October 30, 2022                            Text:  Revelation 14:6-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

    We all can be disagreeable.  What disagreements are worth it?  In my anecdotal evidence collecting of the last 30 years there is one thing that stands out this time of the year especially among spouses.  What temperature are we going to set the thermostat at for the winter months?  There seems to be a lot of disagreement among spouses.  One of you likes it   cooler, one of you likes it warmer.  Most of us end up compromising and set it at a temperature we can live with.  The same thing tends to happen with the summer thermostat setting.  At the Lueck household we have learned that we are not going to agree.  I prefer sauna.  Toni prefers igloo.  We have found the disagreement is not worth it.  With the price of natural gas this winter, I am willing to concede another degree or so.  How does it play out at your home?  We even have the same challenge here at church with competing voices.  

    Today is Reformation Sunday.  Was the disagreement Martin Luther and the reformers had against the Roman Catholic Church at the time worth it?  Is the disagreement still worth fighting for today?  Let’s see where we land as we answer . . .

“WAS (IS) THE DISAGREEMENT WORTH IT?”

    Our text is from Revelation 14.  “I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” (v. 6)

    Having been Lutheran my whole life I learned for the first time this week that many Lutherans thought for years that the angel or messenger referred to here is the reformer, Martin Luther.  C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the LCMS preached in a sermon just 177 years ago this, “The angel, the one sent from God, who flew through the midst of heaven is Luther, and the eternal Gospel that he preached is Luther’s doctrine.”

    For the last one hundred years not a single Lutheran can be found who still believes this way.  But it is not far-fetched that many felt this way for so long because Luther, by the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, had set them free from utter bondage.  And that was no small thing.

Walther characterizes it this way:  “Before (Luther’s Day), nearly a thousand years of spiritual darkness had settled over all of Christianity…The light of the pure Gospel was lost nearly everywhere…the Holy Scriptures lay in dust, right in the midst of Christianity…Christianity languished in fearful despair and anxiety.  Thousands had, in their previous predicament of sin, cried out in vain, ‘What must we do to be saved?’ but there was no answer.”

It was really bad.  It does not get more desperate or worse in this life, than when a man does not know, cannot find, the gracious God revealed at last in the Gospel that Luther discovered in the Scriptures and proclaimed so clearly.

This idea of infused grace, conditional penance and mitigated forgiveness could not satisfy his yearning to know that God was his friend and not his enemy.  The Roman Catholic system at the time was good at raising money but had little to deliver man under the burden of the flesh a clean conscience and confidence with God.  

Luther with a great desire to understand the Bible and with God’s grace found that Christ is his Savior from sin.  God the Father declares him righteous in love.  Christ is your Savior.  His death on the cross has taken away your sin, given you eternal life, despite your sin, entirely apart from any works of yours.  No credit belongs to us poor sinners, but all the glory for our salvation, our standing, and our confidence belongs to God alone.  This is what Luther preached.

So is what he did worth it?  Was the disagreement worth everything that he gave up, including his freedom for a time?  We have to respond yes.  His grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone preaching and teaching was and is important.  We no longer have to worry about doing enough.  Christ has done it all in our place.  This is a free gift given to us by our gracious Lord.  This message is still important.  It transforms lives.  Both in Luther’s Day and in our day.  

We continue to battle for the truth of the Bible.  The inspired, inerrant Word of God does not change.  We preach and teach the Law and Gospel.  Yes, we struggle in our sin but we are saved through forgiveness that comes through Christ Jesus.  We are strengthened in the Word and the Sacrament.  

The thermostat may not be worth the battle, but the Word of God always will be.  It needed to be reformed in Luther’s Day and so many believers came back to what our text says, “Fear God and give him glory…worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”  Our text also says, “the hour of his judgment has come.”  Therefore, we continue to stand for the truth of His Word.  We desire, through the Holy Spirit, as Scripture declares, “that all people be saved.”  We still have work to do.

The Reformation disagreement was and is worth it.  We do well to remember it with thanksgiving to God.

            Amen.              
    

