Living in Reality, by the Light of Christ - Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Ninth Sunday after Trinity
July 28^th, Year of Our + Lord 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Living in Reality, by the Light of Christ
Luke 16:1-13

Sermon Audio available here.

   You are not living inside a movie.  You are living within an alternate reality, and that’s good, the very best, the only way to live, actually.  But, no matter how it may seem lately, you are not living inside a movie. 

   It’s easy to understand why we might feel as if we were extras in a movie.  Politically
speaking, the last months, and especially the last few weeks of our national reality have been wild.  I mean, if late last year you had presented recent events in America as a screen play to a big shot Hollywood producer, you would have been laughed out of the room.  Can you imagine pitching your idea?  The plot twists of your presidential politics drama would begin with 34 felony convictions for the Republican candidate, and three more trials in the wings, all of which results in a bump in his poll numbers.  Next, one conviction for the sitting President’s prodigal son.  Then, there’s a painfully bad debate by the Democrat incumbent, followed by weeks of political knife fighting to push him aside, interrupted by a nearly successful assassination attempt on the Republican, carried out by an untrained 20-year-old who got himself and his rifle onto a roof 150 yards from the candidate.   An enraged Hulk Hogan would rip off his shirt, while giving a convention speech.  Then the sitting President withdraws from the race, less than a month from the Democratic convention, entirely resetting the contest.  What would Hollywood say to such a plot?  “Try again, buddy, that’s simply not believable.”

   Hard to believe.  But it’s reality.  As unlikely and strange as it all is, it’s our reality, and we need to figure out how to deal with it, because we are not living in a movie. 

   I am not up here this morning to tell you how to deal with our current political pickle.  That’s not my call, and I really don’t have any great ideas, other than stay close to Jesus and His Word, love your family, speak the truth in love, with gentleness and respect, and pray. 

   How we might best navigate our current national reality is a tough question.  But this difficulty we are all facing, trying to understand and deal with our current reality, the challenge of taking wise action within these crazy political days, these do provide us with a good frame for rightly understanding Jesus’ parable about the dishonest manager.  And, despite what the media and our politicians tell us, it is ultimately far more important to understand Jesus and His parables than to decipher this freak show of an election. 

   There are at least three principles we can draw from this strange parable.  First, listen closely to the Holy Spirit so you rightly understand the reality in which you live and act.  Second, take actions in keeping with that reality, for your own good, and for the good of others.  Third, use your money and other material blessings.  Go ahead, put your wealth, your ‘mammon,’ to use Jesus’ actual word, put your mammon to good use.  But don’t be used by mammon.  Don’t be enslaved to your money or your stuff.  Rather, use your wealth in keeping with reality, for the good of yourself and others. 

Let’s unpack these three wise principles a bit.    

   First, listen closely to the Holy Spirit, so you understand the reality in which you live and act, especially important with today’s parable of the Dishonest Manager.   Maybe you recognize it better with its King James title, the Unjust Steward.  Unjust Steward is a more churchly translation.  While ‘dishonest’ is a fair translation of the Greek ‘adikias,’ and might go well with our political climate, ‘unjust’ can remind us of the true stakes.  Justice words take our thoughts to courtrooms, to verdicts, and that’s good.  Because, in the end, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, to hear His eternal decree concerning us.  Those declared just will enter into the joy of the Lord, forever and ever.  Those declared unjust will join satan and his demons in the place prepared for them.  ‘Dishonesty’ makes us think of how we can best get along with each other in this life, and that’s important.  But ‘justice’ reminds us that the stakes are much higher.  

   Likewise, ‘manager’ carries an almost entirely worldly sense, while ‘steward’ will likely make us think of either the environment, (being good stewards of the land, air, water, etc.), or it will remind us that we are all blessed by God with certain things we are to care for and use well, in His Name.  ‘Management’ tends to narrow our focus to turning a profit, making more money, for ourselves, or for the corporation.  ‘Stewardship,’ Lord willing, reminds us that we are caretakers of our Father’s things, free to use them for ourselves and others, but always with His priorities in mind. 

