"To Husbands and to Wives" (Luther's Table of Duties)

 The Sounding the Scriptures POPcast is available on Spotify and Apple: click here.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

Lent is a season of repentance as we reflect on why our Lord died on the cross for us. But Lent is also about catechesis, because Lent is a catechetical season.

 

Tonight, we continue to make our way through the Christian “house rules” on how we deal with each other. These “house rules” serve as our groundwork on our Lutheran worldview of vocation. These vocations are the duties or responsibilities that we each owe to our neighbor.

 

As a reminder: Luther’s intention in including the Table of Duties was to serve us as our guide – the Third Use of the Law – in how we ought to live in this world and what is our duty to one another. But as it always is, when the Law is at play, we often hear the Law as its Second Use – mirror, because the Law always accuses, but again, the primary use and focus of the Table of Duties is to encourage us as we live out our lives in the various vocations that God has placed you and I in.

 

Tonight, we will focus on the first of the Three Estates: family, as we consider the next two pairs in the Table of Duties: “To Husbands” and “To Wives.”

 

We live in a strange world. Much of our strange world would fit in episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” Just imagine you have entered into a world that says men and women are the same. Just imagine you have entered into a world where a man can decide that he is a woman, and a woman can decide she is a man and everyone acts as if this is the way things have always been. These appear like stories from “The Twilight Zone.” But this is our strange world, our fallen world.

 

Today, in this Twilight Zone-like world, it is asserted that men and women are completely interchangeable, and so marriage can occur between a man and a woman, or between two men, or between two women, or even among throuples.

 

The basic idea that men and women are the same has been the focus of feminism in this fallen world. But reality has a way of not cooperating. The truth is that men and women are not the same. Men are physically stronger than women. Men and women are different. 

When children feel ill or are injured, who do they turn to practically every time? Their mom. It’s because women are naturally better at nurturing and comforting than men. Because, again, men and women are different.

 

Men and women are different, because God created men and women to be different. God first created Adam. And then God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). A woman complements the man. They are not the same, because a woman corresponds to the man in ways needed to serve as a helper to him. The ultimate proof that men and women are not the same is that the one flesh union of man and woman is necessary to produce the outcome of marriage – a child. 

 

God’s Word describes an ordering to the creation of man and woman, to husband and wife. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11(:8-9): “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.”

 

Woman was created for man. Woman was created for man, as the helper corresponding to him. The fallen world may not want to hear this, but this is a fact grounded in creation itself.

 

These facts of creation – this order of creation – then determines how husband and wife relate in marriage. In Ephesians 5(:22-24), St. Paul writes, “Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

 

Luther cites this “Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord” as of first importance in his section on “To Wives.” He also includes “They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear” from 1 Peter 3:5-6.

 

To the fallen world, they hear words like “submit” and “submission” meaning inequality, or that women have less worth or less value than men.

Yet, this exact same language is used of the relation between God the Father and God the Son. In 1 Corinthians 15(:28), St. Paul writes, “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.” And what do we confess about the triune God? We confess that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are coequal.

 

For St. Paul, submission does not mean a relationship where one side gives and gives, and the other side takes and takes. You see, husbands and wives are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21).

 

But God did give us an order. The husband is the head of the household, and the wife is to be her husband’s co-equal helper. He, the provider. She, the nurturer. But so often, we don’t see it that way. And we don’t see it this way because of sin.

 

After the Fall into sin, God said to Eve in Genesis 3(:16), according to the New Living Translation: “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” Since the Fall, woman finds herself drawn to men who act in self-serving ways. And since the Fall, women also strive against men, competing for the headship that contradicts their own creation. 

 

We all act this way. Selfishness and pride. Husbands and wives act in selfish ways that put themselves before their spouse. Men abuse the headship position to get what they want, when they want it. Women subvert the headship to get what they want.

 

Guided by culture of feminism, many women disparage motherhood and instead seek to act like men. And men bought the same lie as so many fail in their own responsibilities of being a husband. 

 

When we see the ways we fail to live in God’s order of creation in marriage – and confess our sin, always know that there is forgiveness in Christ. And it is in Christ that we find the ability to live in God’s design for marriage. The Holy Spirit who has regenerated us and given us faith, moves us to live the life of faith in our marriages. This is why Luther included the Table of Duties, so that Christians could better care for each other.

