So you’ve decided to get (more) serious about studying the Bible. Maybe you’ve joined a Bible Study or picked up a book or two to help you learn more and get into God’s Word more. That’s very good! Faith comes — and grows stronger — by hearing and reading — the Word.
So, which Bible should you choose? Pastors are asked this question all the time. English readers are blessed with dozens of choices. You can read and compare most of them at the Bible Gateway for free. what do you do with them? Much depends on your purpose.
Some are good for reading. They smooth out the language, choosing words to explain what the translator thinks the Bible is saying. The problem is often that reflects the translator’s theology. That is acceptable when you are just reading large sections of the Bible, but can be a problem when you want to know what the Bible says in detail.
Other translations try to stay close to the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic text of the Scriptures. The translators try hard to keep close to the original words. Problems occur when they do this. One is it is impossible to convey all the meaning of one word in Greek into English. The translator has to choose one or another word.
Try this little experiment. If you cannot use the word “excellent,” what word would you choose in it’s place? If you say, “good,” doesn’t it mean the same thing? Almost, but not quite. This happens even more when translating from another language.
With some translations, you have to work at following sentences that sound awkward in English. That is why it is often best to choose two or three translations when you do a deep dive into God’s word. When you find that the different versions of a passage are about the same, you can be sure the original meaning is pretty straightforward. If they are substantially different — not so much. When this happens, ask your pastor. He had to learn Greek and Hebrew in seminary and see what’s going on in the original text and explain it to you.
So, when you pick translations as your study companion, look for a few. You can test them out in Bible Gateway or another app or online Bible site. You may want to check out the English Standard Version, which the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod uses for worship and study materials, the Evangelical Heritage Version, produced by conservative Lutheran translators, The New King James Version and The New American Standard Version. If you can find it, the original New International Version (from the 1980s) is OK. Do not use the one currently for sale in bookstores, however, which has in recent years allowed liberal translators to alter it. The same goes for the old, 1950s era Revised Standard Version. Your pastor may also have some suggestions.
In future posts, I’ll take up passages from Scriptures I use to test translations. I pray those will help you as you begin to acquire your Bibles for study.
When do we learn about the books of Samuel or Kings or Chronicles? We probably learn about Samuel and Saul and David and Solomon from Bible stories that our parents read to us. Perhaps we hear the stories in Sunday School. Rarely do we hear these stories in confirmation class. Even rarer will you hear about these stories in the Sunday sermon. I have found in my own life that I have never once attended a Lutheran Bible Study on these books.
Whether it’s because it’s a different nation and its history, or because it’s low on the priority list for pastors and congregations, the Samuels and Kings and Chronicles are still part of God’s Word, and a significant chunk of our Bibles. In my Bible, these books fill 288 pages! And probably some think that these books do not have enough encouragement or comfort. But we will have to wait and see (and read together) these passages to see what we have been missing.
Let’s read 1 Samuel 1:
1 Samuel 1:1-2
The Birth of Samuel
1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
First, let’s clarify some places and people we might be unfamiliar with. The first thing I notice is Ramathaim-zophim. This is the lengthened name that is more familiar to us as Ramah. We know about Ramah because Jeremiah (31:15) prophesies that Jacob’s wife Rachel was weeping for her children there.
“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.”
This is the reading that we sometimes hear on the Second Sunday after Christmas, when Matthew quotes Jeremiah as the prophecy that Herod would kill the firstborn sons in Judah and Bethlehem because of Jesus. The Ramathaim of 1 Samuel is the Ramah we hear in the Gospels. Our chapter for today sets the stage for the later coming of Jesus!
But wait, there’s more! This is the same place that we hear about later in the Gospels. When Jacob and Rachel were alive, the town was Ramah. When Hannah and Samuel were alive, the town was named Ramathaim-zophim. But when Jesus was alive, the name of that same town was changed to Arimathea. Can you see the similarities? This is the town of Joseph of Arimathea, the man who gave up his tomb and buried Jesus in it for three days. When Jesus rose, there was no more grief and weeping for Rachel, and there was no more sorrow for Hannah. For the Son of God was raised from the dead and He now lives.
The second name I want us to take a look at is Elkanah. Elkanah is part of the tribe of Levi, the tribe set aside for priests. It is because of Elkanah that Samuel can become a priest for the Lord. Elkanah’s name reflects that beautifully. “El” is the Hebrew name for “God” and “kanah” is the Hebrew verb “to possess.” Put it together and you get “God possesses” or “God bought.” What a Gospel name that is! God has bought Elkanah, paid for his sins, and made him a priest for God’s people!