   We often struggle with this parable, because a hasty read can give us the impression that Jesus is praising the unjust steward.  Jesus does encourage Christians to deal with our reality wisely, as the unjust steward deals wisely within his sphere.  But it is the rich man who praises the unjust steward, and the rich man does not represent God.  Both the rich man and the steward are children of this generation, worldly souls who deal craftily in the dark reality they inhabit, because that’s how it works.  “Honesty is the best policy” is a band-aid slogan that moral people use to try to cover up the ugly wound of this truth: in this world, strict honesty does not guarantee that you will do well.  We children of the light have other reasons to be honest.  But let’s deal with reality:  Often, in the short to medium term of earthly life, strict honesty will cost you. 

   The unjust steward understands well the rules of the game he is playing, the way of this generation, that is to say, of this fallen world.  And he acts shrewdly, in keeping with this reality, leveraging the last days of his authority to take action in the name of the rich man.  He abuses his authority as a steward to purchase future friendships, by giving away his master’s money.  “Well played,” complements the rich man, for he too knows how the game works, and has likely become rich by similar shrewd-but-not-so-honest actions. 

   We children of the light should also act shrewdly in keeping with our reality.  But first, what is our reality?  Our reality is that while darkness covers the face of this broken, dying world, a new light has come, a piercing, bright light, and that light is the life of mankind.  Jesus has come, and brings pleasure eternal, Alpha, Omega, beginning and end.  The Light of Christ has shone into the darkness, and the darkness has neither comprehended nor conquered that Light.  For Jesus is the very Light of the World, who brings new life.  In the Light of Christ, the unjust are declared to be just, righteous, holy, for Jesus’ sake.  This is the new reality, for all who see the Light with eyes of faith. 

   Sin and death ruled, casting a dark pall over every soul.  But Jesus has come and
conquered death, swallowing sin in His own body, draining it’s claim on sinners by paying the last penny, all debt canceled with His perfect life, and with His own blood, sweat and tears.  Now, in the bright light revealed by the Empty Tomb, your reality has changed, forever.  You do not manage affairs for a greedy, miserly, scheming rich man.  Your life is not a grimy striving for a bit more scratch, a step up the ladder, scrambling to get on top, but never reaching the light.  Because there is no true light for children of this world; every glimmer of earthly promise leads to an even darker abyss. 

   But there is light for you, in God’s Son.  By baptismal faith in the risen Jesus, you are reborn as a Child of the Light.  At first glance, it may appear that you just work 9 – 5 for some uncaring worldly boss, like everyone else.  But the truth is you are free, and fabulously wealthy, an heir of God’s heavenly kingdom, and no earthly nor satanic power can take that away from you. 

   So, seeing clearly the reality in which you live, the reality of Christ and His Kingdom of Light, our second principle is that you are free to take action, in keeping with your true reality.  You are free to faithfully steward the time, talents and treasures your Lord has given you.  You are free to be honest, despite the short term negative consequences honesty sometimes brings.  You can be honest, and generous, because the truth of Christ has set you free, and made you eternally wealthy. 

   An earthly manager may well resent his or her dependence on the boss, but stewards in Christ’s kingdom rejoice in their dependence.  Seeing that every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights, Children of the Light happily stay connected to Him.  Planted and abiding in the Vine named Jesus, we joyfully take in His nourishing sap, storing up treasures in heaven, by regularly feeding on His Word and His Supper. 

   Children of the Light live and act in keeping with the new reality set up by the Master, first, because they want to, and also, for their own good.  And in the mysterious plan of God, such wise living is also the way that we can best serve others.  To steward God’s grace, first I must receive it, be filled up to overflowing, so that what God has done for me can spill over to those around me.  If I try to serve others without continually receiving the light of Christ for myself, my service will quickly turn dark and grudging, a blind, bitter striving that does little good for others, and even threatens to rot my soul from the inside. 

   Children of the light are called to understand the true reality they have in Christ.  They are called to act in accordance with this new reality.  Thirdly, children of the light use wealth, they use mammon.  They use money, and they do not get used by their money. 

   God in His wisdom and mercy does not whisk His new Children out of this world in the moment the forgiving Light of Life shines in their hearts.  No, He leaves us here, in this world.  Until the day Christ calls us home, we live down here, and we must deal with unrighteous mammon and the ways and things of this world.  We will get our hands dirty, dealing with dishonest managers, corrupt officials, miserly masters and lazy workers. 

