The Words of Jeus Have Authority and Power

Mark 1:21-28 When you walk into Barnes and Nobles Bookstore there are various sections divided by the topics of the books contained there.  But there is an entire wall dedicated to “self-help”.

Besides that wall of “self-help” books there are sections of the store dedicated to child-rearing and personal finance and home repairs and the list goes on.  Hundreds of authors--thousands of books—millions of words—all of them dedicated to telling you what to do to improve your life.

            There is just one problem—none of them really agree with one another.  Despite having such optimistic titles as:  “The Last Investment Advice You will Ever Need” and “The Complete Book of Childcare” and “The Definitive Guide to Home Repairs” none of the books there really are the last word at all.  None of them are authoritative.

How different are the words of Jesus!  He is the great prophet promised by Moses who possesses and speaks the words of Almighty God.  He is the one who said of himself, the Father who sent me has gven me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 

The authoritative words of Jesus found in the Holy Bible are different than every other word every spoken or written because they have the power to change our lives—not only for time, but for eternity.  The Bible says that:

[Jesus and the disciples] went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. And [the congregation] was astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

            The people of that day were used to hearing their rabbis and teachers and scribes argue and disagree with one another.  One rabbi would site this ancient authority and another teacher would site another ancient authority and around and around they would go.

  Within Judaism as a whole there were major philosophical divisions that couldn’t agree on what books were in the Old Testament or even if heaven existed.   

  Jesus never spoke like that—as if he were one authority among many.  Instead, he said:  My words are truth.  He said:  If you abide in my words you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  He said:  I am telling you the truth.  Those who hear my words and believe in me have eternal life. 

And so then, when Jesus speaks about the necessity of forgiving others—and the standard that God expects of our lives—and the way to have a life with God—we ought to listen to him and render him the obedience of faith in his words.

We can accept differences of opinion on what to feed our baby or how to improve our emotional health or what kind of investment to make or any of the things that are covered in the “self-help” section of the bookstore.  We can even enjoy a spirited debate between those who disagree about politics or economics. 

What we cannot abide is a difference of opinion about is who God is- and what we need to have a life with him- and how we should live to please him.

In these things we must have an authoritative truth—and that is what Jesus gives.  God’s own truth is what the folks in Capernaum heard in the synagogue that Sabbath day and God’s own truth is what we hear in this place each Lord’s Day.  And the Good News for us is that the authoritative words of Jesus have the power to change our lives for time and eternity.  The Bible says that:

Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

            That was the question of the demon.  And the answer of Jesus was:  everything in the world!  Satan led man into sin.  Because of the devil, slavery, not freedom, was man’s lot.  The evil one brought death and eternal damnation into the world.  But Jesus came to fix it all.

The Bible says in First John that the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.  That is what God promised Adam and Eve in the garden when their sin wrecked creation and mankind—and that is what God delivered when he sent his Son Jesus into the world:  the end of Satan’s tyranny. 

  Every step of the way Jesus defeated Satan.  He refused to fall victim to Satan’s temptations in the wilderness.  He drove out demons again and again.  He healed the people’s diseases and raised them from the dead. 

He went to the cross where he died—not as a helpless victim of evil forces beyond his control-- but as a victorious king whose might and power is so great that his death means defeat for his enemies.  And he rose again to remove the curse of death from our lives and set us free from Satan’s bondage.

All of these blessings are delivered to us by his almighty, powerful, authoritative word.  To the stormy seas that threatened to drown the disciples he simply said:  peace, be still and it did.  To the devil in Capernaum he said be silent and come out and he did.  At the grave of his friend Lazarus, he said:  Lazarus come out—and he did! 

To a world full of sinners he spoke from the cross he said:  Father, forgive them and It is finished—and we are forgiven and salvation is finished.  Standing outside of his empty tomb he said because I live you also will live—and we will.

The Good News for us today is that the authority and power of Jesus’ words have not diminished over time.  Just like that day in Capernaum, in places of Christian worship throughout the world, Jesus speaks in the waters of holy baptism and says to that person You are mine—you have died with me and been raised with me and you will live forever with me. 

In Holy Absolution it is the voice of Jesus who is heard, saying:  your sins are forgiven.  In Holy Communion Jesus says this is my body and my blood given and shed for your forgiveness.  And in the sermon and the readings are the voice of Jesus calling us from death to life again and again and assuring us that we are forgiven and right in God’s sight.

