Sermon in Minneapolis 02.02.2003

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our services with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, again this morning we wish to thank you for all of those wonderful blessings you have richly endowed upon all of us. We wish to thank you for your Holy Word, which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway. We wish to thank you for your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who is the reason for our salvation. And that glory that we are able to own and possess by faith comes through Jesus Christ, your only Son, which shines from the face of Christ as the light of the conscience in our hearts.

So we ask that again today you would be with us through your Spirit. Open your word so that the listeners this morning, hungry, weary, undying souls could be comforted and guided and also fed and nourished on this narrow way of life. Bless us and protect us. Keep us in this one and only true faith and bring us one day to our home in heaven. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is Candlemas Sunday, a church holiday which is approximately 40 days after the birth of Jesus, remembering that time when, according to the Old Testament law, a firstborn child was to be brought into the temple and a sacrifice was to be offered on behalf of the firstborn. Also, it was the time of the churching of the mother that gave birth to the child. The mother was supposed to remain at home after childbirth because childbirth, according to the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, was considered defiled until the time of 40 days and went to be purified in the temple on the 40th day.

The original text for this Sunday tells of Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus into the temple where they were met by two elderly believers, Simeon and Hannah. And there Simeon takes Jesus into his arms and begins to rejoice and says, "Now my eyes have seen your salvation. Let your servant go in peace." And the theme of the Sunday comes from the following words of Simeon, and said about Jesus, "He shall be a light to the Jews and glory to the Gentiles."

According to our church calendar, the gospel text for today is from the gospel according to St. John, chapter 1, verses 16 through 18: "In all his fullness have we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." Amen.

When we think of the entire word of God, it can be condensed down simply into two basic parts. As the writer to the Hebrews says about the word of God, it is living and powerful, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. And it pierces asunder where it will divide the bone from the marrow. And it is the judge of even the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.

So the word of God is compared to a two-edged sword, a sword that has two edges. And these two edges are compared to the law and to the gospel.

We remember when the Old Testament mediator, Moses, by the command of God, went up to the summit of Mount Sinai, where he was for 40 days and 40 nights. And God gave him the Ten Commandments, the Ten Commandments law. The finger of God wrote these Ten Commandments into two different tablets of stone. And this holy and righteous Ten Commandments law of Moses was and reveals God's holy and righteous will. And it is a law that is still valid and in force yet today.

The law of Moses, we could say, has two meanings. But there is sometimes ascribed a third meaning, which is not according to Scripture. And it is a false application of the law of Moses.

The first meaning of the law of Moses is the temporal use of the law. And most of the Western countries in the world have their constitutions of their country that are written and based upon the law of Moses. And these laws of the land are intended to be a protection, a help, and for the good of mankind. And in this sense, even believers are under the law, the temporal sense of the law. We wish to abide by the law, obey the governments, our superiors at work, abide by the traffic laws, pay our taxes, and so on and so forth. The laws of the land about thievery, murder, and adultery are written to protect and guard and help the citizens of the land.

There is then a second use of the law of Moses, and this is the spiritual use of the law. The law of Moses is spiritual. And we could take a couple examples from the second table of the law of the Ten Commandments where Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount interprets the meaning of a couple of these commandments.

For example, the fifth commandment, very familiar to all of us, that says, "Thou shalt not kill." Jesus himself said, "You have heard said," written in the Old Testament and also interpreted by the scribes and the Pharisees the literal meaning of this fifth commandment. Jesus goes on to say, "But I say unto you, if a person would experience feelings or even thoughts of anger toward another person, you have already transgressed this fifth commandment, and you have, in this sense, killed that other person."

Even little children and babies, because of inherited sin, I'm sure mothers and fathers at home notice, when at times the corruption of even a little child rises to the surface, when they are hungry or need to have their diapers changed, they may cry, scream, even kick and scratch. And you can see the corruption in that child that is boiling, we could say, inside.

Jesus goes on in the Sermon on the Mount and takes another commandment, the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Again, Jesus says, "You have heard it explained and said in this way in old times, but I say unto you, whoever has even looked at a person of the opposite sex with even a lusting thought in their heart, they have already committed adultery with that person."

So the law of Moses is spiritual, and it judges not only the deeds and actions of a person, but also feelings, words, even the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. The law of Moses is so severe. It is so merciless. It is also very, very demanding. The law tells about the will of God. In this sense, God demands perfection, perfection. And if a person would be able to be perfect in the law, he or she would be able to, on the basis of these merits, inherit the glory in the kingdom of heaven. God is so in theory.

But how is it in practice, in reality, for us as human beings? Because of that fall into sin in paradise, the results were such, there is no one who is good. No, not one. God all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one who is righteous in themselves. No, not one. God is so God is God is that cursed is that person who does not fulfill everything that is expected in the demanding law of Moses.