Finally, let’s take a look at Hannah. Hannah means “grace.” On the one hand, we realize that the beginning of this book appears to suggest that God has not given Hannah grace. It appears God has not been gracious. For He gave Peninnah children, but Hannah had no children. This is a devastating situation for any woman, especially those women who want to have children. For motherhood is the greatest joy for women. We find this true even today. If you ever talk to a widow, she will rarely talk to you about her job or about her friends. But she will certainly tell you about her husband and about her children. We can understand Hannah’s situation, and we can pray today for all women who want to have children of their own.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, Your people have wept in Ramah. But You sent Your Son to be buried there and to be raised from the dead there. Thank You for offering up Your one and only Son for the sacrifice for our sins and for raising Him so that He lives again. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Lord, like Elkanah, You have bought us as Your people. We are no longer slaves to anyone but You. Strengthen us to serve our neighbors in the church and in the world. Like Elkanah, remind us to go to church and to bring our wife and children to know You, trust You, and love You. Through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, You comforted Rachel in her weeping and Hannah because she had no children. Comfort mothers whose children have died. Comfort women who wish to have children and cannot. Answer their prayers, for motherhood is the greatest joy. Through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Rev. James Peterson First Lutheran Church Phillipsburg, Kansas
When the forces of the Elector of Saxony whisked Martin Luther away to the Wartburg Castle for safe keeping, the public assumed Luther had been assassinated. Albrecht Dürer wrote in his diary: “O God, if Luther is dead, who now will teach us the holy Gospel so clearly? Dear God, what would he still have been able to write in ten or twenty years! O all you pious Christians, help me earnestly to mourn this divinely inspired man, and pray that God would send us another enlightened man.” (Martin Brecht, Martin Luther 2:473). As word got out that he was safe, Europe began to become unsettled even further.
Even though the Edict of Worms had made Luther and his friends outlaws, the allies of the papacy soon discovered it was not enforceable. Emperor Charles V and his Spanish forces were at war with France. He also faced several revolts which needed to be put down. Sweden and Denmark were also fighting over Swedish independence. Suleiman the Magnificent began to lead his Ottoman Turk forces against Christian Europe, capturing Belgrade. Unrest began to ripple throughout northern Europe as people who agreed with Luther began to protest conditions, sometimes violently.
In Wittenberg, Luther’s friends Philipp Melanchthon and Nikolaus Von Amsdorf were joined by Justus Jonas. Together they tried to steer the town and University through the tricky task of applying the teachings of the Reformation without crushing the faith of everyday people. Luther proposed to the Wittenberg Town Council that Melanchthon be licensed to preach in his place, even though he was a married layman. Everyone agreed but the All Saints’ Foundation, which scheduled the preachers, refused. Another professor at the University, Andreas Karlstadt, initially an ally of Luther, began to urge immediate reformation of practices in Wittenberg and soon came into conflict with Luther and his friends.
In the fall of 1521, public agitation against private masses, distributing the Lord’s Supper in one kind and other practices Luther had criticized began to grow. The Elector forbid such changes for the time being, but in some cases, he was ignored. Luther decided in the beginning of December he had to see for himself what was going on.
Without notifying the court, dressed as a knight accompanied by a servant, he traveled to Wittenberg, where he stayed with Philipp Melanchthon. He met with his friends, sent a letter to Spalatin and then returned to the Wartburg, determined to write a tract against the unrest.
What’s with the four Lamps on our Advent paraments at Mt. Calvary Lutheran in LaGrange, Texas? And, what’s with the Jewish Star on Pastor’s Advent Stole?
First, let’s identify paraments. Paraments are the colored, fringed fabric hangings, which drape over the altar, pulpit, and lectern. These are different than the banners hanging on the walls. Banners beautify the sanctuary and often convey different messages about a particular day or subject matter.
Paraments beautify the sanctuary and serve to indicate liturgical seasons of the church year. The seasons all have colors assigned for use. Christmas, Easter, and festival days celebrating Jesus’s life on Earth are white. The Sundays after Epiphany and Trinity and green. Lent is purple or violet. The festivals of Maundy Thursday, Pentecost, Reformation, and Saints’ days are red or scarlet. Advent is blue or purple.