 

The Table of Duties lists “To Husbands” first, and rightly so. Man has been created for headship in marriage and family. And the conduct of this headship is modeled after Christ. St. Peter writes in 1 Peter 3(:7): “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as your live with you wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

 

It is true that the wife is weaker, but the husband is to live in a way that reflects the knowledge of what God has done for both of them in Christ, and of the gift the husband has received from God in his wife – as his helper. The husband is to honor his wife and recognize the unique status they share together and that they are co-heirs of God’s saving grace.

 

Luther also includes a passage from Colossians 3(:19) addressed to husbands which reads: “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.”

 

And this should not be forgotten, for after St. Paul’s brief statement about wives, he writes in Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” This sacrificial love of Jesus Christ for His Church is the pattern that is to guide the husband’s behavior.

 

If tonight’s sermon is hitting you hard, seek forgiveness through Christ’s blood and merit and seek forgiveness with your spouse. Remember, Luther’s Table of Duties isn’t intended to be gospel, but as our guide, so that we would be encouraged as we live out our daily vocations.

 

Certainly, men and women are different. Thank God for that! God joins husband and wife together as one flesh. Husband and wife are ordered in marriage in a way that reflects God’s creation of Adam and Eve – the first husband and wife. Uniquely distinct from one another, husband and wife each are needed for marriage and family to be the blessing God has given. Through the Holy Spirit, the union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind support each other through mutual companionship as they love, honor, and strengthen each other through sickness and in health. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Gift of Living Water" (John 4:1-30, 39-42)

The Sounding the Scriptures POPcast is available on Spotify and Apple: click here.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ (For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)” (John 4:7-9).

 

All throughout the Old Testament there lies the hope of the Messiah. Beginning with Genesis 3:15, the Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly proclaim that the Savior is coming.

 

Generation after generation, Jews became familiar with these Scripture passages proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. And they took God’s promise of the Messiah to heart. They waited eagerly for their coming Savior. And their sense of expectation only increased as centuries passed. 

 

This sense of expectation was not just among the Jews, but also among the Samaritans who also eagerly awaited the Messiah.

 

But as both the Jews and Samaritans eagerly awaited the coming Savior, the Jews and Samaritans weren’t exactly on speaking terms with one another. So, it would be highly irregular to ever see a Jew having a conversation with a Samaritan. But that is exactly what Jesus does in today’s Gospel lesson from John 4.

 

“Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples), He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria” (John 4:1-4).

 

But the thing is, Jesus and His disciples didn’t have to pass through Samaria. Although the road through Samaria was shorter than the coastal road or the road on the east side of the Jordan, the Jewish disdain for the Samaritans would often lead them to avoid Samaria altogether. Instead of traveling through Samaria, Jews preferred to be defiled by a lesser evil, as they would pass through the Gentile region of Perea. And then, they would cross back into Galilee north of Samaria. This was the usual route. But Jesus chose to travel through Samaria.

However, Jesus didn’t choose to go this way to save time, He chose this route to go through Samaria because He had to. This was His mission. As St. Paul was inspired to write in our Epistle today: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. … God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8). Jesus is on the mission to save sinners.

 

So, as Jesus traveled north toward Galilee, “He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there” (John 4:5-6).

 

As Jesus sat beside the well in the heat of the day, tired and thirsty from His journey, there came a woman from Samaria to draw water. This was an odd sight for it was the cool of the evening when women would customarily perform the chore of fetching water. This woman came at high noon. The worst of all times to fetch water. Even more unusual is that this woman came such a long distance to this well when there were other sources of water closer to the village. For some reason, she would rather walk the extra distance in the hottest time of the day.

 

Jesus says to her, “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). This astonished the woman as this was a shocking breach of social custom. Men did not speak with women in public – not even their wives. And even more significant is that Jews wanted nothing to do with Samaritans. But Jesus asks this woman, “Give Me a drink.”

 

Taken aback, she says to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9). And even more odd is that Jesus had no water pot. For He is asking to drink from her water pot, which would ceremonially defile Himself by drinking from the vessel of an unclean Samaritan.

