grudge.

It could be you’ll be tempted to tell everyone else about what they’ve done. You want people around you to support your anger and agree with your outburst. You may want people to affirm your own sense of righteousness and justify your sinful response.

On the other hand, you might not want everyone to know you’re holding a grudge, so you’ll pretend everything is fine, trying to live a lie in order to ‘keep the peace’ which really doesn’t exist within you. Because you’re not really at peace, it doesn’t take much for the next outburst to slip out the tongue the next time someone pushes those buttons.

This is because, as you hide your anger or pretend it doesn’t exist, it goes underground and festers. You turn into a pressure-cooker. One commentator said: “Those who keep their anger in a crock-pot are only inviting the devil to dinner”.

The bubbling anger, when turned inwards, often turns into anxiety or depression because it eats away at your self-worth and your self-esteem. And yes, the devil loves to play with the filth you keep in your heart and keeps flinging it at you to remind you of the crimes committed against you and harass you with any guilt or shame you feel for your own part.

Because we often use our tongues to lie, tell dirty jokes, abuse, put down and unfairly criticise, St Paul says to us Christians, “Don’t bring those dirty things in here! Take those dirty things off!”

Now, we might think the problem is with our tongues. If only we could control our tongues and know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. But that’s not the problem here.

Our tongues only reveal what’s already hiding in our hearts. The problem therefore is our selfish and self-centred hearts which always want to make everything about ‘me’! Because I’m the one who everyone has to obey and answer to, I’m going to judge and punish people with my tongue!

So, what’s the answer?

Well, the antidote for angry and selfish hearts is the truth of God’s Word.

On one hand we’re reminded of the truth that we’re too often selfish and self-centred. We’re often frustrated because we’re not getting our own way and want everyone to be punished for it. Our hearts have become full of deception and hate and resentment and they desire to hurt those made in God’s image and punish those for whom Christ has already died. Our hearts and tongues reveal how much we’re rebelling against God’s laws of love and compassion. Hearing the truth of our sinful state drives us to ask God for a new heart which will imitate God’s love.

We’re also reminded of the truth it’s not all about me. It’s about the body of Christ. It’s about the other person who has been made in the image of God. It’s about the other person who might be wallowing in despair and frustration who needs to be built up and encouraged. It’s about not giving the devil a foothold through words which tear down, cripple and destroy.

Then, as a powerful cleaning agent, God washes us with more truth – the truth of the Gospel.

So, the truth is this:

God forgives your sin. You’re forgiven for your angry tirades. You’re forgiven for your abuse of others. You’re forgiven for your brooding silence. You’re forgiven for neglecting to love and encourage. You’re forgiven for using your tongue to tell dirty jokes. You’re forgiven for your gossip and unwholesome talk. You’re forgiven for putting others down.

Don’t let the truth of the gospel stop at your ears. Let the truth of God’s undeserving and gracious forgiveness enter your ears, leak into your minds, and trickle down into your hearts.

Jesus died to pay for your sin, including the sins of your tongue, mind and heart. Through baptism you’ve become children of God; members of the one body who have been made holy by the washing of the holy name of God. You are part of the one body of Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

To give you further assurance that your sins are forgiven and to build up your faith, he invites you to receive the holy body and blood of Jesus; and guess where you put it…on your tongues! As Jesus’ body and blood enters your mouth and cleans your tongue of sin, let those forgiving words repeat in your mind, and enter your heart: ‘given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sin’.

But then what?

As you go from here to your homes, your work, or your places of leisure, how are you to live as children of the Truth? How will God’s forgiveness help you next time you’re angry?

Well, the challenge isn’t ‘don’t get angry’, but rather, ‘don’t sin when you’re angry’.

But how on earth do you do that?

Well, knowing how often lies go with anger to turn it into sin, truth may be a good place to start. You’re encouraged to speak the truth in love, but you speak it as gently and as winsomely as possible. Don’t use truth to hurt, manipulate or to exact revenge, but use truth to heal and build up.

Instead of speaking words which destroy or harm, use words which edify or build up. With the Holy Spirit’s help, use your tongues to encourage, to speak compassionately, and even to forgive.

Perhaps, even before you open your mouth, consider: “Is what I’m about to say going to build up this person or build up the body of Christ?” If not, perhaps you may need to reconsider what you’re about to say and how you’re going to say it.

Despite the fact your tongues can be your most dangerous weapon, it can also be the most powerful and effective tool for the Gospel. God has given us the most precious, holy, and expensive gift of all time and space – the good news of the forgiveness of sins through the death of Jesus Christ. We imitate God when we pass on this good news out of love for each other.