And James the apostle writes in this way, we could think, for example, of a person, if this would be true in real life, a person had lived nearly a hundred years and fulfilled all of the Ten Commandments one's entire life up to that point. And then as nearing his or her deathbed, one errant, angry feeling or thought just once, one thought in that lifetime would enter that heart. James says, if a person is errant or transgresses the Ten Commandment law in one point, one is guilty of the entire law of Moses.

And the law of Moses is so severe in demanding, merciless, that all of the curses of the Ten Commandment law would come upon that person for that one errant thought and condemned that person unto condemnation and hell.

So we could ask the question then, what is the law of Moses and why has the law of Moses been given if it is so severe and so merciless and so demanding that no person has the possibility in real life to fulfill it?

Again, Paul writes to the Galatians that the law of Moses is like a tutor or a schoolmaster intended to first of all awaken a person who is in the darkness and sleep of sin, awaken such a person to the knowledge of their condition before God and then lead and guide that person unto Christ or in other words to the threshold of God's kingdom.

We remember when Jesus was visiting with that Samaritan woman there at the well of Sychar talking about natural water and Jesus goes on to speak about spiritual water. During the course of the discussion Jesus asked if this woman has a husband and this woman says no. Jesus goes on and says that you have had five husbands and the one you are living with right now is not even your own. Jesus was preaching the law to this Samaritan woman and by and through the preaching of the law awoken this woman to the knowledge of her condition and according to chapter 4 in the gospel of John this woman was able to receive the grace of repentance.

Van Ravos relates that when he was pricked by the law of Moses he was led as if to the threshold of God's kingdom but there he was powerless and helpless. He said he was like a dead carcass killed by the law lying at the footsteps of God's kingdom and not even able to move one finger but the kingdom of God was able to approach him and through the believers able to preach the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

Here in our text we read, "For the law was given by Moses," that was the first part, but then it goes on to say about the second part, the second edge of the two-edged sword, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So this second edge of the sword is the gospel.

We could ask then that what is the gospel? God's grace is what God our heavenly Father has done and prepared for you and I in all mankind through his Son Jesus Christ.

Luther says about these two offices, the office of the law and the office of the gospel, in this way: to the unbeliever or to the ungodly the law is preached and proclaimed as if the gospel didn't even exist, but then he said to the believer the gospel is preached as if the law was not even existing.

So the kingdom of God, our spiritual home here upon this earth, has been called a kingdom of grace and the kingdom of the forgiveness of sin and the children of God have often been called the grace children of God.

We could find an illustration; there would be many, but one is of the prodigal son who asked for his inheritance from the father, left into the world, wasted everything in ungodly, unrighteous living. There he began to experience hunger, restlessness in his heart, and the lack of peace in his soul. He tried in many ways to still his restless heart and conscience but to no avail until he remembered his father's home and began to now approach the father's home again.

And on his way home the father came to meet him and gave him a kiss. That was the drawing love to help draw the son back to the father's home. It was not the place of new birth as many times has wrongly been interpreted in this world.

But the prodigal son, that wayward son, that wasteful son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and earth. I am not even worthy to be called your son."

The son was thinking that if perhaps I could go into the entryway of the father's home, perhaps I could go stay out in the bunkhouse where the father's servants sleep and live. But just think of the father's response. He did not begin to reprimand the son in a harsh way, "Where have you been all of these years? Why have you lived as you have lived? Now begin to confess and iterate every last thing you have done during these years."

But what happened went above and beyond all of the expectations of this wasteful son. He commanded that his servants there at home would prepare a festival and a feast, undress the son of his filthy garments, put on that best festive robe, "For my son who was lost is now found again, my son who was dead is now alive again. Let us rejoice and be merry."

This in a very vivid way illustrates how God justifies a sinner alone by grace without any merits of our own. What had this wasteful son merited? Nothing but punishment and condemnation. But alone by grace, alone by faith, he was able to receive this gift of salvation and of living faith.

And so Paul writes to the Romans that Christ is the end of the law unto salvation for all who believe.

This brings us to the third meaning of the law of Moses, the wrong meaning sometimes that has been taught in the world, that the law would yet belong to a believer to crucify their flesh, to keep their flesh in submission, and to be their schoolmaster unto good works in faith. This is a false and wrong interpretation and understanding.

Paul said so clearly, "For Christ is the end of the law unto salvation for all who believe." The law does not belong to the believer but as Paul writes to Timothy it belongs to the unbeliever, to the murderers, thieves, adulterers, and he goes on to list a long list of things.

So then here John the evangelist, when writing about the two offices, the office of the law and the office of the gospel, when speaking about the office of the gospel he talks about two different points: grace and truth came by Christ Jesus.

So what then is grace? The children of God are ruled and governed by grace. Is Ratama in northern Finland and Sweden a hundred some years ago said that the kingdom of God is ruled by the gospel.

People in this world, however, would be very angry at grace and they would think that when grace is preached and the forgiveness of all sins is preached, this would lead a person to live a loose or an immoral type of life.