   In the midst of all this, we will need to acquire some unrighteous money, to feed ourselves and our family.  As Children of the Light of Christ, we steward things according to His wonderful, alternate reality.  But we must recognize that we do this holy work within the reality of this fallen world. 

   So we live in a dual reality: we are Children of the Light, yet still dealing in this kingdom of darkness.  This puts us at risk.  We all recognize the dishonest shrewdness of the unjust steward, and the all-too-willing complicity in his theft by the various debtors of the rich man.  We all understand the admiration of the rich man for the manager’s worldly-wise dealing.  We recognize all these things, because we can see all these characters, within ourselves.  We struggle with this parable, not so much because Jesus seems to be praising sinful acts, but rather because part of us wants Jesus to praise sin.  Part of us is drawn to serve mammon, to make money and material wealth our idols, not our tools. 

   And so our third principle takes us back to the first.  Understanding the reality of the Kingdom of Light and Grace that we have entered by faith in Jesus is the flip side of the coin of this third lesson.  We are to use our earthly wealth, not be enslaved by it.  You cannot serve God and Money.  You may try, but you cannot.  There are only two realities, only two options: either serve God and use earthly wealth as a stewardship from Him, or serve wealth, and end up despising God, thereby cutting yourself off from all His greater blessings. 

   And so, we are called to wisdom, to live with our eyes open to the darkness of this
world, but with hearts made new and joyful by the Light of Christ, His forgiving love.   Which He brings and offers to us, day after day, through Word, Water, Wheat and Wine.  Living in the Light of Christ, we enjoy purpose, and a promise, and a peace, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, and keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto life everlasting, Amen.  

Breathe, Drink, Eat - Sermon for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Seventh Sunday after Trinity
July 14^th, Year of Our + Lord 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Breathe, Drink, Eat
Genesis 2:7-17, Romans 6:19 – 23, Mark 8:1-9

Sermon Audio Available here. 

  Breathe.  Drink.  Eat.  The complexity of human life is incomprehensible.  But life also has a certain simplicity:  To live, you must breathe, drink, and eat.  We can endure the lack of adequate housing, or perfect health. We can survive a long time, naked and persecuted, although no one should be thus oppressed.  But breathing, hydrating, and eating, these are essential.   Without air, we die very quickly.  We can last two or three days without water, and 40 days or more without food.  But without the breath of life, we perish in a few minutes.  That most intimate divine gift to the man of dust, the breath of God Himself, is also the thing without which we die most quickly.

    However, breathing, drinking, and eating are not the sum total of the life that God wants for us.  God gave us this life, he gives us air, water, and daily bread, so He can be with us, so he can have us as friends, children, family.  Clean air, pure water and healthy food are all gifts from God, all profitable to us.  But they are not in themselves the goal of life.  No, they are means to an end.  God’s goal for human life is communion, with Him, and with each other.  God created us to live in close and good relationships, to live the life of love, between God and men, and between all men.

    That is to say, the Lord God, the author and giver of life, wants us.  And not in some abstract sense, as if we were interesting living artifacts, pleasant to observe from a safe distance, like animals in a zoo.  No, no, no.  God wants to have us close, as dear friends.  He wants to bind his life to ours, inextricably.  He wants to share his Holy Name with us, forever, to have us sit at His family table, joyful and secure, God Himself seated at the head, carving the turkey and passing the mashed potatoes. 

    Can you believe it?  Does your life in this hurtful world seem like a joyful communion with the Almighty?  Considering our behavior, the many ways we misuse and waste the life we have been given, doesn't it seem incredible to you that God continues to seek communion with us?

    We are blessed to live in a modern and supposedly advanced world.  In theory, in these United States basic human rights are recognized for everyone: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by which Jefferson meant the pursuit of a worthy life, a blessed existence.  We cherish the blessings of freedom, security, and equality before the law.  

    Day-to-day reality is not so blissful, of course.  Depending on where you go in America, there is a lot of violence.  And, even when we personally live in safety, we have a strange predilection to bring artificial violence and other hurtful things into our lives, especially via our screens, tiny and giant.  Digital violence and evil images wound our souls, even if our bodies remain whole. 