   The words of Jesus are still just as authoritative and powerful as they were that day in Capernaum where a man was delivered from Satan and his life was changed forever. 

Who among us cannot say that being forgiven of our sins and having hope for the future and receiving guidance for our lives, has not changed us just as dramatically as the man who was delivered of a demon in the synagogue that day?!  The Bible says that:

They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

            I freely admit that as wonderful as our worship is today—with a baptism and Holy Communion—it is still not quite so dramatic as a demoniac being set free!  The Bible says that the people on worship were amazed at what they saw and I bet they were!  I would like to have seen that!

But admitting that really gets to the heart of why so many people today- who say that they are Christians- are so apathetic about worship.  It’s because we have forgotten what is really taking place here each Lord’s Day.  Being reminded of that will renew our amazement at God’s gracious love for us.

Each Lord’s Day we gather in the presence of the living God of the universe and we speak to him in prayer and he promises to hear us.  Just imagine that!  The Almighty God, who powerfully and wisely upholds all creation, promises to hear our prayers.

Each Lord’s Day we hear the most amazing story ever told—the Gospel story of God’s love for us that is so deep, so profound that he sent his Son Jesus to die for us and rise for us so that we could be members of his family who will live with him forever.

Each Lord’s Day we receive the saving benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy Communion.  Our sins are forgiven.  We are given direction for our lives and the answers to life’s deepest questions. 

Each Lord’s Day we come into this place reminded in the Invocation that we are God’s baptized people-- and we leave this place under the grace and protection of his blessing.

How can we not be amazed at what happens in this place every Lord’s Day?!  How can we remain silent about everything God has done for us in Jesus Christ!?  The Bible says that:  At once [Jesus’] fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

            What does that mean?  It means that as soon as the worshipers left the synagogue they began to tell others about what they had seen and heard.  They told their friends and neighbors about a man who spoke with the authority of God about the things that really mattered.  They told their friends and neighbors that Jesus had the power to change their lives forever.

The saving mission of Jesus Christ to destroy the works of the devil began to spread throughout the area because the people in worship were amazed at what they had heard that day and what had happened that day.  Amazed by God’s grace, they spoke about Jesus.

Dear friends in Christ, so it is for us.  When we have opportunity, we talk to others about what Jesus has done for us—how he has the power to change us for the better—how his words can be trusted about the things that really matter.  Jesus’ love extends far beyond the walls of the synagogue at Capernaum and this church and the way that people will hear about Jesus is through us who believe his authoritative word.  Amen.

Epiphany 4b General Prayer

Gracious heavenly Father, we come to You in prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, trusting that You hear us and will answer us for His sake:

Continue to raise up faithful men who will speak Your Word to Your people.  Bless our seminaries and colleges and make them places learning and piety.  Watch over missionaries and their families and grant them success in their labors.

Bless Your holy Church on earth and rid us of all those who speak lies in Your name and mislead Your people.  Give us a discerning spirit so that we may measure all that is taught in the church by the pure standard of Your Word.

As we grow in faith and love and knowledge let us also grow in humility.  Help us to bear with the weak and live our lives so that we are never a stumbling block to others in their growth in the faith. 

Fill us with Your Spirit so that we would always make the good confession of faith—that there is one God and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are made and through whom we exist.  Especially do we pray for Craig, Missy, Jena, and Ross as they celebrate birthdays, that You would bless their life and keep them strong in their faith.

Renew in us a desire to worship You publicly and in our private devotions.  Let Your holy Word be authoritative in our lives, in this congregation, and throughout Your church.  Empower the mission of this congregation so that the Good News of salvation would spread everywhere we go as it did in those days when the citizens of Capernaum told of the mighty works of Jesus.

Help all of those who are assaulted by the devil so that the saving power of Your Son Jesus Christ would be manifest in their lives.  Deliver those who are addicted; comfort those who mourn; grant healing to those who are ill; befriend those who are lonely; and meet the needs of those who suffer any want.  Especially do we pray for Edna who is hospitalized and needs Your healing touch and for the Hewitt family as they mourn Tom’s passing.  Assure them that he rests safely in Your presence.

Whatever else You see that we need; whatever bring glory to You; whatever serves our neighbor and extends Your kingdom, grant to us dear Father in heaven for we ask it in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Flee Sexual Immorality!