Our blue paraments symbolize the hopeful preparation of the Advent season. Advent is a church season that gets lost in our culture. The popular world has no sense of time, flow, or delayed gratification. In the church, we still hold back our exuberance for the 12 days within which they belong.
On our paraments we see four burning lamps during Advent also. Now fours in the ecclesiastical art (church art) usually mean the four evangelists, the Gospel writers. Sometimes, fours can be the four creatures bearing the throne of God’s glory in Ezekiel, or the four living creatures that testify around the throne of the Lamb in Revelation.
In Advent, we may be best served seeing those four lamps as the prophets of the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Those four major prophets are shorthand for us. The four witnesses of ancient times testify to the promise of the messiah to come. That promise is the same message of all of the prophecy of the Old Testament, the major prophets, and the minor prophets. The history and poetry also point the way to Jesus.
All of these speak to Jesus birth in Bethlehem (a little tidbit from Micah 5:2). The Messiah is coming to reverse the ancient curse of the Devil from Genesis 3. The whole of the Law and the Prophets point to that.
Like the four lamps, the Jewish star on pastor’s stole is the symbol of the Key of David, which might be G half-sharp major. Seriously though, the Key of David is the authority given to Jesus before heaven to loose and bind sins. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (Isaiah 22:22). That same authority is given by Jesus to His church that all may receive forgiveness.
Prepare, dear baptized, in hopeful expectation. The king is coming!
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Martin Luther was out of the public eye five hundred years ago. His prince had arranged to have him taken to the Castle Wartburg, his fortress overlooking Eisenach, the town where Luther went to school as a child. He had a suite designed to house noble hostages, where he was able to write letters and had been working on model sermons for Advent.
One of the major projects that Luther and his allies had on their agenda was to translate the Bible into German so that everyday people could read and understand it themselves. There were some rather wooden, inaccurate versions of the Bible available in German, none of which were very popular and were translated from the Vulgate Latin version To complicate matters, German was spoken in many hundreds of dialects, some of which could not be understood outside of a small area. Two dialects were understood in all the courts in Germany — one spoken by the court of the Holy Roman Emperor and the other by the court of Luther’s prince, the Elector of Saxony.
Luther had made some quiet visits outside the castle from time to time, disguised as Junker Jörg. During one trip to Wittenberg, he arranged with Georg Spalatin and his friend Philipp Melanchthon to gather materials to translate the New Testament. In mid-December of 1521, he began his work. In eleven weeks, he finished the first draft.
Luther translated the New Testament from Erasmus’ Greek New Testament of 1519. Erasmus also prepared a new Latin translation he published alongside the Greek. Luther used the court language of Saxony to for his German version. He would frequently ask everyday people how they would say things to bring the New Testament into everyday language. For the book of Revelation, he even had his friends at court show him the jewels mentioned and asked them to describe the jewels. The result was a conversational, easy to understand version of the Bible.
When the reformer returned to Wittenberg in March of 1522, he and Melanchthon improved the translation. The first edition appeared in September 1522. It sold out quickly and was reprinted in December of 1522. Luther then turned to translating the Old Testament with a group of his friends that he called his Sanhedrin. The first publication of the full Bible came in 1534. Luther and his friends would continue to revise the translation until the day of Luther’s death.
The Luther Bible was very popular. The printing press made a copy of the Bible affordable to every middle class household in Germany. Even Luther’s opponents praised the work. So many people now read the Bible that it unified the literary language of Germany as High German. William Tyndale was inspired by its success to translate the Bible into English. Tyndale’s work would be modified by the compilers of the King James version eighty years later. To this day, the principles Luther developed for the work of translation is used to bring the Bible to many languages around the world.
It’s one of the five solas of the Reformation. They are: sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria. The Latin means: scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone. Last time, we talked about Solus Christus. To wrap this up, Soli Deo Gloria is the topic. Soli Deo Gloria puts a tidy bow on the five solas.
Rome was the opposition force for the reformers. But, Soli Deo Gloria teaches against my own understanding just as much as the Pope. We, modern Christians, tend to make popes of ourselves. We want to be the sole interpreter of the scriptures. Moreover, we want to exclude or ignore the parts we don’t like. We like to excuse our laziness toward or neighbors. Somehow, they don’t deserve our works to serve them, because Faith and Grace don’t drive us to love and serve our neighbor. We want to define Jesus by our own ideas apart from His word. We seek Him within ourselves, rather than in His house and through His Word.
All of this puts us afoul of the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” [SC 1:1] God is glorified in His Word and His work for us. When, we stand in His way, or obfuscate His clear teachings, we make little popes of ourselves. Actually, we make gods of ourselves.