    There is subtle and not so subtle coercion by the media we take in, and abuses of power by those who govern.  Many of our fellow citizens routinely violate the law, and fewer and fewer people seem to care.  Many people succumb to despair.  Lives of pointless idleness, or rage, like the rage we saw on display at the attempted assassination yesterday in Butler, PA.  Substance abuse and suicide are 21^st century plagues, and nobody seems to know what to do about them.    

    As here, around the world, there are bright spots, and there are hell holes.  We tend to think there is no free air in China.  But life there can be good, especially if you are a Han, the dominant ethnic group.  Not so great for the Uighurs, or the Tibetans, or a dozen other ethnic minorities.  In Africa, Muslim attacks against Christian communities are so common, they only pop-up in our newsfeed when they are really terrible.

    In America and around the world, millions of babies continue to be killed before they can take their first breath.  Only recently has there begun to be discussion about the basic demographic fact that the human race needs babies to survive, let alone thrive.  All too often, this is put forth in the crassest, most selfish terms:  “Who is going to pay my social security benefit, if there are no more younger workers?” 

    And you and I, what are we doing about all this?  I don't imagine we can fix everything, but on what do we spend our time, energy and resources?  What positive goods are we supporting with our talents and treasures?  What shameful things do we cultivate in secret?  What do our schedules and activities, our Internet browser history, or our bank accounts say about our priorities?  Can we show some effort to improve life, if not for everyone, then at least for someone?  Are we more slaves of sin, or slaves of God?  The LORD on His holy throne sees all things.  We can’t hide, not from God. 

    And yet, the LORD God loves us.  His commitment to us is revealed in this: before creating us, already knowing how we were going to turn out, the LORD resolved to do everything necessary to rescue us from our bitter pilgrimage toward death, the sad journey which began even before we took our first breath.  Even though we don't take very good care of own life, nor do we care that well for the lives of our neighbors, even though we tend to blame God Himself for our problems, God resolved from eternity to rescue us.  God resolved to bring us close to Him, by getting close to us.  He came to share our broken way of life, so that He could share his glorious, infinite life with us.

    In healings and preaching, and in miraculous bread, this was the message of Jesus, when he had compassion on the great crowd that had followed Him out into the wilderness.  They were drawn to the desert to feel the breath of God, the message of divine love, which Jesus shared, healing diseases and teaching the Word.  But there was no bodily food for them there.  When He fed the 5,000, and again the 4,000, from just a few loaves and fish,  Jesus was revealing God’s loving heart, and foreshadowing His way of giving true life to dying sinners. 

    As much as we should improve the conduct of our lives, avoiding shameful things and seeking profitable things, this instruction is not the main thing God wants to give us.  If this were the case, Jesus would have only given us commands and exhortations to improve, as in the Sermon on the Mount.  Then He would have returned to the right hand of God, to observe our performance, to see how we did.  Or, I suppose He could have remained visible on earth, to serve as our trainer, a divine “life-coach,” constantly correcting and encouraging us to get it right.  But there's a simple problem with both approaches: us. 

    Our problem is not that we do not understand our need to improve.  Nor has God failed to give us sufficient instructions and exhortations.  It gets distorted and ignored, but the Law of God is written on every human heart.  And we Christians have the 10 Commandments, and the Sermon on the Mount, plus much more. 

    But, even when we try, our best efforts to live out the life God has given us fall far short.  Try as we should, try as we might, we do not live life as it should be lived, which reveals we are sinners.  And the wages of sin is death. 

     Thankfully, Jesus did not become a man to be merely a new Law Giver.  Nor is He our Life Coach.  No, because He truly wants us with Him, forever, He embarked on a radical project, a plan to recreate the human being, in Himself. 

    The eternal Son of the Father came, uniting his divine life with our mortal flesh, drawing breath, drinking water, and eating, just like anyone else, except with one difference.  