 

Again, there had been a bitter rivalry between the Jews and the Samaritans for centuries. This rivalry began when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was taken over by the Assyrians and most of the Israelites who remained intermarried which formed a mixed race known as the Samaritans. The new settlers brought their idolatrous religion with them, which then became intermingled with the worship of Yahweh. In time, the Samaritans abandoned their idols and worshiped Yahweh alone, but only after their own fashion. Instead of accepting the entirety of the Torah, the Samaritans only accepted the five books of Moses, known as the Pentateuch, as their canonical Scripture and they chose to worship God only on Mount Gerizim, not at the temple in Jerusalem.

 

And things only got worse after the Southern Kingdom of Judah returned from their Babylonian exile. You see, under Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews first priority was to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. At this same time, the Samaritans professed their loyalty to Yahweh and they offered assistance in rebuilding the temple. However, the Jews bluntly refused their offer, which only further divided the peoples. Then later, the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple upon Mount Gerizim during the intertestamental period, which only further worsened relations between them.

 

After centuries of mistrust, there was a deep animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. In fact, the worst insult a Jew could make of a fellow Jew would be to call that person a Samaritan, as the Jewish authorities often called Jesus. The Samaritans certainly reciprocated the Jewish hostility as is seen in Luke 9 when a Samaritan village rejected Jesus, since Jesus was heading to Jerusalem.

 

So, here is Jesus – a Jew – doing the unthinkable. He is conversing with a woman from Samaria. Jesus is shattering barriers.

 

This woman came to fetch water in the heat of the day. We soon find out why. Jesus says to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here” (John 4:16). She then attempts to conceal her sin, but He knows. She says, “I have no husband” (John 4:17). Jesus then commends her for her truthfulness, but unmasks her sin, saying, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true” (John 4:18).

 

Here, Jesus is commending this woman for refusing to call the man she’s now “playing house” with as not her husband, because living together does not constitute a marriage, since God only views marriage as a formal, legal and public covenant between a man and a woman.

 

Now, we don’t know the circumstances of her five marriages, plus her current roommate, but Jesus’ silent implication is that she is not innocent. For Jesus knows that these broken relationships are manifestations of her broken relationship with God.

 

This brokenness is what St. Paul spoke of in our Epistle. This Samaritan woman is “weak,” and even worse: she is ungodly, still a sinner, and an enemy of God. And by our sinful nature, we are just like her. This woman knows a lot about broken relationships. She doesn’t appear to have much peace. This is why she is coming to the well at the heat of the day, so she can avoid hearing the not-so-friendly chit-chat of the other women of the town directed toward her.

 

This Samaritan woman at the well is desperate. And without her own wisdom or strength, she has come to the right place: Jacob’s well.

 

Jesus says to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). In her desperation for peace, she says, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water”(John 4:15).

 

Throughout Scripture, the well is a place to find marriage. Rebekah’s routine trip to a well led to marriage with Isaac. Jacob met Rachel at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. 

 

Here, at Jacob’s well, Jesus is offering this woman “living water.” But this water isn’t what this woman is expecting. She is expecting a watery refreshment. But what Jesus is giving is even better. Jesus is proposing to her the forgiveness of her sins to which He will succeed in doing through giving up His life for His bride, the Church, and raising His body again. Though she was an enemy of God, Jesus has committed His life to her and to you and me.

 

Jesus has come into the world to give us “living water.” And we receive His “living water” in Holy Baptism, in the absolution, and through communing with Him. He is the One who gives living water, so that you will never thirst. He is the One who knows you for you are and loves you all the way to the cross and death. 

 

Although we want to hide our wrongs, our faults, our failings, our shame, Jesus sees our entire mess. He sees your every sin. But like the Samaritan woman in today’s reading, Jesus doesn’t care how dark your life may be, but He comes to seek us out in order to bring us to repentance, so that He can forgive us and make us His.

 

After centuries of waiting for the Savior, the Savior has come! Jesus the Christ has come to restore His bride – the Church! He offers us His Means of Grace! So, come, receive the gift of “living water” through Christ’s very body and blood given and shed for you – for the forgiveness of your sins! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"To Government & Citizens" (Lent Midweek 2 - Luther's Table of Duties)

The Sounding the Scriptures POPcast is available on Spotify and Apple: click here.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Lent is a season of repentance as we reflect on why our Lord died on the cross for us. But Lent is also about catechesis, because Lent is a catechetical season.