And, we don’t stop there. We will setup idols all around the house. We’ll place the church’s status within the community ahead of God’s Word and gifts to us. We’ll worship the activities outside of God’s house among ourselves as a greater good that the gifts He gives us on Sunday mornings. We’ll worship our openness rather than the foolishness of the Gospel that separates us from the world.
Johann Sebastian Bach, lived and work in the 18th century, 200 years after the reformation. But, his signature shows the lasting influence on Lutheran musicians like Bach. He signed ever work with “SDG” as well as his own name. The abbreviation stands for Soli Deo Gloria, redirecting the attention from himself to the Lord attested to in his sacred music.
Though he wrote massive works too, the bulk of his repertoire consists of smaller works for church musicians to use on Sunday mornings. These pieces added beauty and fulness to the worship life of the church. Bach’s intention was not his own fame or glory. In his own lifetime, his fame was limited. And, without a revival of his music in the 19th century, we may know far less of him. His work remains, teaching the Word of God and our Lutheran understanding of it. Bach’s focus on the worship life of the church serves as a guide to Christian musicians and all Christian servants to this very day.
+ SDG +
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
It’s one of the five solas of the Reformation. They are: sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria. The Latin means: scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone. Last time, we talked about Sola Gratia. This week Solus Christus is the topic. Solus Christus follows quickly on the heels of Sola Gratia. It’s also a corrective reaction to an error of Rome in teaching salvation by way of the church, but not only from Jesus.
Jesus was not absent in their teaching. But, He took a backseat to penance, prayer to the saints, councils, and popes.
The works of penance, those assigned duties were delivered as if forgiveness couldn’t be had without that exchange. The semi-ecumenical western councils determined that Rome had sway over the whole church. Conveniently, Rome was the only voice speaking at these councils following the Eastern and Western Christian schism of 1054 AD. The popes claimed authority as vicars of Christ that gave them a voice equal to the revealed Word of God. Christ alone was the reformation correction.
We still struggle with Solus Christus today too. But now, our idols live within us.
The Depeche Mode song “Personal Jesus” accidentally typifies the issue. We tend to fall into the other ditch. We look away from Christ crucified, who delivers Himself to us in the divine service, instead seeking a private, personal relationship and revelation.
We expect to find Jesus within us and in places of our own choosing. “I can be a Christian without going to church.” “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” “I’m going to heaven because I’m a good person.” These are all ways in which we dodge what we learned clearly from Luther’s Small Catechism in the 3rd commandment.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” [SC 1:4]
The actual personal Jesus we have is the one who promises to deliver Himself to us in the Word and Sacraments. When, we are gather in Him name, He promises to be there. When his Word is read, we hear His voice. When we receive His Body and His Blood, He delivers the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
Let us seek Christ alone in His house.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne; Hark how the heav’nly anthem drowns All music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing Of Him who died for Thee, And hail Him as thy matchless king Through all eternity.
When we speak of crowning someone, we think of a king. But here we sing that the Lamb is crowned and He is upon the throne. From the very beginning, this hymn is at the very end, at Revelation 7, at the Lamb’s high feast.
Crown Him the virgin’s Son, The God incarnate born, Whose arm those crimson trophies won Which now His brow adorn: Fruit of the mystic rose, Yet of that rose the stem, The root whence mercy ever flows, The babe of Bethlehem.
When we think of crowning someone, we expect a person of royal family, in a palace. But this baby of Bethlehem, a small town, without even a place for Him, is crowned. What kind of Savior we have, who comes humbly into the earth to redeem with His crimson trophies of blood those who He loves.
Crown Him the Lord of love. Behold His hands and side, Rich wounds, yet visible above, In beauty glorified. No angels in the sky Can fully bear that sight, But downward bend their wond’ring eyes At mysteries so bright.
Would you ever think of crowning a dead man? Even one who is crucified? His hands are side are nailed upon the cross to show His great love, not a feeling, not a lust, but love by sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It hardly feel like the conqueror worthy of a crown would be dead on a tree. And yet this He did once for all for you and for me.
Crown Him the Lord of life, Who triumphed o’er the grave And rose victorious in the strife For those He came to save. His glories now we sing, Who died and rose on high, Who died eternal life to bring And lives that death may die.