    Not being a sinner, Jesus could have avoided death.  He could have continued forever enjoying pure water, healthy food, and clean air. But He chose to forego drink, to satisfy His thirst for justice, for righteousness.  He chose to suffer hunger, so that he could give us the true Bread of Heaven.  He chose to breathe his last breath on a Roman cross, to offer His sinless death to His Father, for us.  Jesus poured out His lifeblood, to destroy the power that sin and death and the devil wield over us.  In His resurrected breath there is new life for all.  Now, all people united to Christ by faith can enjoy heavenly air, drink and food, today, and forever and ever.

   This is both how, and how much, the Lord God loves you.  Can you believe it?  

    Yes, you can believe it, by the work of the Holy Spirit, who breathes the Truth of Christ into you, through your ears.  Your faith is the gift of the One who gave you rebirth in baptismal waters.  Because Christ is in you, you are in Christ, and so you hunger to eat and drink of immortality here, at the Table of the Lord.  Our Lord Jesus gives thanks to share with you the broken Bread and the blessed Cup, His true Body and Blood.  Here there is heavenly nourishment for all who faithfully breath out their confession of sin, and their trust in Christ Jesus, who died and rose, to forgive sinners.

    Jesus is your breath of life.  He is your living water, bubbling up to eternal glory.  He is the bread of heaven, for you.  And so, you know how to live, forever.  You also know how to live differently, today.  You do not stay connected to God through His Word and Sacrament as an obligation, but rather because He makes you alive through these blessings.  You do not flee from evil, love your family, or choose to live as a Christian because “God will get you if you don’t.”  No, you know the difference between death and life.  And so, you rejoice to walk in the new way of life that God has created, for you. 

    We are still sinners, but we trust in the Sinless One.  So also, we are not stupidly resigned to be enslaved to impurity.  Rather, we are children of God, growing up in His grace, by hearing His Word, and seeking His Way.  And so, as children of the heavenly Father, we do not continually choose to fill our lives with foolish, hurtful things.  Rather, we rejoice to breath God’s good breath, splash around in the water of our Baptism, and eat His heavenly food.  And so, joined to Christ, we live differently. 

    Not perfectly.  Not yet are we able to totally defeat the sin that clings to us.  But, daily fleeing to Jesus, confessing our sins and seeking His grace, we see His perfection, and, eyes fixed on Him, we strive towards that day when He will perfect us.         

    The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Come, receive the gift, and live the life,

in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

 

The Ten Words - Sermon for the 6th Sunday after Trinity

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity, July 7th, A+D 2024
Our Savior's and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
The Ten Words 
Exodus 20, Romans 6, St. Matthew 5

Audio of the sermon available HERE.   

    The Ten Words. What we call the Ten Commandments is, from the Hebrew Bible,
more literally translated as the Ten Words.  "Word" here is used in the sense of instructions or ideas, like when someone says, “Let me just say a word about how this evening is going to go.”  

Obviously, the summary of God’s Law, His outline of how life as freed slaves should be lived, contains way more than 10 words:  And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods.   You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord your God.   Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Honor your father and mother.  You shall not murder, ... etc.  Way more than ten words.

    The Small Catechism version of the Ten Commandments, which I encourage everyone to memorize, is abbreviated, much shorter than the full text which we heard from Exodus 20 a few minutes ago. But whether we use the full text, or a faithful abbreviation, the Ten Words give us a deep idea of how we should relate, with the Lord, and with each other. The 10 Words are the divine rule for living a Godly life. 

     God’s rule reveals many problems. It has always been very difficult for us to fulfill. And once Jesus came down from heaven, became a man, and proclaimed His authoritative interpretation, our hope to keep the 10 Commandments has been completely destroyed. Today we heard just the beginning of Jesus heightening of the standard of these 10 Words.  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”    

      And so, I am a murderer, thousands of times. Jesus’ authoritative explanation of the fifth commandment crushes me.  I’m not sure I am more prone to anger than the average man, but the average is pretty bad.  For example, just last Friday, Shelee and I decided to take our dog Maggie hiking on a trail off Sheridan Lake Road.  It was a mixed-use trail, hikers or mountain bikes.  But no four-wheelers, no dirt bikes.  Starting from the valley of Spring Creek, we hiked, up and up, all by ourselves, enjoying the quiet, the wildflowers.   The climb, not so much. 