 

Tonight, we continue to make our way through the Christian “house rules” on how we deal with each other. These “house rules” serve as our groundwork on our Lutheran worldview of vocation. These vocations are the duties or responsibilities that we each owe to our neighbor.

 

As I said last week, first a word of warning: Luther’s intention in including the Table of Duties was to serve us as our guide – the Third Use of the Law – in how we ought to live in this world and what is our duty to one another. But as it always is, when the Law is at play, we often hear the Law as its Second Use – mirror, because the Law always accuses, but again, the primary use and focus of the Table of Duties is to encourage us as we live out our lives in the various vocations that God has placed you and I in.

 

Tonight, we will focus on the third of the Three Estates: government, as we consider the next two pairs in the Table of Duties: “Of Civil Government” and “Of Citizens.”

 

As we ponder this third estate, we are reminded that Christians are not anarchists. We believe that fallen man requires an earthly government. Luther, himself, has said that it is better to live under a tyrant than to live under an anarchy where there is no order, no predictability, and therefore no stability. So, the government has a claim on us. 

 

Today is March 4. Besides the news in the Middle East, if you turn on your television or listen to the radio or podcast, or wander through Walmart, you are quickly reminded that it is tax season. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is if you like numbers and filing and stress and seeing your money vanish.

 

Paying taxes is one of the most direct ways that we experience the topic of these two pairings from the Table of Duties that we consider tonight. On one hand, these pairings are very straightforward. But they also confront us with challenging questions – questions that the Christian faith answers in ways that are different from the fallen world.

 

Luther provides only one Scripture text for the topic “Of Civil Government” and it’s likely that’s all that we will need. In Romans 13(:1-4), St. Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the government authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul says in a straightforward manner that governing authorities have been instituted by God. God is the one who has provided them. And since God put them there, to resist the governing authority – the civil government – is to resist God Himself.

 

You see, the role of the civil government is simple. It is to restrain wrongdoing and is to maintain order. St. Paul adds, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger to carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer”(Romans 13:3-4). Paul, here, is describing the civil government as “God’s servant.”

 

Civil government exists for one reason and one reason only. Civil government exists because of sin. Civil government exists because it is the means God has established to restrain and control evil. Because when given a chance, sinners will do terrible things. That is why God established civil government.

 

Again, the government is God’s servant. But what about when the government rejects what God has commanded? The government can be in the wrong when it overreaches the authority of its estate. An example of this is if the civil government would command things that are contrary to God’s will, such as commanding how the Church worships, and to that, we will say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). And when that happens, we are called to suffer for the truth.

 

We must also remember that St. Paul wrote the Book of Romans during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero. So, if Christians were to be subject to Nero, an unstable man who had Christians burned as torches to light up the night, we are to be subject to all who are given the civil authority over us. Even with all his flaws, at least Nero kept order in the Roman Empire.

 

So, there is good reason why Luther included “good government” among the blessings of daily bread, because life without government is a frightening thing. Again, it is better to live under a tyrant than under an anarchy where there is no order.

 

But no government is free. It may appear that government is able to grow money from trees, but that money is paid for by our tax dollars. So, every government costs money. “Therefore,” Paul writes, “one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, … Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:5-6a, 7). In saying this, St. Paul was only repeating what Jesus had taught in Mark 12:17: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

 

So, like it or not, government is a great blessing from God. And its main vocation is to restrain sin. And so, Paul said in 1 Timothy 2(:1-3): “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.”

 

When you were baptized into Christ, you were made a part of the royal priesthood of God’s people. As part of this priestly service, our vocation is to pray. And this is what we do at each Divine Service as we pray for our civil authorities each week. But this vocation isn’t just limited to our time together in this space as we are to pray for God’s enlightening of our civil authorities as a part of our daily lives.

 

During this season of Lent, we follow our Lord as He makes His way to the cross and empty tomb. He goes to the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. By His death, He has won for us forgiveness. By His bodily resurrection, He has won for us eternal life.

 

Civil government is a great blessing from God. It restrains sin and allows us to live in peace. Our vocation is to obey the government, pay our taxes and pray for those who govern us. Yet, when the government acts unjustly, or when it commands things that violate God’s will, we are called to follow our Lord in entrusting ourselves to God in the midst of suffering. We do this knowing that all authorities have been instituted by God, who has given us forgiveness, life, and salvation through Jesus’ blood and merit. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Born of Water and the Spirit" (John 3:1-17)

Listen to today's Sounding the Scriptures POPcast here!