Finally, this stanza brings us to something worthy of a king, that He rose from the dead. Nobody does that. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ most certainly rose from the dead. This is the crowning moment for Him, that sin, death, and the devil have no dominion over Him or over us.
Crown Him the Lord of heav’n, Enthroned in worlds above, Crown Him the king to whom is giv’n The wondrous name of Love. Crown Him with many crowns As thrones before Him fall; Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, For He is king of all.
This final stanza sums up each of the previous stanzas. Jesus Christ did not come to be an earthly king back then or any time in the future. He is not only the Lord of creation, but the Lord of heaven and that can never be taken away from Him. And faith in this can never be taken away from us. Crown Him, for He is king of all.
Rev. James Peterson First Lutheran Church Phillipsburg, Kansas
Encore Post: In ancient times, major events were marked with feasts. Births, marriages, victories large and small, all were marked with feasts. The most important of these would involve spreads of lots of food and drinks. Greeks and Romans turned these into a fine art and would throw these feasts much more frequently. They would hold symposia — literally to drink together — and were more like our parties than the feasts of middle eastern and Jewish culture.
One of the images Scripture uses for the joys of eternal life is the great feast of the end of time — the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. Isaiah speaks of this banquet as a feast provided by the Lord of Armies (Lord of Hosts) [Isaiah 25:6-9] On Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, where the Angel of the Lord promised Abraham and Isaac “the Lord will provide,” God will provide the finest meat and drink for his people. He will swallow up death forever. He will wipe every tear from their eyes and take away their shame forever. To this banquet are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the patriarchs and prophets. Believers from all corners of the earth are invited. (Matthew 8:11) The Lord’s Supper is the first course of this supper, helping us focus on the feast to come in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 26:29)
The Book of Revelation calls this Wedding Feast the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world. By His death he destroyed death and by his rising opened the kingdom to all believers. He is the bridegroom who takes as his bride the church. He washes her clean in the waters of Holy Baptism, making her holy and clean for her wedding. (Ephesians 5:25-27) He then married her and brings her to the wedding feast, where we are both guest and bride. The joy of this feast goes on and on, lasting forever. To this banquet, the Spirit and the Bride says, “come!.”
Dear saints, last week our Lord tells us what will happen as the end drawn near and warns us to be prepared. Next week He will bring a parable about His return. But today we hear of the Day of Judgment. And in it, we find that it is really the announcement of the judgment which has already taken place.
Jesus, our King, has come in glory and sits upon His throne. All nations are gathered before Him, and the peoples of these nations are separated from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep are welcomed to heaven and the goats are condemned to hell.
And it is at this point in many churches the sermon goes wrong. The question, “Have you been good enough to be a sheep?” or some variation of it is asked of the congregation. It is a well-intentioned question, but it can bring no hope. It contains no Gospel. It can only bring the heaviest teaching of the Law. The question will either puff up or condemn the listener.
Consider what Jesus says of the sheep: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
In trying to answer the question, “Have I been good enough to be a sheep?” the listener is led to consider their works. Have you ever fed Jesus? Given Him a drink? Welcomed or clothed or cared for or visited Him? Even if you know what comes next, that Jesus says that doing these things for any of His brothers is doing it to and for Him, you have then to consider what you have done for your brethren.
What of these things, then, have you done? All? Some? Have you even had the opportunity to do them? Can you even dare calling yourself a sheep? Also, remember the standard of God’s Law. He is perfect and commands that we also be perfect. So, even if we assume you are exempt from fulfilling the things you have not had the opportunity to do, have you served the listed people perfectly every opportunity you have had to serve them? Have you slipped up even once? Then no. You have not done enough to be a sheep.
To answer the question, “Have I been good enough to be a sheep?” will only bring one of two conclusions. You will either realize you are not good enough and bring upon anxiety and despair, or you will deceive yourself and become boastful and conceited in thinking you are better than you are.
The only good thing I can think of when considering this wrong question is that it reminds us that none of us are good enough to be called sheep. None of us have loved our neighbors well enough to be a sheep. By failing to help your fellow brother or sister, you find you fit the description of a goat instead. We will return to this thought.
These sheep in the parable confused by our Lord’s words and respond, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” Notice that there is no surprise that they are sheep. The surprise is what our Lord tells them they have done. They do not recall doing any of these things. And Jesus responds, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Our Lord’s attention then turns to the goats. “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Like the sheep, the goats do not seem to understand: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” And he answers them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
In the parable, the sheep are called blessed by the Father and the goats are cursed. The sheep are those declared righteous. They know they do not deserve to be sheep, but since they trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, God has made them sheep. Because they are blessed and declared righteous, they inherit the kingdom which was prepared for them. This is why the sheep are surprised at what they hear next. They know they put their faith in Jesus, and not their works, for their salvation.