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 In ancient Corinth, overlooking the city, was a temple dedicated to Aphrodite—the pagan goddess of love.  Over 1,000 prostitutes worked in that temple where worshipers would use their services as an act of worship to Aphrodite. 

Such was the reputation of ancient Corinth that to call a young woman “a Corinthian girl” was the same as calling her a trollop.  Partaking in drunken, sexual debauchery was called:  Corinthianizing. 

            Temples to pagan goddesses and the immoral practices attached to them may seem pretty far removed from our lives but let me ask you this:  what else would you call so many of the TV programs and magazine articles and movies and websites that exist today but temples to the idols of sexual immorality and lust? 

Can any of us honestly say that we do not live in a culture that is saturated with sexual immorality—a time and place that is really any different than ancient Corinth?

            For Corinthian Christians and for American Christians the challenges and temptations are exactly the same.  How do we lead a sexually chaste and decent life that glorifies God when we live in a culture that is anything but chaste and decent and instead glorifies lust and sexual immorality?  That is what we are going to hear about today from God’s Word.  The Bible says:

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other.

            Despite the fact that Corinth had a temple to Aphrodite with a thousand temple prostitutes –despite the fact that sexual immorality was everywhere—the Gospel of Jesus Christ had been preached there and it had born fruit there and a Christian Church had taken hold there. 

That is important to remember.  When we despair over the direction of our culture, the Corinthian church is an encouraging example that no people, no matter how debauched and depraved, are beyond the help of God and the reach of the Holy Spirit.

But making a real break with their pagan past was a challenge for the Corinthians.  They loved hearing that it was for freedom that Christ had set them free-- but their flesh tempted them to turn that good news into a license for sin—especially sexual sin. 

When their pastors called them to live chaste and decent sexual lives, they had ready-made responses.  They said:  “All things are lawful for me”—in other words, I’ve been set free from the law.  They said:  “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—in other words, my sexual appetite is no different than my appetite for food and if it’s not wrong to satisfy my hunger how can it be wrong to satisfy my lust?

People still have slogans to excuse their sexual immorality.  The couple living together outside of marriage tells their pastor that “it’s just a piece of paper.”  The same-sex couple maintains that “it doesn’t matter who you love only that you love”.  The teenager is certain that her sexual choices “are not hurting anyone”.

More and more these attitudes and ideas have made inroads into the church and they have to be confronted and challenged and rebuked and answered because sexual immorality is a return to slavery to sin and our flesh and there is a judgment by God to face over it.  And so what is God’s answer to all these excuses for sexual immorality?  The Bible says that:

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

            Our bodies have not been created by God and redeemed by Jesus and sanctified by the Holy Spirit so that we can live for ourselves. 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free-- but this Gospel freedom does not mean that we live our lives as we see fit, sexually or otherwise, but that we are free to live as children of our heavenly Father and serve our neighbor and glorify God with our body. 

The mistaken idea of the Corinthian Christians (and by so many Christians today) that our souls are what matter and our bodies don’t and so we can do what we want with them without consequence to our faith-- is completely wrong.

Among all the creatures, God made us body and soul.  We are just as much body as soul.  Our bodies matter just as much as our souls. 

Jesus entered into this world, not as some disembodied spirit, but he took on our flesh and lived and died and God raised his body and God will raise our body to live before him in holiness and righteousness for all eternity. 

What God has intended for immortality must not be used by us for immorality.  The Bible says:

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”

            In the beginning, our Creator made us sexual people.  God established the principle that the sexual union of a man and a woman made them one flesh.  God blessed that one-flesh union so that it would be pro-creative, children coming forth from their parent’s love for one another.  God established that the one flesh union of husband and wife would be a picture of the love that exists between Christ and the church. Who we are as men and women—as sexual people—is God’s design.

And the only “one flesh” union that has God’s approval is when one man and one woman commit themselves to one another for a lifetime in marriage.  Any sexual activity outside of that one-flesh union is marriage is a sin—whether you are a single person or a married person or a heterosexual person or a homosexual person—any sexual activity outside of the one-flesh union of husband and wife is a sin.

            And that is certainly true of what was going on in Corinth in the temple of Aphrodite.  It is inconceivable that any Christian would engage in such behavior, not only because it is sinful, but because of their connection to Christ.