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”(John 3:3).

 

Nicodemus was a curious man. Nicodemus was seen as a holy man. He was a Pharisee, a rabbi of the Jews. He was among the most learned men. But he was also a man of much fear. He feared what the others among the Sanhedrin would think about him visiting Jesus of Nazareth. He feared that he would lose his position among the rulers of the Jews. But he was curious. He wanted to know more about this man named Jesus.

 

So, in his curiosity, Nicodemus did visit Jesus, but not in the daylight, but under the cover of darkness. Nicodemus came to have an open conversation with Jesus and to debate Him.

 

But unlike the typical Pharisee who was savage and malicious toward Jesus, Nicodemus wanted to have a courteous and proper conversation. He did not want to deceive Jesus with cunning, nor test Jesus with wicked intent, nor to catch Him in His words. Rather, Nicodemus desired to ask Jesus how a man could be saved.

 

So, they began their conversation discussing the righteousness of the flesh and that of the righteousness of the Spirit. 

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Or more literally, “unless one is born ‘from above’ or ‘unless one is born not of this world.’”

 

And Nicodemus responded as any flesh-minded person would: How can this happen? “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”(John 3:4). That’s a logical question. How could that logically happen?

 

But he missed the point. Nicodemus was thirsting for righteousness and salvation, but he couldn’t get passed the idea of being physically re-born in his mother’s womb.

But Jesus says in proper Lutheran terms “You don’t have to understand it, so don’t over think it.” “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:7).

 

Of course, Nicodemus was marveling at “You must be born again.” He didn’t like what he heard. He didn’t like it, because he couldn’t understand it. He was trusting his human reason, just as we so often do. How can he be born again when he is old? This sounds like pure foolishness! How could he become newly born?

 

To this, Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

 

I’m sure this sounded like a riddle to Nicodemus. And this may even sound like a riddle to you. This means nothing other than to die to sin and live to righteousness by faith and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, here, is speaking of Baptism.

 

You see, in Holy Baptism, the old man is drowned in the water and is raised up again. The drowning is the putting to death of the flesh and the sweeping away of sins. The raising up is the renewal of the new man in the Holy Spirit. All the while, the man is the same physically, but he is changed spiritually.

 

When the children of Israel were journeying in the wilderness and murmured because of the length of the journey, God was angered and sent fiery serpents among them that bit them so that many of them died. Then God told Moses to make for himself a serpent of bronze and set it up as a sign, so that whoever is bitten and looks at it will be preserved.

 

At first, the children of Israel didn’t understand what Moses had made. They probably laughed at Moses. But soon, they understood. Soon, they realized that those who were bitten and looked up at that bronze serpent were preserved from death.

 

Outwardly, that bronze serpent was not something that would give a lot of hope. Especially when the snakes kept on coming. Remember, God never took way the serpents. But God gave His people a way out. He gave His people the way of salvation. Even though they would be bitten, the bite would not kill them, because whoever looked upon that bronze serpent in faith would live.

 

This sounds like pure foolishness. But remember, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). For “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” and He “chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

 

You see, Jesus used that event of the bronze serpent to show Nicodemus how God works in the world. 

 

God works in mysterious ways. He works in ways that our human nature thinks to be crazy. He works in ways our human reason cannot possibly fathom. 

 

To the world, the waters of Holy Baptism appear to be just water – to which it is. But when that water is connected to the Word, to the very name of God – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it becomes more than just water. It becomes a Sacrament. It becomes a way of salvation. Holy Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

 

Connected with the Word of God, Baptism becomes a life-saving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit. For as St. Paul proclaims in Titus 3: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying” (Titus 3:5-8).

 

We may not truly understand it, but we believe it and we confess it. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we are born spiritually, and in spirit we are born by the Word and Sacrament.

 

It is through the working of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us as given to us through Holy Baptism that we become new people. We are born anew. We are born from above. We don’t know how this happens, but we know this happens. For through the hearing of God’s Word and by receiving His Sacraments, we grow into new people. We grow in our discipleship to Christ. We grow in living out the Christian life. We don’t just believe differently than unbelievers, we live differently. All of this happens because of being born of water and the Spirit. For, as Jesus says, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

 

That bronze serpent was a strong visual reminder of the fierce wrath of God over sin. It was lifted high so that every Israelite might see it, repent of their sin, and look up to it in obedient faith. To everyone who followed this call, their faith resulted in the preservation of their life.