October 23, 2022                                        Text:  Genesis 4:1-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

    “Raising Cain.”  Do you know where this statement and its variations come from?  Well, you are fortunate to be here this morning, because you are about to get the answer.  In the May 2, 1840 edition of the St. Louis Daily Pennant they had this quote, “Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies?  Because…they both raised Cain.”  In modern day lingo we may say, “He said he would raise Cain if they didn’t give him a refund.”

    We still have a saying that ties us to the beginning of the world.  “Raising Cain” can be defined as causing trouble or behaving disruptively.  Cain does that in our text, doesn’t he?  What led to his action?  What motivated his behavior?  

“WHAT DOES GOD CONSIDER AN ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE?”

    Both these sons of Adam and Eve were workers.  Cain tended the soil given to Adam and Abel tended their flocks.  At the end of the growing season, they were bringing an offering to the Lord.  But what makes the difference here and then leads to murder?

    Cain’s heart was not right with God. His offering was given without a love for the Lord God.  Abel’s heart was right with God.  He wanted the Lord to have the firstfruits.  What kind of heart is not right with God, making a sacrifice unacceptable?  Someone just going through the motions because it is expected.  Cain simply brought some of his fruit.  The text does not say he brought the best or did it gladly.  Abel gave the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions.  He gave the Lord his best.

    Because of this the Lord “had no regard” for Cain’s offering and Cain became angry and “his face fell.”  We could say Cain’s heart wasn’t in it.  But then he is not bothered by the fact his sacrifice was unacceptable to God.  Rather, Cain was concerned that he was “shown up” by his brother.  Cain’s pride took a hit, he hated Abel so much he killed him.  It was all about Cain, not about God.

    Today we are all about the show.  “Don’t show me up.”  We can’t have our pride dented.  This week in the baseball playoffs a home run was hit, nothing unusual about that.  But as the baserunner rounded the bases, he rocked his arms back and forth to tell the pitcher “he was his baby.”  The video was everywhere.  Do you know what is going to transpire next?  This guy is going to get plunked, which means a pitcher on the opposing team is going to hit him with a baseball.  In the unwritten rules (does anyone know what that means?) you don’t “show up” another player.  Anger ensues.  Somebody is going to “raise Cain.”  

    Do you and I ever “raise Cain” because someone showed us up?  I have numerous times playing sports.  My anger came out.  What about you?  Maybe not in sports, but in a sibling rivalry?  Maybe a friend did something that you took the wrong way and the “I am going to get them” came out.  Do we ever take a joke from a family member the wrong way?  

    God warned Cain and gave him a chance to repent but it never happened.  Even after the murder Cain was only about his own safety.  We pray to the Lord to keep us from having such a heart.

    So, what kind of heart is right with God, making a sacrifice acceptable?  The heart of faith.  We are enemies of God who are headed to hell.  We are unable to earn salvation.  Faith is created and preserved by God, in His grace, mercy, and love.  This heart believes in the triune God, and in Jesus Christ as Savior.  This heart confesses wrongdoing and receives from Christ forgiveness and everlasting life.  The believer is covered with the righteousness Christ acquired for all people by His holy life and His innocent suffering and death.  Because of Jesus, the sacrifices of believers are acceptable to God.

    Abel had, and we have, this kind of heart.  Abel believed the Gospel promise of Genesis 3:15.  His parents, Adam and Eve, believed this Gospel, looking forward to the future Savior.  Hebrews 11:4 says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.  And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”

    Abel does still speak to us.  Our heart of faith leads us to bring our best to the Lord.  Everything we have is from His hand, His blessing.  We bring our best sacrifices to the Lord willingly, with sincerity, because we love the Lord and because we are grateful for the salvation He freely grants to us.

    What are the sacrifices we bring to the Lord today?  Our monetary offerings.  Our sacrifice of praise.  Our lives are given to the Lord as a sacrifice.  We dedicate ourselves to God and to serving Him.  Empowered by His Word and Sacrament, we live according to His will, doing good, and showing love to others.

    “Raising Cain” can lead to unacceptable sacrifice.  But the Lord, through Abel, has shown again today what He expects from us.  Thank God that because of His saving work in our lives, we offer sacrifices that are acceptable to Him.  By His grace and power – let us continue!

                                                Amen.