Our bodies (and you will notice that Paul is very careful to say bodies and not just souls) our bodies are members of Christ—our bodies are connected to Christ—our bodies are one with Christ--and to become one flesh with someone outside the bonds of marriage is to take that wickedness and evil and unite it to Christ. 

Our bodies-- and our lives as sexual people-- cannot be divorced from our relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is why the Bible says:

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

            I think that most of us remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament—how he was abandoned by his brothers and sold into slavery and how he rose to power and finally forgave them and saved them.  In all this he is a type or picture of Christ.

            What we may not remember is that when he had risen to power he faced a terrible temptation.  His master’s wife wanted him to commit adultery with her.  But he told her, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”  But she persisted and one when she had him cornered he ran from her presence as fast as he could.  That is our model when tempted.

Flee sexual immorality!  That is God’s Word to us.  That is the example of the faithful saints of old.  Flee from sexual immorality.  Don’t even let it begin to get a hold on you. 

And so what does that mean for us as a practical matter?  It means that we need to guard our eyes from much of what is on TV and the Internet.  It means that we regard our fellow Christians as members of our family:  daughters/sons, brothers/sisters, fathers/mothers.  It means that we are extremely circumspect in how we interact with members of the opposite sex in our schools and in the workplace and among our circle of friends. 

            We do not want even a hint of sexual immorality to be present in our lives because our bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible says: Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

In contrast to the pagan temple of Aphrodite-- and in contrast to the millions of temples to lust and perversion on TV and movie and computer screens--the Holy Spirit is present in our bodies and it is God alone who must be served and honored and glorified rather than some idol or false god.  The Bible says that:  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

            Nothing could be farther from the truth than the rallying cry of the pro-abortion folks that “it is my body” and I can with it what I like.  Our bodies belong to God.  He is the one who created us and intended us to be holy in his sight. 

And when we failed at that, God sent his Son to buy us back from slavery to sin and death at the cost of his own life.  That is what we do not belong to ourselves—because we have a God who has created us and a Savior who has redeemed and filled us with his Spirit so that we can glory God in our bodily life and even in our sexual life.

Sexuality is a gift that God gives to us so that husbands and wives can show love to one another and have a part in God’s work by bringing new life into the world.  For those who are single, God is glorified when we flee sexual immorality and live chaste and decent lives in thought, word, and deed.

This then is the way that those who are created by God and redeemed by his Son and filled with his Spirit live lives that bring glory to God.  Amen.

General Prayer Epiphany 2b

Gracious heavenly Father, You have searched us and You know us.  Before we speak a word of prayer You know what is in our hearts.  Because You know us better than we know ourselves, hear our prayers and answer us for our good:

We confess and believe that You are the Creator of all things and the Creator of our life in particular and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Grant this same knowledge and confidence to all people so that they would value their life and the lives of others.  Especially do we pray that You would change the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens regarding the sanctity of life.  Work a renewal in our national life so that we would value and protect all human life as a gift from You.  Support the work of Lutherans for Life and all people of good will who work to preserve life.

We give You thanks O Lord that wherever we go in life, You are there to lead us and bless us and bring us safely home.  Show us the way we should go in all we undertake, and every decision that we make, so that we can confidently do Your will.

As in the days of Samuel and Eli, continue to be with and speak to Your Church on earth and grant us ears that are open to hear your Word and hearts that are ready to believe it and obey it.  Raise up young men who desire to serve You and Your people in the ministry of the Word.

Heavenly Father, You know that we live in a world where Your good gifts are misused, especially the gift of sexuality.  Empower us with Your Holy Spirit so that we would always flee from sexually immorality and in our own particular place in life live a chaste and decent life.

We thank You that You have bought us at the great price of Your Son’s blood and now we belong to You as members of Your family, members of the body of Christ.  Especially do we thank You for the life of Your servant Bruce and pray that You would bless him in body and soul all his days.  In all that we say and do and think help us to glorify You.

Father, You have promised to hold us in Your right hand.  So that our souls might bear witness to Your wonderful works, come to the aid of those who stand in any need.  Grant healing to those who are ill, especially:  Liam, Carol Jo, Ewald, Jennifer, Donald, David, Erna, and Joyce; deliverance for those are addicted and tempted beyond their strength; and provision to those who lack the necessities of life. 

Whatever else You see that we need; whatever brings glory to You and serves our neighbor; whatever extends Your kingdom, grant to us dear Father in Heaven for we ask it in Jesus’ name.  Amen.