 

Again, God works in mysterious ways. That snake was a prefigure of what would happen not just for those Israelites of old, but also served as a prefigure for the salvation of the world. So, just as everyone who looked in faith at the snake was healed from deadly bite, everyone who would look in faith at Jesus – high and lifted up – would be saved from the bite of eternal death and have eternal life.

 

Jesus says, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” and “that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16, 17). Whoever is the promise. So, whoever – no matter how bad, how despicable, how wrong, how lazy, how negligent – whoever trusts in Jesus, whoever clings to Him in repentance and faith is forgiven and is given peace and eternal life. Whoever looks to Christ alone finds comfort, joy, and a sure and certain hope.

 

To those born of the flesh, to those who only follow human reason, this sounds like utter foolishness, but this is the power and wisdom of God; this is the way of the Spirit.

 

This is God’s plan for you and for the entire world. He wants to save you. He wants to heal you. He wants to comfort you. So, no matter how much those snake bites of sin attack you, remember that you born of water and the Spirit through your Baptism into Christ. Remember that when you repent of your sin, your sin is forgiven through the merit and work of Christ alone. Remember to lift up your eyes and heart to Christ crucified for you! For through His atoning death and bodily resurrection, He has given you peace. He has given you the fruits of His cross: forgiveness, life and salvation!

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Table of Duties: To Pastors and Hearers" (Lent Midweek 1)

Listen to today's Sounding the Scriptures POPcast here!

To Read Luther's Table of Duties, click here.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Lent is a season of repentance as we reflect on why our Lord died on the cross for us. But Lent is also about catechesis, because Lent is a catechetical season.

 

When one thinks about Luther’s Small Catechism, one often thinks of the Six Chief Parts: (1) The Ten Commandments, (2) The Creed, (3) The Lord’s Prayer, (4) Baptism, (5) Confession, and (6) the Sacrament of the Altar. That is usually where one stops. Six Chief Parts. Good to go!

 

But what if I told you that there were sections at the very end of Luther’s Small Catechism that often goes unnoticed. Did you notice that something was missing? Well, at the conclusion of the Small Catechism, Luther places three more sections: Daily Prayers, The Table of Duties, and Christian Questions with Their Answers.

 

When I went through catechesis – that first time when I grew up in the ELCA, I thought this pamphlet contained the entire Luther’s Small Catechism. But upon further inspection, this pamphlet did not contain the Table of Duties and Christian Questions with Their Answers. However, I can give Augsburg Fortress a pass on one of them, since Christian Questions with Their Answers was not published until after Luther’s Death. But I do find it rather odd omitting the Table of Duties.

 

But I can’t just go after the ELCA, since the LCMS hasn’t been perfect in including the entirety of the Small Catechism either. Although the LCMS has always included the Table of Duties in its publication of the Small Catechism, it has not always been included in our hymnals. 

 

In my research through my LCMS hymnals, the first hymnal to include the Small Catechism was not the beloved red TLH, but the blue Lutheran Worship, but even with that publication, the Table of Duties was missing. Thanks be to God that the maroon LSB has included the entirety of the Small Catechism.

 

Beginning tonight and throughout these Lenten Midweeks we will look at that second of the last three parts of the Small Catechism: The Table of Duties.

 

So, what’s the importance of the Table of Duties? Well, for Luther, the Table of Duties were just as much of a part of the Small Catechism as the Six Chief Parts. For the Table of Duties describe how the faith, that was created and nourished by the Six Chief Parts, prays and lives. When Luther put the Table of Duties together, he was trying to teach what the Christian life looks like and how it is structured around our daily vocations.

 

These Table of Duties could be described as the Christian “house rules” on how we are to deal with one another. You see, Christians have holy orders, or vocations, that are created by God in which we all live. These vocations are the duties or responsibilities that we each owe to our neighbor.

