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| The Good Samaritan, by Norma Boeckler |
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn # 281 The Savior Calls 1:29
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #259 Flung to the Heedless Winds 1:64
The Entire Bible is a Sermon about Jesus
The Communion Hymn # 308 Invited, Lord, by Boundless Grace 1:63
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 464 Blest Be the Tie That Binds 1:39
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 464 Blest Be the Tie That Binds 1:39
KJV Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritancebe of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveththe law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
KJV Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Thy holy gospel, know Thy fatherly will, and behold Thy Son, Jesus Christ! We pray Thee, most merciful Father: Let the light of Thy holy word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Thy word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal salvation; through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Entire Bible is a Sermon about Jesus
KJV Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
The beginning of this lesson is a sermon in itself. Jesus told His disciples privately that the great and wise had longed to hear such words and to see such miracles, and they did not. But the disciples, who were ordinary men by the standards of the day, were able to see and hear what no one else had - ever before.
The same is true of believers. The Bible sells in the millions but many read it with veiled eyes, thanks to 150 years of the new rationalism and various enthusiasms. They have the words before them, but they only see meanings in harmony with their own agenda.
When I tried to show a class of non-Lutherans how the New NIV reversed the meaning of Romans 3 by adding an extra "all," my smartest student said, "But justification by faith is still there." The great and wise in Lutherdom thought one "all" erased justification by faith, but a college student saw through it, acknowledging the impact of one added "all" in one verse.
Of course, the Jefferson Bible fan club sees the New Testament only in terms of those sections they like - and those parts are few in number. But many Lutherans are no different because they refuse to see the Bible as a whole and mentally erase the other parts from their understanding. That is like saying Gone with the Wind is a novel about farming, since it starts and ends on a Southern plantation.
So, when students in Old Testament write about Adam and Eve, I remind them the key verse is the Promise of a Savior. Forgetting Genesis 3:15 is like Christmas without the Nativity, Easter without the Resurrection, or football without Notre Dame. These are illustrations of the fallacy of emphasis, getting the meaning wrong by leaving out something in favor of the agenda item.
The Fall of Man is the setting for the Promise of the Son of God redeeming the world of sin.
Luke 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Here we have an excellent sample of a Parable that serves to be a gold mine for agendas, mostly to make people feel guilty and sad. Their agendas are a familiar logical fallacy - the fallacy of emphasis, which I mentioned above. The Parable is certainly about loving one's neighbor, but what comes first?
Luther constantly taught two things from the Bible - faith and love. Faith is our relationship with God, which always needs purification (cross) and strengthening (Means of Grace). Apart from faith, the Bible is no longer the Word of God, but a word about God.
Clearly there are two parts to this summary of the Torah. One is love of God, the other is love of neighbor. As Hoenecke said so concisely, Pietism confuses the two and makes works the cause of justification rather than the effect of justification.
That is why the entire Bible is a sermon about Jesus, because the purpose of the Scriptures is to create and strengthen faith in the Son of God, our Savior. The Bible presents Jesus as a kindly, gracious, welcoming person who draws people to Him by His forgiving and patient manner. Those who doubt this should consult the ending of John's Gospel, where he stated his purpose - to create faith and through faith, salvation.
John 20:
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
It is also noteworthy that the lawyer wished to justify himself, so his question was no sincere but tricky. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? So do we want a sermon based on a question intended to trap Jesus?
Luke 10:30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
This is where the modern Pharisees find a rant about works rather than a sermon about Jesus. But in fact, they are the unbelievers who put on a big show and do nothing to help anyone.
Their tirades are not any good unless they make everyone feel guilty about not doing this or that. If they have, it is not enough.
Some hometown liberals were bemoaning racial prejudice in the past and stirring up the guilt. I pointed out that I was teaching in a former slave state, one famous for racial conflict - and my classes were filled with all races - no problem. The Gospel unites people. Lutherans coming to America were disgusted by slavery, and Christianity was a key component in ending that horrible practice. Stephan, the founder of the LCMS, had no problem with slavery because his ethnic group used slaves.
Liberal guilt comes from the fallacy that we make up for our sins by doing good things. That never satisfies since it is done for the wrong reasons and is never enough.
Luke 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Jesus is the Good Samaritan. He went to a man who was barely alive and began to minister to him. He began to heal his wounds (forgiveness). He used oil (the comfort of the Gospel) and wine (the sharpness of the cross). We still use oil for healing. This morning we put coconut oil in the coffee for sore throats and oil on the skin where it was dry and ouchy. Wine is obviously antiseptic, but Luther saw the bite of the wine as the cross. Faith requires knowledge of the cross or initial faith is crushed by immediate negative reactions.
One blogger wondered about impact, so I replied, "Nasty and manipulative messages mean you are right on target." That is the cross, doing what is God-pleasing and having church people treat you like Judas Iscariot and a thousand demons besides.
Notice in the Parable what else Jesus does. First is the initial treatment, then far more than we might expect - being put on a beast of burden (given access to the Gospel), carried to the inn (which is the House of God, where the Means of Grace are distributed), and taken care of there. He stayed with the almost-dead man to help heal him. People want to sit on a park bench and spend hours talking to Jesus, according to Facebook responses. Jesus is there in the Word of God every day, all day.
Luke 10:35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Jesus not only cares for the wounded and dying in the House of God, but He also provides for innkeepers - pastors - to supplement His work in His name, and provides for them as well.
How can this be a works sermons when Jesus asks the ultimate question.
Luke 10:36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Because I was blinded by works rants in the past, I found this ending perplexing, lopsided. Something was wrong. When that seems to be true, the error is in ourselves and not in the text.
The ending is perfect for the meaning. Who is this neighbor we should love? The one who showed mercy (Jesus the Samaritan, the Rejected One).
Go and do likewise - "Love Jesus and the fruit of that love will be works pleasing to God. Salvation begins with faith in Jesus, love for the Gentle Samaritan, and the fruit of that love and faith is kindness to our neighbors..."
