Sermon - Pentecost 12 - John 6:51-69

 

John 6:51–69

“Hard to Believe”

Today’s Gospel reading shows us a striking moment in the life and ministry of Jesus.  Contrary to what many assume when they think of Jesus as a preacher, he was not always well received.  Here, at the end of John 6 and Jesus’ great sermon about himself as the bread of life – here the crowds finally have heard enough, and they reject him.  They leave.  They can’t accept his teaching.  It’s too hard.

I have to confess, it is a great comfort to me as a pastor, that if even Jesus can be rejected because people find his teaching too hard, too unbelievable, or for whatever reason – well, no servant is above his master.  It is an encouragement to pastors to remain faithful to the truth of God’s word even if and when it is an unpopular teaching, an unwelcome truth.  In other words, if people reject the Gospel we preach – we must remember they also rejected Jesus’ preaching at times – and that puts us in good company.  Now, of course, if people leave the church because I’m a jerk or I sin in some way against them – that is on me.  But simple, faithful, preaching of the truth – if that’s the problem – then it is an honor to be rejected as Christ was.

The temptation, of course, and this must have been true for Jesus, too, is to preach what people WANT to hear.  To cater to itching ears.  To preach a message that never offends, that never puts you at odds with anyone.  A vanilla Pablum that doesn’t risk anything because it doesn’t say anything.  Some cute stories strung together with a vague and mild sense of spiritual something-something – but no sin, no law, no Jesus, no cross.

Or, to preach a message that is attractive to the culture, in its departure from traditional values.  Or, scratch the itch of the Old Adam who is always looking for ways to justify himself with works – and lay out a means for people to do just that – in 12 easy steps – or whatever manmade program of self-righteousness you can concoct.

Well that’s not the sort of thing that’s been preached from this pulpit, and that, to your credit, is surely a big part of why you are here.  You want the message of Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners.  You want to be fed with the bread of life – the living bread that comes down from heaven – who gives his flesh for the life of the world.  You want the Gospel!

Or do you?

One of the things this passage also teaches us is that the Gospel is hard to believe.  Jesus’ message of free salvation in him alone – that he alone is the bread of life that gives life to the world – that’s hard to swallow.  It’s even worse, though.  It is impossible to believe on our own.  Not just for that skeptical crowd that left him in John 6.  For you and me, too.  “The Spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all”

Luther puts it this way in the Small Catechism we’ve all learned:  “I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him…”  We are so corrupted by sin that not only is the Gospel hard to believe – it’s impossible.  Ever since Adam fell into disbelief and rejection of God’s word, our will is also bound to reject the truth and to rebel against our creator.  Any time sinful man hears God’s truth the answer is, “This is a hard saying, who can accept it?” and the rhetorical answer is, “not me!”

But Luther also shows us the answer.  “I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him…  BUT!  But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel!”  Of course this is just another way of saying what Jesus says here to his disciples:  “no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

The miracle of faith is that anyone believes in Christ at all.  And this we credit to the work of the Holy Spirit, who is sent by the Father (and really, also the Son).  The Spirit calls us to faith.  The Spirit creates faith in us.  The Spirit works repentance, through the law showing us our sin, kindling contrition, and turning us away from the old ways.  The Spirit shows us Christ – and the free gift of salvation.  The Spirit, and only the Spirit, brings us to saving faith in the one crucified for us, Jesus Christ.  And the Spirit works, always, through the word.

The sinner who rejects the Gospel has only himself to blame.  The believer who follows Christ has only the Spirit to thank.

And so Jesus turns to his disciples, asking if they’re leaving too… and Peter makes another one of his great confessions, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  YOU have the words of eternal life!”  And we echo that confession today even as we gather around those same words of eternal life.  We can’t go to ourselves for eternal life.  We can’t go to some guru or life coach.  We can’t work our way up the spiritual ladder of holiness.  We can’t even come to faith on our own.  Rather, we must trust entirely in the God who first called us to faith to sustain us in that faith. 

But what a blessing it is that salvation is his alone.  If my faith rested on my own shoulders it would always be in doubt, uncertain, as shifting as the sands of my own sinful heart and mind.  But on the sure foundation of Christ’s word, and the solid ground of the Spirit’s working, we must be saved.  If God does it – it can’t be bad, and it won’t go wrong.