 

Each of the vocations described in the Table of Duties are applicable to us. And Luther’s intention in including them was to serve as us the Third Use of the Law – our guide – in how we ought to live in this world and what our duty is to one another. But as a word of warning, when we hear of these vocations described to us in the Table of Duties, the Second Use of the Law will be in play, because the Holy Spirit always uses the Law to accuse us. The Second Use of the Law – mirror, is not Luther’s intention, but the Law always accuses, but the primary focus of the Table of Duties is actually that of encouragement.

 

You see, the Table of Duties serves us as a reorientation so that we would return to our first love, to what God has established and the orders that He has given. And order is so important in the Bible. The worst thing a person can be called in the Bible is to be lawless, that is, to be without order. And “order” means that things are actually predictable.

 

As human beings, we live in three estates that often overlap, but they are also unique from each other. The first of these three estates is the family. Out of the family comes the Church (The Second Estate) and the government (The Third Estate). 

 

But in order to understand these Three Estates, God has created various vocations, or callings. He instituted vocations in life that we occupy, and God uses these vocations to care for others. The Table of Duties is divided up according to these various vocations, or callings.

 

Tonight, we will consider the first pair in the Table of Duties: “To Bishops, Pastors and Preachers” and “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.”

None of the Means of Grace just happen on their own. The Means of Grace require a pastor. This is why God has instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry. This is the vocation into which all pastors are called. It is God’s Office. No one can take this Office for himself. Instead, God must call men through the work of His Church, through seminary education and the churchly Divine Call. And God tells us the requirements for the Pastoral Office as we heard earlier in 1 Timothy 3: “The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive” (1 Timothy 3:2-4).

 

And no pastor is perfect, just as no one is perfect, except for one: Jesus Christ. For all Christians live by faith in the forgiveness that Jesus won by His death, bodily resurrection and ascension. Yet, as those who shepherd Christ’s flock, pastors are held to a higher standard. This is why St. Paul cautions “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6).

 

As your pastor, my Holy Office is to attend to the work of Word and Sacrament ministry. But this work takes place in the world. So, Luther adds “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.”

 

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9(:14): “The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” Paul adds in Galatians 6(:6-7): “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

 

Just like laypeople, pastors and their families also can be tempted to want more daily bread. We, like, everyone else can covet what others have. Pastors can complain that they don’t receive more, even when God is providing what He has promised. But at the same time, congregations can look to get pastoral care “on the cheap.” There are congregations that are stingy with supporting their pastor. But where there are congregations who faithfully provide for her pastor, such as here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, I give thanks to God that so many people are moved by the Holy Spirit to act in generous giving through their faith in Jesus Christ, who always provides for all our needs of body and soul.

 

St. Paul also makes it clear that the pastor is not to speak of his own ideas or his own opinions. Instead, Paul instructs pastors in Titus 1(:9) that “[pastors] must hold firm to the trustworthy Word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” So, pastors must teach what is true and correct what is false. 

 

Again, the Office of the Ministry is not man’s office, but God’s Office. So, we must always remember how the pastor came to serve in that place. I did not put myself here. God placed me here, working through His Church as you gave me the Divine Call to proclaim God’s Law and Gospel and His Means of Grace in this place.

 

The writer to the Hebrews wrote: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrews 13:17).

 

As we live in a world that is becoming more and more like the first century world, we have a pressing challenge that faces both pastors and their hearers alike. Will pastors be willing to continue proclaiming the truth of God’s Word? Will pastors continue to proclaim that Christ alone is the way to salvation? Will pastors continue to teach the Ten Commandments as God’s Commandments and not just God’s suggestions? Will pastors continue to condemn the taking of a life – including the unborn and elderly? Will pastors continue to teach against sexual immorality?

 

For hearers, will you be willing to hear, believe and accept these Biblical teachings, even when it pertains to a family member or close friend?

 

This is a great challenge that faces both pastors and hearers. But we do not face this challenge on our own. Instead, we face these challenges secure in the knowledge that Christ who was crucified on Good Friday, rose on Easter. The risen Lord, through the Holy Spirit, enables us to live in the confidence of His bodily resurrection knowing that because He rose, we, by faith in Him, will also rise! 

 

Because of Jesus’ atoning death and bodily resurrection, He causes us to live differently from the unbelieving world, because He has called us out of this dark world and into His marvelous light! Jesus gives us eyes to recognize His Church as the place where His forgiveness reigns and the place of life everlasting. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +