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Sermon for Sunday 30 January 2022

First Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-19

4Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” 9Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” 17“But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

Psalm 71:1-11

1In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. 2In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your ear to me and save me. 3Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold. 4Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor. 5For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence since I was young. 6I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother’s womb you have been my strength; my praise shall be always of you. 7I have become a portent to many; but you are my refuge and my strength. 8Let my mouth be full of your praise and your glory all the day long. 9Do not cast me off in my old age; forsake me not when my strength fails. 10For my enemies are talking against me, and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together. 11They say, “God has forsaken him; go after him and seize him; because there is none who will save.”

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:31b – 13:13

1231b I will show you a still more excellent way.

131If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Gospel: Luke 4:31-44

31{Jesus} went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34“Ha! 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.” 35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. 38And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. 42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

God Knows You and Has a Plan for You

In early 2013 the NALC’s Joint Commission on Doctrine and Theology issued a statement titled, A Word of Counsel to the Church The Sanctity of Nascent Life.  The opening paragraph of this statement reads: “The beginning of human existence, i.e., nascent life, carries in it the fullness of the genetic code, the complete chromosomal material of an individual.  The strengths and characteristics given to us by God have not yet blossomed for all the world to see, yet they are fully present in the beauty of His love.”  Then quoting from our Old Testament reading, the statement continues: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

Luther’s Small Catechism proclaims, “I believe that God has created me and all that exists,” so in faith we continue to proclaim that our life, and every life, comes from God and belongs to God.  In our earthly dependency upon the womb of our mothers for protection, nourishment, and love from the first moments of our lives, we see in the creation of each life the shape of faith.  We will always be fully dependent upon God for life, for shelter, and for mercy—the God who uses men and women to bring forth every generation of His creation.” 

Some of you may be aware that the fourth Sunday in January is designated as “Life Sunday” and this passage from Jeremiah is one that Lutheran’s for Life will point to, to justify their stance that all life, from the moment of conception to final breath is precious to God and should be protected, honored, and valued.  And yet, the debate rages on about the value of unborn babies, the ability of those who are severely handicapped to contribute to society, and of the very sick and those nearing the end of life.  Too often, the argument is that abortion is the right and decision of the mother, that it is her body and what she chooses to do with it is her business.

For those who are severely challenged either emotionally, physically, or mentally, these same people also argue that the death of the individual is more merciful than allowing the person to live, that somehow this is better for society.  And for the terminally ill, or those dying from advanced age, these same people will argue that euthanasia is an acceptable alternative.  Those supporting the view that some life is more valuable than others have, in essence, assigned a value to life.  They refuse to see that all life is priceless, a gift from God.  But you and I know all these arguments, we’ve been arguing them even before Roe vs Wade became a law in this country.  Still the debate rages on, and for those who refuse to accept our reading from Jeremiah, they will argue that God, in this passage is speaking specifically to the prophet, not to God’s people as a whole.

With Life Sunday at the root of my question, I, during our Tuesday morning pastors Bible study, brought this up to the group, and as you can imagine it created quite the stir.  In the course of our lively debate, the visit of Elizabeth by Mary was brought up.  Of how John, still in the womb of his mother, lept at the sound of Mary’s voice and of how he was the fulfilment of the prophecy given through Isaiah.  St. Paul’s words from Galatians was also discussed. 

St. Paul wrote, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (1:15-16).  Again, these passages are dismissed by the pro-abortion crowd as words spoken specifically to St. John and St. Paul, not to all people.  Pastor Wiesner, who had been listening at the end of the table said, our psalmist has the answer to all these arguments.  And I couldn’t agree with him more!

In Psalm 139, king David, in a hymn of praise to God said: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me (1-5).  Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! (7-8).  For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them (13-17).

David in this hymn wasn’t speaking of his calling as the king of Israel but was praising God for not only God’s abiding presence, but for having formed and known David from the very beginning, from the moment of conception to the day of his last earthly breath.  All these are important passages for us to understand because we believe in the sanctity of life, from conception to last breath, and we must continue to educate and fight against the devaluation of the life that is a gift from God.  Now I’ve said all this as a way to reinforce what we in the NALC believe and teach, but I want to expand this further.  The value and need to cherish each live goes beyond just life itself, but to the reason and purpose of life, that is to serve God and others.