      About an hour in, a crest we had eyeing for a long time turned out to be a false crest, leading to only a hundred yards of downhill, and then up again.  We decided to turn around.  A few minutes later, our precious quiet was shattered by the whine of dirt bikes.  We hike with Maggie on a 20 ft. lead, so we had to quickly pull back her 65 pounds of canine muscle, and drag her to a little clearing off the trail.  Five dirt bikers roared by, one of them nervy enough to thank us for getting off the trail.  “This trail isn’t for motorcycles,” I shouted at a couple of them.  They ignored me and roared up the hill.  I felt like killing them.  O.k., not quite, but I was really torqued.  Hundreds and hundreds of designated four-wheeler and dirt bike trails in the Black Hills.  But these idiots just had to go tear up a mountain bike and hiking trail. 

      I tried to let it go, but come on, man.  I hoped against hope that they had perhaps trailered their bikes to the access point, and I could get their vehicle license to report to the authorities.  I tried to get back to enjoying being out in the woods, but to be honest, I mostly fumed all the way down the hill. 

      Until we got down to the access point, and looked at the signs again.  Huh, look at that.  No jeeps, no four wheelers, because this was a designated dirt bike trail.  I had misread the maps, and not paid close attention to the signs.  If anyone was where they shouldn’t have been, it was us.  My anger was entirely misplaced, stupid really.  The dirt bikers probably thought I was the idiot, and they wouldn’t have been wrong. 

      I have professional expectations that curb my any tendency to angry outbursts that might lurk within my flesh.  Which is a blessing, for everyone.  My proclivity to fall into internal seething at supposed injustices mostly just eats me up, and ruins my walks in the woods.  If my 5^th-Commandment-breaking anger only hurts me, that’s better than the alternative.  But either way, based on my control of my emotions, by Jesus’ standard, I’m doomed.   

      Jesus’ redefinition of murder makes fulfilling the law impossible.  And that’s just the start of it.  Go on in Matthew, and read about Jesus' high standards concerning adultery of the eye and heart, about controlling the tongue, honoring our parents and other authorities, about not coveting.   Consider His standards for charity to beggars, and love for enemies. 

     Our Lord’s standard is too high for us, and this is a fundamental problem.  Because Jesus also said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  And a bit later: I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

      Brothers and sisters, what shall we do?  Shall we give up trying, because we know we cannot meet the standard?  God forbid!  For the sake of making this life livable, and for being granted access to the life to come, we need these Ten Words. 

       The Ten Words, the Commandments, are good and pure; they express the will of God. The more closely we can follow them, the better for our family, our community, country and world.  What a different world this would be if most people actively strove to obey God’s will.  Let’s just consider one commandment, and what effect taking it seriously could have.  Like, say, the 8^th Commandment: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  What if our political leaders told fewer lies, as they promoted themselves and their agendas?  What if we could begin to believe the media, because they stopped misrepresenting everything they reported?  What if we stopped gossiping about our neighbors, to make them look bad and ourselves look good?  That would be an amazing start to that wonderful world Louie Armstrong so loved to sing about. 

    Adultery, sexual sin, stealing, disrespecting parents and other authorities.  If we could just get a little better at keeping the 10 Words, this life would be better. Much better. 

    It should start with me, right?  It should start with us Christians.   Let’s go for it, let’s live piously, for real, and improve our lives and the world. Very well. But ...

      But, there is no lasting hope in our fulfillment of God's Law. It is good when God's people take seriously their responsibility to follow the divine law, not only to avoid trouble and punishment, but simply because we know it is good and right.  This would make the world a better place to live.  But, we will not create heaven on earth.  Nor will we, by our efforts, gain access to the kingdom of heaven.  Earning eternal life with God is beyond our reach.  The Ten Words are good, but they are not enough for us. 

      We need other Words. A different Ten Words, maybe.  What could these 10 Words be?

      How about literally just 10 words, perhaps like these: “I can do all things, in Christ who strengthens me.”  St. Paul wrote that in Philippians 4:13.  I can do all things, in Christ who strengthens me.  Repeat these Ten Words with me:  I can do all things, in Christ who strengthens me.  Living as a Christian is difficult, more difficult today, as Biblical truth is less and less accepted in our culture.  I'm afraid living as a Christian will become more difficult in the future.  Increasingly, trying to do the right thing can earn you the scorn and even the persecution of the world.  And, even when we really try, we still fall far short. 