Now, this doesn’t mean that once we are a Christian, everything is easy.  Rather, sometimes even confirmed LCMS Lutherans struggle to believe.  Either we have our moments of doubt and fear, times of weakness of faith – to which I can only point you back to the Gospel you first received.  And remind you that a bruised reed he doesn’t crush, and a smoldering wick he won’t snuff out.  Even a weak faith is faith.  Even a mustard seed of it does wonders.  Simply pray, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”

Or else maybe you struggle with a particular teaching of Jesus.  Maybe you find a certain doctrine “hard to believe”.  Perhaps it’s the 6-day creation account of Genesis, or that sin came into the world through Adam and Eve.  Maybe you have a problem with the scriptural teaching that reserves the office of the public ministry for men and not for women.  Some people struggle with Paul’s warnings in 1 Corinthians 11 about unworthy reception of Holy Communion, and how that is faithfully and lovingly practiced.  And I know many, probably a surprising amount of us in this room, wrestle with Scripture’s teachings of sexuality in light of the drumbeat of our so-called “progressive” culture.  Maybe some even take offense and grumble at these teachings of scripture, these teachings of Jesus.

As a pastor, I don’t relish the times when people find the doctrine of the Bible “hard to believe”.  I don’t look forward to the thought of defending God’s word.  I hate to see people do what the crowd did in John 6, simply say, “this is a hard teaching” – and turn their back on the truth. 

But I also know that the Holy Spirit is smarter than any of us.  And he changes hearts and renews minds in ways beyond our knowing.  All I can do as a faithful pastor is show you what the word says.  It’s not my job to convict you – that’s the Spirit.  It is he who convicts the world in regard to sin and righteousness.

But I can encourage you to remain humble.  Many of us didn’t always believe as we do.  Most mature Christians can tell you how they’ve been brought down the road of faith – sometimes in a short time through a conversion experience – but more often, over time, in small and subtle ways, as the Spirit moves.  Many souls wiser than you and I have gone before us.  We are not the first to wrestle with hard teachings.

And to strengthen your faith – remain in the word.  The words Jesus speaks are spirit and life!  Continue to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the easy and the hard teachings of Jesus.  You’re never too old to learn and grow in that inexhaustible treasure of God’s word.  You never don’t need to be reminded, renewed, and reaffirmed in that word. 

And feed your faith, or rather, be fed by him – the bread of life – who also comes to you this day in the table prepared for your forgiveness, life and salvation.  But remember one of the benefits of the Lord’s Supper is the strengthening of faith.  Just as Elijah was strengthened for his journey, and the Israelites sustained by mana in the wilderness, so the sustenance of Christ’s true body and blood is given to sustain you, to strengthen and preserve you in the true faith – even to life everlasting.

Believing is hard.  But you’re not on your own.  In fact it’s really not up to you at all.  Trust, rather, in the one who has the words of eternal life – and gives them to you freely, even Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

 

Sermon - Pentecost 11 - Ephesians 4:17-5:2

 

Ephesians 4:17-5:2 

“Off With the Old, On With the New!”

It’s getting to be that time of year again when kids go back to school, and as we prepare for it, time to freshen up the wardrobe.  There’s nothing quite like the feel of a fresh new outfit or a new pair of shoes.  And we are blessed to live in a time and place in which what we will wear isn’t a major worry for most of us but rather a matter of taste and style.

St. Paul uses the idea of clothing in our Epistle today as a metaphor for the Christian life, in which he compares our old nature and new nature to a change of outfit.  He tells us to “Put off the old self” and to “Put on the new self”.  He spends some time describing the difference between the two.  So let’s take a closer look at this contrast this morning, and finally also at just how it works for us that we may indeed “Put on the new self” in Christ.

Now, to be honest, there’s quite a bit of law talk in this section of Ephesians.  It’s the portion of his letter that some call “paraenesis”, or encouragement for living.  If you think of the Epistle like a sermon, you have your law, your Gospel, and then often times a sort of “so what?” or “How does this look in practice?  What difference does the Gospel make in my life?  How shall we, then, live?”  That’s what Paul’s getting at in most of this passage.  And it’s important for us to hear it.

Lutherans have been falsely accused, ever since Luther, of not teaching good works.  Of neglecting, or even despising the idea that Scripture gives us guidance for how to live.  We certainly emphasize grace – that undeserved love God has for us in Christ.  And we place salvation by grace through faith in Christ at the forefront of everything we teach and believe.  It’s the chief teaching of Scripture, after all.  Without it, everything just devolves into works righteousness.  And shame on us if we don’t preach Christ crucified for sinners, and if that good news doesn’t predominate in all things.

And yet, we Lutherans also recognize the tensions between law and gospel, faith and works, and between the two natures that contend within us.  The Small Catechism, speaking of baptism, shows how by daily repentance and faith the old Adam is drowned and dies, and the new man emerges to live before God.  Buried and raised with Christ in baptism, we are, daily.

This is really what Paul is talking about here with this business of putting off the old self and putting on the new.  It is the daily struggle of the Christian to turn away from the old nature, the old ways, the sinful things – and in repentance and faith – to live the new life in Christ.  We do it – not in order to be saved or redeemed or justified.  We do it because we HAVE been redeemed and saved and justified in Christ!

Paul reminds them – and us – that these wicked ways – that’s not how you learned Christ!  That’s not how you were taught!  That’s not the kind of disciple he made you to be!

And yet we see it in our church, in our fellow Christians, and of course also in ourselves.  Just look at some of the Gentile ways Paul warns us about:

Darkened in understanding.  Alienated from the life of God.  Ignorant and hard-hearted.  Callous.  Now, Paul is speaking spiritually here, not academically, about the lack of understanding.  But when we sin we act as fools who don’t know any better! We act as though we don’t have faith.  We operate like someone with a deadened conscience that is even eager to find new ways to sin “greedy to practice every kind of impurity” But that’s not who you really are, Paul would remind us.

Look at some of the other descriptions of the old self:  corrupt through deceitful desires.  Yes, even our desires betray our old nature – they are corrupt.  And yet the Christian is a complicated mess of both sinful and godly desires.  

Speaking falsehood.  It’s not just the thoughts and deeds but also the words that get us into trouble.  And while most of us would like to think we are honest people – that is also a lie we tell ourselves.  We are good at shaving the truth, sculpting and molding it, in what we say and how we say it – to our own benefit, and not for the good of others and the glory of God.  

Later he speaks of “corrupting talk” and contrasts it with talk that builds up, giving grace.  We could speak of gossip and slander and all the other ways we speak sinfully about our neighbor, and the many opportunities to speak kindly and well that we miss – sins of omission – times we could have built someone up.

He says, “Be angry and do not sin”.  But that’s not a license to be angry, it’s a warning!  A stark reminder that anger is the devil’s playground, an opportunity for Satan to slither in and do his dirty work in your life.  If there is such a thing as righteous anger amongst us humans, it is a spiritual tightrope from which we easily lose our balance and fall into sin.  So don’t let the sun go down on your anger – that is – don’t let it fester.  Either let it go or work it out with whoever made you angry – so that peace is restored and the Devil is out of business.

Don’t be a thief, but do honest work – and don’t forget to share with those in need.

And put away all bitterness, wrath, slander and malice.  

And maybe this is the summary of it all:  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.  When Christians forget who we are, when we act like the sinful world, when we give in to our sinful nature – we grieve the Spirit.  Think of that!

The alternative, of course, is where we are aiming.  To walk in love.  To be kind to one another, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  To be imitators of God, beloved children who want to be like our Father, and our perfect big brother, Jesus Christ.

To imitate him, though, supposes we know him. And we do.  We have seen all that Christ has done for us.  Here’s the gospel, friends.  Here’s the antidote to all our sinning.

Christ walked in love.  His incarnation itself was an act of divine love – that God on high would come down from his throne to be born a lowly man, take on sinful flesh, enter into our hall of death and breathe our poisoned air.  To walk in love the dusty roads of Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and to love people at every turn, healing, casting out demons, and proclaiming good news to the poor.

His walk of love had an ugly end, though, as he shouldered all sin along with that cross, and though he stumbled physically never did his feet turn from the path to Calvary.  Never did his determination to take our place waver of fail.  He talked the talk and walked the walk of love for us, even unto death, even death on a cross.

And imitators of Christ, he calls you to follow him.  Not to die for the sins of the world, but to consider yourself dead to sin.  Not to die on the cross of Calvary but to take up your own cross, whatever it may be.  And to carry it with faith and trust that His cross makes it all worth it.

He gave himself as a fragrant sacrifice to God – a pleasing aroma – and made complete satisfaction for our sins.  His blood covers all the sins Paul mentions in this laundry list of the old self – and all sins that ever were and will be.  We forgive one another – we can forgive one another – as God in Christ forgave you.

So put off your old self, Christian.  Every day. Like a filthy outer garment stained and torn, something you’d hate to be caught dead in.  Repent of all sins – whatever from Paul’s long list has caught your conscience today.  Out with the old.  And in with the new.

And put on the new self in Christ.  Every day. The robe of righteousness.  The wedding attire of one who is pure and holy.  The festal clothing that only comes with forgiveness in the blood of Christ.

And walk in his love, your whole life through, until you reach your goal and he calls you home.