From the very beginning of creation, God created humankind with two purposes; one, to tend to all that God made, this includes our neighbors, and two, to be in a relationship with God.  Jesus even summed up all God’s commands and statutes into two imperatives, we are to love God above all else and love our neighbors as ourselves.  St. Paul of course in our epistle reading for today explains how deep this love of God and others should go.

In a very well-known passage, St. Paul writes: if I don’t have “love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends” (3-8).  He closes this letter with these words; “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (vs. 13).  The love Paul is talking about isn’t about the physical satisfaction we receive in an intimate relationship.  Rather, the agape love, as Paul describes, is about sacrifice and about putting our wants, needs and desires aside for the benefit and betterment of others.

Then in Jesus’ final earthly command to the disciples, both past and present, Jesus left us with the instructions that we call the Great Commission.  In Matthew 28 we read, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (19-20).  And the good news is, we don’t do the work of the kingdom on our own, we have each other to help in the mission God has given us.

In last Sunday’s epistle reading, St. Paul reminded us that we are the church, the body of Christ and that each of us, from the greatest to the least have gifts and talents, given to us by God to be used in the ministry of the kingdom.  In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians we read, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.   For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (vs. 4-7, 11, 13-14, 27).

As members of the body of Christ we are set apart, holy to God.  St. Peter in his first epistle reminds us, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (vs. 9-10).  God, who knew us from our conception, has chosen us and called us for a purpose, for service in His kingdom.  We, and all human life, have a call to serve God and to serve our neighbor.

The Priesthood of all Believers is an important biblical teaching which has larger implications for our personal spirituality and public life in the Church and in the world: it’s the teaching that every believer is a priest in God’s service, regardless of his or her full-time occupation.  This teaching was one of the top three ideas of the Protestant Reformation.  The first two, Sola Scriptura—which reinforces the sole authority of Scripture—and Sola Fide—which teaches that we are justified by faith alone.  These first two have been widely taught, and most Christians, Lutheran at least, understand them.  However, the instruction concerning the priesthood of all believers has been to a great extent neglected.  

Martin Luther taught that “this word priest should become as common as the word Christian” because all Christians are priests.  Yet for whatever reason, the priesthood of all believers has been much less understood, taught, and expounded upon in writing.  For whatever reason, it has been greatly ignored, and I as your pastor must take some responsibility for this neglect.  Now in my defense, it may be that we’ve been more focused on discipleship training and evangelism and failed to teach this underpinning principle.  For the Christian, being a priest in God’s kingdom is a natural extension of discipleship teaching and should be emphasized in the same way.

When Luther referred to the priesthood of all believers, he was maintaining that the farmer, the factory worker, and the teacher, for example, can all do priestly work.  In fact, their daily labors was indeed priestly work.  We all work for the good of the whole and when we attend to our daily vocations, as if we were doing them for the glory of God and for His kingdom, we are living witnesses to God’s work in our lives.  All are tasks that God calls His followers to do, each according to the gifts given to them.  Therefore, the teaching that we are all priests in God’s kingdom has enormous implications for how Christians live their daily lives.

If the Church teaches that working in business, communications, politics, or any other profession is just as impactful as working directly in the ministry, it allows Christians to connect their beliefs to their everyday actions, giving them purpose in their jobs and equipping to them to serve others and improve society though their daily work.  Which brings us back to the fact that we are wonderfully and fearfully created by God with a purpose, and that purpose can be summed up in Jesus’ words: The greatest command is to love God with all your soul, mind, and strength and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Yes, we can choose to ignore these two commands and our purpose in life, instead focusing on our wants and desires.  Both Augustine and later Luther called this attitude “Incurvatus in se”, a Latin phrase meaning “turned or curved inward on oneself”.  It is a theological phrase that describes a life lived “inwardly” for oneself rather than “outwardly” for God and others.  Or, we can acknowledge that we and all human beings were indeed wonderfully and fearfully created in God’s own image with a purpose in this life. 

God loves and cares for each and every one of us so much that He sent Jesus so that we as sinful human beings could be redeemed.  We were “bought with a price” as St. Paul in 1 Corinthians reminds us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?  [Despite what some in society might want you to believe], You are not your own; for you were bought with a price.  [Therefore] glorify God in your body: (6:19-20), and if I might add, glorify God in all that you say and do.  This is why all life is priceless and the purpose for which all human beings were wonderfully created.

Amen

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