      But do not be discouraged.  The key to living as a Christian is not our effort, but rather the key is our Christ.  I can do all things, in Christ who strengthens me. 

      How can we do everything in Christ?  Because, when we are in Him, He is working in us, and through us, as Paul wrote in Philippians 2.  Paul explains Godly living this way: Therefore, my beloved, … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13) 

      We fear and tremble in our daily Christian life, but not because God is out to get us.  Not because we have to work to earn salvation.  Not because we are going to be crushed if we make a mistake.  No.  God is love.  God loves to forgive.  These facts we know for certain when we fix our eyes on Jesus and His dying love.

      Rather, we fear and tremble in our Christian living because we are living in the presence of the Holy, Holy, Holy, God.  Like Moses at the burning bush, like Simon Peter in the boat after the miraculous catch of fish, like the saints in heaven, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea, we too are in the presence of God, because we are in Christ.  We are in Christ, and so God is in us, giving us the will, the desire, and the energy to live according to His ways.  When we actually forget ourselves and our selfish desires, and truly do something good for others, we should realize that God is at work in us.  On our own, we would not do these things.  God is leading us to do good works, and it’s so awesome, it makes our knees shake.   

      We can only begin to fulfill the divine law in Christ.  For the death [Christ] died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:10-11) 

      And how do we know that we are in Christ? Because of another Word, another short phrase, very blessed words, once recited over you, although you may not remember that day: I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.   (Matthew 28:19)

      Paul describes the mysterious union that God creates through the washing of Water
and the Word.  For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3: 26-27)  Or, “do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with Him, by baptism, into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)

     Yes, through the washing with the Water and the Word, we are all in Christ.  Not by your efforts, not by your goodness, but rather by God’s will and righteousness, poured out on your sinful flesh.  Therefore, we can all say: With Christ I have been crucified, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)  Or, to put it another way, I can do all things, in Christ, who strengthens me.               

      I can do all things, in Christ, who strengthens me.  The two most important of this Ten Word sentence are “in Christ,”  As Paul teaches us how Christian living works, he also remind us of our salvation, which was won by Jesus, delivered to us by His Spirit, and is located in His Crucified and Glorified Body.  These Ten Words show us the way to pursue good works and a Godly life, which is by focusing on Jesus, crucified for me.  These 10 Words teach us the Way by showing us the One who is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.  These Ten Words remind us of the most important truth, that Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am foremost.  There is no other way of salvation, and there is no other way to live a Christian life, except in Christ.

     So, we also confess with the Apostle: I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:21)  Let’s make sure we understand and remember this.  If I begin to think my righteousness, my goodness and acceptability before God, comes from my keeping of the Ten Commandments, then I am saying the suffering and death of Jesus was a waste.  But that of course is not true.  Because I cannot and do not fulfill God’s Law, Jesus did so, in my place.  In your place.   We are still sinners, and the wages of sin is death.  But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord . (Romans 6:23)  And so, we can do all things, but only in Christ, who strengthens us.        

     We try to keep the commandments, because we have been loved by Christ, and His love for us creates in us a love for God, and for His Way.  And, when we honestly struggle to live by the Law of God, we are also daily reminded of our need for a Savior, and we are led to run to Christ Jesus. 

      So, let us try to keep the commandments, which will serve us with a daily reminder that we are not saved by the law, but only by the grace of God, revealed in Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. 

      Let us boldly seek to live Godly lives.  And when we stumble, when we fall, let us remember and encourage one another with Jesus’ promise, that He comes to us daily to forgive and encourage us, again and again. This is Divine Service.  Whether it happens here before God’s altar, or in your personal devotions, or through the consolation of a brother or sister in Christ who reminds you of Jesus’ and His limitless love and forgiveness, the delivery of Christ’s forgiveness is God serving us, Divine Service, the Way of Salvation. 

    Jesus has fulfilled every dot and tittle, every iota of the Law, in our place, so that, in Him, we can do all things. In Christ we rest, rejoice, and live, in freedom and divine love, today, tomorrow, and forever and ever, Amen.