In this way, imagine your home, your workplace, and even this congregation being a place where people are no longer put down or attacked or manipulated or gossiped about, but rather this is where people feel built up, loved, appreciated, and forgiven. Instead of lies, anger and abuse coming out your mouths, let the love of God spill out your mouths instead!

So, by all means, let God wash those dirty tongues, minds and hearts, and in the place where anger and resentment once dwelt, put on the forgiveness and peace of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let the devil and his lies control your tongue, but let God use your tongue to speak the truth – the truth which builds up, encourages, and above all, announces the powerful and effective truth of forgiveness to those around you through the death of Jesus Christ. In this way, may…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your tongues, hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 4:1-16 (EHV)

¹ As a prisoner in the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. ² Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.

³ Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given, according to the measure of the gift from Christ. ⁸ That is why it says, “When he ascended on high, he took captivity captive and gave gifts to his people.” ^{Ps 68:18 9} Now what does it mean when it says “he ascended,” other than that he also had descended to the lower parts, namely, the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. ¹¹ He himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, ¹² for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving, in order to build up the body of Christ. ¹³ This is to continue until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, resulting in a mature man with a stature reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴ The goal is that we would no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we would in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows in accordance with Christ’s activity when he measured out each individual part. He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace established for us by your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Many people want to be ‘number one’!

We see this in the Olympic Games as the athletes strive for the number one position which is rewarded with gold (and a lot of media coverage). We see people competing for the number one position in various sports, business profiteering, advertising, accumulation of wealth, space exploration (or exploitation), politics, and Tik Tok videos. Many want to be the first, the fastest, the best, the richest, the most important, and the most memorable.

It should also come as no surprise that many people will also want to look out for ‘number one’!

Each of us look for ways to be noticed, valued, loved, appreciated, and included. We want to feel good about ourselves and we want others to feel good about us as well. We often want our own opinions to be agreed to. We want to win arguments because we think we know best. We want our own version of the truth to be everyone else’s version of the truth. We want others to fight for our rights and innocence. We want others to do what we say. So much so, that today an individual’s rights and expectations often seem more important than a community’s rights and expectations.

But when St Paul uses the number ‘one’, he uses it in such a radically different way which challenges our natural desires to be ‘number one’ or to look out for ‘number one’.

You see, if we’re to think about ‘number one’ at all, it’s in the context that there is only one Christ and one body. We’ve all been joined to Christ’s body through baptism into our one Lord and granted one faith through the power of the one Spirit. There is only one hope of salvation. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There is only one God and Father of all. If we’re concerned about the number one, this is a list of all the ‘ones’ we should be most concerned about. Everything else, including ourselves, is secondary.

This oneness is the reality of our Christian faith, and we are one whether we like it or not. We don’t make this reality, but it’s given to us. We didn’t bring this into being by a series of meetings or by a common inspiration, but it’s given to us by God, and we, as recipients of this unifying gift, should be eager to maintain this unity in order to receive the blessings and benefits of our common inheritance.

The typical human problem is that this isn’t the ‘number one’ that we want to maintain. We’re often too busy wanting to either be ‘number one’ or look out for ‘number one’. As naturally self-centred people, we want to get our own way, push our own version of truth, justify our own form of righteousness, manipulate people to satisfy our own demands, and win people to our own side of the argument, which always threatens our unity.

We often think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’. We’re the ones who have it right and haven’t done anything wrong. They’re the ones who are trouble-makers, the ones who have to admit their mistakes, and who have to make up for what they’ve done.

When we think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’, we’re no longer thinking about ‘one’. We’re thinking we’re ‘two’ which seeks to deny the reality of what God has given us.

Now, when we act or think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’, we don’t actually change the oneness of faith, hope, baptism, or of our Lord. We can’t change that. You and I can’t change the reality of God. You and I can’t divide or separate what God has joined together.

But when we act or think in these ways of ‘us’ and ‘them’, or when we prioritise our own desires over against other people’s, we show we’re in rebellion with God. We bear witness that we don’t want to be an active part of his unity of faith and hope and life. Instead of bearing witness to the oneness we have in God, we bear witness we want to be the ‘number one’ whom everyone should bow down to and obey and agree with. By rebelling against the oneness we have in God, we set ourselves up in opposition to God.

In this way, when we have divisions among us and rebel against living the faith-filled reconciled life of oneness and unity with each other, we show we have a problem with God’s word, God’s ways, and God’s timing.

Of course, this isn’t what God desires for us. He doesn’t want us to be rebellious and divisive. He wants us to grow in maturity of faith within his unified grace-filled and Christ-centred community.