Sometimes it is said about believers that sure they just sin all week long then they go to church on Sunday and then ask for their sins to be forgiven. Those in the world sometimes would be perhaps angry when we preach that you can believe all of your sins were given in Jesus' name and through his precious atonement blood.

But here has John the evangelist writes that there are two things joined together that go hand in hand: grace and truth together came by Jesus Christ.

So grace and truth are so linked and joined together as fire and heat. Where there's fire there's also heat and the two cannot be separated from each other.

And so it is that grace and truth go hand in hand; they're joined inseparably together. We are under grace and we often speak about the sun of grace which is like the brightness of the sun, much brighter than the moon.

And when the sun of grace can shine into our cold and dark and evil hearts, we can see and feel how sinful and corrupt we are. But it is also true in this way, even though grace and truth go hand in hand, they go together, it is grace which is before truth.

And if truth would begin to go in front of grace before grace, Mati Swo said in one article back in the 1920s that has often been quoted, "If truth goes before grace then the instructions of grace become a harsher whip than even the law of Moses."

This morning I read an article written on this text by one believing brother in Finland published in the Bithemius and trying to illustrate this matter that if truth would happen to go before grace, he used an analogy of riding in a car at night down the highway and sometimes the oncoming cars leave their brights on and how difficult it is to see when the bright light is shining in your eyes from the oncoming car.

And he said if truth goes before grace it is just like some person, some believer is such that his bright light as if left on and that person as if grows in themselves to be wiser and better than the others and always has reason to instruct and rebuke and approach this person and that person and it is often done in the wrong way with the wrong, wrong, wrong spirit if we could say in the general sense of the word lacking the mind of mercy, love, and forgiveness.

He said it is just like that merciless servant who had received his great debt forgiven but then went immediately to his fellow servant and demanded that the small infinitesimal debt that was owed would be paid back and if not he would be cast into prison.

But isn't it so brothers and sisters when we have received that great sin debt of ten thousand talents, a debt in the natural sense that could never be ever repaid, this we have received forgiven through the merit works of Christ Jesus alone by faith through grace.

Doesn't this kindle love and a mind of forgiveness and mercy also toward our fellow brothers and sisters in living faith? And if and when we approach another brother and sister in living faith for some reason or another to visit about matters, we approach them at the same level even coming from below to try and lift that other brother or sister in living faith.

Van Ohavats writes about grace in this way: he said grace is not like a paint that would cover up the sins but he says grace is like a crystal clear stream of mercy that even washes the small bits of rubbish to the surface.

And grace does not ever teach a person, a believer, to commit sin but on the contrary grace is that good teacher as Paul writes to Titus. It is wholesome. It teaches us to deny ungodly life and worldly lust and it teaches us to walk piously, godly in this present world.

But also this wholesome teacher which is called grace, when sin attaches and makes the journey slow and burdens our heart and conscience, grace also is that good teacher which would instruct us to come to the throne of grace where we can hear the forgiveness of all of our sins in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood.

So in this connection we can speak about the grace privilege of confession. This is not a savior but our salvation is in Christ Jesus himself. Neither is confession a demand on a believer.

No, before me I have a few thoughts written by one brother that were presented in Finland's summer services several years ago and he said in this way: the children of God have always rejoiced over the personal gift of confession and as we have all experienced that named sins come that may press and weigh on our heart and conscience.

Sometimes especially youth may ask such a question: what kind of matters should be put away? Must one make confession for this or that matter?

The brother then goes on to explain confession is not something that is a legalistic demand. It is not a work that we must do in order to be acceptable unto God but on the other hand rather confession is a wonderful gift that we can use so that we can freely believe.

God has not intended that his children, none of us, you nor I, that we would have to live and continue to live under burden. We don't therefore attempt to begin to dig in our hearts and in our consciences but the spirit of God in our hearts teaches us, leads us and guides us and reveals unto us.

So when there is no lift but the spirit of God leads and guides and instructs us, so God has given this grace privilege and when our consciences become troubled we don't wish to quiet and snuff out or still that voice that is speaking to us in our hearts, in our consciences.

This is what the world would try and attempt to do but God has given this wonderful grace privilege to his congregation and we can seek out and choose a trusted brother and sister who we can open up to and speak about those things that are weighing on our heart and consciences and then they will preach that green gospel of the forgiveness of sin.

And it's not that in confession we would become a better Christian or more righteous or holy but it is for this reason that the burdens would not become so heavy that we would not be able to continue on the way.

As it is often been said how difficult it is and one cannot continue very long believing as if sitting upon a dunghill.

Therefore brothers and sisters we have the Holy Spirit that grace teacher which leads us and guides us and instructs us on this narrow way of life. It is a grace privilege but brothers and sisters again remembering this we are saved alone by grace, alone by faith, alone through the grace merits of Christ Jesus therein is our reason in our hope of salvation.

So even this morning we can be uplifted again to believe just as we find ourselves doubting, tempted, perhaps troubled and weighed down by burdens, you can believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood. You can believe unto peace, freedom and joy in Jesus' name. Amen.