The goats, on the other hand, are cursed. Rather than being washed and clothed in righteousness, they remained estranged from the Lord. They rejected the call to trust in Christ. And so, when given the opportunity to love and serve Him, they declined. Yet they are still surprised to hear the judgment. They do not recall seeing the Lord in need and failing to care for him. Because they have no faith, they are cast into the eternal fire. But notice that this fire was not created for them. It is not supposed to be where they are sent. It was created for the devil and his angels, but they go there anyway.
The sheep in the parable are not sheep because of the works they did. The goats are not goats because of the works they did not do. Each are what they are because they do or do not trust in the Lord. Those who are baptized, who believe that Jesus has died for them and has taken away their sins, who try to do good, are Christian. They are righteous. But those who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, even if they are baptized or try to do good things, are not Christian. They remain unrighteous.
Many think the parable is about works. But it is not about works. The parable is about being declared by God what you are. The sheep are made sheep by the power of God and His Holy Spirit. The goats remain goats because they reject God and His Word. The good works that the sheep have done must be put into their proper context, or else we might falsely believe that our works have somehow merited our salvation.
The author of the epistle to the Hebrews says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Serving your neighbor is a good work only if you have faith in Christ. Good works are the evidence of faith. They are the indicator that faith is present. It is impossible to have faith but not have good works. Yet these works do not save; they are the fruit of faith.
This might make some of you uneasy. Perhaps you are afraid you have not born much fruit. Think about it this way: If you give to the congregation because you support the mission of the Church and want to see the Word preached and the Sacraments administered, you are supporting Christ. If you made a dish for a potluck, you are feeding Christ, for those who eat of it are part of the Body of Christ.
If you have changed a diaper, you have clothed Christ. If you have carried that child to the Baptismal Font, you have carried Christ. The list goes on: If you have fed your children, given them clothes, spoken words of comfort to the sick or mourning, or any of the many other good works that you do because you are God’s child, you have done it to and for Christ Jesus.
Of course, these works are not done perfectly. How many of us have muttered to ourselves changing that blow-out diaper? Or got frustrated that some of your kid’s new clothes have been ruined after a single use? Or been wearied by yet another request from someone in need? God’s Law instructs us even as it accuses us. We see and do what we know to do because we know we are God’s redeemed. But we see how poorly we do these works and repent of not doing better. Or for thinking that what we have done is ‘good enough.’
Repent, but do not despair. Your status as a sheep does not rest upon you. You are what you are because of the mercy of your Savior, the King who rules over all things. It is He who has taken on your flesh and was born of the Virgin. He is the one who kept the Law perfectly. He is the one who, out of love for you, took on your sins and purchased you with His shed Blood and His death on the cross. And in that love, he rose again that you would enter His eternal kingdom with Him.
Because Jesus is your Savior, it is Jesus who makes you a sheep. He takes your ‘goat nature’ and covers it with His perfect nature as the Lamb of God. He has remade you in His own image. And this extends to the works you do. God sees your works and sees them done for Him. He does not see your sins, for they are hidden from his sight. What you do in weakness and sin, He perfects in Himself and His righteousness.
On the cross, Christ Jesus became the sin of all men that all men might be redeemed. Any who are clothed in Christ have been made to be Him in disguise. Thus, the good works of His saints, His sheep, overflow with His glory.
But that does not work for the goats. They may have mighty and noble works that appear to be selfless acts of charity. We can see that throughout the world. But they reject Christ. They do not believe the work done for them in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thus, they also reject His presence and serve their god, the devil. Their good deeds, lacking faith, are nothing but stained and filthy garments in the eyes of God.
But for you, dear sheep of Christ, your every action shine like the very Light of Christ. God’s Final Judgment is made, and it is for you. You are the righteous ones. You are those whose lives are made perfect in Christ. You are innocent and pure. So, you will be crowned with everlasting honor, bestowed upon you through the merit of Christ. You will enter the Kingdom of Glory, prepared for you by your Father from the foundation of the world. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Peace Lutheran Church Alcester, SD
What’s with the four Lamps on our Advent paraments at Mt. Calvary Lutheran in LaGrange, Texas? And, what’s with the Jewish Star on Pastor’s Advent Stole? 