You see, in order for us to be part of his divine community, Jesus came down into our world in human flesh. Our majestic and powerful God lowered himself to become human in order to save humanity. Crucified for the forgiveness of all our sins and raised again in order to grant eternal life through faith, he ascended into heaven so that all those who are joined to him belong where he belongs. He did this so that we would be joined with him through the one faith to our one Lord by the power of the one Spirit and purified into one baptism so we all have the one hope of forgiveness and everlasting life.

But, knowing we’ll be deceived by the ways of the world and their deceptive words, and tempted to rebel against the unity which is given to us, he sent us chosen people to equip us and help us mature in our faith.

He sends us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in order to teach us how to live in the unity of faith and live out the ministry which has been given to us.

One of the important things we’re taught by his chosen servants is how to speak the truth in love, but this is often misunderstood and misused within the church.

The context of this statement isn’t about winning an argument or forcing people to agree with us. It’s not used in such a way to convince someone else about what they’ve done wrong which has hurt someone.

Instead, it’s used in the context of witnessing to the truth of Jesus Christ (who is the way, the truth and the life). It’s used in the context of maintaining the unity we have through faith in Jesus. It’s used in the context of being constantly taught the true teaching of the church (by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) and with the hope of living out our love for one another so that we remain united in Christ.

Therefore, speaking the truth in love is not about being ‘number one’ by winning arguments, or about looking out for ‘number one’ by attacking and criticising others in our attempts to defend or justify ourselves. Speaking the truth in love also hasn’t got anything to do with seeking justice through vindication or attempting to punish others for the wrong they’ve done.

Speaking the truth in love is always about bearing witness to the forgiveness and life Jesus offers us through faith, since he is the truth we want to speak in love. Speaking the truth in love is having true concern and love for each other because we want all people to grow in their faith and remain united with Jesus Christ.

This is why St Paul is eagerly encouraging you to live out the maturity of your faith by living with certain faithful mature characteristics.

A person who is growing in Christ isn’t concerned with being ‘number one’ or looking out for ‘number one’, but will live in humility, understanding their place within the body of Christ.

A humble person doesn’t put themselves, their own wants, or their own agendas first, but is always content with the privilege of serving others. A humble person is more concerned about the welfare of other people than their own. They’re always courteous and considerate toward others. They readily waive their own rights for the sake of the common good without regard for their own pride, reputation or advancement.

A person who is growing in Christ isn’t concerned with being ‘number one’ or looking out for ‘number one’ but will live with meekness and consideration. They won’t be overly impressed by themselves, but will always consider other people and their needs, knowing a gentle word can have more lasting and healthy effect than a harsh word.

A person who is growing in Christ isn’t concerned with being ‘number one’ or looking out for ‘number one’ but will live patiently. This patience includes the willingness and endurance needed to bear up under provocation and trouble because they trust God’s ways and timing. They’ll be long-tempered rather than short-tempered. They’ll willingly suffer with, and for, the other person in order to win them over

A person who is growing in Christ isn’t concerned with being ‘number one’ or looking out for ‘number one’ but will endure troublesome people. They’ll seek to tolerate, understand, and respect each other’s uniqueness, weaknesses, and faults. This doesn’t mean they’ll ignore another person’s sin or agree with their lies or deceptions, but they’ll give the other person time and space to grapple with the word of God in their lives, look for opportunities to share the good news of the gospel with them, and patiently witness through words and actions what it means to live in the unity of faith.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s not about you being ‘number one’ or looking out for ‘number one’. It’s all about Jesus Christ! He is the true ‘number One’ we should be most concerned about and looking to. He is the one Lord. He is the one who we’re baptized into. He is the body we’ve been joined to. Together with the Father he sends the one Spirit so we may all believe and mature as one in faith.

The unity of the church is a reflection of God’s gift of reconciliation in Christ, which his gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers should constantly remind us. According to one dictionary, to be reconciled is to bring two or more people back into a friendly relationship with each other after a dispute or estrangement. Reconciliation then is the constant gospel-focused ministry of the church to live out the oneness we’ve been given by Christ. Anything else is rebellion against this gift

The Church proclaims the truth in love that through Christ we’re reconciled with God the Father. Where once we were separated from him, through Christ’s forgiveness and salvation, we’re now at peace with God and can enjoy unhindered access to him. Through trusting him, we’re one with God the Father.

Through Christ and his reconciling forgiveness we maintain and celebrate the oneness we have with God and each other, for there truly is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

And it’s through him that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.